What has the band been up to as of lately?

Basically... nothing. Just realizing that we're going on tour with Cephalic Carnage in the U.K. soon, and we have to ready the new songs for the recording as well. We're recording in August.

You're recording where again?

In our hometown, south of Sweden. It's a studio called Berno. It's kind of a death metal studio... The Haunted recorded there, as did Amon Amarth. Basically a lot of Swedish death metal bands.

Who's producing that?

It's a wild card, actually. A friend of ours, who's a sound engineer, so he'll do it. We had heard something he had recorded that sounded good, and we got a great deal on the studio session, so we have to do it there. It's going to be quite different from the last album.

How so?

Production-wise, it's going to sound quite different. I don't know how yet, but it's going to be not as muddy maybe, like the last one. You'll be able to recognize the Crowpath sound, of course, but there's some surprises. I'd like to tell you more. It's kind of different stuff, but I think people will like it. I think it'll be a bit more easy to listen to, and our intent is to make it more dynamic.

Was the muddy quality the result of Fredrik Reinedahl or just a variety of things?

We wanted a dirty sound. We didn't want a clean or nu-metal sound. We wanted that kind of really muddy, powerful production that's quite unique. Many people hate it, and some really love it. I've seen in reviews, as it just now got released in Europe. This Monday, on Earache.

That's through Willowtip, right?

Yeah. So there's some crappy reviews, but I can understand. It's not the easiest music to listen to.

It's got a very specific fanbase.

The new record will definitely sound a lot different.

Are you going to incorporate more of the doomier/sludge parts that you touched on Red On Chrome?

Yeah, it will be more doomier and more everything. To use the cliche, the fast parts will be faster, and the doom will be doomier. We're going to put more groove into it. At least I think so, maybe you'll think it sounds the same.

How did you end up going to Willowtip from Robotic Empire?

The thing with Robotic Empire...do you remember the old auction site, Skylab Commerce? It was an old auction site for hardcore and metal. I got in touch with Andy, I bought some stuff from him. He asked if I was in Crowpath and said he wanted to release a discography. So, of course, he could do that. It was no work, everything was already recorded. He could release it. And then we asked if somebody was interested in releasing the Red On Chrome album, which we had already written and recorded without a label. But they didn't have the cash to pay us. So we were looking for some labels, and Willowtip contacted us actually. They read somewhere that we were looking for a label. So yeah, we signed for two albums. It was a good deal.

They're definitely one of the more well respected newer labels around, for a good reason. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you joined the band in 2002, right?

2001, actually.

So you actually wrote on Red On Chrome?

Yes, yes.

How does the songwriting work amongst Crowpath? Do you guys write your own parts or does someone just prepare a song?

No, no. Often it's just that our drummer makes a drum pattern, and we have to come up with the riffs to it. It's kind of reverse from what other bands do. Many songs we just have a riff, but all the drum parts are already written, and we write around that. Sometimes we have some riffs, but not so often. Of that, I do the basslines and help tie everything together.

That's interesting.

Yeah, it's kind of weird.

I didn't expect that. How long does it take for you guys usually to write a whole song? How much do you have to practice?

We rehearse 2-3 times a week, whenever we get the time. It takes forever to make a song. It can take anywhere from a couple of months to a couple of rehearsals. So I can't say exactly, as it's very different, but it takes a long time. It might sound chaotic in the drums and everything, but it's very structured.

I think that's what attracts a lot of people to your band, is where there are a lot of bands trying to play this style, it's not immediately apparent that they know what they're doing. They don't seem to have a plan.

Exactly, I agree, really. It's hard to make songs interesting as well as good to listen to, and fun to play, as well.

Do you get a good response generally when you play live shows over in Sweden?

We don't play that much over in Sweden, no. There's no point. There's not many people living there. We live in Sweden's third biggest town (Malmo) which is only like 250,000 people living there. So the scene is not that big. You can tour and do maybe four gigs, but then you're done with all of Sweden. It's pointless.

Hence why you're bringing it over to the U.K.

Yeah. Or to Germany, or other parts of Europe, like France. Germany's a big country, and of course the U.K. is a big market. So we have to go abroad to play.

Is there any chance you'll get over to the U.S.?

Yeah, yeah. We were supposed to go last summer, actually. But one of our guys got sick, so we couldn't go. We have plans maybe, for the next album, maybe next year or something.

Do you have any ideas of bands you're looking at taking out there, or that you'd like to tour with?

So many bands. Basically, whoever. Like, Converge, we played a show with them and it was fantastic, and they were nice guys. It'd be fantastic to play with them. Or maybe with Cephalic Carnage, who are one of my favorite bands. So maybe we'll play with them. We'd love to play with a bigger band, it'd be awesome. I'm not too picky.

I remember seeing someone wearing a Today is the Day shirt in the band's photos. I was curious if there were any more unconventional bands that've inspired Crowpath's sound.

Basically, Deadguy are a big influence, and of course, Kiss It Goodbye. Those kind of bands. Also the 1997 Hydrahead bands, Converge, Coalesce, or Drowningman and all that kind of stuff. Meatjack, they're excellent, them also, of course.

I know you just mentioned how small the scene is there, but are there any bands worth mentioning or recommending from your area?

Yeah, friends of ours play in a band called Widespread Bloodshed. They're doing a West Coast tour at the end of the month. They're on Sound Pollution. It's fastcore, sort of like a fast version of Suicidal Tendencies. They're really good, you have to go to their show if you get the opportunity. There aren't so many bands here, we have a lot of crust-punk. It's really crappy. But another death metal band, called Sewn Shut...

Yeah, they're amazing. I forget the name of the label [SelfMadeGod], but they put out a lot of great stuff.

They're a Polish label, they put out that compilation. Two of the guys are in the band Widespread Bloodshed as well. It's a drummer...do you know the pop-punk band, Satanic Surfers? It's the same guy who's also playing in Intensity. I don't know if you know about them, it's hardcore, pretty famous over here. But yeah, there aren't so many cool bands here, actually.

Where do you get names like Pigeonsmasher for your songs? Where does the name Red On Chrome come from? Are there any lyrical themes the band sticks to?

We live in the south of Sweden, in a kind of working, crappy town. There's been a lot of problems with immigrants and criminality and stuff. It's a big problem. Like the song, "Where Jacky Jawless Lives" is about a drug addict without a chin. Half the jaw is missing. So it's just a hole down to his stomach. He lives in a crackhouse, he's a local hero here.

Wow, so he actually walks around out there?

Yeah! It's really weird. And other things like...how there's an arsonist going around here, going around and setting fires. The police know who it is, but they can't do anything with him. He's got a father who was also an arsonist when he was young.

Are they in a position of political power or something?

No, no. I don't know why. They can't prove it, but they know it's him, because he's notorious for it. So a lot of stories like that go around here in the countryside. Weird stuff going on, we can write tons of lyrics about it. And you mentioned Pigeonsmasher? It was a joke when we recorded Red On Chrome, we started drinking in the studio and it came up when we were goofing around. I don't know why. We were just goofing around with words. When you translate stuff from Swedish to English, it sounds quite weird sometimes.

So you just work around that actually?

Yeah. But we thought it sounds really good, so we had to have it.

Have you already written the lyrics for this new album coming up? And does everyone take turns writing, or is it a collaborative effort?

No, it's actually just the singer who writes it. We come up with titles. He thinks the titles are the hardest to write, not the lyrics. He can write good lyrics, I think, but not titles.

Is there anything else you care to add or talk about?

Not really, I dont know. If you have a booking agency and you want to get us over to the U.S., we can do it.

Well thanks for spending the time talking to me about this, and I really look forward to hopefully seeing you live someday and hearing this new record.

Thanks a lot for the interest in our band. Take care.