“We’re definitely looking forward to these shows,” says bassist Mika Häkki. “We’ve been fine-tuning our setlist while also working on new music. We were planning to release a full album this year, but we’ve been touring so much that we ran out of time.”
To entice audiences ahead of a recent tour of North American, they released a 10’’ limited edition vinyl recording of Lord of Suffering / Die In Haze, but Häkki says that work will resume on their next full length offering once they’re back home in Gothenburg.
“We’ll continue to work on the new album once we get back from Australia – we hope to release it by next summer. We have a lot of music written down, but we still have to record everything and it can take months once we start the promotion and everything – but we plan to have it out as soon as we can.”
Despite appearing on the scene only a few short years ago, Monolord have amassed a loyal following, thanks to 2014’s Empress Rising,followed in quick succession by Vaenir in 2015. “We’ve all been in different bands over the years, but when I met Thomas [V Jäger – guitars and vocals] and Esben [Willems – drums] we found that we really like the simplicity of being a three-piece,” Häkki says.
“You can make yourself heard and find your own place in the music among less people, as well. We’re able to pool our resources together to find compromises and solutions. I’ve been in bands that had two guitarists, an organ player and separate singers. It’s always harder with six different people to make all those decisions.”
While both Jäger and Willems were previously members of Swedish boogie rock band Marulk, Häkki cut his teeth on the classics. “I started learning music at a classical school, then I moved on to electric guitar and bass. I also play drums and the violin – in fact I started my musical career with the violin,” he says. “I’ve always played a lot of different stuff – I play a lot of double-bass and contrabass. I like to play bluegrass and country. I’m going to record some stuff when we get back home to Sweden.”
Häkki admits that he has always been drawn to alternative music and the underground scene, but as the number of punters at live shows continues to dwindle, he fears that bands like his and Ufomammut may soon find themselves without a place to play. “I can see it happening globally. Here in Gothenburg and all over Europe and the USA, the cities are closing vital music venues down,” he says. “It seems like the owners don’t want to support the live music culture, and a lot of the younger crowds have lost the will to go to live shows.
“I remember when I was a kid going to shows all the time,” Häkki says. “It’s not the same anymore. A lot of people just watch shows on YouTube – it’s a weird phenomenon.”
So keep the dream alive and catch these multi-talented musicians as they unleash the wrath of the mighty Monolord from the east coast to the west, in this massive international metal double-header.
BY NATALIE ROGERS
