INTERVIEW: WOLF

Hailing from Sweden, WOLF has been around for more than 25 years now. With a lot of different lineups to be sure, but all the time with Niklas Stalvind in the front. It is his band. Yet they feel like a unity as a band more than ever. I decided to have a few words with Niklas prior to the release of their ninth album, “Shadowland”, on April 1, 2022 via Century Media.

 

-Hi, thanks for taking your time! First off, what was the recording process for “Shadowland”? Has the lockdown made it difficult for you to record the album?

Hello there! No, it made it easier to record the album because it was easier to find the time to record, since we couldn’t play live shows or tour.

 

-How would you define the sound of “Shadowland” and where do you see the biggest changes in your music on the new album towards “Feeding The Machine”?

The sound reminds me of an updated version of “The Black Flame”, but with the directness and “in your face” clarity of “Evil Star”. It also has a lot of depth like the “Devil Seed”. Compared to “Feeding The Machine” it’s much more melodic. Personally I feel that this is a more positive record than “Feeding The Machine”. I’ve heard others say it’s very dark, but for me it’s positive and uplifting. But… I am very biased since I am the main song writer. Every song gets very personal for me.

 

-What songs on the album meant the most to you and for what reasons?

That’s a very good question. I couldn’t name one. I have many favorites and for different reasons. “Dust” is certainly one of the favorites. I like the crazy sounding melody riff that descends in half steps. We’re not the first to write such a melody, and it sure is very effective. It reminds me of Edward Griegs “In the Hall of the Mountain King”, which I have always loved. I also like how the different parts and harmonies work together and how it all ties up in the end.  Another favorite of mine is “The Ill-fated Mr. Mordrake”. I like the story and also how the main parts of the songs come together. It’s also a lot of fun to play. Especially the violin like melody part in the middle and at the end. It reminds me of old Swedish folk music played on the violin.

 

-The “Dust” number was chosen to be the album’s first video for some specific reason?

I thought it was a good opening track and a good representation of what WOLF is about. Uptempo with lots of heavy riffing and catchy melodies. I think it has that “the wolves are back” feeling to it. People seem to like it as well and we got very positive response to that song.

 

-What can you tell me about the two bonus tracks (“Trial By Fire” and “In The Twilight Zone”)?

We already had the 10 songs for the album and they fit together perfectly. But then I had a half finished song, “Trial by Fire”, and we needed a bonus track so Simon (Johansson, guitar) and I wrote the rest of it and then recorded. Everyone liked it so much we decided to put it on the album and make it an eleven song album. Pontus Egberg had just written the music of “In The Twilight Zone” and the guys in the band forced me to write vocal lines and melody for it, so I stayed up one night and did that during the recording of the album. This song was meant to be on the Japan release if there will be one.

 

-You’ve done quite a bit of lineup shuffling over the years. Having had two albums in a row with the same lineup, do you feel stable enough to carry on into the future with your current personnel? I mean, WOLF members are involved in other bands (KING DIAMOND, MEMORY GARDEN,…) Could this be a problem?

I’m going to be completely honest here. The way I feel now I don’t ever want to play with any other musicians in WOLF but Simon, Johan and Pontus. If this line-up fell apart I wouldn’t know how to handle it. They are amazing, every single one of them. The only problem I can see is if Pontus is touring with KING DIAMOND at the same time as we are touring. There are two options. To stay home and write music or to hire a stand in bass player. Wait a minute… I see a third option: To tour as support for KING DIAMOND. That would be the best solution.

 

-Any chances someday in the future to release a live album or a DVD?

The perfectionist in me has always shunned away from that thought, but with the current line-up I can see it happening. We are starting to sound really, really good live now.

 

-With so much material to choose from, how do you choose your live setlist?

The Darwinian way. Survival of the fittest. Some songs just have that live capability. Some songs just work great live with an audience. Like “Skull Crusher” or “Voodoo”. There are album songs that I think is some of our best work, but for some reason they aren’t as good as live songs as some other, more simple songs. So I guess the audience decides what we play live.

 

-I remember your first gig in Spain. It was at Pounding Metal Fest in 2009. Do you remember much from that festival? How did it end up going?

How could I forget? It’s still one of my best WOLF memories ever. Usually you have to work the audience. The show opens with a bang, have a more mellow phase in the middle and work up to an explosive crescendo and by that point you have won most of the audience over. This show however was one long fucking bang from the first note to the last. The audience was completely amazing. At some point I wondered what the hell I was doing. There was no need to win the audience over at all. They were completely there from the moment we went on stage until we left. It was utterly amazing. What a crowd. That’s true metal at its finest!

 

-And finally, what does the future hold for WOLF? Any possibility to come back to Spain soon?

Yes, actually Spain is something we are focusing on now. Sweden, Spain and Portugal seems to be the places that are opening up for live shows and our booking agent is working his ass off to get something going. Spain and Portugal also happens to be great places for us to play because of the amazing metal audience.

 

Diego González.