First of all, please, could you do a brief introduction of the band, for those of the readers that have still to discover you?

We're a metal band from Sweden and we've been around since the summer of 1998. The debut "Warchants & Fairytales" was released in July 2000. Now we're working on a new album after travelling some crooked roads over the years.

I know you guys faced some line-up problems lately (even the end of Freternia was announced)... so please, can you tell us what exactly happened?

It's a very long story. If you look in our biography you'll see a mess of departures and even instrument changes within the lineup. It's worse than Whitesnake for God's sake! The latest departure from guitarist Andreas Heleander wasn't such a big deal since he never was into the music. We have to dig deeper to get into the reasons why there have been so many problems. All started in the early sping of 99. At the time Tomas was singing lead vocals and our two guitarists was Patrik Lund and Bo Pettersson. Some conflicts regarding musical differences, how the band should work and personal shit occured, mainly between me and Lund. The band was not working properly to say at least. Beeing tired of the whole situation, I said "I quit", and Pettersson followed. It's almost 3 years ago and if this shit would have happened today, I would probably act in a different way but never mind... Freternia moved on with Tomas taking over the bass, Mikael Bakajev replacing Pettersson and later on Pasi Humppi joined and took over the lead vocals. Shortly after the recordings of W&F, Lund quit and Heleander stepped in as the new lead guitarist. Neither Heleander nor Bakajev were songwriters. They didn't seem to work well together, either. Patrik Lund and Tomas used to split the songwriting, in that way the departure of Lund was a great loss for the band. Tomas found himself beeing the only member who could come up with some reasonable material, while he played bass and wished he could have a guitar hanging over his shoulders instead. I like both Heleander and Bakajev but in my opinion they should never be in Freternia at the first place, due to musical and personal differences. They were emergency solutions who didn't work out. All those emergency solutions through the years caused the announcement of Freternia's end in April 1, 2001 when Tomas got fed up and left the band. Freternia without Tomas is like Black Sabbath without Tony Iommi - probably nothing. That's why the band went down for a couple of months. I think the main reason why there have been so many changes in the lineup is that Freternia never solved the problems when they occured. We've sworn to each other to learn from our mistakes in the past and from now on we do communicate. We talk to each other almost everyday and we're better friends than ever. It feels good.

So, who is currently in the band and what their musical backgrounds are?

Pasi Humppi (vocals), Tomas Wäppling (guitars), Stefan Svantesson (drums), Tommie Johansson (keyboards) and myself on bass guitars. We're looking for another permanent lead guitarist but we'll be careful this time and only accept a man who is willing to put his heart into Freternia. No more "bonnarunk" as we say in swedish. All of us have played in several constellations before but for most of us Freternia was the first serious band, and still is.

Are the new members participating anyhow to the songwriting of the new CD? How will those changes effect the sound compared to the debut?

Since Lund is no more in the band, Tomas is the main song writer. Normally he comes up with an idea and then asks for input in the rehearsal room. Tommie and myself are the two most active co-writers. By the way Tommie has a lot of great ideas and came up with most of the material to "New Hope" and the last, yet untitled track (more info on album tracks later). I think the song writing process has worked out fine for this one. I'm not a song writer who can sit down with an acoustic guitar and write a whole metal song without much effort but I like to arrange material, come up with a bridge, a riff who binds the song together etc. Tracks like "New Hope", "Battle Of Minds", "Dark Side" and the two still untitled tracks are examples of cooperation with good result between Wäppling, Johansson and Wiberg. Lund/Wäppling wrote all music to W&F and it's obvious Freternia will sound slightly different on the next album. But I will cover that in the answers to the following questions...

Well since the first Freternia CD was so damn awesome are you guys actively trying to make the new album comparable to the debut or are you trying to evolve the Freternia sound? Or are you simply making the music that comes to you without worrying about the debut?

We're not just trying to evolve, we do evolve. The challenge is to evolve without losing our sound. I think we've always had a more aggressive sound than other bands in the genre. We've developed that even further and the new record will be ten tons heavier and meaner than the debut. On the other hand we have a couple of synth based songs with a very melodic feeling. We have to continue evolve and widen our sound. It's necessary and fun at the same time.

The new CD will be a concept album. Can you tell us a bit about the lyrical concept of the record? What are some of the stories about?

All songs tells of a man ("The Hero" in the lyrics) who enter another world in his dreams. In this new world he finds himself being chosen to save the people from a bitter destiny. Everybody believe in him, but does he believe in himself? Will he manage to fulfill the prophecy? His limitations is only in his mind and he has, in fact, the power to succed. He just has to trust himself. The story has a moral but it's up to the listeners to make their own interpretetions.

About the musical direction of the album, any new elements? Can you give a possible title and tracklisting?

The new album (yet untitled) will be very varied, contrary to W&F. "The Dark Side" and "Battle Of Minds" are harder and heavier than everything you've ever heard Freternia playing. "Grimbor The Great" and "Shadowdancers" are speedy things and pretty much in W&F-style but with a darker feeling. Then we have two hyper melodic songs in the almost progressive "New Hope" and track #6 (which Andreas Heleander reffered to as "hair metal"). This album will have an allover dark feeling and a wide spectrum, but the lyrical concept binds it all together.

Tracklisting: 1.Grimbor The Great, 2.The Arrival, 3.The Dark Side, 4.Shadowdancers, 5.The Saviour, 6.Untitled, 7.New Hope, 8.Battle Of Minds, 9.Untitled & 10.Freternia (bonus)

Will you include any song taken from your demos? If so, have they been modified?

As shown above "The Arrival", "Grimbor The Great" and "The Saviour" from the latest demo are all part of the concept. We will also record our self titled "Freternia" as bonus track for license purpose. It was originally included on our first demo and I believe it's one of the best songs we've ever written. It surprised me a lot when I didn't find it on the W&F-album. The main riff has a heavy, yet powerful rythm, it will strike you like a fist in your face. Fast and melodic lead guitars spices up this preperation. It will be a perfect dessert for the album. As far as modification goes we've changed some small parts in "Grimbor". The lyrics in "Freternia" will also be rewritten.

Your lyrics seem to be completely Fantasy, or? Do you think that lyrics should talk about reality and everyday situations or fiction is also an easy and beautiful way to face reality?

I don't prefer anything. I mean, Queensr˙che wrote great lyrics on "Operation: Mindcrime" and "Empire" and those lyrics was political and faced reality. But I can also get something out of a Ratt-lyric which in most cases just deals with dangerous women and love, it's fun. The music will always be more important than the lyrics. If one wants to read a great epos, then go read a book like "The Call Of The Wild" or something. If the lyrics have something interesting to tell, it's just a bonus. So far our lyrics have been dealing with fantasy but who knows what will happen in the future? We just do what feels right at the moment.

Your former label Loud'n'Proud Records disappeared without a trace and recently you signed with Spanish label Arise Records. How did this deal come about? Did they offer you the best deal? Do you feel confident that they will put enough promotion behind the band once the CD is released?

When we reunited, Tomas sent a couple of demos to companies who had show interrests earlier. Arise was one of them and they really seemed to like our material. We know that Arise isn't the biggest company in the world but as long as they do their best for us we will be satisfied and up to this date they've worked hard and they're easy to deal with. I can only speak for myself on this matter: I don't care if we're selling 1000 copies or 100000. My wallet would probably care but not my heart. The only thing of importance is that we're creating stuff that we're satisfied with and if someone else likes it we'll be happy.

Do any of you guys have any side projects? I know that Pasi sings in another band called Ironware. How will he manage to keep up with both bands? Which band is his priority?

Ironware and Freternia are very good friends, by the way I was in that band during my divorce from Freternia. I honestly don't think Pasi give priority to neither band. Naturally he may have stronger feelings for Ironware since he did started that band but over the years it has never been any problem. Pasi is a great guy and as long as he sings his ass off in both bands it will probably never be any problems in the future either. Situations like this need a lot of understanding between the different parts. The only ones in Freternia who doesn't have one or more side projects is Tomas and Tommie. Tomas has a family to take care of and it takes time, and I don't think he needs another band since he's writing so much stuff in Freternia. Tommie is probably too lazy for being in another band. Just before Freternia reunited I asked him to join my other band Unholy Wizard but he seems to prefer having sex with his girlfriend all day long. Can you believe it? No, I'm just joking. I don't know why he hasn't started something besides Freternia. I like to work with different projects but lately all my priority has been focused on Freternia. Stefan is also drumming in Crystal Eyes. Unfortunately we don't have very good contact with them but I believe we will need to sort that out.

The Swedish metal scene seems to have exploded with great bands over the last few years. Do you feel belonging to this Swedish Power Metal boom? Do you think HammerFall opened the stream?

I don't want to belong to something at all. For me "power metal" is a negative term nowadays, and I just don't speak about the swedish scene alone. The whole wave has gone over the top. Too many bands doesn't seem to care about creating a style of their own, not even a sound of their own. If I want to listen to something that sounds like "Keeper Of The Seven Keys", I put on the originals. I was really excited when Hammerfall got their break and melodic metal became accepted again but today I couldn't care less. Hammerfall is a good band and they are very professional performers but actually it was their label who opened the stream. They signed Hammerfall and when they succeded, a lot of labels followed. Let's take Crystal Eyes for example. They have been around since the beginning of the 1990's but they couldn't get a record deal since their music was dead in the eyes of record companies and media.

To what music do the band members listen to, is it mainly metal or do you also enjoy listening classical music, etc?

Pasi is one of those guys who whorship Kai Hansen, Gamma Ray and Helloween. Tomas is a thrasher from the past but he's also into classic metal as Maiden, Priest etc. He also likes Edguy. Tommie listen to all kinds of music, from death metal to disco. Stefan's musical taste is strange. I know he loves Maiden and some other reasonable acts but then I've heard he's into Julio Iglesias and stuff like that (internal joke :)

And what influences you as a bassist? What bassists and bands do you like and do you take influences from?

Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath) is simply the king of 4-strings. Every bassist in the world should listen to what he says with his instrument. If Hendrix was one with his guitar, Geezer is one with his 4-stringer. Jeff Pilson (ex-Dokken) is a very inspirational person and I try to have the same view at music as he has. He's also a great song writing bass player and singer. If Geezer influenced me much in my younger days when I learned to play, I'd say Jeff is my number one influence as a musician and person. Other bassists in my taste: Kip Winger, Bob Daisley, Nikki Sixx, Chris Squire (Yes), Juan Croucier (ex-Ratt), Gene Simmons and John Levén from Europe - the band.

Can you list your 3 all time favorite albums and give some comments about them?

Just three? Okey, here it goes:

"Defenders Of The Faith" (Judas Priest): What can I say about this album? It's the best record ever made. It contains the essence of what Heavy Metal is all about. Speed, heaviness, twin guitars and vocals from out of this world. Judas Priest is the best band in history even though their latest material is somewhat disappointing. If a fire would start one day in my appartment I would save my Rob Halford-signed DOTF vinyl before even thinking about saving myself. Judas Priest (with Rob) rules the world of Heavy Metal! There's a reason why they're called the METAL GODS... Look at the album title. "Defenders Of The Faith". It says it all, don't you think? "Let's all join forces - Rule with iron hand - And prove to all the world - Metal rules the land".

"Under Lock And Key" (Dokken): Dokken is another one of my favourite bands and "Under Lock And Key" from 1985 is their best record in my opinion. Great songs, fantastic guitar playing and vocals. It's just a shame they couldn't and still can't get along.

"The Ultimate Sin" (Ozzy): I really like the production of this album and the material is allover great. It was the first epos I bought with Ozzy after hearing "Lightning Strikes" and it still remains as a very special album for me.

Finally, what are the plans to promote the new album when released? As far as I know Freternia did not do a real tour for the first CD. Do you plan to go on tour this time (Sweden or abroad)? With which bands would you like to tour and what countries would you like to go to?

I'd love to play every single country in the whole world but unfortunately that's not possible for the moment. Instead we will, as everybody else, try to do some festivals. We'll take every opportunity to get on stage, as long as we're not starving. My dream band to tour with would be Dio, 'cause Ronnie seems to be a nice person and he still kicks ass after all these years. Spain looks interesting by the way. Sweden is cold at this time of the year.

The unavoidable last question, thanks Peter for doing this interview and write down everything I forgot, contact address or final words...

Thanks for the interview, Marina! Your website is great. The world of Heavy Metal needs people like you who are willing to dedicate their life to this fantastic wonderful music. KEEP ON DEFENDING THE HONOUR OF HEAVY METAL!!! Yeah, the album will be recorded in April and released in October. Feel free to visit our website at www.freternia.com for all the latest news regarding our orchestra. PW - 4-stringed killer.

Awwwww, thanks!!!!!!!!

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