Cwealm Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the musical project?



Cwealm is a misanthropic one-man melodic black metal project founded by myself in 2014. The purpose from the beginning was twofold: to compose music that touches the inner core of the listener, through beauty and violence alike, and to spread a virulent hatred for mankind.      



2.Recently you have released your first full length album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?



A bit simplified I’d describe it as Swedish black metal in the mid 90’s No Fashion vein. It’s more progressive than that, for sure, since the songs are quite varied and explore a plethora of themes. But still, that’s very much what it sounds like.    



3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you explore with your music?



The lyrics focus mainly on death. In different ways, of course, and with various occult themes and anti-abrahamitic sentiments thrown in. The extermination of man, and the annihilation of the universe, are topics that run all through the album. 



4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Cwealm'?



Cwealm is Old English for death, that’s what I usually tell people. In fact Cwealm has many definitions depending on context: slaughter, torment, pestilence, contagion, etc. For example, ”Þurh deáþes cwealm” means ”through pain of death”. ”Ðú wást cwealm hátne in helle”, further, is Old English for ”thou knowest hot torment in hell”.    



5.With this project you record everything by yourself, are you open to working with other musicians or do you prefer to work solo?



I record everything by myself except drums. The drums on this album, Odes to No Hereafter were handled (brilliantly I might add!) by Jocke Wallgren, courtesy of Amon Amarth. So I have no problem working with other musicians, but they will be session or guest musicians, not members of the band.



6. The album was released on 'Dusktone', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?



Well, it’s an Italian label releasing mainly black metal, doom metal and more experimental stuff. I’m proud to be a part of its roster, with many great acts such as Svartelder, Scuorn and Until Death Overtakes Me.  



7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black and death metal?



My album was released a week ago, so it’s hard to say, but the response so far has been very positive. I love the fact that folks from all over the world (from Brazil to Belarus!) has shown interest in Cwealm.



8.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician in the future?



I’m going to write and record another album. But I haven’t even started writing yet, so that’s going to take a while. I don’t really plan for the future as a musician, I just let my inspiration take me where it leads me. 



9.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?



Musically, my inspiration has a lot of sources. I’ve been influenced by about 50 per cent metal and 50 per cent other stuff. Bands like Dissection, early At The Gates, the old Norwegian masters etc. are important of course but also old thrash and death metal, like Dark Angel or Gorguts. For non-metal, I can’t name specific bands, but have been listening to flamenco, classical music, folk, circus music, and it all has inspired me.



What I listen to nowadays? I guess the above gives you a decent hint.      



10.How would you describe your views on Occultism?



I have a hard time using words to describe this meaningfully. It depends quite a lot on what you mean by occultism, but Cwealm is a partially occult band. So my advice would be to delve as deep as you can into the music and lyrics of Odes to No Hereafter, and some things will definitely become clear to you.       



11.What are some of your non musical interests?



I’m interested in a wide array of different subjects, e.g. philosophy, psychology and history (which partly explains my BA in the History of Science and Ideas). Other than that I enjoy being with my daughter, working out, and making the world unpleasant for abrahamitic scum.



12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?



I’d like to thank all of you who have supported Cwealm thus far, and encourage anyone with a dark soul to purchase Odes to No Hereafter from Dusktone. Ubi mors ibi spes!

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Cwealm/Odes To No Hereafter/Dusktone/2016 CD Review

  Cwealm  are  a  solo  project  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review of  his  2016  album  "Odes  To  No  Hereafter"  which  was  released  by  Dusktone.

  Horror  movie  style  keyboards  start  off  the  album  along  with  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  and  after  the intro  the  music  goes  into  a  heavier  direction  along  with  a  great  amount  of  melodic  guitar  leads  and  grim  black  metal  screams  and  the  music  also  gets  very  technical  at  times  and  blast  beats  are  used  in  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs.

  You  can  hear  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  in  the  fast  riffs  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them and  acoustic  guitars  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  which  also  bring  in  middle  eastern  style  scales  briefly  along  with  some  clean  singing  vocals.

  The  music  is  very heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  and  while  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  music  also  incorporated  a  great  amount  of  melodic  death  metal  elements  and  keyboards  also  make  a  return  later  on  during  the  recording  and  one  of t he  tracks  is  very  long  and  epic  in  length..

  Cwealm  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  the  90's  Swedish  styles  of  melodic  black  and  death  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  his  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  death,  misanthropy,  occultism,  and  annihilation  themes.

  In  my opinion  Cwealm  are  a  very  great  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Pale  Maleficence"  "Serpent  Of  Rebirth"  and  "Kadavret".  8  out  of  10.

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