### Sanctification - Tomas Elofsson

#### 13/01/05 || Lord K Philipson

Sanctification will blow you right the fuck away. Hailing from a shitty town in the north of Sweden, they deliver some excellent death metal by American standards. Double bass-drums all over the place, twisted riffing and the usual growling vocals, along with excellent song-writing and musical skills, really had me dropping my jaw when I found out about the fuckers.

It’s been quite some time since I was this impressed with an unknown Swedish band, and to my delight, I have gotten to know guitarist/songwriter Tomas Elofsson rather well over the past months. He’s a fucked up individual with a soft spot for christian chicks it seems. Doesn’t rhyme too well with the music they bring us on the forthcoming CD, “Misanthropic Salvation”. 11 tracks of fierce fucken death metal that rips through your flesh like a scalpel. Precise and impressive, much unlike the so-called “smart” bombs used in Iraq. Just like anything I would record.

Sanctification is all unknown so I thought I should make you all pay some attention to them. They deserve it. Here you go, wankers, another excellent interview from your favourite Lord. At least the questions are excellent, the answers could have been more thought-through, but it’s ok.

Lord K Philipson: Naturally, for starters I have to ask… Do you have anything to add?

Tomas: Yeah! That thing with the Christian chick is over!

You know you guys impressed me with the album… Seldom have I heard such American-inspired death metal from Sweden, and been impressed. How come you went for this particular style? It’s not exactly common that Swedish bands go for the American way of doing death metal. You sound nothing Swedish at all to me to be honest. Why is that? Countless hours of listening to Hate Eternal and the likes must have helped huh?

Yeah, we like Hate Eternal. But that is not the reason man. We wanted to do something extreme and brutal, and Nils (drummer) only knows one way to play, so it came out naturally. Fast, hard and brutal! That’s the way we do it.

The label that’s going to release the album is a rather small one (Rage of Achilles was it?), and you will probably not sell shit thanks to that… Doesn’t that feel kinda fucked up seeing I know you worked hard as hell on this album? What I mean is, why the hell didn’t any bigger label out there sign you fuckers, seeing you display an incredible amount of quality and brutality that seriously blows away a lot of the bands around today? What labels did you get refusals from and what were their reasons for saying no? You sounded too American?

Wrong! It’s called Remission Records and is a small label in Germany. We sent it to other bigger labels but they didn’t give a fuck about us. The owner of Remission (Christian Otto) knew Jörgen (bassist) from the days when Jörgen played with Deranged, and he wanted to release an album with us. So we came to a deal and the album will be out soon. And yes, we have really worked hard in the studio, so it feels fucking great that you like it man!!

Your drummer knows how to handle his bass-drums to say the least, and he makes sure people notice that all over the album. Would you now how many riffs you guys don’t use double-bass on, coz I can’t fucken find many… So seriously, how much of his playing is corrected in the studio? There’s just no way someone is that tight over 11 songs you know. Come on, you can tell me, I won’t tell anyone…

NONE!!! Nils is the best fucking drummer that I have ever heard or played with!! He has dedicated his life to be the best drummer on earth so he eats, sleep and shit with his drums! I am very lucky to play with that man, and he has taught me and the other guys in the band about discipline and hard work. Not a damn thing on the album is fake!!! 100% Sanctification metal!! We build a lot of the music around the drums, let them lead and then put some fat guitars in it, and then the vocals to finish it off. Sanctification is all about fast double bass-drums and mostly fast grind riffs! There you have it.

Sanctification, that’s really a crappy name. Who decided to go with this one, so I know how to punch in the face? It sure sounds death metal and all, but you must have had other names up for suggestion when you started out, lemme hear some of them so I know what to change your band-name to. I’m sure there must be something better than Sanctification.

Molle (vocalist)is the one to blame man!! Hahahaha, I have no idea why we have that name… Hahaha…shit! Ask something else.

Is the rumor true you are heavily into christian chicks? If so, this interview ends right here…

Hahaha, hell no! That’s something that I don’t know anything about.

There’s a lot of fire on the cover of the coming album… Is fire metal? If so, would you categorize Great White as metal? They had a lot of fire at some show a little while back you know…

We had a finished cover that was different but the label wanted more stuff in it so (Daniel) who did the work changed it a few times until we decided to go with it. Metal or not, it is a great cover man!!

So, who are you influenced by as far as your guitar-playing goes? I hear a lot of Deicide-like riffing in the songs… And while we are talking about Deicide… Do you think it’s fair to throw together a few albums that sound like utter shit, for the sake of getting out of the record-deal? Isn’t that like cheating on your fans? Can you see Sanctification do that after realizing you guys sell no more than 100 copies becoz you are on Rage of Achilles?

Shit, I don’t know man. Dimebag is a great guitarist and Zakk Wylde is great! The old Deicide stuff is great but the last one is really crappy man!!! What they did to the fans is really shitty man, and hell no, we would never do that to our fans. If it would come to that, I would quit the band at once. We are no fucking sell-outs!!!

I know that one of your favourite-bands is The Project Hate, it’s no secret or anything. This means you are open to a wider spectrum of music. What the fuck do you listen to when it’s not some worthless US death metal band in your stereo?

I listen to all kinds of music man. In Flames, Grave (the old stuff), Ensiferium, Immortal, Cob etc… Hell everything that is great music man! TPH is my favourite now!

Are you sure you are up for 15 questions more? Don’t you have some death metal riffs to write, some christian chicks to score, or anything else as pointless?

I always write music. And no christian chicks to fuck now!!

I’m sure you guys in the band have known each other for quite some time and all… Which one of the members are you closest to wanna punch in the fucken face on a regular basis? Who starts shit in the rehearsal room and behaves most like a bitch? I think it’s your vocalist, he looks like a troublemaker with that pussy-ass beard.

Hahahahaha, yeah, he is the one I hate! No seriously, we don’t argue that much. We usually work stuff out together. Ok, sometimes you just want to tell everybody to fuck off but that’s just me on a bad day talking.

Rate the following American death metal bands on a scale from 1 – 10, don’t forget to comment on them as well. As in “why they suck” or “why they don’t suck so badly”, ok?

Cannibal Corpse: 9

Deicide: 7

Suffocation: 5

Morbid Angel: 10

Leif Edling: 8

Internecine: ??

Hate Eternal: 8

Atheist: ??

Malevolent Creation: 6

Vital Remains: 8

Do you like christian chicks? Come on, you can be frank with me.

Hahahaha, you are funny man! You know, I don’t like chicks! I LOVE YOU BABY!! And you know it!

When’s the album coming out? You know you won’t probably get any tour-support from the label, so how do you plan on getting the word of Sanctification out there? Do you guys receive any mails at all from other countries?

Yeah, we do man… Mostly from ‘zines and shit… We will see what happens with the touring part. People just have to buy the album.

The readers of this site is in general retarded. Explain to them why the fuck they should check you guys out. I mean, what makes you better than all the Cannibal Corpses out there? I know I rather listen to you guys than 90 percent of the American death metal scene, but that’s just me. Put up some selling-points for the American market man… You can not include the words “blast-beats”, “death metal”, “crunchy riffs” or “brutality”. Ok?

Why?!! Because we are the best band in the world!! We work really hard every day and we are 100% dedicated to what we are doing. Many death metal bands are too concerned about playing fast, that the songs end up sounding too similar and boring. We try to have a bigger variety in our material so we don’t lose the heavy shit. Every body in the band are very skilled and have a lot of experience of playing with other bands like Divine desecration, Deranged, Defaced Creation, Aeon, Chastisement and so on… So buy the goddamn album dammit man!

I know you play Ibanez guitars. That’s a nu-metal guitar man. Every decent musician should know that Jackson guitars are the shit. What made you go for Ibanez and what model do you play? I know there’s some instrument-a-holics here at Global Domination. Line up your gear for them so they have something to jerk off to. If you even have a gear that is, seeing you are on Rage of Achilles… I don’t think you are on Remission, I think you are on Rage of Achilles… Just wanted to make that clear.

Jackson sucks man!! I have an Ibanez Universe, white. Number 467, only 867 made of this baby! Priced up to 5000:- dollars if you can find one! They are rare. The rest is: Sans amp PSA-1 pre-amp, Rocktron Velocity 250 Power amp, 400w Behringer speakers and a Samson gate.

Let’s pretend you are Corpsegrinder from Cannibal Corpse for a while, ok? Have Corpsegrinder ever:

…thought you should get a decent job and stop this music thing?

No way in hell!!!

…paid for sex?

Not yet, but I will!

…beaten up a christian? Chicks count.

Hell yeah!! No chicks though.

…beaten up someone else just for the hell of it?

Oohh… yeah man!!!

…missed a gig becoz of being too drunk?

No, I don’t drink when I play!

Don’t lie… Did you laugh at it and continued drinking?

Like I said, I don’t drink when I play!

…passed out on stage?

No.

…sent nude pictures of you to fans?

Hell yes!!

What is the biggest royalty check you have gotten and what did you buy with it? Damn, I forgot, you won’t be getting any royalties… Are you into christian chicks then?

Hell, we have reserved two fat checks and we will buy sex for it all!! None for u K!

As I said to Caligula of Dark Funeral when I interviewed him, thank me for interviewing you guys before we continue.

Spank you u sexy bastard!!

What bands in Sweden impresses you nowadays? I can’t see you having a hard-on for the In Flames/Darkane/Soilwork thing. Bands that play nothing but nu-metal Ibanez-guitars can’t possibly be your bag, now can it?

In Flames is ok but I think the old stuff is better then the last two albums. TPH, Dismember, Naglfar, and Dark Funeral are great bands!! And I hate fucking nu-metal!!! It stinks so badly that it should be banned.

I noticed you have your guitar placed high up as you play. That is very, very gay and shouldn’t be allowed. Have you tried lowering it quite a few yards to get that cool look on stage? Just becoz you have some tattoos and long hair doesn’t mean you can have the guitar that high up you know… It’s not about being able to play everything correct on stage, it’s about looking cool. I have some tricks to teach you if you want to?

Hahaha, fuck you man! I look great on stage!! I am the most beautiful one in our band on stage! Are you blind man?!! No really, I did lower it some after we had played in Trondheim. But only because you hate it, I will put it so high that you will be able to se my sexy belly!! How about that?

Do you seriously believe that Rage of Achilles will get your album out on schedule? I don’t know, I just don’t like the name of that label… What label were you on again?

Once again DICK: Its Remission Records!! And now, it is already late! It should be out now but hell no, its not! That’s partly our fault to, some things in the studio were really fucked up, so we are about 3-4 weeks late.

So, what’s yer favourite The Project Hate-song? Do you wish you had written it?

“With desperate hands so numb”. Best song I have ever heard man!! And hell, I wrote that song years ago but you had no idea about that, hahaha…

On a serious note here… If I put on your album and let it run on random, there’s no way I can separate one track from the other. I recognize the start of each song, then it just becomes blurry. But in a good way. Have you ever thought about throwing in some more melody into the songs, something that people actually would remember? All I remember after a listening is double-bass-drums and heavy fucken riffs along with growls. Pretty much everything I want to hear…

We are not into blending too much melodies into our type of music. We play short, fast and intense songs, and we don’t want to risk losing the aggression by putting in too much melodies. If you want melodies go buy an In Flames record.

I don’t care about your future-plans at all, I just hope that you guys get the attention you deserve. That’s how much I dig your shit you know… So, what are your future-plans? Do NOT include the words “new album-recording”, “tours” and “Rage of Achilles” please.

We are constantly working on new music that is enjoyable to play, hopefully we get to play live now and then also… We have a new guitarist (Marcus Edvardsson) that is currently learning our material, he has improved our sound a lot. We hope that our album will reach out to as many people as possible because we are longing to get out there and play for you guys.

Last off then, welcome man. Good to see you. Are you ready to be interviewed by the Lord for the world’s best fucken website, Global Domination.

Hell yes, let’s go!