This band seems to be on to something, and I think they will deliver some solid quality metal in the future. I thought it would be interesting to see what they had to say about the upcoming debut and their hopes for the future.
The interview was done by email. I sent the first bunch of questions at the 29th of August and received the last bunch of answers at the 29th of September.


Hey there!
Let�s start by you presenting yourself and the rest of the band members, please!
Tobias: Hey there Kristoffer! I'm Tobias Poggats and I will answer this interview together with Mr. Vanha. Carneous is a brutal death metal band from the far north of Sweden and consists of me doing vocals and guitar, Mr. Vanha on the drums, Simon Ahnfeldt on the bass and Simon Israelsson on guitar.

It seems like you got off to a pretty good start with the band. Your demo, Wave of Sickness, got some great reviews worldwide, and the very first song you ever wrote, Come Into Our Void, even got played on Norwegian radio. Did you ever imagine you�d get such a positive response from the metal crowd right away?
Tobias: Come Into Our Void has always been one of my favourite Carneous songs, and it was very satisfying when they chose to play that song from Wave Of Sickness. Carneous is one of the first serious musical projects of mine, and Come Into Our Void was the 6:th or 7:th song I ever wrote. I had no real expectations so it was kind of an ego boost to hear that people actually appreciated what we did.
Mr.Vanha: Well, no. I didn't have any expectations, but what I did know was that it wasn't crap. Yeah, Mr.Wildside played it on air and I was fucking stunned for a moment back then. Come Into Our Void is a good track, but should be played live or re-recorded in a proper studio.

You recently finished recording your upcoming CD When Time Wails, which will be released on the Swedish label Black Cave Records. But I�m a bit unsure as to if it�s one or two releases you have coming� �Cause I know you have an upcoming split, but I don�t know if the split is the same as When Time Wails or if it�s two different records. Care to shed some light on the issue?
Tobias: This is a long story. From the beginning the split was supposed to include Carneous - When Time Wails and Nattramn - Somber Dawnings, but unfortunately my friend Daniel Kuhla in Nattramn got stabbed in the hand and therefore he was unable to complete the recordings on the first demo "Somber Dawnings". Somehow we got stuck in the thoughts of having a split and therefore we started to search for other bands. Anyway, those plans are old and I don't think there will be any split. The bands will do two separate releases instead.

Ahh, jeez. That sucks. Will his hand become fully functional again? And how did he manage to get stabbed in the hand?
Tobias: His hand has healed fully now and he is doing the rest of the recording as we speak. Why and how is personal.

Since it�ll be two separate releases, will When Time Wails be a fullength?
Tobias: It will contain four songs. The ones that you've seen on www.myspace.com/carneous and one yet unreleased track.

And I just read on your site that the release will be postponed due to money shortage. Any idea when the actual release will take place?
Tobias: Probably sometime in the two coming months.
Mr.Vanha: Yeah, we split the costs on this CD so it is not only a money issue for Blackcave but for us to. But in the the two coming months as Tobias said.

Black Cave is a rather small label, will they be able to support you in the merchandise section in connection to the release?
Tobias: We usually pay for the stuff, merchandise, records and so on, and then sell them through Black Cave. This time however we split the costs of doing a proper release with a booklet and a pressed CD.

Since you got such a great response with your demo, as well as 2005 promo, what are your hopes for the new stuff? Do you think it�ll be just as well-received, or even better?
Tobias: Well, it's hard to say. I hope so. With this release we found our perimeter regarding the "soft stuff". We have some melodic riffs and I don't think we will go any further on that road in the future. I don't want Carneous to be associated with soft songs really, we play death metal and personally brutal grind is more my cup of tea.
Mr.Vanha: As Tobias told you we have explored some more melodic parts and, well, we think it's great to combine both melody and brutality. But we will let the crowd decide if our blending succeeded this time. Next release will however be more straightforward.

Earlier this year Henke left the band, only a couple of months before you were to enter the studio. You quickly found a replacement in Israelsson, but how did you work it out with the recording? Did he have time enough to learn your songs?
Tobias: Well, actually Simon didn't do any guitars at all, but he was with us all the time in the studio as a studioengineer; doing the actual recording and helping us out in general. He was a great asset and I would guess that he spent the most of the time in the studio of us all. Many thanks to him.
Mr.Vanha: Simon I is a great musician. He learns riffs in a matter of minutes so there was no problem learning him new stuff for gigs and so on.

Henke runs Black Cave Records, so you�ve already established a strong connection with a label. Do you think you�ll stick to Black Cave for the future, or look for offers from bigger labels?
Tobias: A fun thing here is that you forgot to mention Henke's two co-workers Andreas Zoergel and Klas Feldenius. I don't know how much they are involved in the label, but they are the founders of Black Cave Mailorder. Andreas and Klas are two close friends of mine (we're all from the same city and grew up together) and we all had plans of starting a mail order and selling metal clothing and stuff over the net. But since I moved away from home to study psychology I never got involved deeply into that. Anyway, since we're friends "off the scene" I think that Black Cave will always follow us and we will always continue to support them in what they do, even if we would move on to another label.

Oh, well you see I didn�t know that much, the only guy I knew was Henke. But if you�re friends with three of the guys maybe the case is that they just don�t wanna hurt your feelings, maybe they don�t even like Carneous. Ever thought of that? Haha�
Tobias: Everyone is entitled to an own opinion and if they do that's okay with me. They support us in our releases and that's the most important thing right now. Our crowd has grown rapidly across Sweden the last year so there's alot of people that do like what we do. At the moment it feels like the main goal is to support those people with Carneous.
Mr.Vanha: BlackCave is dead serious in what they do and would not press and sell anything they dont like.They have seen that our two Demos/Promos sell and is no problem to trade with other labels and so on. Blackcave isn't some charity label, but a small label rising so they can't put their reputation and money on the line.

What about side-projects, are there any relevant bands of yours worth mentioning? The only other band I know of that one of you guys were involved with is Diabolic Lust, but since that act�s split up I haven�t got a clue.
Tobias: For me I would mention Nattramn, a project where I play together with Daniel Kuhla. He's writing the music and lyrics and I'm doing the drumming. I have some other things going on right now, but nothing that serious. Just some loose strings. I am mostly focused on Nattramn and Carneous. I have just finished building the homepage so keep an eye out on www.nattramn.se for more information.
Mr.Vanha: Well I act as a prostitute behind the set in a sideproject where Simon S is riffing and I just started playing some drums for a band called God In Grief from G�llivare who plays anxiety music. But nothing released yet.

You�ve done some gigs in your hometown, but that�s quite far up north in Sweden. Planning on doing some shows south to give the rest of Sweden an opportunity to see you live?
Tobias: Yes, we have some contacts down there and we're planning some gigs. We'll probably end up in either Stockholm or Gothenburg, or both. Further announcements will be made on the homepage. So keep an eye out on www.carneous.se

Hahaha, that�s typical for you norrl�nningar, thinking of Stockholm as southern Sweden. Now I was thinking maybe a little further down south, to the actual south of Sweden, hehe.
Tobias: As I said: We are most likely to turn up in either Stockholm or Gothenburg. The reason why we havn't got any further down is simply because noone asked us to. We've been offered gigs down at clubs in both cities, so we'll go there first and then see what happens.
Mr.Vanha: Even Sundsvall is south of Sweden if you live in G�llivare. Stockholm is definitely south for me, i mean it is over 1000 km down south.If you went 1000 km south you would be in fucking france or something ha ha!

Well, you know I think that was the last of the serious questions. All I�ve got left now are my standard ones.
Latest record you bought?
Tobias: Myrkskog - Superior Massacre
Mr.Vanha: Andromeda - 2 equals 1

Latest record you listened to?
Tobias: Visceral Bleeding - Remnants of Deprivation
Mr.Vanha: Keep of Kalessin - Armada

Latest book you read?
Tobias: SS - ondskans m�ktiga redskap by Guido Knopp
Mr.Vanha: Dilledagboken en finsk fyllbults ber�ttelser

Latest show you went to?
Tobias: Dissection at Kolingsborg
Mr.Vanha: Soilwork at Pite� dansar och ler.

Crappiest record you've bought?
Tobias: Probably some crappy demo, I have alot of those.
Mr.Vanha: Goat of Mendes - To Walk Upon The Wiccan Way i don't now if it is the crappiest but the one i think of anyway. It really sucked.

And if you ever committed suicide, how�d you do it?
Tobias: I would not.
Mr.Vanha: I would buy a bottle of the finest whiskey i know of. Then start up my car with a little something from the exhaust, and just drink and inhale.

That was the last of �em. Thanks a lot for your time, I wish you the best of luck in the future! If there�s anything you think I forgot to ask now�s the time to mention it!
Tobias: Thanks Kristoffer, it was nice talking to you!
Mr.Vanha: Thanks for the chat!




Related links:
Carneous
Blackcave Records

For a closer look at Carneous' discography please click here