I've been in contact with Tomas, Suicidal Seduction's lead guitarist, for a couple of years now. But it didn't occur to me until recently that I'm a fool if I don't interview him on behalf of SS. So I asked him if he was interested, and this is the result.
The interview was done through ICQ, the night of September 9th.

Hey Tomas. Everything�s alright with you I hope. But let us skip the boring nagging about how sucky life is, and the complaining about everyday�s misery and despair� Or maybe that is just what this interview will be all about. With a name like Suicidal Seduction, you expect a lot of just that - misery and despair�
Anyway. First off I�d just like you to introduce the band. Tell the readers who you are, and what other members the band might contain.
Suicidal Seduction consists of: Me, Tomas Nilsson, on lead guitar, Tomas Lagr�n vocal, Erik Dahlquist guitar, Samuel �jring drums and our newest member John Andersson on the bass.

In about a week your official debut, Guilty On All Counts, will finally be out. How does that feel, excited?
It was supposed to be released several months ago, but it seems like as soon as it�s promised to be released, another delay has occurred. But now it�s for real, right?
Yeah, really excited! The whole band is pleased with how the result turned out. Devo helped us a lot in the studio and we have much to thank him for. Of course it's now that you begin feeling nervous about what people are actually gonna think about the record. Johan at OR believes in us, and that fells very cool!
We will also record a music video to the title track on the record.

Oh yeah, when will that happen?
We will send this record 'round to some magazines and zines and stuff like that, a few record labels too and see what will happen. Gigs are hard to find, but we will try to play outside our hometown to promote the record. No official tour is planned, but feel free to contact us if you want to have some heavy shit at your local pub or so!

Hehe, ok� But what I meant to ask you about was when you will record the video. Hehe.
Hahaha, okay... We will start planning the recording of the video when Devo has finished the worldtour with Marduk in the end of September.

Ahh� So your studio guy will also do your video?
Yes, Devo will record the video with us. He has done the latest shit to Marduk, so he can handle the camera very good too!

Well, you were supposed to release a MCD (Endless Suffering) in 03/04, on an American label called Black Moon Records. But that one never saw daylight. What really happened? On your site it just says �personal issues�, and from what I�ve heard otherwise the label just suddenly closed down.
Yes, the guy behind Black Moon Records just didn't have the time, the money or just about anything but the lust to release records with good music that he liked. Due to some personal shit he had to put Black Moon to rest... maybe that was good for us. This new record is much better than the last that we were supposed to release on his label. It's better to do a good impression on the people out there, than to do a just fairly good first release, if you know what I mean?

Yeah, I get the picture� But your music also changed quite radically between Endless Suffering and Guilty On All Counts. Might that have something to do with your negativity about that release?
Hmm, maybe? I think we just wanted to play less melodies more brutality. We have done the style with many melodies and wanted to go back to more thrashier shit!

Well, to me your older stuff were more At The Gates styled thrash/death. But this one seems to be more to the US style of death metal. Do you agree?
Yes I agree... but you can still find some Swedish tunes in the songs, hahaha! Slayer is a big influence to us...

Hahaha, and we all know Slayer hails from Sweden� hehe
So you said you�re very pleased with the result of the recording. What do you expect/hope the response will be like?
I hope that the people will discover a hard and fast record that really gives you what we call - a fist in your face-feeling! We're eager to confront the people live with our music!

Haven�t played any of your new stuff live yet?
"The new stuff" is actually quite old. The newest song is 12 month old or so... We have played three of the four tracks live. After the break up with Black Moon we all were quite depressed and didn't know what to do. This contract with Ominous Recordings has brought back the lust to make more music, and to make it more aggressive.

Oh� So have you got a lot of songs just lying around at the moment? I mean, that you wrote during that 12-month period? Any plans for a new recording, new release?
Hehehe we�re working with one new song at the moment. We wrote some more melodic songs during the 12-month period and tried to record the songs in a local studio one time but the studio were damaged during the recording so we had to stop the session. We work very slowly when we write songs. The next release will hopefully be a fullenght CD. Nothing is planned at the moment.

Damn, so that means we could very well have to wait a couple of years before that will happen�?
Are you also quite picky, re-writing stuff a couple of times before the end-result of a song�s actually decided?
If a bigger label gave us the budget to record a fullenght we would work our asses of to the get it done!
We're very picky with songs. We did the last agreement on the songs in the studio when we recorded it - hahahaha

Haha, I see. Cutting it kinda close! I hope you haven�t changed your mind about the songs afterwards, hehe.
By the way, I just thought of something. How did you get in touch with Ominous Recordings? It�s a new label, dealing with all kinds of music, and not just metal.
Johan actually contacted me and wanted to release a record with one of my other bands - Aktiv D�dshj�lp. When we weren't interested in a deal with him he asked if I had any other projects that he might be interested in releasing. We sent him a release demo and he digged the tunes and gave us a deal for a mcd.

I was actually just thinking about asking you about Aktiv D�dshj�lp. This is a band I suspect takes quite a lot of time from both your and Samuel�s schedule. Does the side-projects sometimes get in the way of Suicidal Seduction�s evolution?
I know you released a troubadour/rock album under the name of Lucidor, but are there any other bands you guys are involved with?
I think that the side projects are holding us back a bite. If the other guys would really wanted to give Suicidal 100% of there time, I would the same. But, I think other projects are necessary for the members to evolve on the own. Aktiv D�dshj�lp is a project that sometimes devours all of my spare time and the next few months I don't lift a finger for that project. All the guys, except Erik I think, are involved in many other projects. Tomorrow I will travel to Nyk�ping and start record a fullength album with a new project that Ominous will release in the future.

Hmm� And what project is that?
A project that will record Bellman interpretations. The project conists of me and Dick Lundberg and is at the moment nameless.

Ahh, I read about it on the Ominous Rec site. It definitely sounds interesting! Bellman is a worldwide legend, but maybe not what you�d usually expect from a metalhead. But then again, neither was Lucidor. Do you think that the very varied musical styles you play, gives you a wider perspective, and other influences than the rest of the SS members might bring into the writing?
Our drummer has quite weird influences too. When I write music to Suicidal I more concentrate to give the riff an aggressive approach with a quite melodic base. I don't really think in genres... a good riff is a good riff.

Back to the name Suicidal Seduction. As I stated earlier I get the impression of a gravely depressed band, or maybe just a poser name to be �cool�. What does the name mean to you? Does it have a deep meaning for you guys? Can you expect the same crave for the miserable from your lyrics?
When I came up with the name it just was a way of seeing life. With all the hatred, misery all over the globe life can't be much more than a pain in the ass, at least very often. The name also sounds killer so that is the second reason that we chose it, hahaha!
I can only answer for my lyrics. My lyrics reflect my way of beholding the world in different ways. Sometimes just bitter reflections, another time I build a story upon facts, maybe on a serial killer or something like that.

So the writing of depressive lyrics is not just an idea, it�s sometimes the only way. Have I interpreted it correctly?
It's different from song to song and writer to writer.

Oki doki. But now it�s time to move on to my standard questions. These are things I just find amusing asking, and can also result in some damn interesting answers at times.
Latest record you bought?
Sargatanas Reign - Bloodwork - Tequines of torture
Latest record you listened to?
Ozzy Osbourne - The Ultimate sin
Latest book you read?
Someone in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan
Latest show you went to?
Hmm, must�ve been on Augustibuller... don't remember the name of the band though... hahaha
Crappiest record you've bought?
Shit, that was a hard one! Timo Tolkki's second solo release

He, don�t even know who that is.
Well, this is a question that seems to fit to ask: If you decided to commit suicide, how�d you execute your decision?
Something tasty and bloody. Hmm I think that I would choose to do it the Kurt Cobain-way.

If he really did commit suicide. Hahahaha� I just find that whole Cobain/Love discussion amusing. All immature kids, adoring Cobain, that just can�t accept that their idol was so doped up he probably didn�t even know what the hell he was doing. Know what I mean? He shot himself, that�s it!
Anyway, fuck it. This is the end of the interview. I have no more questions, and I�m too tired to come up with more. Anything I should have asked? If not I�d just like to say thanks a lot for your time. I hope Suicidal Seduction will hit the charts hard, haha. Take care and good luck!
You already have my number so I guess.... not? Hahahaha























Related links:
Suicidal Seduction
Aktiv D�dshj�lp
Ominous Recordings