Iron Lamb | Interview with Daniel Ekeroth

Iron Lamb are something of a super-group featuring members with a vast experience in the Swedish death-metal scene with their involvement in prominent bands such as General Surgery, Repugnant and Dismember. Yet, their first record “The Original Sin” is so much different from what these guys have done in the past and is deeply rooted in d-beat and punk rock, and that to me was a bit shocking at first. I guess with your background in death-metal and the involvement of Pulverised Records I was expecting well, more Swedish death-metal. We asked bassist and author of the notorious "Swedish Death Metal" book, Daniel Ekeroth, if he gets similar reactions from other people who listen to Iron Lamb for the first time?

Well, abroad people tend to know more about our history within death metal bands. In Sweden, however, the majority are also familiar with our work within punk and rock in bands such as Diskonto, Crash Diet, Bombstrike and Subvision. I guess you can say that most of our previous bands have been pretty rooted within specific genres, whereas we are not too concerned about rules in Iron Lamb. We just make music we like now, be it metal or punk. If the riffs are good and the song rocks, we don’t care if it’s labelled punk or metal. It’s only rock n roll, and that’s the way we like it!

And how did Iron Lamb come together? What was the spark that ignited the whole thing?

I know Grga, Johan and Tomas had been talking for years about starting a rock n roll band, and I guess it finally happened in early 2009. Soon after, they lured me into joining the band, I actually turned it down at first but since I had locked myself out of the apartment I had nothing better to do than turn up at their rehearsal place! When I heard the first songs I was hooked, so I just joined on spot. Later Jens came into the horde, and completed the line-up. I guess we all feel a lot more freedom in this band than with our former groups; we can just do what the hell we want.

With “The Original Sin” it seems you’ve made an effort to sound analogue and raw, is there a sense of trying to record an album that conveys a 80’s punk rock vibe?

We certainly didn’t think like that at the moment, we just wanted the album to sound good. I guess the rawness comes from our working method – just bang the shit out of the songs, preferably in one take. Most of our favourite music was made in the 80’s, so I guess that influence was natural.

I hear a lot of comparisons to Mötorhead, but I also hear influential twists of Poison Idea and Discharge. Who are the important musicians that influence your writing in Iron Lamb?

All the great bands we like – Ac/Dc, Poison idea, Venom, Motörhead, Judas Priest, Bathory, Autopsy, GG Allin, Ramones etc. Of course, guys like Lemmy and Eddie Clarke sure are inspirations, but any great riff will get our blood pressure up. Basically it’s the feeling of rock that gets us in the mood, that raw energy that just makes you feel alive.

Why is the album called “The Original Sin”? And what does the cover art depicting a crowned lamb have to do with that?

We are all lambs, just waiting for the slaughter at the end of our life. The iron lamb is the one that breaks out of the horde, and indulges in a life of sin. Break all rules, never look back and piss on authorities as you go wild!

Do you have any plans of putting out another full-length or release in the future or this was a one-off experience?

We will probably record some new 7” singles first, but next year we will surely work on another album. This autumn we will also do a European tour, so you better watch out if we come to your town. We feel great about the band, there’s no way we would quit any time soon!

Anything else you'd like to add?

Thank you for the interview! If anyone wants to get stuff from us, you can contact us at: epitome_of_darkness@hotmail.com We still have some 7” singles left, along with a slew of different shirts.

Take it sleazy, sickos!

David Alexandre

More info at: www.myspace.com/ironlambofficial