HEARSE
- Lethal Arch Enemies

Made by: Mikael Johansson

In the harvest of promos and demos there was a band from the Hammerheart roost that caught my eye, HEARSE. The cover album looks like a month on marijuana or the sights OZZY probably had prior to recording "Blizzard of Ozz". The album actually had a touch of UFO and a lighter ENTOMBED. Who gets away with all this things? Drummer (and at times string bender) Max Thornell called me up to discuss the band.

Tell me the load down on the band Max!
- We've been together since 2000 says the Stockholmian drummer, we play to help us feel good! Besides that we had some songs that didn't fit in FURBOWL.

Apart from that I'm told that Max and Johan Liiva (strings/vocals) have been friends for ages, they've played together since 1984. And yes, they used to be Johan and Max in FURBOWL and to add to the retro part Johan is also known for having been a part in ARCH ENEMY. They also work in the same field, both of them being teachers. Third entry in the band, Mattias Ljung, has no such strings attached but used to play with Max in another band

Why have you chosen to be a trio?
They seem to find the three-piece format the ultimate but they expect to be reinforced in the live environment. This sounds like words of wisdom created from years of MOTÖRHEAD-worshipping and that is, no more and less, than part of the truth. My interviewee claims to have worn down albums like "Orgasmantron" and "No Sleep til Hammersmith".

Another fun part in the trio seem to be the possibilities of changing instruments. They are described as "Johan Liiva: Vocals and strings, Mattias Ljung: strings and cleaning, and Max Thornell, drums and strings. We have the possibilities for a big budget on strings!
- I sometimes feel that I have no more road to travel as a drummer but as a guitarist I have miles to go and things to do, says Max.

Talk about a collective with freedom to pursue their own personal development plans!

The Album
Max tells me that the album was all fun. The studio was in the same building as their rehearsal room. Apparently that was a problem and they don't recommend to record too close to "home".

The cover was made by a Dutchman (maybe there was some ganja involved after all) and supposed to be not so much metal. Max in fact wanted a wine-red one.

To test my theory in the review I toss in that I get a strong UFO-feeling from the album.
- I buy that replies Max, we wanted a rock´n´roll-sound. That's who we really are!

There's also the , to and fro, closeness to ENTOMBED. That seems never to have crossed Max´s mind but he adds that FURBOWL got some criticism for being close to the Swedish death and rollers.
The influences that are recited may not be the first guesses I would have made. The list includes the obvious for their age, THE SWEET, KISS, RUNAWAYS and other seventies groups but then we cross into X-files territory with HEATHER NOVA, THE PIXIES and MADONNA... And I was only looking for some genuine seventies hard rock acts!

Hammerheart seem to have been a very good acquaintance for HEARSE. They've got a three-album deal that includes a lot of promotion in many countries. Benelux companies have a stronghold of the main market down there it seems. They've been featured in quite a few magazines, among them Heavy Oder was and my fellow Swedes Close-Up. The latter expressed a strong belief that this band sounds a lot like KISS. Max seems puzzled but pleads guilty to having snatched three to four seconds from "She" in fourth track "Contemplation". The rest, we agree, of Close-Ups argumentation, is a mystery to us both.

The Future
The issue of what may come turned out to be interesting. At first there were the bleedin obvious hopes, healthy sales, making a new record after this one, a disc that will be heavier, tougher and have a more compact sound. The gig department is at the time of the interview blank. BUT... and here comes the worrying part, they aren't even remotely interested in playing Sweden!

I find it most distressing and alarming that our own fine rock acts are fed up with this country. This is obviously the land of despair where gigs without 80% covers are impossible to come by. This is a major income and taxation loss for Sweden! Imagine all the cities that only dream of a rock/metal club but are held back by the aforementioned reasons. We've scared our own away!

The cover or not to cover part is a reality for the band. Since both Max and string bender Johan Liiva was in ARCH ENEMY and FURBOWL together they keep getting mail from fans wanting to see them back in the saddle again. Drop this retrospective and give HEARSE a chance, I bet they have it in them to become the UFO of the new millennium! At least that's the prediction I see them fit to fulfil!

Mikael Johansson