usurpress

Updated! Usurpress/Barbarian Euro-tour 2012

usurpress — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:39:56 +0000

Iconoclast Records needs help with some dates on the Usurpress/Barbarian-tour. If you can help out, don’t hesitate to contact them at: iconoclastrecords (a) gmail dot com28 June: Milan, Italy (Usurpress Only)
29 June: Torino, Italy @ Infestazione Festival
30 June: Ilirska Bistrica, Slovenia @ MKNZ – Kamun Open Air
1 July: Zagreb, Croatia
2 July: Slovakia need help
3 July: Prague, Czech Rep
4 July: Brno, Czech Rep
5 July: Slavonice, Czech Rep,
6 July: Leipzig, Germany @ Liwi
7 July: Berlin, Germany @ Koma-F
8 July: Rostock, Germany
9 July: Day off
10 July: Germany need help
11 July: Liege, Belgium
12 July: need help
13 July: France
14 July: Milano, Italy

Slow Salt Sand: Interview with Pyramido

usurpress — Thu, 03 May 2012 06:43:26 +0000

Pyramido from Malmö/Gothenburg is a sludgecore-band (of sorts). Since we recently released a split-7″ with them, I thought I might ask them what’s going on in this brilliant band. Guitarist Dan Hedlund seems to be much faster with the keyboard than with the guitar as he answered my questions really quick. Some of the questions (clearly marked) are answered by vocalist Ronnie while the second guitarist Wendel only managed to show up for the last question. Right, let’s see what these guys have to say.

Ok, you play slow music. Is that fun? Ever have the urge to play a bit faster? Perhaps you have faster projects on the side? I know that Dan H have this Haunted Trails-project going but what about the rest of you?More fun, I dunno, but at least you don’t get a cramp from playing a riff. No seriously, we really like fast music as well, but Pyramido don’t play fast music, we play slow (but fun) music.
(Ronnie) I have played in fast bands before, like Man In Shackles (http://www.myspace.com/themaninshackles). It was time to play slow.

You’re very into split-releases, so far you have done splits with Suma, Gun Club, Usurpress and I know that there are a split-LP and a split-EP in the works, don’t remember the bands, though, why is the idea of splits so tempting to you? Some of the bands you have split with sounds nothing like Pyramido, is there a thought behind that or do you just happen to like these bands?
After this we’re done with splits for a while! I guess it was not a concious decision, “hey let’s make a whole bunch of split-albums!”, people asked, we like the music these bands make and we agreed. But somewhere we don’t wanna end up as the Agathocles of sludge, so yeah, now we concentrate on the next full-length.You’re also a hard working live band, how many European tours have you made so far? Which foreign town/venue have you played most times? How do you find time to tour so often, don’t you have jobs…?
I think we’ve done six trips down south so far so we’ve definitly have been keeping busy. One of our favourite places to play is Mainz in Germany, we played there several times. Have some good friends there and the Wagenplatz where the punks live is just a really nice place to hang out at. And yeah, Pyramido is funded on Colombian drug money. Won’t ever have to work another day in our lives. Time is all we got.
(Ronnie) How we find the time to tour? Well as our bass player says that playing in band is 5% rock and 95% logistics.
Pyramido live in Berlin on one of their many tours.

On your 2:nd album, Salt, there is a song (“Saltstoder”) which is written and performed by Jon Eriksson aka Pavement Saw, isn’t it kinda weird to include a song by another band on a Pyramido-record? Can other bands buy space on your next LP? Do you charge per song or per minute?
It would be wierd if we claimed it was a Pyramido-song, or if the majority of the songs was done by other people. It’s just nice to add people to the family. Or friend Klarinetten is doing a track on the next album actually.

Jon has also played keyboards on at least one of your tours, will you work more closely with him in the future? Perhaps evening joining the band? Or was it just a one-off session thing?
He will play with us on the Heavy Days in Doom Town-festival in Copenhagen as well. And hopefully many more times in the future. But as for now, Pyramido is the five of us.

In another interview, you said that you hate your first demo and that it sounded exactly like bands/music you despise. How did you go about changing your music into something you don’t despise? What are your influences in Pyramido?
I like it, I actually think it sounds kinda avantgarde, haha. Our influences is the ton of music we listen to I guess. The stuff I write for Pyramido will be more melancholic in the coming songs I think, sadder, boohoo. Either that or riffs with a more hardcore edge to them. That’s the direction I wanna take it at least.

Bunch of Saltstoder.

When can we expect a follow up to Salt? Will the title be another four letter word beginning with SA (like your albums “Salt” and “Sand”) or have you dropped that?
(Ronnie) The next album will be named Saga. Probably with all Swedish lyrics also… But everything can change…

Speaking of names, you sometimes use weird stage names, what’s the point of that? Is it to cover up the fact that most of the members are called Dan?
Duh, the coolness of it… And well, the name Tjodalv was already taken, so I had to go with Falken.

I guess that’s it! Or is it?
Yes that´s it. Or is it…
(Ronnie) Of course it is. The fat lady has sung!
(Wendel) Fucking Awesome!

Thanks guys! Hope we can do a gig together sometime. I somehow forgot some questions that I really wanted answers too, like why do they have two facebook-pages and how come Dan B (bass) never reviewed In Permanent Twilight for Critical Mass like he promised. Oh well, maybe next time. Contact this great band here: http://www.pyramido.org/

News in web shop

usurpress — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:42:12 +0000

The web shop is updated with both the Usurpress/Pyramido 7″ and In Permanent Twilight CD. Right now every order comes with a free “There is no ever after”-postcard.

Usurpress/Pyramido 7″ finally out!

usurpress — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:38:42 +0000

Yep, and it sure feels good too! Order it straight away from Plague Island (http://www.plagueisland.com/), ’cause we won’t have our copies until next week.

This is what it looks like!

Except from that, here’s what we’ve been up to:
*We have finished the recording and mixing of Trenches of the Netherworld, which is by far our best recording to date. Look for a release in early June by Iconoclast (LP) and SelfMadeGod (CD). You can listen to one of the new songs here: http://usurpress.bandcamp.com/track/effigies-burns-across-the-wastelands
*SelfMadeGod will release In Permanent Twilight on CD on May 1:st. Big thanks for all the promotion they have made for this release.
*Today we’ll start rehearsing for the upcoming tour with Barbarian.

Usurpress/Pyramido 7″ out soon

usurpress — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 14:28:56 +0000

Word is around that it’s finished and being shipped to Sweden. It looks like this:

Demos of the Netherworld

usurpress — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:19:19 +0000

One week left until the recording of the LP starts. This Saturday, March 10:th, we recorded demos of all the songs in Calle’s Is Charged Studio with Erik Sundström in control of the knobs. This was the first proper recording we did in Is Charged and the result was pretty good, a bit muddy sound (and very wierd vocal sound!) but otherwise it was better than we had expected. We didn’t cared that much about the actual recording, but apart from some missed drum beats and the occational untight vocal it sounded ok.
We had an idea that we should incorporate some nyckelharpa (“keyed fiddle”), a traditional Swedish instrument with a very ghostlike and haunting sound, so our friend Magnus “Klicken” Stjernberg showed up with his harpa and played some stuff on “Dethroned by Shadows” and it sounded great, we will definetely use the nyckelharpa on the album as well. Apart from that we did some last minute arrangement changes, worked on guitar harmonies and guitar solos. All in all a very interesting day that helped us a lot before the recording.

Klicken’s old nyckelharpa.

Klicken himself.

Photos from the actual recording will show up here once I get them.

About the album

usurpress — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 08:48:02 +0000

While we’re waiting for the Usurpress/Pyramido 7″ to be out, which will be in March, we’re planning the recording of our first full lenght LP/CD. As we have mentioned before, it will be entitled Trenches of the Netherworld and we will record it in Studio Maskinrummet, Lawrence’s new studio in Uppsala, 19-23:rd of March. Before that, 10-11:th of March, we will do demo recordings of all songs in Calle’s little hobby studio Is Charged Studio with Erik Sundström taking care of the recording. The running order of the songs are not written in stone, but it will probably be something like this:

Side A:
Black Death on White Wings
Effigies Burns Across the Wastelands
The God Eaters
The Wooden Sceptre
I Stand Above Time

Side B:

Trenches of the Netherworld

Coronation of the Crippled King

In the Beginning (Ended Yesterday)

Dethroned By Shadows

The Colours Of Darkness

Seduction Through Bloodshed

New song up!

usurpress — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:38:15 +0000

Check out the “Music”-section (http://usurpress.com/music/) and listen to the song “The Conqueror” from the Usurpress/Pyramido 7″.
The 7″ will be out in late February or early March.

Usurpress/Pyramido 7″ at pressing plant

usurpress — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:40:35 +0000

Plague Island has confirmed that the Usurpress/Pyramido 7″ is at the pressing plant now. Expect a release in Feb. The EP contains the following songs:
Usurpress:
Trenches of the Netherworld
The Conqueror

Pyramido:
Serenity

There is also a limited edition, 100 ex, available, this one is a 2-EP where (on the bonus-disc) Pyramido do “Fed Up” by Judge and we blast through “Bastard” by Misery and “Mania for Conquest” by Discharge as one song, entiteled “Misery for Conquest”. I also believe that the limited edition version is on green vinyl. Really stoked on this release as I consider both our songs as being two of the best we have ever written.
At the same time, Plague Island will also release a 3-song 7″ entitled Sadomasochrist by Gothenburg blackthrashers Styggelse.

Usurpress/Barbarian Eurotour 2012

usurpress — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:13:44 +0000

Just a few words about our European tour. We will do the tour together with 1985-worshipping Italians Barbarian, a truly great new band. The tour will start on June 28:th and end on July 14:th and it will take us through Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, Poland, Czech, Germany, Holland and Bergium. Once the dates are finalized we will of course publish them here. If you have questions about the tour or you are interested in setting up a show in your country, please contact: iconoclastrecords (a) gmail.com or tetanus28 (a) hotmail.com.

Barbarian.