Sludgelord) Tell us about how The Order of Israfel got started, how did you come together and decide to start The Order of Israfel?
Tom) I've had this band in mind for over 10 years. I'd been working on ideas
and songs since about 2003, and then when I moved to Gothenburg in 2012,
it was finally time to look for the right people for the band. I had met Patrik
on the Pentagram tour when I was guitar teching for them. His old band,
Doomdogs played 3 shows on that tour, and I got along really well with
everyone in their band. When I started talking about moving to Gothenburg,
he said he'd be interested in playing together. That was the first piece of the
puzzle. Patrik knew of Hans, our drummer, knew about his old band, Lotus,
and knew he was a Black Sabbath obsessive. We got together and
jammed. It was great straight away, actually. Staffan came a bit later. We
tried out a few people, but none of them seemed right. Finally, Staffan, who
was my housemate at the time, asked to hear the demos of my songs, and
really liked them. We tried him out, and it sounded great. We're very lucky
with how the line-up has turned out. We sound good together, and we all
get along really well.
Sludgelord) What is the meaning of the name?
Tom) I first heard the name Israfel when a friend referred to him as the angel
of music. That idea just totally captured my imagination. I feel like music is
one of the great divine forces for good on Earth, and I loved the idea of an
angel that personifies that. Yes, it comes from Islam and is mentioned in an
Edgar Allen Poe poem too, but the main inspiration came from that first time I
Heard the name. The idea behind the name The Order Of Israfel is from my
experiences in finding such a strong connection between music fans around
the world. It doesn't matter what genre you're into, if two people who truly
love music come together, then there's some kind of understanding there. I
created the idea of The Order as a celebration of that understanding and
connection, and of the divine healing, uplifting, and teaching power of
music.
Sludgelord) How does it feel being a doom band from the Swedish home of thrash metal?
Tom) It's fine! We know some of those guys. Actually, we're playing at the
next Gothenburg Sound Festival with some bands like that. We're
comfortable not having an immediate doom metal scene around us, 'cos it's
normal for doom bands to exist in isolation.
Sludgelord) You have had a pretty relentless tour schedule, tell me about some things you do to keep centred during the hectic times?
Tom) I highly recommend listening to Enya! But really, I love the guys in the
Tom) I highly recommend listening to Enya! But really, I love the guys in the
band, and when I was dealing with some personal issues during this tour, they
were 100% there for me, as we all were for each other, and that helped me
during the difficult times. And Enya!
Sludgelord) What has been your favourite country to play in?
Tom) Hmmmm, I would say that the best gigs on the tour for us were
Sludgelord) What has been your favourite country to play in?
Tom) Hmmmm, I would say that the best gigs on the tour for us were
Gothenburg in Sweden , Siegen in Germany , and Paris , France
everywhere is fun to play in its own way. Norway is beautiful, the UK
Sabbath vibe, Germany
good things everywhere.
Tom). It would be spiritual pursuits, I guess. Looking for ways to be kinder,
happier, simpler. Some of the songs are directly about those things.
And nature too. I love the feeling of forests, and we tried to create that
kind of feeling in the songs.
Sludgelord) What would you say is the biggest accomplishment the band has achieved?
Tom) I guess making an album that we're proud of is the biggest. We're really
Sludgelord) What would you say is the biggest accomplishment the band has achieved?
Tom) I guess making an album that we're proud of is the biggest. We're really
happy with everything from the album itself to the artwork. But there have
been a few proud moments. I love it when people who are serious doom fans
write to us. And we had some great reactions on this tour. One guy followed
us to three shows in the UK
kind of stuff makes us really happy.
Sludgelord) Tell me about the phenomenal album you recently released, how was the recording process? What was the writing process like?
Tom) Thanks very much! The writing process was pretty much me slowly
putting songs together over a period of a few years. Once the band
was together, there were some parts of songs that we worked on together,
though. I wanted to create the kind of spooky but heavy and rockin'
songs that I wanted to hear. We recorded it with a guy called Jörgen
Cremonese, along with Charlie Storm who recorded the drums and co-
mixed it with Jörgen. The drums were done at Charlie's studio in one day,
and the rest was at Jörgen's house. It was really relaxing that way. We had
no deadline at all. We just recorded till we were done. He has a nice
house on a hill, so the view was great, and the atmosphere was perfect.
He's very particular about details. Everything from amps to string types to
what plectrum we used for each song. He's a great producer.
Sludgelord) Run me through the live gear each one of you use, how does it differ from the gear you used to record?
Tom) On the album, it was a Swedish amp called an Elmwood for both Staffan
and I, along with an old VEM through fuzz pedals. And we used an old Vox
for the solos. On stage, Staffan is using a Schmidt by Diesel, which
sounds wonderful, and I've been using my Hiwatt through a modified
Ibanez Tubescreamer. Staffan and I just used the same guitars we play
on stage. Patrik has a great Acoustic bass amp that sounds killer, and his
own custom bass made by Inferno Guitars. And Hans has this killer Ludwig
kit that used to belong to Dozer. We all love that kit.
Sludgelord) What are you listening too at the moment?
Tom) A lot of Cathedral as always! That never ends! I recently played a
Sludgelord) What are you listening too at the moment?
Tom) A lot of Cathedral as always! That never ends! I recently played a
Status Quo tribute show with another band I'm in called Horisont, so I've been
really exploring the 70's Status Quo records. And one thing I love to do is listen
to Hans Zimmer's Batman soundtracks while reading Batman comics, so a lot
of that too.
Tom) Sure! Horisont have just released a new 7" called 'Break The Limit', which
is the first thing of theirs I've played on, and my new band, Night Viper, will be
releasing its first single soon too. We sound like early Judas Priest or 'Kill 'em
All'- era Metallica as fronted by Tina Turner. Check it out!
