Dan-Erland Swanö is a Swedish musician who is currently the vocalist, guitarist, ex-bassist and ex-drummer for the band Nightingale, lately vocalist, keyboardist and drummer for the band Witherscape, as well as the Owner of Unisound but he achieved fame as the vocalist and songwriter of progressive death metal band Edge of Sanity.
As a multi-instrumentalist he is regarded as influential in the underground melodic death metal, black metal, progressive metal, death metal, progressive rock, power metal communities. He is known for his progressive rock-influenced songwriting style and his frequent use of both clean and growled vocals.
The new Witherscape album is going to be release next July 22nd, so we talked with Dan to know a bit more about it:
Describe Witherscape in few words.
Powerful Heavy Metal with shades of thrash, death and prog!
Witherscape announced the release date for the new album(22nd of July). Is everything going according to plan?
Yep! So far so very good!
You are producing other bands. How do you feel about working with other people's music compared to making your own music?
At the point I am arriving, at the mix, it's usually more about trying to make everything sound as clear and powerful as possible from a sonic point of view.
I am not the type of mixer that cuts out parts or change the arrangements etc. even though I wish I could do it sometimes :) For me it is about trying to
make the stuff I have been given work as a whole and when I work with my own stuff, I am always thinking about the music as well as the mixing part which is
really sitting on 2 chairs simultaneously and it can be very hard and frustrating at times, but in the end I always come up with something great, I hope :)
I am not interfering anything Talk to us about the creative process for the 2nd Witherscape album?
This time I wrote of the material alone because Ragnar was writing for the Shadowquest stuff and I actually started writing stuff earlier than planned because I was
so inspired, but he caught up with me at the end and wrote 1 track alone and dome of the most bombastic and epic parts from the title track!
What are your followers going to find, what’s the evolution from the first album?
Hard is harder, soft is softer and a slightly more epic soundscape. I would like to say that it is a huge step forward in every way from the 1st album. Now we know what works
an we're building on that rather than trying to break in to new sonic territories.
The band is just you and Ragnar. Any musical guests on the album?
Nope. This time around I decided to have no guests what so ever. A nice contrast to the 1st one that had a whole bunch!
Are you planning any live show or tour with session musicians?
No. Witherscape is strictly studio!
Tell us more about your future plans in general.
To mix and master albums..more info on unisound.se and move to house with my family, and bring my work with me. work from home is something I have wanted to do for a long time!
Are there any current musicians or bands you really like these days, or you think people should take a look on?
I think people will enjoy the new Insomnium album. And also the latest Omnium Gatherum is great and not too far from our style! If you dig A.O.R. "Work of Art" and their latest album is a safe bet!
Anything else you want to add?
Support the war against the loudness war and thanks for your time!
Thanks!!!
Fani Nadki
