With new album Dominion VIII having hit the shelves in May, Grave are finally making the long awaited trip to Australia for the first time.  On The Barrier caught up with vocalist/guitarist Ola Lindgren to chat about the new album and the trials and tribulations of continuing to put out the same death metal sound they created when the band originated in the 80's

So where are you at the moment? Are you touring yet?
No I'm home in Stockholm at the moment. It's still a couple of weeks until we leave.

Have you performed in Australia before?
We've never been before I'm excited to finally be getting there and seeing what it's all about. I don't know really, I know its usually very good shows and there are lots of nice and friendly people.

So you've just released your eighth album to date, what do you think of it?
I'm very satisfied with it. It was a quick process to write and we recorded it by ourselves so it was more getting back to our roots.
I'd say it was much more straightforward and very intense all the way through.
It's been well receive from fans.

Do you get some kind of satisfaction knowing that you're one of the only long lasting bands out there to keep your signature death metal sound?
Yeah absolutely, we always strive to do our music justice. We wouldn't go and change the band too much and still keep same band name. It's important for bands to stay true to their sound.

Do you think it still has the same effect on audiences in this day and age?
I think for the people that are in the same age today as they were when we released our first couple of albums it does. When we talk to those people who have recently gotten into our music at shows it becomes very obvious that our later releases still have a great impact. It's very cool I think.

Have you ever considered evolving your music as time has gone on? Has the temptation ever been there?
Not really, usually we do a couple of tracks basically and we see if we're on the right track and just keep checking to see it's going in the direction that we really want. Once it's set it's very easy for us to keep the vibe and the kind of spirit through whole album.

Do you ever write songs that don't clearly fit the mould of Grave?
Absolutely! While I'm sitting home writing riffs, with a lot stuff I get the feeling straightaway what can be used for Grave. I've pretty much been doing this for so long I know what I would expect from myself and the band.

How would you describe the music you're making now?
Very straightforward, brutual death metal really. It's not complicated it's like the early Entombed or Dismember albums. Very intense and very powerful.

Was there any particular sound or theme you as a band wanted Dominon VIII to put out to listeners?
There was not really a plan behind it. It's the 20th anniversary of band this year so we wanted to show people that technicality or speed isn't really a formula that describes if band is good or not. We've just been doing same thing we've been doing for the past twenty years.

What would you say is the standout track and why?
I like the opening track a lot...and the second track. Those two kick off the album in a very good way. They really set the mood and atmosphere of the whole album. I love that song by song the intensity never drops out; it keeps that way through the album. It was the plan we had when put together the track list to just keep that energy going.

Are there any songs on the album with funny/interesting stories behind them?
Well we had from the beginning of the whole process of recording the album a set opening track ...which ended up as track three. The way it was written and the structure, it was typical of a Grave opening track. We've opened with it on a couple of shows and it works very well. But we wanted to do something different and more unexpected for this album so we changed it up.

What can fans expect from a Grave gig?
Just pure energy. We don't really have a planned stage show or anything like that, it's just a collaboration between us playing and giving energy to audience. There's always good interaction. This time when we play live in Australia we've got to be a mix of different things because we're not really on tour just promoting the new album this time. We're really letting people see Grave for first time.

What is next for Grave? A lot more touring or back to the drawing board soon?
We only have stuff planned for next year. We're going to do some shows in Mexico and possibly South America. After that I'd say we have summer festivals that are planned and then we're going to try to write new material during spring when we've not got such a hectic schedule.

Anything you would like to add or say to your fans?
Just that we're very excited to be finally getting over there. I hope we have some good shows and some time to experience Australia in general. It's a shame we've not got more days over there since we're flying halfway around the world. I think it's going to be a really cool experience.

Catch Grave when they hit our shores on December 2 to play at Amplifier, Perth. Grave will then move on to play at the Gaelic Theatre, Sydney on December 4, the Globe Theatre, Brisbane on December 5, the Corner Hotel, Melbourne on December 7 and the Fowlers Live, Adelaide on December 8.

- Nikkita Dixon