GRAVEYARD
"Don't Take Us for Fools -this what we in Swedish would call a "rävig" song, with a heavy Pentagramish ending. "Rävig" means foxy but it hasn't the same meaning in Swedish. It's more like an old bluesman is foxy, a sailor who has been around the world seven times is foxy, a wise old alcoholic is foxy."
Sweden's Graveyard formed in November
2006 with the intention of creating 'heavy psychedelic 70's hardrock' influenced by the likes of Cream, Leaf
Hound and Blue Cheer. Since then the band recorded their first two songs, played a couple of shows, and
signed with Transubstans Records & TeePee Records! With their self titled debut album under their belt [recorded by Don Ahlsterberg, who also procduced The Soundtrack of our Lives & International Noise Conspiracy), Graveyard will establish themselves as one of the most exciting bands on the contemporary heavy 70's
scene, alongside Witchcraft and Abramis Brama to name but a few.
Words | Axel
We really want to give Don Ahlsterberg who engineered, produced and mixed the album a lot of credit for how the record turned out. His super-engineering, great sense for what sounds we wanted and many good ideas for changes in the songs really added a lot to the project. We met him when he approached us after our third show and said that he wanted to work with us.
As we were talking with him, we immediately came to the conclusion that he was the right guy for us, as he had an analog studio and we had a lot in common regarding our taste in music. Also we knew that he had worked with the Soundtrack of our lives, José Gonzalez, the International Noise Conspiracy and Division of Laura Lee among others. Shortly after we agreed to work together, we signed with both Transubstans and TeePee records.
The recording of our debut album was done in two sessions, a long one in April and a shorter one in May. The tape deck was a 24-track Studer, and the microphones we used were a mix of vintage mics and some new ones. No digital equipment. Actually the vinyl release from TeePee will be 100% analog as it will be transferred directly from tape to the vinyl masters.
As for our own equipment, there's a lot of old stuff there too. I used an old Roger's holiday kit, Joakim mostly used a mid 70's
Hagström guitar, either a Swede or Superswede. Rikard has an old Rickenbacker bass, Truls [who quit Graveyard at the end of the
recording] used a Gibson SG mostly, don't know what year though. The amps were an old marshall, an Orange and an Ampeg bass amp. Mostly no pedals at all, a wha-wha here and there and some other shit in the background sometimes. A lot of tape-echo though, an old german thing, can't remember the name.
Graveyard > On to the songs... Evil Ways
The first song we ever wrote and one of the songs we recorded for the demo that got us our contracts. Don suggested some
minor changes, we compromised and we all think it turned for the better. It's a hard fast one, that says "fuck you" to
people that tell you what to do
Thin Line
Also a song that we wrote early on. Kinda groovy, psychedelic with a heavy chorus. The theme for the lyrics is a
classic one in rock. It also has some references to bands / artists that inspired us.
Lost in Confusion
A really melodic one. Introspective lyrics. Didn't change much in the studio, only a bit of the song melody.
Don't Take Us for Fools
This what we in Swedish would call a "rävig" song, with a heavy Pentagramish ending. "Rävig" means foxy but it
hasn't the same meaning in Swedish. It's more like an old bluesman is foxy, a sailor who has been around
the world seven times is foxy, a wise old alcoholic is foxy. The lyrics deals with greedy bastards.
Blue Soul
The other song that we recorded for our demo. A lurking, mellow blues song, that gets heavy after the first half. It was
changed quite a bit in the studio, as we added piano and organ, changed the lyrics slightly and made a whole
new ending. Don thought that the old ending was too much of a contrast for the rest of the
song. We liked the thrash feelin' it had, but new ending gives the song a better flow, and we really like the dissonant
breaks in the outro.
Submarine Blues
Another hard and fast one. The shortest song of the album. Introspective and surrealistic lyrics.
Kickass chorus. Jonatan, who joined us after Truls quit, does the solo at the end of the second chorus and the finish.
As the Years Pass By, the Hours Bend
The other song where Truls (who quit the band during the second recording session) sings. We thought
it was bluesy spacerock and Don thought it sounded like the Band. It has good feel to it, a bit melancholy, but
with a very pushy rhythm section during the verses. The chorus is laidback but a at the same time a bit pissed off.
Right is Wrong
This song has caused us lots of headaches. We started working on it as soon as we formed the band, but the
structure, parts and lyrics changed constantly until we went into the studio. Don is a
real sucker for vocals, so we had to come up with more lyrics so we had to change the melody of the vocals. This
song was definitely the hardest one to get together. But now as we listen to it, we're really
satisfied. And who knows, it might still change as we play it live and take off in new directions.
Satan's Finest
A heavy one, we really like the ending where Jonatan does his second solo on the album. We figured it was
good way to end the album. The theme for the lyrics is once again a classical one in rock music. Don also came
up with some good changes in the structure for this song. And just randomly it turns out that the song has three
verses that are split into to two segments, where each part consists of three rounds. So if you do the math of
the verses you get 666.
I guess that's that. We're already working on new songs for the next
album, and we might even release something in between the albums. Who
knows?
