Kvelertak's upcoming album, Mier, is going to be a really fun record. I got an advance of it, and let me tell you, it's non-stop headbanging.
For a while, Kvelertak were one of the hottest free agents in the metal world, and then surprisingly, they announced they'd be signing to Roadrunner. Apparently, this got a bit of negative feedback from fans, fearing that with label pressure, the band would turn into Nickelback, Roadrunner's most successful signing. But, Kvelertak is here to tell you that is hogwash.
In a new interview with Noisecreep, frontman Erland Hjelvik put these fans' fears to rest…
Congratulations on signing with Roadrunner! How the hell did that happen?
Good question. We talked to a bunch of different labels and it seemed like the best option. They just seemed super-stoked and really wanted to do this album so it seemed like the best choice. When I first got into metal when I was fifteen years old all the bands I listened to at the time were on Roadrunner: Slipknot, Korn, all that teenager metal stuff. Also stuff like Sepultura. It seems like most successful big metal bands have been on Roadrunner at some point. It's good that we don't have to worry about the record not being released everywhere which was the case on the last record. It's going to be fun to see what they can do with the album with the proper backing. It's crazy we ended up there but it feels right at the same time.
It really seems like they stepped out with you guys: signing an underground band that sing entirely in Norwegian. Has there been any pressure to record your songs in English?
No, luckily not. We talked a lot with the A&R guy from Roadrunner and they basically want us to do what we do. We wouldn't have signed if there were any pressure to moderate ourselves or sing in English or commercialize our music. That being said, we paid for this album ourselves and it was finished long before we signed. It would have been exactly the same music if it were on a smaller label. I think it's funny that just because we signed to Roadrunner that they're going to start controlling the music. People are worried online that we're becoming the next Nickelback, which is just silly to me.
There you have it. The band already had the whole album recorded so no pressure. Plus, Roadrunner has had plenty of "left of center" artists who never compromised their sound. In fact, I can't think of any band who signed to Roadrunner and "sold out" their sound, that's just not how it works.
In related news, I got to hang out with Erland and guitarist Vidar Landa last week as we sampled America's best worst beers. We should have that hilarious video segment up later this month!
