“Pure Scandinavian Mayhem,” that’s how singer Tobias Mattsson describes LOWEST CREATURE. The band from Örebro, Sweden released the debut full length, Sacrilegious Pain, in May 2019 via Isolation Records. With this new album, Lowest Creature take the opportunity to fully showcase their signature blend of hardcore influenced by the Swedish metal sound.
“Our influences still are obvious and clear, but it feels like we are more and more getting to know ourselves and each other and what we want to put out with our music,” Mattsson explains. “When we started the band maybe we wanted to sound like this and that band or style, but now it feels like we are focusing on our own writing and what we wanna do, or at least we try.”
“The 80’s thrash and metal era and hardcore is, of course, obvious in our music, but we all listen to a lot of different styles of music in the band, and we try to take the best from everything,” guitarist Douglas Wentzel clarifies. “We all have listened to metal our whole lives, and we all have some sort of background in the hardcore community, so it’s a natural match. When it comes to bands, we all like bands like Slayer, Iron Maiden, Skid Row, ABBA (ofc), Metallica, Megadeth, Vio-Lence, Anti-Cimex, Poison Idea, and so on. And the ’80s is a superious decade of music and movies! We all like a catchy pop song too, and we wanna make music that gets stuck to your brain”.
Sacrilegious Pain by LOWEST CREATURE
Since the ’80s, Sweden has a significant history related to metal/punk, with bands like Wolfbrigade, Meshuggah, At the Gates, Anti Cimex, Disfear, Martyrdöd, and Skitsystem.
“I think it’s a combination of the weather and good state-funded rehearsal spaces,” Mattsson says. “The environment is dark and cold eight months of the year, and that makes people write dark and angry music. From the outside Sweden looks like a happy functioning country, but it’s been teared on and ruined for a few decades now, and we think that it’s bound to show in our cultural outlets. Reality is not a Eurovision song contest.”
Recorded at Ljudkross Studio in Umeå, Sweden, Sacrilegious Pain has perfectly captured everything the band is about.
“We knew we needed to get our shit together and get things done and knew that Erik “Eken” Lindberg would do a proper job and make us feel comfortable. We understand each other in both a professional and friendly way. Overall it was just a really pleasant experience a great time.”
“We started writing songs for it at the end of 2017. A lot of hard work went into it both from us and from the troopers over at Isolation Records,” Wentzel confesses. “We talked a lot before and during the writing process that we wanted a little bit more of the Swedish metal sound, and we also wanted sort of a feeling of being in this cold Nordic environment which surrounds us every single day.”
“It was a relatively slow process in the beginning, but after figuring out what we actually wanted to present and achieve with a full length, it was fucking flying. We started writing more together as a collective than we’ve done on previous releases and that also made the outcome more interesting. In a whole, it was just cheap wine and quality time.”
Mastered by Joel Grind from Toxic Holocaust (Sunn O))), Integrity, Mammoth Grinder, Midnight & more) in Oregon, USA, this metal master has truly unified the sound.
“Everyone who’s been a part of this record (big or small) have contributed and influenced the sound and feeling of it. We listen a lot to Toxic Holocaust and other stuff he’s been involved with, so it was a great honor to get him on the ship”.
Lowest Creature are now on tour with the legendary American crossover thrash band Leeway (see the dates below).
“It’s a bit nervous of course to do a bigger tour than usually, but I think the excitement takes over most of it,” Mattsson says. “It’s gonna be really cool to meet such legends and share a stage with them every night. Leeway was very important for us at the beginning of the band.”
If someone never experienced a Lowest Creature’s show, Mattsson has excellent advice on what to expect.
“Go wild and do what you want. People usually like to go nuts and when we play, and we try to give the same energy back. Hopefully, we can rock your world and make some sort of a mark on the person that sees us”.
24.05. Warschau – Poglos (Poland)
25.05. Berlin – Cassiopeia (Germany)
26.05. Bielsko-Biala – Rude Boys (Poland)
28.05. Kosice – Collosseum (Slovakia)
29.05. Budapest – Dürer Kert (Hungary)
30.05. Ostrava – Barrák Club (Czech Republic)
31.05. Chemnitz – AJZ (Germany)
01.06. Aarschot – Revelation Fest (Belgium)
02.06. Erfurt – AJZ (Germany)
03.06. Zürich – Werk21 (Switzerland)
04.06. Geneva – L’Usine (Switzerland)
05.06. Bologna – Freak Out Club (Italy)
06.06. Lyon – Rock’n’Eat (France)
08.06. Karlsruhe – Jubez (Germany)
09.06. Ulm – Eden (Germany)
10.06. Saarlouis – JUZ (Germany)
11.06. London – New Cross Inn (United Kingdom)
12.06. Newcastle – Think Tank (United Kingdom)
13.06. Glasgow – Classic Grand (United Kingdom)
15.06. Leeds – Temple Of Boom (United Kingdom)
