Originally formed in 1982 in a small Swedish town of Grums, Ernst And The Edsholm Rebels (E.A.T.E.R.) were part of the contemporary hardcore punk scene. With their debut record Doomsday Troops EP released in early 1984, E.A.T.E.R. was reformed in 2010 and has since toured and released several more records. After a couple of releases, If Nothing’s Right...Go Left EP (2010), Projectiles for the People EP (2015) and A Momentary Relapse for No Reason (2020), the band has returned this November with yet another rowdy offering, the 4-track EP Belief without Knowledge and Blurred Vision.
Written, composed, performed, recorded and produced by the newest incarnation of Ernst And The Edsholm Rebels (E.A.T.E.R.), with the lineup consisting of Kalle Wejrum-Fielding – Bass, Ludvig Kramenius – Drums, Micke Larsson – Vocals and guitars – the newest EP from E.A.T.E.R. was recorded in the band’s rehearsal space.
“We had recorded demos for all the songs and worked them through in rehearsals.” – comments the band. “We used Garageband to record each instrument separately. The vocals took the longest time to record, because we had not written any lyrics at first so we had not really rehearsed the vocals and we had to figure out ways of doing them while recording.”
“When we had finished all tracks and and had all the takes we wanted we booked the studio (which actually is in the same building just across the hall from where we rehearse) to start mixing and mastering, which was done in Logic. In the studio we also experimented a bit with keyboards, which can be heard on two of the songs. We did all the work like recording and mixing and producing ourselves. We recorded as a three- piece band with Ludvig on drums and vocals, Kalle on bass and vocals, Micke on guitars and vocals. We have since recruited Nils as our new drummer while Ludvig has moved to guitar.”
Devil in the Details
Ludvig: This song is all about breaking out of the box, but then realizing the simplicity of the human mind. The high pace instrumental is colorized by the many different vocal tracks. Here you will hear Mikaels angry screams, Kalles widespread melodic hooks and Ludvigs dark and heavily modulated back up vocals.
Micke: You got to look for the details to understand the big picture. This song is both groovy and hard at the same time. Very dynamic and diverse vocals that gives it an extra dimension. I’m really pleased with it.
Kalle: The perfect opener for this new EP. In this EP, both me and Ludde will be making our vocal debut in E.A.T.E.R, which means that had a totally clean slate as for how we wanted our voices to appear when we recorded. It was fun to experiment with these kinds of vocals for the first time really. Also, I really dig the overdrive on the bass, which comes right from my amp. I think we nailed the tone.
The Sight of Truth
Ludvig: This song is about the will to get out of a rut that has been going on for far too long. Exactly what that bad place means is all whatever the listener thinks. Micke: The song isn’t in d-beat but I play a sort of d-beat rhythm on the guitar for the verses which gives the song a kind of groove that I like. Great vocals that I’m really pleased with. The lyrics for the chorus-part can, like much of the lyrics on the entire record, be interpreted as a comment to people being narrow minded.
Kalle: The track is sort of what E.A.T.E.R. is all about to me. Just super hard punk music. It makes your eyes bleed and you like it – that sort of thing. Really fun to play! The lyrics are something that I think a lot of people can resonate with these days.
Rat Race
Ludvig: Rat Race is the first song to set the sound for the EP. It was originally written by Ludvig and Kalle for another project, a long time ago. When introduced to E.A.T.E.R., the song was transcribed from Major to Minor, for a more suitable tone. This song is all about not wanting to be stuck in the modern days “Rat Race” where you “Work, Eat, Sleep, Repeat”.
Micke: I had some difficulties when I first heard the demo. I loved the song but I had no idea how to play to make it sound right for us. But I came up with the idea of recording two really different guitars that are panned out for the verse, which I think worked out real well. The break-down also gives the song a sort of dynamic which makes it more interesting.
Kalle: This really is the kind of song that you write when you’re 19 years old and angry at everything having to do with work. Which is exactly what we were when we wrote it. I like that energy, and the added bridge by Micke really adds a lot. It actually makes the song poetic, which we did not expect when we wrote it years ago.
Voice of the People
Ludvig: This song stands up to anyone in a powerful position who uses their power in a corrupted way.
Micke: The song also goes out to all those self-righteous people who decides to give their support to fascists in general elections. It is easy to criticize politicians for all sorts of things, but they are almost always given their position by voters and people who support them. The songs structure is from fast pace to a break-down and back to fast pace which makes it dynamic in the same way as the other songs on the record.
Kalle: Classic punk song. The structure is exactly like how they wrote hardcore in the 80s. I like the breakdown a lot.
Read the full feature in the #347 edition of Maximum Rocknroll zine, released in December 2011:
