Profiles in Brutality: Kvaen

In the world of heavy metal, 2020 delivered a feast of stunning new releases, with veteran heavyweights like Lamb of God, Code Orange, Deftones and Trivium dropping some of the finest albums of their careers. It was an absolute feeding frenzy for the metal press. But it was a year for newcomers as well and one of the most exciting breakout artists that year was Kvaen — the solo project of Jacob Björnfot, a then-unknown musician from the north of Sweden. Kvaen’s debut, The Funeral Pyre, unleashed eight high-energy black metal scorchers, packed with all of the bone-crushing blastbeats and dizzying fretwork that any single album has a right to contain. But where it really caught fire was in the way Björnfot subtly mixed in his other influences, like 80s glam metal, Bay Area thrash and good ol’ classic rock. The end result was an album utterly unrelenting in its aggression, but that was simultaneously catchy as hell. Released in February, 2020, The Funeral Pyre held off ten month’s worth of competition to earn a spot on scores of Albums of the Year lists across the globe, including my own.

This month, Kvaen release The Great Below, their rabidly-anticipated sophomore outing. To say that it doesn’t disappoint would be an understatement worthy of historical recognition. This time around, Jacob’s added even more firepower, with guest turns from the likes of Jeff Loomis (Nevermore, Arch Enemy), Mike Wead (Mercyful Fate, King Diamond, Bibleblack), Sebastian “Batte” Ramstedt (Necrophobic), Angus Norder (Witchery, Nekrokraft), Nephente (Netherbird) and Vreth (Finntroll). From stem-to-stern, The Great Below is bursting with fresh ideas and more than a few genuinely thrilling moments. I caught up with Jacob recently to discuss the new record and the surprising reception to his debut.

You formed Kvaen a few years ago when you were already involved with a couple of other projects. What did Kvaen offer you that they did not?

I realised that the bands that I was playing in weren’t really giving me anything. Everybody in those bands was happy with where they were and they didn’t want to push it any further, so I decided that it was time for me to head out on my own. I started riffing and I wrote Yee Naaldooshii, which was the first song that I composed for The Funeral Pyre. I wasn’t really feeling confident enough to do the vocals on my own, so I contacted a friend to do it and then after awhile, I thought, Maybe I should try it myself. I sent small samples of my vocals to him to see what he thought and he said, “Yes, these are fucking good. Go for it.” So that’s how it all took off.

Stylistically, what did you have in mind?

My dream was always to play the kind of heavy metal like W.A.S.P. and Mötley Crüe because that’s the music that I usually listen to. But I’ve also always dreamed of doing this heavier style; it’s something that started after hearing Bathory for the first time as a little kid, along with the mystery surrounding him and the one-man-band thing.

What was the scene like when you were just getting started?

My town is called Kalix and tit has about fifteen or sixteen thousand people. When I grew up, my friends didn’t really understand anything about the music that I was listening to. I didn’t get bullied for listening to heavy metal, at least, but I was a loner, listening to black metal and Mötley Crüe. When I got to high school, I realised there were a few other dudes who liked the more extreme kind of music. That was a big deal. You can’t compare it to Stockholm or cities like that where you had people everywhere who liked that kind of music.

Jacob Björnfot

You’ve said that one of the reasons you started Kvaen was because you were tired of hearing “boring black metal.” What do you mean by that?

When it’s super primitive. What I meant was when you just use two riffs in a super long song. I mean, what’s so cool about that? I’ve always been a fan of great musicians so maybe that’s why black metal, in that sense, hasn’t really been my cup of tea. I mean, as much as I like Darkthrone, the punky stuff they started to do was really cool, like Fuck Off And Die and Circle The Wagons. That was more of the stuff that I really liked, rather than sitting around worshipping Transylvanian Hunger. And of course there are some cool songs on there but it’s not something that I listen to at all. So when it’s super primitive and trying to sound super evil with just two riffs…come on.

When you started writing music for The Funeral Pyre, what was your plan for avoiding that pitfall?

I didn’t listen to it. I didn’t listen to black metal when I wrote that album. I was mainly listening to all sorts of 60s and 70s rock, like Pink Floyd and the Doors. I also listened to some bands that were related to the genre, like Deströyer 666, although they’re more thrash than black metal. I also listened to classic stuff like Manowar. Ha ha Mostly heavy metal bands, German speed metal and then some later Bathory.

Are you talking about his Viking stuff, like Nordland?

Well, when we look at the point where Bathory became Viking metal, you had the intro on the Blood Fire Death, but I would still consider that more of a blackened thrash metal album. From there I think you could consider Bathory to be a Viking metal band or really a pagan band. When I think about Viking metal, I think about Amon Amarth. I can’t take the lyrics too seriously all of the time, but with Bathory there’s a certain seriousness in the lyrics and they’re very convincing storytellers. That’s what I think pagan metal is — it explores those pre-Christian themes in a serious way.

Two years ago today, you released The Funeral Pyre. How does it feel, now that it’s been out for two years?

I don’t really think about it. Of course, in two years I’ve grown as a musician and as a person. The Funeral Pyre is who I was back then and The Great Below is who I am now.

Were you at all surprised that the album received such widespread attention? Metal outlets from all over the world were writing about it.

I had zero expectations. I knew that at least some people would like it but I think other people would be a bit confused because there’s so much going on; there are various styles of music mixed in there that are a little strange to some people, like Teutonic speed metal mixed with pagan metal.

When did you start working on The Great Below?

Right after The Funeral Pyre, I started working on the music that would become The Great Below. I was inspired by how well the album was received by critics all over the world. People were like, ‘Who is this guy? Who’s this Jacob dude?’ It was inspiring to see people liking what I do. And I like it! I like writing songs and I like playing metal. Before I knew it, I had half of an album written, so I kept on going and here we are.

Is the album title a reference to Hell?

No, but it refers to a personal hell. When I started writing the album, I was probably in the deepest depression that I’ve ever experienced. The whole thing about The Great Below has nothing to do with Heaven or Hell. The album starts with a track called Cauldron Of Plagues, which is more or less the story of when you’re at the bottom of the fucking ocean and no matter what you do, you can’t get up. Then The Great Below is about how you’re in such a deep depression that you can’t see anything and the only direction to go is even further below. The next track, In Silence, is about breaking away from that and getting up. Then we’re halfway through and we get to Damnation’s Jaw, which is basically about entering the mouth of depression and facing it. Then comes The Sulfur Fire, when you start to see things from another perspective. It keeps on going until the last song, The Fire Within Him Burns, which basically tells how I beat the fucking thing and that the fire within me will never fucking die.

Sonically, how is this different from The Funeral Pyre?

Two years ago, I wasn’t even close to being the player that I am today, both as a musician and in the way that I write. So I think it’s way more mature. It has better production and all of those aspects are more polished. One thing to keep in mind is that The Funeral Pyre included riffs and ideas that I had in my mind for many years. But overall, on The Great Below, everything’s better. Ha ha

You have some notable guest musicians on the new album.

Yeah, Mike Wead, from King Diamond and Mercyful Fate, was born not too far from where I live. We’re both from the north, so it wasn’t too strange to have him involved, because he’s just a cool guy from the north. But Jeff Loomis… there were a few times where I was almost anxious! I was thinking like, Is my music good enough?, Is this really happening? or What if I say something wrong and fuck this up? Ha ha But it was so cool and he was really digging the songs. He said, ‘Thanks for having me on the album. I was pinching myself! Ha ha But most of the other guys on the record are friends and it’s always an honour to have people who can make your album better. But yeah, when Jeff Loomis played on the album, that’s when I knew that something special was happening.

When I’ve interviewed other Swedish musicians, they always speak about how close the metal scene is there. Has that been your experience as well?

Absolutely. That’s one of the few things that I like about the Swedish metal scene. Everyone is pretty supportive of each other and we share each other’s songs. It’s definitely pretty cool. I’m very good friends with Sebastian, from Necrophobic. We speak to each other almost every day and I love Necrophobic. Talking about some lesser-known bands, I’d say that Wormwood is a very cool Swedish band. They’re not necessarily black metal but they’re really good. There are just so many good bands. The scene has exploded — again — over the last couple of years.

What’s the plan for the rest of the year?

Well, we’re going to play some shows in Sweden in April and then we have some festivals confirmed in Germany. I can’t say much more about that at this point. But we’ll play some more shows and we’ll see what happens from there. I’ll promote the album as much as I can. It comes out on the 25th of March on Black Lion Records. And I just started. a project with Johan Norman from Dissection. We have a thing going together with Anders Backelin, who played bass with Lord Belial for like twenty years and on drums, we have Efraim Juntunen, who plays drums with Naglfar. I’ve written two songs so far and the other guys probably have stuff as well. So we’re going. todo something just for fun and then we’ll see what happens.

For more information on Kvaen:

Kvaen’s Facebook page
Kvaen on Instagram
Kvaen on Bandcamp
Kvaen on Spotify
Black Lion Records