My name is Andreas Sydow and I put words to the fury as vocalist in DARKANE!

Since you are the lead singer, how much of the responsibility do you think falls on your shoulders?

As DARKANE is a very democratic band we try to make all decisions in unity and also to divide responsibilities equal. Of course on stage the audience expects me to act as the “head of the pack”, the “leader of the crusade” but in song writing and recording Peter and Christofer has the leading role. In fact they’re the founders of DARKANE.

What kind of gear (mic) do you use? Does it have to be this specific kind?

I’m not too picky with that kind of stuff, as long as it’s good quality stuff, preferably known brands. Each mic model has it’s upsides as well as downsides and you have to treat them differently to get the same sound/effect. If I get a choice I prefer to use Milab LSR2000 (Swedish, awesome mics)! But I also know how to treat a Shure or AKG mic. I also use wireless In-Ear monitoring with a system from dB Technologies (Italian) and Shure E1 earphones.

As a vocalist who is your biggest influence?

As I didn’t start my musical journey in Death/Thrash metal, my biggest influences were guys like David Coverdale, Ronnie James Dio and Robert Plant. Of course guys like Chuck Billy, Devin Townsend and even James Hetfield have colored my thrash approach.

What musical genre do you think Darkane falls under?

Interesting...... This is a question we get a lot. It’s hard to answer ourselves, I guess. I think that DARKANE is made up of so many different elements and influences that it’s hard to classify it as a typical something. Depending on what you like (besides DARKANE) people tend to hear different stuff in our music. Some say Death, some Thrash. I would call it Modern, Melodic, Progressive Thrash Metal, or something like that.

Do you go through any vocal scales before hitting the stage or studio, or do you just open it up and let it rip?

I try to warm up a little bit. Usually just by singing a couple of songs I like at the moment, it differs. I start with very low volume and slowly increase it. Then to finish it of I go through what you might call a scale trying to pin every note in my mind (very good if monitors are bad or if something should happen during the show). Then, I just go for it....

The new album, "Layer of Lies" is due to hit the shelves on June 28, how do you think it differs from the previous albums?

I think Layers of Lies sums up the previous three albums very well. The DARKANE sound is refined with the best parts from the previous releases; they’re all put into this album. To top that we managed to get a clean and very powerful production where it’s possible to hear what we’re doing and it’s not just a big “wall of sound”.

I've read that you guys produced the album yourselves, why?

Our original intention was to do this album at Dug-Out with Daniel Bergstrand, as with the previous albums, but the time that we had scheduled for recording drums somehow got double-booked and as Peter, our drummer, had severe problems with his wrists at the time. So we decided to do it ourselves instead of waiting until Peter was better.

Did you write the bulk of the material yourself, or was it a group effort?

Peter and Christofer did most of the writing. Klas wrote riffs for three songs and Peter then created the actual songs. I only contributed the lyrics for one song, “Decadent Messiah”.

Out of the 12 tracks on the cd, which is your favourite and why?

Another tricky question....... I can honestly say that it hasn’t been easy to pick out which songs to play live from this album! With the previous releases we’ve felt which songs to play quite soon after the recordings were finished, but this time it’s different. There are so many good songs and they all have their little specialities that you want to do live. If I have to pick only one then I guess “Godforsaken Universe” because of the intensity in the verses......

It's been awhile since we've heard from you guys, what took so long for the album to be released?

First Klas had to have surgery for his back problems, and then Peter’s wrists broke down. Peter had to stop playing completely for more than six months and then it of course took quite some time for him to get in shape again to do the recording.

Is there any specific meaning to the album, as the title is "Layers of Lies"?

The line “Layers of Lies” is from a lyric that Peter wrote. It was originally in the third verse or something but when we started working on that song we wanted a catchy line to use for the chorus. It turned out so well that we decided to use that as the album title. The lyrics for this song are inspired by the Matrix trilogy.

The summer is coming up; do you guys have any plans to tour in support of the album? I'd love to see you guys head on over here to USA?

Since the album has been released so late we haven’t been able to book anything this summer but we’re working hard to get stuff together for the fall, winter and spring. As it looks right now, we’ll probably get over there in March/April of next year!

Is there a certain touring package, you'd like to get yourself on, for instance The Ozzfest?

Ozzfest seems like a great opportunity. This year I understand there are four Swedish bands on the bill. Maybe next year........?

What are your thoughts of the current Metal scene, do you think it's thriving or dying?

Definitely thriving, and growing! Metal moves in waves and right now it’s on the rise......

Does Darkane pay the bills or do you have a day job while the band is resting?

We all have day jobs!

When you're not working with the band, what can we as fans find you doing?

Besides my day job (where I do AV installations) I have an old house that I’m renovating and put a lot of time into.

You're on one of the most successful Metal labels around, how does it feel to be among such great company?

Nuclear Blast has been great to us. They’ve always let us do our thing and never interfered in the musicianship, and they showed impressive patience when Klas and Peter had problems. NB shows faith in DARKANE and we have faith in NB.

Do you dig any of your label mates releases, or do you pay much attention?

I’m not very good at taking in new music, unfortunately. Every now and then I hear something and look it up, but not very often.

Do you have any last words of advice, for our readers?

Of course, STAY METAL! And stay tuned to www.darkane.com for regular updates from the DARKANE camp. We WILL come to the US this time, so keep your ears open.