Hello there guys, thank you for taking the time to sit down and answer some of my questions and congratulations again on the release of your debut album “Pathos”!
I always like to open up interviews by asking about the origins and meaning behind a band’s name; so, what made you want to choose “Dead Soma” as a band name and what does it mean to you?
We had already been through a few ideas for a name that we didn't work out so we just sat down in our rehearsal space one day to discuss it thoroughly.
Dennis had talked about a video game called Soma a few days earlier and we thought that word sounded cool so we just kept spinning on that.
I think we mainly added "dead" to it just to have a more unique name that would get higher up on search engines etc.
Dead Soma seems to have originated during the pandemic if I’m not mistaken ; could you tell us how the project came to be in the first place ?
Both me, Daniel and Dennis played in another band before Dead Soma.
We had felt for a while that we had too many creative differences as a group and personally I kept facing recurring writers block because of it.
So the three of us decided to quit that band and start a new project instead.
At the time I listened a lot to Frontierer and my first impulse was to make something in the same vein as them.
But generally I think what we really want with Dead Soma is to just make music without stressing too much about genres, trends or other things that basically just limits your creativity.
Could you tell us more about your musical background and what you guys were doing before you started Dead Soma?
Me and Daniel have been playing together since 2015 in different constellations.
The longest period was between 2017-2020 in a metalcore/djent band called Artificial Sky. Dennis was also in that band but only for a few months before we started Dead Soma.
Prior to that me and Daniel have been in several bands but none that are worth mentioning really. Dennis has kept himself relatively band free. Me and him went to the same music school. That's how we know each other in the first place.
Between the frantic pace, angular riffs and digital effects, things can get pretty hectic when it comes to your music. Could you walk us through what the songwriting process is usually like for a Dead Soma track ?
It's a pretty straight forward process. As soon as I get an idea I write it down on my computer and start building around it until it's an entire song.
I usually work my way through post-production/effects and mixing before even sending it to Daniel and Dennis. I pretty much want the song to be a "finished" instrumental track when they get to hear it.
Then I take whatever feedback they have and tweak the song as needed and at the same time Dennis starts writing the lyrics.
Then we send it off to our trusty session vocalist (also named Dennis) and he and a buddy of his record him and they send the files back to me for mixing.
And if there are any clean vocals I record most of it myself at home.
The lyrics throughout the album appear to address consistent themes ; is “Pathos” a concept album? If so, could you tell us more about the idea or the story behind the music?
All lyrics on Pathos are more or less based on social criticism regarding problems of our time. They don't follow a linear story or anything like that but since there's a similar message that runs through every song you could, in a sense, call it a concept album.
In my review of “Pathos” I couldn’t help myself from name-dropping a few bands I considered to be musical influences on your sound as a band.
What would you say are your main musical influences when writing for Dead Soma?
I don't think anyone is going to be surprised if I say Frontierer, Meshuggah and a touch of Loathe has laid the foundation to our sound.
Those were the three bands that I listened to the most when we started Dead Soma and they will probably always be solid influences moving forward.
But apart from that I think anything can act as an influence to us.
While writing Pathos I listened to big amounts of IDM and harsh noise which probably had some impact on that album.
I also got introduced to some older post hardcore stuff like Exotic Animal Petting Zoo and Glassjaw during that period and I'm a faithful listener since.
In your opinion, what would you say is the key in finding balance between incorporating your influences while pushing your own original ideas forward when writing music?
I think the key is to allow yourself to be inspired by all kinds of music and don't limit yourself to just one genre or "scene".
Every idea on its own is probably not going to be super original.
But if you listen to as much music and as many different genres as you can and then add bits and pieces from all of it, that combination is what's going to create something more unique in the end. That's my philosophy at least.
Are there any other forms of media that influence Dead Soma’s music, themes or artworks (cinema, literature, video games...)?
Yeah for sure! Sometimes I just pull up random videos or images online with a theme I'm looking for and think about how that video/image would sound if it had music to it.
I find that especially helpful whenever I'm facing writers block.
And I'm pretty sure Dennis has been inspired by a book or two when he writes lyrics.
Unless I’m mistaken, Dead Soma is a studio-only project as of today. Do you have any plans of doing live shows in the future or will Dead Soma remain a studio band?
We're not opposed to doing live shows but since we don't have a permanent vocalist it's not something we actively put effort into.
However, it would be really fun to play live sometime in the future even though it's going to be a living hell figuring out how to perform all those weird guitar effects.
There seems to be a bit of a “djent renaissance” happening in Sweden in recent years with bands like Allt, Karmanjakah, Grayscale Season and of course, Vildhjarta and Humanity’s Last Breath getting their share of the spotlight when it comes to modern metal.
With the three of you being based around Stockholm, could you tell us what the scene was like growing up and how it is nowadays for this kind of music?
I've always been a "stay indoors" kind of guy, so I honestly don't have that much input on the scene. From my point of view the Swedish metal scene has shifted over the years from the more traditional Gothenburg sound to being the leading land of Thall I guess.
And, as a metal musician in Sweden, you are always surrounded by very talented people in your close vicinity.
Sometimes you feel that bands/artists around you are so good at what they're doing it can almost feel a bit competitive which is why I think it's great that Dead Soma seem to reach people in more mathcore/hardcore oriented forums rather than the overly saturated djent/metalcore-forums.
Any other underground, local Swedish bands the world should be on the lookout for?
Shameless plug. You can check out me and Daniels other band Vindicta.
It's more straight forward djent/metalcore/deathcore if you want something more 4/4 based. But other than that, all Swedish bands I know of have become big enough within the community to not be labeled as underground anymore.
What is life like for you, as an underground, independent band in Sweden making very niche heavy music and what would be your goals ideally for this project moving forwards?
Our lives are pretty ordinary, I guess. Since we do almost everything ourselves when it comes to writing, recording, mixing, making videos and so on this band doesn't take up that much time and it barely affects our economy.
As long as we don't play live our focus will probably just be putting out new music.
We mainly just do it for fun but hopefully our number of listeners will increase along the way.
After the release of your debut album “Pathos”, what’s next for Dead Soma?
I've already began writing new songs and it will most likely end up being another album.
If all goes well it will be released sometime later this year.
Finally, what have been some of your favourite music releases this year that you would recommend?
For 2023, Holy Design by Soulkeeper is a real favorite of ours.
And as we've entered 2024 I think everyone should check out Serling's latest release and keep an eye out for Weston Super Maim's album that might have been released by the time this interview is published.
Thanks again so much for your time guys and best of luck to you for whatever you have in store for the future, take care!
Stream/buy Dead Soma's debut album "Pathos" :