ORBIT CULTURE is back with their new album, “Death Above Life,” out October 3rd via Century Media. We spoke with vocalist/guitarist Niklas Karlsson about the intense writing and recording process, the band’s evolving sound, and the inspiration drawn from touring with heavyweights like SLIPKNOT and TRIVIUM. Watch our interview here or read the transcript below…
Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview. It’s been a while since we last chatted — I think the last time was during your headline show in Helsinki 2024. How have you been in the meantime?
Yeah, good to see you again. It’s been great actually. We’ve been playing a lot and yeah, this year has gone by so fast, so yeah, it’s good; living the life.
You’ve been on some crazy tours recently, supporting SLIPKNOT, TRIVIUM, and BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE. I was actually surprised you were able to come up with a new album so quickly, especially since I remember you once mentioned that songwriting on the road is really difficult for you. How did this record come together under those circumstances?
Yeah, you’re absolutely right. I think right after our headline tour last spring, I had some time off between April and July, so I wrote the bulk of the new album in that time period, and then obviously we played with SLIPKNOT a lot during the summer, and then we went down to South America and tried to write the final pieces when we were home in between that, and then we started to record the whole thing in November and finished, I think, the vocals in the beginning of January, so it was quite hectic, but it worked out.
Last time we talked, you mentioned that “While We Serve“ was written in one day between moving boxes, and you said it usually takes you a year to finish a song. What was it like to have this entire writing process condensed into just a few months?
I think it happened kind of the similar way as “While We Serve,” but it took a while to get into that mode, but once the curtain fell or whatever, it just started to pour out every night basically, so it went pretty fast to write it actually, which makes me happy.
Is that maybe why this album sounds a bit different from what we’re used to from you? Of course, it still has the Orbit Culture sound, but do you think the faster process influenced the overall sound? Because you had less time to overthink?
No, I think I just wanted to write it a bit differently, because I always kind of written in the same way, but I wanted to be a bit more executive and not overthink so much and just try to write from start to finish and then add stuff on top instead of getting stuck at certain areas. So the thought process was the same, but I think maybe I think a bit differently these days from playing so much maybe, I don’t know.
Previously, you produced everything yourself. In our first interview, you mentioned that was mainly about control, but also saving money. With the new label, you brought someone else on board — Buster. What was it like to let go of some control and trust someone else with the mixing and mastering?
If it was somebody else, I would have a lot of trouble with it, I think, but for me looking up to Buster‘s work now for 10 years, I felt at ease and I had a good gut feeling about it, but what I was control freaky about was getting the files as good as they could be before he touches it and all the volume relations between the different cinematic stuff, because I wanted him to mix and master only and not produce, if that makes sense, change stuff. So I got the source files as good and as accurate in my head as I could, and then he just mixed it basically. But being a huge fan of him for so many years, it just made sense, and no biggies. We had a few mixed revisions where we talked about certain things, but otherwise, it went smoothly.
Usually producers also tweak song structures, but I guess that wasn’t the case here?
I would have a lot of trouble in changing a lot of stuff when it comes to the arrangement, but when it comes to the sonics and the audio for it, he was the guy for it, basically.
Was it easy to communicate what you wanted sonically? You’ve mentioned before that ORBIT CULTURE’s mechanical feel comes partly from how you edit the tracks. Did Buster understand that instantly?
That happened more so in the source files, I would say. I was a bit easier on the editing, because I wanted it to be a bit more loose and even though there is a lot of post-production on it, when it comes to those cinematic stuff, I still wanted it to feel like a band was playing it, if that makes sense. So on some parts, I was not so nitpicky. I heard yesterday now, when I listened to the new single “Nerve,” that it was kind of a slight delay in my hand when I played that riff, which you can hear at the end, but I think that just adds a human aspect of it. Though I stepped a bit back when it comes to being too mechanical and stuff, but I just wanted that flavor for this album, I would say.
When you heard that slight delay, were you like, “oh no”?
In my own mind, I wouldn’t say fuck, but now it’s okay, it’s okay that it’s there. It feels like a human is playing it.
Most listeners wouldn’t notice that anyway, so it’s funny to catch those details. Moving on to the record itself: when I first listened to it, the first song hit me immediately — literally, lightning struck near my house ten seconds in. That’s also kind of what the first song felt like, kind of thunderous and going straight to business. And I noticed that “Descend” is the only album where you included an atmospheric intro, when normally you go straight into action. Why do you like your albums to start in that way?
I think we just want to grab the listener right away. But it was also, like with that song, “Inferno,” it is kind of, you have the typical ORBIT CULTURE structure in it. So it was also like a thing that we thought of, it would be weird to maybe have a song like “Death Above Life,” which is so different from what we’ve done in the past, you know, as a first song, because then people, the old fans might be a bit scared. So that’s why we put “Inferno” at first, just to and also to build a contrast to the next song, which is “Bloodhound,” which is just bam like that.
Speaking of “Bloodhound,” it felt like there was some inspiration from your tour with SLIPKNOT. Is that accurate?
Yeah, definitely. It was written, like the instrumental stuff was obviously written before the SLIPKNOT tour. But looking at SLIPKNOT every night and how cool they were, we were like, holy shit, it could actually work to have some kind of SLIPKNOT chorus in there. But we’ve always been very careful using curse words and stuff like that, because we never felt the need to do that. But with this album and this song specifically, we’re like, yeah, just because the lyrics is just like a big fuck you finger to some people that have exploited us in the past, it feels like. So we were like, should we write this song in metaphors, as we always do, or should we just be kids on a paper, basically, and just write down the feelings that we feel doing it, you know, writing the song, you know, in the moment. And that’s what we went for. So, but of course, I think SLIPKNOT allowed us to unlock that door, basically. But it was cool. I like it a lot, even though it’s like, yeah, curse, curse, curse words that we have, you know, ever used.
Does it feel weird singing curse words if you’re not used to it?
It would have, you know, it would be very weird to have it like on “Nija” or “Descent” or something like that, because that would not sit right. But I get so amped up from that “Bloodhound” riff. So I think that’s a very emotional song in a very bad way. Yeah. So but that also gives me the like, the thing that it won’t be weird to sing it. Because it’s just raw emotion, basically. Yeah.
Fans thought that the lyrics to “Hydra” touched on similar themes. Would you say anger is a central theme on this record?
It is. I mean, we’ve always written about like mental struggles, basically, in all these different shapes and forms. But this lyrical content is very angry because we are so we were angry, I would say we have, I mean, you always have to look forward. And so it’s just a snapshot of dealing with, you know, bad thoughts, basically. And I think that’s a red thread throughout the album, you know, with like “The Storm” maybe being the exception.
Do you feel less angry now that you have a new team around you?
Yeah, I think it’s more so that, how should I put it? We did the record as a like a therapy outlet, if that makes sense. So we put everything in music instead, instead of doing stupid shit. We’re in a good place for sure. And we’re so excited to go out and tour this record too.
You mentioned “Death Above Life” earlier and how it would have been weird to start the record with it. I thought it was an interesting choice as a single, because not all fans were immediately on board. For me personally, I clicked with it when you played at Graspop, since it was an intense live song. Do you think performing it live changes the way the songs feel?
It’s not like an active decision, I think. It’s just something that happened. And I obviously, I know there are differences like from the stuff that we’ve done before, but I will never like excuse myself for it because we do what we feel like we need to do. And you get inspired all the time, if that makes sense. So I think it’s just a snapshot of time. I mean, in two years, maybe we will sound completely different or we might sound like the “Odyssey” EP we released. I have no clue. It’s just we record what we want to hear.
Some songs have a “thall” sound, and I know you’re friends with HUMANITY’S LAST BREATH. Did that influence some of the tracks subconsciously?
Yeah, yeah, definitely. I think using more and more Buster’s mixing techniques, some of that stuff, you know, came into the cracks of ORBIT CULTURE, too, a bit. But what we have always done is like we take so much inspiration from everything that we hear and we try to mash it together to create something cool. Yeah. So yeah, there’s thall elements for sure.
“Storm” also has a more Swedish melodic sound, it reminded me of AMON AMARTH. Can you tell us more about that track?
We actually, during the writing process, had a working title of… Fuck, now I can’t remember. But we always called it the AMON AMARTH song. So it makes a lot of sense.
Spot on!
Yeah, definitely. But with that song, it’s also kind of a wild card to put in there. But we felt that being such a dark album throughout, it would be cool to have an almost comedic relief in it, a more uplifting song. So that’s why we put it there.
It works well alongside “Neural Collapse,” which is also quite different. Any insight on that track?
That, I think I listened to a lot of MESHUGGAH during that week or so when that came about. But then, as the song progresses, I was like, fuck, I love my ’89 Hetfield, so I have to put that into there. So just grab stuff and smash them together. But the lyrical content is very dark. It’s about getting dementia, pretty much. Yeah. So it’s very dark stuff.
The music video for “Nerve” was just released and seems inspired by video games. Can you talk about that?
It’s made by a guy called Miles Skarin from Crystal Spotlight. And we have been in the talks for many, many years to do something together, but we have never got into it, basically, because I love what he did with “Doom Woods” by WHITECHAPEL. It’s kind of the same deal. But I wanted mine in blue. They have a red one. But I also wanted to break the line that we had, because we released so many videos now where it’s the band playing, basically, all the time. So we just wanted to do something different. And while Riivata does the majority of our main music videos, we just threw in a visualizer there too, just for the sake of it. Because last year, people were kind of worried that we were going to change the logo when we did an alternative to it. But that’s what it is, just an alternative for a different reason. But I just want to make sure that the old original emblem stays. So Miles, can you please put the logo in every sequence that you can in this video? So that’s why I put it in here and there.
Yeah, some fans even noticed something another logo in the video, the one near the end over a portal, it kind of reminds me of the SLEEP TOKEN logo.
It is. Once you get the booklet of the album, you will see that sigil here and there. We have never wanted to replace the old logo. That’s never been in our headspace. Especially when people have started to tattoo it so much, it means so much to them. So I will never touch that. But we wanted to have a sigil for the album itself. Because we were very inspired by BEHEMOTH. They had their keys and basins or whatever. So we wanted to have something similar. So I drew it on the iPad and then got it into the album. And then that just happened to be in the same assets folder that Miles got.
But it doesn’t have any meaning — it’s just a doodle?
Yeah. If you look closely, it is like a grill, basically, with a small skull beneath it with an A in it. Like Death Above Life. So my goal was… So it’s in there.
The other music video you released, for “Hydra,” was inspired by Dune. How long had you been waiting to do that?
Very much so. I asked one of our managers, because he lives in Los Angeles, and I was like, I remember I saw the movie The Doors. And in that movie, they went out to the desert. And I was like, how can they do that, you know, in Los Angeles? So I asked Mario about it. And he said, like, we have these huge dunes, three, four hours from Los Angeles, you know, in the south, close to the Mexican border. So I was like, can we do a video there? And it just happened to be so what you see is like real. So there’s no green screen, there’s no AI or any bullshit like that. It’s the real deal. And I still have like, I can still find sand in my boots from that day.
Must be very different from filming in the Swedish forest.
Like, yeah, yeah, it was a bit warmer. But that’s good.
You’re heading out on a European tour soon. What can fans expect?
It will, yeah, be our biggest wanted headline to this day. And we have given a lot of thought about, you know, the stage production. So it looks bigger than we are, basically. And obviously, we have these great support fans with us. We added the last time too. But now when we have GAEREA and ATLAS and stuff like that, it’s going to be we finally have a package that follow us around the whole tour. This was something that we wanted on the last tour too, but we couldn’t really fix it by the time. But now it’s just feels like a solid ass tour. And it’s a lot of shows too, which is always good. Because then you get really into it. And yeah, we’re just super excited. And it is it’s, it’s gonna be an interesting thing to put together the set, because we have to mix and match everything with the old stuff with the new stuff. So it’s like we’re having a lot of fun with it. So it will be a very dynamic set too, I think.
Since you’ve already played some of the new songs live, do you already know how fans react?
Yeah. And now when those singles have been out for a bit longer, people might have started to adjust to them a bit more and be more like, let’s say when a song like “North Star” comes, it might be that they are familiar with “The Tales of War” now, because when we play those this summer, they people might only have heard it one time or something. Yeah.
You mentioned wanting to look bigger on stage. Considering you’ve toured with so many legendary bands, did you take notes on stage production?
Yeah, I think when it comes to like stage production, illusion is a thing. Because some of these bands, you know, on the front from the audience perspective, it looks so massive and everything is so cool. But if you’re on the side stage, it’s just like, is that it? Like that? So we, you know, start to think more about, you know, different angles and, you know, how we can create some illusions and stuff like that. So it will not be the like the typical set up with cabs or, you know, amps and stuff. It will be something more wider. I think. Yeah. Yeah.
It’s interesting to see how those effects are constructed — like AMON AMARTH with their inflatable statues.
So it’s exactly it’s and it was the same on the BULLET and TRIVIUM tour where TRIVIUM had this big ass monster. And I came in one day into one arena. It was like deflated. So it looked so sad that that monster. So but it’s cool that, you know, you can do that stuff these days. Yeah.
Any last thoughts for fans before we wrap up?
No, I just hope everybody’s excited for October the 3rd and that you will enjoy the album and make sure to come out to the shows and have a good time with us. For sure.
Interview by Laureline Tilkin
