Even though this was a soulless mail interview, it is more than obvious that DARKANE's drummer Peter Wildoer is a really friendly and kind guy. He gladly answered all my questions and I guess that if you are interested to read what he had to say you will keep on reading this interview…

Hello Peter! Congratulations on DARKANE's latest album! How is the feedback for the press and the fans you got until now?

Thanks a lot! The reactions have been mostly very positive. We're in a special situation now with a new vocalist and some people always have hard to deal with line-up changes.

Why did you decide to name the album Demonic Art? Is there a specific meaning behind this title?

We already had a song called 'Demonic Art' and we thought that title fitted the whole CD the best. Also it goes very well with the cover artwork. The actual song lyrics are a continuation of 'Organic Canvas' from 'Layers Of Lies' that I also wrote. It's about a person the sees himself as an artist making great art by killing people and doing various bizarre installations with them. He can't see the horror in what he's doing.

Jens Broman is the band's brand new singer. Why did Sydow leave the band and how did Broman get his place?

Andreas felt that he couldn't put as much time into the band as the rest of us. He also thought it was hard to develop more and that he wanted to pass the torch to a new guy. We knew Jens since before and were already good friends. He's also the vocalist of Klas' other band THE DEFACED so we knew his vocal abilities well. I think he fits DARKANE very good, a bit more aggressive than Andreas and I like that.

Your new album is being released through Massacre Records in Europe, under the license of Nuclear Blast? Why do such thing when Nuclear Blast could release it on its own? You know, all these label shit seem kind of weird and I just can't seem to understand what they do sometimes. Hehehe…

It was not our choice. I got a phone call one day from Nuclear Blast where they told me that they would license the new CD to Massacre. We had no saying in this. We're simply too small for Nuclear Blast and they told us it's better to be a big fish in a small sea than a little fish in a big sea. At some degree they have right about that. The music business is a strange place to be right now with weak CD sales and illegal downloading etc.

Tell us a few things about the cover. Who drew it and what exactly does it represent?

It's done by Fredrik Odman who we also used for the cover artwork on 'Layers Of Lies'. He's simply brilliant in my opinion and has a style of his own. We like when it's a bit more photo realistic meaning that it's not painted or too much computer manipulated. It's not drawn or painted but real photos merged together. The idea with the angels with ripped of wings hanging from the sky came from an old picture he did. We discussed what we wanted and he showed us the earlier version and we liked it. It fits the title 'Demonic Art' very well, like some demon has gone to heaven and just made a bizarre art installation of angels. We're not satanic or Black Metal in any way, but it is very metal for sure, he he.

In your new album, your sound has gotten a bit more Thrash Metal than what it was in the past, and the NWOSDM elements have been slightly reduced. Was it the natural evolution of the band or something you just wanted to do?

Normally we just write songs that we like ourselves without any specific intention. This time around it was not meant to be more Thrash and/or less melodic Death Metal, this is just the way the songs came out. I agree that the over all feeling is faster songs and more aggressive. I think 'Demonic Art' is a natural follow up to 'Layers Of Lies'.

From what I know, you recorded the drum parts for the latest STEFAN ROSQVIST BAND release and you have also hit the stage with them. What is this band exactly and how did you got involved there?

Stefan is a good friend of mine, and a great guitar player. He got offered to do a record by English label Liquid Note Records that also released ELECTROCUTION 250 that I play drums on. Stefan asked me if I wanted to play the drums and of course I would like to do that since it was an opportunity for me to release a CD with non-Metal music. The music is instrumental guitar orientated music with a varied style that ranges from Hard Rock to Fusion and some more film score type of music. So lot's of variation which I think is cool.

From what I know, you are preparing to tour North America with SOILWORK, WARBRINGER and SWALLOW THE SUN. How do you feel that you are going to play at the US again? Are things better or worse than Europe regarding the fans and the album sales?

We are very much looking forward to this US tour. It's a long f**king tour, 50 shows in 52 days!!! But that means a lot of exposure, which is great. USA has become the best market for us since 'Layers Of Lies' mainly because we got better tours there. The sales are better in the US than in Europe I guess, although 'Demonic Art' is not released in the US yet. The fans are always different from city to city, it's hard to say that the US or European fans are greater than the other. There are so many factors when it comes to fan response live, like sound, lights and the general atmosphere.

You are a drummer that carries years of experience. You have managed to play with bands like ARCH ENEMY, PESTILENCE, and your current war machine DARKANE. Looking back, do you realize what you have achieved or do you still believe it is like a dream?

Ha ha ha, yeah I guess I have achieved something! I think it's very hard to get a perspective on things when you're right in the middle of it. Of course I've done lots of cool things but it's very far from any luxury rock star life, ha ha. I'm on an airplane with DARKANE when I write this on our way to Italy for a mini-tour and I can tell you that this trip with Ryan Air is far from comfortable, but it is all worth it when we meet the fans later tonight!!! In a way it's still like a dream since I'm just the same old Peter from a very small town in Sweden that seems to have done something right practicing those drums for hours and hours. ?

Really, what drummers have influenced your way of playing?

Wow, that's hard to fit in this interview. There are sooooo many drummers that have influenced me and still do. Well let's try to sum some of them up here.

Metal drummers: Sean Reinert (CYNIC, DEATH etc.), Gene Hoglan (DARK ANGEL, DEATH, SYL etc.), Rick Colaluca (WATCHTOWER), Tomas Haake (MESHUGGAH) and Dirk Verbeuren (SOILWORK, SCARVE etc.)

Non-metal drummers: Dave Weckl, Trilok Gurtu, Virgil Donati, Vinnie Colaiuta, Morgan Agren, Steve Gadd…

What I like are drummers with a personality. I think that is by far the most important thing as musician to have a personal style. I like when you listen to a song and can hear who is playing on it.

What are DARKANE's plans for now? Is there any chance you may visit Greece for any live shows?

As I said we're on our way to Italy where we will do a small mini-tour and we just did another small tour in Switzerland. It's great to be able to try the new material. I don't know when there will be a proper European tour. We will go to USA late January to tour there with SOILWORK for two months. When we get back from that tour I will go on a European tour with PESTILENCE and after that the summer festivals start. Of course we hope to do a lot of festivals with DARKANE in 2009. So most likely there will be a European tour after the summer. We hope to go to Greece since we've never been there with DARKANE. So let's hope we'll get the opportunity to go there in 2009!!!

Thank you for your time Peter! I wish DARKANE only the best! Any message for Metal Temple's readers?

Please go buy our new CD, that's the only way to show that DARKANE are popular enough to go there to play live. Stay Metal!