UN: What initially brought around the end of Murder Corporation? I was initially pretty disappointed to hear that the band had called it a day but Killaman is just as good, if not even better. I was wondering why the name change if it’s pretty much the same line-up? A fresh start perhaps?

Rikard: Yeah… That as well as the material we were working on, some of it ended up on the Killaman CD just wasn’t what we used to do with Murder Corp. It’s not like day and night you know but still it felt to be “too much of change” to continue under the name Murder Corp. We weren’t going anywhere with Murder Corp. anyway so… Ha, ha, ha…

UN: When throwing around names for the new band did you want to try and have something different from Murder Corporation? I think Killaman is an excellent name and it’s pretty damned unique for a metal band.

Rikard: Some people hate the name, some like it… It’s probably not your typical name for a metal act and that’s cool you know. We had a couple of different ideas…Killaman sounded like something that would piss people off so… I don’t know man. For me it’s just a name. It sounds “cool”.

UN: I was initially surprised to hear that you guys had the singer from Reclusion, while they are an amazing band they are very different from the Killaman sound. Have things been working out good with Rune? Would you say his vocal style is what you wanted all along?

Rikard: I heard the Reclusion CD. Liked what I heard and gave him a call. Simple as that… When we were looking for a new singer we had very open minds so to say… We weren’t going for anyone that would necessarily have the same type of death growl as the old singer in Murder Corp. had…We tried Rune out and things worked out great so…

UN: Do you think that Killaman is possibly a bit more metal then Murder Corporation was? There definitely is still a punky/crust edge to the music but I think that it’s much more thrash metal influenced. Do you think your music could equally appeal to both metal fans and crust/punk fans?

Rikard: Yeah, I think so… I hope so man! I have always myself been into punk / crustcore or whatever you know. You know… Killaman tends to mix all kinds of “metal” and “core” genres and that’s cool. I would say that Killaman is might a bit more “organized” then what Murder Corp. was.

UN: Do you think that you’ve grown as a songwriter over the years? I was actually just listening to Rated X the other day and while I’m not sure if you wrote for Deranged, the catchy simple, yet brutal vibe was around even then. Do you think it’s important for music to be memorable, no matter how heavy it may be?

Rikard: I have always taken part in doing the actual music, as in I’m always there to arrange the shit together or whatever you know… I wasn’t doing any lyrics nor vocal patterns for the Rated-X CD. I started to write lyrics right after the Rated-X sessions and have since continued to write the majority of all Deranged lyrics… Lately a good friend of ours from New Zealand, Kevin Marshall have helped us out a great deal with the lyric part.

Yes, as I see it music has to be memorable…

UN: Do you look at Killaman like more of a full band? You have a full lineup and can tour if possible. I know you’ve toured before with Deranged, is Killaman a band you’d like to hit the road with? I could imagine some pretty fierce and violent crowd reactions. Have you played any gigs yet with Killaman?

Rikard: No, not yet… We’re trying to set us self on a cool tour, to support a “bigger act”. Killaman is very much a full a band and yes, we will tour and do gigs and shit…

UN: You guys are already well under way writing material for your next cd. Is the music different at all? Any rough idea when the album will be recorded and see the light of day? I read that you will be getting Petagno to do the artwork! I think he’s one of the best artists doing metal covers these days. I think it’s actually been quite sometime since I’ve seen anything new from him. Do you know what the cover art will look like?

Rikard: The working title for the new CD is “Alea jacta est”, roughly translated “the dice is thrown”, so there’ll be something having to do with dices anyway… We have been in touch with Petagno right… I mostly know him from the Motorhead covers you know. I don’t have a clue when we’ll record it neither when it’ll be released. All depends on when and if we can tour. The new material is pretty much like the shit on the first CD… We’re sort of trying to develop Killaman a bit more so to say…

UN: Was it a conscious decision to stay away from the blast beat with Killaman? I think the thrash influenced and straight forward drumming allows a lot more energy to be heard. I think the blast beat has pretty much been put to death. I still love it in grindcore, but it gets old in a lot of metal styles.

Rikard: Yes! I agree… It’s like “rather fast then good” you know.

UN: Do you think that Sweden is an ideal place for bands of any genre to call home? It’s staggering how many influential and amazing bands have come from Sweden. Everything from melodic death to crustcore seems to have a place within the Swedish scene. Does the government encourage music in any way shape or form?

Rikard: We’re Swedes… We’re fucking spoiled and fucking complains on everything you know but hell… I would say that the “government” (read “community services”) do help out as in rehearsal rooms and shit… When it comes to that, I would say that Sweden are way better then a lot of other European countries. I don’t know about bands, but when, let´s say when Deranged first started out in ´91 or whatever, it was just a bunch of bored friends that got together are formed a band, probably coz we hadn’t anything better to do…

UN: Do you find that you guys get compared to a lot of bands that you really sound nothing like? I’d say a few of the ones that surprised me the most were Incubus, and The Crown. One band that I think people may have missed out on that I hear a bit of is Agathocles. Are you guys fans of the mince core maniacs?

Rikard: AGX? I used to be really into Agathocles… I do still respect them for what they did. Haven’t they split up or what’s the deal? Man, I know what inspires us so both Incubus, The Crown and (no offence) AGX do surprises me but hell… It’s still free to think and have an opinion so… I listen to all kinds of shit… Anything from Pink Floyd to early Carcass, from Yes to Discharge you know…

UN: Do you find that you have to be in a certain state of mind to write the lyrics for Killaman or do you just have to think about something that pisses you off? For however pissed off the band sounds though, it would tough to ignore the fact that you guys sound like you have a lot of fun playing this style of music. Are some of the lyrics serial killer influenced? Some songs like Nihilist and Proud probably aren’t, but others seem pretty serial killer-esque.

Rikard: Nah… I wouldn’t say “serial killer” or… I don’t know man… Some of the lyrics are like written from another guys view. The type of character De Niro is doing in Taxi driver or even fucking that John Doe character from Seven. Pretty much people that have had it you know… Ha, ha, ha…

UN: Would you say that Killaman is anti-George Bush and anti-American? It seems like the only people that are pro-George Bush are the stubborn Americans and even then the numbers are starting to die down. Is he looked upon in the same light in Sweden as he is in most parts of the world. Basically meaning, do you think he’s a moron there as well?

Rikard: Unless you’re a total idiot you do think that Bush JR. is a bit…”weird”. I wouldn’t say that Killaman is “anti American” or whatever… Just fucking “anti stupidity”.

UN: What do you want people to get out of Killaman? Would you say that you want people to use the band as an outlet for all of their angst and aggression?

Rikard: If we can be outlet for your aggressions, cool… The only thing I want to do is to make some cool timeless metal you know…

UN: Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer my questions. Feel free to let everyone know how they can get in touch with the band.

Rikard: Thanx for the int. man. Write us a line at: killamannow@hotmail.com