GRIMM: Definitely solid writing. I noticed a few other lyrics along the same lines as well. On ‘Impetus Odi’ for example, it says “incompetent mongrels leading a flock of overgrown children, global massacre without cause or chance of redemption“, or in ‘Drag Me to Hell‘ we hear “and so the wicked slither their way to power with lustful ignorance digging their grave into the eternal“

Ah I’m glad you noticed, man, because Sven always puts a lot of careful effort into the word choice and the structure of the lyrics. But we do compensate the serious stuff a little as well. There are two songs on ‘Maniacult’ about shit. Literal shit. I think the reason with the reason we did so this time is because there weren’t any on the previous record *laughs*. So we had to make up for that.

GRIMM: You have to keep it somewhat lighthearted from time to time, I guess. Do you make a point of it to keep it that way on stage as well?

That’s the most important thing. We really have fun, you know, doing what we do. Even on stage though it’s been a while now. Every time is about playing as tight as possible, engaging with the crowd, and delivering the most spectacular experience for the fans. Because ultimately they’re the ones paying to come see our show. So we don’t want to just show up and play a few songs without giving it our all. I would probably say the most important thing is the way we interact with the fans and the way we also present ourselves to them. I don’t really feel that big a separation between the band and our fanbase. It’s a whole universe where we like listening to metal, we probably like to read the same kind of books and watch the same kind of movies. We’re all basically a bunch of nerds obsessed with horror movies and video games that like to play death metal, I always say that’s the definition of Aborted.

GRIMM: I can relate, by the way. It’s a real treat to get Facebook notifications about your silly interactions with other bands. That shows the human side of the band. Speaking of which, I understand you’ve invited some guests to appear on the record as well. Who else is on there exactly? I thought I heard a guest appearance on ‘I Prediletti: the Folly of the Gods‘.

Yes! That’s Ben Duerr from Shadow of Intent. You may have recognized Filip Danielsson from Humanity’s Last Breath on ‘Drag Me to Hell’. We got Crystal Lake‘s Ryo Kinoshita singing on ‘Ceremonial Ineptitude’. And of course there’s Joe Bad from Fit for an Autopsy on the title track.

GRIMM: Okay, so my ears didn’t deceive me . Cool. Now I can’t help but notice you’re also short of one band member. How has the departure of Mendel been for the band? How has it impacted the writing process? He’s not on ‘Maniacult‘, right?

No, and he wasn’t on ‘La Grande Masquerade’ either. Well, it was kind of a smooth transition. And in terms of the music it wasn’t really a problem at all. Because even with ‘Terrorvision’, I think Mendel only wrote a couple of songs. Most were written by Ken took full creative control for the new record. So I would say probably 99% of the music that you hear on it is in Ken‘s writing.

GRIMM: By the way, who can we expect to be filling Mendel’s shoes on stage? Any concrete plans?

We’re actually not really auditioning. We’ve been getting a lot of videos and unsolicited audition requests, which is great of course. It sounds funny when I say it like that but it’s true. I guess it probably shows the import of the band on the metal scene. But we’re not really rushing to make any decisions in that sense, because we function well as a four-piece. The current core of the band has been together for like five, six years and we don’t really feel a need to change that. For shows we might have someone ready however. I’m unsure as to when we’re gonna announce him but we’ll reveal it in due time with the upcoming tour. But nothing’s permanent. We’re just taking it easy.