1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard of you before?
We’re a three piece doom/sludge metal band from Sweden. Jonas lives in the woods outside of Kalmar, me and Frans both come from Jönköping, about 250km away from Jonas. We started the band a couple of years ago, Jonas has been with us for the last 12 months or so.
On the 17th October last year ConSouling Sounds released our debut album/demo on CD and we’ve been playing some shows since then supporting that record. We’re currently working on our second album.

2. How would you describe your musical sound?
Riff-heavy down-tuned doom/sludge metal with a touch of the occasional psychedelic vibes.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
The lyrics are inspired by everything from personal hardships to general boredom. I want the listener to make their own assumption/interpretation of what they’re about, that’s the way I usually listen to music and I think it’s much more interesting that way.

4. I know that the band was named after and Ufomammut album, what was it that interested you about this album title to use as a band name?
Before we chose to use Snailking as a band name we called ourselves Muskox until we realized there was another band from Sweden named just that. I came up with Snailking and got it from the Ufomammut album, we joked about it but it never really left our minds. We hesitated for 2-2½ years before going with the name. I like Snailking, it’s a mysterious/weird name. When I hear it I think of some mythical beast that has crawled up from depths to take back what once was his. On a side note; the Ufomammut album is awesome though and you really should check it out if you haven’t.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?
We had an awesome show in Copenhagen this year, we played this place called Ungdomshuset that’s the same venue where they hold the Heavy Days in Doomtown festival each year. It’s run entirely by volunteers and it’s very well organized! We also played at the Droneburg III festival in Hamburg in April and that was really good, great crowd, great food, great organization. We have been trying out a new song on our European tour, besides that the live set consist of the three songs of Samsara. I’d describe the performance in general with one word; loudness.

6. Do you have any touring plans for the future?
Not at the moment, we have some loose shows planned here and there which we really can’t reveal just yet. But we don’t have an extensive tour planned right now. It’s not that we’re don’t doing shows, we’re just not looking actively at the moment because we’re writing new material. However, if something was to pass us by we’re always up for a gig! When we feel that we’re close to be finishing the new album we will start planning for a larger European tour together with ConSouling Sounds, hopefully we can make sure to visit a larger part of the Europe this time around.

7. The last release came out on ConSouling Sounds, do you feel they did a lot to to get your name out there a lot better?
Absolutely! We couldn’t be happier with the co-operation we have with ConSouling Sounds. Without them I’m sure we wouldn’t have reached out to half the people we have, they’ve made sure that reviews have shown up in larger magazines around the world which we never would be able to reach otherwise. They’re a great couple of guys and I’m really happy they gave us the opportunity to work with them.

8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of sludge and doom metal?
All in all positive I’d say, people generally seem to like it. There hasn’t really been that many criticism at all.

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
We usually don’t go in with the ambition of creating anything, it kind of materializes as we go. Certain riffs stick and others you forget about after a while, eventually a song is born. The main difference this time around is that we’re writing all songs from scratch as a three-piece. I’d say the new stuff we do is kind of a continuation of Samsara but more refined. We have a new song which we’ve played live six times, and it’s been well received each time. I think the new material we have is heavier, angrier and more delicate than before at the same time.

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?Besides the obvious ones; Black Sabbath, YOB, Sleep, Neurosis we all have broad tastes in music. Nowadays I’m enjoying some old Rwake albums, I’ve never really gotten into them before, but “I’ve seen the light” now with them I suppose. Jonas is working with a side project of his own called Droneologist, he has released an album online recently. (http://droneologist.bandcamp.com) The new Kongh and Ocean Chief records are also spinning in our vinyl players a lot.

11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?
Frans does bicycle a lot. He’s competing in Sweden’s largest endurance race for bikes. It’s called Vätterrundanand it’s a lap around lake Vättern, 300km. I’m an avid Video Game nerd, I’ve recently invested a whole lot of time in playing old Nintendo Entertainment System games, I’m also working on some new artwork for Snailking. Jonas is building his own motorcycle on his free time, he usually keep busy with music projects or studio recordings of other artists though.

12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
Thanks for the interview, and thanks for all the people who have checked us out so far. We hope to see you guys on the road, and we can’t wait to show you what we’re cooking up for the next album!