"Sworn To A Great Divide" is our seventh studio album and the first with our new guitar player Daniel Antonsson, who I must say is a perfect addition to Soilwork both on a personal and musical level! Our goal with this record was to write the best songs we could possibly come up with, while staying true to the band’s sound. I think we’ve managed to recapture the spirit of albums like "Natural Born Chaos" and "Stabbing The Drama" with a pinch of "A Predator’s Portrait" thrown in as well.

For the first time, we actually started writing music on the road. We toured for almost two years for "Stabbing", and after Peter’s departure we decided to bring some recording equipment with us. At the end of the last tour, we had about six or seven solid structures ready and from there on things went very smoothly. All in all, the writing took about five to six months.

We recorded at Darkane’s Not Quite Studio which is basically at home for most of the band. It was comfortable to work this way because the studio was nearby and we could pretty much choose our schedules, but the one downfall was that we ended up spending almost five months recording and mixing the album. A little too long for our sanity which is permanently damaged ever since!

Björn mainly addresses things from a personal angle on this record. I can’t really go into any details about specific lyrics since I didn’t write any of them. However I do know the album title refers to the enormous gap between living on the road and being home, as well as to the inner struggles we all experience at times. On a musical point of view, Soilwork’s "Great Divide" is the fact that we always follow our own path regardless if it divides "old" and "new" fans or not. The only way we can create is by being true to ourselves.

Ever since "Natural Born Chaos", we wanted to work with Devin again, but our schedules just never fell into place. This time it finally happened, and Björn flew to the Devlab studio in Vancouver to record all the vocals. I personally think this is Speed’s best performance ever, he has grown tremendously as a vocalist over the years! And the great thing about working with Devin is that he knows exactly how to push Speed to outdo himself. The falsetto parts in the title track are a fine example of the Speed/Devin experiments.

One of my favourite new songs, "Sick Heart River", was written by our keyboard player Sven, who also happens to be an accomplished guitarist. It’s a very unique song, with a lot of inventive rhythms and an overall melancholic atmosphere that sticks with me every time I hear it. It has some of the coolest drum parts on the whole album in my opinion. I like an album to be a real trip and songs like this one definitely make that happen for me.

On our current U.S. tour with Lamb Of God and Killswitch Engage, we’re playing "Exile" which is the first single and video of the new album; the title track which turns out to be a kick-ass show opener… and of course "The Pittsburgh Syndrome", one of the fastest tracks we’ve ever written. It’s a blast to perform it on stage! We will definitely add some more new songs to our future setlists as well.

We did a video for "Exile" which is featured on the DVD that comes with the limited edition of "Sworn To A Great Divide". There will be at least two more video clips coming up in the following months.

I’d say the production is a lot closer to our live sound than any of the older albums. We kept things as "real" as possible. For example, drum wise, we didn’t do lot of editing which is why you can hear some little mistakes throughout the CD. I decided to go for solid takes instead of relying on the computer too much. In the end, it gives "Sworn To A Great Divide" a natural flow that some of the previous albums are lacking because their production is so polished.

We will certainly be touring throughout most of 2008. We’ll of course go to Europe and the U.S. but there are also plans for Australia, Japan, South America and Russia… so stay tuned and come check us out when we’re burning down your town!

About thirty minutes before the show, we change into our stage clothes and do some warming up. I usually play rudiments on a practice pad and warm up my wrists, ankles and shoulders. It’s nothing very elaborate though. We’ve done so many shows that we’re pretty used to the whole concept by now. Some musicians do a lot of working out on the road, but not us. I guess we’re a bunch of lazy fuckers!

Do you have any funny or strange stories about the band you can share with us?

One of the things we love doing to kill time on the road is listening to the crappiest music we can possibly find, mainly old 80s demos from underground bands. Over the years, we’ve collected some real gems! One of them is Manouchka who is the "official" French Tina Turner impersonator. I highly recommend anyone to check out the mp3s on her website… painful cheeks guaranteed!

I haven’t had the chance to check out your show. But I used to be a part of an underground metal radio myself and it was a blast. Shows like yours keep metal alive, so cheers to you and Metal Choc from Soilwork!