F.: What does the title of the new album mean?
Jacob: It pretty much describes the whole album because 'brute' is another word for 'brutal'. All the new songs are pretty brutal. It's just a name for the kind of music we're doing on this album.
F.: What are the songs about this time?
J.: Pretty much the same as on the other albums. There are small horror stories about not very nice things — nightmares, murderers, hate & violence, death, blood. They're pretty much negative songs. They carry no real meaning, it's just like a scary movie. You can put the CD on and hear it instead…
F.: Maybe you should come to moscow and stage 'ballet of the brute' at the Bolshoy Theater? With a thrash disharmonic orchestra and ballerinas with chainsaws & stuff like that?
J.: (laughs) That would be funny & a cool experience! Maybe when we make our own DVD, hehe…
F.: As a vocalist, you must have written most of the lyrics…
J.: No. I've written some of the lyrics but not most of them. Our new drummer actually wrote three lyrics, our guitar player and I wrote something together, and I have a couple of friends who wrote some lyrics for me. I'm not really a big lyric-writer. I'm more into making the music with the other guys and taking part in the production and arranging live shows.
F.: Then you must be a fan of horror and thrash movies?
J.: No. Some of them a little, but not really. It's just lyrics that fit our music.
F.: I've noticed that people who make such malicious songs are mostly quiet and peaceful in real life…
J.: I'm not sure about quiet and peaceful (chuckles) but we are nice guys. We're normal guys who have jobs and an education and live a normal life, but we all love metal music. When we write music, we're not normal people (chuckles). And when we're on stage, we're not normal people. But like most bands in the world, in our daily life we're pretty normal. At least I think so. But maybe if you ask my friends they'd say something else, hehe…
F.: When it comes to HATESPHERE, I've only heard your debut self-titled album. Could you describe the main differences between your latest work and the first one?
J.: Oh, we've become better songwriters, I think. We work quicker and better today. It's more brutal and heavy and fast — it's more everything!!!
F.: Could you name the best thrash album released in recent years?
J.: Oh. Maybe the last EXODUS album. Also the first THE HAUNTED album was a killer. There were many good releases but not as many as I wanted…
F.: Imagine a thrash metal scale where the lowest point is METALLICA's 'St. Anger' and the highest point is the last EXODUS album. Could you objectively say where your new album sits on that scale?
J.: It's way higher than EXODUS!!! But that's only my opinion. I think our new album is a real killer. It's got many elements of different styles. EXODUS are really good but they play one thing. We've got other aspects like death metal influences, lots of thrash of course, some groovy and hard elements. We're mixing the traditional thrash thing with the modern stuff.
F.: Like THE HAUNTED, which you mentioned?
J.: Well, like THE HAUNTED but not like THE HAUNTED. I don't like being compared to them. I like the band but we play music in a totally different way than they do.
F.: Is modern thrash metal as rebellious as it was in the beginning?
J.: Not that rebellious anymore, I think. In the old days it was really something new and people were like 'Wow! What is this? 'Tis fucked up!' Nowadays metal music has twisted in so many ways — grindcore, death metal, industrial, blah-blah-blah whatever. So it's not like thrash metal is something shocking, rebellious, and vile. Maybe it is vile when you're creating the music, but people are more tolerant these days. People are used to seeing and hearing different things than 10 or 15 years ago.
F.: You're signed with Scarlet Records, who are mostly fond of power metal bands. Just imagine that you had to start a power metal band. What name would you choose?
J.: (laughs) I will never start a power metal band!!! But if I did, it would have to be something funny like CURLY HAIR or THE SHITTY BEATLES!!!
F.: Are you in contact with the Danish band INVOCATOR?
J.: Yeah! They're a really cool band and actually good friends of ours.
F.: So maybe you know that the guys from INVOCATOR participated on the album of russian angry metallers HOSTILE BREED?
J.: Yeah! They say it was cool, hehe!!!
F.: Do they? OK. And do you know any other russian bands?
J.: Not really. Only GORKY PARK!!! But that's not really metal… But I want to!!! I want to come to russia and play with your bands!!! If it's possible, for sure…
F.: If CD-Maximum were kind enough to arrange that, why not? Tell me, at what age did you start trying thrash screaming?
J.: I think I was 15 or something.
F.: And what did your parents say about that?
J.: (laughs) Oh, they hated me for it. They were saying 'why can't you just play the piano and sing nice songs about love and so on'. But I never wanted to play songs about love. I always wanted to sing about DEATH and DESTRUCTION because it is COOOLLLL!!!!!
F.: I remember old interviews with MERCYFUL FATE where they said that the metal thing would never develop in Denmark. Have there been any radical changes since then?
J.: These days there are lots of good bands! There's MNEMIC who signed to Nuclear Blast. There's RAUNCHY who signed to Nuclear Blast too. There are all kinds of new school metal bands experimenting with all sorts of metal. We have old bands like ILLDISPOSED and stuff like that. Actually the scene has never been better in Denmark.
F.: And besides music, do you have any other interests?
J.: Oh, besides music? I like to sleep (laughs)… Actually I like to have a good time and enjoy myself. I also work in a studio producing other bands, but that's music again… I'm primarily occupied with music in my life. I spend all my time on HATESPHERE. On top of everything, I'm the manager of the band and I take care of everything. So it takes up a lot of my time.
F.: Any funny tour stories?
J.: I think a story is only funny if you were there. There have been a lot of episodes where we were drunk, totally fucked up, having sex in a bathroom with a girl (laughs)…
F.: What kind of people would you recommend NOT to listen to your music?
J.: No way! I would recommend everybody to listen to our music because it's healthy to listen to HATESPHERE, hehe…
F.: Imagine that you're standing in a city that's unfamiliar to you. You have only one dollar in your pocket. What would you do?
J.: I would buy an ice cold beer, I think…
F.: Great! Let's imagine the opposite situation — you have one billion dollars. What would you do with that much money?
J.: Huh, I would tell SLAYER, hey guys I have a lot of money and I want to pay to go on tour with you!!!
F.: The most terrible thing you've witnessed in your life…
J.: Oh, I don't really have such an experience, but once I lost my voice while we were playing a show. And that was pretty terrible…
F.: You live in Denmark. So you must know Hans Christian Andersen. Maybe it would be worth doing a concept album based on his fairy tales, rearranged in a more brutal way?
J.: (lazy, gummy voice) Noooooo!.. Maybe someday when I get older. I've got a big book with some of his stuff. I haven't read it but I've got it, hehe…
F.: What would you say to your fans in russia?
J.: If we have any fans there (laughs) then thank you for supporting HATESPHERE and check out our new album! See ya on da road!!!...
F.: Shortbrutalending!!! So be it!!!