Q and A: Daniel Freyberg (Crownshift)

By PAUL SOUTHWELL

NEW Finnish band Crownshift is comprised of experienced metal musicians from various other established bands. Their self-titled debut is ferocious and melodic, combining a variety of styles to create a modern and powerful album that is highly impressive. The four-piece line-up includes Nightwish and Wintersun bassist Jukka Koskinen, Wintersun and Finntroll drummer Heikki Saari, MyGRAIN vocalist Tommy Tuovinen, and former Children of Bodom and Bodom After Midnight guitarist Daniel Freyberg.

Given the untimely passing of guitarist Alexi Laiho, Bodom After Midnight was disbanded, effectively documented with a three song EP Paint the Sky with Blood consisting of all available material to release, which included two original songs and a cover of Dissection’s “Where Dead Angels Lie”. Post-Bodom After Midnight, Crownshift allows Freyberg and associates to embark on a new musical odyssey which looks extremely promising. We spoke to Freyberg about Crownshift, as well as some of his experiences leading up to this new chapter in his music career.

Hot Metal: The debut album is very good. How much pre-production went into making Crownshift a reality?
Daniel Freyberg: “Well, a lot, you know, I think the whole recording was kind of simultaneous pre-production and recording. You know, we tweaked a lot on the spot while we were recording, and especially with the vocals. We kind of made every vocal arrangement on the spot when we were recording that album and wrote the lyrics there as well, so, yeah, quite a lot.”

HM: So, when you’ve got a new band, how does the songwriting process happen? You’ve all worked with established acts.
DF: “It usually started like, I had the chorus of the song, or something I wrote. Then I usually make a demo and send it to the other guys and they will tweak it from there. They pick up the best parts and make the bad parts better. Ha-ha. So, yeah, arrangement wise, we all were kind of involved but it’s usually at the start that I had some core idea.”

HM: I noticed that you’ve got a pretty substantial pedalboard in one of your videos.
DF: “Even though people may consider me as a rhythm guitarist in Children of Bodom, there was actually a lot of leads that I had to do and would sometimes also double Alexi’s solo. So, you had to have lead guitar skills in order to be a successful rhythm guitarist in Children of Bodom. I had a pedalboard back then but it was a little bit different and was a new setup for me.”

HM: For some of the leads on Crownshift, there’s harmony guitar parts, which presumably means that when you want to tour, you’d have to get in a rhythm guitarist?
DF: “Yeah, we are considering that. Yeah, let’s see what happens.”

HM: So, if you look at the album as a whole there’re so many different influences in it. Some parts I can hear elements of say Rush, because of delay and chorus effects.
DF: “It’s not really that big of an influence on me. I have checked some of their songs but not the whole catalogue. I do like prog metal, but I’m more into Dream Theater, who are obviously influenced by Rush and symphony acts. But for Rush, I only had a little scratch of the surface.”

HM: I sensed a Devin Townsend or Strapping Young Lad type approach. Would you agree?
DF: “Oh, yeah. He’s been a huge influence on me so I would agree. You can hear a little bit of Devin’s influence in some songs, so yeah, you’re right.”

HM:  Is there a particular song on the album that you’re most proud of currently?
DF: “I’d say, ‘To the Other Side’ is really special to me, and also ‘Stellar Halo’. I’d say those probably took the most time to write but that doesn’t always equal a great song. But I don’t know, with those two, they have some special vibe for me, I’d say.”

HM: “To the Other Side”, is a 10-minute song [10:21 to be precise]. That’s very progressive.
DF: “Yeah, it is very prog and ‘Stellar Halo’ is not 10 minutes but it’s so involved. It’s so intense and such a technical song that you get exhausted when you’re playing that song. There’s just so much you have to think about all the time, you know, and be focused, certainly.”

HM: The track before “To the Other Side”, titled “Mirage”, is an instrumental.
DF: “Yeah, that’s right and that kind of felt instrumental right away when I started writing that. It turned out to be really good. I’ve always loved instrumentals but not writing those that much because it’s a little bit different kind of a challenge to write instrumentals and you have to think a little bit differently and keep it, like, interesting without the vocals, which is probably the biggest challenge. But yeah, it turned out to be really good. I’m really happy with the result.”

HM: Alexi was obviously a brilliant guitarist, gracing numerous guitar magazine covers, including sharing covers with Steve Vai and Zakk Wylde. So, I was wondering if there was that instrumental influence that came into what you were doing?
DF: “Well, I mean, obviously I’ve been listening to Vai and these other artists even before I met Alexi, so that goes a long way. You know, these instrumental influences and also, you know, some early In Flames had instrumentals, like on the Whoracle album [both the title track and ‘Dialogue with the Stars’]. So, yeah, Steve Vai is obviously one of the greatest, and I like his stuff very much, and it’s been a big influence on me as well.”

HM: Are you primarily playing flying V ESPs?
DF: “Yeah, they are ESPs, and the model is actually called Arrow, but almost similar.”

HM: So, did you arrange an endorsement, or you’re just happily played those guitars?
DF: “I’ve been their artist since 2016 when I joined Children of Bodom. Our partnership goes back a long way now. So, yes, I’m very happy with them, and they are the best guitars I ever played. And, yeah, they just work, absolutely. I haven’t obviously tried every guitar in the planet but they’re the best I’ve tried so far, so I don’t have any Gibsons, so I can say neither do I have Fenders. But I have many brands, you know, and so far, ESPs have been the most consistent. They sound good, they stay in tune well, they can take extreme winters and circumstances very well, which is important when you’re doing shows, like, everywhere in the world.”

HM: The funny thing about metal of late, or at least in the last 10 years, is that there’s that down-tuning trend. And I’m not sure how much of it you get into but, you know, the baritone guitars and even lower tunings where everything becomes starts competing with the bass….
DF: “I never even tried baritone guitars, so I don’t know. But that down-tune thing is not really something I’m interested because it’s just not the sound I want, basically. And, I mean, it’s fine, too, if somebody else wants that, but it’s not for me, really. I don’t even have a seven-string guitar.”

HM: I mentioned it because the second track “Rule the Show” reminded me of Strapping Young Lad crossed with Meshuggah.
DF: “Yeah, true. Well, we do down tune, but not that heavily. I think we have one step down on the standard tuning and then another for drop tuning. So that one is a drop tuning; drop C. But it’s not like that extreme, I’d say, for what people are doing, like, nowadays, they have these eight string monsters and it’s mad. I don’t even know how low they go, you know, probably lower than where Titanic is now.”

HM: I suspect it’s the fast groove, and gated triplet runs that reminds of Meshuggah.
DF: “Yeah, you know, I’m really flattered that you say so, because Meshuggah are pioneers of doing that stuff and they’re awesome, and so was Strapping Young Lad, you know?”

HM: So how did the band itself come into fruition? How did it come about?
DF: “Well, we do have a little bit history with Heikki [Saari] and Jukka [Koskinen] and we used to play the same band [Norther] back in 2012. When that band was near its end, or retired, we already talked about what we should do, or we will do something together in the future. So, it goes a long way back. And during the years we had these chats back and forth, but there was never really a good or right time because we didn’t want to do just some project, we wanted this to be a full-blown band that we could push. So, it took a little while, but, yeah, now we’re here, finally.”

HM: Did you find playing alongside Alexi intimidating or did he inspire you to play better?
DF: “He inspired me to play better, for sure, because even though I knew how good he was, from the record …  it’s a little bit different thing when you are in the same room with somebody. Then you really see what he’s doing, how he’s sounding, and it’s a little bit different than hearing that stuff from record. So, I got to see that from a very close distance – how good he was, and it had another impact on me. I feel very privileged to have gotten that opportunity to see how he played, and maybe I learned few tricks to myself as well.”

HM: Were there some studio tricks, like production tricks as well?
DF: “Not really. I mean, Alex wasn’t really a production guy, it was just his raw talent. He wasn’t really into gear nerding, or production or anything, but it was just his talent; the songwriting, his composing and his sense of harmonies and stuff like that. On top of that, he had a great technique. So, it was more like playing; guitar playing tricks and stuff like that.”

HM: Did you have to get an external producer for Crownshift or was it all done by the band?
DF: “Yeah, it was all done by the band and actually, to be more precise, done by me, because I recorded this album, excluding the drums. And, yeah, recorded, engineered and produced it. So, it was sort of my little playground in that sense.”

HM: So that’s a lot of work for you. You’re writing the song effectively, and then recording it, you’ve got to encourage your band members to play a particular way, and then at the same time, you’ve got to produce and mix.
DF: “Well, I didn’t do the mixing [Rami Nykänen – mixing engineer], luckily, because that would have been too much for my skills. But, yeah, it was a lot of work, and I’d say that even too much of a work. But it was something that I was, at the time, really interested in. I just needed to get this recording and producing thing out of my system. But now that I’ve done it, I probably would consider hiring another person next time because it eases your workload so much. It also gives you more time to focus on the actual execution of playing the songs. I haven’t really thought about that [hiring an external mixer and producer]. We’ll see when we get there, who’s available and what is their price range. There are many factors, you know, but yeah, working someone like Andy Sneap would be awesome because he’s an amazing mixer and producer, who has worked on many of my favourite records.”

HM: Is there any chance that this band might come down to Australia?
DF: “Well, I hope so. I don’t know how realistic that is right now, but that would be a real dream of mine because I never been Australia. I don’t know if any one of us has been to Australia.”

HM: Wintersun played here several years ago, in late 2017.
DF: “Okay. So, I guess Jukka has been there. Yeah, we would love to come down Australia. But let’s see if it’s going to happen sooner or later. I don’t know how difficult it is to get in Australia at the moment, or if there is an awesome market there or anything?”

HM: It’s been a bit saturated with a lot of tours recently. We’ve had all these bands that have come through, and soon we’ll have Iron Maiden, being one of the bigger upcoming metal tours, due in September. But yeah, there are seemingly plentiful options of late.
DF: “Okay, well, we’re going to look into it. That will be great to come there.”

HM: How did you approach the arrangements on Crownshift? You obviously got to work with other bands but I guess you have a vision in your head initially for song. So, when you write a song, how you want it to actually sound.
DF: “Well, it’s usually just sometimes you have just one riff or melody, and it just starts to build up and the vision is coming along the way, but not probably initially. Even I don’t know how the song is going to turn out when I start writing it. But that’s actually what makes it interesting and keeps it interesting. You can always surprise yourself.”

HM: And have you got a vinyl pressing of the album yet? So, you can sit down and listen to it on record player and just take in the whole thing.
DF: “Yes, we do have a vinyl version of it. It’s coming, or I think it’s already available for pre order.”

HM: Are you into vinyl, by any chance?
DF: “Well, I mean, they look cool but I don’t even own a vinyl player anymore. I’m more like a streaming guy because it’s convenient for me. Yeah, but there are markets for vinyl because some people are really into it. That’s why it’s cool that they’re still doing it.”

HM: Some argue it’s about as close as you can get to hearing the band in the room based on audio clarity and frequency response-  but each to their own.
DF: “Yeah, I guess so. Yeah, some people prefer the sound of vinyl, but I’m not really that picky. I’m just fine with the digital, so I go with that.”

HM: So, I presume you’ve embraced the whole digital amplifier modelling technologies, such as Kempers?
DF: “Yeah, I actually have done that. I played for a long time with Kempers in Children of Bodom. I also had a Fractal [preamp and effects processor] for a while, but then I switched to Kemper for some reason that I don’t remember, ha-ha. But probably I just wanted to try that, and then it just stuck with me and. Yeah, they’re cool but when we started to do these Bodom After Midnight shows, I tried my old amplifier rig, which I hadn’t played through in a long time, and I was like, ‘Oh, this is what I’ve been missing.’ I kind of forgot that because I played so long with the Kemper and the modeler. So that you forget how the amp reacts, and everything.”

HM: It’s the Edward Van Halen comment of wanting to feel the hairs on the armpits move.
DF: “Yeah, and you can actually have the Kemper go through the speaker as well. So, you can have that live cabinet with the modelers as well, but it just reacts differently to your playing. So that’s when I decided I’m going to jump out from these modelers, or at least some part of it. I now have a hybrid rig. I have the analogue preamp, but use a digital back end, with a cabinet simulation. So that works pretty well for me. But I do love when I have the analogue preamp, at least. So that’s the biggest thing for me.”

HM: I thought you might be using a bit of analogue gear in the recording, just listening to the song “The Devil’s Drug”. It’s got a flanger or phaser effect happening too.
DF: “Well, that was totally different setup. I was talking about my live setup, mainly. So, if we’re talking about this album’s guitar tone, it was ENGL E530 [tube] preamp, which then it has a little bit of parametric EQ; my old TC Electronics EQ in front, and after. Then there’s like, a cabinet simulation on the plug-ins. So, it’s an IR [Impulse Response] cabinet. No real cabinet was used in this album. But there is, a part of analogue in the signal chain, and that’s what really makes a difference to me.”