Earlier this year, I told you about Alarm!, a Swedish hardcore combo featuring former Victims members Gareth Smith (guitars), Jon Lindqvist (bass), and Andy Henriksson (drummer), along with vocalist Henrik Lindqvist, who astute No Echo readers will know from his time fronting Outlast.
Founded in 2023, the Alarm! sound is driving and crusty, revealing melancholic melodies beneath the cacophony. "We wrote the record over the period of about 6 months," guitarist Gareth Smith tells No Echo about their forthcoming debut album. "From the moment [bassist] Jon [Lindqvist], [drumer] Andy [Henriksson], and I had agreed on continuing to play hardcore together, after the breakup of Victims, we got to writing pretty quickly. This was before we had a vocalist.
"The three of us were clear on the idea that Alarm! was not gonna be a mere continuation of our old band. Jon moving back to bass (he’s a bassist at heart) was the biggest factor in helping us create something new sounding."
Yes, bassists should take note of Lindqvist's work on the album, which offers a unique layer of melody to the proceedings. "We tried a couple of different people on vocals, but for one reason or another, mainly practical, things didn’t work out," Gareth says about the frontman spot. "Not wanting to wait around, we went into the studio and recorded a bunch of songs instrumentally.
"Then when Henke got in touch and said he was up for trying out, we were all blown away. His and Jon’s old band, Outlast, was an old favourite. But Henke hadn’t done all that much since then. When he came on board we sent him the nine songs that became the record, and he wrote lyrics to all of them in the space of a couple of weeks. After like three rehearsals with Henke he was ready to go into the studio and record his vocals. We knew we were working with something new and exciting already, but when Henke’s vocals joined the show, we were totally psyched."
We're psyched on it as well. Check out the Alarm! album in this No Echo exclusive premiere:
Alarm! vocalist Henke Lindqvist shared the following about his work on the LP:
"The lyrics on the album focus on themes that deal with living in an achievement oriented society, with pressure and fear of being singled out. They also deal with the uncertainty of living in a time full of conflict. We are constantly made aware of looming dangers, outside and inside of ourselves that embedded in our being is holding us back. The lyrics deal with issues related to being randomly assembled beings to doubting others’ intentions, and constantly striving to be more efficient.
"In this sense, the song 'Scare Game' deals with the fear formulated in the societal discourse about the threats from people different from ourselves. Furthermore, someone has something to gain by fueling our insecurities and our fears of other imaginary threats. The scare game of shame is rooted in our insecurities, in everything we do to not expose our own, and be exposed to, the shame of being afraid."
Alarm! will be out on June 14th via Armageddon Label (pre-order).
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