The Grotesquery
Dirty Death Metal The Simple Way

13.04.2022

The name of Roger “Rogga” Johansson immediately brings to mind the sound of oldschool Scandinavian death metal, and when oldschool Scandinavian death metal is discussed, Rogga is among the first names to be mentioned. His pedigree includes dozens of bands nd projects exploring all shades of good ol’ death metal and nearly 50 collaborations with people of all walks of life, from those you’ve never heard of to underground legends such as Felix Stass of Crematory or Dave Ingram of Benediction. There’s hardly another musician in the business that is working as hard as this singer and jack of all trades. He does get his share of criticism, however, and you would hear now and again that all of Johansson’s projects are nothing more than an endless line of self-repetition, but that’s definitely not true. We couldn’t obviously cover the entire portfolio of Rogga’s projects in one interview (well, nobody can), so we decided to start with one of the most intriguing (and, unfortunately, now defunct) projects under his belt, which is The Grotesquery.

Let’s begin the journey into Rogga’s Universe with The Grotesquery, probably, one of the most mystic projects among your bands. How did you get in touch with Kam Lee (vocals, also of Massacre) and decide to join forces with him?

A mutual friend hooked us up actually, and initially he was to guest on a few Revolting songs, but we decided that we instead should try something together. So that’s how The Grotesquery came about.

Could you tell me about the very early stages of The Grotesquery, please? How did you find musicians, the name etc.?

The name I think came from an email between me and Kam. I described something like a grotesquery and he came back and said, “Hey, this is a cool word, we should use it for band name”. As for members I had worked previously with Brynjar (Helgetun) and Johan (Berglund) on drums and bass, so it was really easy to ask them to join with us in this new project and they agreed.

I understand that death metal is based on riffs so it’s always the music that comes first and then musicians add vocal lines and lyrics. Is it the same in The Grotesquery? Or do Kam’s lyrics influence you to write certain riffs? Maybe he says, “I want a song about this and this”, and you try to come up with something that fits these ideas…

It’s the same as usual haha, I write the music first and then Brynjar and Johan do their parts and finally Kam gets the material to start making his contributions. All along the process he has been creating a story though and writing lyrics, so when the songs are done he gets to work and fits the words into the music, and also he makes the intros as well.

Are you both able to correct each other and say, “Nah, man, this doesn’t work, let’s try something different”? How do you both take criticism?

Yeah indeed, but it rarely happens. Kam often likes the music I do, and I have never felt that he has done anything vocally that doesn’t fit. So we work very easily together I think.

Did other members of The Grotesquery bring their ideas, opinions about sound production, song structures etc.?

Well both Brynjar and Johan are free to make the drums and bass just as they like, so they make the albums what they are very much. Sometimes I think of drums that are totally different to what Brynjar comes up with haha. But in the end his ideas always are the better ones really.

The music of The Grotesquery is very cinematic and at times it sounds like a brutal soundtrack to some horror movie of the 80s. Is it an intentional thing? Who is responsible for these arrangements? And what do you think about the good old horror movies?

Yes this is exactly what The Grotesquery is about. To make you feel like its a movie of some sort, and to make you really come into the concept and story of the album. The intros are made by Kam, he’s very good at making those horror sounding things and then it’s incorporated into the songs. And I try to make the riffs and melodies both haunting and heavy, so it will fit Kam’s concepts. I love old horror movies, I grew up on 80s horror so it’s my fave genre of movies indeed.

Let’s talk about each album of The Grotesquery! “Tales of the Coffin Born” (2010) was an impressive mix of old school Swedish and American death metal with strong vibe of occultism. That was probably the most evil, mean and wicked album of the band. Would you agree with that?

Yes indeed. It’s my fave album as well actually, I think we got it all to work perfectly on the debut album. Not that we didn’t later on, but to me it’s a special album indeed.

What were your reference points when you were building up The Grotesquery sound?

We didn’t have any really, we just wanted it to be death metal that was both epic as well as heavy, it should have both sides and simple riffs would work as well as melodic riffs and melodies too.

“The Facts and Terrifying Testament of Mason Hamilton: Tsathoggua Tales“ (2012) sounded a bit cleaner compared to his predecessor. Was it a result of collaboration with Dan Swano?

Indeed it was. Dan has another way of working and that’s why the sound is different naturally. To some this is their fave album, while others prefer the debut much more. I think it’s a killer album really.

“The Facts…” has even more evil melodies and Kam’s singing was more diverse. So what are your best memories about that album? What goals did you try to achieve with it?

We wanted it to be more different, more of everything, and to have the songs stand out more from each other too. I think we made that happen really, it’s a more open and yet more different album than the first one.

On “Curse of the Skinless Bride” (2015) you returned to rough sound and Dan was replaced with Ronnie Björnström. Were you disappointed with Dan? Or did he miss something in his work?

No we just wanted to work with Ronnie again, as I think his sound fits The Grotesquery best. As I said, many disagree and think the second album is best, but for us the feeling was that we wanted Ronnie back with his trademark sound really.

This album has a lot of sound effects, interludes, melodic licks (“This Is The End” is a good example) and nearly death ‘n’ roll rhythms. What influenced you as a songwriter to do all these things? Did you feel the presence of this skinless bride, hehe?  

Haha yeah... Well we always wanted to include fresh things in The Grotesquery. We felt that we could take any idea or riff and use it, and it would fit. That’s why we have all these different things in there, in the end it always become The Grotesquery anyways, and that’s what is fun for us.

Who are Alayna Ghoul, Borchers Lee, Sasquatch Sanchez? Is Borchers related to Kam?

I don’t know haha! That’s only for Kam to know. I know that Alyana is his girlfriend though.

After “Curse Of The Skinless Bride” you signed with Xtreem Music. Why didn’t you go on with Cyclone Empire? What convinced you that Dave Rotten and his label were a good choice?

Cyclone Empire declined and finally almost disappeared... I don’t know what happened to them really, I assume economic troubles as usual. Me and Dave at Xtreem Music have been very good friends for many many years, so signing there fitted us great.

I consider “The Lupine Anathema” (2018) as your best (or let’s say my favorite) record which has every trademark of the band: well-written, intense, bitter, atmospheric, melodic. But where did you lose Ronnie and why did Johan Berglund was responsible for sound engineering?

Really? That’s very cool indeed. It’s somehow sort of a different album for us, it doesn’t fit into the trilogy of the first three album either. Well Johan has his own studio and he wanted to mix the album, and the rest of us said, “Sure, you do it”. I think it turned out very good, even if it’s very different from Ronnie’s sound.

A very specific question: how did you come up with melodic part in “Under The Curse Of The Full Moon” and amazing solos in “By Feral Ways” and “Dark Cry Of The Wolf”? I think you outdid yourself in terms of melodies in these solos!

Well I can’t take credit for the solos on this album, as they are done by Kjetil (Lynghaug) from Paganizer. I did all melodies as usual, but the pure solos are by Kjetil, and he is an excellent guitarist.

How come that Kam let anyone write lyrics and used lyrics written by Melissa Lason, Michelle Garza and Toneye Blakk?

I don’t know really, I think he just wanted to have some fresh input and that’s why he asked them.

Which album of The Grotesquery do you prefer in terms of lyrics and why?

I love the debut in all ways. The story is so cool, the coffin born thing, the whole creepy concept. I think it’s the best of them all, Kam really did a killer story there.

I’m impressed with cover artworks and booklets of The Grotesquery’s albums. For example, the “Tales Of The Coffin Born” booklet looks like a manuscript. How did you find Turkka Rantanen who became a staff artist for The Grotesquery?

Turkka and me have been friends and worked for many many years, so it was easy when we needed someone we could discuss the concepts with and who would do the whole layout and booklet and also the cover artwork. Turkka is great and has many killer ideas, the ideas he had was just awesome if you ask me.

As far as I understand, you and Kam decided to put The Grotesquery on hold. What caused this decision?

Yes indeed, the project is no more actually. We felt that after the trilogy we should start a new one, but we were not completely happy with it, and “The Lupine Anathema” didn’t feel like the start of something new, it felt like the last album really. It’s like that sometimes, a project feels like it’s finished.

Is there an off chance that you and Kam will work together under The Grotesquery moniker?

I would not say it’s impossible no. Maybe one day the ideas will come and then we reboot the whole thing.

Am I right in thinking that some of the ideas which you planned for the next The Grotesquery album ended up on the latest Massacre CD?

No not at all, actually there was a full Grotesquery album finished but that album instead will become the next Echelon album.

I guess you’ve been asked this question many times but how do you decide what song to use in a certain band or project? I understand that Putrevore and, say, Those Who Bring the Torture are completely different bands but anyway?

Yeah I don’t know really haha... But usually I decide which band to write for from the start. But sometimes songs end up in other projects, that’s not unusual at all really.

How do you work on new songs? Do you decide, “OK, I’m gonna write 12 songs for the Speckmann-Johansson project”, or do you write whatever comes to your mind, so yiu can write songs for different projects within one week or even one day?  

Yeah that’s how it often is, I decide to start work on an album, and then I spend a week or two writing for that album. But sometimes I sit down and just do a song or so, and then I decide afterwards where it fits best. Yeah I can write for many projects along each other indeed. That’s not a problem, and often it’s even better.

What albums from your extensive back catalog could you recommend to those who love death metal but are still not familiar with Rogga Johansson? What is the best starter pack for a journey to the Rogga Johansson Universe?  

Maybe try Paganizer´s "Dead Unburied", Ribspreader’s "Bolted to the Cross" and then Rogga Johansson "Entrance to the Otherwhere" and Dead Sun "The Grand Chamber". Then you will hear what I do, and maybe also Putrevore´s "Macabre Kingdom" too, for the harder stuff haha.

A question for tech freaks: what kind of guitars do you use and why?  

I play SKG guitars, Serpent King Guitars. They are the guitars built by Henri Sattler from God Dethroned and they are the best ones I’ve had really. Similar in feel to Jackson I would say. I have three of them, the Stratus6 model. Anyone wanting a killer guitar that’s also very affordable should check out SKG.

Have you ever thought about creating your own label, Rogga Records (or The Rogue Records, hehe) and releasing your albums yourself? Or is it too much of organizational work?

Yeah maybe a few times but then I think of all the work haha... It would take too much time really, and I rather spend that time with my family and with making music instead.

What are your plans for 2022? What albums are in the works at the moment?

New albums from many of my bands actually, Paganizer, Ribspreader, Dead Sun, Echelon, Furnace and hopefully a new Rogga Johansson album too!

Thank you for the interview Rogga! I hope to be able to talk to you soon about some other projects of yours. Any last words for the readers?

If you like dirty death metal the simple way, check my stuff out! Thanx!

The Grotesquery on the Internet: https://www.facebook.com/THEGROTESQUERY

Alexey “Panzer” Arbuzov
February 2022
© HeadBanger.ru