The new album should be out late 2020:Interview with Manimal

Kungsbacka is a society on the Swedish west coast. On the summers there are plenty of tourists visiting the place and it’s only where )the Sabaton Open Air and it became a quite interesting talk about music generally and Manimals music especially.

First of all I like to hear the history of the band Manimal?

-From the beginning it was me (Samuel Nyman, vocals) and Henrik Steenros (guitars). Henrik was the one who was there from the really beginning though and in 2001 we decided the band name. For me it was singing Helloween songs in the shower and we found out that we were good enough to be a part of the metal family. Despite to that fact it took us eight years to release our debut album ”The Darkest Room” in 2009.

We got good reviews and we got a chance to do some gigs in Europe with U.D.O.. We got a chance to see the world and it was nice. The bass player and drummer at that time didn’t enjoy it as much as myself and Henrik so they disappeared after the first record. In 2014 we found the two missing pieces, they had the same goal as me and Henrik, Kenny Boufaden on bass and the drummer André Holmqvist.

What did you do in Kungsbacka when you didn’t play heavy metal?

-We grow up in the concrete with parents that worked and us kids end up at the youth recreation center, starting bands and doing other stuff that young people did back then. Kungsbacka is not far from Gothenburg and the metal scene in Gothenburg was quite good in the late 90’s early 00’s. We started up trying different instruments and we started bands.

Your relation to Sabaton?

-We were actually offered a deal to support Sabaton a couple of years ago but unfortunately it didn’t work out for us because it was to many dates. We have been following Sabaton from the beginning of their career and everybody out there is talking only good about the band. And it’s great for us that they let us play at their own festival here in Falun.

What’s your thoughts around the Sabaton Open Air?

-First of all it’s a very professionally arranged festival and the dressing room is great. The technicians are awesome and we think it’s absolutely fantastic that even new bands get a chance to play here. We are kind of tired when it comes to the bigger festivals out there. Sabaton Open Air is a better place for us to be.

Do you still find influences out there when you have played together for eighteen years?

-Well lets say that the riffs are the influences and we still go back to the ”Painkiller” album with Judas Priest because that’s the old grandfather of riffs when it comes to Heavy Metal. Still we’re listening to a lot of music and Rammstein is cool. The mastermind in Manimal is Henrik and he is grown up with the old bands that’s inspires us all so in the end every one in the band add something to the final result.

”Purgatorio” was released 2018. Are there any plans of a new album?

-We have a lot of embryos right now and this autumn we have no gigs. This means that we can write some new songs. Our record company wants us to release 2-3 digital singles in 2020 and the new album should be out late 2020. It started to get moving for us and off course that’s trigger us. Our fans becomes more and more and we know that it can’t be six years between ”Purgatorio” and the next album, we’ll be dead as a band if that happens.

If you started a band in Kungsbacka back in 2001 you ended up in the ”Gothenburg Hard Rock” scene with bands like Hammerfall, In Flames, Dark Tranquility and so on. Did this help you getting gigs?

-There is a lot of bands that came from Gothenburg in those days and many of them sounded the same, so to be honest Manimal isn’t influenced by any of the bands from Gothenburg. We were using the distance to Gothenburg though when we were setting up gigs and we were having the same experience because Manimal started at the same time as the rest of the Gothenburgs ensemble.

-If we’re looking in the crystal ball, what will the metal scene look like in ten years?

-First of all we must admit that you can become pretty old in the metal genre. The fans out there are amazing and hard rock and heavy metal will always get revivals, even if the popularity for this kind of music go down from time to time. It’s pretty cool though that there are really good bands out there filling up the genre.

At last I wanna know which is the best album and the best song of all time?

-Ha ha ha that’s impossible but we can give it a try. Here is the result of the Manimal jury:

Henrik Stenroos (guitar):
Album: Judas Priest- Painkiller
Song: Judas Priest- Painkiller

Kenny Boufadene (bass):
Album: Bring Me The Horizon- That’s The Spirit
Song: Bring Me The Horizon- Doomed

André Holmqvist (drums):
Album: Kiss- Destroyer
Song: Dream Theater- Pull Me Under

Samuel Nyman (vocals):
Album: Judas Priest- Painkiller
Song: Queensryche- Eyes Of A Stranger

You are coming back to Judas Priest once again.

-Of course we do, the ”Painkiller” album is great and Judas Priest is a huge inspiration for Manimal. I can tell you a story, Henrik says.

-We were playing in Wolverhampton a couple of years ago and we knew that K.K. Downing were living somewhere not long from the place we were playing. Wes end him an invite to the show and we put up K.K. Downing + 1 on the guestlist. The people who worked there shake their heads because they didn’t think he would show up, and to be honest we didn’t either.

-But we were surprised when it knocked on our loge and K.K. Downing came in. That was a really big thing for us and he was also watching the entire concert with Manimal. That was great.