Interview: Mathias, you're a member in a ton of bands, most notable being Finntroll I guess. We're talking here about Dispyt, is it your most recent offspring? How serious do you guys take things in Dispyt, and what future do you think it has? I’m actually just part of three bands right now and we are taking it pretty easy gig-wise with Finntroll as we trying to finish the next album. This gives me quite a nice break from travelling which means I can focus on the other bands. Dispyt is the latest spawn and I was asked to join in 2016. Owe, our drummer, and former guitar player Philip had a new crust punk band and needed a singer. After I heard the first songs it was pretty clear that I wanted to be a part of this. Me being a bass player asked if I could play bass aswell and the rest is history. We have had a quite relaxed attitude towards Dispyt and not trying to force things to happen. We haven’t actively looked for gigs or record deals, if it’s meant to happen then it happens! And that attitude has taken us pretty far already. You've released your debut album last year, by yourselves. How come you didn't work with a label? Or was Dispyt like a surprise for the scene, you popped it out from nowhere? As stated before, we haven’t really been looking. We also sort of decided to keep this project quite DIY and releasing it ourselves was sort of cool idea to try. It’s worked so far, the limited edition C-cassette version of the album is almost sold out and we recently had to restock on CDs, so I guess that tells quite a lot. We are not against being on a label and would not say no if somebody approached us either. It’s just not too big of a concern right now. What reactions do you have so far for this album, what are your expectances with the band? We have gotten really good feedback on it so far and people within the punk and metal scene has said that the album is something that has been missing for many years and yet being quite fresh breeze to both scenes. I guess this is what to expect when four Black Metal guys are trying to make crust punk the way they did in the 90s in Sweden. Do you also play live? I surely hope so since this music you do is most suitable for live display? What's the best environment for the band to play in: Punk, or Metal shows? What's the difference between the two, since you know them well both? Is Finland a good place for playing live? Dispyt is totally a live band and we have played quite some gigs in Finland during the last years. We will also embark on 15 gig tour in Europe in the end of September and first weeks of October. We have tried both environments and it’s been working very well in both. I have found that the punk scene is a bit more open and don’t mind to lend a helping hand without charging for it. The metal scene is way more competitive and people are more sceptic towards new bands where the punk scene welcomed us with open arms. Metalheads in Finland are a bit more stiff than the punks, I guess. The album was recorded at Wolfthrone Studios by Owe Inborr, have you worked with him before? I find the production really good for your type of music, how happy are you of the final result? Actually… Owe Inborr is our drummer and he happens to have a great studio which also is our rehearsal room, so the choice was quite easy. I also work in that studio from time to time. We decided to try to make it a bit more Hi-Fi than your awerage punk album, but without making a modern metal album. I really like how it turned out, especially the heaviness in the guitarsound but still having that Swedish-all-the-knobs-turned-to-max-Boss-HM2-sound. Why have you preferred writing your lyrics in Finnish rather than English? What are they about, and how important are they for a band like yours? It’s actually not Finnish, it’s Fenno-Swedish. We belong to a Swedish speaking minority here in Finland. The lyrics tackle quite dark and anxiety-filled subjects about being a part of a quite melacholic country where it’s bad weather and cold people around you. The lyrics are important and being in Swedish it also has quite a different sound than your typical English songs would have. As an experienced musician, what would you say is the future of Extreme Metal, and what's your opinion of the present state? Do you feel like people have (or spend) less and less time for actually listening to the music? Is there too much music out there? What makes a good record stand out from the crowd, is the music itself enough to make it? For many years now I have seen what is to me a decline in the industry. Too many bands around, which has led to record companies controlling what people listen to. You can also really feel that less and less people are coming out to gigs or buy your material in any kind of form except vinyls. People nowadays have this attitude towards music that they listen to your album once then throw it in the trash. Also feels like bands are just copying other bands and that all personality quite often is lost. A good album is an album that bring something new to the table and keeps you wanting more. At least that’s how it’s for me! September 2018 https://dispyt.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/DispytBand/