Marko Tervonen of The Crown Wants To Make 'Honest' Death Metal Albums

[Cover photo credit to Patrik Skoglow]

Marko Tervonen, of Swedish Metal band, The Crown, joined us from his home for a Tower Livestream on Instagram hosted by Whitney Moore.

The Crown are releasing a remastered version of their second studio album, Eternal Death, in July 2020 on vinyl, but also have wealth of releases spanning their more than 25 year history, including their latest album Cobra Speed Venom (2018). Moore described Cobra Speed Venom as a “near perfect album”.

Tervonen said that the pandemic has been handled “a bit differently” being a little more “open” about locking things down, and there are a lot of reasons why Sweden has done that. But they’ve been very “unfortunate” when it’s come to the “older people” affected. There haven’t been as many restrictions, though it’s been recommended to work from home. It’s also the Swedish nature to do as they are told, he joked, so if the people are told to stay home, they do.

Asked if he’s seen his bandmates, Tervonen said that they held their first rehearsal yesterday after four months. At this point, the new album they were working on would have been recorded otherwise, and now the album has been postponed to October. But they are underway now!

What’s it like rehearsing after so long? Tervonen said that before Corona they rehearsed very frequently, learning their new songs, but after four months away, they’d forgotten how to play things. They need to “warm up” now, he admitted. The positive side is that during the lockdown, he managed to write another song. Now they have the “luxury” of having too many. That should be “pure hell” to decide which songs to include on their next album, he laughed.

It is a problem to decide what makes it onto albums, since everyone in the band has different feelings about it. On Cobra Speed Venom, they recorded 13 and couldn’t decide on 10, so they contacted an old friend at Metal Blade and had him choose 10 songs for them, promising not to argue.

[Magnus Olsfelt, Johan Lindstrand, Marko Tervonen, Henrik Axelsson, Robin Sörqvist]

Those other songs will come out at some point anyway for fans, if not on the main album, so it’s just a decision about how the feel of the songs work together as a “complete album”. They are old school in wanting an album to fit together in that way.

Working with Metal Blade Records, who they joined in 2018, has been great. Their early music was very much about “team work” at Metal Blade, which is also the era during which they started touring. But the band stopped functioning together for several years, then they came back, and then went to another label. However, they’ve now returned to Metal Blade and “come home”, which is working well for them.

What was it like creating their newest album, Cobra Speed Venom? Tervonen said the sessions made them “think a lot” since they actually created it in the same way they used to make albums when they started out. Rehearsing, working in a studio. Nowadays, you can create albums at a distance, and they did work at a distance for their previous two albums.

But for CSV they decided to “go back” to that old school way. And he thinks you can hear that “energy” on the album. They definitely want to bring that back for the next album, too. For some of those distance albums, some of the members never even met! Now they are going into the studio to create an “honest” album that is not “overproduced”. You will hear the “sweating” and “suffering”, he laughed.

How does this relate to The Crown’s live performances? Moore asked this because Tervonen has said in other interviews that he doesn’t like fans to “miss” things when the songs are played live. He said that, usually, their live performances are supposed to be very close to the album, so they intentionally don’t “overproduce” and “overdub” the album in the studio.

[Photo credit to Patrik Skoglow]

The Crown create albums so that they can be played live, Tervonen explained. They only do one or two takes in the studio, he revealed. There’s not a lot of editing. If there are mistakes that’s because they are “human beings playing” and he does want people hearing “real people playing” on the album. Moore agreed that if something is too “slick” on a metal album, it may take away from the human element.

The band have a title for their new album, but they can’t reveal it!

The Crown has had a lot of different line ups of great musicians over the years, and Moore asked about what it’s like to work with a band that’s “constantly evolving”. Tervonon said it’s “challenging”. But that we, as fans, need to remember that the band members were very young, living at home, even 14 and 15 years old, when they started playing.

After years go by, “things grow and grow”, Tervonen shared. At some point, you realize that you never got the education you wanted, never changed, and only have the music. Death Metal will always be “underground music” in a sense for a Tervonen. They broke up for various reasons, with some members becoming parents and thinking about “grown up stuff”. It became a challenge to stay together.

After a couple of years, when “living the normal life” they began to “feel the itch in the fingers” and play again under “very different circumstances”. They tried to combine that music life with their other lives, and even marriages.

It’s very obvious to them that it’s something they “want to have as a part of our lives”, Tervonen said. It’s not as if they “peaked” twenty years ago. They still make good albums and are touring more and more widely, so things are still “new” and “interesting” for them.

Moore commented on the “underground” aspect of Metal and asked if it’s a problem to be “too successful” in Metal? Tervonen said that he thinks a lot of bands “deserve” to step out of the Death Metal category. But there’s a lot of pressure and “Death Metal Police” opinions among fans. They try to control how successful bands are “allowed to be” and keep them in their place.

In Flames and Dimmu Borgir are bands that have become really big, and are considered too big and popular, like that’s not allowed. Why are fans interested in hating them for that, Tervonen asked.  

Tervonen loves the “bubble” that still manages to exist for Death Metal, but would love for The Crown to become bigger as a band, too. He thinks “credibility” and “staying yourself” is important, but if you become big because of that that, so what? What’s the problem?

The Crown would love to open for a huge Testament tour, since it doesn’t need to be an “extreme Death Metal band” for them to play with someone. They, too, have other elements in their work, he said. More “normal” Metal fans often like The Crown albums too. He’d open for a Metal band or a Thrash band. That would make “sense” to him.

Is The Crown really only a one-genre band? “Deep inside”, Tervonen is a “super hardcore Death Metal fan” who’s guilty of being Death Metal Police himself. He likes it a certain way. But if there’s a band that from the start shows a “wide” variety in their music, he thinks that’s fantastic. Most bands wants to experiment after several albums and want to try out other stuff eventually.

It comes down to “staying true” to yourself. He’s never tried to hide that he likes normal Rock music, too. If it’s good music, it’s good music. They’ve found it interesting, later on in their work, to bring “Motorhead Rock ‘n Roll” into their music. It made sense to them because it’s not new to them as fans or musicians.

Asked about genres of music or instruments that interest him, Marko said that they actually have a controversial song on their new, unreleased, album  that is “heavily debated in the band” about whether they should do it or not, since it’s “extreme” in taking “soft stuff” to a new place.

Were The Crown planning on touring? Tervonen said they started to look at dates, since they thought their album would be done by now, but now that the album is no going to be completed until October, they are going to be focusing on celebrating 30 years next year instead. 2021 needs to be their celebration for their 30^th year and 10^th album. He’s hoping to do some exclusive shows and include some “obscure old songs” and do some “interesting stuff” in them. They will plan things now, but things probably won’t happen until 2021.

What has touring meant to him as a musician and a fan? Tervnonen’s last concert was last year when they played a festival and got to see Slayer play. Luckily when the band get to play festivals, they get to see many bands they want to see, and often their “old heroes” which is “beautiful” for them. Slayer did an amazing show, Tervonen said, and that full on “last tour production” was even more amazing, though he’s seen them play many times.

[Robin Sörqvist, Henrik Axelsson, Marko Tervonen, Magnus Olsfelt, Johan Lindstrand]

Does Tervonen collect vinyl? He used to collect, but four or five years ago he realized that he hadn’t owned a record player for ten years, so he decided to sell a lot of his vinyl. He had original pressings of many Swedish Death Metal bands, and then sold them. He may regret it a little now, but he likes to listen to streaming music and what’s “available” so he’s trying to be a bit more economical when it comes to records.

What exactly did he sell? It was the first pressings of the early EPs of bands from before they became bigger. There were first pressings of At the Gates and of Morbid Angel. That is a lucky collector who got them!

Does Tervonen find things to be different when touring in America versus Europe? It’s been a while since they’ve been in the USA, which are usually very long tours. It’s expensive to get over to the USA for them, so you need a 5 or 6 weeks tour to make up for the cost. The distances in the US are something they are less used to. It’s a lot of motels and driving long distances in the USA.

Playing in Japan is quite different as well. They find it really “cool”, but you definitely feel far from home. They have been discussing a return to the USA, but it’s very complicated to get work permits and things. You have to have a solid “tour package” and people helping you out to set it up.

[Photo credit to Patrik Skoglow]

Moore said that there are plenty of misconceptions about touring. Has Tervonen noticed anything like that among fans? He doesn’t think that many fans realize that “pay to play” situations exist where if you are a smaller band, you have to pay money in order to open for bigger bands. For many bands, they see it as an “investment”. At least you play live to a lot more people, and in the future, that can help you.

It is difficult if you don’t have the resources to pay if you are just starting out, so it’s a lot of hard work to get to the place where you can headline or co-headline and “make it work financially”. Even the biggest Death Metal Band are not big enough to fill stadiums. It’s a “rough trade”, Tervonen said.

The “merch” is the “bread and butter” too, he said. They have some “unique designs” to celebrate their 30 years in merch. When the new album comes out, they’ll have “more to come”, too.

Asked about the rerelease of Eternal Death, Tervonen explained that their first two albums were released on a smaller label. Then they were licensed to other companies, and he doesn’t keep “total track” of that. So, he didn’t really know that Eternal Death was coming out again, but “the most important thing is that the music is available!”, he confirmed.

Asked about his instruments, Tervonen said that his “rig”, using the Kemper Profiler, isn’t a very popular choice, but he bought one. He tries to keep it really simple rather than a “fucking R2D2 looking machine” being used. It’s enough for him. He doesn’t need any more “toys” than that.

The P5150 was his thing, and he never even “looked” at other stuff. He only has four or five guitars and only plays three.

Does he have any messages for his fans? Tervonen said, “We are trying to do stuff on social media more”, and some “special” stuff they may share from their rehearsals. It would be better to be on stage and meet fans, but they are just going to “deal with it” and try to “be happy” doing what they can do. They hope to show some behind the scenes stuff online. Find them on Youtube as The Crown Band!

What about our Tower motto, No Music, No Life? “That’s correct.”, he said. For Tervonen, it will always be a part of his life. He couldn’t stop writing music when he quit The Crown, so he’ll always write music and it will be a part of his life, “hopefully for a very, very long time”.