“Flesh For The Kult Of Death” arrives after a period where Revel In Flesh had effectively stopped. What made restarting the band worth doing, and what had to change before it was possible?
Ralf: Thanx for the possibility to be featured in your Magazine. Hell yesss, I started to pick up the guitar again in autumn 2024 after a long – periode of silence. There was a lot of conflict and trouble with the old line – up; so I felt a huge exhaustion. I had some good supporting persons in my very inner circle who said to be “Ralf, Revel In Flesh is YOUR passion; if it feels good, don’t think too much, just do it” – well, I did! The goal was going back to the roots of Revel In Flesh. Album No.4 and 5 and already crossed the threshold to melodic death and I felt that it was too much. There were moments when I thought that the vocals were more brutal than the music. I wanted to bring back the old school way; the feeling of the riff and buzz saw energy. Well; I recorded some primitive basic riffs and forwarded them to my good friend Jonny Pettersson. We chatted a lot about the ideas, tried out demo settings and after a short period it felt like the magic is back: FLESH, DEATH and KULT!!! Meaty riffs with a morbid, dark atmosphere. It was a lot about the essence of creating music from a Death Metal fan perspective and what you hear on “Flesh For The Kult Of Death” is absolutely honest and to the bone.
The lineup is almost entirely new. How did the writing dynamic shift once Jonny Pettersson, Simon Abele and Erik Barthold were in place?
Jonny: Me and Ralf have a fairly long history of writing music together. So the flow of that was natural, in the way we demoed riffs in almost the same way as we would have standing together in a rehearsal room.
Ralf: Erik is a super dedicated drummer, working his ass off. He also delivers for us in Rotpit. He is a super person of trust. He went well prepared into studio and fired all guns in 2 days. The whole drum production is kept super natural. No cheating, No editing till death. Simon is a good friend from the school days and a very talented solo/lead guitarist. The addition of Erik and Simon really helped to expand the formula of Revel In Flesh without breaking with the roots of the band.
The album openly points back to “Manifested Darkness” and “Death Kult Legions”. What did you want to recover from that period, and what did you deliberately leave behind?
Jonny: To me it was all about building on the legacy of those early albums. I have been a fan of Revel In Flesh for many years, especially those early albums. That old school sound, along with the awesome artwork and off course a name taken from mighty Entombed has to be done in the right way.
The horror imagery in your lyrics stays deliberately out of politics while the real world gets uglier by the month. Is that distance a choice, or simply where your writing naturally goes?
Ralf: I really love albums like “Scum”, “Extreme conditions demand extreme reactions”, “World downfall” etc. Bands that have a message.I know that this Deathkult scenery is a bit a fictional own world of horror; something dark, something wicked, something out of this world. On “Flesh For The Kult Of Death” there are some hidden messages like “Hellhole” (dealing about captivity), “Death Kult Maniacs” (Very critical about todays scenery) or “My Last Farewell”, which more or less describes the process of dying. There’s sometimes more behind it and you need to take the time to find it. I know that we live in desperate times and that you need a sort of ethic to what you do, but the level of expression has to decide everyone on his own.
"Overthinking things kills the feeling; nowadays there is no good moment anymore for an album release."
Ralf Hauber
Where were the recording sessions held, and how was the work divided between the four of you?
Jonny: We all recorded in separate studios, I then gathered all the material and mixed it before sending it off to Dan Swanö for a master. Doing it this way made sense for us since we are far apart and with todays technology, you really can’t tell the difference as long as it all comes together in the mixing stages. And with us handling it ourselves gave us a advantage of know how we want it right from the start.
The guitar tone is tied to the Swedish tradition. How much of that came from gear and how much from the mixing stage?
Jonny: It starts with the people performing the songs. You can have all the right gear, get the right person to mix, yet still miss the mark. Just look at Grave for example, they never used an HM2 pedal on their albums, yet they sound more Swedish than a lot of bands that recorded in Sunlight Studio, with all the right gear and Tomas Skogsberg behind the mixing desk. We used an HM2 to get that buzzsaw tone, but Swedish sound is in the riffs.
You have worked with Dan Swanö in the past. What does the mastering stage mean for a band whose sound is this specific?
Ralf: We really wanted to keep the mix according to our very own vision; especially when it comes to the guitar sound. We invested so much time and Jonny is such a good experienced musician, that we said let’s do it OUR way. The drum production is super natural, nothing edited till death. Yes, Dan Swanö has an important part in the history of Revel In Flesh and I really wanted to keep a certain part of his trademark in our formula. He has a lot of experience in the mastering section and owns very specific equipment. He lifted the mix and added some extra powder to it. I am happy the way we did it. The album sounds most of all RAW and REAL.
The Crowbar cover is an unusual choice for a Swedish styled death metal album. What made you to choose "All I Had (I Gave)"?
Ralf: Crowbar is one of the heaviest bands on this blue planet: I already loved that track when I watched it as a teenager on MTV’s Headbangers Ball. The song works really well with the HM2 pedal Swedish sound outfit. It makes it even more extreme. Of course it’s an iconic song, a take it or leave it thing, but again we had the courage to do it in OUR way.
The volume of death metal releases now is enormous. Does that change how you approach putting an album out, or how you expect it to be heard?
Ralf: Of course a lot the market is loaded as f**k; but speaking honestly, this album has a huge personal value for me. After all what happened this album stands for NOT (!!!) giving up. It’s a statement to do your own thing. If people like it fine; if they don’t I don’t care because ALL I HAD I GAVE!!!
War Anthem Records is a new home after years on FDA Rekotz and Cyclone Empire. What were you looking for in a label at this stage, and what did they offer that mattered?
Ralf: War Anthem Records feels more like working with friends in a respected way. They did a lot for our music and the scene itself. It’s not easy to survive in this scenery for a long, periode of time. Especially you have to reinvent your concept all the time to adapt to changes that of course happen. I learned a lot from the cooperation with FDA and Cyclone Empire, too. These both had their deserved part in the history of the band. There was benefit and trouble, but usually we all live and learn, so that’s fine with me from today’s perspective.
Releasing an album in 2026 means competing with several hundred others the same week. Does that reality shape how you plan a release, or do you simply put it out and let it find its people?
Overthinking things kills the feeling; nowadays there is no good moment anymore for an album release. You simply have to do it or leave it. “Flesh For The Kult Of Death” has everything that fan dedicated DEATH METAL album needs; already the artwork and whole look reeks of DEATH. It’s quite easy nowadays to check out new music and I am pretty sure this album will find and attract the right supporters. It’s about the music and dedication on a personal level, that matters more than the benefit of working industry behind a band!
With a new lineup settled and the album out, what are the plans for taking these songs on stage, and how far do you want to push this incarnation of Revel In Flesh over the next years?
Ralf: We are currently booking clubshows and festivals for 2027, we do what we can, but most of all it has to feel good for ourselves. We’ve had a killer release show with the new album and I am sure that with the new members the Deathkult is far from over. So let’s keep it rolling and raging onwards. Thanx for this nice interview & support!!!
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