As dreams can come true! After so many years we got to see GEHANNAH here in Poland. They literally killed with their perfromance so it comes as no surprise I decided to share my emotions with Rob Fjallsby and ask him a bunch of questions. Read on, no need to waste time whatsoever.:

Hi Rob, sorry it took me a bit longer than expected, but I had to write about the festival first, lest I forget all the details. Here we go.

1.Hi there. First off, I want to say your performance was killer! How did you like the Polish fans` reaction to your music? 

It was great to finally be able to get down there, we have always known Poland would be a good place for us.

 2. I think you regret not coming to Poland earlier, don’t you? Why did it take you so long to visit Poland

Well, that's mostly up to polish promoters! We go where we're asked to come. If there's enough beer.

3.Your music, when played live, is totally different from its album version. It is really hard to resist this madness which keeps spreading with every next track. Well, that’s how it was at Black Silesia festival. Have you ever played for people who didn’t react to your music at all?

Haha, yeah of course. We've had our share of low point gigs, we've even played for 0 (zero) payers once together with Disfear back in the days, haha

4. Your music has always been fully loaded with rock n roll energy as well as unique this MOTORHEAD`ish attitude. I am sure Lemmy and MOTORHEAD have always been very important for GEHENNAH, right? How about VENOM

Sure, Venom was our main influence from the beginning.

 5 Lemmy`s death meant the end of one of the most important metal bands there was, and was a real letdown to many maniacs. This sad fact showed so clearly we live in times when legendary bands are departing the scene for ever, one after another. It is depressing really, especially when we realize these bands leave so much empty space that simply cannot be filled out with young bands. How do you see it?

That's life.. It's hard to change the fact that time passes and people get older and die

.6. Classic bands come and go. That’s a fact I am afraid. Good to know they have left some really good recordings; inspiring to many new generations. Thanks to it, there is a lot of new good music composed. Still, the question is whether these young bands are able to get to the level where metal gods once were. You know, the bands who were able to create so unique and fresh music back in the 80s.

   Yeah, so far most new music after the early 2nd black metal wave have been quite     disappointing, but it might just be me being nostalgic, perhaps what the kids are doing today has its qualities that I don't understand.. doubt it though!

7. I have heard it many times that there is nothing new to be composed/invented in music. Some, like Gene Simmons for instance, has even stated that rock is dead. What’s your opinion on this matter?

In some ways, yes. For Gene it's probably true anyway. There's still some cool stuff out there, but as a mainstream phenomenon rock is dead, but if that's a good or bad thing I don't know! 

8.You guys formed in 1991. Sweden was back then full of death metal bands. But you opted for something different, which was a punk`ish VENOM style. Ronnie has said in an interview that the main aim of your band was to remind the world about VENOM? Can you please tell us some more about it?  

That's true. Problem was that we couldn't play good enough so we started writing simpler stuff ourselves instead. Our main influences other than Venom back then was Hellhammer/Celtic Frost and some of the new black metal bands like Darkthrone and Beherit. We soon started going more in our own way, taking more influences from the 70s 80s bands we grew up with.

 9. GEHENNAH is undeniably considered as one of the founders of so called retro metal. Being active for 26 years, how do you perceive your influence on this genre?

I don't like that description at all, like all other bands we are influenced by what we hear and have never cared about how that has been received by others. We reacted mostly against all the death and black metal bands becoming wimpy and atmospheric with violins and accordions and so on  

10. In November 2016, Bestial Invasion Records released a very interesting album: GEHENNAH- A tribute-"Blood Metal Gangfighters-Bang Your Heads for Gehennah. You know this stuff? Which tracks from this album are your favourite

Yeah, that was a very proud moment, and some cool bands on there as well!

11.  Well, it was almost 20 years ago when you guys released Decibel Rebel. Why did we have to wait so long for Too Loud to Love, Too Drunk to Die, hey? What were you busy with through all these years in-between them two albums?

Haha, being in a band doesn't mean you don't do anything else. We had a lot of years with Gehennah on hold and everybody kept themselves busy with other stuff. Of course even with Gehennah active we mostly do other stuff 99,9% of the time..

12.Your new album is successfully influenced by the atmosphere we know from your older stuff. Was it difficult for you to play like this after such a long break?

Not really, our music is not difficult to play, hehe..

13.Your last live performance with Ronny was at Metal Magic Festival. Why did you guys part ways after so many years of playing together? Was to start TURBOCHARGED the main reason? Or something else?

He felt he had to give his own band 100%.

14. Last year Osmose Productions re-released King of the Sidewalk and Decibels Rebel in the vinyl format. Is there any chance Hardrocker gets re-released too?

I hope so!

15 Before your gig in Poland there has been a big internet discussion- someone argued with gig promotor, that Gehennah have been in Poland before. Actually, sentence "Gehennah is not for the first in Poland" has became one of unofficial festival slogans, and even you posted one photo on your official Facebook with this description. Are you familiar with details of this situation? Do you find this situation as funny as we do? What would you like to say, to the lady, who insisted, that you have been here before ?

It was a bit funny, yes. Hasn't she suffered enough?

16.'s pretty obvious, that you aren't affraid of drinking some alcohol! What kind of alcohol is your favourite? Beers? Whiskey? Booze?

Beer.

17.I have always wondered- why did you decide to record Elvis cover on "King OF The Sidewalk"?

Haha, I don't remember why we thought that was a good idea.. maybe we were drunk?

18.You were behind "Headbangers Against Disco Campaign". What a brilliant idea! Do you think, that heavy metal will beat shitty, radio music one day?

No, don't think so.

19. What are your memories about Dawn Of Decay? Do you think, that there might be a reunion one day?

I just remember seeing them live a lot of times at local gigs. I thought they were great! I got to know the singer Rikard because we went to the same high school and he joined my punk-band Kräk for a while before we together with Ronnie and Steffe started Gehennah. We were some bands that had the same rehearsal place (also Vomitory and Psychedelic Sunrise for example) and we all knew each other and hung out all the time. When Rikard left Gehennah we took our new drummer from DoD as well: Micke Hellcop. I very much doubt they'll ever reunite, but who knows?

Interview Leszek Wojnicz-Sianożęcki

foto live Leszek Wojnicz-Sianożęcki