Not content with being the front man and guitarist for both Paganizer and Ribspreader, Rogga Johansson has now formed the ultra brutal, old school death metal band Demiurg. With only a short wait until the release of the debut album "Breath of the Demiurg" on Mascot Records, we caught up with Rogga to see how things are progressing.

Metal Mayhem: Thanks for answering a few of our questions, how are things at the moment?
Rogga Johansson: It's going very much ok really, I am happy about the outcome of the album and already working on new material. Things are as they should be.

MM: The band will no doubt be unfamiliar to many at the moment; can you tell us what Demiurg are all about, and just what they can expect on the new album, "Breath of the Demiurg"?
RJ: What people should expect from the album is death metal, but with a twist I'd say. In most songs there are parts incorporated that at least are not usually connected to the old school Swedish death metal which is what we in the band mostly are known for.

MM: How did you come up with the name Demiurg; is there any meaning behind it? RJ: The first time I came across the word Demiurg was a kid when I was into fantasy games. This particular game called Kult was leading the way into more in depth reading on the matter and now when this band came to be the name fit perfectly. The Demiurg is to put it short the entity that created this world, but he's not what you'd really call god in the way most people do. He's more of a sublevel god that keeps humanity trapped. MM: What are your main influences when it comes to Demiurg? RJ: Well of course the old bands we're all influenced by that created the scene, but for

this album we also tried to incorporate more stuff like for instance mid-era Sepultura or later era Satyricon. It worked out very well to say the least.

MM: Some readers may recognize your name as the front man of Paganizer and Ribspreader. Does this mean Demiurg is somewhat of a part time/side project?
RJ: I don't really know how you would consider any band a main band or side project. I mean I'm writing stuff all the time and recording as well, and both Paganizer and Ribspreader are having new album coming out but we almost never rehearse. I write stuff, it's recorded and if any shows come up I get people together to rehearse of course, but it's pretty much the same for all of my bands. Perhaps Paganizer would be more considered the main band then, as we all three live within 30 km of each other and therefore play together a bit more often but mostly not more than a couple of times a month anyway. So to answer the question, whatever band is recording or having something released is my main project I'd say.

MM: How would you say Demiurg differs to your other bands?
RJ: In Demiurg I try to incorporate stuff I'd normally never use in my other bands. Demiurg could maybe be said to be the outlet for me in terms of more melodic or more intricate parts. Something that will be evident on the next album is also more epic parts, but of course side by side with even more upfront stuff than now. That's really what is nice with this band, to be able to totally be void of all limits even if I of course set limits myself. The next album for instance will have both songs less than three minutes and songs over eight minutes, that's something quite different from what I normally do.

MM: Will the band remain as a solo/one man project? Johan Berglund and Dan Swano are listed as session members, any possibility of those joining the band or are they just purely session musicians? RJ: Actually there were no solid plans in using them for the next album at all, but just recently I spoke to both of them on different matters and both told me they'd really want to be on the second album. So I guess in a way this is moving towards a band instead of a project really. Anyway, I'm happy both of them wanted to be on the coming stuff as they are amazing musicians and I am not. Johan is probably the best bass player

I've heard in real life and Dan is of course a great drummer but more so an outstanding producer and sound engineer. He is a pure genius really.

MM: Will Demiurg eventually get a full-time line-up?
RJ: Hopefully, the line-up will remain intact for the next album and I'm hoping it might be this way too considering eventual gigs and tours. However getting Dan on the road as a drummer would take some convincing...

MM: Mascot Records isn't the usual place to see brutal old school death metal bands, how did the record deal come about?
RJ: Guido, who had my other band Ribspreader on his Karmageddon Records initiated the deal. Guido simply asked me about getting some new cool stuff together and I thought it sounded like a cool idea as I had heaps of material in store. To be honest I think Guido and Ed at Mascot expected something more old school in the vein of Entombed or Dismember but so far they seem both very happy with what they got. Let's just hope they stay happy ha-ha.

MM: Dan Swano has done a fantastic job production wise, are you happy with the finished album (Breath of the Demiurg)?
RJ: I am happy as a fuckin kid. When I put the album into the CD player I'm actually not quite sure if it is Demiurg or some new amazing band I've bought... The production is just killer, and reminds me very much of Edge of Sanity but more modern. Dan is as I stated above a true genius when it comes to sound and mixing, and this time he managed to both surprise me and make me very happy.

MM: How about touring? Can we expect to see any Demiurg shows this year? RJ: I've told Mascot we'd rather wait until after the second album, and they seem to agree to this. Now when I know the line-up will remain solid on the second album touring suddenly seems more possible too, even though I can't really say if Dan will be able to join in as a drummer. Whatever happens I have checked out possible session musicians and if there are any good offers made about tours or festivals we will consider them. The point is that we don't want to lose any money ourselves by getting out playing as we are too old for that really, so unfortunately we can't say yes

to just anything because getting a working lineup together for just some small gigs wouldn't be possible.

MM: Since information is very sparse, where can people go to check out the band? Any official site/MySpace?
RJ: Getting a website together takes time and a webmaster, so right now we don't have one as none of us are really into that stuff. But there is a Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/demiurgofficial

MM: Thanks again for your time, any last comments or words for our readers?
RJ: Yeah of course, stay fuckin death metal and check out Demiurg!

Chris Rogers