ROOM OF MADNESS is a band from Linköping, Sweden born in 2015. At the beginning of August the band released their third EP entitled: Satan’s Queen (2020).
They had previously released two EPs: Room of Madness (2017) and Scream (2017), both with a great heavy sound and a female voice by Neeta Madness.
The interesting thing is that they started as a cover band and then decided to jump into writing their own material, something completely new for Neeta Madness, who had never written before.
We contacted the same vocalist to tell us about her new EP, what it was like to leave the covers behind and why her lyrics are loaded with occultism.
More about ROOM OF MADNESS:
Room of Madness: “We have finally found our sound and right now we have a good flow in terms of writing new songs”
HeavyRiff: I read you used to be a cover band, how did you get to know each other?
Neeta Madness (NM): Jörgen Nilsson, who is our guitarist and songwriter, formed the band in Linkoping, Sweden in late 2015. At that time, the band was a cover band.
He was looking for a vocalist and he found me on a dating site (laughs). In Dec -15 I auditioned and after that I was hooked!
Our drummer Andreas Nederfeldt who has played with us since 2017, we met at the local Music House Ganymeden.
Albin Sundin started playing the bass with us in April 2020, we found him on a platform where musicians are looking for bands.
HR: When and why did you decide to stop playing covers and write your own material?
NM: Neither of us had any experience of writing metal music but in the summer of 2016 Jörgen asked me if I could consider writing a lyric (laughs).
I asked him if he had lost it; but I gave it a try and wrote my first lyric, he created the guitar riffs and then our own first song was born.
Seven months later we released our first 4-track EP: Room of Madness (2017).
HR: How hard was to make that step; was this the first time you composed your own songs?
NM: No, I wouldn’t say it was difficult. Jörgen always has a head full of crazy guitar riffs and I absolutely love the lyric writing process.
The EP Satan’s Queen is our fourth release and just like the 3 previous, 1 EP and 2 singles, this is self written material.
HR: Did you find any difference in the attendance between your cover gigs and your own songs gigs?
NM: Yes, that’s a big difference! It is definitely more rewarding and a different kind of feeling to play music that you have written yourself.
HR: How is your composition process; do you all together pitch ideas or there is someone who works all the music?
NM: Jörgen writes all music and I write all lyrics. He almost always gets this idea for a new song, puts together the guitar riff and then I write the lyrics.
But sometimes he is inspired by a lyric that I have written and he shapes the music based on that lyric.
Jörgen and I are lucky to be a couple and live under the same roof so it is easy for us to work on a new song.
Andreas and Albin basically have completely free hands to put their own touch on the songs.
HR: Why do you write lyrics about the devil and occultism; is there any particular reason?
NM: First of all I have to say that we are not a Satanic band, nor do we advocate violence!
However we are fascinated by Satan, Hell and the Devil and I love to write dark and brutal lyrics.
I often find inspiration from Horror- and Fantasy movies.
HR: I’m asking this (about the lyrics) because I would like to know your thoughts about the arrest of the band Arsames back in Iran. Did you read that story? They were arrested because their government considered their music «satanic». Does this make any sense?
NM: According to the band Arsames themselves, they do not even sing about Satan, their songs are about the history of Persia.
Politics and religion should not interfere in what music people play, no matter what country you live in.
We are sorry for the members of Arsames and we hope that they will eventually be released from these accusations.
HR: You achieved a great sound! Where did you record this EP and how has your recording process changed since your first release to nowadays?
NM: This EP was recorded and mixed by Alex Fatale at Sensus Studio / Skylten in Linkoping.
The three previous releases up to this EP have been a journey in terms of our sound.
During the recordings of our previous releases, we gave the studio guy free hands to handle settings of all sound.
This time we were more involved in how we wanted to sound and we are very happy with the result.
HR: In which way Alex Fatale helped you to achieve that sound?
NM: Alex was amazing throughout the recording process!
He was responsive about what sound we were looking for and he did a very good job with the mixing.
And thanks to Alex, we got the EP mastered by Niels Nielsen, something we are very grateful for!
HR: You’ve released three EPs so far. Are you planning some full length album in the future or what are you aiming for?
NM: We have finally found our sound and right now we have a good flow in terms of writing new songs, so of course there’s gonna be a full length album in the future.
HR: Are there any physical copies of your material? If so, where can the readers purchase it?
NM: So far, the EP is only available digitally.
HR: What are your plans for the rest of the year?
NM: Our main goal is to get out and play live and of course continue to write music.
HR: Thanks a lot for your time! Do you have any final comment for all the latin american headbangers which are just about to listen to your music?
NM: We hope all Latin American headbangers will like our music!
And having the opportunity to visit your continent and be able to play live for you, would be a great honor. We know you’re big metal fans!