SING IT, SISTER
By Kelley Simms
Photo by Felicia Puschl
still have some hard work in front of us
for sure in North America to reach the
same level as here. Hopefully this album,
like the previous ones, will take us up a
notch. Since our main goal is to create and
release music that we can stand behind
and be proud of, we've already surpassed
the most important goal. If people love it
as much as we do and our fan base grows
even more, it's just icing on the cake.
Mosh: There's a lot of "me against the
world" or "stand up in what you believe
in" lyrics and themes on the album, if I
am detecting your songs correctly. Is that
what you were going for? What inspired
and influenced the lyrics on the album?
Liv Jagrell: Yes, I guess you can say that. I
think that always has been kind of a
theme for us, its the feeling we have of the
world today. And also it reflects being a
musician in todays industry. So you could
say that we are influenced by everything
around us, the social climates etc., but also
of our own experiences.
Sister Sin, Liv Jagrell (Left) with (L to R) Dave Sundberg, Jimmy Hiltula, and Strandh
S
wedish female-fronted metal band,
Sister Sin, has developed a cult fan
base since their 2002 debut. Powered
by an old school '80s metal dynamic, the
band continues its explosive attitude on
its just-released fifth album, Black Lotus.
Currently on tour in Europe, vocalist Liv
Jagrell took the time to email Mosh.
Mosh: Your upcoming album, Black Lotus,
is just as explosive as your previous
albums. Did you go into it with the same
frame of mind as before or did you do anything differently this time around?
Liv Jagrell: I don't really think we decided
that. We just tried to write a good group of
songs as possible with a lot of attitude and
melodies. We tend to have a certain feel to
it, even if I think we get a bit heavier with
every record.
Mosh: You've steadily built up a loyal fan
base since 2002 but you're still not as popular in the U.S. as you are in Europe and
Scandinavia. What do you hope to
achieve or gain with this release?
Liv Jagrell: I hope that we can reach out to
a bigger audience in the US, but it's not as
metal-oriented as here in Europe. So, we
38 illinoisentertainer.com november 2014
Mosh: The cover art is pretty cool and different from your previous covers. I love
that vector graphic style. Who is the
artist and what's the meaning behind the
album title and concept?
Liv Jagrell: The artist behind the cover is
Andrew Ghrist from Chicago. We wanted
to do something different so Randy at our
label (Victory Records), sent over some of
his work and we instantly loved it. We
gave him the title and some pointers and
just let him go with it. The title itself was
something we came up with after writing
the first five tracks or so. They seemed to
have a darker touch than before so Black
Lotus seemed suitable. So there's no elabo-
rate concept behind it all. We'd like to
leave it for the listener to interpret what it
means to them.
Mosh: When writing a new album, do you
listen to your previous material or
albums for inspiration, or do you shut
that element out so it doesn't influence
your new music?
Liv Jagrell: Yeah, we never listen to our
previous albums, but we do listen to a lot
of music of various kinds. I guess many
people, or reviewers, think we liste