The Halo Effect, Sweden’s newest (melodic) death metal megastar is officially off the ramp. Formed by Niclas Engelin (guitars), Peter Iwers (bass), Daniel Svensson (drums), Mikael Stanne (vocals), and Jesper Strömblad (guitars), The Halo Effect have created quite a stir since the launch of videos “Shadowminds,” “Feel What I Believe,” “The Needless End,” and “Days of the Lost.” Fans clamoring for the early days of Swedish melodic death metal (or NWOSDM) were met with a stunning display of twin-leads, aggression, and thought-provoking lyrics–all hallmarks from albums like Projector, The Jester Race, and The Red in the Sky Is Ours. Of course, there’s ridiculously good songwriting to boot, too.
The Halo Effect’s debut album, Days of the Lost, is out now. While it is homage to Gothenburg’s “teen years,” the 10-song effort has decades of experience imbued in it. Instrumentally, it’s near perfect. Engelin, who once manned Gardenian and then sidemanned In Flames, found his muse here. The riffmaster (lieutenant general to perhaps Patrik Jensen) blends speed, agility, and a melodic sensibility familiar yet mature. That he’s armed with Strömblad, one of the innovators of our time, is only pure magic. Together, they’re pushing NWOSDM into the future by building upon the past–without the constraints of the world–on tracks like “Gateways,” “In Broken Trust,” “Shadowminds,” and closing contemplative banger “The Most Alone.”
From strength to strength, The Halo Effect have found themselves in a position that even their former bands might envy. Days of the Lost hit the Swedish charts at #1 recently, while smashing into the Top 10 (at #6) in Germany, Finland and Austria. Not that chart positions matter in the grand scheme of things, but right time and place, along with a super-strong full-length album, have played well into a band that formed out of sheer will to bring friends together during the darkest days of the pandemic.
Decibel chats with old friend Mikael Stanne to understand how the formative days of The Halo Effect got them to where they are today.
How’d you get involved in The Halo Effect?
Mikael Stanne: I’ve only ever been in Dark Tranquillity. OK, I had little stints in In Flames and HammerFall. But when I started singing in Dark Tranquillity in 1993, I really never felt I had time or interest to join another band for real. I’ll happily join friends or bands that I like for a song or two, but never felt like I needed it. I was expressing myself totally in Dark Tranquillity. Three years ago, I decided to quit my job fully to focus on writing the Moment album. That’s what we did. We started writing in a different way. It was collaborative. We did demos together. We were really into it, bouncing ideas off one another. We didn’t really do that whole writing at home by ourselves thing. Since I was at home and not working, I got a call from Niclas [Engelin]. He asked me, ‘Do you wanna sing on some of the stuff I’m writing?’ I was like, ‘Sure, what are you writing?’ He said, ‘I don’t know, but I’m bursting with creativity. I want to do something!’ I’ve known Niclas forever, but we’ve never worked together, which isn’t that odd considering we’ve all been busy over the years. Peter [Iwers] called me later and said, ‘I heard you’ve talked to Niclas. Me and Daniel [Svensson] are gonna join the band. And we’re gonna ask Jesper [Strömblad] to join.’ At that point, it sounded like the coolest thing ever. I didn’t want to miss out on it. That’s how The Halo Effect came to be. So, it’s a combination of right place and right time, but also a chance to make music with good, old friends that I grew up with. We share the same musical background. They were anxious to play—anything, really!
So, I gather there was a lot of unexpected downtime to do something like The Halo Effect, which might not have been possible before.
Mikael Stanne: There was, as you know. Let’s call it “Pandemic 2020.” [We obviously] had time to make the most out of it.
What were the initial demos like?
Mikael Stanne: They were instantly awesome! I got a few demos from Niclas, over which I recorded some scratch vocals. That’s how it all started. In the beginning, I thought it’d be cool to just record an album—for ourselves, really. Then, I thought it’d be cool to get Jesper out of the house and writing again. He’s got such a talent and he’s really a natural that we couldn’t pass him up.
Tell me which songs off Days of the Lost came first.
Mikael Stanne: “Gateways” was one of the first songs we wrote. Me and Niclas wanted something groovy and heavy. Almost stoner rock-style, but not. The song was way longer than it appears on the album. There’s room to breathe in the song, which is kind of new for us. I remember playing it for a few friends—out of the six demos we did—and half of them really liked “Gateways.” The other half really liked “Shadowminds.” The songwriting was really about combining everything we like about the genre—epic melodies, heaviness, dual vocals, aggression. But it all had to gel. We didn’t want the album to sound like individual parts pasted together. There had to be a flow to it.
I know everyone’s talking about The Halo Effect as the [Swedish] super-group of all-time, but it’s much simpler than that. It’s not like you guys aren’t friends, have a long history, and understand where all this stuff came from.
Mikael Stanne: It’s all of that, yes. For me, it was an opportunity to hang out. Also, I wanted to hear Peter and Daniel play together again. They hadn’t done that in seven years. I wanted to hear that. I wanted to be in the room with all of them playing together. That was a must-hear thing for me. Also, it was important to get Jesper’s thoughts on things. We didn’t want to push The Halo Effect too far. The band was never about breaking new ground or playing by the rules or reinventing the wheel. Our focus was each other—what we’re good at and what we know. We wanted to make the best melodic death metal that we can at this stage of our careers. That sparked all kinds of nostalgia. When we were in the studio, we had long talks about the early days and our first live shows. Those discussions then sparked new songwriting ideas. Niclas had a rough version, but then Jesper would come with his muscle memory to suggest something else or to add on top of what Niclas was doing. Niclas and Jesper had never played together before. Actually, Niclas replaced Jesper in In Flames. It was cool to see them interact. That was fascinating. I was in the back of the room rubbing my hands together, “Oh, this is going to be so good.” It was all very natural.
No pressure at all, right?
Mikael Stanne: We had no pressure. None. We had no expectations. We wanted to hang out and make music together. It was really liberating. We had no compromise. We were willing to not change anything about who we are or how we write. With Dark Tranquillity, it’s always about the angle, trying to reinvent ourselves while staying true to who we are. We take a long, democratic road to do that. I love that challenge, actually. With The Halo Effect, it was all very spontaneous—pure instinct and nothing else! We didn’t overthink or second guess ourselves. We never thought about what anyone else would think. We were so open anything. Even the recording was pretty easy.
That’s the difference between your main bands and The Halo Effect. Just jam and do what feels the best. I remember you telling me Grand Cadaver had a similar mantra.
Mikael Stanne: That’s right. Grand Cadaver isn’t a band with too much plan this, plan that. Things grow naturally. So, The Halo Effect feels like a band we would’ve formed in 1993. Obviously, we have our experience to go with it. I mean, I’m playing with Daniel, who was in Sacrilege. I knew Peter because he was Anders’ [Iwers] younger brother. Niclas, I knew from our first-ever show with Septic Broiler supporting Sarcazm in 1991. I met Jesper in 1989 or 1990 sitting outside on the stairs of the only metal club [Valvet] in town. That’s how it started all those years ago—how far back we go. The Halo Effect feels a bit like how we felt back then. It feels good. It’s in our spines, our DNA. Very fresh and exciting.
OK, tell me more. Sounds like everything went quickly.
Mikael Stanne: Almost too quickly! [Laughs] [We] recorded two three-song demos to get a feel. They sounded great. We played them for our friends. We asked ourselves, “How serious do we want to take this?” I think it was pretty serious [to us] from the start. Then, we had to ask ourselves, “Do we want a deal?” We weren’t really sure. So, we sent “Shadowminds” to the head of A&R at Nuclear Blast—the demo version. He offered to sign us right then and there. He didn’t hear another song until the album was recorded. Not a single note outside of “Shadowminds.”
What’s next for The Halo Effect?
Mikael Stanne: The first singles we released are more about “this is who we are,” but the album has a lot more to it. We have a lot of work still to do for Days of the Lost, but I will say we already have tons of songs for the second album. They’re awesome!
** The Halo Effect’s new album, Days of the Lost, is out now on Nuclear Blast. Grab LP or CD from Nuclear Blast (HERE).
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