Once you get beyond the obsession with serial killers, the family guys in Darkane are nice, normal fellows

How many Swedish headbangers does it take to top up a pay-as-you-go phone? Apparently, more than five. During a recent phone interview with Darkane, the connection was cut off without warning. And that was the end of that little Q & A sesh. It turns out that drummer Peter Wildoer forgot to check how many minutes were left on the band’s communal cell.

But no one here is going to hold it against him. For starters, Wildoer’s a ridiculously nice guy—zero attitude and not a hint of ego. Second, the fast-and-furious metal quintet has better things to do than read the fine print in a bullshit cellular contract. And third, I’m not in the habit of shit-talking large, hairy Scandinavian musicians with serial-killer obsessions. Nice or not, Wildoer (the group’s primary lyricist) explores some pretty dark territory on the band’s latest release, Demonic Art.

“It’s about this guy who doesn’t really realize that he is a criminal,” said Wildoer, who was in Sauget, Illinois, when the Straight tracked him down. “It’s very much fantasy—like the horror-movies kind of theme with him killing people and doing art with their bodies and stuff. But he really can’t see that he’s doing these criminal acts. He thinks he’s just an artist. I’m very much inspired by Clive Barker, who did Hellraiser and stuff like that.”

Demonic Art’s melodic rampage is a continuation of “Organic Canvas”, a track on the band’s 2005 release Layers of Lies. What’s new about this album is Darkane’s lead vocalist, Jens Broman, who replaced eight-year veteran Andreas Sydow after he decided he was ready for a day job.

“It’s always a huge challenge to change the vocalist,” Wildoer said. “Most people who don’t play any instruments always listen to the vocals of a song first. But we already knew Jens before—both as a person and a vocalist—so we never actually doubted that he would fit in with the band, and he’s getting rave reviews from the tour.”

Not only can he keep up with his bandmates on-stage, Broman also knows how to shred his vocal cords in the studio. He tears it up through the surprisingly melodic title track like a sadomasochistic pro. And on the Euro-thrasher “Leaving Existence”, he howls like he’s been recording in the bowels of hell his whole life. On the eerie, synth-fringed “Execution”, he proves there’s no vocal challenge he can’t rise to. Scream, growl, burp the alphabet—you name it, he can probably do it.

But when he’s not recording or performing, Broman, along with the rest of the band, is insufferably well-adjusted. (In fact, rumour has it that if you play this album backwards, you can hear the band ordering lattes and arguing with their mortgage brokers.)

“To be really honest, we have normal lives,” Wildoer admitted. “Three of us in the band have kids at home and [are] married. We didn’t have a rough upbringing. Everybody had a totally normal Swedish upbringing and everything. We’re just a bunch of happy guys, actually.”

Oh man, Satan’s gonna be pissed.

Darkane plays the Plaza Club on Sunday (March 1).