(A couple of weeks ago Vendetta Records released the debut album of the Swedish black metal band Lömsk. Attracted by the cover art, our Comrade Aleks fell into the album and emerged with a desire to interview the band, and the following discussion with Lömsk’s bassist and vocalist followed.)
War became a part of our background, and it seems that mankind’s feelings towards this everyday catastrophe have become dull. And like the devil turned to be a banal part of black metal’s cultural code, so images of war transformed into just another aspect of extreme metal spirit. Yet the artwork of the new album by the Swedish black metalists Lömsk somehow attracted my attention, and the nine nihilistic hymns of Act II – Of Iron and Blood deliver some twisted excitement – enough to make a little effort and ask about an interview.
And lo! There’s something probably far more behind the scenes of that burning city and its smouldering ruins.
Hail Lömsk! How are you? What’s going on in your camp?
Hey! We’re doing great! Things are finally starting to slow down a bit after a pretty intense year of writing, recording, and producing the album. It’s been a lot of work, but really rewarding.
Right now, we’re gearing up for our European tour with Gorgoroth, Tyrmfar, and Patristic. We’re rehearsing the new songs and figuring out how to bring them to life on stage. At the same time, we’re putting a lot of thought into evolving our live show. We are trying out new ideas and looking for ways to make the experience more immersive and interesting.
What do you mean? Are you going to use some military equipment on stage?
No, nothing like that. What we mean is that we’re trying to evolve every aspect of our live show. We want sharper, cleaner performances and a stronger overall presentation.
We’re also experimenting with things like an in-ear monitoring system to improve what we hear on stage and tighten the performance. On top of that, we’re thinking about visual elements as well — things like uniforms or props we could bring on stage to strengthen the atmosphere.
I see that there are ten dates in Gorgoroth’s tour. How did you manage to get this ticket? Did you perform in these countries before? Do you feel well-prepared for this endeavour?
We got the Gorgoroth tour through our manager and booker at Aeternum Concerts. He’s been with us from the very beginning and has been incredibly supportive, always helping us find shows, contacts, and new opportunities.
So far we’ve only played in Sweden and Germany, so this will be a really exciting experience for us as a band. It’s a great chance to bring our music to new places and new audiences.
How was Lömsk started? Which bands shaped your vision of black metal?
Lömsk started as a pretty humble project. Me — the bassist and vocalist — and our lead guitarist just wanted something driven and honest where we could write the kind of black metal we actually wanted to hear. The original idea was simple: write strong songs, release some demos, and maybe play a few shows each year.
We began shaping rough ideas into proper songs, just trying to get the momentum going and eventually find the right people who were as passionate about the music as we were. From there, it slowly grew into something more serious.
When it comes to influences, it’s honestly hard to list them all. Even though we’re not that old, we grew up on the second wave of Norwegian black metal like Darkthrone, Mayhem, and Taake; that whole era definitely shaped our foundation.
Along the way, other bands left a big mark too. Deathspell Omega’s dissonance and twisted compositions, Funeral Mist’s frenzy and sheer aggression, and Blut Aus Nord’s atmosphere and melodies have all been huge inspirations. I also got into Mgła pretty early, I remember buying Crushing the Holy Trinity and Presence when they came out, and that bleakness and raw, stripped-down sound definitely left its mark on me too.
According metal-archives, only your drummer had experience being in a band before Lömsk. How difficult was it to start the band from scratch?
We’ve actually all been in bands since we were young, some projects more serious than others. For me personally, this felt like a kind of final push. A last real attempt to make an impact before calling it quits and admitting defeat.
But honestly, starting from scratch wasn’t as difficult as it might sound. When everyone involved is experienced, committed, and knows their role, things fall into place quite naturally. We all understand what we bring to the table and there’s a shared work ethic behind it. That makes a huge difference.
In a way, starting fresh was also liberating — no baggage, no expectations, just a clear vision and the drive to make it happen.
Where did you play before Lömsk?
We have to leave a little mystery still. But we appreciate you asking.
You started with the EP Act I in 2024, and it was four songs long. Were all the tracks already united with one concept back then? What did you aim to reach with this release?
Act I didn’t really have a concept — at least not in my mind. It was more of a theme. To me, a concept implies one continuous story unfolding from track to track, whereas a theme is more like separate stories that share a common thread. That’s what Act I was.
In many ways, it was actually the demo we originally sent around when we were trying to find members in the early days, just re-recorded and refined with some minor tweaks and changes.
Our ambitions were pretty modest. Of course we hoped the music would get some recognition but mainly we wanted it to open a few doors — maybe get us some live shows here and there and start building something real.
At the time of this discussion Act II – of Iron and Blood is to be released on March 6th. How long did you work on this material? How did you decide that the work was done well, and it was time to release it?
Since Act I was already written by the time we had a full lineup, and we waited quite a while before releasing it to find the right moment, new material had already started piling up from early 2024, maybe even before that.
When we saw that Act I got more attention than we expected, we went back through everything we had. Some ideas were just fragments while others were nearly finished songs. We started picking out what really resonated with us and, more importantly, what felt cohesive as a body of work. That process eventually became Act II – Of Iron and Blood.
As for knowing when it was done — I don’t think we ever had that perfect “now it’s finished” moment. Instead, we made a decision: it will be done by the end of 2025. Setting that deadline forced us to focus without compromising the quality we were aiming for. It was a bit of a bold move, but in the end, I think it pushed us in the right way and made the whole record stronger.
What about the Act II artwork? What inspired it? Did you have some specific city on your mind?
After a couple of songs were finished in pre-production and the lyrics started taking shape, this theme about the aftermath of war and rising through the ashes came to mind. That’s really what inspired the artwork.
We had some back and forth before we could fully crystallize the idea and find something that truly summarized it. It took a bit of time to land on the right visual expression.
There wasn’t a specific city in mind — it’s more of a symbolic setting than a real place.
You started the album’s promotion with a video for the “Fields of Elysium” song. How did you gather all those documentaries for it? Was it important for you to pick a proper visual line to channel your message?
The drummer did most of the heavy lifting on this one. It’s an era with very little photography, and especially not much filmed material, so it took him a lot of time and many late nights to track everything down. Thanks to him, we now have a solid archive if we ever decide to do something similar again.
The song itself is about going into war or into something you know will be difficult but still believing there’s light at the end of the tunnel. A purpose within the chaos. A goal waiting on the other side. War carries very strong imagery, and it felt like a powerful way to visually convey that message.
By the way, how would you summarize Act II’s message?
I’d say it’s really about reflections — on the world, on life, on meaning, and on the loss of those we’ve loved. There’s also this inner struggle that runs through it, a tension between nihilism and stoicism, between despair and finding some kind of purpose in the chaos.
In a way, the album acts like a dark mirror to the world around us. It’s not just about external events, it’s about how we process them, how we face our own shadows and what we choose to carry forward.
The dark mirror of the dark world indeed. So Lömsk doesn’t mean to be only about war-related topics, isn’t it?
War is our main theme — more like a canvas on which we explore philosophy, ideas, and reflections on life to name a few things. The war imagery creates a powerful visual and emotional framework for that.
But we’re not writing about specific battles or historical events. In that sense, war is more of a metaphor we use to explore those deeper themes.
The black metal scene is overcrowded nowadays, as any other metal scene is actually. What are your ambitions regarding Lömsk’s future? What kind of realistic goals do you set before you?
Our main ambition is simple: keep going, keep growing our audience, and play bigger live shows. At the same time, we want to keep developing our sound and writing strong music that we believe in.
We’ve just wrapped up some major goals for this year, so we haven’t really had the time to set new ones yet but once we do, they’ll be focused on taking the next step without losing sight of what makes Lömsk what it is.
What are your plans for 2026?
This year our full focus will be performing Act II live for the first time and continuing to develop our live show. Soon we’ll hit the road with Gorgoroth and we’re also excited to play in the US for the first time at Maryland Deathfest. On top of that we’ll be performing at our label’s festival, Vendetta Fest, just to name a few highlights. It’s going to be a busy year and we can’t wait to bring the new material to the stage.
Even Maryland Deathfest? Hah, sounds like a big deal. Then I wish you all the best in your expansion! Well, anything else? Did we forget something?
Maryland Deathfest is definitely a big deal for us — we’re really excited about that one.
We have quite a lot lined up for 2026, too much to list here, but those are definitely some of the highlights. And of course, make sure to check out our new album Act II – Of Iron and Blood.
https://www.instagram.com/lomskofficial/