Interview: Stortregn
Formed all the way back in 2006, Swiss prog/tech/melo/black/death metal legends Stortregn have never stopped tinkering with their sound, evolving into the chimeric beast they are today. So after catching them open for Virvum on their excellent Canada Takeover 2025 tour this summer and having given their latest full-length Finitude the highest score I’ve ever given for the blog in my three years here, I had a bunch of questions for the band about their synergy, energy, composition, and live performances. Stortregn were kind enough to accept a request for interview and so, without further ado, here they are:
Q: Your records are incredibly cohesive throughout, with plenty of motifs and well-thought-out track flow. How do you balance “writing for the song” versus “writing for the album”?
Duran: The composition of the album always starts with a couple of riffs. Once we have a first song structure, we try to clarify the vision we have for the album as a whole. Will it be a single block? Will all the tracks flow into one another? Will it be a “Side A / Side B” format? Will it be a collection of singles? We always aim to explore something we haven’t done yet. Then, we look at the songs themselves. Each track has to stand on its own. We don’t want to have fillers on the album. Once we have the songs, we have to choose an order that works as well. We want to provide contrast and keep the listening experience interesting enough. Sometimes this contrast comes in the tonality of the songs, sometimes in the varying intensities, time signatures, and different layers.
Johan: The most interesting and crucial part for me is turning a collection of riffs into a fully formed song. Writing variations, progressions, and transitions, shaping the structure and musical narrative of each track, it can be pure chaos. It can drive you insane! It often feels like I’m searching for a missing piece of a giant puzzle, and the process can take months. It’s as much intellectual work as it is heartfelt expression. And personally, I love that! Also figuring out the connections between songs, whether it’s a rhythmic or melodic motif, a tempo, etc, it’s very fun. You realise that everything is linked somehow.
Q: For nearly a decade, Stortregn were a melodic black metal band heavily inspired by Dissection! What happened to spur the transition into the melodic blackened proggy tech death band you are now? Was it a natural evolution? Do you see the band drastically evolving again, or do you plan on tinkering with the current style for longer?
Johan: Dissection was one of the first extreme metal bands I listened to when I was younger. I was deeply moved and impressed by the emotional power of their first two albums. That impact led me to co-found the band, in an attempt to reach that same emotional intensity. In hindsight, that era felt like a great learning experience for me. Anyway, we quickly wanted to move away from being seen as a “tribute” band because we felt we had so much more to offer, and we were tired of being boxed into that label. The arrival of Duran, and later Manu, also significantly broadened our musical horizons, since they come from different backgrounds and have diverse musical aspirations. Nowadays, we’re pushing our own limits, and we don’t know where that might take us!
Duran: Believe it or not, I had never listened to Dissection before I joined the band! I can’t claim to have been influenced by them. But we continue to evolve as musicians and have different musical backgrounds, so I think it is safe to say that our style is not set in stone. You might hear bluegrass influences in the future. Who knows?
Q: Franck, you’re a new face in the band, welcome! What has touring with the band been like? In person, you mentioned that Stortregn’s extensive use of high screams was a new hurdle in your vocal career. Were there any adjustments you made to your technique?
Franck: Thanks for the welcome! Lots of things to say. Actually I never toured before and I thought touring would remain a boy’s dream. But it finally happened. So touring as the vocalist of Stortregn, a band I’ve been a fan of for years, opening for Virvum, whose album I’ve listened to so many times, was a unique experience in my life as you can imagine. I was really nervous about being up to the task, and I put a lot of pressure on myself to meet Stortregn’s live performances level. But I felt very well with the two bands, I could express how I felt anytime and they all helped me to relax and have a lot of fun. And I was surprised that my voice held on for the 12 shows!
As for the technique, in my previous and other bands I am more used to use the low voice as the main vocals. So for Stortregn, I had to switch in my head to make the high screams as the main vocals, and to use them as high as I could. It was a challenge because the high screams of the previous singer had this strength that, for me, was so characteristic of Stortregn’s sound. It sounds more black metal than what I have done with my other bands. So I had to train myself a lot to reach a balance between keeping the sound of the band and bringing something new with my voice. The composition and recording of the One Eternal EP really helped me in that way, and the advice and feedback of the members of the band were precious.
Q: Samuel, I know you have a background in jazz drumming, and that’s clear in your playing which is some of the most creative and original I’ve ever heard in metal. Who are some of your major influences, metal or otherwise?
Samuel: Thanks for this question and the kind words. I definitely love some bands from both music styles metal and jazz, bands like Gorod, Leprous, Opeth, The Bad Plus, and also Jazz pianists like Hiromi, Brad Mehldau, or Tigran Hamasyan. If we talk about drummers, guys like Elvin Jones, Max Roach, Jimmy Cobb, Tony Williams, Bill Stewart, Nate Smith, Stéphane Galland, and in metal music Sebastian Lanser, Baard Kolstad and Kai Hahto. I took some drum lessons with them and they’re part of my musical journey.
Q: Johan and Duran, you three have such complex, interweaving guitar/bass lines and dueling solos that it begs the question: how do you decide who plays which part? Also, do you two have any classical training? Your sound demonstrates a seeming mastery of counterpoint.
Johan: Thanks for the compliment! I’m a professional classical guitarist–I did all my studies in Switzerland and won several competitions back in the day. I’m very active in the classical world, performing recitals internationally and playing as a soloist with orchestras. My classical studies drastically changed the way I approach writing for the band, especially from Emptiness Fills the Void onwards, and that influence continues to shape our sound today.
Duran: I think there are so many possibilities with our formation and we don’t want to limit ourselves to pigeonhole our roles. We have Johan’s classical background which brings the sharpness and the strong compositional cohesion and music theory. Then, Manu and I could switch from guitar to bass / bass to guitar at any time. So sometimes Manu plays the bass like a guitarist and I will play guitar like a bassist, if that makes any sense. We want to take on more than just the traditional double lead-rhythm-bass combo. I think this contributes to and expands our sound. It’s all in the optic of getting the right sound for the right part. Then for the decision of who plays what line, it will depend on the vision of the main composer of the song.
Q: Of course, you are a band from Francophone Switzerland, yet you write lyrics in English except for a few on Impermanence and Finitude. Have you considered writing more songs in French?
Duran: “Nénie” was the first song that we recorded in French, although there might be some obscure early demos somewhere with French lyrics, but I can’t confirm that. Then, in Finitude, we have the title track and “De Inferno Solis” which are in French as well. Once again, it depends on the vibe of the writer. Romain had very interesting lyrics in French and he delivered them brutally and it worked seamlessly on the track. Why should we limit ourselves to English if we can push an idea in a more personal manner? Then again, it has to sound good with the track. I’m hoping one day to get a track out in Finnish, but it has to be justified with the theme of the song or the story. We’ll see how that will turn out.
Johan: French language and pronunciation adds a lot to the music! It’s so much more brutal and crisp. English, on the other hand, tends to sound more polished and ’round’. It’s cool to be able to use them both to serve your musical purpose.
Q: Do you typically do songwriting sessions in person together? Few bands seem to have as much synergy as you in the studio—and live as I was lucky enough to see. Every piece clicks into place.
Duran: Thanks for the compliment. We just started trying to schedule songwriting sessions, but with each of our timetables it’s almost impossible to find a time and place that works for everyone. Otherwise until now, it was very much Guitar Pro based, tabbing out our ideas, uploading them on a shared cloud drive, modifying others’ ideas, hating other people’s edits and trying to find a compromise somewhere. We’ve had a couple of heated discussions. You can sometimes hear the tension in the compositions but the end result has always justified them.
Johan: In my experience, in-person writing sessions have never really worked for us. Personally, I need to sit down alone, like a craftsman in his workshop who carefully refines and polishes the material.
Q: With the sad news of Ozzy’s death, Stortregn’s new cover of “Mr. Crowley” hits all the harder. What made you pick that song to cover from his discography? Have you considered covering other artists/songs? It always seems like a great way to give tribute to your influence, and it sounds like you guys had a blast performing the Ozzy cover.
Duran: On a personal level, I am extremely sad that Ozzy has passed on. I mean it was bound to happen, but nobody expected it to happen so suddenly. His music has been so influential and has had such an impact on so many different artists and I am no exception. May his music live on forever and may he rest in peace.
On the subject of our cover, we have been discussing a potential cover of “Mr. Crowley” for years. It fits everything: it’s a dark song, a classic, it has epic riffs and solos, an amazing story behind the whole original album, and it has enough space for us to interpret it in our way. We are very happy with the result and can only hope that Ozzy had the chance to give it a listen and approve it!
There might have been other covers in discussion. Nothing recorded, though….yet!
Q: Do any of you have any personal favorite Stortregn songs/albums?
Duran: The next album is my favorite! I can’t wait to finish the writing process to get it recorded and release it!
Franck : My personal favorite song to play live is “Through the Dark Gates,” especially at the end of the set–it’s just insane. Now, among songs we didn’t play during the last tour, I always tell the guys I really love “Cold Void” from Finitude. I also love “Timeless Splendor,” “Children of the Obsidian Light,” or “Inner Black Flame.” But still, the next album will obviously be the best.
Johan : The next one, indeed!
Q: If you could tour with any band, who would it be?
Johan : Bands that are on the same wavelength as us, but also know how to party!
Duran: It’s a tough question. We just completed our Canada Takeover tour with Virvum which was an absolute blast. I would tour with them again any day!
Q: What bands were most influential in getting you all into music—and as listeners, how has your taste progressed over the years?
Duran: The scene has never been as big and varied as it is today. So I can always find something new that scratches an itch I never knew I had! My biggest influences would be Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath (Ozzy / Dio / Tony Martin), B.B. King, Pantera, Dream Theater, Slayer, early-In Flames, and so on.
Johan : I’m still returning to my old classics sometimes, but the latest Dordeduh and Sühnopfer were amazing.
Q: Any favorite albums of 2025 so far, or any local or underground bands you want to shout out?
Duran: I have a huge backlog of albums I have to listen to. I think I still have to finish 2019. But shout out to our good friends: Virvum, Burn Down Eden, Conjonctive, Calcined, The Scalar Process, and Skaphos!
Thank you again to Stortregn for the interview and make sure to check out their new EP One Eternal on Bandcamp and wherever else good music is streamable!
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