“You may hear a new song or two” – interview with Eradikated

The Swedish thrash metal group Eradikated will arrive in Finland for the first time this July, with performances at both Kaaos Festival in Vaasa and Semifinal in Helsinki. Chaoszine spoke with the band’s vocalist, Elvin Landaeus Csizmadia, about their upcoming new album and their first visit to Finland.

Greetings, Eradikated! How’s your spring been so far and who will be answering our questions?

Elvin Landaeus Csizmadia: Hi, this is Elvin here! Our spring has been quite busy with all the work on our upcoming album. It’s been exciting but now I think some of us are quite ready for a little break.

You’re currently working on a new album. How is it coming along?

Elvin: This has been a long and sometimes painful process. Now we’re near the end and can see a finished album taking form. Honestly, the music is great in my opinion. Angry, provocative, yet versatile. It’s a kickass piece!

Do you have a release date in mind for a new song or maybe even the whole album?

Elvin: I won’t say a date, sorry. It’s still too early for that. I can say that it won’t be that long before you start hearing some new songs. Time goes so fast these days, you know?

Do you write music collaboratively, or does someone take the lead in the creative process? How does a typical Eradikated song come to life?

Elvin: Good question! I’d say that typically Ragnar comes up with a couple of riffs, I write the lyrics, then we all take some part in the song production. It can take quite a while to write a song this way, a lot of back and forth. Another typical way that a song takes form is that Ragnar gets into his flow and just writes one from start to finish in one session. Then I write the lyrics, we might make some tweaks, but usually these ones are quite finished and don’t change much.

Lyrically, your songs tap into themes such as societal collapse. Where do these ideas stem from?

Elvin: Just look around! I think it’s safe to say we’re in the middle of a society collapsing right now, don’t you? Look, if I’m gonna say something, if I’m gonna tell a story, then I want to talk about something that means something. I think it means something that the world is ending as we know it, and that’s something we’re gonna have to process.

You changed the band’s name a few years ago from The Generations Army to Eradikated. What led to that evolution, and how did it impact your songwriting and creative vision?

Elvin: It was time to start fresh. We had no gigs during the pandemic, and we had grown both musically and in age. I think it was rather that the name change followed what we were doing and where we were going.

You’ll be performing at Kaaos Festival in Vaasa and Semifinal in Helsinki this summer and these are your first shows in Finland. What can we expect from the shows? Any plans of playing some new material?

Elvin: We are very excited to get to play in Finland, after hearing so much about your metal scene. Finally! What can I tell you about our shows? We play thrash. We bring lots and lots of energy. We’re fast and tight but also heavy. And yeah, you may hear a new song or two if you listen closely.

What do you enjoy the most when performing live? Do you have any pre-show “rituals”?

Elvin: I myself just love running up on stage to meet an excited crowd. In a way there is no better feeling. We’re pretty light on rituals but we always gather together right before going up, to heighten our anticipation and remind us that we are in this together.

What does the future hold for Eradikated? Any plans or goals you can share with us?

Elvin: We have a great tour with The Haunted and Hostilia coming up this fall! That’s a Sweden tour and we hope to get to tour more in other countries as well. Going to Germany would be great. Hopefully Finland treats us well and we can come back! I can’t say much more at the moment, we need to release our album and then we will see.

Thank you for your time! Would you like to add something for your fans and Chaoszine’s readers?

Elvin: Thanks! We can’t wait to get to explore Finland! See you in the mosh pit!

All the best,
Elvin the singer