There’s no point in denying it: It’s been a long time since Millencolin have made a new album. Seven years, in fact. The Swedish skate-punk quartet’s last effort, the peppy Machine 15, kept them on the road playing to hundreds of thousands of diehard fans across the globe, as was its intention. But guitarist Mathias Färm says there was another reason for the time lapse. “We felt that it was important to have something really good to offer in terms of a new album,” he admits.
Färm and vocalist/bassist Nikola Sarcevic—the two men responsible for Millencolin’s songwriting for the past two decades and change—explored their other musical muses, with Sarcevic continuing to release low-key solo records and Färm starting a side band called Franky Lee, as well as producing other bands in Millencolin’s Soundlab Studios. Ohlsson continued exploring his interest in graphic design, and Larzon kept himself rooted in music by running a record label (De:Nihil Records) and a number of clubs in Örebro. The quartet fused together all of these passions to create True Brew, out April 28 on Epitaph —an album self-recorded by the band, produced by Sarcevic and Färm in Soundlab Studios, mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren (Opeth, Soilwork, Katatonia, Paradise Lost) at Fascination street studios and with all artwork, photography and music videos created by Ohlsson. It’s clear the band members are just as unified as they were when they formed Millencolin, roughly 23 years, seven albums and 1,500 live shows ago. “We’re a band truly formed from respect and understanding for each other and our passion for rock music,” explains Sarcevic. “If you ask us, this is the best job in the world!”
