Always keeping an eye on new bands, THE END OF GRACE caught my attention. So I decided to ask them a few questions and let you know these Swedes a little better. Guitarists Jimmy Bergman and Sulan Von Zoomlander answered the following…

photo by Linus Pettersson

Front Row Forever: Hi there! The first thing I’m curious about is how did you guys get together? Because you don’t all live in Göteborg…
The End Of Grace: It all started with Sulan needing some music for his Metal Mulisha Sweden video jobs. Sulan talked to Jimmy and we started a little “project” for fun!
After a crazy weekend in Trosa, Sweden with a lot of Whiskey & Coke, we had a lot of good songs!
Then we needed a singer for the “Metal Mulisha” track. So through a friend of Sulan we got in contact with Jimmie Strimell, and he was up for the challenge to lay vocals on just the “Metal Mulisha” track!
After the vocals were done we celebrated a little bit at Jimmie‘s place and after few hours he asked if we got some more tracks? We said HELL YES! And then he became our frontman & singer in THE END OF GRACE!
Under this little journey we became good friends with Cat Cooke, who is DEAD BY APRIL‘s tour manager. She took us out to her friend’s gig, Marcus Rosell, in Gothenburg! We thought he kicked ass and talked to him after the gig, and he was stoked to join the band!
Robert Karlsson is a good old friend of Jimmie and a badass bass player! We all hooked up with him and we all worked out really good together!
Then THE END OF GRACE was born!

FRF: And how did the name of the band come up? Any story behind THE END OF GRACE?
TEOG: Jimmy & Sulan decided that we really needed a band name quickly before we went to Gothenburg! We came up with the end of grace and we really liked and it sounded good.

FRF: You’ve been together for such a short period and yet you already have at least 4 songs ready to go. Were they all born as TEOG “babies” or some of them were already there, just waiting for a new band?
TEOG: Sulan & Jimmy‘s project became a band for real when Jimmie Strimell joined TEOG! After Sulan & Jimmy‘s Whiskey&Coke weekend in Trosa, we already had a lot of tracks done ready to use in TEOG.

FRF: Speaking of song writing, is there a main songwriter or someone just comes up with a riff, an idea, and then all of you work the song up from there?
TEOG: The main songwriters are Sulan & Jimmy Bergman, but we all guys are open for all ideas!

FRF: How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard about you? I don’t mean just the genre or subgenre of your music. What, how and why you play what you play.
TEOG: There is an easy answer to that! We play what we love to play!
We have a lot of influences from IN FLAMES, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, METALLICA, BMTH, SOILWORK and a lot of more great bands in the metal genre, and maybe a little harder!

FRF: Playing gigs is in your near future plans. How does that work in Sweden for an unsigned band? How hard it is the “underground scene” in your country?
TEOG: We all have played in bands for a long time and we know a lot of people in the business, and places to gig at. A week ago we signed with Concept Sweden Management. So gigs here in the underground scene aren’t that hard to get.

FRF: You don’t have a record deal, but you have sponsors. One of them is the aforementioned Metal Mulisha Sweden. Was the song “Metal Mulisha” written spontaneously, just because you like fast bikes, or was it something related with that sponsorship?
TEOG: Sulan works with Metal Mulisha Sweden. He does all their film/photo and works with the events too. It all started with him needing tracks for his Mulisha videos and was tired of all rights for songs on youtube! So he decided to make brand new tracks to have on his video jobs. So he called Jimmy and the “Metal Mulisha” track was born.

FRF: And how did you manage those other sponsorships – Gothia Ink Gothenburg,  Depalma, Sullen– in the first place? Whose idea was it?
TEOG: All sponsorships are thanks to Sulan and his tattoo modeling. He is sponsored by all this clothing brands and they wanted to sponsor THE END OF GRACE too!

FRF: “Fist Face Bleed” features Martin Westerstrand (LILLASYSTER). Once again, how did that happen?
TEOG: We were in the studio and Jimmie came up with the awesome idea of having Martin Westerstrand on guest vocals on the “Fist Face Bleed” track! Martin is a good old friend of Jimmie and one call later the plan was in action! Martin is stoked about how the track came out and digs our tunes. We all in TEOG are very happy to work with him!

FRF: Can we expect more guests in the future? Who would you like to listen to co-playing/singing one of your songs?
TEOG: Yeah! But not doing guest vocals. We are right now speaking with a guitarist from a great band here in Swedish, and maybe… Maybe he will do a solo on some of our tracks!

FRF: You’re currently working on your first release. As said before, in just one month you’ve showed us 4 songs. I take it this means the process is going well…? Any details about it you can share?
TEOG: The writing process is going good! We got a lot of badass ideas and tracks, but now it’s to focus on making a really sick video for our first single “Metal Mulisha”! Sulan knows a lot of crazy motocross people! So you don’t want to miss this video for sure!

FRF: Jimmie Strimell has DEAD BY APRIL. Anyone else has other bands/projects at the moment that we should check out?
TEOG: Sulan & Jimmy Bergman are only playing in TEOG, but Marcus Rosell is also playing with DORM PATROL and Robert Karlsson is also playing with AS YOU DROWN.

FRF: The last question is a bit of a request… will you publish the lyrics so we can understand correctly what Jimmie’s growling? 
TEOG: Yeah! We are working on putting the lyrics up for everyone! A lot of people has requested the lyrics so it’s time for people to get them! 

FRF: Thank you for your time! Wish you guys all the best and I hope to see you in one of those gigs you’re planning to play. 
TEOG: Thx for wanting to interview us! I hope we’ll see you on a gig soon!!