Maggot Heart clearly needs little introduction here on Unearthed Mirrors: it is a musical entity born from the mind of Linnéa Olsson, and as In Solitude appreciators, most of us already knew her from Sonic Ritual (the band she formed back in the days with Henrik Palm), as well as for her other previous collaborations (The Oath, Beastmilk, Grave Pleasures...), so basically
we have been following it since it first came out to the public back in 2017, when Teratology Sound & Vision announced that Linnéa, joined by ex-In Solitude members Uno Bruniusson and Gottfrid Åhman, who took part in the recordings, was about to release Maggot Heart's first EP. This, understandably, made a lot of us quite excited and interested in hearing what this new musical creature was going to sound like .
And certainly, what we heard didn't disappoint: the first EP,
"City Girls", followed in 2018 by the debut full-length
"Dusk to Dusk", delivered an irresistible, captivating and corrosive stream of pure dark rock energy.
Now, Maggot Heart's second full-length,
"Mercy Machine", is due out next week on Rapid Eye Records, the label that Linnéa recently co-founded with Ricky of Swamp Booking, and we are very pleased to be able to offer on Unearthed Mirrors this fascinating insight into Maggot Heart's inner and outer aspects: you can read below what Linnéa told us about the upcoming album, her creativity and sources of inspiration, touring as a trio, the albums' cover artworks, what playing live means to her, and more. Enjoy!
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Linnéa Olsson/Maggot Heart
Photographed by Joe Dilworth |
UM: Maggot Heart is about to release the new album
"Mercy Machine" on July 10th: regardless of how your listeners will experience it when it comes out, how distant does it feel to you, mentally and just generally, from your previous
"Dusk to Dusk"?
MH: In some ways it's been a lifetime since "Dusk to Dusk". Since then, I feel Maggot Heart has really come into its own, and done so through a lot of dues paid. We've scaled down the live line-up to a trio, which had a big impact on the band on and off stage. We also toured a lot, which again really made us tighter as a group, and as friends. Speaking for me personally, I feel more confident with my vocals after two years of intense touring. We worked very hard as a band, and also in a sort of unconventional way for such a small band, with all the touring in the US and very little internet presence for instance. My hopes were that this would pay off, and seeing now how much more attention we are getting with this album, I feel it's been worth it. "Dusk to Dusk" was a very dark album in several ways. It dealt with a lot of subconscious matters of the mind, past trauma, violence and existential anxiety. Thinking back of the writing process of this album, a lot of heavy matters come to mind. So in some ways I feel like I've worked through some of these parts of myself, and landed in a new territory. Where "Dusk to Dusk" dealt with the mind, "Mercy Machine" is rooted in the body. I believe it's a bit less melancholic and a bit more punkier, maybe. It has a bit more bite. I'm very proud of our work and of what we've become as a band on this album, and proud of the performances of the other guys as well.
