intervenforcer

Enforcer from Sweden was one of the key bands in the NWOTHM (New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal) wave that swept across the globe in the early 2000's. It grew as a counter reaction to those bands that were popular in the 90's. Enforcer was a band that wanted to bring back the a more traditional or old school style of heavy metal. Today I've talked with the bands main man, guitarist, vocalist and founder Olof Wikstrand. 

Hi Olof, We can start with an introduction of you and your band.

Olof Wikstrand, Enforcer

I am Olof Wikstrand and I play in a band called Enforcer. Enforcer was formed sometime in 2005, with the goal to take back what was lost during the 90's. To take back real metal and make it as big as possible.

I've been playing in different thrash and death metal bands for a couple of years before that. We used to do covers of bands such as Exciter, Venom, you know basic stuff like that.

We always felt that it was more energetic for the live shows once we got into those kind of songs. So I started doing experiments with that idea that I had somehow. I made a bunch of songs in this style to put on the internet. At that time there was like absolutely no one in the world doing it like we did or as old school as I wanted to have my music. I became completely obsessed with heavy metal from the 80's and doing it the real way, the way I wanted to hear music myself.

I put out the songs on myspace where it quickly got reputation. I got a lot of views quickly and it kinda grew. So I got a lot of confirmation from MySpace at that time and I managed to spread the songs quite well. After getting that type of confirmation we were instantly approached by record labels, show makers, promotors or whatever to make this project real. But at that time it was only me in the band, So I put together a band together with my brother and some friends from other bands that I had since before that liked the idea.

At that time I got in contact with guys from different bands that were just starting. I met guys from Helvetets Port, Portrait, In Solitude or what was later becoming these bands. All over mostly Sweden at that time. We started networking, we started hanging out a lot. We showed each other lots of new bands. There was such an extreme creative but old school environment to develop this kind of bubble that started to happen.

Then I got in touch with other people across the world who were doing similar things, for example the guys from cauldron or goat horn who people were talking about at that time. We started exchanging a lot of ideas about traditional metal and I think we grew something at that time.

What are your main influences?

My main influences to play this type of music is kind of the music that I'm grown up with, growing up with bands such as Iron Maiden, Venom, Metallica, Exciter, whatsoever, you know. 

That was kind of the idea in the first place, to do that kind of meet new wave of british heavy metal meets a lot of Swedish, like more melodic type of heavy metal that I was very inspired by in the beginning to create the foundation of this band.

Live by Fire II (2021)

How would you define traditional metal?

I don't see it as we're playing metal. I kind of have a very orthodox view on this. I just think that we play metal. Whatever what was popular in the 90's with like rapping angry vocals and stuff like that, I don't even see that that type of music as metal if you ask me. 

The definition of metal are bands like Venom, Exciter, Iron Maiden but also back to Rainbow, Black Sabbath and I can see the line between Sabbath, Zeppelin, Purple, Rainbow going over in the 80's with Iron Maiden, Metallica and then into the extreme metal scene. I kinda see that as metal.

Metal in the 90's where it died commercially it continued in the extreme metal scene, in the death metal scene and the black metal scene. What was commercial in the 90's I consider something that was going away from what I think is metal. So everything there is metal and I think that we are into that, I'm sort of inspired by all kinds of metal not only traditional metal but that's where I would like to put my musical focus.

Is there a difference between the bands of the eighties and the NWOTHM bands?

I don't think there's any difference whatsoever between the bands in the 80's and bands now, I mean if you take Iron Maiden as an example, I usually Iron Maiden as an example because... yeah.

I mean they were inspired by certain music and they did their interpretation of it and I think we do the same thing, it's just like we are not inspired by new bands, we just exclude all the new bands but we're inspired by the old bands, but we do our thing and my goal is not to create generic music that are made just to sound like the old bands. My idea is to take the entire metal genre forward inspired by these bands. 

So I don't think there's a huge difference between the bands in the 80's and bands now. I feel I can do whatever I want with it but with the foundation of being inspired by traditional metal.

Why have you chosen to play traditional styled heavy metal?

I guess I'm just you know I'm conservative when it comes to most... maybe not politically but I'm conservative when it comes to most kind of cultures. There is nothing you can compare to as the feelings you had when you were a child, growing up with heavy metal music and you know those kind of feelings that you chase all the way and I'm king of a purist in all types of ways. Thinks that I do, I wan't to do them 100 percent. So I felt already in the 90's that even though I wasn't very old then but there was definitely not what I was grown up to with the 80's bands. 

So it was very natural for me to already then become almost like an enemy of modern metal and I've just been holding on to that for the majority of my life, I mean heavy metal from the 80's made such an extreme impact on me as a child that I just chased that feeling for my entire life.

What's your opinion on the other bands of the New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal?

My opinion is that I have a very double attitude these so-called New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal bands. I understand that it's something that we along with a few other bands in the 2000's was creating but we didn't know that we were creating it back then.

So I'm very proud of what we achieved back and the bubble we had then but of course, but you know, when some bands get some success, there will always be some followers and there are still a lot of great bands in there but there's also like a majority of bands who have taken this revival of traditional metal almost to make too much parody pastiche, cliché things with it so I think that the character or like it's so important for me at least that the bands have their own character and that they preserve that and not trying to imitate the old bands because that's just going to come out like as an imitation or almost parody, So I don't know.

 The genre goes a bit back and forth but I personally don't identify as New of Traditional Heavy Metal but I'm also very proud that something that we created, maybe you can see it a little bit like what Iron Maiden is to New of British Heavy Metal for example, that's how I want to see it.

Do you have a message to those who thinks that traditional metal is for elitists or that it belongs in the past?

I mean, I'm sort of an elitist myself. So I can't blame other people but I mean for judging new bands. So perhaps I'm not the right to ask about this but I think that good music should always be in the center, wheter it's old or new it shouldn't really make any difference but what I can think is that so many people have like an opinion, that they are not listening to the music for the music but more for to show other people what is cool and not to listen to and try to really fit in there and that's where you have most of the heavy metal elitists.

I think that good music is always good music, wheter it's new or old. You don't have to listen to music to show off that you're cool with some cool records or some cool bands that nobody else is listening to, I mean the music must be in the center. As long as there is good music produced, I think you should support the bands that simply are good.

By/Ruthless

This interview was part of the 'New Wave of Metal' documentary.

(14-05-2021)

Enforcer (Olof Wikstrand) video interview.