Some bands arrive with a plan. Others take shape through instinct, geography and the simple need to keep making loud, honest music. Sandstorm fall firmly into the latter camp. Split between Sweden and Canada, they’ve spent the past decade forging a sound that feels raw, melodic and unmistakably rooted in the metal they grew up on. With a new release marking their next chapter, we caught up with the band to look back at the journey so far and the ideas that continue to drive them.

Interview

TheNwothm: For anyone discovering you for the first time, how would you introduce Sandstorm? 

Sandstorm: We are a heavy metal band from Sweden and Canada. We have been around for almost ten years and we have recorded Three records, the latest of them is beeing released this May.

TheNwothm: What is the story behind the moment you decided to form Sandstorm in 2017? 

Sandstorm:  We were living in Vancouver and we had all played in several other different bands previously ,at this point we were all trying to find the right way to continue making music and once we got together and started playing it felt right. Our style evolved naturally from our taste in heavy music.

TheNwothm: How did the name Sandstorm rise to the top of the list, and what meaning does it hold for you now compared to when you first chose it?

Sandstorm: We were trying to come up with a bandname and someone proposed sandstorm. It just felt right…sandstorms are hot, fast, wild and dangerous. It still feels like a good name that somehow captures the spirit of our band. 

TheNwothm: From what I understand, you are an international band split between Canada and Sweden. How has that shaped your identity, both musically and personally?

Sandstorm: For a while now we have been living in different lands on different continents which of course makes it harder to get together and play music. Since we want to keep going we try to make it work anyway. We get together once or twice a year to record or play shows. It was better when we lived in the same city but we do our best to make it work. 

TheNwothm: Swedish underground metal and the NWOBHM clearly run through your sound. What parts of Swedish culture or local scenes shaped your early musical instincts? 

Sandstorm: We take that as the best compliment we can get. We really love some 80-s swedish metal bands such as Parasite, Lezlie Paice and Gotham City to mention just a few. Also in the 2000s it was inspiring to see a band like Helvetets Port emerge in Sweden, making it clear and obvious that when it comes to heavy metal you should never compromise or try to fit in. 

TheNwothm: Vancouver has its own heavy music history. Has living and working there influenced your writing or attitude in ways you did not expect? 

Sandstorm: Yes and in different directions. When moving to Vancouver I was introduced to a lot of older Canadian rock bands that I didnt know of. But beeing new to a place and beeing a foreigner also makes your connections to your roots feel more important so it was also at this time that we started really soaking up the early swedish heavy metal sound.

TheNwothm: You explore dark fantasy, mythology and hellish themes. Are there specific cultural stories or folklore from Sweden or Canada that have fed into your lyrics or imagery?

Sandstorm: Yes, for instance we have a song about Lucia, a saint who is celebrated on december 13th in Sweden. That song i on our first recording time to strike. A lot of the times we just make up our own stories. On the new record we have a song about an ancient and terrible hawk-like creature, but its not really based on any folklore. 

TheNwothm: What do you remember most clearly from creating “Time to Strike”, your first EP?

Sandstorm: My father in law came to the studio to lay down the battle horn on one of the tracks called witchman sorcerer of satan. That is a good memory from the recording session. But I have very keen memories of writing the songs together, we were really inspired to write music and we were playing a lot of shows and practising all of the time.

TheNwothm: During the “Desert Warrior” period, what new ideas or ambitions were driving you? 

Sandstorm: At that point we had got in contact with the record label, Dying Victims Productions. So it was inspiring to know that they wanted to put out the next record and that we had some people wanting to hear more songs. 

TheNwothm: What made “Speed Dial” the right track to release as a standalone single? 

Sandstorm: Somehow it felt right cause when we were putting the record Desert Warrior together it didnt seem to fit in with the rest of the songs even though we loved the songs and we would always play it at our shows.

TheNwothm: What led you towards the warmer, vintage rock and roll feel that defines “Dungeon of Death”?

Sandstorm: I’m not sure to be honest. I have been working on these songs on and off for a few years and once it came together this is just how it sounds. 

TheNwothm: What inspired the medieval and mystical atmosphere behind the new material? 

Sandstorm: There are perhaps a few songs on the new record working with the subject off death and dying but not in a really aggressive way, maybe more looking at death from other perspectives, being curious about life and death I guess is important.