CyHra, featuring former Amaranthe vocalist Jake E. and ex-In Flames guitarist jesper Strömblad, have completed work on their second album. Jake, drummer Alex Landenberg and guitarist Euge Valovirta recently spoke with Tuonela Magazine about the making of the record, and an assortment of other topics. Check out an excerpt and the complete video interview below.

Q: So, the first album was mainly written by Jake and Jesper? How has this changed with the new material?

Jake E: "It started off with me and Jesper sitting down and making the foundations of songs and then Euge came in and he had tons of song ideas and then we sent them over to Alex. We threw stuff back and forth, so it was a complete band effort this time. Everyone was involved in musical writing and in lyric writing actually."

Alex: "It was very organic, cause a lot happened actually in the studio. Because this time the demos were rougher and less detailed than on the first one. On the first album, Jake and Jesper worked out a couple of songs to the detail already and then you don’t have much space anymore to do things, because you’re just used to what they sound like. This time it was very organic and it was really like a real collaboration in the studio, it was great."

Euge: "Yeah and we actually wrote songs in the studio."

Jake E: "Yeah, that we did!"

Euge: "It was really inspiring cause we were all there (Hansen Studios in Ribe, Denmark) at the same time. On the first album I recorded my guitars alone in my home studio but now we were all living together for 2-3 weeks. So it was really a lot of inspirational collaboration."

Jake E: "I don’t get how we did it last time. So, first album Alex recorded the drums in Gothenburg together with the guitars. Then we switched studio for the bass to a completely different studio in Sweden. Then, I flew to New York to do the vocals and then Euge did his parts at his home studio and then we mixed the album in Denmark. So, it was like the biggest fucking puzzle last time (laughs) This time we decided that we’re going all to one place."

Q: So, you also have more control or like sight over the whole process then?

Jake E: "Yeah."

Alex: "Although, I don’t think the sound is that much of an issue. Because you have control over the sound and ultimately the person mixing it, in both cases Jacob Hansen, has a lot of control on the sound and we just say if we like it or we don’t like it. But it’s much more of a creative thing. It’s obviously more direct and organic if you can actually work together."

Q: How has that changed your sound?

Jake E: "Not really, the sound hasn’t changed at all. We found our sound with the first album, we knew already what we wanted to play and how we wanted to sound like. Of course, two albums will sound differently. But not to the content that they will be over here (points at two different places)."

Alex: "We have a band sound that is clearly from the same band. I do I have to say it has evolved, of course. It has changed and evolved. But it’s mostly Euge having a bigger part in the writing and the playing on the album. And having the mindset of having two guitarists on the album. So naturally, it’s more riff-oriented, more guitar-oriented than the first one. That’s probably the biggest difference. More is more."

Read the complete transcript here.

Photo by KJ Melgoza / Kameraworks