Interview by JOSH ANXT
Emperor Magus Caligula is probably a name you do not recognize. Masse Broberg could be a mystery to you as well. If you do recognize these names, then you know it is the same man. Masse was the young singer who growled the deepest growles known to man on the first 2 Hypocrisy albums, 'Penetralia' and 'Osculum Obscenum' respectively. The man known as Masse Broberg left Hypocrisy in 1993 and was gone from Earth for over 2 years. Then suddenly he shows up out of nowhere corpsepainted, with the new name Emperor Magus Caligula, in a black metal band called Dark Funeral playing bass and singing in a much different fashion. His voice went from deep bellowing to high black metal screeches. I had many questions I had always wanted to ask this man of mystery. And when I finally met him last year I was far too awstruck, not only by the fact of who he was, but also by the fact that he was well over a full head taller then I, and I'm 6 ft! Plus, he was one of the nicest, most polite mannered men I had ever met. Well, I got back in touch with him recently and these were the answers I got to all those questions I had wanted to ask about Dark Funeral and of course a couple of questions about his time with Hypocrisy.....
Lets start with the fact of Dominion leaving the band to further his studies. Has Dark Funeral found his replacement yet and is it someone we know or a fresh face?
No we have not found the right replacement for Dominion, it will be hard. We are currently starting the auditions for it, and we have a couple of very interesting people on the list. Both known and unknown.
In October you were supposed to tour Asia. Due to Dominions departure did this still happen?
Yes we played in Japan, Taiwan and Singapore. It was all a blast and we really enjoyed it. That was Dominions last live performance with Dark Funeral, and it was mixed feelings after we were done.
On the last album Dark Funeral started experimenting with different tempos and putting in a little melody such as the song “Goddess of Sodomy”. Will you continue to expand upon this sound in the future?
Nothing is certain when it comes to Dark Funeral, who knows what the next album will be like. We progress all the time, and hopefully we will find a new evil genious on guitar to help us deliver the ultimate satanic symphony.
There was talk before about the possible release of a DVD. Will this happen?
We will see about that, we are going through a lot of material right now. Hopefully it will be out in the beginning of next year, it is then out 10 year anniversary.
For those who don’t know you used to go by the name Masse Broberg and you were the original vocalist of Hypocrisy. You and Peter have since become good friends again. But, I have wondered for many years the reason you left Hypocrisy and could never find out the reason why. What is your side of the story?
It was simply because I got sick living where they do, I wanted to move back to Stockholm. I started to spend more and more time down here, and skipped rehearsals and so on. So it was for the bands best that I moved and handed over the mic to Peter, I could never get a better replacement than him. He is a genious.
I have also wondered for years what the song ‘Exclamation of a Necrofag’ off of your last Hypocrisy album, Osculum Obscenum, is about?
Hahahahhaa, A necrofag is a guy who kills a person, then fuck it while its getting cold, and then eats it up.. Pretty sick dude.
One final Hypocrisy question, what does the words ‘Osculum Obscenum’ mean?
It means “Kissing the devil (goats) ass” roughly translated. It’s when you cant turn back anymore, your final step to greatness and wisdom.
I saw Dark Funeral play here in the states earlier this year and Richard from Dismember was playing bass. Will you ever get someone to take over your bass duties full time in order for you to be a full frontman?
Richard is still with us, and we all enjoy having him in the band. I hope we don’t have to find a replacement for him, and that he stays with us to become a full member.
When will we see a new album and will/have you talked Peter into opening the doors to the Abyss studios once more to record it?
We are now looking for a replacement for Dominion, so we don’t have too much time to work on new material. But hopefully we will find the right one soon, and then its only a question of time until you hold the new D.F in your hands.
What are your favorite metal albums of all time?
Too many to mention.
What are your favorite non-metal albums of all time?
Too many to mention.
Any future plans for you and Dominions other band ‘Dominion Caligula’ now that he is back to his studies?
Nothing is planned so far, we will have a label meeting soon, to discuss future work.
Thank you very much for doing this interview, it is a true honor to me to have you do it. Any last words you want to tell everybody reading this?
Thank you very much for the support, sorry about the short answers, but I got too much mails to catch up with. Take care, yours Caligula.
www.darkfuneral.se
www.nofashionrecords.com
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