Digital preorders for Asteroid‘s third full-length, III, will go live on Sept. 12. The proper release date in Europe is Nov. 11, while the US gets it on Dec. 9, but wherever you are, however you order it, the arrival of a new Asteroid record is indisputably good news. The fuzzhappy trio from Swedish heavy hotbed Örebro first made their reunion official here last November, so by the time Fuzzorama Records delivers the 36-minute long-player, it will have been a productive year for Asteroid, playing shows, writing, recording. You know, all that “we’re in a band” stuff.

Well, they weren’t for a while. It’s been six years since their last offering, II (review here), and while they never melted down or anything, it seemed for a long time like that record might be their swansong. III follows in the second album’s footsteps in several crucial ways — its organic tones, its balancing between heavy blues and psychedelia, the vocal tradeoffs between guitarist Robin Hirse and bassist Johannes Nilsson — now joined in the trio by Jimmi Kolscheen — the tendency to follow the spirit of a given track, and moments like the bassline of centerpiece “Wolf and Snake” are about as quintessentially Asteroid‘s own as anything they could’ve put to tape. There are atmospheric stretches, as on “Silver and Gold” — also the most accomplished vocal performance of the band’s career — and cuts like “Last Days” (which you can hear above) tip hat to classic rock while “Them Calling” delivers an album-defining mega-hook while looking toward a more heavy metallized progression on the whole. It’s the fuzz rock you can pump your fist to.

But if III is united by any single principle, it’s the chemistry at heart in Asteroid‘s approach; the way the band interacts sonically and what the results of that interaction do for their songwriting. I’ll be reviewing it as we get closer to the release date (one or the other of them), but as a preview, I wanted to talk to the band about making III and how things came together since they got back, played their first shows and undertook the work of really being a band again after their years apart, including bringing in Kolscheen on drums and hammering out a new dynamic there. Lots to discuss and I feel like the surface has barely been scratched on III, so look for much more to come as we move into the fall, which also finds Asteroid on tour with Limestone Whale. The dates:

Asteroid with Limestone Whale

This tour is booked in cooperation with MAGNIFICENT MUSIC!

10-09 (ESP) Madrid – Madrid Stoner Festival

17-09 (UK) BRISTOL Snuff’est All-Dayer*

22-09 (D) HAMBURG AstraStube

23-09 (D) BERLIN BassyClub

24-09 (D) SIEGEN Vortex * (w/ Yawning Man)

25-09 tba

26-09 (D) FREIBURG i.B WhiteRabbit

27-09 (CH) Winterthur – Helvti

29-09 (AT) WIEN ViperRoom

30-09 (AT) LINZ Stadtwerkstatt

01-10 (D) Munich – tba

03-10 (PL) WARSAW Chmury

04-10 (PL) GDYNIA Ucho

05-10 (PL) POZNAN u Bazyla

06-10 (D) HALLE Hühnermanhatten

07-10 (D) WÜRZBURG Immerhin

08-10 (D) JENA Kulturbahnhof

*ASTEROID only

Full Q&A with Hirse and Nilsson follows the jump. Please enjoy:

Last time we spoke about the band coming back together, you said it might be a new EP in the works. How did III find up coming together as a full-length? What was the last song written for the album?

Johannes Nilsson: The last song is “Silver and Gold.” We made it even after starting to unload the studio and removing all the mics and gear. The drums are recorded with only a few stereo microphones. And we had already just written “Pale Moon,” so we thought we had songs enough for a full album.

Robin Hirse: Yeah, the songs just kept coming, we were really in writing mode at that time. We even got a couple left over, that we didn’t have time to finish.

At 36 minutes, III is still the shortest Asteroid record you guys have done. II was also a good deal shorter than the self-titled. Are you guys getting more concise as you go on?

JN: As you mentioned earlier, we first announced that we would record an EP. We were committed to release something within a year. But the creativity kept flowing and we wrote a few more tracks that we thought we would. But it is relatively short, I’ll give you that! But instead we’ll release the following one much sooner and not make people wait another six years!

RH: I think it’s kind of just realizing beforehand what we always end up doing anyway… Changing the songs as time goes by to better fit the live shows and keep things interesting. This time instead of jamming out the songs in the studio, we kept the structure kind of simple and saved the jams for the live shows. ‘Cause just because a song is recorded doesn’t mean it stops evolving. Not for us anyway.

How much was vinyl a consideration when you were thinking of structuring the album? Where is the split between side A and B?

RH: We didn’t have any structure in mind at all when the songs were coming together… That just always seems to work itself out. When we had the basics down on ”tape” we all went home, had a listen for a few days and all came back with basically the same order in mind. And as it turns out, the songs really complement each other quite well.

Tell me about your time in the studio. What was the vibe like while you were recording? What was the process of getting tones and drum sounds like? How were the songs actually tracked (live, mostly live, etc.)?

RH: Well we started by tracking the drums in my studio in Karlskoga (where Jimmi and I are originally from) and that took us about three days. We all played the songs together to get the vibe and the timing right. Then we moved all our stuff to Örebro and our rehearsal and started tracking guitars, which took a long time since we hadn’t had time to properly rehearse the songs beforehand. Lots of learning by doing. :) Then we redid the bass and started with the vocals. That also took quite some time because even though we had the lyrics pretty much done, some melodies just didn’t work the way we wanted. So the whole process took a bit longer than we had originally planned.

What happened with Elvis Campbell being in the band, and how did Jimmi come to be the drummer? What was the timing on him joining and who plays on the recording?

JN: Me and Robin have had a very long relationship with Elvis and he has been with us for almost 10 years. He came in after some turbulent times, and after Martin who was playing the drums on Asteroid I. We started playing live directly, and made new music right away. We released Asteroid II together and it’s Elvis playing drums on this one. It feels great that he’s on it and it also kinda makes a clean slate for whatever sound and songs we will have with Jimmi!

RH: Me and Jimmi met when me and Jonas were trying to find people to play with us in The Sun, The Moon and The Witch’s Blues. Jonas and Jimmi had been jamming of and on for a long time and he had that groove that so many drummers these days are missing. So when Elvis said he wasn’t really up for touring anymore, and me and Johannes started looking for someone new I recommended Jimmi. We had one rehearsal and realized he was the perfect guy to take over after Elvis.

It seems like the guitars change tone a bit throughout the album, cleaner on “Last Days,” fuzzier on “Them Calling.”

RH: Yes, there are some different guitar tones going on. It all has to do with what I thought the songs needed. On the previuos albums I’ve been kind of set in my ways and it felt like it was time to try something different than what I was used to. I’ve gotten really geeky the last couple of years and gotten even more into pedals and gear than I use to be. So I’ve tried almost everything imaginable (it really helps to have a friend that owns a music store) to find a tone that I like. But it’s still just the basics: A tube amp, overdrive and Fuzz. And lots of delay and reverb. Just nicer sounding ones.

Is that a Beatles influence on “Last Days?” I get a very Abbey Road vibe there in the guitar tone and the rhythm.

JN: Abbey Road is not a bad pick for influence. I would actually say that the entire new record has some of that vibe over it. It’s way darker than any previous of their albums, if you ask me. The only cover we ever played is “I Want You (She’s so Heavy),” one of the best and heaviest songs ever written.

RH: Well it doesn’t get much better than The Beatles so some things are bound to rub of on you. It’s in our bones and souls as much as blues and fuzz.

Tell me about writing and recording “Them Calling.” That riff!

RH: That main chorus/riff was something I had been playing around with before we even decided to get back together. I had a completely different kind of song in mind back then… with totally different lyrics. But when it went through the ”Asteroid-filter” it came out as one of the heavier and most evil ones we’ve ever done. And that guitar tone is drenched in fuzzy goodness. Those vocal harmonies in the chorus might also be the ones I’m most proud of on the album.

“Pale Moon” seems to start III right where Asteroid left off five years ago, but at the same time becomes trippier and more spacious. How did you decide this would open the album?

JN: I personally think “Pale Moon” is an excellent starter for the album [wouldn’t disagree — ed.], and we were all convinced about it right away when we got the idea. It might not be a “radio friendly” intro, but that has never bothered us before. Besides the obvious delights of having a jam-like intro, since it’s one of the last songs written for the album, it’s also kind of a statement of somewhat how new Asteroid will sound like. And also, the message of this song is crystal clear, kind of urge to people all over to just lay down their petty differences and stop the blame game of who started what, and just get shit done!

What went into the decision to put the gear on the cover of the album? What does that image represent for you about how the record was made?

JN: First of all, it’s a really cool picture. The setting is from our home base, the old industry facilities that’s now rehearsal for a lot of cool local bands and where we recorded most of the album. One of the natural echo chambers there’s made some magical details for the songs. And for the gear. This is the gear we play on right now and what’s used for the recording. We often get questions about this, so why not just put in on the cover?

You’ve started to play live again this year and made this record and will release it on Fuzzorama. What’s next? Will you tour in 2017?

JN: Right now, we’re going all in! A whole lot of stuff happens surrounding the release, and we have great interests from all over and have a few ideas of our own. We’re even looking at ways to finally come over to the United States. We have so many fantastic supporters over there that has been with us during all of these years. It somehow feels we’re kind of obligated to show up! And is some way or another, we must find our way to South America for the same reason. No matter what we post on our Facebook page, there’s always people chanting “Come to Argentina!” or “COME TO BRAZIL!”

Any other plans or closing words you’d like to mention?

RH: Well there are A LOT of plans in the works, most of them secret of course, but up next up is Madrid, Bristol and then a two and a half week tour in central Europe. As for closing words I guess we’d just like to thank everybody for still listening to our records and coming to our shows… You are all awesome!

Asteroid, III teaser

Asteroid on Thee Facebooks

Asteroid on Twitter

Asteroid on Instagram

Asteroid on Fuzzorama Records