The Bestial/War Black Metal genre has always been seen as a male genre. This is not, in any way, a sexist position, as I was happily surprised to see that there was a woman, behind Yxxan.

Morbid Aggressor is the multi-instrumentalist that crafts Yxxan’s musical vision. Black Metal, Death Metal and some bits of Grindcore, all put together, resulted in this Swedish bestial hybrid. We had the opportunity to place some question regarding the band’s path and its new release, “Satanic Fortification Overbalance”, through the mighty Nuclear War Now! Productions.

First, thank you for your time and your words. Yxxan, how did this come to be? Tell us the story so far?

I liked the concept of one-person black metal and wanted a project like that of my own. Originally Yxxan was supposed to be pagan black metal or something like that, but I soon found out that, especially for lyrics, writing music in this style didn't work for me at all, so I gave in to playing what felt natural.

Previous to Yxxan, you played in Vägran (Crust/Punk). Were you in need of more “musical violence”, in your creations?

Vägran was started shortly after the first Yxxan demo. Due to various practical problems, it's still a very new band but I like having a separate band for exclusively punk stuff, it's also cool to focus on just one instrument.

The genre that you chose to play, is an extremely ferocious one. How does one get into this harsher side of Extreme Heavy Metal?

In metal, I was mostly listening to black and death metal, and discovered this scene because I was interested what inspired one of my favourite bands Beherit. If I remember correctly, it was Revenge - "Triumph.Genocide.Antichrist" that clicked with me right away, and then I kept looking for other albums like this. 

How was your upbringing in terms of Music? What were the pillars of your growth, as a Music fan?

Because of my mum, I was always aware of more "alternative" music than radio-pop but when I was twelve, I discovered Sisters Of Mercy when I was reading about goth scene. It was the band that made me develop a deeper interest in music and actively dig for new bands myself. But I only seeked for music within punk and punk-derived scenes for a very long time, it took me a while before I gave metal a chance, which is funny in hindsight because many of these albums that I discovered a few years ago I would have appreciated as a teenager too. 

How was Yxxan,received by Swedish – and worldwide – fans? The fact that you are a woman, and not a fully tattooed, 2 metres tall man, was, in any way, an obstacle?

Since Yxxan is a DIY extreme metal project and not some sort of business function, I have no interest in doing any objective research on its reception. Being a woman means that it doesn't matter where you live or how progressive your family is, you're still met by an environment that generally suggests you not to pick what instrument to play but to fuck a guy playing an instrument of your preference. Many women end up so trapped that they never build up enough self-confidence through their lifetime. Personally I am thankful to all women who played metal and punk years before me, as a result, there are much less idiots that I have to tell to fuck off to.

Sweden is known for having given us an enormous amount of top-notch Extreme Metal bands (from Bathory to Abruptum, from Arckanum to the mighty Dissection). How was it to grown in such a scene, as a musician and as a music fan?

Since I didn't have interest in metal while my music taste was forming, these bands didn't affect me. However Bathory was one of the first metal bands I really got into and viking-era Bathory was my partial inspiration for starting a metal project at all. Some riffs that I wrote for my pagan black metal attempts I reused for Yxxan, just tuned down my guitar and played faster.

How did your native scene influence you to play such genre?

It didn't, at all

How do you see the Black/Death Metal scene, today? In your country, and all around the World.

There are multiple other countries where this type of black/death is much more popular than Sweden. I know very few people who have interest in playing this style and war metal bands rarely have shows here. 

Where do you gather influence from? Musical/lyrical wise.

Revenge, Beherit, Insect Warfare are some of my biggest musical inspirations that are always there, but I'm very receptive to getting inspired by bands playing something different than black/death or grind, sometimes the result is bad, sometimes good. Lyrical inspirations are all around me. 

Do you feel that Black Metal is a genre that should remain Raw and Primitive? How do you see bands that add this and that, to Black Metal, ending far from what the forefathers of the genre created?

You can't force people play in a certain way, even if their ideas suck. Some current black metal trends are really wimpy and suck but there are people who like playing it and people who like listening to it, so I guess in a way it's good that they can keep it contained between themselves.  

What is planned for the future of Yxxan, especially considering the situation we are living now?

I've been rehearsing with live lineup, since originally we had one small show planned. It ended up being several shows, but right now it's unclear if anything will get cancelled or postponed. We're still rehearsing and sometimes I'm writing new music. If Sweden enforced a lockdown or if I got sick, I have electronic drums and acoustic guitar at home to keep me alive.

Yxxan Official Bandcamp