No Omega
From: Stockholm, Sweden
Lazy Equation: Dead Swans x Deftones + Cult Of Luna
URLs: Facebook.com/NoOmega // NoOmega.Bandcamp.com

Thrash Hits Verdict:
We first heard Sweden’s No Omega after one of our Facebook friends recommended them to us, and by gosh, they’re one of the most scorching prospects to emerge from the crucible of Scandanavian hardcore in ages. We dropped them a line ASAP, and Victor Brodin, the band’s drummer, very kindly agreed to answer our questions.

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Describe your sound in 3 words.
Anti, apocalyptic, melodical.

How did you meet?
Myself and Oscar [guitar] are cousins and started hanging out around 2001. Oscar needed a drummer for his rock band and I had been playing for a couple of years. I weren’t that good, but I had a drumkit! Fast forward to 2009 we were going on tour, and we needed a singer because our previous one couldn’t go, so we asked Andrez [vocals], who played in a sort of a deathcore band, at the time, and he was game. That’s how the three of us originally met during spring in 2009.

Fredrik [ex-bass player] and Oscar are roommates. Fredrik had been playing bass-guitar for some time and since we needed a bass player Oscar simply asked him if he wanted to play with us. So the first line-up – the band – was founded in December 2009.

What made you want to start a band?
Our old band came to and end due to lack of motivated members. I played with a few different bands but I really missed making music and playing with Oscar, and I had been chatting with Andrez about doing something together. So we talked to Oscar and he had been playing a lot of hardcore punk-influenced stuff recently, and even had a couple of songs written. So we got together and rehearsed in my living room a few times, it felt pretty fucking awesome, and we kept doing it.

Where did the name come from?
Cold World (a cool hardcore band from the US) have a record titled No Omega, I think that’s were Fredrik got the idea from. But we made our own interpretation of that expression to make it resemble our views and opinions, and we decided early on that we didn’t want to be “just another band”. There’s too much to deal with not to act against what we think is wrong, and support what we think is right.

Where did you grow up? How do you think it’s affected your music?
We’ve all grown up in different parts of Stockholm, but I find it difficult to imagine that growing up in a big city affects the music. I’d say that our western, urbanised society is what affects not just us, but any kid that feels like they don’t really belong. Friends and families are probably what played a major role in our choice of music, but I think it’s the regular day-to-day “thoughts” that provokes different turns and tides when we are writing.

What are your non-musical influences?
Riding the bus/subway/commuter trains and vegan food.

So far, what has been the best thing about being in a band?
Being able to travel through all of Europe on tour and get to do what we love. One tour feels like a lifetime of experience, and we can’t thank the promoters or all the people who feeds us and let us stay at their homes enough. We owe the hardcore scene and all the kind people who set up shows, help out and everything… I don’t think that everyone realizes how they’re making our dreams come true.

What bands do you consider as part of your scene or as your peers?
Dead Swans, Rise and Fall, Killing the Dream, The Carrier – these bands are all hardcore bands that have influences us a lot. These are also pretty modern and active bands, so we’ve had the pleasure of playing two shows with The Carrier in January, which was cool. But there are loads of cool local hardcore bands everywhere (many in Stockholm for example).

What marks you out as different to other bands around at the moment?
We’re constantly working on creating something that’s new to us, and stuff that we think is fun to play. But considering how we’ve played music for so long and experimented with many different sounds, I think it’s really interesting to play hardcore and be able to incorporate more melodic sounds and other into this.

Watch No Omega playing live in Rimbo, Sweden:

What’s the best show you’ve played?
It would probably be when we opened for Never Say Die tour. I don’t even know how to describe it. From the moment we got the call until we actually were loading our gear out of the cab they sent to us, I didn’t believe we would be playing. It took us about 20 minutes to get all our stuff on stage, sound check and a “what the fuck! This is insane!”, and then we were playing in front of 500 people who actually rushed to the stage. I feel bad for the kids in the front row that came to see We Came As Romans, but it was pretty epic. A really weird night and a good story to tell!

What have you got planned for the future?
We love touring! Just can’t get enough of it. We have a summer tour booked between July 18 and August 10, where we get to visit some new countries, play in front of new crowds, new people and play at some cool festivals. We will also do some type of tour in September as well. We will record a pre-production for our next EP before summer, and hopefully find a decent studio to finish it in this year.

We would love to continue doing this for as long as possible, but no one knows for sure what life will bring. For the moment we are just grateful for being able to play music, go on tour and hanging out with nice and cool people everywhere. We wouldn’t trade this for anything.

What other bands should everyone find out about?
This Gift Is A Curse, from Sweden, and The Hollow, from Australia.

Tell us a joke.
What’s brown and gurgles? A baby casserole.

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You can listen to (and download) No Omega’s 7″ EP from the band’s official Bandcamp page. No Omega will hit the road for selected European dates late this Summer – check their Facebook page for more details.