After a 19-year silence, Clawfinger frontman Zak Tell finally explains the brutal reality behind the band’s epic hiatus: the end of their music career forced the members into the mundane world of nine-to-five jobs and family life, a stark contrast to their pioneering rap metal fame.
For fans of ’90s rap metal, the return of Swedish-Norwegian pioneers Clawfinger is nothing short of seismic. The band, whose debut album Deaf Dumb Blind in 1993 defined a genre and sold over 1.5 million albums worldwide, is set to release its first new studio album in 19 years, Before We All Die, on Feb. 20. But the story of why it took nearly two decades for this follow-up to Like Will Kill You is a raw, unfiltered look at the harsh realities of life beyond the stage.
In a candid interview with Seb Di Gatto of The Metal Gods Meltdown, vocalist Zak Tell pulled back the curtain on the long silence. The answer isn’t a dramatic falling out or creative block, but a much more universal and somber truth: life simply got in the way. After touring for their 2007 album, the band members, who had relied on music as their sole income from 1993 to 2008, faced a financial reality check.
“Well, what happened… What didn’t happen? Life,” Tell revealed. “When we did our last tour of 2007, at the very tail end of 2007, we already knew that we were running out of money, which happens to people all the time… Once we came to 2008, we no longer had that luxury anymore and we had to do what everyone has to do in the end and that is find jobs. And there’s nothing unique about that. The reality was that we had to find jobs. All of a sudden, you’re stuck in a nine-to-five, Monday to Friday. We also had kids, most of us.”
This descent into the daily grind marked the end of an era for the band, which had been formed in Stockholm in 1989. The burnout was real, leading to their official split in 2013. However, the lure of the stage and their devoted fan base proved too strong. They reunited, initially pushed by their managers to perform at European music festivals. This cycle of reunion and performance eventually led to a creative spark, culminating in a pivotal Zoom meeting that sparked the new album.
“We had a Zoom meeting with our manager, and he was, like, ‘Guys, I know that you’ve sort of been getting back into the groove of things, and I know that you have, like, six, seven songs that you’ve written,'” Tell recounted. “So he was, like, ‘Would you consider writing maybe three more and we could release an album before we all die?’ And that is literally where the [new album] title came from.”
Clawfinger’s legacy is built on more than just their aggressive sound. Known for tackling heavy political and social issues in their lyrics, the band became a voice for a generation. Their impact is why their sporadic single releases over the past decade—”Save Our Souls” in 2017, “Tear You Down” in 2019, and “Scum” last summer—were met with such excitement. Each track was a lifeline for fans who never gave up hope on a full-length return.
Now, with a new record deal with Perception Label and a completed album, the original members—Zak Tell, Jocke Skog, Bård Torstensen, André Skaug, and Micke Dahlén—are poised to reclaim their throne. Before We All Die is not just a collection of new songs; it’s a testament to resilience, a reflection on the passage of time, and the powerful, unbreakable bond forged through decades of shared history and struggle.
For the fans who have waited, this album is the culmination of a patient, two-decade-long journey. It’s the sound of a band that refused to be completely defeated by the pressures of the real world, proving that for some, the music never truly stops—it just waits for the right moment to roar back to life.
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