MAY 2008: As much as our readers enjoy the wild, the weird, and the noisy, there's just something about our hard-ass blues rock disoveries that really get their hearts all a-flutter. Enter THALAMUS, a fresh blast of hook-laden heavy Swede-rock that fans of DOWN, CLUTCH, even the great MENTAL HIPPIE BLOOD should lap up with reckless abandon. The ever-prolific Will Broadbent spends a few minutes finding about what makes these THALAMUS boys tick.

Will Broadbent: The THALAMUS sound is very tight and authentic, in terms of classic, hard rock n' roll. How long have you guys been at this? What brought you guys together?

Kjell "Shell" Sjostrom: THALAMUS has been an entity since February 2006. I, Kjell "Shell" Sjostrom (Guitar, Vocals) had been looking for members to join me in a project mainly focused on 70's heavy rock. I hooked up with Janne Cederlund (Guitar), who brought Sebastian "Basse" Olsson into the project. "Basse" is a brilliant drummer and without him THALAMUS wouldn't sound as tight and good as it does. Originally Peter Johansson wasn't the bass player for THALAMUS; he joined and replaced the original bassist Christer Cedergren in mid 2006. That was fortunate for us; ´cause Peter is a major contributor in the song writing department, we write all the music for THALAMUS together, him and I.

Broadbent: What made you guys decide on the name THALAMUS?

Shell: I don't really know what the name came from; I think it came to me as I was watching the discovery channel on TV. Probably some forensic or scientific program. I thought the name had a nice ring to it, simple and a name you wouldn't forget. It sounded good when spoken, and placed itself well in the mouth, so I decided, THALAMUS it is.

Broadbent: Your excellent new disc, "Beneath a Dying Sun," includes an appearance from renowned MOUNTAIN OF POWER guitarist Janne Stark. How did you guys hook up with him?

Shell: I hooked up with Janne Stark on myspace. He stumbled on to our page there and he really liked our songs and sound. Later that year (2007), when we were down in Studio Underground (located in Vasteras, Sweden) recording the album, the engineer Pelle Saether, who was a personal friend of Janne, actually called Janne up and told him that he was recording our album, and that it sounded great. Pelle told Janne that "we need to help these guys, don't you have a contact in the US". Janne was thrilled to hear that an album was in the making and thought that we should send him a copy and that he would check with his friend at Grooveyard Records. He came on fire when he heard THALAMUS, and wanted us to release a full length album on his label and later, we did. The album was hastily recorded and finished; it took just 10 days recording and 4 days for mix and master, and was shipped to the label for printing.

Broadbent: What was the most memorable live show THALAMUS has ever played? What made it so special?

Shell: Normally we don't do covers, but it has happened. We covered LED ZEPPELIN's "No Quarter" when we played in our hometown of Borlange around Christmas last year. People were shocked at how good our version was. Otherwise LED ZEPPELIN is considered taboo to cover if you don't do it well. At least were we are from.

Broadbent: If you could play a show with one band, past or present, who would it be, and why?

Shell: Oh my god, that's a hard question. There are so many. At least let me list a few. BLACK SABBATH of course, CLUTCH, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, DEEP PURPLE and CAPTAIN BEYOND. Those are a few really cool bands that I like.

Shell: We're writing songs for our next album. The new songs are really good and we hope that we'll be able to make an even better album, next time around. But I don't think that any release will come this year, we decided to take a little more time and write a ton of material, so we'll have lots of songs to choose from. We also have a producer for the next album, something we didn't have for "Beneath a dying sun," that's exciting. We hope that many people buy our album, so we'll be able to come to the US and Canada and do a really cool tour. STAY TRUE, ROCK HEAVY!!!

Broadbent: Thanks, Shell. Good luck with the record!

THALAMUS are Jan Cederlund (gtr), Peter Johansson (bass), Kjell Sjöström (voc, gtr), and Sebastian "Basse" Olsson (dr). Their album "Beneath a Dying Sun" is available through CD Baby. Find out more about them at myspace.com/THALAMUSband or www.THALAMUSband.com