沉睡之城 - 瑞典Atmospheric / Progressive Death Metal乐队An Abstract Illusion专访

瑞典金属乐拥有众多优秀的死亡金属乐队，今天接受杂志采访的An Abstract Illusion就是其中之一。乐队成立于2007年，还在高中的Karl与Chris和Robert在学校相识，他们拥有相同的音乐追求，于是三人一同组建了An Abstract Illusion。2014年，乐队发行了第一张EP"Atonement Is Nigh"。这张EP展示了乐队的独树一帜的声音和他们的音乐野心。2022年，乐队发行第二张全长专辑"WOE"，这张专辑自发行伊始便广受前卫金属乐迷们的好评，更是被许多乐迷评为他们的年度金属专辑。"WOE"让An Abstract Illusion收获了众多的关注与认可，但乐队并没有停下创作的脚步。2025年10月27日，乐队发行了他们的最新全长专辑"The Sleeping City"，在专辑发行的第一时间，杂志与乐队取得联系并与乐队主创Karl Westerlund进行了这次专访。

（V: 代表笔者 K: 代表Karl Westerlund）

Swedish metal boasts numerous outstanding death metal bands, and An Abstract Illusion—featured in today's interview—is one of them. Formed in 2007, Karl, Chris, and Robert met while still in high school. Sharing a common musical vision, the trio founded An Abstract Illusion. In 2014, the band released their debut EP, Atonement Is Nigh. This EP showcased the band's distinctive sound and musical ambition. In 2022, they released their second full-length album, “WOE”, which garnered widespread acclaim from progressive metal fans upon its release and was hailed by many listeners as their metal album of the year. “WOE” brought An Abstract Illusion significant attention and recognition, yet the band never ceased their creative journey. On October 27, 2025, the band released their latest full-length album, The Sleeping City. Immediately upon its release, the magazine reached out to the band and conducted this exclusive interview with frontman Karl Westerlund.

(V: represents the author K: represents Karl Westerlund)

采访对象：Karl Westerlund（An Abstract Illusion乐队创始人）

采访时间：2025.11.04

V: 你好! 欢迎An Abstract Illusion参加火山杂志的采访，首先非常感谢你们的参与！这应该是你第一次接受来自中国的金属杂志采访是吗？

Hello! Welcome to An Abstract Illusion for this interview with Volcano Magazine. First off, thank you so much for joining us! This should be your first time being interviewed by a metal magazine from China, right?

K: 嗨！是的，有这个机会真是太酷了，谢谢你们！

Hi! Yes, it is. A very cool opportunity, thank you!

V: 在开始聊音乐之前我想先请你介绍一下乐队的历史。An Abstract Illusion是怎样成立的，乐队的成员们都是怎么认识的？

Before we start talking about music, I'd like you to introduce the history of the band first. How did An Abstract Illusion formed, and how did the band members get to know each other?

K: 乐队成立于2007年，当时我们13到15岁，还在读高中。Karl、Chris和Robert就读于同一所学校，在那里相识。后来罗伯特在民谣高中（设有音乐课程）结识了Isak，后者于2020年以现场鼓手身份加入乐队，并于2024年成为正式成员。

We formed back in 2007 when we were 13-15 years old, in high school. So Karl, Chris and Robert all went to the same school and met there. Later on Robert got to know Isak at a folk high school (with a music programme) and he later joined the band as a live drummer back in 2020 and later full-time 2024.

V: 你们发行于2022年的专辑"WOE"获得了广泛的好评，在Progressive Archive上"WOE"也收获了4.05的评分，这在PA上是相当相当高的评分了。许多人认为这是2022年最好的一张前卫金属专辑。当时在"WOE"刚刚发行时，你们有预料到收到的乐迷们如此热烈的好评吗？

Your album "WOE", released in 2022, received widespread acclaim. On Progressive Archive, "WOE" also received a score of 4.05, which is a very high score on PA. Many people think this is the best avant-garde metal album of 2022. When "WOE" was first released, did you expect such enthusiastic praise from the fans? What does this album mean to you?

K: 我们确实没抱太大期待。2016年首张专辑发行时反响平平，当时能收获少量新乐迷就很满足了。但"WOE"引发的热烈反响彻底颠覆了我们的预期。至于评分之类的事，整个创作过程中我们根本没在意。我们只是专注创作自己热爱的音乐，填补属于自己的小众领域。它恰巧与许多人的情感产生共鸣，这让我们感到无比欣喜。这张专辑对我们意义非凡：首先它标志着我们真正找到了属于自己的声音，更推动我们获得了从未想象的机会——比如登上ProgPower Europe和Karmøygeddon等国际音乐节的舞台。

We definitely didn’t expect much. We released our debut album in 2016 to little fanfare, so we were happy to just get a few new fans. But the response to WOE blew us away and exceeded our wildest expectations. With regards to ratings and stuff, we didn’t think much about it during the whole process. Just making music we ourselves enjoy doing, filling our own little niche. It just happens to emotionally resonate with a lot of people, which we’re obviously happy about. The album means a lot to us, for one it’s where we really felt our sound coming into its own, and also it propelled us to receive opportunities we never thought we would, like playing international festivals such as ProgPower Europe and Karmøygeddon.

V: 在2025年10月17日，你们发行了最新的全长专辑《The Sleeping City》，这是一张非常精彩的Progressive Death Metal专辑，这张专辑延续了你们之前的专辑中的复杂编曲和多变的歌曲结构，同时有有许多新的实验性的尝试。可以请你分享一下制作这张专辑的契机是什么吗？

On October 17, 2025, you released your latest full-length album "The Sleeping City", which is a very mind-blowing progressive death metal album. This album continues the complex arrangements and diverse song structures in your previous albums, while there are many new experimental attempts. Could you please share what the first inspiration for making this album was?

K: 合成器音乐是这张专辑的重要灵感来源。电影配乐如"银翼杀手"或"终结者"；合成器乐队如Kite、Depeche Mode、Highasakite；氛围音乐如Brian Eno、Ólafur Arnalds、Helios和1900的作品都给予了我启发。

I think synth music was a big inspiration for the album. Movie soundtracks like Blade Runner or Terminator; synth bands like Kite, Depeche Mode, Highasakite; ambient, atmospheric music like Brian Eno, Ólafur Arnalds, Helios and 1900.

V: 新专辑以11分钟的长曲目"Blackmurmur"作为开头，这首歌有你们标志性且富有层次的合成器演奏，以及让人印象深刻的人声部分，清嗓和嘶吼的交织让歌曲的情感随着音乐的发展层层递进，最后以悠扬的合成器收尾。我想知道这些长而复杂的歌曲都是怎样创作出来的？

The new album opens with the 11-minute epic “Blackmurmur,” featuring your signature layered synth work and memorable vocals. The interplay between clean singing and growls builds the song's emotional intensity throughout its progression, culminating in a soaring synth finale. I'm curious—how do you craft these lengthy, intricate compositions?

K: 这有点像拼拼图。你手头散落着零碎的拼块，尝试以特定方式组合它们，有时顺畅无阻，有时则需要费一番功夫。但我们希望歌曲能像叙事般自然流淌，让听众感受浑然天成的连贯性。我们刻意设置情感起伏的高潮与低谷，同时把玩着张力变化。保持歌曲结构的“紧凑性”对我们同样重要（尽管创作十分钟以上的作品时这很难做到），因此我们会精简冗余部分，避免旋律过分迂回。

It’s a little bit like building a puzzle. You have pieces here and there that you try to join in certain ways, sometimes it works smoothly and sometimes you have to work for it. But we want to craft the songs in a way that they follow a narrative, it should feel natural listening to the songs. We try to have these peaks and valleys to have some emotional variety, as well as playing around with the intensity. It’s also important for us to keep the songs as “tight” as possible (however possible that is when you’re doing 10+ minute songs), so we try to trim excess fat so the songs don’t meander for too long.

V: "No Dreams Beyond Empty Horizons"的人声低语部分让我想到了"Blomsterkrans"中的瑞典语独白部分。你们的歌曲总是忧郁且富有诗意，请问有哪些音乐家或者乐队对你们的影响最大？

The vocal whisper part of "No Dreams Beyond Empty Horizons" reminds me of the Swedish monologue part in "Blomsterkrans". Your songs are always melancholy and poetic. May I ask which musicians or bands have had the greatest influence on you?

K: 是的，忧郁的音乐在我们的演变历程中占据重要地位。影响我们的音乐家名单极其庞大，灵感来源极为多元。但Opeth、Windir、Insomnium、Shining（瑞典）、Agalloch、Moonsorrow、Kauan、Swallow the Sun、Ghost Brigade、Stam1na、Susanne Sundfør、Sufjan Stevens、Mikko Joensuu、Pink Floyd对我们影响尤为深远。这些音乐人各自以独特方式诠释忧郁，都创造出极致动人的作品。

Yes, melancholic music has played a large part in our evolution. The list of influences is incredibly large, we draw inspiration from a wide variety of sources. But Opeth, Windir, Insomnium, Shining (SWE), Agalloch, Moonsorrow, Kauan,Swallow the Sun, Ghost Brigade, Stam1na, Susanne Sundfør, Sufjan Stevens, Mikko Joensuu, Pink Floyd have been huge for us. All melancholic in their own way, and extremely beautiful music.

V: "Emmett"中有一段相当长的合成器演奏，在你们的歌曲中，合成器的旋律是推进歌曲的重要部分。在作曲的过程中，编写这些长而富有变化的合成器部分时你认为最难的地方是什么？

There is a rather long synthesizer performance in "Emmett". In your song, the melody of the synthesizer is an important part that drives the song forward. What do you think was the most difficult part when writing these long and varied synthesizer sections during the composition process?

K: 我认为难点在于我（Karl）和Robert（主唱&键盘）都不擅长创作这种宏大而琶音化的合成器段落。我们以往主要以传统金属乐的方式编写合成器音轨——运用垫音、弦乐、主奏音色，却从未从电子音乐或电影配乐的视角进行创作。因此准确把握这种风格既是挑战，同时也促使我们为这种电影感与Death Metal的融合风格开创了独特表现方式。

I think the fact that neither me (Karl) or Robert are used to doing these sweeping, arpeggiated synth sections. We have primarily written synths in the traditional metal sense, with pads, strings, leads, but not written from the perspective of electronic music or movie soundtracks. So it was a challenge to get correct, but on the other hand it also helped us develop our own style for this cinematic/death metal-mix.

V: 你们有许多长度超过十分钟的歌曲并且这些歌曲都有相当丰富且引人入胜的变化。在创作时你们会怎样记录想放在歌曲里的灵感？

You have many songs that are longer than ten minutes, and these songs all have quite rich and captivating variations. When creating, how do you document the inspirations you want to incorporate into your songs?

K: 这已然成为我们骨子里的东西。我们无需刻意思考要融入哪些具体影响，它们自然会以某种形式流淌出来。我确实保留着一份文档，记录其他歌曲中那些酷炫的音乐片段，偶尔会翻阅参考，但创作时并不会刻意查阅这些素材。

It’s just something ingrained in us. We don’t have to think much of what specific influence we want to incorporate, it just comes out in a certain way. I do keep a document with cool moments of music from other songs that I might glance over from time to time, but it’s not anything I consult when writing the songs.

V: "The Sleeping City"的所有作品中，是否有哪一首对于你或者对An Abstract Illusion有着特殊的意义？能否分享一下歌曲背后的创作故事？

Among all the songs in The Sleeping City, is there any song that holds special significance for you or for An Abstract Illusion? Could you share the story behind its creation?

K: 我会选择"Frost Flower"。这首歌与我们以往的作品截然不同，它几乎像是一首Death Metal风格的抒情曲，极度突出了清唱部分。我对最终效果非常满意，而乐迷对这首歌的反响也令人倍感暖心。

I would say “Frost Flower”. It’s different from what we’ve done before as it’s almost like a death metal ballad, with a great emphasis on the clean vocals. I’m very happy with how it turned out, and the response to the song has been heart-warming.

V: 在这张新专辑中，有没有哪一首歌让你们花了比其他歌曲更多的时间去完成？在创作"The Sleeping City"专辑的过程中，有没有哪些你们曾经想放在专辑里但后来被废弃的想法？

Was there any song on this new album that took you longer to complete than the others? During the creation of this new album “The Sleeping City”, were there any ideas you considered including but ultimately discarded?

K: 专辑同名曲耗费了很长时间我们才感觉它完成了。经过反复打磨才达到理想效果。就像我们所有专辑一样，有大量素材不得不被删减，许多作品最终未能收录。但我们喜欢从“素材过剩”开始，再逐步精简冗余部分。

The title track took a long time to feel complete. A lot of tinkering to get right. And like with all of our albums there’s a ton of material that we have to cut out, a lot of stuff left behind. But we like starting with “too much” material and then trimming off the fat.

V: 乐队平时的创作流程是怎样的？大家一般怎样向其他的成员展示各自在音乐上的想法？你们会在开始录制歌曲或者专辑之前制作Demo吗？

What is the band's typical creative process? How do members usually share their musical ideas with each other? Do you create demos before starting to record songs or albums?

K: 通常由我启动写歌的创作流程，先构建框架结构再逐步完善。我会将ddemo发送给其他成员，他们提出建议后我会融入到后续修订中。这是Isak首次担任鼓手的专辑，因此我会先发送不含鼓轨的曲目，由他独立编写鼓点后再发回给我征求意见。

It’s usually me starting the writing process, trying to make a skeleton structure and then fleshing it out. I will send out the demos to the other guys and they’ll give their input, input I’ll incorporate into the next revisions. This was the first record with Isak on drums, so I would send off the songs without any drums on them and he’d write them himself and send them back to me for feedback.

V: "The Sleeping City"这张专辑是在哪个录音室制作的？这张专辑的混音由谁负责？对比An Abstract Illusion以前的作品，这张新专辑在制作上你们有尝试哪些新的方向？

Which studio produced the album The Sleeping City? Who handled the mixing for this album? Compared to An Abstract Illusion's previous works, what new directions did you explore in the production of this new album?

K: 鼓组部分在哥德堡的Top Floor Studios完成录制，由Jakob Herrmann担任录音师兼制作人。其余部分在Karl的家庭录音室Blackharbour Studios完成。曾操刀"WOE"的Robin Leijon也负责了本专辑的混音与母带处理。如同我们所有专辑，这张作品同样是对声音景观的探索之旅，我投入大量时间尝试不同音色，并在人声、吉他、合成器上进行效果实验。

The drums were recorded at Top Floor Studios in Gothenburg and they were engineered and produced by Jakob Herrmann. The rest of the album was recorded at Karl’s home studio, Blackharbour Studios. Robin Leijon, who handled WOE, also handled the mix and master for this album. Like all our albums, it’s an exploration of soundscapes that takes us forward, and I’ve spent a lot of time trying different sounds and experimenting with effects on vocals, guitars, synths.

V: 从"WOE"到"The Sleeping City"，你认为你们在歌曲的创作方式上有哪些新的变化？

From WOE to The Sleeping City, what new changes do you see in your approach to songwriting?

K: 我们有了更严谨的demo和前期制作阶段。歌曲在进入录音室前就已完整成型并构思好音效，因此我们对最终成果充满信心。这种感觉非常棒。

We had a much more rigorous demo and pre-production stage. The songs were fully formed and envisioned in sound before entering the studio, so we had full faith in how the songs would turn out. It was a very good feeling.

V: 我看到你们在今年的上半年做过一些演现场出。正如之前的问题所说，你们有许多十分复杂且长度超过十分钟的歌曲。对于你们来说，现场演奏自己的歌曲是否感到困难？

I saw some videos of your live performances in the first half of this year. As mentioned in the previous question, you have many very complex songs that are longer than ten minutes. Do you find it difficult to play your own songs live?

K: 这些歌曲虽然冗长复杂，但各部分结构分明，反而让我们更容易记住。当然演奏时总会有些棘手，某些段落确实存在技术难度。不过记忆起来倒不算特别困难。

The songs are long and complex, but also have very distinct parts which make them easy to remember for us. It’s always a little bit tricky of course, as they can be very technically challenging at parts. But it’s nothing crazy hard to memorize or anything.

V: 在创作时"The Sleeping City"专辑里的歌曲时，你们会考虑到歌曲在现场演出的可能性而取舍一些段落，还是以录音室专辑的听感优先，尽可能地发挥你们想展示的音乐想法？

When creating the songs for The Sleeping City album, did you prioritize the live performance potential of certain sections over others, or did you focus primarily on the studio album's listening experience, striving to fully realize the musical ideas you wanted to convey?

K: 这需要权衡取舍，但我们确实希望音乐在录音室环境中能呈现最佳效果。我们会探索那些在现场演出中难以完美复刻的层次感、质感和声音效果。话虽如此，这张专辑里确实存在许多现场演绎时会非常震撼的瞬间！

It’s a balance, but we definitely want the music to translate best in the studio environment. We explore layers, textures, sounds that we might not be able to recreate perfectly live. That said, there’s definitely moments on this record that will sound very cool live!

V: 2025年剩下的时间里An Abstract Illusion还会考虑做现场演出吗？或者在2026年我们有机会看到你们现场演出新专辑中的歌曲吗？

Will An Abstract Illusion consider live performances for the remainder of 2025? Or might we have the opportunity to see you perform songs from your new album live in 2026?

K: 我们非常期待2026年5月与Disillusion共同举办的几场演出。同时我们也在筹备更多2026年的演出，希望这些计划都能顺利实现！

We have some shows coming up in May 2026 together with Disillusion that we’re very excited about. We’re also working on some more shows for 2026 that we hope will happen!

V: 非常感谢An Abstract Illusion参加火山杂志的采访。我非常喜欢你们的新专辑"The Sleeping City"，希望这张优秀的金属专辑可以传达给更多的金属乐迷。在这次采访的最后，你们有什么想对你们的乐迷说的吗？

Thank you very much for participating in the interview of Volcano Magazine. I really like your new album "The Sleeping City". I hope this stunning album can be conveyed to as much metalheads as possible. At the end of this interview, is there anything you want to say to your fans?

感谢你们的邀请，这次访谈非常愉快！我们要感谢所有乐迷一直以来的支持，这份情谊令人感动！

Thanks for having us, it’s been a pleasure! We want to thank all our fans for their continued support, it’s amazing to see!

An Abstract Illusion乐队主要作品：

An Abstract Illusion - Atonement Is Nigh（2014）

An Abstract Illusion - Illuminate the Path（2016）

An Abstract Illusion - Woe（2022）

An Abstract Illusion - The Sleeping City（2025）

An Abstract Illusion乐队官方Ampwall网站：https://ampwall.com/a/anabstractillusion

An Abstract Illusion乐队官方Bandcamp网站：https://anabstractillusion.bandcamp.com/album/the-sleeping-city

An Abstract Illusion乐队官方Bluesky网站：https://bsky.app/profile/anabstractillusion.bsky.social

An Abstract Illusion乐队官方Facebook网站：https://www.facebook.com/anabstractillusion

An Abstract Illusion乐队官方Instagram网站：https://www.instagram.com/anabstractillusion/

An Abstract Illusion乐队官方Myspace网站：https://myspace.com/anabstractillusion

An Abstract Illusion乐队官方SoundCloud网站：https://soundcloud.com/anabstractillusion

An Abstract Illusion乐队官方Spotify网站：https://open.spotify.com/artist/6xcZE3tpECSAi8wXiK7SdT

An Abstract Illusion乐队官方Tidal网站：https://tidal.com/artist/8033158

An Abstract Illusion乐队官方Twitter网站：https://x.com/aai_swe

An Abstract Illusion乐队官方YouTube网站：https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcRWEnVeL_E8SUYzpxekGyA