“Fire to Ice” was the first surprise of this 2025. A compendium of the best Power & Heavy Metal. Offering it to us are Sacred, a Swedish band, yes on its debut, but with five musicians at its heart who are certainly not newcomers. Among them guitarist Jonatan Hallberg…

(Jonatan): Thank you, it means a lot to hear that! We’re very proud of ’Fire to Ice’ and we are so happy and excited about the amazing response we’ve got so far from all over the world! We want to thank everyone for making our dream come true, thank you!(Jonatan): Yes, Christoffer, Pontus and I are the original members from the Amnesia days. The three of us went to the same school, Pontus and Christoffer was in the same class and I in a class one year above. I didn’t know them to well, but I’ve been talking with them about the greatness of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. I had a rehearsal room that I’ve played some cover songs with my older brother and a childhood friend of mine. But they didn’t want to start a band, so I contacted Pontus and Christoffer and we created what was to become Amnesia.
Robin has been a good friend of ours since the beginning of both Amnesia and Air Raid. I don’t remember exactly when we met for the first time, but I think it was during a live show when both of our bands played. When our, at the time, bass player and vocalist Martin and Oliver decided to leave we needed new members. Robin had left Air Raid just before this, so he was the obvious choice for us since he is a great friend and an amazing bass player. We asked and, luckily for us, he said yes.
Gustav, we had had on audition many years before and we had great memories from that, playing Eagle Fly Free by Helloween and he completely nailed it. At the time he couldn’t join us since he just joined forces with Seven Thorns. But many years later we didn’t know what he was up to and decided to reach out to him, he came for an audition, and it felt perfect. So, he joined the band, and here we are!

(Jonatan): Hahaha! No, one might think that that was the reason. In fact, we felt that Amnesia was a bit old and dated and we really needed to start from scratch again. And with the new lineup it was clear to all of us that a new band name was the right step to take.(Jonatan): No, we talked about what criteria’s we had for the new name. It needed to be a direct name that is easy to remember and say, and that is easy to make a great logo for. It was important to find a one-word name that really summarize us as a band and our music, and we felt and feel that ‘Sacred’ is the perfect name for that reason.(Jonatan): Thank you! Yes, I do agree with that. For a song to be good we think that it needs strong hooks and melodies that makes you want to sing along and bang your head to it. You always need to have, as a listener, a clear sense of where the pulse is and good melodies to follow, otherwise you will lose interest, and the musicians will not be able to send their message to the listener.

(Jonatan): We write the songs together. But I usually write the guitars and the concept of the song and Pontus and Gustav writes the vocal melodies and lyrics. But this differs from song to song. ‘Caught in a Snowstorm’ for an example started with that Gustav had the vocals and lyrics all done, he presented it to us, and I started to write the instrumental parts to that. But how it’s usually done is that I come with the guitars and the concept of a song, we finish the instrumental parts together in the rehearsal and then Pontus and Gustav write the vocals on top of that. It’s hard to choose a highlight on this album, we’re very proud of all the songs and the album really showcases who we in Sacred are. If I need, at gunpoint, to choose a song I’d probably go with ‘On the Verge of Becoming a Shadow’. But I could choose whichever of the songs and stand by that, because they’re all equally strong in my opinion.

- "Wasting Away" and "Nights of Madness" : Hammerfall

(Jonatan): Yes, I get the Hammerfall feeling here. But I’d like to add Iron Maiden and especially the song ‘Speak for yourself’ by Gary Moore which I listened to 24/7 when I wrote the guitars for ‘Wasting Away’. And ‘Nights of Madness’ I get a lot of Iron Maiden and Helloween vibes, which is very nice indeed!

- "On The Verge of Becoming A Shadow" : Metal Church

(Jonatan): I never thought about it before but now when you say it, I hear the ‘Watch the children pray’ vibes. But the main influence is definitely ‘Heaven and hell’ by Black Sabbath, ‘Beyond the realms of death’ by Judas Priest and ‘Take Hold of the Flame’ by Queensrÿche.

- "Tyrannical Warfare" : Secret Sphere and Highlord

(Jonatan): These two bands I unfortunately never heard of before. I’ll make sure to listen to them. But ‘Tyrannical Warfare’ I’d say is very much Iron Maiden and Helloween.

- "The Flying Dutchman" : Heavy Load and Iron Maiden

(Jonatan): This one I’d say that you nailed it! Since the pirate theme and the guitar riffs, I’d like to add Running Wild to this song.

- "Queen Of the Reich": (ok, that was too easy aahha) Queensryche

(Jonatan): Well, I can’t argue with that ??

What, on the other hand, are your sources of inspiration? Is Heavy Metal just a music genre for you or a real way of life?

(Jonatan): Heavy Metal is a way of life, and I have loved both the music and the people since I started listening to it when I was young. Most of the music I listen to is in the broad spectrum of heavy metal, but I like good music no matter the genre. Other styles of music I love to listen to and take inspiration from is blues artists like Stevie Ray Vaughn and some jazz/fusion artists like Mike Stern. When I was about eight years old, I started to play the cello, which I unfortunately don’t play anymore, and from there I got to know about classical music, like Johann Sebastian Bach, which is incredible.

I found very well done the recording and production of the album too, a clear and sharp sound than the previous "Tyrannical Warfare" EP, how were you able to make those improvements? How much did the collaboration with William Andersson contribute?

(Jonatan): Thank you! William is a definite contribution to the sound of ‘Fire to Ice’. We’ve gained lots of experience throughout the years, and during the recording of the ‘Tyrannical Warfare’ EP we didn’t know too much of recording and mixing and we rushed the things through which made the recording lack in quality. This time, since it’s our debut album, it had to be of higher quality. So, we really worked hard on getting the best production possible. And William is a good friend of ours and knows exactly which sound we want so he was the obvious choice for us when it came to mixing and recording the vocals. And he did an amazing job for us and we’re very grateful for that!

Are you satisfied about your record deal with the US label Stormspell Records? It seems strange that no European label has been interested in you!

(Jonatan): We’re very happy with Stormspell Records. We reached out to a few different labels and after overseeing our options we felt that Stormspell was the right choice for us. Iordan has done a great job spreading the word of Sacred around the world! Thanks to him we’ve got such a great release, we’re very grateful for his great job.

I have often asked this question, but no one has ever given me a satisfactory answer: it seems that everyone in Sweden plays in one or more Heavy/Rock band, is it something in the air? Or maybe in the beer? Or...

(Jonatan): It’s because we carry the blood of the Vikings! Jokes aside, music is a very strong part of Swedish culture, and it’s highly promoted in Sweden to play an instrument or join a choir or similar. And why heavy metal or hard rock is so strong in Sweden I think simply is because we have such great taste in music! Heavy metal has so much to offer musically and visually that it’s perfect music for a creative soul. It’s a very exciting genre to explore in your teenage years when most of us here start to become interested in starting a band. One very positive thing about heavy metal, which I think is a main contributor to why so many play in metals bands here, is that you can start not knowing too much about music and create quite simple songs but with the years you can really grow as a musician and create more complex song further down the road, all levels of complexity is welcome in this genre which makes it so interesting for so many people.

And how hard is it to be a band struggling to get noticed in today’s cauldron of bands all over the place?

(Jonatan): This is of course very hard, but I see it more as a possibility. This puts good pressure on us, so we must be at the top of our game. I think that this opens doors to do collaborative works with other bands and thanks to the great number of bands out there, there are many venues and festivals where we can play around the world.

What is coming next for Sacred? Is there a tour planned, festivals and such?

(Jonatan): Now we’re working on getting some shows booked in Sweden and in Europe. Hopefully we’ll manage to come to you guys and play a few shows in Italy. That would be awesome!

Nothing else coming? All of you seem very busy with several music projects, don't you?

(Jonatan): We always work with songwriting, and we have some ideas that feels very inspired and, when finished, they’ll be great songs. But our focus this year will be to come out and play. We all have different project, and yes it takes some effort to keep it all up, but at the same time to play with different people makes you a better musician, so this is in the end game very beneficial for us.

In conclusion, do you have anything to say to those who have followed us to the end of this interview?

(Jonatan): Thank you all for reading all this through, and all of us in Sacred wants to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your amazing support and energy! You’re the best!

Intervista a cura di Sergio 'Ermo' Rapetti