In a new interview with the WSOU 89.5 FM radio station, legendary Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen was asked if he ever feels like he is “retreading the same ground” with his songwriting, and if so, how he prevents this from happening. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “No, I don’t. There are some artists who want to almost be trendy in a way. One great artist that I actually happen to love, David Bowie, who was amazing, he would try to go in different directions and so on, and that’s fine. But then you have other people like AC/DC and ZZ TOP and Eric Clapton — you name it — that [have] done the same thing forever, which is what they do, and they do it better than anybody else.
“The way I see myself is somebody who’s playing music from the soul, basically. I don’t try to play something. I don’t try to write something, I don’t try to be something that I’m not.
“What you hear on this new album is exactly what I’m about; it’s what I do,” he said, referencing his upcoming LP, “Parabellum”. “I don’t try to follow something; I don’t try to angle it one way or another. No, I don’t. This is art. It’s like being a painter or an author. You lock yourself into a room and something comes out of you — completely independent of the outside.
“I don’t listen to anything. I don’t follow anything. The only thing that I do when I make music is basically to make sure it’s undiluted. I don’t wanna dilute or distract the art that comes from within, basically. I’m very artistic and very spiritual, almost, in that sense, because it comes from me, it comes from inside, but maybe from somewhere else first. I don’t know. I just know that I don’t try to be something I’m not; I’m just doing what I’m doing. And that’s nothing to do with, ‘Oh, did you listen to what they did on the radio?’ No, I don’t. I couldn’t care less. I only live once, and I’m gonna make the music that I mean, and not follow something, and I don’t try to be something that I’m not. So, no. And I don’t ever think in those terms.
“For instance, if you asked me to write a country-and-western song, I could do it right now,” Yngwie added. “How long do you want it to be? Two and a half minutes? Three minutes? Do you want two choruses or one chorus? Which bridge do you want? I could write you a death metal song, I could write you a reggae song — I could write any piece of music that you want. My knowledge of music is that complete. I could write anything in any style. I could play any kind of guitar solo, I could play slide — whatever you want. I could do that. I have an extremely wide palette of knowledge when it comes to music. But the music that I put out, the music that I make with my name on it is from my soul. And I mean that. And especially this one, because it’s so undiluted. There’s no distraction on this, there’s no compromise — there’s nothing. This is just what I create. And people can love it, people can hate it; that’s secondary to me. The most important thing is that this is real. It’s the real thing, and it’s the only thing that I want. I don’t want anything else.”
“Parabellum”, will be released on July 23 via Music Theories Recordings/Mascot Label Group. Only four of the songs on the LP feature vocals. The album title is Latin, translating as “Prepare For War”.
After working with some of the top hard singers of the past four decades, Yngwie now handles much of the lead vocals himself in his own band, backed by a lineup that includes keyboardist Nick Marino, bassist/vocalist Ralph Ciavolino and drummer Brian Wilson.
Earlier this week, Yngwie announced a month-long fall 2021 U.S. tour. Support on the trek will come from former MARILYN MANSON and current ROB ZOMBIE guitarist John 5.
