Swedish guitarist Jonathan Hultén rose to prominence as the founding guitarist from gothic metallers Tribulation, though it’s his solo work since leaving the band in 2020 that’s given listeners a real taste of his mind.
Debut album Chants from Another Place married his love of Nick Drake’s dark folk with the celestial sounds of church choirs, yielding some truly stunning results. The music was so compelling, it convinced him to leave the band he’d devoted 15 years of his life to.
“It was an existential thing, we only have so much time on Earth,” he says. “Serious thought should be paid to what we do with it. I should also point out that Pink Moon by Nick Drake is one of my favorite albums ever made. I can’t imagine what he was going through when he wrote it. There’s a depth and power that inspired me greatly. I’m also influenced by an artist called Anna Ternheim, who uses an incredible fingerstyle technique to write wonderfully intimate songs.”
This year, Hultén is releasing his second solo album, Eyes of the Living Night, which is more of an electric affair that its predecessor, pairing his Ibanez AEL40 electro-acoustic with an old Epiphone Sheraton II in Violin Burst.
It’s the only electric he’s ever used in the studio, he reasons, before admitting his current studio is more of an abstract DIY concept than anything too grandiose or official.
“I record everything in my walk-in closet,” Hultén says. “I will use mattresses for isolation and try not to bother the neighbors too much. As for going electric, I was just following the songs to see what happens.
“When you find an idea that resonates, it will tell you ‘I need this to grow!’ You then follow the song to its end. I’ve been using that Epiphone for a long time. We know each other well. And the Ibanez was my first acoustic but, sadly, it’s about to fall apart.”
As an esoteric balladeer who creates from a remarkably holistic perspective, one where the continuum of intimate reflection dictates what note should come next, the notion of parting ways with his trusty acoustic is something that triggers a great deal of heartache.
“I changed the pickup at one point and the tech said it would cost as much to buy something new,” he says with a sigh. “However, that didn’t feel right. I wasn’t ready, even though the buzzes and crackles can be heard on recordings or when I play live. It’s starting to become a compromise, but I’m just not ready to say goodbye yet.”
- Eyes of the Living Night is out now via KSCOPE.
- This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.
