Released at the end of August via InsideOut Music (Trooper Entertainment in Japan), Return to Zero is the first Spiritual Beggars record in five years, and the first to be released since the departure of vocalist JB Christoffersson, who split with the long-running and influential Swedish rockers to focus his attention on his main outfit, the always-epic Grand Magus.

Spiritual Beggars are no strangers to balancing between other bands. Guitarist and founder Michael Amott has seen more of his attention over the years go toward melodic death metal stalwarts Arch Enemy, in which he plays with Beggars bassist Sharlee D’Angelo (he’s the terrifying one in the press shots), drummer Ludwig Witt is formerly of Firebird and keyboardist Per Wiberg‘s paying gig these days is with prog-death giants Opeth. So, Spiritual Beggars, while always fun, isn’t what you’d call a full-time occupation. Hence the five-year split between Return to Zero and 2005’s Demons.

But when it was announced Christoffersson was departing from the band, one had to wonder whether Spiritual Beggars could continue at all. Christoffersson hadn’t been their first frontman (that would be Christian “Spice” Sjöstrand, also of The Mushroom River Band and currently Spice and the RJ Band), but his presence was undeniably part of what made 2002’s On Fire and Demons the catalog highlights they were. Fortunately, Firewind singer Apollo Papathanasio joined the ranks and work on Return to Zero began in earnest.

I wanted to discuss with Amott — also a former member of grindcore pioneers Carcass — how it felt to go back to Spiritual Beggars after so much time to make this album and, most of all, what it was like to work with Per Wiberg‘s moustache, which, as you can see in the press shots included with the interview, is fucking awesome. He was a good sport and happy to share, as you can plainly see below.

Full Q&A is after the jump. Please enjoy.

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It wouldn’t be accurate to think of Spiritual Beggars as the first Swedish heavy rock band, because Sweden has been turned on and tuned in since the beginning, but what guitarist Michael Amott’s post-Carcass outfit did was embrace a more modern stoner sound and help found the scene that would later grow into one of the world’s most vibrant and prolific. And what’s more, they rocked. There’s no discounting the earliest work of Spiritual Beggars in the ‘90s. In both quality and influence, 1994’s Spiritual Beggars, 1996’s Another Way to Shine and 1998’s Mantra III are essential documents for anyone looking to understand the growth of European stoner rock.

Spiritual Beggars’ latest offering, Return to Zero (InsideOut/Century Media) is notable before you even hit play because of (Per Wiberg’s moustache, but also) the departure of vocalist JB Christoffersson, who left the band on good terms to focus on his main project, the mighty Grand Magus. Replacing Christoffersson is Apollo Papathanasio of Greek power metallers Firewind – you may have heard the name because guitarist Gus G. is now playing with Ozzy Osbourne – and though Christoffersson’s work on 2002’s On Fire and 2005’s Demons is not to be duplicated, Papathanasio does an admirable job, proving he’s a soulful, versatile singer in his own right, able to match Amott’s riff and solo magic with a bluesy throat and powerful delivery, and ultimately a worthy successor to Christoffersson and original vocalist Christian “Spice” Sjöstrand.

Amott is no stranger to melody, being a principal figure in melodic death metal as guitarist for the massively successful Arch Enemy. On Return to Zero, his songwriting formula is potent as ever across highlight tracks like post-intro opener “Lost in Yesterday,” metal-loving anthem “We are Free” (which makes good and honest use of the central riff of Black Sabbath’s “Hole in the Sky,” topping it with canned crowd noise) and “The Chaos of Rebirth,” in which the rhythm section of Sharlee D’Angelo (bass; Mercyful Fate, Arch Enemy, etc.) and Ludwig Witt (drums; Firebird) pull off stops and turns that would have lesser bands crashing and probably breaking up before they figured them out. Of course, the guitars lead the way the majority of the time, but if Amott meets his match anywhere in Spiritual Beggars, it’s with keyboardist Per Wiberg – who, for the remainder of this review, shall be referred to, with love, as “Per Wiberg and His Magical Mystery Moustache.”

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It’s true, I had campaigned outside Michael Amott‘s house for him to call the new Spiritual Beggars record The Life and Times of Per Wiberg’s Moustache, but that was a big no dice. He decided to call it Return to Zero instead, which I guess is alright. If you like things that were more than zero and then went back to being zero. It’ll do.

The album’s gotten a North American release date of Oct. 12. It’ll be out Aug. 25 in Japan (they’re huge there) and Aug. 30 in Europe, so I suppose the only real question is am I going to be able to wait that long to hear it. Let’s assume not, and enjoy this PR wire news together:

Sweden’s Spiritual Beggars finally return to the spotlight with their first new studio album in five years, Return to Zero. Once again, the Beggars effortlessly manage to confirm they are a band that continues to defy musical boundaries and that delivers classic heavy rock at its very best! The much anticipated disc is set for an Oct. 12^th North American release via InsideOut Music.

Spiritual Beggars uploaded a short audio sample of the new album as a pre-listening teaser. For more information please check the band’s MySpace profile, as well as their Twitter. The official tracklisting is below as well. This album marks the group’s first offering with Apollo Papathanasio on vocals.

The artwork of the upcoming album is done by the well known Brazilian artist Gustavo Sazes. Spiritual Beggars guitarist Michael Amott states: “I’m extremely pleased with the Return to Zero cover! To me, it’s the quintessential Spiritual Beggars artwork. The artist really managed to capture the essence of our band, the new album and the constant flow of cryptic ideas I was throwing at him. As I’m old school, I can’t wait to see this in its full glory on the vinyl LP. But hey, it’ll look cool as a minuscule image on your iPod too.”

Tracklisting:
1. Return to Zero [Intro]
2. Lost in Yesterday
3. Star Born
4. The Chaos of Rebirth
5. We are Free
6. Spirit of the Wind
7. Coming Home
8. Concrete Horizon
9. A New Dawn Rising
10. Believe in Me
11. Dead Weight
12. The Road Less Travelled

Upcoming shows:
October 17th Loud Park 10 @ Saitama Super Arena, Saitama City (Japan)

While to the untrained eye it might seem the story here is that Swedish stoner legends Spiritual Beggars have parted ways with vocalist JB (also of the increasingly mighty Grand Magus) and replaced him with Apollo IhaveasuperGreeksoundingnameopolis of Firewind — whose guitarist, Gus G., can currently be found in Ozzy‘s band — The Obelisk knows the actual news comes in the form of keyboardist Per Wiberg‘s moustache/goatee combo, which has gone to plaid in terms of ’50s beat excellence. Check out the lineup picture:

Per is far left, in case the radiating awesomeness of his ‘stache didn’t reveal itself immediately to you. Even guitarist Michael Amott (second from left) can’t help but grin at it, and though Apollo (middle) seems clueless about it, drummer Ludwig Witt (far right) looks terrified of its prowess. It’s true, you don’t cross a moustache like that. Sharlee D’Angelo (second from right) has already tasted its wrath and is none too happy about it. You better believe that moustache is getting a solo when Spiritual Beggars finally put out their new album later this year.

Amott made a statement on the band’s MySpace page about Apollo joining. Curiously, Per‘s moustache wasn’t mentioned. To wit:

Michael Amott comments: “This will be a surprise to most of you, but it’s been mutually decided for some time now that JB would step down from his role as the singer in Spiritual Beggars to focus on his own band. We had a fantastic time working with JB. We remain great friends and we wish him the best of luck!

“We decided to make a new Spiritual Beggars record and to find a new voice — and we found a killer singer that lives in our hometown. Some of you will already be familiar with him as a singer in the Greek metal band Firewind.

“We’ve had a blast in the studio and it’s been highly satisfying on a creative level. We have already confirmed some shows in Japan later in the year and we are in the process of booking more concerts around the world. We are looking forward to getting the new music out to the fans and playing live again”

A short sample of new song featuring Apollo Papathanasio on vocals is available now at the Spiritual Beggars MySpace.

Spiritual Beggars 2010:
Michael Amott (Arch Enemy, Carcass): Guitars
Ludwig Witt (Firebird): Drums
Per Wiberg (Opeth): Keyboards
Sharlee D’Angelo (Arch Enemy, Mercyful Fate): Bass
Apollo Papathanasio (Firewind): Vocals