Just when you thought Raised Fist had disappeared into the cold Swedish ether, the veteran rockers weigh in with a solid thrust of hardcore energy.

Veil of Ignorance, the Scandinavian bruisers' fifth album, is the high-tensile sound of a band broadening its range, carving a swathe through punk-based tunes with familiar confidence. According to no-nonsense singer Alle Hagman, it's their most varied collection yet.

Alle Hagman:

"I don't know if we're ever going to do another one like it," says Hagman citing boredom as a reason for its diversity. "This is really like mixing in a lot of styles but keeping a core to it. I don't know how it works for other bands but we want to have fun when we play. We don't just wanna be the chef that someone orders from a f&#kin' menu and that we put on the table. You don't have a menu when it comes to Raised Fist."

In the three years since their label Burning Heart released Sound of the Republic, the Lulea quintet head-hunted respected - and expensive - local producer Daniel Bergstrand, noted for his work with In Flames and old school Swedes Meshuggah.

Alle Hagman:

"He has very strange hearing," says Hagman. "I don't know the resolution of his range but he hears things. I'm a musician and I tune guitars and if I'm out of pitch when I'm singing sometimes i can't hear it but he always hears it.

Alle Hagman:

"And in the studio he puts his hand on the speaker to feel the vibe in the music. He just turns some knobs here and there and feels it with his two fingers to check if he should turn something up or down. It's like he has a relationship with the speakers!"

Thematically, the album trades aggressive protestations - the band took its name from a Rage Against The Machine lyric - for laments on personal tragedy including their former drummer Oskar Karlsson's involvement in a serious car accident.

Alle Hagman:

"Everything just came at the same f*#kin' time," sighs Hagman. "During the process when we wrote this album and put it together a lot of bad things happened in our life and I know this instantly when I listen to it - it has this really sad vibe.

Alle Hagman:

"A lot of lyrics don't have anything to do with that and they're totally different in subject but music-wise I hear this as a sad album. Even my sister said 'every song is a bit sad'."

How the new songs will translate on stage Hagman is unsure. Raised Fist kick off their world tour soon and the singer, who runs five kilometers a day and trains at elite level in Thai boxing, says the band now only perform in bursts of no more than two weeks at a time.

Alle Hagman:

"We don't tour as heavily as Parkway Drive," he laughs. "We met them in Europe and they said 'oh we've got another six months (on the road)' and we're like 'what?'. I mean playing every day for six months - that's how much we've played in our 16-year career!

Alle Hagman:

"We have to have a break because we put out so much energy on the stage. That sparkle that you have in your eye on that first show, when you lose that it's time to say bye-bye and reload and you need a week to do that so you can get the spirit back. But it's gonna start in Australia so get your military forces ready."