[By: Karim Tarek and IRoar]
Formed in the year 1997, Insomnium is one of the most renowned and reputed bands in the flourishing Finnish Melodic Death Metal scene. They didn’t go through easy times attaining that reputation and renown though; they actually rose up in a competitive local scene that bears some of the world’s top Melodic Death Metal bands like Mors Pricipium Est, Swallow The Sun, Eternal Tears Of Sorrow, Wintersun, Omnium Gatherum, and Amorphis, to mention a few. They have succeeded to prove themselves as a competent unit and consequently gain the world’s attention being one of those few Melodic Death Metal bands who are not just gods with the instrumentation, but also deliver deep and meaningful music that is not anywhere near the mainstream shallow Melodic Death Metal.
They already released four solid full-length gems, the latest being 2009’s “Across the Dark,” released via Candlelight Records. However, they are planning on releasing their fifth full-length next month, particularly on the 17th, to mark their first collaboration with Century Media records. Tentatively titled “One For Sorrow.” The band recently released the official video for the second track on the album, “Through The Shadows,” on Youtube, which kind of quenches, even a tad bit, of the high anticipation for that album.
As longtime fans of theirs, we got a chance to catch up with them and ask them a couple of questions about their new album and what they expect from it. Here's how it went:
First of all, how are you guys doing? It’s very nice to have you on Metality as all the crew here are fans of yours.
Thanks for having us. We’re doing great. Doing loads of promotion all the time which is always a good sign! Journalist seem to really like the album as well.
[By: Karim Tarek and IRoar]
Formed in the year 1997, Insomnium is one of the most renowned and reputed bands in the flourishing Finnish Melodic Death Metal scene. They didn’t go through easy times attaining that reputation and renown though; they actually rose up in a competitive local scene that bears some of the world’s top Melodic Death Metal bands like Mors Pricipium Est, Swallow The Sun, Eternal Tears Of Sorrow, Wintersun, Omnium Gatherum, and Amorphis, to mention a few. They have succeeded to prove themselves as a competent unit and consequently gain the world’s attention being one of those few Melodic Death Metal bands who are not just gods with the instrumentation, but also deliver deep and meaningful music that is not anywhere near the mainstream shallow Melodic Death Metal.
They already released four solid full-length gems, the latest being 2009’s “Across the Dark,” released via Candlelight Records. However, they are planning on releasing their fifth full-length next month, particularly on the 17th, to mark their first collaboration with Century Media records. Tentatively titled “One For Sorrow.” The band recently released the official video for the second track on the album, “Through The Shadows,” on Youtube, which kind of quenches, even a tad bit, of the high anticipation for that album.
As longtime fans of theirs, we got a chance to catch up with them and ask them a couple of questions about their new album and what they expect from it. Here's how it went:
First of all, how are you guys doing? It’s very nice to have you on Metality as all the crew here are fans of yours.
Thanks for having us. We’re doing great. Doing loads of promotion all the time which is always a good sign! Journalist seem to really like the album as well.
INSOMNIUM will be releasing it's latest studio offering titled "One for Sorrow" on October 17th. Can you tell us about the album's lyrical theme? And what subjects the album explores?
The starting point for the lyrics was old English nursery rhyme called One for Sorrow. It has 10 rhymes and is based on old superstition where the number of crows you see sitting on a tree branch determines your luck in future life. Likewise, we have ten songs on this album that forms loose frame or concept for the lyrics. The lyrical themes are pretty much the same as always: the universal topics love, death, sorrow, loneliness, heartbreak, regret, longing, finding your inner strength and so on. Some of the lyrics are based on our personal life, some on things that you see happening around you. While Niilo was inspired this time by Christian Morgenstern and Finnish poet Kaarlo Sarkia among others, I drew inspiration for example books American Gods and Vellum by Neil Gaiman and Duncan Hall, respectively. I even included some thoughts about world’s current political situation to some of the lyrics. However, instead of direct expression we like to dress our ideas in a form of small tales and poems, which also leaves more space for the individual interpretation.
Your last studio offering “Across The Dark,” was released in 2009, less than 2 years ago. How has the writing/recording process been for “One For Sorrow”? and how does it differ from its predecessor?
I think everything was more hectic this time. We had a lot tighter time schedules and we had less time to rehease together as a band. Most of the writing was done during the last and first months of 2010-2011 and we rehearsed only three times befre going to studio. I wrote again approximately 80% of the material and lots of the magic happened in fron of my Macbook and Logic 9. However, we did lot of arranging work together on the basis of demos just by changing e-mails. I’ve been living in the UK for the last 1.5 years, which definitely sets some difficulties but luckily modern technology offers ways to overcome the physical distance. I think One for Sorrow is probably our most diverse effort to date. We have incorporated some new influences but kept the basic backbone of Insomnium sound the same: melodies, harmonies, riffs, acoustic guitars and orchestration are all still there. Biggest difference is probably that I’m doing some clean vocals on the album for the first time.
Your first four albums were released via Candlelight records. “One For Sorrow” marks your first collaboration with your new label Century Media records. While both are widely respected. What made you switch labels at this point in your career?
Well, basically we just came to an end with the 4 album deal with Candlelight Records and wanted to explore also other potential options. We did negotiate with many labels but Century Media made us clearly the biggest influence as a persons and with the mere size and reputation they possess in the metal scene. They are hard workers like we, which makes the collaboration perfect fit.
Finland has always been known for its top-notch Melodic Death Metal bands in particular as we all know. Whats your opinion on the current local Finnish Metal scene in general? Are there any newcomers you support and would like to recommend?
I think the Finnish metal scene is one of the best in the world. If you like Insomnium, I would definitely recommend you to check out following bands: Ghost Brigade, Swallow the Sun, Omnium Gatherum, MyGrain, Before the Dawn and Black Sun Aeon. We’re good friends with all of these bands. From the bit never bands I really like Medeia and their music videos are absolutely brilliant!
We're a Middle Eastern heavy metal site. Our main mission is to bridge the gap between the international and middle eastern metal scenes. Are you familiar with any metal bands from the Middle East?
I think that’s great job. I’ve heard few names but haven’t really listened any metal bands from your area, which is really a shame. I definitely need to explore more on this area.
More and more international acts are being confirmed for shows in cities like Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Beirut, and Cairo (Such as Metallica performing at Yas Arena in Abu Dhabi and Megadethperforming at The Mutt Rock Festival in Dubai). Would you guys be interested in performing at any of these cities, since you have quite a big following over here?
Definitely, that would be really awesome! One thing I love with playing in a band is that you get the opportunity to travel to all new exiting places where you would never go otherwise.
We'd like to thank you for this pleasant opportunity and for your time. It has been a pleasure to have you here on Metality, and would be great to do again. Best of luck with your upcoming album, that I’m sure is gonna be groundbreaking for you, and best of luck with your upcoming efforts. Feel free to share any words with Metality’s readers.
Thanks a lot for your interview, it was really a pleasure! I must say that I’m positively surprised that we have fans in middle eastern metal scene. Please check us out www.insomnium.net and hopefully we’re able to come there for a live show in the future. Horns up!
Pre-order "One For Sorrow" through Amazon: CD | Mp3 (Out October 17th via Century Media Records)
[By: IRoar]
Melodic death metal has seen many transformations over the years. And like anything that gains popularity among the masses, it's seen its fair share of watering-down. With many bands choosing to blend (read: rip-off) the genre's sound for their own leverage.
Then comes Nightrage. Nightrage stand as a true testament to that what melodic death metal should sound like today. All it takes is a group of skilled veterans with a true passion towards their music to keep it alive. 2003's extreme masterpiece "Sweet Vengeance" is considered a cult classic among many melodic death metal purists. The album was reissued last year as part of a 2 disc compilation also featuring 2005's crushing "Descent Into Chaos."
Now the band is about to unleash a melodic death metal mammoth in the form of their latest studio effort titled "Insidious" (out September 26th via Lifeforce Records!) which might be the band's heaviest work to date. The album features guest appearances by the likes of Tomas Lindberg (At The Gates, EX-Nightrage) Gus G. (Ozzy Osbourne, Firewind, EX-Nightrage), Tom S. Englund (Evergrey), Apollo Papathanasio (Firewind), and John K (Biomechanical).
I got a chance to catch up with frontman Antony Hämäläinen to chat about the band's latest effort, their back catalog and which songs he enjoys performing live, among other topics.
Here's how it went:
First of all I'd like to thank you for this opportunity; it's always a pleasure to have you on Metality.
Thanks for having me!
Nightrage has just released it's latest offering, and probably heaviest to date, titled "Insidious" via Lifeforce Records. How has the reaction been from fans towards the new material so far?
It has been really good! People seem to be very happy with the idea of having some old and new guests come to the table and contribute a few parts. I'm glad everyone likes it.
What can you tell us about the lyrical concept behind the album? What subjects does the music explore?
Pretty much the same as we have always done. Marios and I get together with a bunch of potential song titles, and he picks the ones that fit the music. Usually subject matters on the human being in general ad how we treat one another. All the different emotions of life. Then when a title is picked, Marios gives me his ideas on the subject, I do the same, then I compose the vocal phrasings and melodies and fit the lyrics into them.
"Insidious" is the first album to feature the same line-up on more than one release. Did that help form a better chemistry between the band as songwriters? How was the writing for this album handled?
Well basically we had those guys come in and play what we had already written. We felt that these parts would better suite the music rather then just have the same old guys doing it. We just wanted things to pop out at the listener and create a well rounded album.
You brought in an array of guest musicians to contribute to "Insidious;" such as veteran front man Tomas Lindberg, Gus G., Tom S. Englund, Apollo Papathanasio, and Elias Holmlid. How was it working with a wide variety of musicians on the album?
It was very easy. These are all guys we have known a long time and have worked with in the past. They came in and did their parts like the true professionals they are. It was an amazing pleasure to irk with them.
With the new album released. Nightrage will be going on tour with Firewind in October. What do you guys have in-store for your fans? Which songs can fans expect to hear live from the new album?
We have lots of goodies for them thats for sure! They can expect to hear the first two tracks from the new album, that much I will give away. And of course the so called "hits" from the other albums.
Back in November, 2010. Nightrage released a 2-disc compilation titled "Vengeance Descending," that featured reissues of the band's earlier releases "Sweet Vengeance" and "Descent Into Chaos." When looking back at the band's catalog, which songs would you personally pick as your favorite(s) to perform live?
Wow, that's a tough one to do, but I'll give it a shot. Since you mention this compilation album, one of my all time favorite songs from Nightrage is a song called "Black Skies". It was the Japanese bonus track for the Descent into Chaos album. That song is amazing and I hope we can play it someday live. "Glow of The Setting Sun", and "Being Nothing" are always fun to play live.
Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer our questions. It's always a pleasure to catch up with you. Would you like to add anything?
Thanks for the interview, and I hope to see all the Nightrage fans on tour!
Pre-order the new Nightrage record "Insidious" out September 26th via Lifeforce Records via
Amazon: CD | Mp3
[By: iRoar and Karim Tarek]
Progressive death metallers Obscura have been sending waves across the global metal scene with their latest offering titled "Omnivium." The 2nd in a 4 album concept series and the follow-up to 2009's highly successful "Cosmogenesis."
Omnivium is hailed as the band's heaviest, and most sophisticated release to date. Blending their signature sound, with high levels of complexity and layering, creating what the band like to call "the wall of sound."
Since the album's release back in March, Obscura has went on festivals in Europe and North America, and will be heading out on their first Middle East/South East Asia tour in-support of the effort; starting next week.
The band recently confirmed their first ever show in Dubai, UAE on September 23rd with support acts Smouldering In Forgotten, Lunacyst and Billy Bob's Blood Drenched Brew, at Ratsky 3 (Excelsior Creek Hotel). [Ed note: Obscura recently announced Linus Klausenitzer as the band's new bassist. Read the official press release, here]
As media partners for the event. We got a chance to catch up with frontman/mastermind Steffen Kummerer prior to the band's performance to ask him about their latest release, how it differs from it's predecessor, what they look forward to seeing in Dubai, and more!
Here's how it went:
First of all I'd like to thank you for this opportunity. It's a real pleasure to have you on Metality. With Obscura being all over the media lately, I can only imagine how hectic it's been dealing with press, etc.
You are very welcome. The feedback for our latest album, Omnivium, is very positive so we recieve many interviews day by day. But I am glad for the recognition we get from a worldwide audience. At the moment we are preparing our upcoming South East Asia tour and looking forward to play in countries we have never visited before.
You guys released your latest album, and the 2nd in your 4 part album concept series titled "Omnivium." When thinking about the main differences to point out between this release and it's predecessor, what comes to mind?
This concept started with 'Cosmogenesis' while 'Omnivium' is the second effort of the whole idea. While most of the song on 'Cosmogenesis' where written before by the various members upfront they joined the band, 'Omnivium' was a real band release. The three songwriters Christian Muenzner, Hannes Grossmann and myself exchanged ideas, arrangements and single ideas massively to write the best material we can. In the end you can not divide who wrote which part of a song anymore. Every member knew exactly what sound we want to create with this band, the vision was exectly the same. Besides that we made a huge step in the production, there are more different guitar layers than ever to create a certain sound, the 'wall of sound' so to say. Just give a song such as 'Velocity' a listen, you know what I mean.
Critics and fans have been praising the album for it's high technicality and complex structures and layering. Was it a conscious move to focus more on complexity than on hooks this time around?
Well, our aim is to write good and memorable songs in the first case. The technique we bring in is just a tool to get the result and a good arrangement we have in mind. We do not write music to show off and tell everyone that we can play. If you are open minded for different music styles you will find several different influences that come around in the end. To combine those to our own signature sound is the aim every band on this planet has. I will focus on a more diverse mix of complexity and hooks on the next album.
What are some of your influences for this record music-wise? Did you listen to anything out of the ordinare during the writing process?
Everything and nothing inspires during the writing process. I listen to diverse kind of music all the time, not only shred death metal or black metal. I think in feelings, the mood you can create with a certain part and or riff. So in this way even a Portishead album can be inspiring.
OBSCURA's cover artwork has always been top notch, and really brings out a visual image of the music present on each release. And with Omnivium it's no different. Can you tell us about the concept behind the cover? And who came up with the idea?
'Omnivium' is based on the novel 'On the conection between nature and the spirit world' by Friedrich Schelling, a German philosopher. I took this whole novel as the basis of the concept we used to work with on this album, the evolution. The artwork was created by Orion Landau, an artist from North America we worked on all releases with. The whole graphic ideas for this band, merchandise, artworks, layouts, stage setups are based on my vision. Together with Orion we work on each deatail until we have exactly what I had in mind. Also the photos are part of this. Music, photography & artwork as a whole represent 'Omnivium', not only a download from YouTube in bad quality.
The band recently performed at Summer Breeze Festival (Germany) along with acts like Arch Enemy, Decapitated, Hatebreed, Sodom and more. How has the crowd reaction been to the new material? Do you guys have a favorite off the album to perform live yet?
To support 'Omnivium' we played a European & a North American tour so far and on all the shows people are interested how the new song may sound in a live situation. Reactions are very positive so far and during meet & greets after the show we get good feedback for the old and new songs. A very heavy song is 'Ocena Gateways', a pretty slow almost sludgy track off 'Omnivium' that works fine during the shows.
On September 23rd you will be performing for the first time in Dubai, UAE as part of your ongoing tour in-support of 'Omnivium.' What do you look forward to seeing first when you arrive in Dubai? Are you prepared for the heat?
We are glad to get the chance to play for the first time ever in the United Arab Emirates with our band. I love to travel but I never got the chance to visit the country before. All of us are curious about Dubai, not because of the heat, because of the different culture in general. From a view of a Central European visiting Dubai is like leaving to another planet. Everyone is looking forward to this show.
Would you mind telling us about the set-list for the show? Which songs will you be playing off the new album? I know that songs like "Velocity" would be more complicated to perform live as you've mentioned in previous interviews.
That is true, 'Velocity' does have too much layers to perform with two guitars in a live situation. But we will definitely play Septuagint, Vortex Omnivium, Ocean Gateways & Euclidean Elements for you. Also several songs off 'Cosmogenesis' are included to the setlist as well as one or even tw very very old tracks from the beginning of this band. I'd like to show every part of our history to the fans, so they know where we come from and see where we will go to.
Thanks again for doing this. Really appreciate you taking the time to answer our questions. Hope you have a killer good time in Dubai crushing it up! Would you like to add anything?
Thank you very much for your interest and this interview! See you in Dubai soon!
[Catch OBSCURA on September 23rd for the first time live in Dubai! (Presented by Spellbind Records) As part of the band's "Middle East/South East Asia tour" in support of their latest release "Omnivium;" out now via Relapse Records. With support acts SMOULDERING IN FORGOTTEN, LUNACYST, and BILLY BOB'S BLOOD DRENCHED BREW. For more details, visit the event's official page by clicking here!]
Order "Omnivium" via Amazon: CD | Mp3
[By: Karim Tarek]
Hailing from Manama, Bahrain, Smouldering In Forgotten is one of the most brutal, face- pummeling Arabian bands out there. They started off in 2005 as a Black Metal band, released a demo entitled “The Bonfire of the Apocalypse”, followed by their Black Metal debut full-length, “Legions Into Black Flames”, then in 2007, they drifted towards a rather different musical approach on their 2010 gem “I, Devourer”, chiefly delivering Blackened Death Metal tunes that kind of remind me, personally, of Polish Metal gods, Behemoth.
They recently confirmed an appearance in Dubai, UAE; supporting German Technical Death Metal beasts, Obscura, on their highly anticipated gig in Dubai (presented by Spellbind Records) on the 23rd of this month alongside Lunacyst and Billy Bob’s Blood Drenched Brew.
As media partners for the event; we got the chance to catch up with the band amidst their pre-gig hustle and preparations to ask them a few questions about how excited they are about the gig and their future plans.
Here’s how it went:
Before I start, I should thank you all on behalf of Metality for taking the time to do this interview; it’s our pleasure to feature you, hope you’re all doing just fine.
Were doing great! It's our pleasure to do an interview with Metality. We are really proud of you guys promoting the middle eastern scene and doing such a great job! Keep that up!
Let’s start with the very recent stuff, the gig with Obscura, Lunacyst, and Billy Bob’s Blood Drenched Brew; how do you feel about sharing the stage with such a high profile band as Obscura?
Well what do you expect? We are super excited about that and can't wait for the day to come. Not only sharing the stage with such a great band but also enjoying Obscura's show is gonna be a blast!
How did everyone react when you first heard about the prospect of supporting Obscura live? And how are the preparations for the show going?
Hahaha I guess we all got excited and couldn't wait for the official announcement. What makes it even better is playing with our buddies from Lunacyst, which is kinda cool representing Bahrain to the Dubai crowd and showing them what Bahraini metalheads have to offer.
Preparations have been great so far although it was pretty hard during Ramadan and even harder because of work.
Yes, we all have full time jobs and 3 of us are shift workers. Imagine how hard it is to gather up and rehearse.
I’ve been a big fan of SIF for more than a year now and I’ve always had this question in mind; how did you all meet up and form the band, given you’re not in an active country in terms of Metal, a country that has a small scene and only couple of active bands?
That's your answer right there. We live in a small island where everyone knows each other and every metalhead knows every other metalhead. Small gigs and friends of friends I guess that's how we met, all through metal. The interests of certain genres of metal also sort of helped us form the band.
I know Busac and Mardus are the duo that formed the other well-known Bahraini band, Narjahanam; did that ever have an impact on Smouldering In Forgotten?
Narjahanam is actually a solo project by Mardus that he started a year before SIF. The idea in the beginning was to make Narjahanam a full band but not all members agreed with the idea so we decided to just keep Narjahanam and SIF two separate bands. SIF is our main band and Narjahanam is a studio project by members of SIF. Each band has it's own days in the week and this does not have an impact on either bands.
You used to play Black Metal back then in the days of “Legions Into Black Flames”, but you radically digressed to Blackened Death Metal or Black/Death Metal, which is why you remind me of Behemoth by the way; what influenced that change of style?
When we started the band, our aim was to play black metal and we did but later on we decided to ignore the boundaries of black metal and push it further into other genres of metal, adding a wider variety of sounds, which ended up changing our music for the better. We like to call it extreme metal which is in between black, death and thrash metal. Not necessarily blackened death metal. Or you can just simply call it Smouldering In Forgotten.
I hear you’re big fans of Goatwhore, what other bands influence you?
Marduk, Behemoth, Vader, Slayer, Bathory, Meshuggah, Cannibal Corpse, Sepultura, Just to name a few.
Goatwhore on the other hand used to be some sort of an influence on us when we first started. A lot of people think that because of the name "Smouldering in Forgotten" that we consider Goatwhore a big influence on us. We just liked how it sounded on that track "Upon this deathbed of cold fire" on Goatwhore's first album.
Did you start writing for the follow-up to "I, Devourer" yet? When are you planning on releasing a new record?
We did actually but are still in the early steps of writing. Hopefully by next year.
What's your opinion on the current Middle Eastern Metal scene? Do you have any suggestions to help it grow? Also, can you tell us more about the Bahraini scene and whether or not you get enough support there?
We think the middle eastern metal scene is great and is growing big day by day. The only thing we would like to suggest is for metal heads in this region should start listening and supporting local and regional bands as much as their favorite bands from Europe or the states. Buying their albums, attending their shows, wearing the merch to represent these regional bands.
As for the scene in Bahrain, it's very small but also growing. You see more bands and more shows coming up. Not that much of support from the scene but we don't expect much anyways. We know it's a small scene with a small number of metalheads.
What are your favorite bands from the Middle East?
Nervecell (UAE)
Perversion (UAE)
Creative Waste (KSA)
Al Namrood (KSA)
Kaoteon (Lebanon)
Inner Guilt (Lebanon)
Through Sunken Eyes (Bahrain)
Lunacyst (Bahrain)
Motor Militia (Bahrain)
Extinction Imminent (Bahrain)
Punks Not Patriots (Bahrain)
If you were to choose five bands to tour with, who would they be?
Marduk, Behemoth, Slayer, Immortal, Vader.
Thank you very much for your time; it’s been a pleasant opportunity and a great interview to conduct. Hope to have you here again on Metality, and wishing you a killer gig with Obscura, Lunacyst, and Billy Bob’s Blood Drenched Brew! The words are all yours now, if you want to share anything with Metality readers.
Stay tuned for more from SIF. Keep supporting metal and we will see you all in the pits \m/
[Catch SMOULDERING IN FORGOTTEN on September 23rd in Dubai, UAE, when they support German progressive death metal heavyweights OBSCURA as part of the band's current "Middle East/South East Asia tour" in support of their latest release "Omnivium;" out now via Relapse Records. For more details, visit the event's official page by clicking here!]
[By Karim Tarek]
Speaking of the maddest, most BRUTAL bands of all time, you’re probably going to end up contemplating two bands; Anaal Nathrakh for their inhumane atrocious barbarian Black Metal, and our guests for today, BENIGHTED, for their bestial ultra-mega-super-BRUTAL Death Metal tunes.
Formed in the year 1998 in France, Benighted are a Balbigny-based Brutal Death Metal band that viciously incorporate relentless Grindcore elements into their music in a way that would make listening to them an exposure to several jeopardies including that of ear bleeding, unstoppable adrenaline and epinephrine rushes, dangling neck due to excessive head banging, and probably facing misdemeanor charges and having to show up at the court for violently assaulting random people for no particular reason!
The group now consists of Julien "Truch" Truchan – vocals, Olivier "Gab" Gabriel– guitar, Liem "Litchy" N'Guyen – guitar and occasionally bass, Eric "Candy" Lombard – bass, and Kevin "Kikou" Foley – drums. Recently they released a couple of tracks from their upcoming album entitled “Asylum Cave” that is scheduled for March, 29th via Season Of Mist records. Following a striking approach of only releasing solid full-lengths, “Asylum Cave” is their fifth album of which the released tracks foreshadow it’s going to be one hell of a killer album, as usual.
During all that hustle, I got a chance to catch up with them and ask them a few questions regarding the forthcoming “Asylum Cave” and the live shows they plan on playing.
Here’s how it went:
Karim: Hello there. First of all, I’d like state my utter pleasure and honor to have got this chance of interviewing you, as I have been a diehard fan of yours for years now, and on behalf of Metality, I welcome you on board and hope everything is going perfectly fine with you.
Julien: Hey Karim! Nice to meet you bro, everything is fine, the new album is available for a week and we’re impatient to start to tour for “Asylum Cave” promotion and play the new tracks on stage! The machine is on!
Karim: Taking a glimpse on the past, I find that you independently released your self-titled debut, then you collaborated with the French label Adipocere Records for the following three albums, then 2007’s “Icon” was released via Osmose Production, and then, eventually, “Asylum Cave” is going to be released via Season Of Mist. Question is, why do you tend to change your record label that frequently?
Oliver: It’s just a question of which are the best choices for the band? At the beginning we had the chance to sign immediately on Adipocere Records which was one of the biggest labels in France! They were really impressed by our first self-produced album that we recorded in only 5 days! Then Adipocere met some problems and had to stop the productions, Osmose Productions called us immediately to sign us and we were very proud of that cause they had so many great bands in their history like Marduk, Immortal, Vital Remains, Dark Tranquility… They did a fantastic work for our album called “Icon” but the distribution around the world was quite limited, it’s why we chose to change. Season of Mist seemed to be the perfect label to make Benighted grow the final step to the international scene!
Julien: So far, we’re very satisfied of their work, they are at the same time very friendly and professional!
Karim: The French Metal scene is a really flourishing scene, having a lot of awesome bands like yourselves, Kronos, Yyrkoon, Otargos, Destinity, Neo Inferno 262, and loads of others. Do you feel lucky about that, or you wish it was just a small scene so you could get extra recognition?
Oliver: In my opinion France has always been a very rich country in terms of metal bands, but it was very very hard to admit this kind of music as a part of our “culture”! Germany for example has always been very open for this style of music and metal is very popular there, it was absolutely not the case in France. It starts just now to change a bit, even if it’s quite slow. But with the growing of great bands like Gojira, France gets finally the place it deserves on the international level. We have so many amazing bands like the ones you noticed. It becomes easier to play everywhere for us and get a big name in the world; today I can say that France has a solid musical identity.
Karim: You’re a very active band in terms of live shows; every now and then you’re in a different country blasting a gig, how do you manage to keep up with that and also coordinate it with your personal lives? Also, are you all full-time musicians? I heard Julien works in a psychiatric hospital, mind telling us a bit about that as well?
Julien: You’re right, touring is our first purpose as a band! We made very great shows for the “Icon” promotion like Inferno Fest in Norway, Summer Breeze, Was Soll Death and Rock Area Fest in Germany, Obscene Extreme in Czech Republic, Hell Fest and Chaulnes Metal Fest in France, Metal Fest Open Air in Austria… We can say we are a live band before all; we’ve got a reputation of being very energetic and communicative on stage!
Oliver: But it’s not easy with our private life as we all have a job beside Benighted. Julien works in a psychiatric hospital for example, that’s true, and it’s in his work that he finds the entire inspiration for the lyrics and concept of Benighted!
Julien: Absolutely, and for each of us the band demands a serious organization to face every side of our lives. My job is kind of stressful but amazingly interesting! I can evacuate every hard thing I meet at work with Benighted, spurt my guts out on stage, scream the rage and use my professional experience to write lyrics very close to reality with a credible concept. The lyrics have to fit with the music, this tortured and schizophrenic way we have to play metal!
Karim: This year is still at its beginning, what are you expecting to achieve in it and what goals are you eager to attain for this year?
Oliver: For now the album is out and we want to play a lot to make discover the new tracks to our fans! We’re already planned to play to the Summer Breeze for example and we have a French tour with other European dates before this summer. We’d like to make a big European tour in September as support of a big band and my personal dream would be to tour in the USA and South America where we’ve lots of fans asking for years that we finally come! The returns we already have with “Asylum Cave” are just awesome so it can only announce the best for what follows!
Karim: You confirmed for this year’s Neurotic Deathfest, taking place in the Netherlands, next month alongside a big fat list of bands that I was actually drooling while checking them - like for instance: At The Gates, Obituary, Hate Eternal, Decapitated, Grave, Misery Index, Nox, Prostitute Disfigurement, Aeon, Obscura, and Blood Red Throne. You’re also confirmed to play in this year’s Summer Breeze, which is going to be your second time in Summer Breeze after 2009, if my memory serves me, alongside Aborted, Bolt Thrower, God Dethroned (whom are going to disband by the end of this year), Enslaved, Marduk, Destruction, Sodom, Vomitory, Primordial, and others.
How excited are you about that and how do you feel about sharing the stage with such brutally face-breaking lineups given that adding you to both lineups would probably cause something like a planetary collision or a universal explosion due to awesomeness overabundance?
Oliver: Actually it’s the third time we play to the Neurotic Deathfest and I have to say that it’s one of my favorite festivals in whole Europe. The line-up this year is so brutal, varied and cult! I can’t wait to be there! Last year we played there, receiving a great audience! Julien sang a song with Sven on the Aborted show too! It seems that we have a very cool reputation in Netherlands!
Karim: Through all the numerous shows you played, you surely had a lot of good and band memories, mind sharing some of the best and worst memories, on or off stage, also some funny moments if there are?
Julien: One of our best will be in 2007 as we played to a festival in France the Saturday and another 1000km far the day after! So we drove the entire night after the first gig and when we finally arrived to the next city (Paris), our truck was damaged and we were forced to wait because the location was quite far! We took every material we’ve been able to in our hands, rented some taxis (cause it was Sunday at 12:00, the perfect time to get some help!) and finally arrived 20minutes before playing! We were so angry, tired and full of rage that we did one of our best concerts for sure!! We were like possessed on stage, we put all our rage in our show and it was fantastic!
Karim: I know you record your music in the awesome Kohlekeller Studio in Germany, do you find yourselves encumbered with the fact that you have to pack and leave to Germany for some time just to have your album recorded or is it always a chill trip?
Oliver: No, it’s always a pleasure to go there for the recordings! We feel like home at the Kohlekeller Studio and Kohle is a very good friend to us! In fact, everything is cool when we’re there, the work is made in a very friendly atmosphere and when we’ve done, and we go to party in town all together! We often meet our friends from Crematory or Disbelief who lives close and invite us to have a bier! Believe me, it’s everything but definitely not hard to get there!
Julien: And the result follows, Kohle is great as a producer! The sound of the new album is the best we never had!
Karim: A question that always pops into my mind and I’m sure it does to most of the fans out there, what exactly are the things that influence you and inspire you to play this stark extraordinary sick music? Also, what are your musical influences? And what are some of your favorite bands?
Oliver: We always create our tracks by the same way; one of us comes with some riffs and we build structure, breaks, arrangements… all together. Our different influences and ways to see the track make a very particular mix that sounds Benighted! In the band, some of us listen more to Grindcore, Death Metal, but other are fond of Hardcore, Heavy Metal and other stuff. Our different identities serve the same sick beast which is the band!
Julien: If I should say our main great bands we all agree, it would be Napalm Death, Dying Fetus, Aborted or Nasum.
Karim: Metality is a Middle Eastern webzine that supports and promotes the Middle Eastern scene, would you like to break new grounds and play some gigs in the Middle East in the future, in spite of having played in Israel already?
Julien: It would be with gigantesque pleasure! We can’t wait to play everywhere it will be possible! We’re so impatient to share our music with new people and discover different countries!
Karim: Okay, I won’t keep you any longer. I just want to thank you again on behalf of Metality for this pleasant opportunity, we are glad to have had you here. Feel free to share any last words with Metality readers and your fans, and stay brutal!
Thank you very much for the interview Karim! Hope to meet you soon on tour! We invite everyone to listen to our new album! It will catch you straight to the throat and won’t let you breath until its last second! Stay sick guys!
Check out “Fritzl” from the new album here: http://www.radiometal.com/en/article/exclusive-sneak-preview-in-the-cave-with-benighted,20659
[By: iRoar]
Niklas Sundin is one of the founding members of DARK TRANQUILLITY; one of Sweden's biggest and most famous extreme metal bands. The group has been at the forefront of the metal scene for 20+ years; with their unique and uncompromising blend of melodic death metal. Being one of the pioneers of the genre. DARK TRANQUILLITY are known for staying true to their music, never giving into trends or drastically changing their sound to appeal to a certain demographic. The band simply releases crushing record after crushing record!
Niklas is also a renowned graphics designer, and owns Cabin Fever Media which is responsible for some of the most vivid artwork I have seen. He's also the guitarist for extreme metal band LAETHORA, a much more chaotic and extreme sounding project.
I had the pleasure of asking Niklas about his work with Dark Tranquillity, and how it differs from his work with Laethora; if we'll get another stunning song like "Inside The Particle Storm" on future D.T. material. We also discuss the band's most recent record "We Are The Void," and the fans reaction to it, among many other topics.
Here's how it went:
iRoar: Thank you for doing this. What have you been up to lately?
Niklas: No problem! We've been pretty busy recently, first doing the 70 000 tons of metal cruise in Miami/Cozumel and then spending a week in India for the first time. Right now we're in the process of moving into a new rehearsal space.
iRoar: Being in Dark Tranquillity for 20+ years now. And having your side project Laethora; which is basically the insane bastard cousin of Dark Tranquillity, while also having a day job as a professional graphics designer. How do you manage to balance between all projects? Do you ever feel burned out or overwhelmed?
Niklas: Yes, sometimes - but at the same time I enjoy being busy. Laethora is very much a side thing that happens when everyone involved has some time, so it doesn't really require that much attention on a daily basis. We've only played two shows in six years and don't rehearse very often. And most musicians, even in bigger bands, do have regular day jobs as well, so I'm not sure that my situation is that extreme.
iRoar: On all previous D.T. albums, you guys would only use producers mainly for the "mixing" process of the record. Are you as a band comfortable working with outside help on the recording process? Do you guys tend to minimize any external contributions?
Niklas: We've always been very keen on taking care of ourselves, so to say. We're already six people with different opinions on a lot of things in the band, so having a seventh person getting involved in the arrangements or suggesting things left and right would probably just lead to total chaos. The term "producer" can mean so many different things to different people, but the traditional meaning is someone that is actively involved in writing and arranging the music and making the final decisions on the general sound and style. It'd definitely be an interesting experience to actually bring in an external producer to see what happens, and I'm not ruling it out for future projects, but at the same time there's a bit risk that it wouldn't work out at all. It's probably easier for bands that have one single songwriter, but everyone in D.T. is already deeply involved in making the music.
iRoar: For the first time, over the past 2 Dark Tranquillity albums, you fully wrote the stunning songs "Inside The Particle Storm" and " Iridium." Will we get to hear another song along the same lines on future material?
Niklas: Hopefully, ha ha! I have to add that parts of "Iridium" was written by the two Martins as well. We actually just started trying to write new material, so it's way too early to know that the next album will sound like. I enjoy writing those dramatic end-of-the-world songs, so if inspiration allows there definitely will be more of them in the future. At the same time, it's important for us to do something relatively different next time. It'd be a bit pointless if the next album also had that one "Niklas song", but maybe that vibe can be intergrated in a different way?
iRoar: Speaking of future material, and knowing that you guys have a ton of riffs prepared for every release. When might we get a new record from Dark Tranquillity?
Niklas: It's impossible to say. We usually take our time writing music, and it's not really possible to force the process either. So far there are no new songs finished since we've been occupied with touring and festival shows, but the plan is to really start working on the next album soon. It's probably realistic to expect a new release sometime in late 2012 or early 2013, but it's just speculation at this point.
iRoar: Last year saw the release of "We Are The Void," the latest offering from Dark Tranquillity. How has the reaction from fans and critics been towards the record? Looking back at the release now, are you content with the end result?
Niklas: Absolutely! From my own perspective, I got more of my material featured on "We are the void" than on any other D.T. album for the past 12 years, so it's definitely my fave record from our recent period. Songs like "The fatalist" and "Iridium" have turned out to be amazing in a live setting. The response was mainly very positive, though a bit different from country to country. In Sweden, for example, the reviews were better than ever. In some other countries, people concluded that it's a great album but a bit too similar to some of our previous releases. It's all very subjective. I've talked both to people who dislike the album for being too different as well as those who dislike it for not being different enough. It's impossible to please everybody, so the only thing that matters is that the band is satisfied.
iRoar: Bands like In Flames, Iron Maiden, Killswitch Engage, Sepultura, Machine Head and many more have performed at Dubai Desert Rock in the past. Dark Tranquillity recently announced shows in May, that would take place in cities like Istanbul, Turkey, and Athens, Greece. You also recently performed for the first time in India. Given the chance, would you guys be interested in performing in a middle eastern city like Dubai?
Niklas: Definitely! We've been wanting to play at the Desert rock festival ever since we heard of it, but the reality is that there are lots and lots of bands "competing" for the slots and there are many things (timing, budget, visa applications and whatnot) that need to fall into place before something can happen. We've actually had quite a lot of offers and negotiations from the Middle East the past few years, but unfortunately none of them became reality. We always love coming to new places and play, so hopefully there will be more of it in the future.
iRoar: Countries like the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Tunis, Lebanon and many others in the region, have been producing quality metal records, that has been receiving rave reviews from internationally renowned magazines such as Metal Hammer, Rock Hard and many others. Have you heard of any bands from the region. (Apart from Orphaned Land and Salem)
Niklas: I admit to not being very up to date with the middle eastern scene - or any scene - these days. I know and like Salem and Orphaned land of course, and I'm getting more and more artwork requests from bands in the region, so it seems like things are developing. Carthagods from Tunis sounded good when they we supporting us on our gig there two years ago.
iRoar: Let's talk a bit about your brutal side project Laethora. I've searched high and low to find out what Laethora means, and the best I could find was a previous interview where you mentioned it might be a mix of Latin and Swedish. Is it a play on words, as sort of "inside thing" between the band?
Niklas: Well, as silly as it sounds, the band name is sort of a secret that never will be explained in interviews, ha ha! It might be a mix of different languages and it might be an inside thing or even something completely different.
iRoar: While with Dark Tranquillity, you guys tend to record everything to a precise and tight level. As opposed to the almost live set up of Laethora's recording process. What is the main difference in your point of view, between writing for Dark Tranquillity and Laethora?
Niklas: It's exactly that. Dark tranquillity material is always very meticulously arranged and everything needs to be crystal clear and really tight in order to work. Since we have so many layers of sound with precise keyboard/electronic patterns, everything would just collapse if it wasn't 100% exact. Laethora is the complete opposite; the music needs to sound wild and untamed, and the vibe and feeling is more important than precision. Also, the musicial language is pretty different, with D.T. being very melodic and harmonic and Laethora having a lot of dissonance and weird riffing. I have to add, though, that I'm not the main songwriter of Laethora. The band is often percieved as my own solo project, but that's not the case at all. I'm one out of five members, and everyone contributes.
iRoar: I'm personally a huge fan of your cover art and graphics. I remember when a up and coming U.S. band from Maryland called Samadhi were about to release their debut record. Once they announced that the cover art would be handled by you. I was automatically psyched about the album. Can you tell us a bit about your sources of inspiration when designing cover art? How do you handle clients that ask for abstract designs? Do you ever get an occasional request that is simply ludicrous?
Niklas: Thanks! As for inspiration sources, it's the same thing as with music: They're very hard to define and pinpoint down, and I'm not sure that it's necessary either. I'm interested in a lot of different styles and currents of art and design - high and low - and I guess that they all converge to help me create things that hopefully are of good quality and has some kind of unique character. The actual process for album artwork can differ a lot. Some bands have a detailed concept already figured out, whereas in some cases it's the complete opposite without even an album title to go after. Both situations have their own challenges. I can't think of any absolutely weird requests so far, but if I feel that I'm not the right person for the job I have no problems saying no. I guess it's a bit like being a tattoo artist; sometimes people would come to you with ideas that you know won't work out very well, and then you can either refer them to someone else or say that you want to make some changes to improve it.
iRoar: Onto a couple of light questions to wrap this up. What's your take on Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber?
Niklas: I'm sure I've heard their music at some point, and Lady Gaga seems like an interesting and eccentric character from the little I've picked up, but I really don't have much of an opinion since I don't follow popular culture very much. I don't have a TV set and don't pay much attention to things that I'm not interested in. I have absolutely nothing against commercial music/artists or mainstream culture, just that I'm not very familiar with most it.
iRoar: Knowing that you have a very eclectic taste in music. What's the most surprising "un-metal" record might a fan find on your iPod?
Niklas: Good question...Most of it is very un-metal; it's no secret that the members in D.T. have broad musicial tastes. Robyn's new albums are on constant rotation on my iPod; maybe that would surprise people expecting to find 100% metal there. Or Madonna's fantastic "Ray of light" album. Then again, I do have extreme stuff like Anaal nathrakh, Portal and Aborym there too.
iRoar: Do you have a funny drunken tour story you can share with us? Did you ever drunk wrestle Martin?
Niklas: Nah, I'd completely lose if I'd wrestle any of the Martins - they're big guys! Lots of insane things happen on tour of course, but the most bizarre stories are always those that can't be shared with the public or only would be funny if you were there in that particular situation and being a part of the madness. I can't really think of anything that would translate to an entertaining story when written down like this, so I'll skip on this question.
iRoar: Thanks a lot for taking the time to do this. Would you like to add anything for all our readers across the middle east and abroad?
Niklas: Thanks for the interview - unusually good questions! To our fans in the middle east and beyond: Thanks for your support throughout the years! We certainly hope to be able to come and play for you as soon as possible
If you haven't already picked up your copy of "We Are The Void" do so, by clicking here! DARK TRANQUILLITY will be heading out on tour in May, click here for dates. Also click here to visit Laethora on Myspace, then go and pick up their latest record "The Light in Which We All Burn."
And make sure you visit Niklas Sundin's graphics studio Cabin Fever Media to check out his latest stunning artwork!
