PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
In addition to reviewing their current album ‘A New Beginning’, I conducted an email interview with the drummer from Belgian death metal band, Suicide of Demons. Here’s what Jo had to say…
You released your new album ‘A new Beginning’ in October 2011 – how does it feel?
It feels great! We actually had a bunch of problems from the moment we recorded it until its release. We recorded the whole album in April 2010, then it took forever to mix, we had to deal with unprofessional people, then when it was finally done, we had again issues with our previous label and had to start looking for another one. Thankfully we found M&O Music pretty quickly and things seemed to be flowing smoothly, but we then had issues with the pressing and deadlines… So you can imagine how relieved we feel now that it’s out! (laughs)
But you know, we start getting used to it, it was the same when we released our 1st album, there’s like a curse on us that won’t let us release our albums on time.
What have the responses from the fans been like so far?
We couldn’t have expected better you know, fans love it, reviews are really good, we actually haven’t had a single negative one, I’m really glad people get into our music. It really is like a reward after working and waiting so much.
How does this album compare to your previous album ‘Before Our Eyes’?
Well, “A New Beginning” is way more elaborated than “Before Our Eyes”, we spent a lot of time working on the structures, the melodies, transitions, etc. the least single note was meant. On the contrary “BOE” was more like improvised so to speak, it was composed way before we record it, but still, while recording we made a lot of new arrangements, we added details and melodies without thinking any second on how the fuck we were going to play everything live (laughs)
Was there anything different you wanted to focus on with your new album?
Yes, the melodic side of the music! When we composed “BOE” the line-up was different, the guys were way more limited technically speaking, and moreover our tastes differed quite a lot so we had to compromise, remove entire parts of songs or simplify riffs, etc. So in the end, when they left during the recording, we just did what we could, adding loads of elements like I was saying before but still, it wasn’t exactly how we expected it from the beginning, we ended up a bit frustrated. Don’t get me wrong, I really like “BOE”, it is a very good album in my opinion, it’s just that I think we could have made it better.
What was the writing process like, as it is often said the first album is the easier to write?
Long but pleasant, we started composing back in 2007, even before the release of our 1st album. It took us 3 years to compose, we had no rush this time, that also gave us much more detachment to think and work on the songs.
I love the art work on the album, was this a concept that was created between you?
No, not at all, it’s Stéphane Boeckx who thought and created the art work from A to Z, he’s actually an old friend of ours and I had no idea he was so talented. He kindly proposed to help us when we told him we were going to record a new album, and after a few days, when he sent us the first try (which is the one you can see on the album) we were just blown away! If you don’t know him, check him out: http://www.burnyourdesign.com/
You have a series of shows coming up over the next month or so, you must be keen to get back out there and play the new songs.
Yes, we’re very excited to start playing the new album, we actually already started, we had a release party show and played on 2 festivals afterward so we experienced most of the album on stage and the response from the fans has been great so far.
Are there any in particular that you are looking forward to playing live?
Definitely … Till Dawn, it’s a 12 minutes long song, quite a challenge! We’ve been working on it for a few days now and we’ll try it on the next show. A keyboard player is going to help us on stage, a very talented young guy called Julien Spreutels who plays for EPYSODE and Ethernity. Actually, the real challenge isn’t the fact of playing it live, it’s to make it interesting enough, it has dynamics and variations of course but 12 minutes of music with no break, most of the song being fast bass drums, never ending solos, etc. isn’t that easy to swallow (laughs)
Do you have anything special (aside from the new album) lined up for the fans at the shows?
Well, we’ll have guest musicians such as Julien who I mentioned before, probably the guest singers who appeared on the album (Chris Michez from Do Or Die, Arno Strobl from Carnival in Coal and Maladaptive) and possibly have some guest appearances from local bands here. Other than that, we’ve been working a lot for the upcoming shows so it’ll be massive! We also thought of having naked ladies dancing imprisoned in cages surrounded by snakes and scorpions but our management didn’t agree, so maybe we’ll just have a couple of drunk dudes who’ll be dancing on stage half naked anyway as it seems to happen frequently at our shows. But speaking seriously, we also have got some new merch ready for the shows so check it out as well!
Are there any gigs that you are especially looking forward to?
Yes, Durbuy rock festival in April, it’s one of the coolest metal festival in Belgium, and we’ll be sharing the stage with Caliban, Fishbone, Eths and Dagoba, we’re really looking forward to it!
Are you planning on doing any shows in the UK?
The good thing is that our album is distributed in the UK but it’s a territory we have never tried plus we don’t know many people that could get us there. Nevertheless we would love to, I’ve toured in the UK with Firewind a few months back so I know the public is nuts over there, that really made me want to try out with Suicide of Demons as well. But as soon as there’s an opportunity for us to play there, we won’t miss it.
For those that may not know your first album, how would you describe your new album to potential new fans?
In one word, it’s varied. If you like metal music there are good chances you find something you like in our album.
Finally, do you have any messages for your fans in the UK?
Hope you enjoy “A New Beginning” but more than anything I really hope we’ll meet you guys soon on stage, support us and buy the album if you like it, spread the word and we might come sooner than expected! Take care!
Check out the band’s website for a list of their upcoming gigs and much more – http://suicideofdemons.net/
