lunes, 12 de mayo de 2014

SADO SATHANAS - INTERVIEW

Good afternoon , thanks for agreeing to answer these questions , how everything Dresden?
It's cold and rainy. But it doesn't matter: I am in Barcelona right now.


1. The creation of the group dates back to 1996 , what are your memories of the beginnings of Sado Sathanas and why you decided to form the band ?
Hmm, well, back in the days I played in several band projects before, but it was no extreme metal. At the same time I became more and more fascinated by bands like Krabathor, Abigor, Impiety and the Norwegian classics like Mayhem, Satyricon and so on. Some guys I knew told me that they founded a black/ death and invited me to their rehearsal room. In this band called “Dismal” our Singer Giacomo and our keyboard player 
I visited them had been involved. I visited them, and their sound was quite terrible. Even more than terrible. But I liked the guys so I visited them from time to time and we shared some beers. When their bass player left in spring 1996 I jammed with them on some occasions by playing the bass guitar. Krell was one of my best friends in this time and I knew from his job as a roadie for my main band in this time that he was very talented on playing guitar. So soon he also joined the band, and we tried to create some first tracks. Short after that we realized that the skills of the most other members had been too limited, so – to keep it short – we kicked one by one out. Finally I choose to play drums instead of the bass guitar, and that's it.  


2. Early in your componene guys had a death in your music , What led you to abandon it and focus more on the black? What happened within the band from 1999 to 2005, a period in which pratically ceased activity?
In the middle of the 90s Death Metal became more and more strange, a lot of bands and their audience started to wear coloured shirts, got dreadlocks and preferred lyrics about politics and party. On the other hand melodic death made us more and more sick. We refused to be a part of this scene, it's the same as the nowadays hipster shit. On the other hand we got with Stefan a keyboard player in the band, and black metal found to us. In summer 1996, after some shows we visited together, like Enslaved, Dissection, Gorgoroth, Absu and many others which inspired us a lot, we decided to play black metal from now on. Between 1999 and 2005 it was quite shitty, because I singer worked in the Netherlands and Belgium in that time. We had rehearsals, but just a few with a complete band. We created some tracks and tried some musicians on bass guitar and guitar. We also had some single shows, but nobody was satisfied with that kind of situation. On the other hand we never thought about to quit Sado Sathanas, and when we found Martin on the guitar and Ronny on the bass in 2006 everything got more comfortable. We also had more live shows since then and we played the first time abroad by visiting Romania. 

3. I's Not until 2010 that the band seems definitley activity resumed with the release of " Opus Diaboli " , what this album meant to Sado Sathanas ? Was very complicated the making of this album ?
It depends. We had enough tracks for a new record and we have been in the situation that our former bass player Ronny had his own studio. At first there was no plan for an official release. It was not because we didn't like the idea to have an official release, but we had no idea how to find a label, I mean: Who could be interested in a bunch of old guys with their music from the 90s? After a show in our home town a guy had a conversation with our singer, he told him that he is the owner of Black Blood Records and that he is interested to work with us. Honestly I thought that is was a joke, or at least some blablabla of a drunken guy. One year later we met on a show, and he asked me why I didn't call him. Next scene: shake hands & deal. 



4. And finally comes four years after your last work to date " Nomos Hamartia , how was the process of writing and recording of " Nomos Hamartia "What major differences can be found when compared with " Opus Diaboli " ?
The process of writing has been as always: we meet each other every week for rehearsals and jams. After three years we said ok, let's book a studio. The problem in this time was that Ronny had an accident with his bike. His rehabilitation took a long time, and finally he decided to leave the band. The major difference was to record in a professional studio in Munich. After recording “Opus Diaboli” we had the feeling that we are too close to the sound and it would be better to include someone with the perspective of an outsider. 

5. How is your way of working in the studio , there is a leader or all contribute ideas ?
There is no leader. We have with Krell and Martin two main composers, some ideas had been developed by me and Giacomo did his own interpretation of the vocals. Of course this causes chaos and sometimes some serious discussions, but that’s the way it is. And we record step by step, beginning with the drums and finishing with the vocals. And the final fight starts with the mix.

6. Which bands have influenced the sound of Sado Sathanas over the years? What drives you consider essential within the black metal?
It's not possible for me to speak for everybody in the band. For me of course the old heroes starting with Venom and the guys from Norway. My primary socialisation started at first with bands like Accept and Sodom, later Sepultura, Obituary and stuff like that, before I discovered Abigor, Mayhem, Burzum, Satyricon, Gorgoroth, later Taake and Urgehal. But there are also other bands I like, for examole Ascention, The Ruins of Beverast, Dordeduh, Cult of Fire, Negura Bunget and Watain. Of course we are influenced by them in the one or other way, there are also other components in our sound. Every one of us has a kind of special taste, Martin likes – beside of Black Metal of course - Post Rock, Jazz and other crazy stuff, Stefan likes Gabber, Speedcore and Hardtekk from time to time, Krell is more into Heavy Metal and Pagan while Mo likes Death Metal a lot. Robert listens to Abient occasionally. I am sure that you find some traces of this in our music.

7. What inspired you when composing the lyrics to " Nomos Hamartia ?" Is there a concept as a link of all the subjects ?
Yes, there is a concept, but it’s hard to explain, even in another language. But let me try: The frame of the concept are the seven deadly sins, but in a relation between order (“nomos”) and chaos (“hamartia”). Chaos is seen as the basic of evolution. The main topic of the lyrics is the relation and the interchanges between of rules and freedom, the law (order) and the spirit (chaos). Together with the music is a mixture between invocation and meditation. It's all about a specific concept, which is the basement of Sado Sathanas: power and authority. Our releases – from the first demo's to our new album – has to bee seen in this light. Real sadism is violent, but not on order. We created a complex setting of visual, habitual, and lyrical aspects. In this context the cover artwork is based by a painting in the book Divine Comedy written by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri, combined with some drawings of Hieronymus Bosch aka Jheronimus van Aken, of course in a different interpretation. On the front you see Lucifer, who has three faces with three mouths, each of them chew a betrayer, symbolised by Judas, Brutus and Cassius. The artwork inside represents the seven deadly sins. Of course that sounds very abstract, so let me try to explain by the tracks on Nomos Hamartia. Two of them, Ante Bellum (Before the War) and Codex Diaboli are instrumental. P.A.N. Demonia is inspired by John Milton's book Paradise Lost. Pandemonium is the capital of Lucifer and other fallen Angels, so to say the centre of hell. The word “Pan” also represents Satan, but in a relation to Greek mythology as a hybrid of man and animal. The track handles about self-empowerment, to reach strength and might by sacrifice. “Martyrium” is about the price you have to pay if you go your way straight ahead if you don't reflect what makes you weak: the bounding on conventions which keeps mankind low. “Invertum” is a track which is about ignorance and the scorn we feel about this kind of behaviour. Finally there is Nomos Hamartia, the title track is about sins in a context with the concept of hell, inspired by Dante’s Inferno. Short and easy: sins are necessary, otherwise you cannot enter the gates of hell. Of course: the more the better!  

8. What has changed in the black metal scene since your beginnings to today ? Guess at the time the scene was much underground and was in full swing, perhaps today you missed a bit the essence from the beginning ?
Back in the days the scene was quite small, and there have been no cellphones, no internet and three metal shows on the same weekend. No smartphones, no tablets, no facebook. But it was not better, just different. Nowadays it's much easier to reach people all over the world, to play shows abroad. And about the spirit, hmm, there have been maniacs as well as posers back in the days, and it's the same situation today. The separatism of the nowadays black metal didn't exist. On the other hand meanwhile there is a good connected underground which is independent from dominating magazines and labels. There are always two sides of a coin. Some years ago I was really pessimistic, I hated most of new releases. Meanwhile there are a lot of interesting “new” bands, but also a lot of “old” bands from Norway I respected back in the days are playing shitty music now, just a few are keeping the old spirit alive. For a long time I refused to listen to albums recorded after the 1990s or music from new founded bands, but since some years it turns better and better. What definitely changed is that there are millions of fakes now, bands who trying to bring new influences into the music which is often pure shit. As Gaahl of Gorgoroth said: Black Metal is about Satan. Not about fucking post-modern topics. I also refuse all this pagan shit, it's completely ridiculous. That doesn't mean that I don't like arrangements with traditional instruments, but this party attitude that I never will like. Well, on the other hand it seems that more and more people see things similar, and I am quite sure that a next generation of bands will keep the flame alive in a good way. In this context we think in global structures, because there are not just people from Europe but also from North and South America, Asia and Australia we are connected with. 




9. Who designed the cover of the album and how it relates to the music of " Nomos Hamartia ?
The design was made by Martin. I had the first idea for a cover like this when I researched for some lyrics. In this context I have seen this drawing from the Divine Comedy and I told the others about it. Martin made several sketches, and finally we choose the one that is on the cover now. I think your question about the relation to the music is already answered.

10. Regarding the concert , how important is it for the band to perform a concert? How is it being received by the public your last album ?
Good question. We like to perform live, but we are very selective. I mean we are not interested to be the next big fish, so we don’t travel across Europe for some bad tasting cheap beer. But if we like the concept of a show, the organizers, the club and the other bands we play with than it’s awesome.

11. Why you took the decision to change label ? Are you satisfied with the work done by Naturmacht Productions ?
At first: We are still friends with our former label Black Blood Records. If we are satisfied with Naturmacht? Dude, the owner of the label now plays the bass guitar for us. At first it was planned to release “Nomos Hamartia” also via Black Blood, but they are – as well as Naturmacht – small labels with a limited stock of money. We thought that we will the album until summer 2013, but we had a delay. Meanwhile other bands from the label came out with their albums, and so we had to reschedule again, and beside of that we invested more money in “Nomos Hamartia”, maybe too much for the label at this moment. But we agreed from the beginning of our cooperation that we can leave the label whenever we want. Naturmacht made a fair offer, and so we changed to them. We knew Robert since a couple of years, and we liked the way how he works with his label. He likes Sado Sathanas, and so it was no surprise. 

12. What future plans do you have for the band?
I have no idea. We will meet each other every week, working on new tracks and will record them if we have enough stuff for the new album. It's also planned to release “Nomos Hamartia” on tape and vinyl. In autumn we will have a camp in the woods to work on new stuff. We have some festival shows announced, and there will be a small tour in autumn. Next year we plan to play in some countries for the first time, and I am really curious how it will work out. 

13. Thank you very much for taking the time to Black Metal Spirit , if you want to add something for the followers Sado Sathanas , this place .
Thank you very much for supporting Sado Sathanas and Black Metal. Keep up your work! And maybe we will see you in Spain one day, who knows?

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