Samael
Wywiad przeprowadził Piotr Pyczek & Andrzej Papież
This was one of the first concerts on this tour. We arranged for Vorph to answer a couple of our questions. Before that Samael was in Empik book store where they were signing their new album - "Reign of light". Soon after we met with Vorph to talk about Samael...How is the tour going?
We just started it up and this is our third show so far it is very good. The first shows are the time when you adjust things. You never know .. but everything so far was very great. The tour is in all Europe. We started in Poznan and we have another shows in Poland. Then we'll go to Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, France, Germany where we will play quite a lot. And then we'll go to the north.
The first plan was to start in Germany but the starting show was in Poland in Poznan...
Exactly. Our album was released on the 25th of October and we did not want to play before the release of the album. Our set consist mostly of the new songs and nobody heard it. This is why. Probably we're gonna play those shows next year.
Samael returns after 5 of break...
That was not really a break. I mean ok we weren't very active during those 5 years. But still we did 2 American tours one full European, we a had dvd out, we did a project with Xy which didn't go out. So you know, we kept ourselves active in a way but from the outside I understand that...
As it comes to Era One. Will it ever be released?
It might be released next year. This is something we delivered to Century Media, so the contract is over. It is now in their possession so they will release it whenever they want. Maybe next year, maybe... That is not our decision now.
You recorded "Reign of Light" in two studios. Why?
Actually we worked in home studio and and a studio nearby the place we live. We never had a chance to spend that much time in a studio and come back to the things. Even when a song was finished we said that this guitar I do again and that thing "we can change this" This is the first time actually that we have time to look back at the work, change something and then mix it. Before we had like three weeks or a month in a studio. When something was wrong it was too late.
How long did it take you to records the vocal parts?
Quite a looonnnng time ha ha ha. That must have been two weeks I think. Two weeks but not at one time. It was like couple of days, then we would check something and I would come back to the studio to re-record some parts...
Do you smoke?
I quit ! I quit two years ago.
Which smoking did you quit?
Everything, I quit smoking everything ...
10 years ago you played here in Warsaw.
Yeah, I remember, we played with Cannibal Corpse here..
...and Desultory. You were then smoking one cigarette after another...
Yes, but I quit now...
Some say that smoking helps with some vocals...
I would not say that I don't think so, I don't think so... I think that my voice is a lot better today than it was before. And I can do more things with it...
Why did you change your nicks ? You shortened them?
People call me Vorph. So I decided it to be the way people call me. That was simpler...
You were for some time in India. You use some oriental parts in Samael. Is there any connection?
Yes, there are quite a few. There may be a connection. But it was in 1996 when I went there. On song like "Jupiterian vibe" we use a little bit of oriental elements, on song like "Intfa galaxia", on "Eternal". I like this oriental flavor. I do not know what the next album will be like as far as oriental parts are concerned. We'll see when it's gonna be the time.
Everytime I see you you promote your new album. You usually play lots of new songs and some older ones. Will you play some old stuff from the first albums?
Yes, we do such a mix. We play six songs from the new album. This is what we want to play. The rest is a split of tracks from the previous albums
Will you go as far as "Worship him"? Maybe we'll hear "Into the pentagram". I hear that people are talking about this track here all the time...
No but we'll have some songs from "Ceremony of opposites". We recorded "Into the pentagram" on "Rebellion" and today I do not think it is interesting enough to play it. Working on an old track takes as much time as working on a new song. People would probably say that the first version was better and we would disappoint the people....
Which album is your favorite one?
The last one. Of course! I think that everything that I experienced in my life so far is on this album. I grew up a little bit, the album is positive, it is bright, there are some darkest parts on this album as well.. not much but they are there...
We saw you last year on Metalmania. What kind of concerts do you prefer? Big stage like in Katowice or little ones like here in Proxima club? You use lots of lights to express your music...
We just will have less lights ha ha ha... But the real goal of this tour is to show the new album to people. After "Eternal" we went on tour like 4 years after releasing the album and this is crazy, nobody does this. Since the new album is out we just want to play our songs so we do not care which place we play.
I asked about lights because I have my own theory about Samael. I think that to fully understand your music you have to see your concert. These two elements coexist. I have to admit that I hated your albums starting with "Passage" and I only started liking them after I saw you live on Metalmania...
You are not the first to say that..So you think that these two are related?
Yes...
This is also what Xy thinks. We booked the tour and we're gonna do it.. that's the way it is...Even without lights. But this is what he thinks it is.. these are related to one another..
Your first serious concert was in Poland. You've played here many times since then. Do you think that people still react in the same way?
When we played for the first time here we even did not have our first album out and the reaction was so good.. This was something we have never experienced before but since that time we were on many tours and the reaction was also very good... Germany is very good for us. We never played in South America. But from what I saw what was happening during our concert in Mexico where it was crazy SA would welcome us well...Poland is really a great place to play. People here come to the concert to participate not just to check the band. They are into it..
Back then in 1994 you were promoting the the "Ceremony of the Opposites" album. That was a great show... Do you remember that after your concert nobody had strength to even look at Cannibal Corpse? Chris Barnes was so pissed off at Polish fans then... It was because of you..... Did you know that?
No.. ha ha ha... But they were less tired than some people at Metalmania where you have people from the first band to the last one and they must have been really tired...
Do you still have any problems with people who think that you are Satanist? We know that you are not a satanist band but some "journalists" know sometimes little about bands and their history..
Satanism is just another religion and I am not a religious person. I have no interest in religion. I read about them of course because I want to know what it is all about..
...But do you have any troubles because of that?
We had some problems in Germany after releasing "Ceremony of the opposites" album. Since then it was fine...
Don't you feel like you depend too much on electronic stuff? It once happened to you on Metalmania that you had problems with equipment...
Do not remind me about this. I of course remember that. I happened only once and it was then in Poland. I was sure that the show would be great. Everything was ok and then ....I felt really bad about it. I had to get really drunk after that ...
In the past you used just guitars and drums and with the era of new equipment it changes...
Yes, but it is quite a reliable stuff. Then we were in a rush and there was a band playing just after us. What the promoter said was that there was no more time. We could have played without the keyboards just with the drum machine but he said that "well. nooo..."
The sign on "Rebellion"...
Ying-yang...
...why did you use it and what does it mean for you?
That is interesting as a question. This is not a symbol of balance but a symbol of war because one gonna eat the other. If you are stuck between good and evil, black and white you will experience a kind of war. You cannot be in the middle, when nothing is clear. People do not like that. This is where I am standing now and I am somewhere in between in the middle. This is the turning point...
But you were clear with your music. You knew what you were doing. You were not in the middle..
On "Eternal" we weren't sure of what we wanted. We were trying new things but we were not sure about what to do. Recording that album was the weirdest feeling. We were kind of lost. We knew that we could do whatever we wanted. The question was what we wanted. We tried to experiment then and now it is more clear.
Your concert will start soon. On the track "On earth" you mention some cities. There is "Warszawa" among them. Did people sing along with you in Poznan?
They did it yesterday...
...then you should play in all those places now...
Actually in most of them we already played. We did not play in China, South America as I mentioned earlier. I do not think it is the right time to play in China, but we'll want to play in Moscow again. We played there in 1991 and never since then and that concert was great. We played there with Vader... eh.. was it Vader? Hm.. I am not sure if they were there but for sure there was the Polish band Magnus and another band called Smirnoff. I remember that..
You've got a really good memory....
Yeah.. I was not drank... ha ha ha
Vorph, it was great to meet you, I hope that todays concert is great and hope to see you soon in Poland
We'll be here maybe next year. I do not know... Anyway... enojoy our concert. Thank you...
