Crusader
Wywiad przeprowadził Wouter Roemers
Belgian stalwarts Crusader have been doing their own sort of crusade for almost a decade now. Armed to the teeth with catchy, well-written epic heavy metal in the vein of (early) Iron Maiden and Judas Priest this Belgian unit has quickly gathered a dedicated following, nationally as well as internationally. With their third album "Skin Clad" to be released worldwide in April 2007 we caught up with guitarist and main composer Filip Lasseel to talk about the band's latest album, their new record deal, their fascination for medieval history and how traditional heavy metal is currently faring in the Belgian underground scene.
First of all, what are you up to right now?
Getting our new drummer (Luc Seeuws) ready for his first Crusader-gig on 17th March, and organising a decent release party for "Skin Clad" at OJC Kompas in Sint-Niklaas on 12th May (free entrance).
What is presently going on with the band? What new things are happening for Crusader right now?
Not much really. We're waiting for the new CD to come out, and we're preparing for the upcoming shows. The last few months have been really hectic and stressful, so we're taking it a bit easy at the moment.
Since your last album in 2003, Crusader underwent a number of significant line-up changes, specifically 2005 proved to be a very turbulent year. Can you tell us a bit about the new additions to the band's ranks?
Toshi: A very talented guitar player, who's the main reason why the current Crusader songs are far more 'challenging' than before. He's irreplaceable, to say the least. He works as a technical support manager for a Japanese company (Sato) here in Belgium.
Wim: The keyboard player. Also, a very skilled musician with nine years of classical training. He's still a student and he lives life to the fullest (as far as his parents allow him).
Luc: Our very new drummer (since a few weeks). He's precisely the kind of drummer we've been looking for all along. Tight, consistent and powerful. He has many years of experience in former bands like SOULSTEELER and PATRIARCH. He's also the only family man in the band (wife + kids).
I understand that the situation with Painkiller Records wasn't the best for any band. In the end, you released the "Fools" album independently. What exactly went wrong with the deal?
The Painkiller-dude disappeared from the face of the earth. Nobody knows what the problem was. It is said that it was a financial thing, though. After we'd released the album ourselves, he called a couple of times, threatening with legal action, if we didn't allow him to (re)release "Fools" after all. We weren't impressed, so we just ignored that shithead. Never heard of him again…
"Skin Clad" comes to us by way of the resurrected Shiver Records. How has the label been accommodating the band's needs?
Shiver takes care of the pressing- and printing process, the worldwide promotion (16 countries) and of course the distribution of the album to each of these countries.
How long did the writing take for the album?
Two years, more or less. But I must say that in those two years I wrote about 20 songs. Only 10 will appear on "Skin Clad". The other 10 songs are still dormant on my hard drive.
What differed about the creative process involved in your latest album, "Skin Clad" and previous two Crusader albums?
Most importantly, the fact that I started using Cubase on my computer to create the songs, as in earlier days I had to memorize and write down everything I came up with. Every new song is then converted to MIDI and mailed to all band members, who can each import that midi file into Guitar Pro and start practicing their specific track. This way we save lots of time, and learning new songs now mainly happen at home.
Is there a particular song that you prefer that you feel really stands out on the new album?
I think 'Casualty' may be the most popular song to most people. A bit like 'Angus' on "Fools", but there are several songs that stand out, each for a different reason:
'Leprechauns': Because it sounds very playful with its typical folky/Irish character.
'My Mother, My Meadow' and 'Hey You': Because they're rather typical power metal songs, instead of the traditional heavy metal tunes one would expect from Crusader.
'The Confession - Part I': For the obvious reason.
'My Father, My Friend' and 'The Catcher': Because of the acoustic guitar parts. Something Crusader has never done in the past
Why exactly did the band opt to integrate a keyboard into their sound?
To create some extra possibilities. A new challenge, especially for the composer (me).
The new album "Skin Clad" moves away from the prior two albums historical influenced lyrics. Why was that move deemed necessary exactly, you think?
Frankly, I was sick and tired of writing about knights and battles. I wanted these lyrics to come straight from the heart and actually mean something to me. Most songs are written to people that are/were very important to me, or that made an impact on my life. Both my parents, my brother (the song 'My Brother, My Blood' is not included on this album because of a mishap in the studio), Toshi, Claudia (my spouse), … Songs like 'The Catcher' and 'The Confession I & II' are successors of 'Carnival', which are all about child abuse, something we've taken close to our hearts. Every Crusader album will at least contain one or two songs about this heartbreaking topic.
This, by the way, explains the album title. SkinClad = covered with skin. The knight becomes human and tells stories from the heart instead of from the sword. Or else: Don't raise a sword if you don't know how to bleed …
The previous two records sometimes were criticized for their production values. Where was the album recorded, and are you satisfied with the sound? How long were you in the studio?
Quick lesson: a band is NEVER satisfied. First of all, the sound of an album more ore less goes hand in hand with the band's available budget. With a couple of students in the band, we were quite limited in that area. Don't expect a smooth and polished production. It sounds rather raw and greasy. Some will like it, others may not. It's very relative and personal. For the last few months, all we've heard is this album. We're not even capable of forming a decent opinion ourselves anymore. We just hope you all like it. Tip: the more you drink, the better it sounds. Maybe Crusader should hand out a free six pack to every person who buys a CD.
How long were you in the studio?
Recording: 3 weeks. Editing, mixing and mastering: almost 2 months.
Your first album, "This Mortal Flesh" mentioned the numbers 1096-1102 on it, a period widely referred to as the First Crusade. "Fools", the second album, mentioned 1147-1149, which is regarded as the Second Crusade. My promo didn't mention any dates or did I completely oversee it this time around?
You probably oversaw this. "Skin Clad" shows the dates 1189 - 1192. Take a guess … right, the third crusade.
The band is obviously very inspired by the likes of medieval history, as your vocalist often has a medieval cross painted on his chest and ancient flags and weaponry are set up on stage. Where does this fascination with that certain historical period derive from?
Mostly from our bass player, Mark, but also from movies, books and comics.
Now that we're on the subject of medieval history; I guess you have ever heard about the war in Poland and the famous battles between Polish knights and crusader-friars (Convent of St. Mary Virgin) in the 15th century?
I must say that I haven't, but I'm sure that our bass player, Mark, could bore us to death with it .
Those weapons the band sets up on stage belong to bassist Mark Theunssens, who used to be into medieval battle re-enactment, if I'm not mistaken. Tell us something about that.
Just like a band, they would do shows, demonstrating actual medieval skills, food preparation and battles/duels. Mark owns a lot more than just a few swords and axes. He has a real medieval tent, especially made in England; medieval furniture (hand made) in his house; all kinds of helmets and body armour; chain mails and a lot of clothing. All very expensive shit. He's not a rich dude, but he's so passionate about it that he saves up to buy this stuff.
On your website there's a very clear disclaimer about the band not forwarding any kind of religious or political message. In prior interviews it has been stated that people easily connect, f. i. the flag custom with certain political visions/ideas. I remember Belgian black metal pioneers Ancient Rites going through the same. Has Crusader often been a victim of that?
Yes. We were once asked to do a show in Brussels, but we could only play there if we left our flag at home. It was a custom that David waved a Flemish Lion flag during the song 'Beast From the South'. That song is about the Flemish victory over the French invader. Apparently, waving a Flemish Lion flag is an act of racism these days, so we are no longer allowed to celebrate the "Battle of the Golden Spurs". Quite sad, isn't it?
I guess the band's is on its own crusade in a way. Besides veteran bands like Double Diamond, Killer and Witchsmeller Pursuivant, there's isn't really a lot of traditional heavy metal to be found in the Belgian underground. Any thoughts or comments on why that is?
To many youngsters these days, heavy metal is considered to be metal for women or for old farts (like me). They're all rather "brutal" or "krieg". I respect every kind of metal, so I don't really have a problem with that. Most youngsters like Crusader. They just don't want to play that kind of metal themselves.
Evolution in music styles is a necessity. Otherwise the bands would just become each other's reincarnations. I too listen to death metal now and then. It's always interesting to hear another approach, expressing different emotions and thoughts.
You've got quite a wide range of high quality merchandising - T-Shirts, caps, pins etc. Do you finance production of all this stuff on your own? How are the sales for these things going?
We finance this stuff with the earnings of this stuff. The more t-shirts we sell, the sooner we will launch a new one. We must say that merchandise sales have always been pretty good. Especially the longsleeves with the crosses are very popular.
Filip, you used to be very involved with the BMU (Belgian Metal Underground) project. Exactly why did you decide to throw in the towel? Was it due the arrival of new portals like DeathMetal.be?
DeathMetal.be is more than just another portal. BMU has been working together with DeathMetal.be for several years now. So, no need to have two different websites. I haven't thrown in the towel just yet, though. There's still our annual BMU FEST in the summer, during the "Gentse Feesten".
Any last comments to all the Polish die-hard Crusader fans out there?
Keep believing in us. Who knows … maybe one day Crusader will be playing in some Polish clubs. We've always felt that a lot of support came from Poland, so I for one am looking forward to meeting some of you guys.
Info/booking: crusader@telenet.be
Site: crusader.heavymetal.be
