Devious
Wywiad przeprowadził Wouter Roemers
Dutch technical death metallers Devious debuted strong with their "Acts Of Rage" album in 2003. Now, some four years later, boasting a new vocalist, new label and an impressive new album Devious are going from strength to strength. Just like on their debut Devious combine the best of the American and European scenes in a sound all their own. Masterful Magazine found it time to catch up founding member and drummer Frank Schilperoort to talk about the band's new album, their promising record deal with the ambitious label Deity Down Records and their plans for the future.
What is presently going on with the band? What new things are happening for Devious right now?
Right now we are focussing on the promotion of "Domain". Deity Down Records is working hard to arrange as many reviews, interviews and advertisements as possible. We, on the other hand, try to be on the road as much as we can. One of the best ways to promote your music is to get as many gigs in as many different locations as you can and that's what we're doing right now. We have some club shows and festivals planned and negotiations are ongoing with a major Dutch metal festival. After the release of "Domain", we've had a couple of important gigs, including the Effenaar show with Cannibal Corpse.
Your previous album "Acts Of Rage" was a great success by critics and fans. Did this put some pressure on you when writing/recording for this new album?
I think every band would feel some pressure with writing new material when a previous album was received so well, and Devious is no exception. We have really thought through what improvements we would have to make in song writing. Most clues we picked up during live shows. We were able to analyze what the audience liked and disliked about the songs on "Acts of Rage". With that knowledge we started to write and the result, in form of "Domain", is pretty satisfying.
Musically, Devious has always been the kind of band with a lot of diversity, with this new release being no exception. I like the balance that the band has between the intensity and the aggression but with an emphasis on technique and melody. How difficult is it to find that balance?
In the "Acts of Rage" era, aggression, diversity and also technique were main focus. We put a large number of very diverse riffs in one song. Because of that, the songs were interesting for us to play and fans can play the CD over and over again and discover new details every time. "Domain" also contains a lot of variety, but we've chosen to use more melodic parts and to supply the songs with better structures. As a result, every song has its own characteristics. "Domain" is also more intense than "Acts". We've managed to find a good balance between those ingredients by approaching the songs from a listener's perspective and adapt the structures where needed.
"Domain" is a dense affair that is a lot faster, groove oriented and considerably more technical in comparison to your stunning debut. Would you agree?
I mostly agree with your statement, especially when you say that "Domain" is more groove oriented. One of the things we thought about during the writing is how to get more heads banging and the answer is to be groovy as hell. (Illdisposed is a great example of a band that focuses on groove and you can see the result when you visit one of their shows.) The addition of all this groove, however, does not mean that "Domain" has become "the next Obituary album" if you know what I mean. In fact, you're absolutely right when you say "Domain" is a lot faster than "Acts of Rage". We've just managed to find a better balance between groove and brutality. The technical part automatically arises when you try to create riffs that are interesting enough to be heard over and over again. Adding technique was not a scope, it was a requirement that was necessary for us to write an album that had to be interesting, both in its whole and in individual songs, and even in individual guitar riffs and melodies.
Another notably new face behind the microphone is vocalist/frontman Coen, who is the successor to Arnold Oudemiddendorp. Your working relationship with Oudemiddendorp was troublesome in later stages, I recall vividly. How has Coen added to the new repertoire?
After Arnold's departure, we immediately started a campaign in search of a new throat. This resulted in a lot of emails from applicants. After some auditions, we unanimously chose Coen. He was the best candidate for Devious, as well in his voice as in his personality. And he was the only one who knew all the songs for his audition by heart, haha.
How long have you been preparing "Domain" including the song-writing process?
After the release of "Acts of Rage", we immediately continued to work on new ideas. The songs for "Domain" have been written in a time span of about two years. This gave us enough time to find out what would work in a song and what wouldn't. Playing live was, as I mentioned before, a good test situation. Hence, every song on "Domain" has been through at least a couple of changes before it was caught on hard disk, with only a few exceptions.
Why did you choose to integrate keyboards into the sound?
The keyboards and synthesizers add a certain fullness to the album. We used them to add just a little bit extra to the songs and to the sound, to create a sort of carpet on which the guitar riffs stand just a bit more comfortable than on a concrete floor. The keys could be omitted with no severe consequences, just as well as you could leave the sugar coating off a cake. It's a matter of completion.
Is there a particular song that you prefer that you feel really stands out on the new album?
My personal favourite is 'Room 302'. It hits you in the face, it catches you if you coincidently walk by, it makes you bang your head. I could play and listen to the song like it were not my own and never get bored by it.
Who is mostly responsible for the song-writing?
Guido (guitar) deserves most of the credits for song writing. He is responsible for about 90% of the guitar riffs. Wouter and Sven created the other tenth. As for putting the songs together, we've all made our contribution. Lyrically, Coen is the main man. With the exception of two-and-a-half songs (of which I wrote the lyrics for two, and one I did in collaboration with Coen), he has written all the lyrics. He has proved himself to have a great sense of rhythm and groove, which allowed him to create suitable and catchy vocal patterns for the relatively complex songs that "Domain" contains.
Give us a few details about "Domain" recordings.
The drums are recorded at the Ground Zero Studios by Pascal Altena, where we've also recorded everything for the "Acts of Rage" album. The vocals were also recorded at GZ.
As for the guitars, we decided to use a different approach. The guitars and bass were recorded at Guido's place (with the use of some professional equipment from Ground Zero and engineer Frank Klein Douwel). This was a great way to work, as there is considerably less time pressure. When recording in a studio, the clock is always ticking and with the seconds the money also ticks away. Not having this pressure, we were able to give as much attention to every detail that was necessary.
Unfortunately, I do not have any lyrics in front of me, so I would like to tell us a few words about the themes you treat in "Domain".
Some of Coen's lyrics reflect his vision on the world. He observes mankind and its environment from a certain distance and draws his conclusions. For example, 'Days of Disorder' and 'Third World Suicide' are about the demise of nature and mankind.
Other lyrics on "Domain" handle various aspects of horror stories (from Japanese style, honour-revenge-sacrifice themes to old school zombie slashers). 'Shibito' is about the elders of a village that return to their town after their people were banned by outsiders. They leave no intruder alive and so regain the territory that has for ages belonged to them and their forefathers. 'Incantation of the Earthbound', which I wrote, is about the attempt to invert reality by those who are not content with the way things are in life. They try to bring the world back in a state they think would have been much more to their satisfaction, but in the end they only make things worse. Overall, the lyrics on "Domain" have both a serious and a fictional side (with a little ironic humour in the last track).
Given that it had been four years since you had done your debut album, was there a sense that Devious had to come back with a bang with this record, while you were writing and recording it?
Yes, we realized that we could not come back with an album that is "just ok" after such a long period. On the other hand, if the period would have been shorter, we would also have tried to come back with a bang. There is always the urge to display growth and improvement after each record.
What's your take on the album now that it is completed and released? Anything specific that you guys picked up in retrospect and are using to put together and improve upon with new material?
Commercially spoken that is not a really favourable question for us, seen that we still have to enthuse people to buy "Domain", haha. Anyway, on the next album we will also try to show growth and improvement. What the differences with "Domain" will be we don't know, it depends on our development in the near future. Fact is that we're not afraid to experiment, approach things different and be renewing. You can definitely expect an album with cojones.
You were previously under contract with the Spitzenburg label. Was there a specific reason why you decided to terminate the cooperation? How did the deal with Deity Down Records came into play?
The reason for the termination of our cooperation with Spitzenburg, is that the label ceased to exist. It was the time when the downloading and things like that bankrupted a lot of record labels. Reality for us was that we had to find a new label to release "Domain" (and hopefully some more successors). We recorded it first and then we began our search for a new record label. In this search we discovered the benefits of modern times; we came across Deity Down Records on MySpace, dropped some lines and negotiations were on.
How are Deity Down Records accommodating to the band's needs?
Deity Down Records is a great company to work with. I said work with, because it really feels like a collaboration instead of us working for them or vice versa. As I said before, Deity is doing everything that lies in their power to promote "Domain". We exchange updates a few times a week, which makes it a very transparent way of doing business. DDR shows to be sincerely interested in the band, as they visit almost every Devious show that lies within their travelling range.
Deity Down Records is still a very small label. Tell us in a few words about its profile and your co-operation with them at this point. Are you satisfied with the promotion/support of your label is able to offer this release?
The label is small, but is also very eager to expand. Their range of promotion grows everyday, so "Domain" keeps showing up in different magazines and websites all over the world. Of course, they cannot buy page sized advertisements or MTV commercials (well, we got that one for free, haha), but the name Devious keeps showing up and if this development continues, we'll be more than satisfied. Deity Down Records is also busy working on deals to release "Domain" in several countries in Europe and the U.S. as well.
Couple of months ago you completed a successful European tour with Brazilian death metal behemoths Krisiun and a short while ago you did two high profile gigs with US death metal veterans Cannibal Corpse. Tell us about your experiences on both these events. Are there any plans to hit some more European stages in support of your latest album?
The tour with Krisiun has been a good experience for us. We had never played anywhere else than in The Netherlands and Germany. Playing in Eastern Europe was great, the crowd really goes wild over there and they treat you with a certain respect that was new for us. It has also been tough, though. We toured in a Volkswagen Van with the whole band and equipment and we slept in small, crappy hotels. But hey, that's rock and roll, isn't it? Those things don't stop us when were given such an opportunity. I believe we've made a lot of new fans over there!
We only did one show with Cannibal Corpse, we couldn't do the second show because of an error in communication between the tour management and the venue or something like that. The show we did in Effenaar was a success though, and it was an honour to warm up the crowd for one of the greatest death metal bands on the planet.
We do have some European plans for the future. Three dates in Poland are confirmed for next June, and next September we're going to do a little tour in Eastern Europe again, this time as headliner.
Can you tell us what Devious has planned for the remainder of the year?
First and foremost we are trying to do as many gigs as possible and promote "Domain". Furthermore, we are already writing new material for the successor of "Domain". This time you won't have to wait four years for the next Devious album.
We are also working on a new video for the song 'Boundless Domain' which you can expect to find online in a short notice.
Thanks a lot for your time. I would like to extend my praise for a killer second album. Last words are up to you, Frank.
Thank you very much for having me, it's been a pleasure!
Booking: deviousbookings@home.nl
Site: www.devious.nl
