Suhrim
Wywiad przeprowadził Wouter Roemers
Being around since late 1989 Belgian old school death metallers Suhrim have been growing from strength to strength with every consecutive demo they cut. In 2001 the band released its "Unidentified Flying Bodyparts" debut and went on to consolidate its live reputation in the Benelux and beyond. June 2007 will see the release of Suhrim latest slab of horrifyingly groovy death metal, called "Happy Hour". Boasting a high quality production courtesy of Hertz Studio and producer duo Wojtek and Sławek Wiesławscy, Suhrim is finally ready to claim a place on the international metal map. Talking to at length is frontman/vocalist (and beer fanatic) Johan Antonissen about the band's recording sessions in Poland, the new album, the latest additions to the line-up and how the scene has changed over the last two decades.
Hi Johan! First off, I'd like to thank you for taking time to speak with me today.
Hello Wouter, and thanks for this interview.
When we last interviewed you here in August 2004, you had a new EP coming out on (now defunct) Italian label Pulsar Light Records. A lot has changed since then, it seems. Tell a bit about what has changed in Suhrim over the last year or two?
Well, where shall I start? We found a new label: Shiver Records, we have 3 new band members, recorded a new album. What has changed, I think, is that the hunger for the music and as a band we have grown stronger than ever before. We now create the music we always wanted and share the same goal and interests.
You recently closed an endorsement deal with Dean Guitars from the United States. Can you tell us about how that deal came around and what gear you're currently using?
We have a good endorsement deal with the Dean importer and distributor for Benelux MVH-instruments. We got in contact via buying a bass guitar, the man liked our music and wanted to close an endorsement deal with us, since then we play on Dean Guitars.
For the moment our guitar players play on these types of guitars: Dean Dime O Flame, Dean Vendetta 7-String, Dean ML Explorer guitar, Dean Vendetta 5-String Bass.
Prior to this new album, you have recorded an exclusive track for the fourth DeathMetal.be issued compilation "Face Your Underground". How was it recording at ShumCot Soundlab with up-and-coming producer Reinier Schenk?
It was very nice, there was a complete friendship mood around all the time. We learned a lot again and so did Reinier. The man knows what he is doing, and he does a good job. I can recommend his studio to every band with a lower budget who wants a decent sound and a truly dedicated sound engineer and producer. He will open a bigger studio this year, so check it out. I'm sure we'll hear more of his recordings in the nearby future.
This will be your second release for resurrected metal label Shiver Records. How has the cooperation worked out so far? Do you feel that they are putting enough efforts in promoting and raising awareness about their priority bands and their releases?
As far as our experience goes with them, and what I hear of other bands, yes they do. They make good promotion in magazines with ads every month concerning their store and signed bands. They make promotional posters to hang in stores, promotional stickers to spread amongst the fans, flyers, send promos to well known as lesser known fanzines/webzines all over the world. Last but not least, they give us and the signed bands a huge distribution all over the world, so the albums can be found in every good metal record store around. We also have a good contact with them, so for us this is the best label we had already.
"Happy Hour" is your third full length and the first one that was recorded at the famed Hertz Studio in Białystok, Poland. How was it working with producer duo Wojtek and Sławek Wiesławscy?
Extremely professional producers; which was good for us. They really get the best out of you, by pushing you to the edge – so, you really do the best you can. The result can be heard on the new album. I think they can expect us back for the recordings of our next full length.
How did the recording sessions for both 'The Prophecy' and the full length "Happy Hour" at the various studios differ in comparison to your earlier works done at Cavern Studios? Was the producers' regime more rigid, professional and strict?
Well, let me say this. Cavern is a good studio, but the only thing is they are not really into the metal thing anymore. They rather do big ass productions like musicals. I can't blame them, they make a living out of this for several years, and the big bucks are not to be found in metal. So, it was more a quick job: "done-move-on-let-the-next-one-come". Don't get me wrong, we learned a lot in the past years working with Cavern, and they really gave us some fine productions, but unfortunately not with the recording of our first full length album. So, working with both Reinier and the Wieslawscy brothers really was a huge and welcome difference.
This album also marks a chance in personnel. Since your last offering a new drummer, guitarist and bassist have entered the band. This leaves you and guitarist Timmy de Beukeleer as sole constant members. Why did the other guys decide to quit; job opportunities or artistic/internal differences?
Musical differences.
What differed about the creative process involved in your latest album, "Happy Hour" and previous Suhrim albums?
We worked together as a band more on this album, every musician had something to say. We all like it or we skipped the song and started a new one. It all came natural and it is made with joy.
How long did the writing take for the album?
Not that long, we already had 14 songs made before Jerre [Jeroen Vingerhoed, guitarist now in Axamenta, ed] and Paul [Brunson, drums, ed] left the band. We picked out some songs and good riffings, and made a bunch of new ones to let the new members also put in their influences. I think it took us two month in total to make the songs. But we had a lot of time before we entered the studio, so we could work on the album as a whole. Cover art lay-out, lyrics, musical arrangements, etc - without a rush and a real close by deadline. All is well thought about.
Could you provide us with some hints of how the new album compares to your previous efforts?
It is more varied, still good old school death metal, but with more influences of styles we all like. We also went way back to our punk and crust roots, which you can hear in some songs. It brings a new kind of aggression in Suhrim's music. For me, this is the real follow-up of our first album "Unidentified Flying Bodyparts" and it shows what Suhrim is all about anno 2007.
Is there a particular song that you prefer that you feel really stands out on the new album?
Not really. I like the whole album just because it is so diverse in songs, which makes it an easy listening album for me. I can listen to it until the end.
What lies behind the title of the new album, "Happy Hour", and how does the title relate to the cover?
Basically, the end of all your misery, the hour you die. You have no more worries and finally find the rest you looked for. So knowing this, the cover speaks for itself.
"Happy Hour" is also the first album to feature digital artwork. When we interviewed you the last time, I remember you saying you weren't too fond of digital designs. What was the deciding factor to work with the great Carlos Holmberg?
Indeed, I wasn't, but also an old fart has to give in once in a while. We felt "Happy Hour" would bring us a big step forward, so we decided to make it all complete. We thought about a concept for the artwork, and started to look around on the net for artists. I contacted a lot of them asking prices and see what they thought of the whole concept. Keep in mind, it were also artists who still practise the traditional way of cover art drawing / painting. All of them gave us their offers, but Carlos answered with the complete cover art for "Happy Hour" almost finished, he was excited about the concept and started already. We were amazed by what he made and decided to work further with him. We are really pleased with the end result, it still looks like a real drawing but is done digital, a mix of both worlds. He did a real great job.
In retrospect, would you have taken the step earlier in your career to record outside of Belgium, if you have had the chance and budget?
For sure, only I'm glad we did it only now. We are much more experienced in songwriting, making arrangements, producing sound. We know now how to be prepared the best before entering a studio. All this we had to learn the hard way. In my opinion, it is better to do it in a less professional studio first, and learn about the whole process, to achieve a certain goal which you have in mind. I must say, it pleases me it worked out just the way we liked it this time for us.
What has changed about how you write new material since starting out with Suhrim back in the late eighties; the inspirational sources, the process, the intentions, the abilities?
First of all, we are older now than back then. That shows in writing songs and lyrics, as well in musicianship. It al goes more natural, as I stated in a previous question above, smooth and without to much of troubles, we look to things in another perspective, but I think that's normal. The inspiration never stops; look at the news, there will always be something to write about, things that make you angry, those things give inspiration, and actually it gives you that extra shot of adrenaline to write songs. As long there is war, misery or other stupid human behaviour on this planet, the source for good Suhrim songs will never dry out.
In 1995 you contributed the track 'Lord Of Dreams' to the "Sometimes Death Is Better" compilation, released by Shiver Records. Today, some ten years later, you are releasing the track in a re-recorded version through the same label. Were the tracks 'Lord Of Dreams' and 'Cold Steel Love Affair (from the 1999 demo "Life Sucks and Then You Die") considered lost classics and/or fan favourites over the years?
Sort of, yeah. We consider them as being good songs, no matter how old they are. They are timeless, they may be written 12 and 8 year old, they still kick ass. We never recorded these songs with a real drummer, so we thought it would be nice to record them again with Kevin and play them live again; 'Lord Of Dreams' we play live already for some time now, so why not record it again? It is also to show how the band was in 3 different periods over the years. Both songs fit well on the new album.
The last years has seen an incredible resurgence of old school death metal with bands like Bloodbath, Chaosbreed, Death Breath, Murder Squad, Souldevourer, etc. How has this impacted Suhrim – are more people interested in the band, now that the genre is rising in popularity again?
I don't know if it is because of the revival of old school death metal that we get more and more fans. We only notice that the crowd gets bigger and a lot of young kids are in there. They look fanatic after older releases, it's cool to see the scene is alive and kicking. It seems people finally found us. I don't complain at all, of course, but we always had a steady strong fanbase since the early beginning of Suhrim.
Despite being around for nearly two decades, Suhrim is still playing the majority of its shows in youth clubs and small venues with rather unknown, unimportant acts. Isn't it frustrating to still have to do that after all these years, you literally kicked open all the doors and paved the way for the acts that are now supporting you?
No, not at all! For us, it's always cool to discover new and promising bands, and the size of the venue does not matter to us at all. If the crowd has fun and we have fun, it does not matter if there are 25 people in a small pub crammed as sardines, or on a festival with a few 1000 people going nuts. It's all about fun, and if you don't have fun on a small stage, you will also have no fun on a big stage. Then, I think, it's better to stop playing music and do something else.
In 2004 you toured Europe with Portugal Sacred Sin, 2005 saw you on the road with reunited Polish death/grind combo Dead Infection and 2006 you were supposed to hit the road with fellow Belgian technical death metal unit Prejudice - but that one fell through. I guess it's safe to assume that you'll do a European tour this year to support the new album?
Well, on the point of touring; we are saving up some money now because the studio cost us some, and we have to recover that first. With a tour you are not exactly making money, it is the best promotion you can have, but we rather go with some financial back-up a year later then making debts now. We love touring, but it costs money - a lot of it.
In 2005 you played in Algeria with local metal heroes Litham. How was that and how is, if any, the metal scene over there?
It was amazing! The first day we had 150 paying visitors, the second show it was 850 paying visitors going completely nuts. You have there long haired guys, girls, young kids and old farts which come to the shows. They have a small 1500 metal heads but still counting strong metal scene, very dedicated fans, lots of bands, from hard rock to death, black and grind. They are completely freaks on the music, the more brutal the better. We were the first Western metal band that played there, it was a cool experience, one to remember.
I was surprised that you only played at the Conquer Festival in Poland and the Steel Warriors Rebellion Festival in Portugal, so far. Festivals as Fuck the Commerce, Obscene Extreme, etc usually attract a rabid crowd for all things death metal. Any plans to invade these festivals at some point?
We are always in to play on fests like this. The point is, it is not as easy as it looks to get on their programming. But I think with the new album, some more doors will go open, we'll see what the future brings.
Couple of years ago it was stated you'd stop playing bass due to a serious back injury. You soldiered on for a couple of years. Now, it has finally come to the breaking point and you underwent surgery recently. How are you handling yourself on stage – for the first time without your trusty bass guitar?
Actually, I do just fine. I have more freedom of movement now than before. I can interact even more with the audience, and bang my head on parts where it was almost impossible for me to do before. It was a hard decision to take for me personally, but the right one. If I want to be able to walk, and use my arms for the rest of my life. This kind of injury is to be taken very seriously, if you see I got surgery twice, you start thinking and put your priorities. At least the most important is that I'm still able to do vocals and bang my head off, so I'm happy.
As far as (international) touring is concerned; is there already something you can confirm at this point? Will the label put its foot down and put you on a number of important festivals to promote this new album?
A real tour most likely will not happen this year. We will do separate live shows outside of Belgium. The label supports us fine at this point, we will play an album release show at the Graspop Metal Meeting this year, and a show in Biebob with their help. If there is an interesting gig and they ask the label for bands; they let the bands know. I think they do well on this point.
About music in general, what do you guys listen to when on tour, or while at home, etc.? Further, what are some new bands that you enjoy, if any? Is there anything new that you see spewing forth from the underground?
We listen to all kinds of music, most of it metal. Of course, a lot of old bands. The new bands we like, I don't know there are so many. The underground is stronger than ever! I must say, I do miss the good old tape trading, but now you have Internet where you can find so much new stuff. There is a lot of promising talent out there.
What drives you to keep doing your music?
The love for music, and the fun in what we are doing, so I don't see any point to quit.
Concluding, thanks a lot for doing this interview with us. Closing statement is yours to make.
Thanks again for this refreshing interview and the support! Thank you for reading this and giving us a hell of a good time on stage.
Booking: johan.suhrim@telenet.be
Site: www.suhrim.be
