Corpus Mortale
Wywiad przeprowadził Wouter Roemers
That there is more death metal in Denmark than established acts as Exmortem and Panzerchrist is once again proven by "A New Species of Deviant", the second album by Copenhagen-based Corpus Mortale. This sophomore release showed a more mature, evolved and technically accomplished unit taking their classic European sound one step further. When the chance arose to talk with vocalist/bassist Martin Rosendahl about the new album, their deal with Dutch quality label Neurotic Records, his time in the legendary Iniquity and the future plans of Corpus Mortale no time was wasted to set up an interview.Hi, how are you? What's the latest news about you and Corpus Mortale these days?
I'm fine, thank you... As usual there's a lot of shit happening these days. Both good and bad!
Let's start with the bad stuff....After our shows in Greece in May this year Nicholas [Maschøln, drums] decided to leave the band. The reason for his decision was that he had lost interest in death metal. This and the fact that his second child is on the way he would like to focus more on his family. It's a damn shame if you ask me but of course we accept and support his choice. Since Nick was a pretty good drummer we've had a lot of trouble finding his replacement. That means we don't have a drummer at the moment. We will be able to play live shows though as Morten Loewe (The Arcane Order, Scarve, Submission, The Cleansing) has agreed to help us out until we find the right guy. The good news must be that our second album finally came out and this time it will be properly distributed in USA, Canada and a lot of new territories where the debut never came out. Besides that our management is currently planning a 30 date tour in USA and Canada. It's supposed to be around September/October 2008 and we are, of course, very excited about that.
Your new album "A New Species of Deviant" has just been released, are you happy with the result?
Absolutely. There was a lot of bullshit with the recording for the debut but this time we did everything ourselves, so we had 100% control of every aspect of the recording. We also had unlimited time for the tracking so we got everything just the way we wanted them. I think that next time we'll do a combination. Maybe record the drums in a professional studio, record the guitars, bass and vocals at the studio - then go back to the studio for the mixing. It is always good to have a second opinion for the mix.
Tell us a little about your new album and the response you have had. What is the idea behind it?
It's a pure death metal album featuring ten songs with a running time of 40 minutes! What can I say?! The first album was almost like a demo compilation rather than an album. So with this one we tried to put more focus on making it a "whole"... I think the blend we came up with works quite fine. Its way better structured than the debut and almost every aspect of the music has been improved. The idea was simply to make an album that was better than the first - very simple!!! We will do our best to top this one with the next album as well. We have only seen a few reviews so far but everybody seems to really like it. Of course, there is the usual originality critique but we're used to that by now!
In what way do you feel that you have improved since the last album?
As I mentioned earlier, everything! Better riffs, better structure, better production, better artwork, a bit faster, maybe even a bit slower too, more melodic yet more brutal... no compromise as usual. The songs also fit each other better than on the debut which was basically a "best of..." cd as most of the songs was already recorded and releases as demo versions.
Is there a main man in the band - someone who writes the lyrics, comes up with the main concept, arrangements and directs the ongoing of things, or is it all teamwork?
Well, I guess you can call me the boss, but it's not like I'm a dictator. I take care of all the business stuff, but no decision is made without everyone's approval. Roar [Christoffersen, guitars] and Brian [Eriksen, guitars] has been my best friends for more than 10 years, so we are very close. When we write songs everybody are equal. We all write songs and most songs are written by at least 2 members. On the record I wrote 30%. So did Roar and Mads [Haarlov, session guitarist] and Brian wrote the last 10%. I've always written all the lyrics and titles. It is way easier to remember and sing lyrics you've written yourself and as I play the bass too it is much easier if I take care of that part myself.
How did the writing of the album proceed?
It was a long and tough journey but in the end also fun and satisfying. We started writing in the summer of 2004 when we came back in the rehearsal room after the tour and all the gigs for "Lewd...". I think we had the last song for the album ready in late December / January 2006. That was 2 months before we started recording drums for "Species...". It took way more time than we had expected mainly due to problems with members and a sometimes busy gig schedule. Brian got into some trouble and had to leave the band. He was replaced by Mads Hårløv. When we finally got back at writing songs Mads suddenly left. That really slowed things down. In the end we got Brian back in the ranks and this time it's for good. So there won't pass 4 years before the next one is out! That's a promise.
I remember you did a video for ‘Mass Funeral Pyre' from your debut "With Lewd Demeanour". Is there also going to be a promotional video accompanying this new album?
We've talked about it, but we need some cash to do it and we are a bit broke until we get out on the road again. I don't think we'll go for a staged video this time, but rather a live-clip show. It's simple but it gets the job done. We figured it was the best plan, that way people all over the world can get a glimpse of what to expect of a live show with Corpus Mortale.
The band has had a lot of line-up changes, particularly on the guitars. What is the reason for this, and do you find it hard to find the right person each time?
We only had 5 different guitar players in almost 15 years... that's pretty good, I think! No, I guess they didn't have the same level of ambition as the rest of us at the given time. Morten [Jensen] and Søren [Jensen] both left in '99 because they thought we were too busy... [Jens] Lee was taking a music education, so he didn't have the time that was needed to play with us. Mads has his own company and a big family that take up most of his time so that was his reason. Brian left because of some personal shit which has now been solved and is now back with us for good.
Which bands had a strong impact on your music and writing? Personally speaking, what comes to mind first is Morbid Angel...
I can't speak for the other guys but my favourite death metal bands are: Carcass (my absolute favourite band!!!), Suffocation, Morbid Angel, Vader, old Entombed and tons of other shit. We are a bunch of old fuckers so we're mostly inspired by the early 90'ies stuff. But we all listen to a lot of different stuff, so we're not just inspired or influenced by death metal bands exclusively.
The lyrics deal mostly with serial killers and related subjects. Where does this particular fascination originate from?
Actually, it was my mother who got me into it! She's a really big horror/killer fan and has a huge collection of both fiction and non-fiction literature and movies. I remember when I was a kid and my mom would tell me stories about Gein, Bundy and such. Since then I have always been fascinated by serial killers or deviants in general. Now I own a shit load of books and video biographies on the subject myself. I collect everything I can get my hands on.
You are one of several Danish bands signed to Neurotic Records. Are you happy with their work so far?
Only Panzerchrist are also from Denmark. Anyway, we are pretty satisfied by the things they've done so far! They handled the debut very nice and so far they have been pretty fast with this new one too. Even better is that the distribution is now way better than with our debut album. In July Neurotic made a distribution deal with US based Willowtip Records which have a really professional business going. This means that our music will be much easier to come by in the States and Canada!
In 1998 the majority of Corpus Mortale appeared on the Iniquity stopgap EP "The Hidden Lore". Tell us something about that period in time. Iniquity was quite a legendary death metal band and a monument in the Danish scene.
It was a nice period of my life. We had just recorded our second demo with Corpus Mortale when Brian Petrowsky contacted me asking if I would like to play bass in Iniquity. I was a little hesitant as I didn't feel like I was skilled enough for their music. In the end I agreed to go to an audition. The audition went good and I was hired. A lot of shit happened in the 2 years I was in the band, mostly good things. A highlight to mention was the support gig of the mighty Death. I must admit that I have a hard time to understand why Iniquity suddenly gets a lot of attention. Because when we/they still existed nobody really cared. It seems like Iniquity is way more popular now than they ever was in the old days. But I guess the music was hard to come by back then. So now in these days of the Internet people are finally realizing what they have been missing!
Are there any particular lessons you learned while in Iniquity? Anything you wish not to repeat again with Corpus Mortale?
Don't have a heroin addict in your band! It will NEVER work out! Hahaha... I guess I only got positive things out of it. When I joined I wasn't very skilled at the bass - I was kind of unexperienced. Iniquity gave me a lot of shit to work with. Inspiration, contacts etc. all kinds of shit!
With the many classic reunions (Atheist, At the Gates, Carcass, etc) around these days - is there any chance/possibility for Iniquity to reunite and one last festival/club tour?
I don't think Iniquity will be reunited! The key members are all too busy with other stuff to do it over again! We have talked about doing a show or two but if it gets to that we will most likely only play in Denmark.
What do you think about the metal scene in Denmark? Are there any new bands you think should be mentioned?
I haven't seen too many new Danish bands lately that really impressed me! But we have a pretty stable amount of good DM bands these days. Only Exmortem, The Cleansing, Spectral Mortuary, Sacrificial, Dawn of Demise, Downlord, Drab and SlowDeathFactory are worth mentioning.
What are your plans and goals for the nearest future?
As mentioned before we are currently planning a tour in USA & Canada. We're also planning to play a couple of tours in Europe as well. So expect a lot of live action next year. We will also try to find a worthy replacement for Nicholas and finally write a new album, so it won't take 4 years before the new album is ready.
What do you do when not playing brutal death metal?
I just finished a period of studying and I'm currently looking for a job. Roar works as an electronics engineer and Brian works in the construction business. We also have a couple of project bands. Roar and me have a rock'n'roll metal band and Brian has another death metal band too.
Why do you think your band have survived for over +10 years, where other bands have since broken up?
I think there are two reasons. The first is that I'm incredibly stubborn and I just won't quit whatever gets in the way. So Corpus Mortale won't die until I get to old to play death metal.
The second reason is that we are so close as friends. I've been playing music with Roar since 1992 and with Brian since 1996, so we know each other almost 100%.
Thanks for the interview. Any final words for your fans?
Thank you for giving us this space! And thanks to all the fans who didn't give up on us since the debut. We owe you all... check out our website or our MySpace profile for news, pictures, videos and music. Hopefully we'll see you on the road in 2008!!!
Booking: booking@corpusmortale.com
Site: www.corpusmortale.com
