Manifest
Wywiad przeprowadził Wouter RoemersNorway is a mystical place for metal. From its highly controversial and absurdly violent black metal scene of the early 1990's to its devastatingly brutal death metal scene, Norway is a universe in itself. For the last couple of years bone-breaking thrash metal is making a revival in Scandinavia with Blood Tsunami and Manifest as its most visible bands. Recently, Trondheim-based noise-thrashers Manifest released their latest slab of groove filled metal through Morningstar Records. Masterful Magazine had the chance to talk to Manifest guitarist Ole Marius Lamerud about the influences of their new album, their deal with Morningstar Records and how popular thrash metal is in Norway these days.First off, I'd like to thank you for taking time to speak with me today. Since this is your first time on Masterful Magazine, would you care to introduce Manifest to our readers. The sort of brief history, kind of thing, you know?
No problemo! I formed Manifest together with Alessandro, our drummer, in 2000. We knew each other from about two years earlier when we went to school together. Since we both liked a lot of the same bands: Meshuggah, Sepultura, Machine Head, Slayer and bands like that, we decided to form a band together. We got together a line-up and started making songs and playing gigs. Our debut album "Half Past Violence" was released on Edgerunner Music in June 2005. It took us five years to get our first album out... that might seem like a lot of time, but among other time-consuming things, we really struggled a lot to get a record deal. In December 2007, our second record "Hedonism" was released in Norway followed by a wider European release in February 2008. "Hedonism" was released by Morningstar Records and is out now.
So, Manifest... The band didn't happen to get its name from the song of Sepultura's 1993 vintage groove classic "Chaos AD", did it?
No, actually.... At least I don't think so..... a friend of mine suggested the name for me and I thought it sounded cool. He might have found it on that CD, I'm not sure.... we were looking for a short and 'easy-to-remember' band name so after checking that there were not any famous band called Manifest, we decided to go for it.
How did you come up with the album's name "Hedonism" and what is the meaning, or concept, behind it?
'Hedonism is the philosophy that pleasure is of ultimate importance, the most important pursuit.' Copied right out of Wikipedia...haha!! Stian, our vocalist, suggested the title after reading a lot of Hunter S. Thompson books. A lot of the lyrics on the records is inspired by the hedonistic life that Thompson described in his books. All the band members in Manifest had sort of a hedonistic lifestyle around the time that "Hedonism" was written and recorded, so we thought that it was a fitting title.
In what way do you feel that you have improved since the "Half Past Violence" debut?
I feel that we are more focused on writing good songs now rather than trying to impress people by playing technical stuff. And the production on "Hedonism" is way better than on "Half Past Violence". Also, we fired our last bassplayer, and Kenneth which handles the bass now, is a really cool guy to have around. The fact that he came in really changed a lot of the chemistry within the band...to the better.
How was it working with producer Knut V. Prytz otherwise known as Fug (Necrophagia)?
It was great! He is a super cool and professional guy who gets the job done. He has been a friend of mine and the rest of the band for years, so we knew that it would work out good.
This new album is quite varied while remaining brutal, groovy and catchy through out. How important are factors as variation, groove and catchiness for a band like Manifest?
Those factors I would say are really important to us. We need to have variation in the tempo and intensity of the music to keep people interested...and we like to have catchy stuff as well, as long as it's not sounding like crap or made for the purpose of selling records.
How long was the process of putting the album together, as far as writing the music, the concept and arrangements is concerned?
We started writing new material right after we finished recording "Half Past Violence". When it came to preparing for the "Hedonism" recording, we had demos for all of the tracks that we had made during the last two years or so. We listened to the demos and decided what needed to be changed in the different songs. We spent three weeks rehearsing the songs and coming up with new ideas and then we went into the studio where we had three weeks of recording and one week of mixing.
With the album finished and available worldwide, what do you regard as the most accomplished song in hindsight?
I really don't have a favourite track from the album and I rarely listen to the record. Bad answer for you there. Sorry!
This record comes to us by way of Morningstar Records. Are you happy the way they handled the record, regarding distribution, marketing and promotion? How has the label been accommodating the band's needs?
We are happy that they released the CD on the scheduled time and the distribution which is handled by Plastic Head has been good, I think. The communication between band and label is great. Whenever we have a question it's just to make a phone call or send an e-mail and they get back to us immediately. Morningstar Records is a really small label with limited financial resources so the promotion has not been over the top. But we knew that when we signed, so it's been as expected.
Norway is known for its rich and formative black metal scene and truly devastating death metal scene. The most commonly known bands hail from cities such as Bergen, Kristiansand, Oslo, and Stavanger. How's the scene in Trondheim compared to these metal capitals?
There are a lot of great bands in Trondheim. The only problem is that no one outside of Trondheim has heard of them! I don't know what it is, but maybe people in that town are too lazy or just too fond of the moonshine to get down to business. I moved to Oslo and our bass player moved up north, so there are just two of us left in Trondheim now. Maybe that will help us get somewhere!
Thrash metal is currently experiencing quite a revival on both sides of the Atlantic. Has Manifest been able to reap the benefits of this increased popularity, for example with getting gigs?
Not really, we still feel like everyone is working against us.
Had you had to opportunity to play outside of your homeland of Norway?
Yes, we played Wacken Open Air in 2005, right after the release of "Half Past Violence". Other than that we have only played in Norway, but we are working on getting on a European tour as a support act or something... We'll see what happens.
With the increasing number of good modern – and retro thrash metal bands in the genre right now, do you ever feel like you're in competition with anyone?
Not in competition - but in good company! There can be competition on getting cool gigs but that's something that we just have to live with. I think that if a band is good enough and keeps working and believing in what they do, they will get far no matter what they are up against.
Do you have any touring plans for the immediate future, domestic or international?
We are playing the Metal Rock Fest in Lillehammer, Norway in August. Big bands like Opeth, My Dying Bride and Twisted Sister on the bill. Other than that we have some club gigs ready for September. We are working on getting gigs all the time, so I guess the fall will be busy.....And like I said, we are working on landing a support spot on a European tour, but if and when it happens is impossible to say.
Thanks for the interview! Good luck with all your future endeavours. I would like to extend my praise for a killer second album. The last words are yours.
Thanks a lot, Wouter!!! Keep your eyes and ears open for Manifest.... Support the underground and get yourself a copy of "Hedonism"!!!
Site/booking: www.manifestmetal.com
