Devious
Wywiad przeprowadził Wouter Roemers
Dutch death metal band Devious has never been afraid to progress and evolve. From their impressive 2003 debut "Acts Of Rage" to the groovier, synthesizer laden successor "Domain" – their first for Deity Down Records – they constantly have defied convention. Last year's "Vision" completes this evolution and sees Devious adopting a more modern sound altogether. Masterful Magazine arranged a chat with drummer Frank Schilperoort who, as per usual, was eager to talk about the band's latest musical excursion, the return of their original frontman and their plans to take "Vision" into the live arena.
Hi! Thanks for doing this interview with us! What are you and the rest of Devious currently up to, I guess you are knee-deep into answering email and telephone interviews at this stage?
Well, yeah. We're answering interviews but also reading loads of reviews actually. They are coming in from all over the world. We are happy to see that "Vision" is received very well! Of course, there are also some bad ones here and there, and then I mean really bad ones. People like the album or they don't, there doesn't seem to be much in between. I think this means that we have grown more of an own identity musically. Most reviews are on the good side, though! Next to such rock star activities, we are now working hard to do some good live shows and that is working out pretty well!
The obvious and obligatory question to arise is what fueled Arnold Oude Middendorp's return? When we spoke to you in 2004 during the promotion for "Acts Of Rage" I remember you saying he contributed minimally, missed rehearsals regularly and wasn't very fanatic about the band. What led to a reconciliation and his eventual re-installing as Devious frontman?
Wow, you really made us open up to you back then, squeezing all the insider details about our singer issues out of us, haha! As I've told you back then, Arnold had some personal issues that poisoned his state of mind, made him temporarily insane, made him... I don't know, but she really IS a bitch. When Coen [Tabak, ed] decided that Devious wasn't the kind of band for him, we all thought that only one man could be the next front man and that man was Arnold. We called him on the phone and he was more than happy to come back home where he belongs. Band-wise that is, he still lives a long drive away from the rehearsal room, but we're glad to have him back!
"Vision" is your second record for Dutch label Deity Down Records, who have grown quite a bit in profile and status in the intervening years. How's being with this label worked out for Devious, compared to the now defunct Spitzenburg Records, to whom you were signed for your 2004 debut "Acts Of Rage"?
Spitzenburg Records had a good range promotion-wise, but distribution only went as far as the BeNeLux. Deity Down Records has put more weight in gaining territory beyond these borders and has so far done a great job. Everybody sees the importance of this. If you promote a band worldwide, you would want people to be able to buy or order a CD everywhere.
This new record continues in the direction of "Domain". The tempo is generally midpaced, groove has become more important and the synthesizers have been neatly integrated into the songs. Anything in particular that you are proud of with this new album?
For an outsider, an album is just something a band drops into the shelves at a certain time, but for a band, it's a whole process. For "Vision", the whole process was thought through and guarded by Guido, from song writing to studio planning and selecting people to work with. The result is something we are really proud of as a band. There is no song or riff that we have used as a "filler". Each song has its own kind of power and identity, all provided with a heavy, pounding sound. I'm even proud of most of the lyrics Wouter and I wrote for this album (and the way Arnold did the vocals in the studio) and that's coming from a band who never took an interest in textual messages before.
Carsten Althena was responsible for the samplers and synthesizers and also takes partly credit as one of the producers for this record. How much material did he write for this record and how of that did you end up using eventually?
We actually used almost every synth & sampler that Carsten came up with! He has given the songs the finishing touch that they needed. His brother Pascal Altena is the guy that takes credit as one of the producers, as a helicopter-view supervisor.
"Vision" was recorded at a number of smaller studio in Hengelo, Netherlands. You worked with Studio Metro, Sonic Assault Studio, The Crown Studio and Guido's own Guido's Place. Besides the financial aspects that come with recordings, what made these studios perfect to capture this new Devious record and its many subtleties?
Studio Metro was right next to our rehearsal room and a perfect environment for recording the drums. We already had Frank Klein Douwel (Asphyx - Death...The Brutal Way) in mind as an engineer, so we hired the place for a couple of days to record the drums with him over there. His own studio Sonic Assault is perfect for recording vocals, which we did.
All guitars are recorded at Guido's Place. After that, the recorded guitar tracks were brutalized sound wise by Michiel Toenink (Napalm Death, Sick of it All) an Frank Klein Douwel at The Crown Studios.
The recordings of synths & samplers were done by the brothers Altena, after which Pascal delivered them neatly into the hands of Jochem Jacobs (Textures, Split Second Sound) who did a great job mixing & mastering the album.
The decision to work with a lot of different people didn't have much to do with money (it's even relatively expensive). Guido's thoughts were: everyone has his own experts and it would be interesting to work with all the great "sound guys" from our area. This way we hoped to get the best out of everyone and we think we have succeeded in this!
Guido de Jongh is credited as the main songwriter in Devious. I guess you guys all contribute something to a song before it can be called truly Devious. How do you go about writing songs, does it happen collectively in the rehearsal studio or do you all write individually as well?
Normally, Guido would bring a bunch of riffs to the rehearsal room, where we would arrange them into whole songs, but this time we tried a different approach. Guido bought some hardware and software, locked himself in for a couple of months and started writing. He recorded his ideas as whole songs (without bass and vocals but with programmed drums) and only after that he took the songs to the rehearsal room. Of course we all chewed on the songs, spit them out and chewed on them some more before they became as they are now, but this turned out to be a really efficient way of writing songs. It was only after the songs were completed musically when Wouter, Arnold and I started to create vocal patterns and lyrics. This was also the first time that we recorded everything in pre-production mode before we actually entered the studio.
The expansive artwork was created by Hrödger Design, who also created the tribal sign and new font logo for Devious on this record. Why was it deemed necessary to replace the classic Devious logo?
The classic Devious logo is cool in shape, look and feel, but you'll have to know that it says "Devious" before you actually see it. Since a band logo should be suited to be used as an advertisement for your band, we thought it was necessary to come up with a more readable logo. The old logo was also a bit too "old school" for us, we think we have grown more into modern metal band over the years.
In support of "Domain" you did a one high profile gig with Florida death metal veterans Cannibal Corpse, toured East Europe with Brazilian death metal trio Krisiun and completed a number of separate shows/festivals in Holland. How's the touring cycle for "Vision" shaping up?
Well, we've recently had the chance to promote "Vision" with a European tour with Entombed and Merauder, so no complaints here! Club shows are also lining up nicely (we have a nice and busy schedule of three shows a month average). Now let's see what the festival season will bring!
Thanks for the interview! Any question I haven't asked, yet some information about the band that you want to share with our readers?
Unlike all statements issued by reporters and both fans and enemies of Devious in the press, and contradictory to his shiny leather looks, Guido is NOT, I repeat NOT gay! Also, visit our website www.devious.nl where you can find links to all of our online communities, which you are friendly invited to join. Thanks, see you at one of our gigs!
Info/booking: www.deitydownrecords.com/
Zwarte Cross live pictures: Nera K for www.nera-k.com
