Caedere
Wywiad przeprowadził Wouter Roemers
The Dutch scene has always been potent and regularly delivers the finest death metal acts. East Holland-based Caedere has slowly but steadily been making a name for itself. Now onto their second full length "Clones Of Industry" they prove that old – and new school aesthetics do not need to be mutually exclusive. Masterful Magazine talks to Caedere singer Michiel Lankhorst about their long awaited new album "Clones Of Industry", the relationship with their Spanish label Grotesque Productions, the Dutch scene and how he perceives the state of the music business in general.
Hi Michiel! So, we haven't heard from Caedere for a while. We last spoke to you in March 2007 around the time "Promo 2007" was released digitally. What have you guys been up to the last few years?
Hello Wouter, thanks for getting in touch again! What have done the last few years? Mostly, we have been working on completing "Clones of Industry". Besides of this, we did some gigs with interesting names such as Immolation, Krisiun, Sinister and Cryptopsy, but most of the time we were recording the music all by ourselves.
What led to the departure of long-time drummer Sjoerd Modderkolk, I understand he had a big hand in the writing of new material? Has new skinsman Allard van der Kuip been involved in any noteworthy bands that we should be aware of?
Sjoerd wasn't interested in playing death metal anymore. A very sad thing but we saw it coming. We tried to keep it interesting for us all, concerning writing new material, but at the end of last year, this didn't work out anymore. Besides of five captains on board, we can dig each other very well, so Sjoerd hesitated for a while with his announcement because he would "leave" his friends also. At the end, this is the best solution. Sjoerd is relieved from his obligation and we found in Allard an eager, dedicated person to fill up the vacancy place. Allard has recently released and EP with his other band Grindpad.
The artwork for "Clones Of Industry" isn't your typical death metal cover either. It was created by Hrödger Design, who have also worked with Devious. Tell us a bit about the whole concept of this front art.
Of course it is related to the album title. It is about industry, but also to be a clone. You see a face with parts of young person, but also parts of an old depraved man. It is about the whole lyrical concept of "Clones of Industry".
This is your first record for Spanish label Grotesque Productions. Your debut album "Mass Emission" was released in late November 2003 by American label Goregiastic Records. Are you happy the way Grotesque Productions is pushing and promoting this record in the international metal press?
NO! We are doing it almost all by ourselves! The deal with Goregiastic was minimal (good distribution, but for the rest nothing in benefit of the band) but our current deal with Grotesque is even worse! Grotesque delayed the release of "Clones of Industry" over and over again, delaying it for more than a year! At some point, we were really doubtful if we would get our copies anyway. We talked with several other labels about releasing "Clones of Industry" instead, and through this way I would like to thank Graham of Deepsend for offering us twice the opportunity for releasing the album through his label. It was really a major surprise that I found the CDs, totally out of the blue, on my doorstep on a certain morning. A delivery from Spain, I couldn't believe it. But besides of this, Grotesque still owns us money and merchandise. Talking about promoting "Clones of Industry", all the incoming reviews of our album are done with copies provided by us.
As with the promo from three years ago "Clones Of Industry" is another heavy and massive sounding piece of technically proficient death metal. Is this solely due to the tuning of the guitars or was some magic done in the studio to create this pulverizing but clean sound?
Well, the tuning of the guitars is contributing, for sure, but more important we have put a lot of effort and time in the whole recording process. We have done it, besides of the drum tracks, all by ourselves. It has taken us a long time, but we were in control the whole ride. We knew how we wanted to have the sound of the guitar (we recorded it 4 times) and we used an Engl amp to get a transparent, but also a coherent, massive sound. Of course it is also about playing tight, so we were critical when we were recording all the tracks. Only the drum tracks are recorded with an additional engineer. For the rest, we supplied all the tracks to Pascal Altena (Ground Zero) who did the mixing and Robbe K (Disavowed, AudiovisualZ), who did the mastering. These two guys did for sure contribute to the massive but clear production!
Compared to a lot of other contemporary death metal acts Caedere writes heavily structured songs that have a recognizable beginning, middle and end section. Despite playing at high speed you fear not to slow down every once in a while to let the songs (and listener) catch a breath. Playing at high speed constantly can get you only so far, would you agree?
Yes, I agree. From the beginning, back in 2001, we were very sure about this matter. We didn't, and we still don't want to blast continuous a whole number. For us, this doesn't make sense. This would be like if you hear the vacuum cleaner the whole time. For a listener, it is far more interesting having contrasts and grooves in a song. Roughly, a song must have a start, a body, and an end. A structure like this improves a song to be catchy. It also has to do with the background of specific members of Caedere. Like Niels, he has a classical background and he tries to fit in his knowledge en experience in our music. We like to mix elements of US blasting death metal and the more grooving Swedish death metal.
With song titles like 'Tagged', 'Mock the Mob' and 'Transistoriness and Oblivion', lyrically, you aren't dealing with stereotypical death metal subjects either. It all sounds very dystopian and metaphorical. Tell us about the lyrics and how they relate to the central concept of "Clones Of Industry".
It is about being in control, or better saying; to dominate your subjects. Sometimes it is about governments ('Tagged', 'Scorn' and 'Mock the Mob'), sometimes about the relationship between men and machine ('Clones of Industry'), sometimes the relationship between living beings ('Need for Greed' and 'Transitoriness and Oblivion', but also 'Bokito'). 'Bokito' is two-faced; it is kind of a really happened confrontation in a Dutch Zoo.
Closing track 'Bokito' is certainly something else compared to the rest of the record. It starts out with big band/jazz sample and then builds into an ominous semi-industrial soundscape. Who created this track, and what was your point with it, exactly?
We created it! It is something we were not sure about if it would fit in, so if we would do it, or not. Finally, we have recorded it with a friend who plays the trombone and trumpet, we also used a banjo and a slide guitar effect, and also some (empty?) Grolsch beer bottles for some additional contributing sounds. We also recorded this at the Deusex Infernis Studio. The theme is a part taken from the song 'Bokito' itself. You could see it as a practical joke. If I speak for myself, it is about the end of our earth. After the "Mass Emission", our planet is entirely nuked, there is only a void, and even a small "survived" transistor radio, with a happy tune from the past, dies out. What's left? I don't know. Will we end like this? I don't know. Is this a possibility to end as mankind? For sure it is!
For this record you've worked with Scenic and Deusex Infernis Studio in Zutphen and Enschede. "Clones Of Industry" was mastered by Robbe K (Disavowed) at Audiovisualz. I'm only familiar with Robbe K. What made these two studios ideal for recording Caedere's latest material?
We rehearse at Scenic so it was the ideal situation for setting up, and recording the drums over there. We did it with the help of Nico van Montfort (XPZ sound) in just one weekend. Extremely fast compared to the rest of the recordings haha. The recording process at the Deusex Infernis Studio is a whole different story. Because of all our personal schedules, it took us several months to record the bass, the guitars and at the end the vocals. Deusex Infernis is owned by Niels. So, we had the luxury to take our time. The disadvantage of this was the fact that it took us too long to complete the recordings. At the end, we were really done with it.
Holland is filled with quality death – and black metal acts. In the past you've played gigs in Holland, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany and Portugal. Caedere should come to Poland, we love the brutal stuff over here. Is it difficult to get on any big name shows – do you have a booking agency helping the band out with that or is it all entirely self-managed?
First of all, if someone is offering the change to play in Poland, we will do it. Through this way, we played on the 2005 edition of the Czech Obscene Extreme festival. We, as Caedere, are as independent as possible. Somehow, we didn't, and we still don't manage to cooperate with a booking agency. Sometimes, this is bothering us; on the other hand, we keep control in our hands. Because of our build up history, venues and organizations contact us in order to play. We try to be as active as possible in arranging gigs. While we were working on "Clones of Industry", we haven't played much the last years. So, we need in to increase our performances by getting in the picture again.
I take it your will be doing lots of single gigs, numerous festival appearances, etc to promote this new record. Is Grotesque Productions helping you in any way with that outside of the Dutch market? How are the touring plans in support of "Clones Of Industry" shaping up?
We need to be more active regarding arranging gigs. Sadly, because of all the delay, we were not able to plan release gigs. We need to focus on the fall season. If something crosses our path sooner, we do it if possible. Grotesque isn't very helpful with this either. They were planning some gigs (e.g. Barroselas) around the first weekend of May in Spain, but we still don't know a thing about it.
The music business in deep trouble, there's no doubt about that. Illegal downloading is killing smaller record stores and decent small labels are going bankrupt every single day. The sales of physical CD's is falling drastically each year and not only due to the recession of the last years. What's your opinion on all this, has Caedere suffered the consequences from all these events?
Yes and no. We were really amazed about all the torrent sites which are providing "Clones of Industry" already. If you Google "Clones of Industry", you see more hits related to these kind of sites then the hits related to sites with reviews of it. A minority of hits are related to distro sites. So, this isn't a good thing for us as, the band, and for our label. But I think it is the fault of the music business itself. Prices are way too high and there are way too many bands with released albums. But at the end of the day, we as Caedere sell most of the CDs when we play, when people get excited by us, and get stimulated to buy our albums.
Alright, that's about it for me here. Thanks a lot for talking to us. If there's anything I've forgot to mention or any latest news you want to share, here's the space!
While Sjoerd is about leaving the band, our next gig in Hoogeveen (Het Podium) is the last opportunity to see him with us life. Would be great for him, and of course for us, to show up on the 17th of April at "Het Podium" venue. We will play with Massive Assault and Toxocara. More info can be found on our homepage www.caedere.com . Wouter, thanks again for this interview! Take care!
Info: www.grotesquemusic.com
Booking: www.caedere.com/
