Insanity Reigns Supreme
Wywiad przeprowadził Wouter Roemers
For nearly two decades and now three albums long Belgian doom metallers Insanity Reigns Supreme have been moving forward despite multiple label bankruptcies, line-up changes and various difficulties thrown at them along the way. In October 2009 Shiver Records released their third and most recent album "Insanus Occultus Damnatus" to critical acclaim. Masterful Magazine caught up with frontman and lyricist Criz Jamers to talk about the band's history, the significance of their records in the underground and their constant bad luck with label partners.
Hello Criz! As always it's a pleasure to interview you. I've been an avid fan of the band ever since I picked up your first full length back in the day. With a stunning new album out on a label with international distribution, I take it you are fully immersed in promotion work; doing probably countless phone – and email interviews to push your latest opus "Occultus Insanus Damnatus"?
With a release like this we are definitely eager to spread our word to everyone. The reality is that we operate in a niche market and extreme metal is not suited for the masses, hence the promotional work is not that vast. We are more than willing to do some more interviews.
Let us go back in time a bit first. The band formed in 1989 under the name of Mental Defect. I take it, going from the name, you were more full-on death metal oriented at that early stage. What events led to changing the course to traditional doom metal and eventually changing the band's name to Insanity Reigns Supreme?
From the start, just as we do now, we have always played the music that we wanted to play. As far as labelling the music is concerned, you must remember that in 1989 the term death
metal or doom metal wasn't really used that much. So in the beginning we were labelled as thrash since that was the term at that time to describe the most extreme metal. From our point of view it has always been a mix of doom and death metal (but then the kind that was played in the early 90's, which always had slow and faster parts and blast beats weren't that prominent). Hence we don't feel that at some point we changed the music, but always has elements of both. When we recorded our first demo in 1991 we decided to change the name as the older one was the product of a couple of kids having a laugh. At that point we started to take it more serious and hence we wanted a name to reflect this. Insanity Reigns Supreme describes in 3 words the world created by man.
Once the name change was done, the band released two demo tapes in the early 1990's. "Insanity Reigns Supreme" in 1991 and "Our Path Is Dark and Lonely" in 1995. The second demo was recorded at Beaufort Studio with producer Han Swagerman and featured artwork by Kris Verwimp. Tell us a bit about the early days of the band; how it was writing, rehearsing and eventually doing the first recording sessions...
Thinking back to those two demos it is almost like two different bands. The first demo was bold in that we already were open to include different influences but the recording session wasn't the best of experiences. Studios in Belgium at that time had no metal experience and thus the sound that we got was less than satisfying. I remember the recording guy being absolutely shocked when I recorded the vocals. He had never heard anything like that before.
However Insanity Reigns Supreme as we know it today really started in 1993 with Edward joining on drums. The result of that was "Our Path is Dark and Lonely..." which sees a more matured sound and a clearer identity. This demo was as professional as you can get. Recorded in a studio where at that time bands like Gorefest were recording with indeed a cover of Kris who since then has done artworks for Immortal, Absu, etc.
'The Core Of Creation' – a track of your 1995 demo – was also used for the "Detonation" sampler in 1993. Was this sampler an initiative of Teutonic Existence Records, who had picked up that demo for wider release? At what point did Teutonic Existence Records express interest to offer the band a contract for a full length release?
The sampler was a Belgian initiative to get all the Belgian underground bands on a CD to promote them. We later included that song on our sampler "Preludes to Darkness". The song is the most elaborate we have ever done and was recorded in a period where the band consisted only of 2 guitar players and myself on vocals. All the drums were done on a PC. That doesn't sound that strange now but in 1993 it was very uncommon! I only have fond memories of the sampler since at the press release we heard that the band Tyfoon (old Belgian thrash legend that Edward used to play in) had stopped after recording their song for the sampler. At the press release of the sampler we then asked Edward to join us and we became a band again. Teutonic Existence was already our label for the demo and they had funded and released it. Something like that doesn't happen anymore. This was all without any paperwork, purely on trust. It was clear that at the time of the full length they would also be the label to back us up.
In 1998 Teutonic Existence Records released "...And Darkness Drowned the Land Divine". It was once again recorded in one week at Beaufort Studio with Han Swagerman. The album went on to become somewhat of an underground genre classic.
It still amazes us today how big an impact that album has had on the scene. Already back then it was sold out almost immediately. Unfortunately before a reprint was issued, Teutonic Existence had already stopped all of its activity. When listening back to the album it still strikes a sensitive chord with me as well. Even in the studio whilst recording it we felt we were creating something magickal.
Teutonic Existence Records was a relatively known label back in the day. They released mostly death metal albums by Belgian and Dutch acts such as In-Quest, Prejudice, etc. How was it working with Twan Kreeft and his label? Were they able to push and promote Insanity Reigns Supreme much in the Benelux scene?
When things started to take off and the first print was sold out, the label collapsed due to private reasons. So the full potential of that album was never really promoted. That's why it is so striking to see that it had still made such an impact, because this has purely been achieved through word of mouth in the underground. But we have never had much luck with labels, or they with us. We seem to be the bane of every label signs us. As soon as the album us released and just before the promotion kicks in, the label collapses. It happened with Teutonic Existence, it happened with Uxicon after our second album and it seems to be happening again now. So if there are any labels out there that want to sign us, beware, our next album might be your last...
1999 saw the release of the "Preludes Of Darkness" compilation, which included the "Insanity Reigns Supreme" 1991 demo, the 'Secular Condolence' track for the band cut for a 1993 compilation and the "Our Path Is Dark and Lonely" 1995 demo, which was released independently. At what point did the contract end with Teutonic Existence Records – were the contractual obligations fulfilled or were there other reasons for parting ways?
"Preludes Of Darkness" was done purely by and for the band members. Anybody that has that CD has just asked us. It was never for sale. The cooperation with Teutonic Existence stopped when they stopped living up to the second part of their name, ie the label was dead.
"Prophecy Of Doom" arrived in 2003, five years after the debut, and presented an altogether more stripped down and baroque approach to your sound. It was the last album to be recorded at Beaufort Studio with producer Han Swagerman. The album was released through Uxicon Records, the label of then-bassist Burt Beyens. The album was far from accessible, nevertheless it received good critics from press and fans. In hindsight, are you satisfied how that album turned out and was handled by its label?
With the album itself we are extremely satisfied. And exactly as with our first CD, the reviews about it get better the older the album gets, haha. It is a shame that this album didn't get any promo at all since the label collapsed just before the launch. Indirectly that also caused Burt to leave the band.
This album was also released in a limited number slipcase, of this only 777 copies were made, was this done to give the fans something special?
With every release we try to give the fans their money's worth. We invest a lot of time and effort in making sure that every release is special. This edition is indeed something very exclusive as they were handnumbered by us. You cannot get more personal than that.
Around the release and promotion cycle for "Prophecy Of Doom" the long lost video for 'La Tristesse Eternelle' ('The Sadness Eternal') also resurfaced. The video began shooting in an old monastery in 1996 and was originally meant for the track 'Trauma Paradise' off the second demo. By the time principal photography was completed, you decided to use for the debut and 'La Tristesse Eternelle' instead. Not only that, the director disappeared with the shot material and by chance you met him years later and finished the product. Do tell us more about how this video eventually came to be!
By chance we met up with this guy who was interested in doing a video with us as his graduation project. We spent months filming at weekends in this monastery. At that time we had only released our second demo and it was intended for the song "Trauma Paradise". If you look closely at the church organ scene, you can see that the notes and lyrics on the organ are those of Trauma Paradise. By the end we were already recording our debut album and decided to use it for that instead. But suddenly the "director" disappears and the monastery (which he had organised) was shut down as well, so we had no way to contact him. About 7 years later he turns up again with the finished product and by that time we had a new album out. So it was indeed weird to promote the new album with a video for a song of the previous album.
Which brings us to your new album "Occultus Insanus Damnatus", a Dog Latin title meaning "Occult Insane Damned". It was recorded at Stage One Studios in Borgentreich, Germany with famed producer Andy Classen. It features sophisticated artwork by Seth Siro Anton. Both hailed are generally as the best in their chosen field. How was it working with Andy Classen and Seth Siro Anton, both have worked with the cream of the crop of the international extreme metal scene?
Well, just look and listen to the result and you will agree that it was well worth it. Working with professionals like that was fantastic. I must admit that as a band we had to step up to the plate since especially Andy expected nothing than the best from us. That meant that the recordings cost blood, sweat and tears but it was definitely worth it since he has been able to push us to the next level. Seeing that we don't release albums that often we wanted to make sure that this CD is able to stand proud amongst the bigger names in the scene. If you want your money's worth, than look no further.
Contrary to the preceding album you let someone else handle the artwork, design and lay-out. I remember "Prophecy Of Doom" having a complex design all related to the number 7. Was it difficult to communicate with Seth how you wanted the artwork to be and its many subtle intricacies?
I am amazed that you even know that about the number 7 being integrated throughout the design of "Prophecy of Doom". I must confess that we were reluctant to hand over the visual aspect to somebody else. However after the recordings it became clear to us that the artwork needed to be the same quality and hence we decided to have something original created for us. We spend a lot of time in putting together the briefings for Seth and exchanged a thousand emails. There are little bits and pieces hidden throughout the design and it was great to find somebody who understood what we were looking for. From first contact to finished artwork it took about 8 months but the result is better than what we could have hoped for. Seth as well felt very inspired and he describes it as probably the best artwork he has done so far.
Like the 1991 demo and your 1998 debut "Occultus Insanus Damnatus" features angelic female backing vocals provided by former Natan keyboardist/flutist Claudia Michelutti. In the early days you worked with a singer named Joli Leininger. Were there any notable differences in working with Michelutti compared to the earlier works with Leininger?
Both are professionals at what they do. Both times I knew exactly what I wanted from then. The only difference lies in the fact that this time round it is more integrated in the total sound. This is partly thanks to Claudia who had some good suggestions during the recordings. The other difference was that this time round I was the only one still in the studio, so the rest had no idea what the result was going to be...
The new album deals, lyrically, with the individual breaking free from dogmatic chains and thus becoming his own Personal God. It is all about separating oneself from the faceless masses. Please elaborate some more about the lyrics and how they relate you individually and the band collectively...
Since I am responsible for the lyrics it is obvious that they are closer to my personal beliefs than to any of the other band members. As a person this is a path that I have chosen a long time ago and the older I get the less I am willing to compromise with the sheep surrounding me. It is about fulfilling your full potential and not allowing to be held back by the faceless mass. Thus you become your own Satan and your own God. As a collective however this is also true for the band as we have always stuck to what we wanted to do, not to what others think we should do.
This new album already got rave critics in established magazine such as Rock Tribune, Aardschok and Mindview. "Occultus Insanus Damnatus" also got high marks in various web – and e-zines the world over. After all investments you poured into this record, this must make you proud, no?
It is a great feeling to see that others can relate to what you have just created. It appears that everybody see this record for what it truly is, something outstanding. That does indeed make us proud and confirms that all the efforts were worth it.
"Occultus Insanus Damnatus" also comes in a limited edition slipcase with alternate artwork and a band logo/emblem engraved amulet. That must have cost a small fortune to produce. Was that an idea of the band or was it your record label Shiver Records who opted to do this special limited edition? How is it working with Shiver Records compared to the early days of Teutonic Existence Records?
To be honest, we produced the amulet ourselves and we paid for the additional artwork. We wanted to have an extraordinary product and we realise that this isn't always in the interest of the label. But that doesn't stop us. We decided to make this special version and hence we paid for it ourselves. That is why it is called the "band-edition" and it is only available through our MySpace. Working with Shiver is very similar to Teutonic Existence. It is a bit of a shame that is looking to become very similar as Shiver has just stopped it's promo activity and is concentrating on the distribution. This leaves everything up to us (I send the CD to you) but again this will not stop us. It is just a shame since again the new CD is destined to become an underground jewel that only a select few will discover.
Okay, Criz. I think I've blabbered on enough now. If there's anything I've forgot to mention or ask about Insanity Reigns Supreme; here's the space. Keep the ancient flame burning and DOOM on, my friend!
Thanks for your support. It is because of individuals like you that we are able to spread our message. For everybody that has read the interview, convince yourself and listen to the new songs out at www.myspace.com/insanityreignssupreme. Join the Insane Cult of Doom!
Band photography: Greg Lamarche for www.andram.be
Info/booking: www.myspace.com/insanityreignssupreme
