DJ Chihiro represents pure power through grotesque&evil, in his work as a dj and activity in the band Vanished Empire. Gothic-electro project from Japan, which will drag you through the darkest of your dreams and shake your limbs. Happy New Year dar(k)lings and enjoy!
pdn: Greetings! Firstly, how did you come up with Dj Chihiro as a stage name? Does it have something to do with your real name or did you get the idea from somewhere else? Chihiro: My stage name come from a part of my real name. But I keep my real name secret. lol
pdn: You collaborate with many bands; which one was your favourite band to work with so far? Chihiro: I really enjoyed that I played with ZODIAQUE (Japanese metal band). As remix work I enjoyed with every band!
pdn: If you could pick any place, where would you like to play someday, most of all? Chihiro: I would like to go to Germany and play in Wave Gothic Treffen. But I would be happy if I can play for the audience who were waiting for me no matter any place any country.
pdn: When did you get started with Dj-ing and what influenced you to play industrial? Chihiro: I started to go to gothic event in Japan over about 10 years ago and it was the time of the beginning of Dark-electro music. This is the very important experience and influence for my career.
pdn: Please tell me a bit about the main themes, subjects that inspire your music. Chihiro: My main theme is "Dark, aggressive, and danceability". I like around 142~5BPM.
pdn: Does Vanished Empire have any plans for the near future? Chihiro: Vanished Empire will launch gothic event in Tokyo from next February. I will be glad when I see the audience who come from oversea!
pdn: What are your main aspirations as an artist? Chihiro: Making a legend in world gothic scene. This is my aspiration.
pdn: Thank you for your time!! Any final words you would like to add for the fans, fellow darklings out there? Chihiro: I will keep on providing dark and gothic music! I would like to ask audiences and organizer in whole world to wait for my coming!
The Gothsicles is a really, really, awesomely original band from Chicago, with humorous, funky lyrics and rhythm, combined with the crazy-sounding voice of Brian Graupner. Playdeanation had a little chat with him!
pdn: Greetings, Brian! 'The Gothsicles' is a fun name for a band, how did you come up with it?
Brian: I needed an outfit to launder all the money I’d made selling completely fake and worthless Star Wars merchandise to Jim Semonik and figured that everyone would instinctively steer clear of any operation named “The Gothsicles”. So far, so good. pdn: Your sound and vocals are quite humorous, how did you get the idea for such music? Brian: The basic working model has always been to actively and knowingly attempt to plagiarize an Hocico song and then make it be about alcohol or genitalia, but lately I’ve been getting pretty experimental. pdn: Describe your music in a few of your own words, please! Brian: Everything Goes Cold minus the guitars and Metropolis signing. pnd: What inspires the band's obvious uniqueness, and what are the main themes and subjects for your songs? Brian: Wanting Jim Cookas to like me. pdn: If one day you would be to play a different type of music, what would that be, and why? Brian: Okay, werd [sic]. I actually do listen to a lot of fainty-swoony goth rock, but I think I’d be horrible at it ‘cause that shit actually comes with some musical assembly required. I think it would be fun to be the easily least popular guy in an huge boy band, all driving myself home in a minivan after the concert and secretly telling myself that I know there’s someone out there for me, just before I quietly tuck myself to sleep. pdn: What artists do you usually collaborate with, and also, who would you love to work with in the future? Brian: This is actually a brutally well timed question ‘cause there’s a lot going on. I will forever endeavor to drop machinations of acclaimation unto one Dan Clark. He’s my go-to producer guy and he’s fucking, fucking, fucking great. He produced the last Ego Likeness album and every time I hang out with those guys, we inevitably talk about how effin’ rad this freakin’ guy is. This sounds so comic booky, but I don’t think you’d be interviewing me right now if it wasn’t for Matt Fanale. The particular timeliness I was mentioning comes by way of the new live member (and keytar player), Mike, whose stage name this week is “Cylon Belmont”. Never said it before, but I was really ready to hit the reset button on the whole ‘sicles thing, just from all kinds of hypershit, but this man has fully re-energized the project to the point that it feels like a whole new band. Invincibility stars. I have this private fantasy with I would get on really well with Prince. pdn: What are the plans for the near future? Any upcoming shows, new material? Brian: WOOOOOOOO! I fucked up on getting back to you on this interview in a timely fashion, and have also just done a shitpissfuckcuntcocksuckermotherfuckertits-load of shows so I don’t know how much my current show line-up will help, but here goes: DEFINITELY the next shoot dang KINETIK FESTIVAL with some of my favorite bands of all time (Beborn Beton, S.P.O.C.K., Lenny & The Cenobites, etc.). Bunch of shows tentative with a band I’m really excited about that I prolly shouldn’t mention, but their initials rhyme with “Deviant UK”. With regard to material, I was able to release an album on WTII earlier this year, so that’s sort of freed me up to work on the other 12 things I got in the mix. The Causticles (me & mattmatt) is a priority, but I’m also slowly being seduced by the allure of being able to be the cool remix guy, maybe (someday) like an XP8 or a Grendel. Maybe even a Boole (just kidding, there can be only one). pdn: Oh and by the way, what's the deal with you 'looking like Kurt Russel'? Had to ask! Brian: At the 2009 Kinetik Festival, motherfucking Vasi from Reaper (also Frozen Plasma, formerly Namnambulu) just decided that I look like Kurt Russell, which I completely don’t. It kind of became our thing over that weekend and I was really just loathsomely, schoolgirlishly excited to have somebody that recognizable acknowledge me to the point that I referenced it in a song, basically to desperately tie my shit band to a band people like. pdn: Thank you so much for you time and attention! What would you final words be, for fans, friends? Brian: I was working on this year’s Kinetik comp track at the time of this interview, because of which, there is now a Kurt Russell reference in the track. Freal.
Fractured Fairytales is a gothic industrial metal band from North Carolina, United States, self-described as 'Finding beauty in the horrid, and finding the horrid in beauty.' Having promised to darken the earth with their tunes, founding member Lutachrist Dupre and bassist Nyx Thanaos are brought to you by playdeadnation as an early Xmas present to share their thoughts!
pdn: Hails! You initiated this project alone; how did you guys meet and decide to make music together?
Lutachrist: I could write a whole book on subject so I'll try to make it somewhat short. The day that I decided to make Fractured Fairytales a performing band as opposed to just a studio project I was aware that I would need some bad asses for the line-up. I also knew that it would not be easy to assimilate a team of the caliber of musicians I was seeking. I needed people that dedicated their lives to music as much as I have....cause otherwise I would just be selling myself short. Having been in several bands in the past I already knew that all too well what that is like. I held many try outs and searched near and far to all corners of the earth until finally one day the first wave of Necromancers were in place to begin the Fractured Fairytales campaign.
pdn: Hmm, tell me a bit about the very beginning and other projects you were involved in prior to Fractured Fairytales, please. Lutachrist: There is no need to go digging up those corpses this day. In fact I'm not sure any of those musicians would appreciate being associated with us anyway. You see we are actually quite infamous and well hated in the town that Fractured Fairytales is based out of. The locals don't agree with the things we do or say on and off stage. We don't fit into their false assurance of morals and religion. Our approval rating in this town is low and dismal...much like the current President of the United States.
pdn: Who were the people and bands that have influenced you musically, as well as in your personal life? Lutachrist: I had my hero's growing up, Trent Reznor, Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, Cannibal Corpse, Deicide and on and on. When I was 12 years old we moved to a new town and I met a kid named Joey Revels. He walked up to me the first day and said " I am your guardian Angel and you need to buy a guitar". Him referring to himself as an angel turned out to be very ironic because Joey worshipped the Devil.....unlike anyone I have ever met to this day. He is also the individual that dubbed me as Lutachrist. We chose a very dark path and did many unspeakable things. His spirit transcended from his body to bigger and better realms many years ago. Every Fractured Fairytales album ever released says (RIP Joey Revels) in the liner notes.
pdn: What inspired you while writing the lyrics and what are your main themes? Lutachrist: Fractured Fairytales lyrics are often about the current condition of the human collective which is more so a conglomeration of all energies in the known and unknown universe in a state of chaos and for reasons unknown at war with itself. The end of society, The apocalypse - which means great change...not the end of the world, the cesspool of the human mind..that fact that everyone is everything somewhere an perhaps it's too bad we are on the brink of extinction right when we are ready to make the next step in evolution.
pdn: If you could pick any band, who would you like to share the stage with someday? NyX: I would to love see Fractured Fairytales share the stage with nine inch Nails, Manson, and/or Cradle of filth. All those bands are mayor influences for us as a whole and are people we have looked up to for years. pdn: What are the nearest plans for you guys? Something like tours, new album we can look forward to? NyX: Fractured Fairytales has a whole list of plans for the near future. We are currently in the studio working on our 3rd full length album and are about to film the “So Red It’s Black” video which is on our remix album “Revale”. We feel like even since it’s a remix album we still need a visual representation of it for the masses before we release the next album. It’s something for the fans to keep them in the edge of their sits; we owe them that and more. We also plan on touring for the new album in the late spring/summer time in the U.S. and hopefully parts of Canada and upper Mexico. pdn: Thank you for your time and friendship! Any final words you'd like to add for friends and fans? NyX: This band owes everything to our friends and fans, the entity that is Fractured Fairytales would be nothing without them. We see people talking about the band and sharing our music everywhere we look on the internet and we thank them for getting the word about us out there. The Horde they have created grows stronger every day because of them and they are why we do what we do. To all the fans out there I can say only this; Our Hordes will darken the Earth.
Bella Morte is a gothic band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, back in 1996. A complex act, with a style of their own, which combines stories about love and loss, graveyard ballads and guitar riffs typical to their sound. Today, singer Andy Deane was nice as always and gave us some of his time!
pdn: Hello, Andy! Please tell me, how did you get the idea of 'Bella Morte' as the band's name? Andy: Actually, Gopal came up with Bella Morte after a month or so of brainstorming for a name. And it fit us perfectly, described our sound to an extent. I think I spent a couple of weeks mispronouncing it after we’d made the decision. I love the name, wouldn’t change it for anything.
pdn: I know there were some line-up changes in the band's history. Did that affect the band's activity in any way? Andy: Line-up changes have sometimes left a mark. The most telling would be the addition of a live drummer. We made the decision several years ago to add live drums to the show to add a boost of energy to our performances. And it worked. The drums obviously sound quite different than what comes out of a drum machine, and this affected the way we craft songs. But the heart of the band has remained the same throughout the years, and I’m still writing sad and hopeful songs with a very dark twist. That will never change.
pdn: You have a side-project called The Rain Within. How did you decide to start that project and how did you get the idea? Andy: It had a lot to do with Bella Morte acquiring a drummer. Though I love live drums, I missed playing synthetic songs like Relics and The Rain Within Her Hands (which is obviously where I got the name for this project). And I had several finished tracks that weren’t going to work for Bella, so The Rain Within happened. I wrote and recorded everything by myself, and the first album, Pain Management was a huge success for me. I just finished a second album, which will be released in 2012 if the world doesn’t explode first.
pdn: How can you describe your work as a writer in a few words, and what are the main elements you use? Also, who are your favourite authors? Andy: I love using metaphors… maybe too much in some people’s eyes. And with most of what I’ve written there’s a good dose of humor involved, but not enough to detract from the scary elements of the story. My novels are horrific tales told through the words of someone with a sense of humor. I like to be straight forward with my storytelling as well, and want the reader to feel like I’m sitting beside them reciting from memory. I’m proud of what I’ve written, and the feedback on my books has been incredibly encouraging. My favorite author is Joe Lansdale, and I’m also a fan of George Oliver, Brian Keene, Clive Barker, Mary Shelley, and many, many more.
pdn: I know what it's like to be an artist with multiple interests and outlets; so I'm curious, what are some of your other preoccupations, besides making music and writing? Andy: I’m a huge fan of horror films. Movies like Halloween (the original John Carpenter film), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (again, the original), and more recently, Martyrs have all had an influence on what I create. I have a huge collection of films and love scouring the internet for rare films. I also love the hell out of video games, and spend too much time playing Halo and more recently, Skyrim.
pdn: What bands/ people, things have influenced you in becoming who you are today? Andy: Too many to name. I’ve been told many times that my voice reminds people of Mike Patton, Danzig, and Anthony Kiedis, and that makes sense to me seeing as I’m a fan of all three. But there are so many others in the mix that the list would go a mile or two. More than anyone, my dad played a huge part in making me who I am today, and that has had the greatest effect on my art.
pdn: Any plans for the near future, for both Bella Morte and The Rain Within? New material, tours? Andy: There will be new albums from both Bella Morte and The Rain Within in 2012, and Bella Morte will definitely be hitting the road to play shows. Seeing as Bella just released “Before the Flood” this summer our next album won’t be available until next fall. On top of all that, Gopal and I recently started a new band called Brighter Fires, and released our debut self-titled album earlier this year. Our first show will take place on New Year’s Eve in New York City, and we’ll be playing live more often after that.
pdn: What band would you love to share the stage with in the future? Andy: We’d love to tour with our friends in The Cruxshadows again, because it’s been too long since we got to hang out with those guys! I’d love to line up something with The 69 Eyes or AFI as well, and feel we’d fit well with either.
pdn: Thank you so much for your time! Any final words you would like to add for your friends and fans? Andy: No problem, glad to be here! To fans and friends; buy my books and albums, because I know where you sleep! ;)
Dawn Of Ashes is an extreme horror industrial black metal band which you most certainly love if you are into sick, obscure, aggressive music, and you should, because it gives you the best of goosebumps! Also having a project in collaboration with Psyclon Nine, mastermind Kristof is here to give us some great insight on the world of both bands!
pdn: Hey Kristof! First of all, I would like to ask you about the band's name. How did you decide upon Dawn Of Ashes? Is there a story behind it? Kristof: Dawn of Ashes represents the birth ov death & failure. Dawn as in something that emerges or rises, & Ashes as the after effect ov a destructive force or when the flames burn out.
pdn: You have initially played EBM/ Aggrotech, then made a transition to blackened death metal. You obviously rock both, but what do we owe the change to?Kristof: Black Metal & Industrial music was initially going to be a major force, that would be combined together when I created DOA but I shrived to find musicians that were worthy ov joining this band. I leaned more towards the Industrial side but kept an aggressive feel with the music & the energy live. There has always been the thought ov turning DOA into a full blown Metal act with the elements ov Industrial. Then came a point where I decided to make the transformation and let this band's skin evolve into something a bit more organic. I never 100% felt the full aggressive energy, until we added in the guitars, drums, ect. Genocide Chapters was not my most prideful album but it did show a beginning stage towards this transformation. All brand NEW DOA material will definitely show the band's full potential as an Extreme Industrial Metal act.
pdn: Eventhough you've made a major change regarding sounds, I hear you are planning to re-record two tracks from the old albums. Do you already know which two? Kristof: Torture Device part 2 will be on the new EP (Farewell To The Flesh). I feel this new version out beat the original. I know that this was one ov our popular tracks as an Industrial act so I do feel that Dawn of Ashes fans will be blown away by the reinvention ov Torture Device. We have not figured out a second song besides performing some older songs live.
pdn: Please tell me about Urilia, the industrial black metal band that you have in cooperation with Psyclon Nine. How would you describe it in a few words, let's say to those who haven't heard of it yet?Kristof: URILIA is a group that myself & Rotny from Psyclon Nine started together. It'd heavily Influenced by traditional Black Metal with elements ov older Industrial. It's very influenced by Occult knowledge, Demonology, Black Magic, Violence, Statistic forms ov sex, ect. Very much what DOA & P9 are both based on. The sound will definitely have a DOA & P9 vibe.
pdn: What are the bands that you would love to share the stage with someday?Kristof: There are many, but mostly older Black Metal acts.
pdn: Who were some people that have influences you in becoming the artist you are today?Kristof: I am heavily influenced by Black Metal & straight Rock & Glam Metal. Horror & the occult is my main influence.
pdn: What are the plans for the upcoming year, for Dawn Of Ashes and Urilia?Kristof: For URILIA, it's to get this group more orginized. For DOA, it's to start performing again for the release ov the upcoming EP "Farewell To The Flesh". Many upcoming plans in the works.
pdn: Thank you so much for your time! Anything final you would like to add for your fans?Kristof: Keep it evil & cheers for the endless support to DOA & URILIA!
Shiv-R, with their powerful industrial tunes, have made a great impact over the dark music scene worldwide, in a relatively short time. Both members of this great up-and-coming act are here on playdeadnation, for a little fun conversation!
pdn: Greetings! Is there a story behind the band's name or have you come up with it randomly? Lee Bulig: It was absolutely, completely, definitely random. Hey, you opened the door!! Pete Crane: Don't let that stop you getting it tattooed on your body though.
pdn: How can you describe the sounds or Shiv-r in a few really representative words? What about your side project(s)? Pete Crane: Shiv-r exists to create world-destroying, club-obliterating, girl heart-crushing sex beats. Lee Bulig: Shiv-r is actually our side project. Our main project involves a secret volcanic island, cheap soviet-era nuclear warheads, fat cigars, a cat called Mr. Tiddles and some other James Bond-esque things. If it all works according to plan, you will be worshipping golden statues of us and living in a city called Tiddlesberg. For great glory!
pdn: The two of you work together on this project, but isn't that difficult with the distance between Bangkok and London? Pete Crane: The distance isn't such a hindrance, given that we collaborate online and would probably do so even if we lived in the same city. When we started the project, we both had very clearly defined roles in the project, so like I would do the basslines and Lee would do the melodies, for example. When working on songs online, this made life easier so we didn't get carried away and step on eachother's toes musically. On the new album we actually wrote the title track, This World Erase, in the same room when Lee came to visit me for xmas in 2010. This is why this song sounds so different to anything we have made before. It was a long session where we kept the beat going and jammed on synths, ran synths through other synths and cut up eachother's recordings. We both have very different work methods for how we create our signature sounds, and on this song we totally overlapped them so the resulting music is very unique to the moment. In a way it would be great to do every song like this and always work together, but the result would be very different to what we do now. Honestly, the only limitation or difficulty is that I cannot have a beer with Lee when I want. We can't hit the town together or play LAN games like we used to when we both lived in Sydney. To a large extent, Shiv-r exists so we still have some connection to eachother while we live in separate countries. Lee Bulig: Shiv-r would have never come to be without the awesome power of the internet. To share material with each other as we work on songs, files goes through our own servers or sometimes even public file sharing networks. It really isn’t any different from collaborative artists that live in the same city but maintain separate studios. The only difficulty is communication. Being able to listen to a tune in progress in the same room and talking about how it could be changed or developed is something we might be missing. However, have deep and significant artistic conversations are for artsy-idiots, and I’m glad we have developed a masculine silent efficiency for the time being. If we combine studios sometime in the future, I’m sure the results will be quite different to the material we have so far produced.
pdn: What is the main inspiration for the lyrics? Pete Crane: It's just a stream of consciousness really. Sometimes it makes more sense than others. I don't have that much control of it really. I've never written a set of lyrics about anything in particular in my life, it's all just how I'm feeling at the time or what words are running through my head. Sometimes I'm in a shitty place, like a ghetto-ass London area or a soul-crushing Sydney business district full of suits and it inspires hateful, nihilistic lyrics. Other times it's a more cyber influence, thinking about the effects of transhumanism and corporate control or...giant robots..
pdn: What are your other significant hobbies, preoccupations besides making music? Pete Crane: I have an on-and-off intense escapist mentality. So I go through brief phases where I get really, really into something like a videogame so I can switch off and just shoot pixels for a while. Not like an RPG or some shit...I don't want to be an elf or something. But competitive online first person shooters really do it for me, especially because you can play them for 15 minutes, blow off some steam, and then get back to real life. Essentially everything else I do apart from work is music related. Lee Bulig: We do a lot of interviews and I usually try to think of something witty to say when we get questions like this. I am feeling a little witless right now, so I will give an honest answer. After the day job and the music, there isn’t much free time. The little I have is spent playing obscure old computer games and downloading the kind of porn you would be foolish to tell anyone about or acquire without some kind of darknet network. If I have anymore time left after that, I spend it pondering how I got to being close to thirty years old and still spend my free time playing computer games and downloading porn.
pdn: Who are some artists you would love to collaborate with someday? Pete Crane: I'd like to give Headscan a massive bitchslap for not releasing anything since 2005 when their last album was so phenomenal at the time. I'd like to give Chris Corner a massive bitchslap for making such heart-rendingly beautiful music that can affect me far too much. And I'd like to give Michael Jackson a massive bitchslap for turning from the King of Pop into a pathetic joke before dying. Unfortunately there is no one I'd like to constructively collaborate with at this time. Lee Bulig: Definitely Lady Gaga. All I needs is a couch and some old motor oil. Wait, do you mean musically?
pdn: What are Shiv-r's plans for the near future? Pete Crane: Platinum sales, world domination and 10th level Prestige in Call of Duty. Lee Bulig: Ask not for what Shiv-r plans, ask for which Mr. Tiddles plans for Shiv-r to plan.
pdn: Thank you for this conversation! What else would you like to add for your fans? Pete Crane: Go forth and multiply! Lee Bulig: Nothing, I hate those vegan hippy liberal fucks. My musical ambition is not to make money, it is to have cool people listen to my music while doing cool things. Like, if Al Pacino had been listening to my music on his iPod while killing all those guys at the end of Scarface, I would die a happy man. Unfortunately, Al doesn’t appear to have ‘liked’ us on Facebook, instead we have a whole heap of vegan hippy liberal fucks, and it eats me up inside. I would even settle for some starstruck misguided slutty young emo chicks, which we also appear to not have.
Harsh electro beats coming from Bremen, Germany, delivered by Centhron, towards the delight of our auditory senses, mastermind Elmar Schmidt is here to answer a few questions.
pdn: Hello, Elmar! My first question will be the usual one; how did you come up with this name for the band?
Elmar: It was an Idea of Jörg Herrmann. He thought it is good name and in my opinion it was! So we started.
pdn: How was the idea of forming this band born? Please tell me a bit about the very beginning. Elmar: Jörg and me meet in a german club and talked about music. I was a Metalhead, he just for electronic music. I visited him to have a look at his synthesizers, he visited me to have a look in my studio. We made some experiments and we thought it could be a cool project. So we started the first time and made the first Demo "Melek Taus".
pdn:At what age did you start making music and leaning towards the industrial scene? Elmar: Oh, I started with 6 years I think, may be earlier. My father is a musician, I started with playing drums and piano. With 12 years I founded my first metal band "Execution", played drums there and had a great time. Industrial came late to me, I think I was at least 19 years old. My first bands I listend to were Feindflug, Suicide Commando and Kiew.
pdn: Who were some of the people and/or bands that have influenced you, both musically and as a person? Elmar: I do not know really in music. May be Suicide Commando, but I tried to do it on my own. So the first album "Lichtsucher" sounds different in every song. I was impressed by Feindflug, S.I.T.D. and a lot of bands we played with. Especially Agonoize later, the showed me, that great bands could have a great character!
pdn: What bands would you most like to share the stage with, and what events/ festivals would you like to participate in someday? Elmar: The best combination was the tour 2009 with Agonoize I think, but my dream is to play with Rammstein;-)
pdn: Would you ever consider playing a different type of music? If so, what genre? Elmar: Of course:Death Metal! May be some Rock'n Roll.
pdn: What are Centhron's plans for the near future? Any upcoming material, tours? Elmar: We are working on new material, I think we will finish it next year. We hope to play a good tour next year, may be russia again, may be america. We work on a lot things...Some european shows of course too!
pdn: Thank you for your time! Any words you would like to add for your fans, friends? Elmar: Thank you for the interview, we hope to see a lot of your readers at our shows! Rock on!
The Ludovico Technique is a harsh industrial band from Orlando, FL., and their main intention is to highlight the dark side of human experience as well as depths which the human mind can reach. Vocalist and mastermind Ben V- was kind to answer the following questions for us.
pdn: Hey Ben! Please tell me a bit about the source of inspiration for the band's name. Ben: The name stems from the story "A Clockwork Orange" - the "Ludovico Technique" is the psychological therapy given to the main character in an attempt to condition his behavior.
pdn: How did you guys meet? Was it prior to the band's existence?
Ben: The first live band members were all actual friends of mine. I think its important to have a very personal relationship with those that you share so much of your passionate experiences with.
pdn: Who writes the lyrics and what inspires them? Ben: I am the principal writer for the lyrics and music, Every song is extremely personal to me, where as others in the industrial scene may talk about cybernetic war or just say the word fuck over and over, Lyric writing for me is a way to get thoughts and feelings out in a constructive way that otherwise would end up coming out in a destructive way in my day to day life
pdn: What were things and/or people that influenced you when getting started and along the way? Ben: Anxiety attacks, past drug abuse, the death of immediate family and a general sense of disconnection and misunderstanding to my fellow man are things that were and are influential As far as Musically? Old school Industrial, Classical Music, 1920's and 30's blues Old school hip hop, 1950 and 60's country.
pdn: And how would you describe your sounds in a few representative words? Ben: Harsh industrial music highlighting the dark aspects of the human experience as well as the depths to which mans mind can deteriorate.
pdn: Which had been your favourite band to tour with so far? And also, if you could pick anyone, who would you like to share the stage with someday? Ben: We've toured with so such great bands up to this point I think there's different experiences on each tour that have been my favorite, as far as one day maybe Skinny Puppy, Front 242, Einstürzende Neubauten
pdn: What are The Ludovico Technique's nearest plans? Any specific events the upcoming year? Ben: We are at the moment in the studio recording our debut Metropolis Records Album "Some things Are Beyond Therapy" which I will turn in to them come Feb. We'll spend the remaining time of 2012 touring heavily and playing Europe for the first time.
pdn: Thank you so much for the interview! Any final words you would like to add for your fans? Ben: Follow your passions, let no one stand in your way, we have one life to live and this is not a dress rehearsal for something else, If there's someone you love, express it, If there's something you hate, express it. The Things that separate us from other animals on this earth are the usage of tools, bipedal motion and ... Artistic Expression. You have dreams for your life and there is nothing to stop you. Thank you for your time and we'll see you out on the road!
I must say this article is something exclusive. With the permission of their manager, Saku Solin, lead singer of finnish industrial metal band of Fear Of Domination gave me their brand new album before even releasing it, for a preview on Playdeadnation. After listening to it several times, I can promise I will be listening to it often from now on as well.
It is perfect for both fans of metal and industrial, since it is the perfect combination between the two. Energic, rough, with electronic elements, harsh male vocals that contrast with the occasional clean female vocals provided by Niina Telén. If in the review of their first album I mentioned having your bloodflow speeded up, this album will probably get you to the point of extasy. The song that opens up the gates of this album is 'New World', this makes you feel like you're on top of the world and from the album name 'Create.Control.Exterminate', the best word that would describe the message of this song is 'control'. Next song is 'Pandemonium', this song uses the natural food chain as a metaphor for the general selfishness of people, main message being that the weak will not survive because they will be feasted upon, followed by 'Modify', which talks about change, purification through painful methods. Then we can listen to 'Destroy & Dominate', the lyrics are mixed, some english and some finnish ones in the second part of the song. It also talks about how tideous life can be, that You have to be your own god, otherwise you will live an utterly submissive life. The following tune is 'Coma', which will not fail you either if you like songs full of energy, also with a great deal of clean female vocals, and it presents us another piece of things that are going wrong in our society. 'We'll Fall Apart' is a song with a slightly melancholic sound, which I can say matches the title. It tries to open people's eyes, and somewhat proves my personal general point as well, that the world would make much more progress if we wouldn't all be as greedy as we are and step over everybody else, as well as a big part of humanity being a waste of space on this planet. After this, 'So Far So Good (All For Nothing)' is about lack of dignity and selling out, selling yourself, doing everything to please other rather than working your way up and keeping your head up high. 'Tool Of God' is about people being the means of superior forces for making things happen, and also that 'you must kiss the flame if you want to be saved'...you have to make sacrifices for inner peace. The final song, 'Control within', is about controlling your thoughts and actions, also about control upon others.
The general message of this album is similar to the one in the first album; Greed, mass manipulation and the negative effect of this on human evolution and cooperation.The album does not fail us, I can recommend it wholeheartedly. It will be released on the 23rd this month (november), DO NOT MISS IT!!
Essence Of Mind is an alternative electronic rock band from Oslo, Norway. It delivers the listener a fusion between great power in the vocals within rhythmic tunes.
pdn: Hello, Erlend! First of all, how did you come up with the band name? Erlend: Hello! Well, I was trying to come up something that reflected to my music and lyrics. As it contain a lot of reflections about human psyche, how we treat each others, my own thoughts and feelings about my own experiences, as well as fictional stories about human relations etc. So when I come up with Essence Of Mind, I knew it was the right choice!
pdn: Of course it is up to everyone to listen and discover, but how would you personally describe the sounds of Essence of Mind in a few words? Erlend: Powerful, melodic,emotional yet aggressive electronic music blended with rock elements!
pdn: What is it that inspires you mostly while writing the lyrics? Erlend: A lot of different stuff like I mentioned earlier, but I think the mood of the song has a very big impact on how the lyrics will end up in the end. A also tend to make them hopeful even when they're quite dark, as well as keeping them quite open for the listeners interpretations. I sometimes even have different interpretations on some songs as well :) I think it makes it more interesting that way, it's all about the feelings!
pdn: And what inspired your sounds and style since the beginning? What bands for example? Erlend: Oh, a lot of different stuff, both modern and older stuff! But I do have a fascination for new sounds and blending different styles together to an own expression! I listen and love a lot of different music, from Linkin Park, Marilyn Manson and Enter Shikari via 80's new wave and synthpop to The Prodigy, 30 Seconds To Mars, Pendulum, Apoptygma Berzerk and so on!
pdn: If you could pick any other Norwegian band to share the stage with, which one would it be? Erlend: We have already been so lucky to have played with great artists such as Apoptygma Berzerk, Zeromancer and Combichrist, but it's no secret that Apoptygma has a special place in my heart! Stephan is also a very nice guy!
pdn: If you would be to have another project of a different genre, what genre would you choose and why? Erlend: That's a tough one cause I tend not to think genres when making music! I need to evolve and to be able to be creative so I just makes what I want, be it very electronic or very rock oriented. It usually blends together in some sort though. So if I would do something else, it could be anything really.
pdn: Are there any plans for upcoming material in the near future? Erlend: Yes there is!! We are actually in the final stages of the production of our next album! It will continue what we started with the 2 previous ones, but also taken a step forward as well, trying out new elements!Experimenting is an important part of my music making! We do also have a new video finished, made a really great and professional team, so we can't wait to get the album done, and to present it to the public! We also plan to do some more touring, and will try to play as much live as possible! We have also started to rehearse the new songs, and will try some new elements to our live shows!
pdn:Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! Anything you would like to add for your fans? Erlend: Thank YOU! Hope you will like our new album, we can't wait to get it finished and released! And we hope to see you at a show near you!
