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Osidian Interview - Blastwave (UK) |
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Blastwave caught up with Prog-Death Metallers Obsidian's guitarist Sjaak to talk about progressive death metal and the easiest way to kill puppies…
Zadok Day: First of all, many thanks for taking time from your busy schedule and doing the interview. Could you tell us a little about how the band started?
Sjaak: Obsidian started like many other bands: sucking in the attic of my parents, thinking that you are doing stuff that is right up there with your heroes like Death and Metallica. Simon and I wrote at home and once or twice a week we rented a cubicle with the whole band for a few hours. In this period we were playing more in the vein of old school death metal with some Death influences. But after a while we wanted to experiment more with melody and rhythm. Unfortunately this didn't really work out with our drummer at the time. I guess when we found Melle Kramer, our current drummer; we started to work towards the Obsidian we are today.
Zadok Day: How would you describe your music to someone who had never heard it before?
Sjaak: It's always hard to label your own music. We have chosen ‘progressive death metal'. But there are a lot of styles included in the mix. We have been called a lot of names and have been compared to a lot of bands like Meshuggah, Textures, Cynic, Opeth and Scarve by the press.
Zadok Day: Did you take your band name from the Meshuggah song? Were they a big influence on you?
Sjaak: I don't think so. Simon came up with the name so I'm not sure. It's such a long time ago. I think we've been playing under the name Obsidian for seven years now. Meshuggah has been a great influence over the years, like many other bands. I am grateful for what they did for the metal scene, but I am a little tired of people who say that whenever a metal band does a polyrhythmic riff, they “stole” it from Meshuggah.
Zadok Day: Why choose to play a mixture of ‘heavy' and ‘light' music rather than concentrating on one or the other?
Sjaak: Because we like to listen to ‘heavy' and ‘light' music. We have always taken the styles we like to listen to, dip it in the Obsidian sauce and incorporate it in our music. In the material we are currently writing, we try to separate the themes more per song so that not every song is like a primordial metal soup, with all styles and twists we could come up with.
Zadok Day: There are quite a few bands around at the moment that play technical forms of Metal such as this. What makes Obsidian stand out?
Sjaak: Our pretty faces. But besides that, I think the mood we set and the mixture of styles and elements.
Zadok Day: How's the experience of playing live? Do you enjoy touring?
Sjaak: We like to play live a lot. Especially with our new frontman Robbe K. He really knows how to whip up a crowd. Unfortunately it's not easy to get as many gigs as we would like to. We just don't have enough friends and time, I guess.
Zadok Day: How does Rusty Cage treat you? Any woeful tales of mismanagement to relate?
Sjaak: I'm not at liberty to make any negative remarks concerning with or relating to Rusty Cage Records, according to article 3:11 of our strangling contract... No, they're great.
Zadok Day: What's the metal scene like in Holland? Any up-and-coming bands we should be aware of?
Sjaak: The metal scene in Holland is ok. I don't see the same amounts of great bands other countries like the UK produce, but bands like Cilice, Detonation, Cypher, Magnacult and of course Textures are worth mentioning.
Zadok Day: Who would you most like to play live with, and why?
Sjaak: I'd say Meshuggah. They have been a big inspiration for years and they know how to play live. I have seen them live a couple of times and man, they are tight.
Zadok Day: Where do you think metal will be in ten years' time?
Sjaak: I'm no Nostradamus but what I would like to see is extreme metal, with a wide range of variation and complex rhythms combined with grunts and clean vocals. Wait, that's now. Well, that but more developed.
Zadok Day: What are your current five favourite albums, metal or not?
Sjaak: In no particular order I am currently listening a lot to:
The End – Elementary
Sybreed - Antares
Amorphis - Silent waters
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Isis - In The Absence of Truth
Zadok Day: Do you have a favourite joke you can tell us?
Sjaak: My life.
Zadok Day: And lastly, any closing comments?
Sjaak: For every copy of our album Emerging we don't sell, we kill a puppy. Their blood is on your hands.
http://www.blastwave.co.uk
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