“it’s a fact that it’s damn complicated to create your own sound these days”
Hi guys, and thanks for taking the time to talk to us, I’m sure with the imminent release of the new album The Condemnation you guys are pretty busy.
So lets start with the new album, what can people expect from The Condemnation? and how happy are you personally with the end product ?
First of all we are very happy and proud of this end result. Tommie Bonajo did a great job to give us that heavy pounding crystal clear sound that we needed. We wanted this album to sound a little heavier and dirtier than ‘Scars Of Undying Grief’. The album contains ten songs, all around 5 minutes length, with grooving melodies and shredding guitar solos.
There’s a definite revival in Thrash Metal in general at the moment, with some exciting bands surfacing from different parts of the globe, what newer bands have made an impression on you?
That’s a difficult question, cause we’re not so known with the new generation. We’ve got our influences by thrash bands like The Haunted, At The Gates, Testament, Exodus and Arch Enemy.
With an upcoming UK Tour at the end of Feb/start of March – will this be your first time playing in the UK?
That’s correct, so we really look forward to that. It’s a one week adventure so we try to get as much as possible out of it.
How is the Metal scene in Holland at the moment? Any bands to look out for? and are many venues closing down like they are in other countries in Europe?
There are a lot of good upcoming bands in The Netherlands. The problem is that only a few of them manage it to make to next step. There is not much financial support for culture by the government, so venues don’t take too much risk. Besides that, there is too much competition with the international bands. We’re a little bit spoiled you can say.
There have clearly been some Bay Area band influences on Disquiet through your sound, but what bands have influenced you over the years?
As mentioned before, the bay area bands in combination with the Scandinavian melodic death metal scene. Each member has it’s own input; so there also some modern metal (core) influences. We don’t operate within a specific raster.
After the UK dates and some at home in April, are there any further tours or festival dates lined up for the rest of the year?
We play a lot of shows in The Netherlands including some great festivals. We’re working on some shows in Germany, Belgium and hoping for the rest of Europe. New shows are getting booked as we speak, so we have to wait for what more is coming.
I know The Condemnation is just about to be released, but are there any plans yet for the next album? How do you guys go about working on new material and the writing process?
There are no plans yet, but we’ll start working on the next one pretty soon I guess. Our debut album was mostly written by Fabian, but on ‘The Condemnation’ there was actually a 50/50 input from the both guitar players Menno and Fabian. Fabian brings in the melodic thrash riffs, as Menno puts the more complicated rhythms an pattern on the table. From there we start cooking. They bring the ingredients, the five of us discuss the right proportions and then we have Sean with his hot sauce on top of it!
Do you guys have much input in the recording process and if so how do you find that side of making an Album?
We did the recordings ourselves. Nowadays it’s pretty easy to do good quality recordings. We recorded guitar and bass with a direct dry signal in Cubase and our producer Tommie Bonajo re-amped these recordings and made the final sound. Drums were recorded in our rehearsal room and the vocals we did with Jorrian Piek at R3 studios. That way we’re not hurried and have everything in control.
Can you tell us a bit more about the album cover concept and who you got to create it?
Kevin Storm (www.stormstudio.nl) did the artwork which is based around the theme of ‘what goes around, comes around’. You see a person on the front shooting himself. This is basically a symbol that all evil will fall eventually.
What do the band members like to do outside of music?
We all have our jobs to pay our houses and this goes from teacher to ICT developers and sales to psychiatric care. Besides that we’ve got our family, but most of the time we’re busy with making music. Two of us play in other bands. Sean is also vocalist for ‘Kamikaze’ (hardcore) and Frank is bassplayer/vocalist for ‘Bloodgod’ (thrash/death) and ‘Player’ (Slayer coverband).
With the passing of an iconic figure like Lemmy, and therefore the end of an iconic band like Motorhead do you think that younger bands have a responsibility to step up and try and somehow take there place? and does the loss of globally acclaimed musicians make you think any differently about what you want your legacy in music to be ?
I think that the biggest festival headliners still put a mark on the global ranking of metalbands. We see the same names on top of the bill for ages. The time has come that the 70’s and 80’s big names (Sabbath, Priest, Metallica, Slayer) make way for the 90’s and 00’s (Machine Head, Lamb of God, Slipknot, Trivium a.o.). But it’s a fact that it’s damn complicated to create your own sound these days. It’s a matter of writing excellent songs and I think catchy melodies, great rhythms and an recognizable voice can make you stand out from the rest.
Finally, if there was an option to play any venue or festival in the world, where would that be and why?
I think every member would give a different answer. Graspop Metal Meeting is a great festival we all have visited a thousand times. But for me personally i would say the Knitting Factory in New York. Actually a small venue but I think the greatest venue in New York, and the fact that it is Brooklyn, New York is more than enough!
Once again many thanks for taking the time to talk to us and the best of luck with Disquiet’s UK Tour, 2016 and what’s the come for the band.
Disquiet play Coventry Roadhouse on 4th March
