Metal
Gods known as FLESHCRAWL have put down their
weapons of mass destruction on the ears of listeners for this
chance to have an interview with them. After their release of
their seventh album Made Of Flesh it is nice
to catch up with such leaders in the death metal industry. As
FLESHCRAWL has this gut wrenching sound that
you absolutely love to hate and can’t stop listening to.
Only a few of the reasons these guys should are a notable and
unremarkable talent and experience for any of those that take
a listen.
Stacie:
Since the release of Made Of Flesh, there seems to be
a good response as far as reviews go, what are the bands thoughts
on that?
Bastian: That’s right! Responses and reactions
have been great – by the press as well as by the fans. It
shows that Made Of Flesh is the right
follow-up to Soulskinner. We are still
very happy and totally satisfies with Made Of Flesh
– also when looking back to the recordings with the distance
of a few months.
Stacie:
How long did it take to record the new material?
Bastian: We spent 3 weeks in Studio Underground in Sweden
to put everything on the tapes including the mix. One more time,
we worked with the good old analog 2 inch tapes which also contributed
a lot to the good production and sound of the record.
Stacie:
Since the band is gearing up to set some gigs, has there been
a time when out on the road when things just felt like they went
wrong?
Bastian: Nothing that I can think of. Everything we did
was planned and calculated and I think we also knew somehow what
to expect from this or that action we did. So, no regrets from
our side. Well, looking back from nowadays, it would have been
better for us not to have signed to Black Mark in 1992 –
I think this would have helped the growth of the band much more.
Stacie:
Given the name FLESHCRAWL, is that a summary of what makes this
band what they are and as well in a musical sense to?
Bastian: Yeah, maybe you can consider FLESHCRAWL
as a band who makes your flesh crawl, haha. But this everybody
has to find out for himself. We never thought about that when
deciding for the band’s name. FLESHCRAWL
is a simply good sounding word and makes sense to have as a death
metal band name. That’s it in our opinion.
Stacie:
What would one expect upon listening to FLESHCRAWL’s music
for the first time?
Bastian: Heavy, old-school and intense death metal in
the early Swedish vein, free of any complicated song patterns,
but straight in the face music. We don’t deliver originality,
but traditional, high-quality death metal. And people still like
to hear this kind of music…
Stacie:
With the recording of the new material were there any elements
that the band wanted to express with the musical aspects as apart
to the lyrical nature?
Bastian: No, music and lyrics are 2 separated things
in FLESHCRAWL. We never do concept songs or albums
for example. As the music is finished before the lyrics for a
song are written, there is also no way to express something lyrical.
Stacie:
Band music writing has a catchy feel vibe musical to it from the
first song Beneath A Dying Sun, to a more a somewhat
melodic taste to Damned In Fire, given the varied song
structures to this material, did the band intent for the music
to be death groove oriented?
Bastian: We wanted to have a very varied and diversified
album in the end. So, we are very happy that we achieved this
goal because when we started writing we could not know where to
end up. I think all songs/arrangements on Made Of
Flesh somehow are in good balance, so the record
doesn’t bore you to death when being listened from the beginning
to the end.
Stacie:
From the members being in previous bands from these prior musical
experiences influence the sound of FLESHCRAWL today?
Bastian: No, I don’t think so because those projects
on the one hand produced more technical styled death metal music
and on the other one, I have to admit that I even don’t
know the music all of the projects my guys have been doing before
– shame on me, haha !
Stacie:
Since the last band releases does this new album has any different
elements that make it stand out on it’s own as compared
to the ones of the past?
Bastian: Well, Made Of Flesh
basically continues where Soulskinner
ended, but comes along with a lot more variety. There is a good
balance on Made Of Flesh between slow,
mid-tempo and fast parts which constitutes the atmosphere of the
record and also keeps the whole thing interesting to the listener.
Stacie:
Does the cover artwork tie into the bands musical theme of the
album?
Bastian: We wanted to have a typical death metal cover
artwork for Made Of Flesh. The artist
responsible for it – Uwe Jarling – formed a connection
between the album title and the artwork itself as we think this
is mandatory to have.
Stacie:
If you can describe FLESHCRAWL in one sentence, how would you
describe the band?
Bastian: Heavy, old-school and intense death metal in
the early Swedish vein, free of any complicated song patterns,
but straight in the face music.
Stacie:
Seeing that the band is geared for upcoming shows with Dew-Scented,
Fear Of Darkness in Leipzig, Germany and with Disbelief, Burden
Of Grief, U.D.O, Die Apokalyptischen Reiter, Clawfinger and others.
How is the band feeling towards this?
Bastian: I think there will be some cool upcoming shows
in the near future. We will do some festivals here, Rock Harz
(Germany), Skeleton Bash (Austria), Kaltenbach (Austria), Party-San
(Germany), Summer-Breeze (Germany) and some other single shows.
We are also still checking to line up some more stuff. All the
up-to-date and confirmed information can be seen on our temporary
website www.fleshcrawl.de - the new layout is still to come…
Stacie:
Any plans to take FLESHCRAWL beyond the Europe if given the chance?
Bastian: We’ll see. We got to wait for some good
offer for the U.S. Maybe this works out in 2005. Let’s wait
and see! So far we played Japan in 2002 supporting Hypocrisy which
was a cool experience!
Stacie:
What was it like sharing a spot with Six Feet Under?
Bastian: Since this was our 2nd tour with SFU in Europe,
we already knew those guys and also knew what to expect. The tour
was totally cool, killer shows, packed places and venues and a
really nice atmosphere between the bands. Just awesome!
Stacie:
Did the band find it somewhat a challenge to get a certain sound
that they wanted to produce with the new material?
Bastian: Well, we know exactly how the band has to sound
on the record. This “knowledge” was achieved over
the years. Therefore we do not consider it as a challenge anymore
when it comes to sound questions. Of course, it is always a little
mysterious if everything works out in the end, but I think our
experience – and the one of the engineer – pays off
in the end. Moreover, we didn’t want to create a “special”
production for Made Of Flesh. Productions
wise, a follow-up to Soulskinner.
Stacie:
Any final comments or thoughts?
Bastian: Thanx for the interview and the support. Keep
supporting the morbid way !
Thank
you very much for answering these questions |
