After six long years and turbulent times Danish doomsters SATURNUS are back with a new line-up and album both stronger than ever before. With Veronica Decides To Die they again released a manifest of sadness and melancholy backed by profound lyrics and proved that they still know how to captivate, enchant and thrill the listeners. What better reason one can find to get deeper in the band’s business, to hear what the past brought in matter of experiences and changes and what the future might unfold… For that, singer and founder Thomas A.G. Jensen took his time to answer a bunch of questions and raises hope to see SATURNUS performing live soon…

Dajana: With the release of your mesmerizing album Martyre in 2000 you already had to struggle through line-up changes. Three members left at the same time, amongst other the main songwriter… What gave you power, strength and motivation to hang in there all the time?
Thomas: Greetings Dajana. Well, basically the same strength and motivation which have been following me and the band since day one. SATURNUS has been through some good times and some bad times, but I’ve never once wanted to give up on the band. If you really want something to succeed you just keep going, and that’s what we did when three members left. There was never any doubt that we wanted to continue. We just had to find the right three new members and start working on the next album. In SATURNUS it’s very important that the members are friends outside the band as well as working well together playing music, so we had to go through a variety of musicians before we found the right guys. We found the right members in Tais, Lennart and Nikolaj and the band is now stronger than ever.

Dajana: This world is full of poets and authors of deeply sad stories/novels. Why you have chosen Paulo Coehlo and his Veronica?
Thomas: The story raises some good questions about life, death and the choices you make. The essence in the story has a lot in common with the themes in our lyrics and we thought the title of the book would work well together with the songs on the new album.

Dajana: Coelho mostly dissects characters in search of the sense of life and finding spirituality. Can you define your sense of life, if there is one already becoming aware of?
Thomas: Good question. I think life is a learning process from birth till you die. You will encounter a lot of obstacles on the way but they will only make you a stronger person in the end. To get the most out of life you have to learn from the hindrances you might stand before and get the most of it.

Dajana: Do you were in a situation (as Veronica) not able to realize a life’s dream, well knowing that your existence might fail at this? How to go on then? Is it even possible? How much a soul needs to numb itself to bear such life?
Thomas: I have not been in a situation like Veronica (yet), but I think you have to get the most out of life and learn from any hindrances and difficulties you might encounter on the way. At some point in life you might realize that it’s not possible to reach your goals, but then again, it IS possible to make the best out of life. And who knows, maybe you will get new goals on the way that is possible to reach. There is no reason to stop living because of a dream. I think it is possible to go on despite given circumstances like the ones presented with Veronica, but I’m also certain that it is a battle that will be very hard and exhausting for body and soul.

Dajana: That leads to the question of how much you find yourself back in this story? Any autobiographical traits?
Thomas: I think we all see parts of ourselves in the story of Veronica, where we just want to quit it all and end it right now. But like Veronica, we realize that there’s more to life than it seems and suicide is not the solution. She just took that drastic step others only give a second’s thought before dismissing it.

Dajana: With your third album Veronica Decides To Die you have to get off the grid again. Advantage or disadvantage to start right from the beginning again? How did you see the so called scene developing over the past six years and in what direction? How many of your fans are still loyal?
Thomas: I don’t think we had to start all over again. Our fans have been patient and supportive throughout the past six years and they have proved once and for all that we have very loyal fans. We held a release party in June in Copenhagen which was sold out, and fans from Germany took the trip to Denmark only for this event. In 2005 we played another show in Copenhagen which had fans from Belgium traveling to Denmark, and I think that proves SATURNUS is still strong in the minds of the fans. We get a lot of mail from all over the world from supportive fans who want SATURNUS to play in their country and the interest in SATURNUS is stronger than ever. As for the other part of your question, I don’t think the doom scene has changed that much during the past six years. Doom metal has not succumbed to trends like a lot of other metal genres and I do not think that will happen either.

Dajana: How difficult is it generally after such a long break to get sort of successful access to the music biz again?
Thomas: We have been in touch with the music business all along even though it’s been six years since Martyre. We have played shows here in Denmark and been in touch with bands and labels the whole time so it was not difficult at all. We have been working on the new album all the time, we just had to get the right line-up put together before we could put the finishing touches on the material and enter the studio.

Dajana: Stylistically nothing has changed so far, or at least just marginal. Was that an intentional decision or just a logical continuation with what you stopped 6 years ago? I mean, there are new members on board with other roots and influences. A change wouldn’t have been surprising in this matter…
Thomas: It was an intentional decision to make a continuation of Paradise Belongs To You. We felt there was something missing between Paradise… and Martyre and that’s where Veronica… fits in. Martyre is a great album and I’m very proud of it, but Paradise… and Veronica… signifies the style I prefer in SATURNUS, and this is what we will focus on in the future as well. The new members have different backgrounds from other bands, but they all agree on the style presented on Veronica… and we all work for a common goal. SATURNUS is a doom metal band with a style well defined and that will not be compromised. There will off course be traits of development and changes on future albums, but only marginal changes in the world of SATURNUS. Expect us to continue the style presented Paradise… and Veronica… and explore the various aspects of doom, melancholy and sadness.

Dajana: Apropos new members… How did the songwriting work? How much they were involved? Will the line-up be strong enough to make developments possible for SATURNUS?
Thomas: We have been working with parts and bits of the songs throughout the six years since Martyre and they were finished when we had the right lineup. The new members helped putting the finishing touches to the songs and had influence on the final material. With the right members the songs were finalized and the result show that the new members are very much into the style of SATURNUS. I think the songwriting worked out very well and the album represents the band as a whole. The current lineup is very strong and I have no doubt that the new members will have a great impact on the future of SATURNUS.

Dajana: I think with Veronica Decides To Die you have delivered a great come back album, causing some enthusiastic outbursts in the journalistic world of paper. What will the future unfold for SATURNUS? Will you experiment musically in the future? Try out something new or special? When we get you finally to see live on stage throughout Europe? Any festivals planned this year?
Thomas: Yes, the album has been well received and we truly appreciate the kind words and support. Our future plans are to put a tour together. We are currently working on that. We will play at “Dutch Doom Day V” in Rotterdam, The Netherlands on October 28th, and the “Doom The Boat” show in Copenhagen on August 6th is confirmed as well. Other shows are still in the making. As for the future in general, we will off course write another album and continue from where Veronica Decides To Die left off. I do not think we will experiment in the future as SATURNUS has a well defined style which we all agree on. We might be working with a choir again, you never know, but our style in general will not change.

Dajana: Ok, I’m at the end of my questions. Thank you very much for spending time on these ones and I hope to see ya soon on one of the stages around. Cheers!