The Metal Web - Dew Scented Interview

w/LEIF JENSON

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: The band has stated that the name "Dew-Scented" originated from a poem written by Edgar Alan Poe. Which particular poem lead to the inspiration for the name and in which way or ways did you feel this poem represents the band enough to have chosen it? Are you an avid reader of Poe?

Leif Jensen: Well, actually I wouldn't even remember the name of the piece anymore. I think it was just some miscellaneous collection of short poems or stories that I was flipping through and I really liked this term because it sounded cool and abstract to me. Also in the way it was used and sounded there. I think I liked the enigmatic and pretty original vibe with it because it doesn't come across as "flat" as some other names in Metal. You know, I like clichés myself, but I thought the name would make the band stand out right away. Of course by now I noticed that the name doesn't seem direct and catchy or maybe not suitable to the band's music at all, but that's a challenge too, right? The poem didn't really represent the band at all. But we thought that the expression would give us a pretty neutral, stylistically unbound start for the band instead of being the third Evil Guts, replace this with a zillion other type of named bands on the globe! No, I'm not much of a Poe reader, even though I liked his atmospheric and complicated style. I don't have much time to read at all these days anymore it seems.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: With both albums "Inwards" and "Impact" you hired producer "Andy Classen" (Rotting Christ, Graveworm) of Stage One Studios to assist with his expertise in the recording. What do you feel he brings out in Dew-Scented that nobody else did with past releases and how did he influence everyone's individual performance?

Leif Jensen: I think Andy has a perfect understanding of what the band is musically all about and also of what he needs to get out of us. I mean, he played with Holy Moses, so he definitely has great skills in thrash metal in general and he has this thick guitar sound that we really like. I think the good part with Andy is that we also liked each other a lot on a personal level and that he was as excited and motivated on getting a 100% out of the productions as we were. That always helps! We were extremely happy with the results on "Inwards" and since we knew that we could still improve some more and raise the level with our co-operation afterwards, because of knowing each other better and also because of better preparation on our end before entering studios. We decided to go for him again on "Impact" and I think the final album proved us right in our feeling. He is pretty demanding but at the same time smooth. That's a good combination and it seems to work out well with all of the Dew-Scented guys. Recording tends to get stressed for us because we don't have much time in the studio but I think he became more than just a partner in crime to make these albums as powerful as they are. We are definitely interested in working with him again, if the schedules match for the next album.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: How long did it take to write and record "Impact"? Were there any tracks leftover that did not make the final recording, and if so will these tracks become available on a future release?

Leif Jensen: Well, the album was basically written throughout several separate months between Summer of 2002 and Spring of 2003. Just every now and then we would work on 2-3 songs between touring activities. We were in the studio for a little over 3 weeks for recording, mixing and mastering. That was tight, but it made us work really hard and with focus! The "Impact" album basically contains 11 songs but comes with 2 bonus tracks "Force-Fed (The Bleeding Scheme)" and the Turbonegro cover track of "Hobbit Motherfuckers" on the limited European Digipak release as well as on the North American version. Additionally, we also recorded a cover version of Metallica's "Metal Milita" and re-recorded an own older track called "Skybound", which was first featured on the "Ill-Natured" album, which are used as bonus tracks on the Japanese version of "Impact" out through Soundholic Records. All of the material we have ever officially recorded is used already on one way or another in a certain territory at this stage.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: What made the band decide to have Guitarist "Hendrik Bache" take on the responsibilities of Bass during the recording rather than have another musician come in to contribute time or hold an audition for bass players before recording?

Leif Jensen: It just seemed the most convenient to have Hendrik record the bass, really. I mean, he's a great musician next to being a great songwriter, who took care of good amounts of the "Impact" songs by himself, great rhythm and lead guitar player. He is also great as drummer and bass player. We were in a situation of being in-between bass players at that stage, as our original bassist Patrick was stepping out of the band and we already had some people in auditions. Alex from Obscenity who is the bass player that is with Dew-Scented these days wasn't part of the songwriting process and we wouldn't have had time enough to show him the material well enough, so that Hendrik came out saying that he would do it. And that worked perfectly!

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Could you talk a little about the lyrics to "Acts of Rage", "Destination Hell", and "Soul Poison"?

Leif Jensen: Huh, that's always like the toughest question that you could ask me! I would actually prefer to talk about certain lines or get a direct impression on what people thought of a certain lyric or of what they interpreted into it, rather than just running you my version of things. In the end of the day, my version is just there in the booklet, so it's sort of weird to go into more detail. (Laughs) But I can briefly let you know that "Acts Of Rage" is about the daily anger and agony that we all carry in ourselves and how it tends to change our attitudes to life. "Destination Hell" is just pessimistic and apocalyptic, talking about our very personal and global end of the road and about how much we seem to enjoy to jump off that cliff again and again. "Soul Poison" is pretty personal and deals with the fact that we all tend to not care and evaluate the self anymore but instead often choose to numb the pains and forget about problems easily rather than dealing with them. The song is in the end of the day about the fact that we are all becoming less and less spiritual people in these "modern" age, seeming to care so much about shit here and shit there as "priority" when that all doesn't really matter anyways. Our soul is precious and we shouldn't ignore that.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Collectively, what are the bands influences and how do these influences get incorporated into the sound that is Dew-Scented?

Leif Jensen: I guess as I musician you get indirectly influenced by everything you used to love and to listen to as well as by all that you spend time with and care about day by day. All members in the band have pretty different, varied personal tastes for music but in the end of the day we agree on certain classic Death and Thrash Metal bands that we all appreciate. Be it Death, Slayer, At the Gates, The Haunted, Morbid Angel, Testament, Meshuggah, Exodus, Eucharist, Forbidden, etc. But I don't think we are directly trying to get influenced by any of those mentioned bands. After five albums now with Dew-Scented, we would like to think that we have found a certain own style and pattern that we follow and try to improve from album to album.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: If you had to compare, what do you think is the major difference between past releases and "Impact"?

Leif Jensen: That's hard for me to neutrally comment on. (Laughs) Aren't people in the media a better source for a good answer? That would be your job then, huh? (Laughs) Oh well, I think this record combines our very best elements and our best strengths all together into the most massive recipe we have found with Dew-Scented so far. I mean, the production is definitely the best we have managed to get so far, the songs are all the way aggressive and without let-downs and after all, the album is not only the catchiest one so far but at the same time also pretty technical and varied for whatever extreme metal is good for. To us the material feels great, it's good fun to play the songs live and there seems to be a very positive overall feedback from the people who have heard the album so far. So I'm inclined to say that "Impact" is the album that presents the band at its best this far!

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: In support of the new album "Impact", you recently just ended a slew of touring. The band had the tour with Nile & Misery Index as well as the "X-mass 2003 Festival" and a spot at last years "NJ Metal & Hardcore Fest" in NJ. Now that the tours are through, what kind of an "Impact", no pun intended (Laughs) do you feel Dew-Scented left with the crowds and how did it feel to play the states? I know you have wanted to do that for a while and with most tours, it has been European.

Leif Jensen: It felt great! The acceptance on all of the touring activities we have done lately was nothing but great! We had a great time on the road and to me that's almost more important than getting good press for an album's release because aggressive thrash metal pretty much exists for an intense live situation and I've always thought that the direct side of Dew-Scented was the shows. That's why we always try to play as much as we can and wherever we can! Yes, the NJ Metal and Hardcore fest went great for us! We had a really cool time over there and made a lot of new friends that weekend! We had been to the States before in 2002 to play the Milwaukee Metal fest and that was awesome too! It seems like our label in the US understands the band very well and they seem extremely motivated in helping us reach a bigger audience over there, as we have been "trapped" in Europe for quite a long while so far. The media reaction for the last two releases was extremely good in North America and the vibe of the shows was encouraging so that we would definitely like to come over and have some further shows! We are actually right now discussing possibilities to come over for the New England festival in April and also doing a full tour, so we will see if that works. It would be a great thing to happen for sure.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Speaking of European tours, there were discussions on touring with Destruction in February but due to scheduling conflicts the dates were cancelled. Is there any future dates planned at this point?

Leif Jensen: Yeah, unfortunately that scheduled tour with Destruction won't happen anymore in February/March as the schedules for everybody just seemed too busy and also there is too much touring competition out here by that time, which is just annihilating for the people that want to check out bands. Hopefully that tour with Destruction will happen at some point sooner or later after all because we get along great with the guys in Destruction and musically that would be simply perfect match in my opinion. We have nevertheless already booked loads of our own shows for here and are currently working on more. There are loads of cool European Summer festival ideas in the works at this moment and as I said, also the plans for a tour in the US are in the works. Feel free to check out www.dew-scented.com for updates on next concerts and tours.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Speaking of touring, Dew-Scented has toured with some of the best. Do you have any good or bad tour stories that you’d care to share with your fans?

Leif Jensen: Too many really! We have always had a great time on the road because that's what we consider the vital part of being in this band. Fortunately we have had the chance to play out with some really good bands throughout the years and even toured with some of our favorite bands or bands that we simply loved when we started out. Be it Death, Morbid Angel, Overkill, Annihilator, Arch Enemy, Eucharist, Deicide, Sodom, Destruction, Edge Of Sanity, Kreator, Vader, No Return, Cannibal Corpse, Amon Amarth, Misery Index, Nile, etc. We have definitely had a great run so far and always made new friends on the road. We are definitely looking forward to some more.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: From your first release "Immortelle" to your newest release "Impact",Dew-Scented always seems to evolve musically. What do you feel contributes to this success?

Leif Jensen: Our own expectations and the hard work we put into our music? That's the key to me, really. We always trusted that good hard work with a long-term vision will pay out eventually one day. And that seems to be happening now because we went out with a small profile at first and kept growing from release to release. We always did and played what we really believed in, even at times where the situation out there in the scene wasn't so very healthy for thrash metal. But actually that just always made us work harder and with more effort. I think the fact that we never stopped despite all commercial up's and down's or blood-sucking line-up changes or that we never pretended to be something we are not with changing styles or acting like rock-stars, also helped. We saw other bands along our lines rise high and fall deep. That never really happened to us this far and I hope it won't if we continue working the band with the same ethics and dedication as well as with the same "natural" approach.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Nuclear Blast (Brazil) is planning to give "Impact" a domestic release in Brazil at the end of January. Can you give us details pertaining to this release?

Leif Jensen: No, actually I can't! (Laughs) We were just told by Nuclear Blast that they were going to finally give the album a domestic release for South America now as well and that was great news! There is a huge scene for extreme metal in South America, Brazil especially and we have always had quite some good interest from there, so it made us happy to hear that the label thought it was time to explore the chances for Dew-Scented there some more as well, despite of the fact that the band's profile there isn't very big, as we didn't tour there yet and also none of the early albums were easily available there. We look forward to seeing how the album does and maybe we can even finally get there for some shows too, as there were offers here and there but it never materialized.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Last year original bassist "Patrick Heims" had left the band and the reason was never stated. What lead to his departure from Dew-Scented? Especially since he was a founding member of the band and the band was doing extremely well at that time.

Leif Jensen: Hmm, you are right. We never really made it super official or super clear for everybody and that was only due to the reason that Patrick's retirement from Dew-Scented happened slowly and step by step. He basically wasn't able to adjust his everyday life and his job with the expectations of the band and the busy schedule we always had. I think there was a lack of focus there on his side, even though he still loves the band and we try to stay in touch. At first he only stepped back from longer touring and we got Alex from Obscenity to play bass for us on the 5 week tour all over Europe with Cannibal Corpse in late 2002. That worked great but Patrick was still playing some shows with us in the next year when Alex's schedule with his main band would clash with ours, so we had both of them involved in Dew-Scented simultaneously, which was sort of cool too, as both are great personalities and very good bass players. For the New Year, Alex will be doing all of our touring and we hope to have him integrated with the new songwriting as well. Things are looking really good right now, so let's see.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Due to Patrick's departure, you recently recruited Alexander Pahl (Obscenity) for bass while on tour recently. What has been the fan reaction to Alexander and is he now a permanent member of the band?

Leif Jensen: The reactions were great because he is a cool guy and a very good performer. I think he has easily managed to become a good part of the band thus far. I would call him a "permanent member for now". (Laughs) We have offered him the slot and he has accepted to be with us fully this year, but with all the line-up instabilities and natural changes that the band has been through these last years, I have just learned to be a bit more careful with saying something too solid too early, as it only backfires. (Laughs) But we are all having a great feeling about Alex and he loves touring, so that's one of the main things.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: There was word that "Impact" is going to be released as a limited edition Digipak to include 2 bonus tracks. Can you tell us what the bonus tracks consist of and will this Digipak be available for fans worldwide?

Leif Jensen: I think I already explained this earlier on. This Digipak version was the initial pressing for "Impact" in Europe but it sold out pretty quickly and is no longer available, as it was a limited version release. But those two bonus tracks "Force-Fed [The Bleeding Scheme]" and the Turbonegro cover track of "Hobbit Motherfuckers" are available on the regular version of "Impact" that came out in North America as well.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Currently you are writing new material. Can you give your fans an idea of what to anticipate with this new release?

Leif Jensen: It's too early to say really but I can say for sure that Dew-Scented won't change drastically, really. We will try to take all of our own elements a bit further and make a better, more compact, punchier album but since we are all extremely happy with "Impact" still and the record also feels very fresh to us, I wouldn't know how to really comment on the next record already. We have found our musical mission and we know the patterns to come through with our songs, so I think nobody that has liked and supported the band this far will really be disappointed with the next step. One thing seems for sure though; the album won't be any faster than "Impact" because that one was already at the very maximum for thrash metal brutality! (Laughs)

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: I am a hard critic and there are only a few bands that I can honestly say this about, I liked the album in whole and not just particular tracks. The band thoroughly impressed me with this release. Believe me I look for flaws! (Laughs) Thanks for doing the interview. With that said, do you have any final words for The Metal Web!?

Leif Jensen: Thanks for the great comment. That means a lot to us! We know that we are not the "hit song" type of band but we obviously enjoy a diverse record too, which is why we are happy with "Impact" ourselves. Normally there is highs and lows on extreme metal releases but we thought that most tracks on "Impact" if not all of them carry a very high quality level and are definitely no filler-songs. I myself like to judge the quality of an album by its overall vibe and not freak out if there are one or two killer songs on it. Overall, thanks for the entertaining interview and for the offered support! We look forward to returning to the US for some more shows sooner or later. Until then, keep it heavy and feel free to visit www.dew-scented.com for news on the band. Thrashin' on into 2004!

OFFICIAL SITE "DEW-SCENTED": http://www.dew-scented.com

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