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| w/HENRI SATTLER |
| Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: With God Dethroned going on its 14th year of existence and seventh studio release, what is God Dethroned doing differently now that you’ve had the time and experience on your side? Henri Sattler: I guess we’re just writing better songs all the time, because it’s a learning process that never ends. The good thing is that although we changed drummers a couple of times in the past and recorded in different studios, our sound is still the same. You can always hear it’s us and in my opinion that’s a good thing. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: The album title and song were inspired from Bram Stoker’s novel and movie “The Lair of the White Worm”. What in this particular book made you feel compelled enough to write about it and what did you find to be the main focus for you when writing the lyrics? Henri Sattler: Like many others, I knew only one book/film from Bram Stoker and that’s obviously Dracula. One day I saw a documentary on TV about Bram Stoker and his other books. One of those books was The Lair of the White Worm. I liked the title a lot and decided to read the book. The story was quite cool and I decided to write a song about it. Because of the strong title, I also decided to use it as the album title. I thought it would be noticed because the title is so outstanding. I guess I was right, because many people wondered what could be behind this title. The story is about a woman who lives in a mansion in England and it’s rumored that there’s a big white snake living in the caves under the house. Later in the story, the woman appears to be the snake at night. Some weird stuff happens, and animals and people start to disappear. By the end of the book, the house is blown up and kills the snake (the white worm) with it. For the rest, I just write about things that draw my attention. One time it’s a book or a movie. The other time it’s fantasy or based on a historical theme like I did with Arch Enemy Spain. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: A couple months before the recording, Beef and Jens chose to leave the band after 8 years. How difficult of a time was that? Especially when your use to playing with certain people for such a long time and they leave as well as having the added pressure of recruiting new members to learn the material that is on a schedule for recording. Henri Sattler: It was a weird period of time for me. At first, I thought it would be the end of the band, but after a while, I realized that it was all too good to quit the band. I started writing new songs and quite soon, I had enough material for a new album. Then we started looking for some new members. The bass player was found very easily. Henk was already a good friend of mine and he happened to play the bass. I invited him over to my house and had him learn some songs. He picked it up quite fast so we decided to ask him to play the bass, which he did. Then we went to record our album as a three piece and look for a new guitarist later, but I changed my mind 3 weeks before the studio. We asked two guys for an audition. Isaac was one of them and he proved to be the best. He learned all the songs for the new album in three days and then we had two weeks left to rehearse before we would go into the studio. By the time, we got into the studio it felt like we had been playing together for a year. So, we started on the recordings with a very self confident feeling. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Speaking of new members Henk and Isaac, how is it working out so far and were both able to contribute a lot in the song writing dept? I ask because I know Isaac joined 2 weeks before the recording which does not allow for to much time. Henri Sattler: No, Henk and Isaac didn’t contribute in the song writing, however, Isaac invented a lot of great leads for this album. The songs had more space for leads this time compared to the older albums and he managed to put the right leads at the right spots, really an awesome job! By now, we have played quite a lot of live shows and the band is just working out well. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: How much time was spent on pre-production, recording and mixing because when comparing to past releases, this album seems to have been completed relatively quickly? Henri Sattler: We always work fast when it comes to song writing. We never take more time than four to six weeks when it comes to song writing. It keeps the songs spontaneous and we just work very well under high pressure. This time we started on new songs a few weeks before going in to the studio. I think we started on the songs early June and by half of July, we were already recording them. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: God Dethroned has gone through several line-up changes in the past from drummer Roel Sanders to The Crown’s Janne and recently the departure of Beef and Jens. Do you stay in contact with any of the former God Dethroned members and what do you find distinguishes your current line-up from some of the various line-ups in the past? Henri Sattler: I stay in touch with most of our former band members. We have never split up with a musician on bad terms so we keep a good feeling towards each other. The new line-up is just a lot more enthusiastic than the previous one was at the end. That’s a good thing and it shows on the album and also in our live shows. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: How would you compare The Lair of the White Worm to God Dethroned’s back catalog? Henri Sattler: A typical God Dethroned album with all the elements in it like aggression and speed combined with melody and great atmospheres. The new one just has a better production and in our opinion better songs. (humbly) Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: The cover artwork design by Jacek Wisniewski obviously stems from “The Lair of the White Worm”. Was the final cover that we see now the first and only artwork for the album or were there other designs to choose from and if so, what were some of the concepts? Henri Sattler: I gave Jacek the idea’s that I had in mind for the album cover and within two days he already came up with a design that was only slightly different from the final version you see now. He just managed to visualize my ideas in a perfect way. We chose a white color this time instead of black, which bands like us tend to do, but it fits to the atmosphere of the songs and the album and it is at least something different. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: I have a promo but the actual release comes with a bonus DVD. Can you tell us what this bonus material consists of? Henri Sattler: The bonus DVD is only available in Europe (officially) and contains the making of The Lair... You see the band playing in the studio and it is combined with little interviews with the band members and the producer Henrik Larsson. It’s just a goodie for the fans and it doesn’t cost extra money. It’s a pity it’s not included in the US version of the album. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Are there any plans to play the states in support The Lair of the White Worm? Henri Sattler: That’s something we really would love to do ! The US audience is just great. They always go berzerk in the slamming pit when we’re on stage, so we can’t wait to come back. A couple of years ago we toured with Cannibal Corpse for five weeks and those five weeks were the best of my life. Not that the European audience is not great, but the Americans are really crazy! Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Thanks again for the interview and I am looking forward to some US dates! With that said, do you have any final words for The Metal Web!? Henri Sattler: Thanks for your support! Everybody check out the new album and see you soon on tour! Cheers! OFFICIAL SITE "GOD DETHRONED": http://www.goddethroned.com HOME |
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