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| w/Isaac Delahaye |
| Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Previous to this album, God Dethroned had done their last two recordings at the Berno Studios with Henrik Larson, which when recording, most bands hold both with high regard. So, I’m just curious as to what made the band decide to change studios and what you think producer Jorg Uken brought to God Dethroned that perhaps differ from prior recordings?
Isaac Delahaye: At the beginning of this year, we heard a demo from a local band, which sounded great and we seen that they recorded it in only a couple of days. Being the studio was only an hour away from Henri’s place; we contacted Jorg and asked him to send more stuff over. After listening to everything, we checked out the studio itself and talked with Jorg about our plans to record the new album in his studio. He’s a very nice and ultra professional dude, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he becomes a known producer in the future. He definitely made us play better and helped us to put the standards on a high level. He’s not talking bullshit; all his comments are well-considered. We could easily go back home to forget about all the music for a while, which was impossible when we recorded in Sweden. That’s also something that was refreshing. Normally I hate being in the studio, but this time it was a lot of fun. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: What is The Toxic Touch and how does that title serve as a prelude to the rest of the album? Isaac Delahaye: The title has everything to do with the story of Mary Mallon. She lived in the early 20th century, carrying the typhoid fever virus without dying from it and being unaware of it herself. Being she worked as a nurse, she contaminated a lot of people and was convicted as a murderer. A Toxic Touch is something you can’t prevent, and is something you’re not totally aware of. Some people are suicidal, (Hating Life), not accepted by society (Falling Down, Fail To Exist), etc. The lyrics on this album are very dark and depressing, and is the result of Henri living in the middle of nowhere, I guess. (Laughs) Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: With Lair of the White Worm, you entered the band when the writing end of it was completed and you unfortunately weren’t able to contribute much except for a few leads here and there with the recording. How did it feel to finally be able to contribute creatively in the music as well as some of the lyrics with the new release? Isaac Delahaye: Pretty damn good! (Laughs) As I’m writing a lot of stuff at home, going from blues to metal, I already had a shitload of riffs and parts when we started writing new songs. Of course, not all of it was suitable for a God Dethroned album. But as a matter of fact, my style of writing matched perfectly with Henri’s style, so we could easily put everything together without losing the God Dethroned sound. On The Toxic Touch you can hear some new influences, because I’m more of a thrash metal guitar player, so you should blame me. (Laughs) Every God Dethroned album is different. You never know what to expect. Especially when you’ve got a new line-up of course. This time we wanted to explore our melodic side and try to incorporate the aggression in a different way than usual, but maybe the next album will be brutal as fuck again. Who knows, Maybe this approach doesn’t make us loved by the metal audience. But at least we don’t get bored by doing the same thing over and over again, and we don’t have to think about what people expect from us. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: There is one track, Falling Down that you 100% wrote including all the lyrics. Can you tell me the significance behind that particular track? Isaac Delahaye: Musically, it’s a typical Isaac Delahaye thrash song; the way I like it. It starts with a very fast and technical riff, going to a kinda Soilwork pre-chorus and a very catchy chorus. The middle part is groovy as hell. I just have to bang my head on that riff and it’s followed by a shredding solo. The lyrics are about a person who’s freaking out because people don’t give him the chance to be who he really is. He’s getting frustrated about it, and slowly turns into a psychopath. Fits the music perfectly! Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: In your press release, Henri was quoted as saying that "The Toxic Touch has become an album with new and broader influences, techniques and songwriting." With that said, can you explain some of the broader influences that were used as well as some of the techniques because from that statement it sounds like the band made some changes when approaching the writing for record? Isaac Delahaye: Well, obviously, when you’ve got new people writing stuff for an album, you get different influences. And as my playing is different from my predecessor Jens, you get a slightly different approach. I’ve got a more technical style of playing, and I spend a lot of nights on the tour bus, talking with Henri and our drummer Arien about what I like about metal music. Arien is a killer drummer, and we all pushed him to come up with some crazy stuff. Just listen to the album, and realize nothings triggered; what you hear is exactly what he played in the studio. As far as the songwriting goes, we basically wanted catchy songs. No long-winded intro’s or outro’s, no bullshitting. Only in-your-face metal songs. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: The cover art for The Toxic Touch features a woman with a hypodermic needle stuck in her neck as well as the needle being represented throughout the booklet. What is the needle to signify? Isaac Delahaye: It represents a toxic touch, which as mentioned before, can be anything: drugs, war, pain, Mary Mallon, etc. You can see every song as a God Dethroned injection. One of our new shirt designs says, Let us inject our disease and take over control. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: What do you think it is about God Dethroned that’s kept the band in the spotlight after all these years? Isaac Delahaye: How the fuck should I know? (Laughs) No seriously, I think God Dethroned has always been one of the few bands who are balancing between the brutal and the melodic stuff. In the last year, we toured with acts like The Haunted, Bolt Thrower, God Forbid, Vader, etc. It seems like we fit in everywhere and I’m sure our music has something for every metalhead out there. Basically, we’re a melodic death metal band, supplied with black, thrash, atmospheric elements. As we’re not making the same album twice, we’re not becoming boring for our fans and we keep making new fans. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: With it being two years since you’ve joined the band, what’s it been like having to fill Jens shoes, as well as what your expectations were when joining the band? It had to be tough, especially being that he was with the band since it’s inception. Isaac Delahaye: At the end of the previous line-up there was a lot of tension. So, actually Henri was very happy to have some fresh blood in the band again. After joining the band, I immediately went to Sweden to record The Lair of the White Worm and we started touring right after the recordings, until now actually. To be honest, I never felt like people didn’t accept me as the new God Dethroned guitarist. Everything came very natural and we feel like the band is stronger than ever. The last 2 albums got great reviews and responses all over the world, and God Dethroned has never played so many shows as now, so there’s no reason to look back I think. If we play songs from the old line-up live, I play Jens solo’s with my own style. They sound similar and different at the same time. I’ve never heard anyone complain about that. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: The band recently had to cancel a couple tour dates in Greece . Can you tell us a little about what lead to these cancellations because I read there was some problems? Isaac Delahaye: Well, actually everything was settled almost two months ago. The shows were confirmed and we were very happy to play Greece again after so many years. But then, the promoter started changing locations, and someone else had to contact us to discuss our fee in his place, stuff like that. Being that he had just started as a promoter, I can understand that he was not sure what to expect. But man¦ that doesn’t mean he’s got to try to rip off bands and ignore a contract. Pretty unprofessional. But I forgive him! (Laughs) Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: When will the band hit US shores? Isaac Delahaye: Hmm, there were some plans to tour the US early next year, but unfortunately it didn’t work out in the end, cause we’re going do a European headline tour then. Hopefully, we can play some American festivals next year, and come back for a tour after the festival season. Keep your fingers crossed. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Isaac good to interview with you being that I normally do it with Henri. The new album kicks! With that said, do you have any final words for The Metal Web!? Isaac Delahaye: I’m happy to hear you like the new album! Hopefully, everyone thinks the same way (Laughs). Good luck with The Metal Web and we might meet each other some day in the US and we can get hammered and talk bullshit! OFFICIAL SITE "GOD DETHRONED": http://www.goddethroned.com HOME |