Clouds
Turned Black
Clouds Turned Black is
a relatively young band that have lately started making their first serious
steps in the discography. Their music could be mainly described as melodic
death metal with its main key being diversity. So, if you think you want
to find out more about them, read the very interesting and full of honesty
answers that Mike Dittmar, the band's vocalist, offered to us...
1. HELLO! THIS IS A VERY COMMON QUESTION,
BUT SINCE YOU ARE A NEW BAND I HAVE TO DO IT. GIVE US A SHORT BIO OF THE
BAND AND PRESENT THE CURRENT LINE – UP.
The band started with me on vocals Andy on
guitar, Marcus on bass and Joe on drums, in the summer of 2002. We were
friends from high school and had messed around in other projects before.
CTB was basically the first attempt at a serious band. A few months after
we started we added Jesse to the lineup as a second guitarist. We recorded
a few demos and played some shows but things never really got going. After
Joe left we asked our friend Josh to fill in for him. About six months
later Marcus left and we asked our long time friend Justin to play bass.
After Justin joined the band things started to change the music got heavier
and more sophisticated. This kind of split things up. Josh never really
liked much metal and Jesse thought it was getting too heavy. After a while
they left to start another project. After that, the rest of the band struggled
with loose lineups and little progress for about a year. Songs were still
being written and we realized we had too much of a good thing to keep on
going the way we were. So we set out to find a line up that would get us
where we knew we should be. The addition of Mike and John got us where
we are now.
2. WHO WERE THE FOUNDING MEMBERS THAT DEPARTED
FROM THE GROUP? WHAT ARE THEY DOING NOW? DO YOU HAVE ANY CONTACT WITH THEM?
Joe and Marcus both left the band to pursue
school. Jesse and Josh left to pursue music that suited them better.
They all left on good terms and we still talk every once in a while.
3. FROM THE BIO THAT YOUR LABEL SENT ME I READ
THAT YOU ARE COMPOSING NEW MATERIAL FOR YOUR DEBUT ALBUM. CAN YOU TELL
ME IN WHICH STADIUM OF THE WRITING PROCESS YOU ARE NOW? WHEN DO YOU THINK
THAT THE ALBUM WILL BE READY TO BE RELEASED?
I guess you could say we're in pre-production.
Most of the material has been written we are just working out the kinks
and tying up the loose ends. It should be out this fall.
4. WILL YOU INCLUDE ANY SONGS FROM YOUR DEMO “THE
RED SEAL”? WILL THERE BE ANY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN YOUR DEBUT RELEASE AND
YOUR DEMO?
None of the songs on "The Red Seal" will appear
on the full length. They are both concept albums with different story lines.
"The Red Seal" was our first attempt at story based lyrics. I hope to start
some what of a series with our debut. As far as the music goes it will
be along the same lines as "The Red Seal". I think we've found our "sound"
and it isn't likely to change drastically. It's going to be more mature
and diverse than our last release, but you will definitely be able to tell
it's the same band.
5. THE MUSIC YOU PLAY IN THE U.S. IS DESCRIBED
AS METALCORE, BUT HERE IN EUROPE WE USE TO CALL IT MELODIC DEATH METAL.
WHY DO YOU THINK THAT THIS DIFFERENCE EXISTS BETWEEN THESE 2 CONTINENTS?
I would basically call bands like Arkangel
and Caliban metalcore and bands like At The Gates and In Flames melodic
death metal. I think so many bands out there blur the lines that people
get confused. I personally don't know what I would call half the bands
out there.
6.HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND AND NAME SOME
BANDS THAT HAVE INFLUENCED YOU…
We pretty much consider ourselves melodic
death metal. It's mostly fast and melodic, but it goes deep and heavy
when it's needed. We try and accent things with slow harmonizing guitars
and a few breakdowns. I try to make the vocals as much of a contrast as
possible while still fitting in with the mix. We are influenced musically
by a ton of bands but the ones that really shape most of our sound would
be bands like At The Gates, Prayer for Cleansing, Undying, Between The
Buried and Me. Mostly stuff from around the late 90's and early 00's Older
Tribual Records, Good Life Recordings and Life Force Records stuff. But
we draw influence from bands ranging from Strung Out to Suffocation.
7.WILL YOU SHOOT ANY VIDEO-CLIPS FOR YOUR NEW
ALBUM? IF YES WHICH SONG WILL YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?
We would love to and we've had a few directors
talk to us but it will probably come down to us having the money to do
it. As for what song I don't know yet. I have a few ideas but we'll have
to see when the album is finished.
8. BASED ON YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE, CAN YOU TELL
ME, WHICH THE BIGGEST PROBLEM THAT A NEW BAND HAS TO CONFRONT DURING THE
RECORDING SESSION IN THE STUDIO IS?
Time! So far everything we have recorded,
we have done in our home studio. But we still rush things too much. Actually
having a time/budget limit can only make things more complicated.
9.WHICH ARE THE STRONG “ELEMENTS”, IN YOUR OPINION,
THAT YOUR MUSIC HAS AND CAN ATTRACT THE INTEREST OF THE METAL FANS?
Our best "element" is most likely our diversity.
With so many bands in the genre things tend to get a little boring. Each
of our songs has defined parts and each songs are distinct from the last.
10. HAVE YOU DONE ANY LIVE SHOWS? WHAT DO YOU
REMEMBER FROM THE FIRST GIG YOU DID? AFTER THE EVENT THAT HAPPENED WITH
DIMMEBAG DARREL ARE YOU AFRAID THAT SOMETHING LIKE THAT MIGHT HAPPEN TO
YOU?
We have played many shows, so that's the best
part about being in a band. Our first gig was one of the most nerve racking
moments of my life. I think we all felt that way. But after we finished
I knew that is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. As far as the
Dimmebag thing goes… That was a horrible but rare tragedy. I doubt it will
ever happen to any of us, but it's definitely not going to hold us back.
I would rather die doing what I love than live in fear of what might happen.
11. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LYRICS? WHAT KIND
OF THEMES INSPIRE YOU TO WRITE ABOUT?
I write all the lyrics. Death is definitely
the main theme. I'm fascinated with the intense feelings the thought of
never seeing someone again can bring about. From "The Red Seal" on all
the lyrics will be based on a story format. The underlying theme will always
be death and suffering but I contrast that with other things to bring out
the true power of the subject matter. If all you write about is death and
gore the reader/listener can become numb and it no longer holds any significance.
Not that I have anything against bands that do that. I listen to a ton
of them, but it's not for me.
12. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME! HOPE WE
TALK SOON WHEN YOU WILL RELEASE YOUR NEW ALBUM. THE LAST WORDS BELONG TO
YOU…
Nick “William_Kidd”
Parastatidis
|