Decadence
Decadence is a new band
from Sweden and a really active one actually! So active that they have
release two self financed albums in one year. Before a few days we had
a small conversation with the band’s singer. Read the very interesting
things revealed to us...
1. So Kitty, first of all congratulations
on your latest album!
Thank you Antonis, me and the Decadence crew
kindly appreciated your review!
2. Kitty, you have only three years of existence
in the scene and I see that you have already released a demo CD and two
self financed albums. Are you so creative as a band?
Decadence is a very active band. We have been
working hard to release at least one album annually and we have been pretty
successful with that. Making albums is a great way both to develop
as a band and to spread our music.
3. Yes, but to release two albums in one year,
isn't it too much?
I think the two albums that were released
in 2005 was a slight exception due to the fact that we had two different
line-ups on both albums. Releasing "The Creature" (our latest album during
the fall of 2005) we also showed our fans that we hadn't given up and that
Decadence was still alive, well and growing.
4. So tell me a few details from the recording
sessions of “The Creature” which is your latest studio work.
Well, first of all it was a great opportunity
for us, having the new line-up, to get to know each other and experiment
with our developing Decadence sound. The music was already written by me
and Kenneth Lantz (lead guitar) when the new members joined in. So, we
pretty much rehearsed all the time and entered the studio securely. The
whole recording process went smoothly and we got finished with all the
mixing pretty fast and had our release party on November the 17th 2005.
5. Which is the procedure you follow when you
write new tracks? Is it a team work or does someone come to the rehearsal
place with an idea and you work together with this idea?
Me and Kenneth are the main song writers in
Decadence. We begin to tab our work and by time we add riffs that Joakim
(Bass) and Erik (drums) write meanwhile we do this. When the tab is done
we enter the rehearsal place and play it from beginning to end.
6. You come from Sweden and I believe that
you have achieved to combine the Swedish metal sound with the Finnish one.
Do you believe that the most important thing is to find soon your personal
sound in order not to copy your influences but to make progress with them?
Certainly, I believe that finding your own
sound is of high importance in a band. Being unique is hard in this business
but once you achieve it, there are really no boundaries. Our goal was not
necessarily to combine Swedish and Finnish Metal but rather to develop
the sound that we love playing. Me and Kenneth have our roots in Thrash
Metal and we strive to combine this with melodies and Death Metal itself.
7. Besides writing music, which things “forced”
you into writing the lyrics for this album?
The lyrics have been written long before the
music. They are pretty much diary extracts which never were written down
in a diary but rather released through aggressive vocals. When a song has
been written I read through my texts and find what I feel the music describes
the best.
8. If someone hasn’t heard your music, how
can you describe it to him in order to have a small picture in his mind
for the musical direction of Decadence?
I strived to describe this in the bibliography
of Decadence and I formulated it as such: Currently, Decadence’ music can
be described as Thrash Metal with the heaviness of melodic Death Metal
with no keyboards in addition with aggressive female growls. The brutality
and big influence of Thrash has made Decadence’ music strong and aggressive
in comparison to common melodic Death Metal.
9. Tell me your influences as a singer in this
extreme side of metal music.
I have a collection of various singers which
I see as my big influence in different types of singing which I use. My
big Thrash inspiration has always been and always will be James Hetfield
of Metallica. In order to add more roughness to this voice I mix Mille
Petrozza (Kreator) to make my Thrash vocals more sharp. The growling part
began with Chuck Schuldiner (Death) and Alexi Laiho (Children of Bodom)
which I find so many emotions in. The brutality credits are from Piotr
Wiwczarek (Vader) and both Cannibal Corpse vocalists (Chris Barnes and
George Fisher).
10. I see you are a really extreme girl but
as we said above, you have only three years of existence in the scene and
I see that at least this year you are really active in the live shows section.
You will soon go to Italy and Finland. Right?
Indeed we are! I see it as a big step forward
for us as a band to go over seas and play to spread our music even more.
We will try doing it much more often from now on. Well, Decadence is a
very active band as mentioned above, so lots of new gigs and new albums
can be expected!
11. I want the first five words that come to
your mind when you hear:
Otep: - Female growler/rapper- Nu Metal -
That's pretty much it...
Arch Enemy: - Female growls - Angela Gossow
- Swedish Death Metal - Melodic solos- *waitting to be compared*
Holy Moses: - Aggressive female vocals-
Thrash Metal- German Thrash influenced - Heavy and fast
Metallica: - Best band ever- James Hetfield
my role model- ...And Justice for All best album - Master of Puppets best
song ever written- Huge influence and inspiration- Experimental music with
Thrash roots.
Lacuna Coil: - I haven't heard enough to say
anything
12. Back to Decadence, Kitty has you ever tried
to interpret the songs in a more melodic way?
You mean clean vocals? Yes, I have done some
attempts which I later removed due to the fact that I don't think they
fit our music.
13. When do you plan to release your next album
and have you started writing new songs?
The news songs are pretty much done and the
recording begins this summer! The album is due early the fall of 2006.
14. Which question do you always want to answer
but you have been never asked?
Oh that's a tough one! Hmm... I guess it could
be more questions around my vocal inspirations aside from being compared
to Angela Gossow because the latter is pretty frequent!
15. Your wildest dream for Decadence?
We get signed on a big Record Label, travel
around the world, write lots of music which we love and gig as much as
possible!
16. Tell me more details for the Croatian folk
track that you have included on your latest album.
The precise instrument which we used (a Croatian
Prim), has been in my family for ages and all of a sudden I felt
that I'd like to record a short bit with it on a Decadence track. I only
know one band at the moment which made a specific sound using a different
instrument which was Metallica on "Wherever I May Roam", the sitar. I think
it gave a special touch to the song and I guess I wanted to try it out
myself. And, since that Prim has got such a history being over 100 years
old, it made it even more special and interesting.
17. Thank you very much for your time Kitty!
I wish you all the best with Decadence and close the interview as you want.
Thank you for showing interest in Decadence!
I hope we will come to Greece soon and make an exploding Thrash/Death show
for you! If there's a will, there's a way.
Antonis Maglaras
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