 On behalf of myself and Maximum Metal, I would like to thank everyone involved with the up and coming group Silent Scythe for the privilege of this interview as well as gracing me their time, so that I may bring their words to bangers world wide.
When was the group initially formed and what is the story behind how the current line up came to be?
First off I want to apologize for my shitty English. Two years ago when I decided to record my ideas before I called it quits. I had no bandmembers at all but I managed to pursuade Johan (drums) to help me with the recording. It turned out that he like the material so much that he wanted to stay. He also managed to get the rest of the band members in about a month or so. This fall we had to part ways with our singer due to commitment issues, but found new hope in Fredrik Eriksson.
The group's latest release is entitled “Longing for Sorrow”. Tell me, who came up with the idea to wrap the styles of melodic death, speed, thrash, and power metal into one package?
There we was no idea initally it just came to be that way. I´ve always been inspired by most metal-styles out there. It´s just the way I write music, you know?
You have another release titled “Death Is Coming”. You stated on your webpage (and in the liner notes for “Longing for Sorrow” that you learned from your past mistakes. What did you mean by that?
First of all: The lyrics had to go. People confused them with powermetal lyrics and that´s not what the band is about. When I wrote My Only Family (My Only Enemy) I knew what changes had to be done lyrically. It´s much easier for me to write about personal stuff and I also believe that personal lyrics are remembered longer. It touches people on another level. The second thing we had to do was to sit down and agree that the next record had to be exactly what we wanted, no matter the cost. A professional studio, with professional people. What first started out as being a 3 song “demo” turned out to a full length CD.
“Death Is Coming” has a different version of “Old World Disorder” How is it different and why was it redone?
The lyrics are more personal. There´s also some more production stuff to it and a much better solo.
I just watched the video for Old World Disorder (from the website), who should be credited for their fantastic work?
Tommi That would be the guys at www.bigbellyfilm.com. I sat down with them and wrote the manuscript for the video, they made sure that it was ok to shoot at a mental hospital and the rest is history. They did a fantasitic job, considering it was their first videoshoot and all. We´re discussing the possibility to make a video for “Suffer In Silence” this spring. They´re also interested in helping us with a home video in the future.
| | "It´s much easier for me to write about personal stuff...It touches people on another level." |
And to Tommi, superb job on the cover layout! How was Tommi’s art chosen instead of going to an outside source?
Thanks! I had this idea about making a collage of basically the most discusting pictures out there. It went well with the title although it has nothing to do with the lyrics. We´ve recieved mixed reactions about the cover, some say that it looks too much like it´s just a cut-and-paste job. But that´s exactly what it´s supposed to be you know? It was much cheaper and easier for me to make it myself since I had it all in my head.
Longing for Sorrow encompasses many (almost all) aspects of metal today, who were (or continue to be) your musical influences?
Speaking for myself I´d have to say: Old Metallica, Old Megadeth, Iced Earth, Testament, Slayer, Judas Priest, In Flames, Soilwork, At The Gates, The Haunted... I could just go on and on...
What is 2004 going to bring to Silent Scythe? And more beer does not count...hahaha. Well, it may count if you share some with me!
Hehe, we´ve just signed with New Aeon Media and will release “Longing For Sorrow” under the name “Suffer In Silence” with new cover art. Unfortunately, we didn´t have the money or the time to record some new tracks or new vocals. We really wanted Fredrik to be on the album but that was impossible.
Seriously, will we be getting another Silent Scythe album this year? Any gigs lined up? Any news to report?
Hopefully. We have most of the songs done. It all depends on the label. The working title for the album is “Remain Silent” and the songs that are just about done are “Remain Silent”, “Born Into Bondage”, “Sea Of Serenity, “Chaos Divine”, “When I Was Alive”, “Burning Hatred”. There will probably be new versions of “Death Machine” and “Dead And Buried” on it as well.
It´s hard to get any good gigs here in Sweden you play this kind of music. As of now the only good gig we have is the 2000 Decibel festival in Bengtsfors, Sweden.
Any news... We have a new singer now as I mentioned, Fredrik, has doing a fantastic job replacing Tobbe.
On behalf of myself and Maximum Metal, I would like to thank Silent Scythe for taking the time out of their busy schedule to give metal fans a chance to hear from them! Their newest CD is titled Longing for Sorrow. This is the second independent release from the guys and a nice addition for your CD collection. Do you have any parting words for the metal community?
Visit us at www.silentscythe.tk for more info about the band, samples and shit. Be sure to check out “Suffer In Silence” when it´s released. Cheers! C´ya under the table!
--IcedMojo
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