Hi, first off all I just want to congratulate you with your new album “Rise to Dominate”. It’s a fucking awesome album if you ask me! But are you satisfied with it?
Daniel: Thanks man! Hell yea, i am really satisfied with it. It turned out exactly as i wanted it to.
How did you get your name Aeon?
Daniel: Good question, the band already had the name when i joined in 2001. So i actually don't know how the hell Zeb and the guys came up with it. Anyway, i think it's a really good band-name.
Who has produced and mixed the album?
Daniel: The album was mixed/mastered by none other than Dan Swanö at his legendary Unisound Studio (Opeth, Katatonia, Marduk, Dissection, Dark Funeral among others).
How long do you need to practice to feel comfortable with your songs before you record them?
Daniel: Two or three months maybe ?!? The last lyric was written by Tommy while me and Zeb where recording the guitars. So that song was NEVER practiced as a whole band for example. We are used to play with each other so it don't take long for us to nail stuff and do it tight.
The track “No One Escapes us” is very close to The Morbid Angel track “Hatework” in my humbleopinion. Did you have the Morbid Angel track in mind when you wrote “No One Escapes us”?
Daniel: It was Zeb who wrote "No one...." and i think his main inspiration for it was really not Hatework but "Eric Serra's" song "Timecrash" from "The Fifth Element" soundtrack. However, i can agree that it is pretty close to Hatework as-well.
How would you describe your music to any of our readers who may not have heard of you before?
Daniel: Typical US / Florida-style Death-metal in the vein of Deicide, Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse with satanic and Christ-bashing lyrics.
Who has done the cover artwork to your album?
Daniel: Well, it's me who have done the artwork and layout for this album. I also did the artwork for our previous album. I actually promised myself that i would never do this shit again, how fucking wrong was I. Since I refused to do the artwork for this album to begin with, we hired an graphical artist to do the artwork for us. But when it was done we, felt that the cover didn't really fit Aeon and this particular album. It was very well done and all, but completely wrong at the same time. So 6 days before the album was going to be pressed, I started to work out a completely new artwork and layout. I can tell you, I almost had a fucking heart-attack every day... sleepless for almost a week... Handling my daytime job and designing album artwork at night. Somehow I managed to nail all the artwork and layout in just 6 nights. Due to this fact, i am really pleased with it. It could have been much better if I had more time of-course, but I didn't. And dare I say, I will never do artwork again...
How do you feel about the co-operation with your label Metal Blade?
Daniel: It's all great! Metal Blade is very professional and good to work with. Everything has been going along real smooth and shit has actually been taking care of as it should. They are really pushing us forward and all... Another very important thing is that they got a very good distribution-chain and the album is available in a store near you. That's really important for me.
What tasks presently lie ahead for Aeon?
Daniel: Right now, it's promoting the album in the best way we can. At the moment, there is shitload of interviews to be taken care of. Since we can't do any show at the moment, we will focus on this
instead.
Let's speculate - you have been granted a free slot on a tour of your own choice - who would be your ideal touring partners?
Daniel: Actually, Cannibal Corpse... Sure, it would be awesome to tour with some big rock-stars like Ozzy Osbourne, Slayer, Metallica or something like that. But i think they don't bring the right audience for us. CC is in my opinion the best death metal band out there and they are really great guys too. I would love to tour with them again.
What albums or bands do you believe have had the greatest impact on the history of Metal?
Daniel: It's the old Black Sabbath albums of course when it comes to early hard rock... And if you are looking at death metal I think its "Deicide - Legion" and Morbid Angel's "Altars of Madness" who has done the greatest impact.
What are you doing besides Aeon, job wise as well as hobbies?
Daniel: I have a daytime job as an system developer, creating computer programs mainly in Microsoft .Net C# environment (if there is some computer geek reading this, he will know what the fuck I am up to). I am also interested in camera's, taking pictures and photo-manipulation. And maybe a little graphical design (But not creating album artwork).
Looking ahead, where do you want to be five years from now?
Daniel: Doing headline tours, creating killer albums and making enough money on music so I could quit my daytime job.
I thank you very much for participating in this interview and sharing this information and your thoughts with us - these last lines are entirely for you. Any final words you would like to round off with - a tip, a recommendation or a thought for the future?
Daniel: Thanks for taking your time reading this interview. If you haven't checked out our new album, "Rise to Dominate" just yet, be sure to do so... I think you will like it if you are into Death-Metal. Take care!
