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Communic
came almost from out of nowhere with their highly acclaimed debut
album “Conspiracy in Mind”, which by many – myself included
– was heralded the best debut album of 2005. And Communic was
voted best new bands in various magazines. Now they are ready with
their new album “”Waves of Visual Decay”, which gave us an
opportunity to ask them a few questions…
“Conspiracy
in Mind” was voted album of the month in a lot of big magazines
when it was released – did all the sudden attention come as a
big surprise for you?
Erik
- Yeah.
It came as a total surprise for us. We knew we had a strong album
going on, but we had not expected it to do that well. So it is
needless to say that we are very grateful that so many people out
there like our music.
You
have been voted best newcomer in many magazines as well, a big
vote of confidence for your work. But didn’t that put extra
pressure on you for the second album?
Erik
- Well
personally I didn’t felt much pressure, and I don’t think the
other guys did either. We had so much fun at our rehearsals,
making the new stuff, so we didn’t think too much about it.
Your
debut album was released early 2005, and now just 15 months later
you are ready with your second album, why the big rush – did you
want to strike while the iron was hot…? What is in your opinion
the biggest difference between the 2 albums?
Erik - I
would guess you could say that we wanted to strike while the iron
was hot. We felt that is was important for us to get our second
album out, before our first album faded into oblivion, so to
speak.
Looking
back at 2005 - I bet this past year have been very special for you
all, releasing your debut album, going on with Ensiferum and
Graveworm, playing at the Rock Hard festival – can you try and
put your past year into words…?
Erik
- It
is no question that 2005 was a great year for us. After the
release of the album in February, we did a couple of gigs in Norway, and one gig in
Denmark, before we went on tour with Ensiferum and Graveworm. The tour
was a great experience for us and we had a really good time,
playing venues with 100 up to 3-400 spectators all across Europe. The highlight of the year was of course the Rock Hard festival
where we played for 7-8000 people. Awesome! We all had the best
time of our life. After the Rock Hard festival, we did a couple of
gigs in Norway
again, before we had to concentrate on making the songs for "Waves
of Visual Decay".
I
open my review of your new album with: “Simply put: "This
album kicks some serious butt!” – And what I would have
thought almost impossible has happened – you have made an even
stronger second album – a big compliment from me on that! The
album has once more been produced with Jacob Hansen – so I guess
you were more than pleased with his work on the first album? Did
he have any kind of influence of the songs, or were they complete
when you entered the studio?
Erik
- Yeah.
We are very pleased with the work Jacob did for us on the first
album, and even more pleased with the work on our second album. He
knows what he is doing that’s for sure. All the songs were
completed when we entered the studio, but Jacob had a lot of good
ideas concerning effects and stuff on both albums.
On
this album you used Endre Kirkesola on keyboards, but plan to go
out on the road just a 3-piece – is it possible for you to
re-create your complex sound live?
Erik
- The
reason we chose not to have a keyboard player live, is that we
want to present our music the way it was made, and with the same
level of energy we have in our rehearsals.
Speaking
of live – what kind of touring plans do you have for 2006?
Erik
- Well,
officially we have no plans for a tour yet, but we are going to do
some festivals this summer. We are going to
Germany
for the Queens of Metal and Earthshaker festival, and then there
is the Ragnarock festival in Norway
and Prog Power Europe in Holland. We hope to do a tour in the fall or winter, but nothing is sure
yet.
Highlights
on the new album for is “Fooled by the Serpent” an almost
thrash like smasher, and the final song of the album “At Dewy
Prime”, which I’ve heard is actually a left-over from Oddleif
Steensland’s old band Ingermanland. The song fits perfectly into
the concept, and do you have any more hidden gems like this one? I
feel this song perfectly represents your music…
Erik
- There
is a lot of really good Ingermanland songs to pick that’s for
sure, but if we are going to use some of them in our future
albums? Well we just have to wait and see. The good thing about it
is that both Oddleif and me where in Ingermanland, so we don’t
have to feel that we are ripping another bands songs. You can even
say that Communic continues where Ingermanland ended, just with a
new drummer.
You
are often compared with Nevermore, and Oddleif’s voice do in
some tones have resemblance with Warrel’s. I do feel the
comparison is fairer in the approach to music, the intensity and
aggression in both band’s music. Because I feel you music is a
tad more progressive, and both bands do not limit themselves to
certain styles. A tour with you guys opening for Nevermore could
be a dream package – do you agree on my point of views?
Erik
- Actually
I had not heard much of Nevermore’s stuff when we started
Communic, but after we have been compared to them so often the
last year, I had to sit down and listen to them to find out what
it was all about. Well I have to say that I can se why we are
compared to them. I don’t find the music to similar but I can
see why the vocals are been compared. I guess it is the way they
use their voice, the harmonies and so on. About touring with
Nevermore, I am not sure it would be a good thing for us. You know
Nevermore has a lot of die hard fans out there so it could go both
ways for us.
Oddleif
has more than once stated Arjen A. Lucassen as a big influence –
would/could you ever consider writing a concept album?
Erik
- Well
maybe sometime down the line we will make a concept album, but we
have nothing planned yet. We have talked about it and we would
like to do it sometime, but it will take a bigger amount of time
to write a concept album than a regular album, so we just have to
see if can get the time someday.
Your
music is very complex, drawing influences from lots of different
styles and bands – 80’s thrash and speed metal, early 90’s
progressive metal (Psychotic Waltz & Fates Warning) and so on…
This symbiosis of styles makes your music equally interesting for
a thrash metal fan as well as a progressive metal fan. I guess
those were some the bands you’ve listened to growing up – but
what else inspires you when you write music?
Erik - I
would think that the biggest inspiration for us is that we love to
rehearse. There is nothing more satisfying than playing through a
new song, knowing it is a killer.
How
did you come up with the band name, and is there a story behind?
Erik
- The
word Communic is a short word for Communicate. It reflects on the
world today and all its forms of communications. Actually at first
we wanted to call the band Communichate, but in the end we decided
for Communic.
Tell
us a bit about the cover, artwork and booklet – how is it
connected to the title? It kind of reminds me of a mix between Max
Headroom and Metropolis (the movie)…
Erik
- The
cover and title song reflects on how destroyed peoples minds can
get by watching all the sadness and shit we are getting into our
own living room just by watching TV. The cover is made by a guy
called Anthony Clarkson and we feel that it fits the music and
lyrics like a glove.
That’ll
be all for us this time around - 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…
Erik
- Well
first of all we would like to thank you at Powermetal.dk for your
interest in Communic. And to all of you out there, stay with us,
and we will provide our Communic metal for many years to come.
Cheers
Erik
Kenn
Jensen
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