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Danish
band HateSphere have created themselves a name in the European
metal scene with their professionally executed live shows in
support of e.g. Exodus, Morbid Angel and Kreator as well as on
many a European festival over the past two years. With their
fourth full-length release, “The Sickness Within”, the band is
set to crush all resistance.
Thomas
put a few questions to Peter from HateSphere.
Thomas:
You have a new strong release out, you are probably the best live
band in
Denmark
, perhaps even in
Europe
, the German music press worships you – is 2005 going to be the
year of Hatesphere? Are times hectic for you now?
HateSphere: I hope that this year and the following years will
be successful for us. I think, we have a very good album coming
out, have some great tours and more to come and a good record
company to back us up. On top of that all in the band want to push
it as far, as we can, so we will work hard to make it happen! And
times are hectic right now but also very exciting. Next weekend
will be the last weekend off for us until Christmas, two tours and
a lot of DK-gigs will be coming up here in the fall.
Thomas:
“The Sickness Within” is your second release on Steamhammer.
Do you get the support you want? Can you feel the difference from
Scarlet?
HateSphere: The support is great from
SPV/Steamhammer. They know what to do to make their bands heard.
The difference from Scarlet is very big, we now have lots of
professional people working for us, good promotion, excellent
distribution and many big tours coming up.
Thomas:
I know that this is a bit premature, but how do you see yourself
advancing from now on? When the tours following “The Sickness
Within” have ended and new material must be written – do you
think we will see a different style from Hatesphere or will you
stick to the metalcore/old-skool thrash recipe?
HateSphere:
We
will most definitely stick to our roots, no question about that.
We will never change our music drastically, we haven´t done it so
far, and we wont do it in the future. We will keep evolving and
make the best music possible, and we will also change our music
from album to album but the roots will always be death thrash
metal. Like now we like to incorporate different sounds in our
music but only as a contrast to the more brutal and “typical”
parts, he he.
Thomas:
Speaking of old-skool…who would you site as your main influences
(and I have a feeling that Exodus and Suicidal Tendencies will be
part of the answer)?
HateSphere: Actually for me none of
those bands will be main influences. Exodus is good thrash but not
my main influence. If I want thrash I more go for bands like
Testament and Forbidden. Suicidal Tendencies are great but
musicwise I am more inspired by the American death metal and the
old hard rock scene. I don´t know, if you can hear that in the
music though, hehe. Other bands must be Type O Negative and
Anathema. New bands that has inspired me will most definitely be
Nevermore and maybe Dream Theater…….
Thomas:
You just supported Korn for their
Copenhagen
gig. Are you fans of Korn at all? Or was this just a job that you
couldn’t say no to?
HateSphere: Well, we saw the job with
Korn as a great opportunity to play in front of a lot of potential
HateSphere fans that normally wouldn’t come to our shows. We
played in front of almost 3000 people, and the atmosphere was
really amazing. The audience went nuts, and didn’t just stand
and watched. It was good to see that many fans coming not only to
see Korn but also being open to see some HateSphere! On top of
that it is always exciting to play with such a big and legendary
band. And Korn is actually one of the modern bands that we like,
not everything that they have done but some of it. So it wasn’t
just “business” for us, we really looked forward to the gig.
And you can say that it was a job that we just couldn’t have
said no to… that would have been very stupid too!
Thomas:
Where do you find the energy for your intense live performances?
The four or five times I’ve seen you tear shit up, the show has
always been equally in-your-face, even when the crowd was less
than lukewarm. A lot of bands could learn from this…
HateSphere: Thank you, it’s good to
hear that our live performance gets into people!! We love playing
live, and I think that people can spot that right away. On top of
that we have no intentions of just standing still on stage and
concentrating on playing 100% correct… that wouldn’t fit our
music. Our music is filled with aggression and energy, and you are
bound to move when you play it, hehe…. And when you listen to it
as well!!! We love the interactions with the audience, and then we
like to have fun on stage… that makes everything much more
relaxing!!
Thomas:
You’ve toured all around
Europe
now. Have you noted big differences between the crowds in the
countries you’ve visited? Are there crowds that seem more
dedicated to metal music than others?
HateSphere: You can feel that some countries don’t have
metal concerts every second day! That means that when there is a
show they show up and are dedicated! Some other countries simply
have too many concerts, and therefore you can’t be sure to fill
the venues at every show… people have to have money to it all,
you know! But the mentality also changes from country to country.
Here in
Denmark
it is not normally that you show up two or three hours before the
show starts but if you move further down south in
Europe
it’s very normal to be in front of the venue several hours
before the beginning of the show. That means that the opening band
usually plays in front of a lot of people… if the doors are
opened at time, that is!!!!
Thomas:
Do any of the band members have families – and if yes, how has
the response been to the massive touring schedules?
HateSphere: Mikael, our bassplayer,
has got a son, and Anders, our drummer, has a little daughter
coming up here very shortly! Of course you have to take care of
your family but I think that they have been really understanding…
until now, hehe! We try to make a living out of playing music, and
that demands a lot of touring! So you can say that this is in one
way our jobs, so we have to deal with it!
Thomas: Give us one of your most far out tour stories. We love
gossip…
HateSphere: Well, I can just tell you
about this recent festival called Up from the Ground, where we
played together with our good friends in Mnemic. I don’t know
what happened (our theory is that someone put something in our
drinks!) but after the show we simply can´t remember anything…
beside from what Heinz, our other guitarist, has told us, because
he was the only one sober that night! Jacob, vocals, entered the
stage during Mnemics set and tried to steel their booze, which
caused him several punches from their singer Michael… and during
their signing session he also visited and stole the attention…
by climbing up on the table and make everyone start screaming
“HateSphere, HateSphere…”… I don’t know if Mnemic liked
it, he he,
Thomas:
Hatesphere, Illdisposed, Mnemic, Mercenary, Exmortem, Raunchy –
the list of Danish bands that have become names recognised outside
the local Danish metal scene is longer than it has ever been –
why now? Could it be because of healthy competition among the
bands? Do you sense a greater degree of professionalism in the
local scene now compared to e.g. five years ago?
HateSphere: Yes, I think it has
something to do with the mentality of the bands. I think many
Danish bands needed to see that it was possible to make themselves
heard outside of Denmark. Suddenly HateSphere and Mnemic toured a lot, and people saw that
it could pay off if you just worked hard with it! Now suddenly
every bigger label has got a Danish band on their rooster, and
more bands go on good tours. When it was a quality sign to be from
Sweden
before, it is suddenly now also a quality sign to come from Denmark.
Thomas: I know that Jacob is also playing the guitar in Barcode,
but are any of the others exercising their musical muscles outside
Hatesphere?
HateSphere: Yes, Heinz has got his
death metal monster, Koldborn, which has just recorded their
second full length album with Jacob producing it by the way!
Thomas:
Do you receive fan mail? Any wackos among them?
HateSphere: We receive quite a lot
fan mail, also through our forum and guestbook on the website.
Actually most of them are very normal people but of course we
sometimes get some crazy fan mails, he he! It is a very cool thing
as a band to receive fan mail and to talk with the fans on that
way. It is cool to know that your music is appreciated.
Thomas:
What this thing with the AGF (Danish football team) tribute song
on your website? What’s the story behind it?
HateSphere: One night when Jacob was
out drinking he by coincidence ran into the leader of the AGF Fan
Club who beside from that also is a die hard HateSphere fan! He
told that he had this project with a tribute album to the club,
and he wanted us to be a part of it. Jacob knew that both me and
Anders, drums, are die hard fans, so he of course said yes. Then
we simply wrote a song, Anders wrote some very cool lyrics and we
then recorded it. It was released last year in September, and was
celebrated with a cool release party here in
Aarhus
where we had both national TV and the manager and coach from the
team coming.
Thomas: You’re going to spend six months on a desert island.
Which five CD’s would you bring along?
HateSphere: Mötley Crüe “Dr.
Feelgood”, Def Leppard “Hysteria”, Nevermore “Dead heart
in a dead world”, Type O Negative “Bloody kisses”, Morgoth
“Odium”.
Thomas:
Any famous final words?
HateSphere: Thank you for the
interview, and thanks to all the fans out there supporting us. For
those not having heard us yet, go check out the new album “The
Sickness Within” which will be released on September 26th
and visit our webpage for both tourdates, our new video and lots
more.
See
you all on the road,
Greetz
Peter / HateSphere
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