Ελληνικά
Last Updated on 02:03 PM by Giorgos Tsekas
Even though it’s been a while since Dr Living Dead released their latest record (“Crush The Sublime Gods”), Metal Invader managed to contact the band and asked them some questions, elaborating on various aspects of the band. Wanna find out what Dr Mania told us and what are the future plans of the band? Then keep reading, mate!
Hey, lads! Hope everything’s ok! You’re now in the middle of a tour throughout Europe, if I’m not mistaken. How is it so far?
Hey guys, well it’s not a proper tour. We’re simply playing select dates this spring and summer, to make time for other stuff going on in our private lives. But yeah, we recently played two shows in Madrid and Barcelona and as always, Spain delivered!
Coming to your last release… “Crush the Sublime Gods”. Who are those Gods? Should we worry?
The sublime gods are the masters pulling the strings behind the powers that be. If you think that Putin and Obama are calling the shots, think again. Worry? No, we’re all gonna die anyway. Rich or poor.
I got the impression that the lyrics in the album are darker than those in the previous records; hate towards the stupidity of humanity (like in ”Civilized to Death”), troubles with one’s self (like in “Eternal Darkness of a Fucked up Mind”) etc. What’s your source of inspiration? Do you use everyday phenomena or personal / team thoughts as a base for your lyric themes?
Correct observation, they probably are a bit darker. But then again, it’s heavy music and it calls for heavy subject matters. We who write the lyrics in the band are all pretty moody people when we tap into that void if you know what I mean. And we like to challenge listeners as well, make them think and perhaps even learn something about themselves.
The artworks you chose to adorn the covers of your full length albums depict pyramids, gods of light, extra – terrestrial creatures and so on. In the cover art of “Crush The Sublime Gods” all I see is a combination of all that; powerful lights, electricity, creatures that seem to be human (but I’m now sure if they actually are”) and a pyramid at the centre. Is there an underlining political statement or is it just a fancy theme to work with?
It’s a combination of conspiracy, mystery, imagery and badass-ery. The pyramid symbolizes the hidden power structures that the album’s title refers to. We don’t like to get overtly political more than on a general and universal scale. We like to bring people together rather than alienating them.
Whose creation was the album cover? Yours, someone else’s or did the combination of both ends result into the artwork released?
It’s a combination of basic ideas of ours along with the creative genius of Ape, our former singer and original artwork designer. He knows what’s up and as always he brought the goods.
The “Sublime Gods” is the first record released via Century Media. Did this change the way you compose or record your material?
No, and that’s one of the major reasons why we even signed with them. They didn’t in any way try to interfere or suggest about creative directions and or making changes in any way. The album is pure and straight from our hearts.
By extension, did you feel you’ve changed the approach of Dr Living Dead’s tracks or influence somehow the final result?
Speaking for myself, having known the band since the start, there was no different approach really. If Toxic or Rad have a complete song finished, they’ve already put down a blue print for a vocal melody and most of the time lyrics as well. If not, then I’ve got free reign to put my own stamp on it.
Many bands, when asked about the process of recording or mixing / mastering their record, admit they faced difficulties. Are you one of them?
Yes and no, we went through a couple of mixes and masters until we got it down. But we worked with people who really understand what our style is about, so it was more a matter of just finding the best final sound out of several good ones.
What’s the feedback on your new record? Are you satisfied with it?
Really happy with it, people have said great things about it and fans sing the songs when we play live. We ended up on several year end-lists and we feel really proud of course.
Recently you stated: “Just say no to modern metal music that sounds like it has been recorded by robots. Period.” Why did you do that? What urged you to state something like that?
We come from an aesthetic of old school values like vintage Slayer, Suicidal, S.O.D etc where every album and player sounded different to one another. All these modern bands claiming to be “old school” blah blah and then just having the same triggered and over processed sound is really detrimental to the genre we feel, and we make statements like that to perhaps light a fire under peoples asses to actually step up their game, and dare to be different.
Your style in both music composition and on vocals is oftenly compared with Suicidal Tendencies’ style. How do you feel about it? Is it a bummer or an honor for you?
An honor, and obviously a very conscious aesthetic. It’s a straight up tribute to a man who is a living legend, and one who doesn’t get nearly enough credit than he deserves for keeping it real during an era where even the so called “real” metal bands where total suckers to trends and afraid to deviate from them
In recent years, more and more bands are created moving towards the new wave of thrash metal underground. How does it feel to have finally escaped those borders and now being one of the most known bands worldwide?
Next year the band turns 10, and everyone involved are very proud of everything we’ve accomplished as a collective as well as individuals. We really don’t compare ourselves to other bands, and we’ll just keeping doing what we do.
Have you heard the Negative Self album?
Yes, it’s great stuff of course.
Where do you see yourselves and the band in the next 5 years? Are there any short – term or long – term plans for Dr. Living Dead?
As long as people want to see and hear us, we’ll hang around. At the same time, what we’ve created together and gone through will always live on through everyone who ever bled, sweated and gave their everything to be a part of the DRLD experience.
When we should expect your new album?
Within a year probably, but we’ve already got a lot of stuff written so hopefully sooner rather than later.
Greece was left out your recent European tour. Is there any chance of visiting us later this year?
Of course, just give us a cool offer and we’ll play wherever. It’s really not up to us but up to the people who want us to come play.
That’s all from me! Thank you for the interview!
Thanks for the interview and for checking out or band!
