Interview Dark Forest

Dark Forest is een Engelse metalband uit het NWOBHM genre. Ze brachten zopas hun tweede full-cd "Dawn Of Infinity" uit. De recensie kan u hier lezen.

Naar aanleiding van deze CD had Festivalblog de eer om de band via een e-mail interview te kunnen strikken.

Are you guys happy with the result of the new CD?

Adam: We are really pleased to finally have ‘Dawn of Infinity’ complete and ready to release. It has been quite a long process which basically involved us recording the album twice over but we feel that the hard work and effort has paid off and that the new recording does the music justice. We got to see the actual CD only this weekend and are absolutely delighted with the finished article.

Christian: Yeah I think it's our best work to date. There are still aspects of the production and mixing I think could be worked on, but there will always be things you think could be done better. I think the artwork is really good as well, it was definitely better to use a different artist on this release to do the space scene and capture the mood of the album.

How did you come to the title track 'Dawn Of Infinity'?

Adam: Well the original title for the album was ‘Riders to the Stars’ but we weren’t satisfied with this title and thought it was a bit shallow, so myself, Christian and Jim met at our local  pub to hammer out some ideas for a potential album title that encapsulates the stage we were at with the band and also the scope and scale of the album, ‘Dawn of Infinity’ was the result of that discussion, so that’s how it came about!

Can you tell us a little bit more about the CD?

Christian: Most of the songs on this album were written a fair while ago now. Some are about two years old, others are more recent. This is mostly to do with us having to re-record once we signed to Cruz Del Sur, but I think this turned out for the good because it meant we were more familiar with the tracks and tighter at playing them so they came out even better second time round. There are a number of songs which have either a futuristic or sci fi feel to them, so we thought it was natural to have a sci fi themed album cover and title. It may seem quite a big change for people who are familiar with our debut, which dealt heavily with folklore, but there are still some typical Dark Forest subject matters on this album. We wanted to make sure we don't become restricted with our lyrical themes or imagery.

How was the instrumental contribution established on this album?

Christian: Well I write nearly all the music myself and then present it to the rest of the band. Then once we have the main bulk of a song, we can neaten it out between us, change or add little bits here and there until we're satisfied that the song is the best it can be. When writing a song myself I often start with a certain mood or atmosphere which is inspiring, then I try and write music which captures that atmosphere and it build up that way, finally adding the lyrics which again sum up the mood.

In some numbers the drums take the upper hand. Is this chosen consciously?

Adam: We certainly didn’t intend for anything to take prominence over anything else in the album, we were mainly after quite a well balanced album with each part clearly audible, but without one thing drowning out another. I guess the unity between the instruments gives some of the drum rhythms real prominence. I also have quite a pounding style, I play the drums very hard so maybe this also contributes to the drum sound.

Which is your favorite Dark Forest number?

Christian: Probably Under the Greenwood Tree, it's one of the more upbeat tracks on the album. I like the slight folky feeling to it and also the lyrical theme about Robin Hood, one of the greatest English folk heroes.

Adam: Mine is the Green Knight, it has some classic melodies and I love the galloping beat of the music. It is quite raw and I love the explosive ending.

What will the future bring?

Adam: We are intrigued and excited about the future of the band. We have been playing some decent gigs in London recently and there seems to be a bit of momentum gathering. Cruz Del Sur is a great label and they are going to be pushing the album hard so we are hoping the future is bright and that we can really progress.

Do you have other projects aside from Dark Forest?

Christian: Yeah I play in an acoustic side project called Grene Knyght. It's an instrumental duo and we get together once in a while to write music and play local jam nights. Our music is a combination of all sorts like medieval, classical and folk. We're hoping to get a demo out soon.

Are you guys preparing a new tour, any Belgium shows already booked?

Adam: There is nothing in the pipeline right now although we hope that the release of the album will stir up some interest on the continent. It would be great to perhaps get a festival slot or two next summer!

Christian: Yeah a tour would be great, we can hopefully sort something out soon and we'll make sure we don't miss Belgium!

From which bands does Dark Forest take it’s inspiration?

Christian: Our biggest inspiration is probably Iron Maiden, that's the one band we all totally love. But we have a quite a few different tastes within the band and I think each member of Dark Forest let their personal inspirations come out in the music, I think that's part of what gives us a more unique and original feel compared with some other young bands. Some of the other bands I take inspiration from myself are Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Witchfinder General.

Are there new England bands that can break through in the future?

Christian: The one band that I have my eye on at the moment and I hope good things for them are Wytch Hazel. We've played a couple of gigs together and they show real promise. They play a kind of 70s hard rock/ heavy metal with a medieval vibe to them, definitely one to check out! There needs to be more bands from England though to continue flying the flag because until recently, this country has been pretty dead for heavy metal. Hopefully things are beginning to change!

On this moment you're on the Cruz Del Sur music label. How did you end up with this label?

Christian: When we originally recorded Dawn of Infinity (the first version of it, known as Riders to the Stars) we had just left Iron Kodex Records and were searching for a new label. We decided to send out promo packs with a demo of the album to as many labels as we could think of. Cruz Del Sur was one of the options but before we got round to posting them, they contacted us themselves. This is where we need to thank Manuel from Atlantean Kodex, who apparently recommended us to the label! Anyway, we continued to post the promo packs out just to see what our full options were. We did have a few other offers but we weren't really happy with any of them, Cruz Del Sur was by far the best label and deal offer so we went with them!

Can you describe the band in 3 words?

Adam: From the Heart

The last question. Please pick one of the choices and say why you chose that one?

  • Metallica - Iron Maiden

Iron Maiden by far! I do have time for some Metallica now and again but Iron Maiden have always been my favorite band. Compared to Metallica they have far more integrity, their music is richer and they're English!

  • Water – Beer

Beer. Especially when it's real ale or stout! And a damn site better for you than all the fluoride and crap they stick in the water these days!

  • Thrash metal - NWOBHM

NWOBHM. This is a huge influence on our sound and a big inspiration to Dark Forest. I don't mind some thrash either, but we're more about melody rather than jagged riffs.

  • Writing new songs - Playing older songs on stage

Both are good, it's great to see the crowd reacting to the old songs but I think writing new material would be my choice. It's more important in my mind, it's getting back to the heart of the matter and the main reason for doing the band, we're always writing new material.

  • City – Beach

Maybe beach if it was on a dark, bleak winter evening. I'm not a fan of the city at all.

  • Tattoo's – Piercings

If you're talking about on women, probably piercings. Tattoo's aren't so bad if they don't go over the top with them.

  • CD – LP

LP. Music on vinyl is better quality in my mind, warmer and more alive, it can breathe. I also prefer looking at the album artwork and listening through properly, to the album as a whole, without being able to just skip tracks.

  • Graspop Metal Meeting - Wacken Open Air

Not sure, maybe Wacken mainly because I'm more familiar with it and know they've had a lot of good bands playing in the past.

  • Summer – Winter

Summer if it's in green meadows under blue skies, winter if it's piling logs onto the fire with the snow storming outside. But I prefer Autumn the most.

  • Silence – Noise

Silence. People don't have enough of it in their lives.

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