Demonoid - Fantasy and History

Perkele

Myself
Aug 27, 2002
263
1
18
In Hell
[IMGLEFT]http://web.axelero.hu/legalbt/mocika/demonoid_front.jpg[/IMGLEFT] By Katalin Sipos

Judging a band by their album cover is not a clever thing to do but it can be an automatic reaction, especially if you have not heard their music before. When I got the Demonoid promo cd, I did not know who was in the band, or what kind of music they played. Honestly, I thought it was some fantasy metal group but I was completely mistaken. The band wanted to keep their identity hidden but in the age of the Internet, it is not possible to do that for an extended period of time. Demonoid, featuring members of Therion, was formed by the Niemann brothers, Kristian (guitar) and Johan (bass) who are joined by Christofer Johnsson on vocals and Rickard Evensand on drums. Their debut album Riders of the Apocalypse was released in late July and it turned out to be a decent death-thrash metal release, that will not only appeal to brand new fans of these renowned musicians, but also please those fans who enjoy the early Therion albums.

Kristian Niemann took the time to talk to us about Demonoid and their first album.

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Hi! How are you doing? How are things going with the promotion of your debut album?

Hello, I'm fine thank you! All is going very well so far, only positive feedback...which is just a little bit surprising. I was prepared for people to really slag the album but that hasn´t happened yet! Maybe its only because the folks who dont like it simply dont want to interview us!

You and Johan have been playing in Therion since 99, when did the idea of forming an other band come to your mind?

It sort of entered our collective minds in mid-2002 I would say. Richard had joined the band and we were jamming a bit but not doing much with Therion except just writing songs. Me and Johan are always writing harder, heavier material and one day Chris suggested that we do something in that style, the four of us. He wanted to do some growling again i think and thats cool, coz to me he is one of the best in that style. So we wrote a bunch of heavy stuff and started recording a bit in december 2002 and we finished up in february 2003.

Why did you feel the need of forming another band and play different music from Therion?

Because I like a lot of different music!!! I would be bored to tears only playing in one band, playing only one style of music. Now, with Chris wanting to do a bit of singing and having Richard onboard and him being the monster-drummer that he is, the timing was very good to form a band that would focus on the more brutal side of metal. It was simply too good an opportunity to pass up.

How did Christopher end up singing in Demonoid?

It just happened naturally. He heard the songs and probably felt that he (rightfully so) could bring something to them by adding his vocals. Also, this was the idea from the beginning too; if we would start this, he would be the singer.

He also wrote the lyrics, that I found 'strange' since he doesn't write lyrics for Therion. How did you get him doing it for Demonoid?

He didnt have a choice! None of us others are lyricwriters and at least Chris has done it in the past so...again naturally; he sings, he writes lyrics. I worry about the notes, he worries about the lyrics.

What bands influenced Demonoid music? I can hear Metallica, Slayer, a bit of Kreator, some Therion and of course Swedish old-school death metal.

I dont know if you can really hear it in our music but I definitely have to include Pantera, Testament, Satyricon, Cacophony, Voivod and Strapping Young Lad on my list of influences. Also there´s some non-metal influences in there too i think; David Torn, Pink Floyd...

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Whose idea was this 'Riders of the Apocalypse' theme? Was the album planned as a concept album from the beginning?

Chris came up with the idea of basing the lyrics on the biblical myth of the four Riders of the Apocalypse and it was quite logical to make it a concept album, a story. In the booklet there is an explanation of the lyrical concept behind "Riders..." and then when you read the lyrics it all (hopefully!) makes sense. The lyrics are really now a mix of biblical themes, fiction and actual history.

(The concept: The story is a mixture of real world history and a fantasy story that is partly based on the biblical Riders of the Apocalypse. The lyrics are very much opposing both the Bible and the teachings of the Judeo-Christian religion and view upon it as one of the biggest sources for the crimes of humanity. It might be a bit contradictional as the concept of the Riders is taken from the Bible, but that is one of the the good parts in writing fiction.

The story: Islam, Judendom and Christianity (the three monotheistic religions), are all fake interpretations of the divinity that created the earth and mankind. Among all the rubbish written in the Bible, there was as a matter of fact only one thing that was correct; the description of the 4 Riders of the Apocalypse.
Through ages of time when mankind committed crimes on earth, the True Gods punished them with starvation and plague, earthquakes and tornados. But it seemed like they never learned... In the pantheon of the gods there are all kinds of gods. The destructive ones are those known as the 4 Horsemen - later to be known as the Riders of the Apocalypse. They are the ones that have been responsible to give most of the punishments during the history of Man. They have however never been allowed to use their full force on earth, as it would destroy all humanity. After all, the gods want to keep what they have created, having the hope that the abomination called mankind once will find its place in harmony with each other and the other creatures on the planet.
A small sect that are the only ones on earth that have seen through the lies of all organized religions, are preparing to put an end to humanity. They don't believe that humanity ever can be "cured" and see no other option than a total extermination of mankind. So they gather and channel the force of all the hate, the destructivity and the bloodshed through the milleniums and use it in order to break through the borders to the divine spheres and open a gate for the Riders to be able to visit earth all at the same time and for the first (and final) time be able to use all their force upon mankind. This is conducted through a mighty evocation ceremony. The Riders arrive and the tale of how they have been trying to correct mankind with punishments are told before they finally ravage the civilization of the parasite called Man and exterminate them up til the very last one, who they save to use as a witness, to walk among the ruins of Man, this global tomb, to observe and regret. Unable to breed...)

The first three songs ' Tell the tales of a few of mankind's worst crimes'. Which are the worst in your opinion?

I think lack of empathy and greed are two of the top ones....also going to war because some "god" in a book tells you that you are right and everybody else is wrong...I mean.. what the fuck?!????

Have you seen the movie Seven?

A great movie! I love it.

The second chapter of the album 'Tells the tales of punishments.' It seems mankind never learned from its mistakes. Do you agree?

Sure. The famous saying is that those who don't know their history are bound to repeat it, mistakes and all, but even IF you know it you still make the same mistakes! But its the same thing I guess with a small child; you can tell him that the plate on the stove is hot and it will burn his hand but he's STILL gonna put it there, burn his hand and find out for himself. You always have to find stuff out for yourself. "Good decisions comes from experience, and experience only comes from bad decisions"

Who was the main composer in the band?

I wrote six songs and my bro Johan wrote three. Chris wrote all the lyrics and contributed a few riffs so this is most definitely a team effort. Music first, lyrics later. There is no sole self-appointed "star" in this band!

You got signed to Nuclear Blast without having a demo. How did this record deal come about? Did it help that you were playing in Therion?

Well, after about a year of begging, pleading and threats of violence.....nah, we sent the finished record around to a few companies but everybody was thoroughly not-blown-away by it, I guess. It took a long time to get it released. In the end Blast agreed to take it and of course it helped that they already had Therion, at least for us. We know they will treat us really well and because of that we're very happy now to have signed Demonoid to Nuclear Blast.

Do you consider Demonoid as a 'real' band or do you rather take it as a project thing?

We see it as it's own thing, a band with it's own identity far removed from the Therion of today. Its not a one-off project. There will be more albums and when the opportunity arises, we'll tour with it as well. Right now there is no chance for that. Everybody is too busy with other bands but when opportunity knocks and we are able to do it...That would be a dream come true for sure!

I know this question is not fair but which band do you like more, Demonoid or Therion?

I can't choose! Both bands offer a completely different set of challenges and rewards so there is no way I can choose between them. Therion has 17 years in the business and a shitload of albums out, quite a big fan following and has done godknows how many tours. Demonoid has one record out and have never once played live. With Therion you have this sort-of legacy to uphold and try to develop, whereas Demonoid is a new thing, unproved and eager to get people to listen to it. Its very difficult to compare the bands but both bands are waaaaaay fun!

Why do you like playing in Demonoid?

Because I can play exactly what i want, whenever i want, for as long as I please! :) Just playing-wise it's really fun cause its a bit more challenging and there are A LOT of guitars on the record! I LIKE guitars! Also the music is fast and aggressive and really intense and energetic so that makes it really cool too. God I can't wait to play this stuff live!!! AAARRRGGHH!! I get excited just thinking about it!

Have you seen 'Demonoid, Messenger of Death', the horror movie made in 1981?

No I haven't but Chris has it and I think thats where the name comes from!

Your cover was made by a Hungarian artist Gyula Havancsák. How did you find him?

I think he is a friend of Chris's girlfriend, not sure though, and his work on this record is outstanding! It looks fucking awesome and I am extremely happy with it. We sent him the music and lyrics and he came up with some amazing shit! Of course there is a dialogue between band and artist and some stuff was changed but on the whole i think he did a great job. I definitely want him to do more stuff for us... if he wants to of course!
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Considering that there was 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse, there are four members in the band and after seeing your promo picture I have to ask which one of the horsemen are you?

Im not telling! Have to leave something for the imagination.... I, of course, am the best-looking!

Since this album is about the Riders of Apocalypse, do you believe in Apocalypse? This is also related to the third part of the album.

Nah, I don't think about that kind of stuff. I try to only think happy thoughts. Too much negativism gets me depressed. Turn on the news and you get depressed in five seconds. I try to stay away from it y´know?

The album was recorded in December 2002 and was mastered in February 2003 and officially it was released at the end of July Weren't you inpatient?

Yes, I am staring at the ceiling in a padded cell right now!!! Seriously yes, it has indeed been a very long wait partly due because we thought it would be very quick and easy to get people interested and get it out. It wasn't. People at record companies seemed generally unimpressed with it and at one point I thought I should just forget about it and that it was never gonna come out. So we are very excited now to see how it will be recieved by people. I mean most magazines and journalists seem to like it but that doesn't mean that it will sell! But at least it came out, thats the important thing.

Let's talk a bit about the recording…

We recorded from mid-december until february. Not working exactly every day but sort of taking our time with it. There wasnt the pressure of time vs. money since we recorded it in our own studio so we could afford to not stress ourselves to death. We tracked drums first, then rhythm guitars, bass guitars, vocals, and lastly all solos and melodylines and the weird effected guitar stuff.We mixed in march for three days in Studio Underground in Västeras with Pelle Saether. He did a fine job I think! Then we mastered it somewhere there in march-april 2003 with Peter in de Betou at his house. Very nice guy. A typical day recording guitars would be me arriving at the studio around 10.00, making a big pot of coffee and having my sandwich for breakfast. Then basically just recording and jamming and experimenting with parts and sounds, trying to come up with some cool stuff. I'd say 50% of the guitars was composed before I started tracking and the other 50% came about as I was fuckin around in the studio all by my lonesome! Thats always so much fun...Im like a kid in a candystore then!

You worked in your own studio, Modern Art, and as you said you didn't have time pressure on you, so are you completely satisfied with the album now?

I'm never satisfied with anything I do! There are some parts on this record that I think are pretty cool but there is A LOT of room for improvment in all areas...playing, songwriting, production. Time wasn't a problem, my own suckiness was!

Any story from the studio you could share with our readers?

Nah, we're a pretty boring bunch of people! Nothing much to tell...probably the most exciting thing we did was to drink beer! I mean how sad is that!!

Have you got a favourite song on the album?

Right now.....Firestorms. No wait!...Wargods....no.......

Would you please give us a short gear presentation?

Sure. The guitar tones were a Mesa/Boogie Triaxis preamp and a Boogie 2:90 poweramp into a regular Marshall cab miked with a SM57. I used my old modded Ibanez 540P2 guitar on everything and I used a variety of effects to try to get some truly weird sounds, such as the Boss VF-1, DigiTech Specestation, a Vox wah and an Ibanez Tube Screamer. For bass tones, Johan used his silver Ibanez EDA905 going through a Sansamp RBI preamp, the Boogie 2:90 and then out into his Ampeg 8x10 cabinet miked with a Shure kickdrum mike. Ricky played Sonor drums and Paiste cymbals I think.

Right after the Demonoid album you started to record the Therion album. Was it tiring and stressful? How did you manage this tight schedule?

Yes it was kinda tiring...mind you, we recorded 21 songs this time and there's a HUGE amount of guitars on these two new Therion CDs so after a while it can be a bit mindnumbing to sit there and press the Record button for six months. We also had some serious problems with intonation on the guitars and that didnt make things better either. It turned out well in the end though and thats all that matters. As always we tried to plan our time so we wouldnt have to stress it but of course that failed; we were extremely stressed by the end! Me and engineer Sami was literally converting and preparing the soundfiles the night before we were to leave for Denmark and mix! Chris picked me up from the studio and, not having slept much in those last few weeks, I fell asleep like a baby in the backseat as he drove to Copenhagen.

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Tack för intervjun!

My pleasure! Well, I cant wait to see all the crazy metalmaniacs in Hungary on the Therion fall tour. Its gonna be sooooo great!! Its alway great fun to play there and I really cant wait! See you all then!! Stay Meeeeeeetaaaaaaaaal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Nuclear Blast's Official Website
 
Awesome..I've been hearing a lot about demonoid as well as seeing a lot of banners, reviews. Now that I realize it's a side of Therion I'm definitely going to get it, Rock on guys, you write some of the best stuff out there...period.