Illdisposed
Recently Illdisposed released
one of the best melodic death/thrash metal albums I’ve listened to, revealing
a band being in a really good mood and wanting to level everything that
stands in their way. So, after some difficulties and bad situations they
were confronted with, it was time for their retaliation and vindication.
Now they only have to wait and collect the remnants of the war they broke
loose!
1. FIRST OF ALL CONGRATULATIONS FOR “1-800
VINDICATION”! IT’S ONE OF THE GREATEST AND CATCHIEST DEATH METAL RELEASES
I’VE LISTENED TO RECENTLY!
2. SINCE THIS IS THE FIRST INTERVIEW WE DO, PLEASE
POINT OUT THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS OF THE BAND’S STORY TILL NOW AND INTRODUCE
YOURSELVES TO THE READERS…
The band was formed in 1991 by singer Bo Summer.
The debut album “Four depressive seasons” was released in 1993 and since
then we have been the biggest name in Danish extreme music. In 1995 we
found our own style, a more groovy kind of death metal which was presented
with the album “Submit”. The underground-breakthrough was probably 1997
album “There’s something rotten… In the state of Denmark” which was the
best selling album we released in the 90’s. After that we released 2 bad
albums, then we inked a new record deal with Roadrunner Records and now
we’re back for good, enjoying what we’re doing again.
3. YOUR MUSIC IS AMAZING! AGGRESSIVE, UP TEMPO
DEATH METAL MIXED WITH SOME BLACK METAL TINGES AND ENRICHED WITH A HARDCORE
AESTHETICS I’D SAY. DO YOU AGREE WITH ME? HOWEVER, I’M ALWAYS CURIOUS TO
KNOW THE CREATOR’S POINT OF VIEW.
I agree except for the black metal. None of
us like black metal. I would rather say thrash metal then. But when we
describe ourselves we say “heavy metal with bad vocals”.
4. WHAT I LIKE IN YOUR MUSIC IS THAT YOU HAVE
AN EXCELLENT BALANCE BETWEEN ALL THE ELEMENTS AND SOUNDS THAT COMPRISE
YOUR MUSIC. I MEAN YOU KNOW WHEN AND HOW YOU SHOULD USE MELODIES OR THE
MORE AGGRESSIVE PARTS. HOW DIFFICULT IS IT FOR A BAND TO FIND THIS “GOLDEN
BALANCE”? ITS IDEAL AND CHARACTERISTIC SOUND AS I PREFER TO CALL IT? DO
YOU THINK THAT ILLDISPOSED HAS MANAGED TO FORM ITS OWN SOUND?
I think basically it’s because we have more
than 15 years experience of writing music. Besides that we always record
the songs 1 time before we record the album. That gives us an extra chance
to change the songs and make them perfect.
5. I’D ALSO LIKE TO CONGRATULATE YOUR SINGER FOR
HIS SUPERB PERFORMANCE AND INTERPRETATION OF THE SONGS! HE HAS REALLY HARSH
AND BRUTAL VOCALS UNLIKE MOST OF THE MELODIC DEATH METAL BANDS. IT’S ONE
MORE THING THAT MAKES YOU STAND OUT I THINK! I’D LIKE TO HEAR WHAT YOU
THINK…
Yeah, he is absolutely one of the best growlers
around. I think death metal vocals need some variety not to be too boring
to listen to. He can handle that pretty well.
6. THE MIXING AND MASTERING OF THE ALBUM WAS DONE
BY THE ONE AND ONLY TUE MADSEN. THE SOUND IS VOLUMINOUS, CLEAR AND POWERFUL!
HOWEVER, IS THERE ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO CHANGE OR SOMETHING YOU’D LIKE
TO HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY?
It was a very good move that we took the mixing
process to the Antfarm studio with Tue Madsen. Before that we couldn’t
really get the sound we wanted, but Tue really did a great job and added
the power we needed. The result is nearly perfect, we wouldn’t change anything.
7. WHAT’S THE BEST AND WHAT’S THE WORST ELEMENT
IN YOUR MUSIC, ACCORDING TO YOU? IN WHICH FIELD DO YOU THINK YOU NEED FURTHER
IMPROVEMENT?
The best thing is that we play perfectly together,
the lineup has never been better. The worst thing is our preference for
alcohol. We would be much more creative if we didn’t drink as much as we
do - but without drinking life wouldn’t be as fun, so we prefer to drink
and be less creative.
8. TELL US PLEASE WHAT YOU WANT TO SUGGEST WITH
THE ALBUM’S TITLE “1-800 VINDICATION” AND EXPLAIN THE CONNECTION WITH THE
COVER ARTWORK. WHICH ARTIST IS RESPONSIBLE FOR IT?
The artist is Lasse Hoile, a very skilled
artist from Denmark. There’s no direct connection between the artwork and
the album title, we just thought it looked pretty cool. The album title
means that we are back at full volume after a few bad years and a few bad
album releases. The 1-800 part is just to make fun of those American “1-800-Sexlines”
phone numbers.
9. WHERE ARE YOUR LYRICS REFERRING TO? WHICH ARE
YOUR SOURCES OF INSPIRATION?
Most of the lyrics are personal stuff, things
we experience in the band, things Bo experiences in his life.
10. BY THE WAY ARE YOU SATISFIED BY ROADRUNNER’S
PROMOTION? IT’S A BIG LABEL WITH MANY HUGE BANDS IN ITS ROSTER. SO DO YOU
EVER FEEL NEGLECTED OR DO THEY DO THE BEST THING POSSIBLE FOR YOU EACH
TIME?
We never had better promotion and we never
had a better relationship to a label before. We hated our former labels
because they didn’t do anything to promote us, but every time we complained
they just gave us some money and we forgot about it for some time. Now
everything’s different. We have a good relationship to our label and don’t
have to be pissed off about that kind of shit all the time.
11. DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR A TOUR OR IS IT
TOO EARLY? WHAT SHOULD THE FANS EXPECT TO SEE IN AN ILLDISPOSED LIVE SHOW?
We just came back home from our European tour
3 weeks ago. And we’re headlining the Wacken Roadshow with Holy Moses in
Germany the first 2 weeks of May. After that we’ll play some summer festivals
and then it’s time to write the next album.
12. HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THIS BAND NAME? IT’S
WEIRD, DON’T YOU THINK?
It’s not that weird I think… It’s just another
word for “evil”. I have no idea how it came up.
13. IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD
IT BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
Emotion: A mixture between anger and passion.
Painting: A vodka bottle with a band inside.
14. IF YOU COULD BE A FAMOUS PERSON FOR A DAY,
WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND WHICH PERIOD OF HIS/HER LIFE WOULD YOU LIKE TO
HAVE A TASTE OF?
Definitely Rick James. I think nobody had
a good time like he did. Cocaine’s one hell of a drug.
15. LET’S SUPPOSE THAT ONE DAY ELECTRICITY CEASED
TO EXIST…WHAT DO YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN TO METAL MUSIC AND TO ILLDISPOSED
IN SPECIFIC? COULD THE METAL SOUND BE ALTERED OR WOULD IT DIE?
No doubt it would die. Death metal without
electricity is like Illdisposed without alcohol.
16. THESE LAST FEW YEARS DENMARK PROVED TO BE
A REAL CRADLE FOR EXTREME MUSIC. HOW COME? PLEASE TELL US HOW YOU SEE THE
SCENE OF YOUR COUNTRY AND ARE THERE ANY OTHER INTERESTING BANDS WE SHOULD
CHECK OUT?
I think the new Danish bands stake a lot more
on it than the bands did in the past. They spend money out of their own
pockets to go on tour and record albums. Fortunately we never had to do
that. It’s not like we have national feelings about Danish metal bands.
Honestly we don’t care about them. They do their business - we do ours.
17. THANK YOU! HAVE I FORGOTTEN TO ASK YOU ANYTHING?
LEAVE YOUR MESSAGE TO THE READERS…
Be sure to come to one of our shows in the
future. If you don’t like our music it’s always a good party anyway.
Christine Parastatidou
|