New Millenium's Terror.

NAIL WITHIN

Nail Within come from Israel, a country with not many releases in the metal genre. However, those few bands that have the guts and manage to spread their wings abroad, can be distinguished and have a unique sound that makes them easy recognisable. Nail Within are here to prove this rule once again! Having a word with Yishai, the bands singer here is what we have to offer you...

1.FIRST OF ALL POINT OUT THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS OF THE BAND’S HISTORY TILL NOW. INTRODUCE THE BAND TO THE READERS AND TELL US WHICH IS THE CURRENT LINE UP.

The current line up is: Yishai Swearts (vocals), Alex Schuster (guitars) Matan Cohen (guitars) Rotem Inbar (bass) and Ido Levy (drums). We started 2 years ago after Betrayer and Azazel split up, we made a lot of shows inside Israel and started to compose the debut album, in the summer it was recorded in "Spiderhouse Studio" in Germany, produced by Harris Johns and Zeev Tananboim (Salem), we signed to Listenable Records for 2 albums and last month the album came out with 11 songs and a videoclip, more info can be found in our site: www.nailwithin.com

2.WHY DID YOU NAME THE BAND NAIL WITHIN? WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SUGGEST BY THAT? WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU?

On one hand it can be interpreted as rebellion act, like "a nail within society-system-whatever" like the bad seed in the conformism attitude, on the other hand it can be someone who is well located within his beliefs and faith, both cases are honest to the album's concept.

3.A FEW MONTHS AGO YOU HAVE RECORDED YOUR DEBUT ALBUM. CAN YOU TELL US A FEW THINGS ABOUT IT (WHERE IT WAS RECORDED, HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU, THE MUSICAL DIRECTION, ETC.)? WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE NOT TO RECORD YOUR ALBUM IN ISRAEL? WITH WHAT CRITERIA HAVE YOU SELECTED THE PRODUCER? ARE YOU STILL SATISFIED WITH IT OR IS THERE SOMETHING THAT YOU’D LIKE TO CHANGE, SOMETHING THAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE BETTER?

It took a month and the musical direction is fast yet melodic death metal with strong 80's thrash vibe and elements. We recorded in Germany with Harris Johns because We wanted to work with highly experienced metal producer and someone who is not producing 673 bands per year..., Harris Johns is the right man for this, he is very professional and cool person who understands our music and what we stand for, of course I grew up with albums he made and it was a great experience to be in the studio and see all his "memory books" with photos and notes from all the 80's metal heroes in thier first days, Harris gave us the exact musical sound and touch we were searching for, something which sounds unique but shows our roots as well, Nobody in Israel beside Zeev Tananboim could give us the wanted result, and Zeev came with us to Germany.

4.I’D SAY THAT YOU BELONG TO THE GENERAL CATEGORY OF MELODIC DEATH METAL ENRICHED WITH MANY THRASH ELEMENTS. ARE THOSE ELEMENTS A PART OF YOUR MUSIC OR PERHAPS HARRIS JOHNS, YOUR PRODUCER, IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ADDING THEM (KREATOR "PLEASURE TO KILL", SODOM "AGENT ORANGE", VOIVOD "DIMENSION HATROS", HELLOWEEN, CELTIC FROST, IMMOLATION, ETC)? DID YOU LISTEN TO HIS SUGGESTIONS?

It's integral part of our music and sound, that's why we wanted to work with him, of course we listened to his suggestions and ideas but we came with all the material ready, same for the ideas about how we want this album to sound, so it was natural.

5.HOW HAVE YOU MANAGED FOR A NEWCOMER BAND TO HAVE SO GREAT GUEST APPEARANCES? WE SEE MILLE PETROZZA (KREATOR), TOMAS LINDBERG, ROBERT GONELLA (ASSASSIN),HARRIS JOHNS, ZEEV TANANBOIM (SALEM). HOW DID YOU GET IN TOUCH WITH THE GUYS? WHERE THEY EASY TO APPROACH AND HELPFUL?

It's a great thing for us and we all are very happy because of that, we made a BETRAYER show in 2000 with Tomas Lindberg here in Israel, 700 fans came to see us with him playing our songs and At The Gates songs as well. We became good friends and kept in touch all this time, so it was clear to me that I want to guest him in our album as a true tribute and respect and for friendly reasons as well. At The Gates and Tomas lyrics had a very big influence on my writing process and Nail Within music. I wanted to thank this man and friend for what his music meant to me and as a friend, so I simply called him and invited him and his wife to our studio in Germany as special guests, he sang with Mille and me on "Dirty Coloured Knife.", and he sang in "Under The Spell". With Mille it was a bit different, being a huge Kreator fan since I was 15 years old, I always wanted to catch a chat with this guy, I think you'll agree with me that Kreator's music is more deep and honest then most of the bands going around nowadays and back then as well, Kreator was the reason for me to form a band when I was 15 years old. I got the chance 2 years ago to interview Mille for Metal Hammer Israel and I wrote a very big and special article/interview about how Kreator influenced me as a musician and a lyricist as well, and most important: as a PERSON. So I interviewed Mille and it was a very good interview and I found a very interesting and highly intelligent person, someone who is honest to everything he says. We kept in touch, I sent him the Magazine of course and I called him half a year ago and invited him as well to share a stage with us in the studio together with Tomas Lindberg, what I didn't know is that both of them know each other and were very happy about all the idea. So it was a great experience in "Spiderhouse Studio" and I have to say that for me as a person to have those 2 great people and musicians on our album is a very big pride, and I want to use this opportunity to say how much we appreciate the support they gave us - Thanks and Respect!!

6.WHAT ARE YOUR LYRICS TALKING ABOUT? WHICH THEMES INSPIRE YOU TO WRITE LYRICS AND WHICH CAN TAKE AWAY THE INSPIRATION FROM YOU? TELL US SOME GENERAL THINGS ABOUT THEM AND ESPECIALLY TELL ME FOR "KING OBSCENITY" WHICH IS MY FAVORITE SONG.

The lyrics are mostly authobigraphic about my life, they represents who I am, it's like a conversation with the listener, who can learn about me from my lyrics, "Emblaze" is dealing with the recent situation in Israel, "Inhuman Condition" is radical philosophy which is based on books of Eyan Rand and Nitsche, "Dirty Coloured Knife" reflects my insanity and neurotic inner struggles, "Bleed Forever" is about a woman I know whom been abused during a sadomasochistic destructive relationship, "Under The Spell" is about me being hurt after long relationship which end in a very bad way, "Mental Coffin" is about dealing with your fears and demons and be aware of your life and what you are, "Impure" is about hope for a better life in a self awareness inner kingdom, "Last Nail" is a reflection of all the previous album's lyrics with a statement in it's end, i came from a lyrical background, in 93 i released a poems book in hebrew called "Rage Prophet" so lyrics are highly important to me, 3 of the lyrics in he album were written by our ex drummer Miko so the answer refered to what I wrote "King Obscenity" was written by our first drummer Barak Zait (Miko) and the lyrics are dealing with self awakening.

7.DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS TO PLAY LIVE? IS THERE A CHANCE TO TOUR? DO YOU REMEMBER THE WAY YOU FELT THE FIRST TIME YOU GOT ON STAGE? DO YOU HAVE ANY FUNNY OR WEIRD MEMORIES TO SHARE WITH US?

Touring is very important for us, we are hard working band and we will not sit at home like lazy rockstars, we will play as much as we can, and we will tour in europe with this record, I'de love to play in Greece as well if there is any booking agency that would like to invite us, I first went on stage 11 years ago with Betrayer, so since then I made a lot of gigs, the feeling is great, it's total unlimited _expression of what you stand for as an artist and person.

8.ISRAEL IS NOT FAMOUS FOR ITS METAL SCENE. HOWEVER, LATELY WE HAVE SEEN YOU POPPING OUT AND SALEM, WHICH IS A VERY PROMISING AND INTERESTING BAND. HOW ARE THINGS OVER THERE? IS THERE AN UNDERGROUND SCENE? ARE THERE ANY INTERESTING BANDS FROM THERE YOU CAN PICK OUT?

Salem are the biggest here, they exist since 1985 and were on of the first bands in the universe to play black metal, also Orphaned Land are huge here, they are great, other very good bands are Eternal Gray, Vultures, Sleepless, Arallu and Lehavoth, all are very good and promising.

9.YOU HAVE FILMED A VIDEO CLIP FOR YOUR SONG "DIRTY COLORED KNIFE". HOW DID YOU CHOOSE THIS SONG IN SPECIFIC AND DESCRIBE IN A FEW WORDS THE MAIN PLOT.

The video was made by Nir Nakav (Salem), he had all the ideas, the main target was to reflect the lyrics of the song visually and show different faces of insanity, it can be said that the video is a bit misanthropic but we are not the ones to say we hate everyone, it have a black grotesque humor that's right but it have a very serious massage, it represents the idea behind the song's lyrics and concept, only few seconds here and there are live recordings, most of the Video is a kind of bizzare movie featuring the band members do crazy things, the video feature Tomas Lindberg, Mille Petrozza and Zeev Tananboim whom all sing in this song as well.

10.WHICH SONG OF YOURS DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST IDEAL TO REPRESENT YOUR WORK? IF I TOLD YOU TO SELECT ONLY ONE SONG WHICH WOULD THAT BE AND WHY? WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO A FAN TO CONVINCE HIM BUY YOUR CD INSTEAD OF ANOTHER BAND?

In my opinion "Dirty Coloured Knife" , it represents all the concept. What will I tell to fan to convince him to buy the record? that this album have to be heard and understood by every fan of extreme music as this album is REAL.

11.WHICH BAND AND ALBUM IN SPECIFIC MADE YOU REALIZE THAT YOU WANT TO PLAY HEAVY METAL? NAME SOME OF THE MUSICIANS YOU ADMIRE. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WEREN’T ABLE TO COMPOSE MUSIC?

Iron Maiden made me realize that i want to play metal, influenced musicians? Chuck Sculdiner (R.I.P.), Steve Harris, Mille Petrozza, Blackie Lawless, Tomas Lindberg and Trey Azagthoth. I am the owner and manager of Raven Music so i deal in metal on almost every aspect (gigs, distribution, record label etc).

12.IF SUDDENLY ELECTRICITY CEASED TO EXIST WHAT DO YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN TO HEAVY METAL? WOULD IT BE CHANGED OR TRANSFORMED?

Changed I guess.

13.IF YOUR MUSIC WAS AN EMOTION WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHY? DO YOU THINK OF MUSIC AS A MEDIUM OF HAVING FUN OR IS THERE SOMETHING DEEPER TO IT?

It's not for the fun, it's MY LIFE !!! lyrics are very serious and deep, I write about my life and the situation I live in and not about the fairytales i read in books...., it's impossible to discribe my art and music in one dimensional emotion, impossible for me.

14.YOU ARE GRANTED ONE WISH. WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE IN THE WORLD?

Make it a better place to live in.

15.IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO MEET THE CREATURE THAT CREATED THE UNIVERSE, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO ASK HIM?

where have you been in world war 2?? why the hell you let it happened?

16.WHAT IS THIS THAT MAKES PEOPLE NOT ABLE TO COPE WITH EACH OTHER? WHY CAN’T WE GET ALONG? WHY DO WE HAVE TO CONFLICT AND GO TO WARS ALL THE TIME? CAN’T WE FIND A SOLUTION PEACEFULLY? I VALUE THE OPINION OF PEOPLE LIKE YOU WHO ARE OBLIGED TO LIVE IN A DANGEROUS PLACE WITH A CONSTANT FEAR FOR THEIR LIVES.

Thanks, and believe me that it is very hard, I think that as long as the root of the conflict is based upon blind fundamentalistic believers there will be no solution, I respect each one's belief, whatever if it's judahism, islam, christianity, satanism, whatever, as long as they don't force me to be like them, I cannot understand a person that put on himself 20 kilo of bombs and go on bus to bomb himself and kill babies and old innocent people "in the name of god" , as long as those things happen it looks impossible to find solution, i hope that peace will finally come to this area and the wars will over, I hope for a better future, the people don't want wars, nobody needs wars in 2003 anymore, i hope for peaceful solution.

17.WHAT TITLE WOULD YOU LIKE THIS INTERVIEW TO HAVE?

New Millenium's Terror.

18.THANK YOU! HAVE I FORGOTTEN TO ASK YOU ANYTHING AND YOU’D LIKE TO MENTION?

I know that people are skeptic about metal bands from Israel but this album is REAL and TRUE and was done from the heart. http://www.nailwithin.com

Christine Parastatidou

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws