The signs of Cain is a metaphore regarding the evil essence of humanity and of the bad things yet to come. The signs are revealed...

1.WHICH ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS OF THE BAND'S HISTORY? WHICH IS THE CURRENT LINE UP?

• SIGNS OF CAIN :  Stijn vocals
•                                Jacques Synths
•                               Werner Guitars
•                                Luc Drums
• Werner : I guess the first important one was the first rehearsal. I hadn’t played in any band for over two years and I was really looking forward to get started. Jacques already had written a song on his own and that first rehearsal when we played that song fully for the first time, for me was no less than a magic moment. Just to feel a real band ,although being a basic one, performing something we created ourselves, that just was a kick I missed out on for several years. The second one was the moment our singer Stijn joined us. You have to understand we’d been playing our songs for quite some time without vocals, so you kind of get used to the sound. Then all of a sudden we started rehearsing with Stijn and all the stuff sounds so weird, so different,so new. The first couple of times you play the songs, you’re focusing so hard on the vocals, to hear what he’s doing, you just can’t play your parts right anymore. But after a while , the beauty of yet another element in the sound of Signs of Cain reveals itself. The third big one was the recording of our demo. Because our band budget would have only bought us 45 minutes of studiotime or so, the choice was obvious: Do it yourself. I had acquired some recording gear through the years and some experience with recording studios (we all have actually). And although this method of recording is more relaxed than facing the deadline of a real studio (and your budget), there are other kinds of stress and worries involved, more of a technical nature that is. Anyhow, in the end, there’s that kick once again, of being able to say, when looking at this silver disc : “Damn, we did it, there are better bands with a better production, but THIS IS OURS.
• Jacques : Its foundation , Stijn who joined to support the band vocally and last but not least the lottery bal mixer which proved to be very useful to us at our instrumental live gigs in the early days since we coudn’t put together a play-list. Because our songs had no title, only a number, it was easy to blame the mixer when it made us play a song that was pretty difficult to play. Oh no, not nr 8! Damn machine!
• Stijn : The first one is when I joined the band after they had been playing for over a year and a half together. They were already used to each other. Not only with signs of cain but also in a previous band they played together at. I was a new element the had to consider and that made me really nervous. Our first show after getting the demo out was another important moment. I had been changing my voice after our first recordings  with a 4-track and before the demo. And now I had to proof to myself I could handle it live even though I have previous experiences of since for I live audience since I sang in a HC band for almost 5 years.

2.WHY DID IT TAKE YOU SO LONG TO DECIDE ON A BAND NAME? YOU CHANGED SOME NAMES BEFORE MAINTAINING SIGNS  OF CAIN. WHAT MADE YOU NAME THE BAND THIS WAY? WHAT DOES YOUR MONICKER MEAN TO YOU?

• Actually , we never took the time to sit down and think of a bandname. It was always like : Damn, we’ve got a gig coming up, we’ve got to put some name on the flyers. The one of us would come up with some stupid bandname, we laughed our asses off and then we would use that name for a while. It wasn’t until we decided we were going to record our demo, that we chose a real name. I made a list of powerful sounding and fairly original bandnames , and Signs of Cain came out to be the winner. The band name actually is a phrase used in the movie Raising Cain , and I guess it’s freely interpretable. To me it means something like “an indication of bad things to come”. Of course with the whole situation with Iraq and Al-Qaida this is a very relevant bandname. Although we’re not really a political band, it’s affecting everyone’s life, stupid metalmusicians included.

3.GIVE US A DESCRIPTION OF YOUR MUSIC. NAME SOME OF THE BAND'S INFLUENCES AND SOME OF YOUR MOST BELOVED ALBUMS.

• Werner : Always a difficult one , describing your own music.  In essence , S.O.C. is a thrash/death band, but we don’t limit ourselves. If a riff sounds nice and powerful to us, we’ll use it. One thing is highly appreciated : Melody. We like to weave twinstuff in between our riffs. The new stuff, I gotta say is more agressive than our old ones. Favorite bands : Nile,Cryptopsy,Dream theater,Death,Nevermore, Emperor, Pain of salvation, Meshuggah, Theory in practice, Atheist, The crown, Opeth, Cynic, Agent steel, Nightwish, Planet X, Rush, Voivod,Tool, Liquid tension experiment, Dagorlad, In-Quest and a million more bands I forgot. - Fave albums :  - Nile : Black seeds of vengeance (for the moment)- Arch enemy : Wages of sin - Dream theater : Metropolis : Scenes from …
• - Nightwish : Century child
• - Hate eternal : King of all kings
• - Nevermore : Dead heart in a dead world
• - Theory in practice : Colonizing the sun
• - Psychotic waltz – A social grace
• Jacques : Thrash ’n death with an open mind and with an original perspective.Fave music : Nile, late eighties Bay Area thrash, Prejudice, Dream theater, Hooverphonic, everything with Mike Patton involved, Tori Amos, too many to mention
• Luc : favorite bands: machine head, W.A.S.P., gorefest, sepultura, nevermore, the haunted, enchant, the crown, dark tranquillity,dream theater,... albums: dream theater: scenes... arch enemy: wages... enchant: blink of an eye killswitch engage: alive or....
• Stijn :I would say we play a mix of trash 'n death with some Götenborg influences and complimented with HC lyrics.My influences are within different music scenes: metal: Inflames and At the gates: all their stuff, Paradise lost, Slayer, Malefaction: all recordings. HC: Boy sets fire: all records, Jimmy eat world: All records, Dillinger escape plan: all; Converge: all, Botch: all, Drowningman: all.

4.YOU HAVE RECORDED IN THE SUMMER YOUR FIRST DEMO. TELL US A FEW THINGS ABOUT IT (MUSIC, PRODUCTION, ETC). ARE YOU STILL SATISFIED WITH IT, BARING OF
COURSE IN MIND THAT IT'S NOT A REAL STUDIO RECORDING?

• Werner : I guess we’re pretty pleased with the recordings. Of course we’re fully aware of the fact that, soundwise, the demo cannot be compared with a studiorecording(Although I have heard some studiorecordings that were absolute sh*t), the sound is a bit thin and the mix is , euh let’s say unusual too keep it nice. Jacques actually uses the synth as a second guitar, Just one basic sound with a lot of distortion on top, so don’t expect violins and piano’s and stuff. The main goal of this demo is to get exposure, and since it has costed us nothing to record it, we can give it away, put it entirely on the internet, and we don’t have to worry about breaking even. Musically, you can hear a band that is searching for it’s identity. The songs were written in a 2 year period, and I guess every song has its own approach, but they all bear the mark of Signs of Cain. Of couse, after a few years, you get to know each other’s limitations and strongest points, and you know better what will work and what will not, but I guess S.O.C. is a band which will always evolve.
• Stijn: Werner did a great job on the recordings considering the tools he used. We didn't have the ideal conditions, place, and proper equipment to do any professional recording. But Werner overcame it all and made the demo sounds like it is and I'm really pleased with it. It was a learning process for the band and a good one!

5.WHAT ARE YOUR LYRICS TALKING ABOUT? WHICH THEMES ISNPIRE YOU IN WRITING LYRICS AND WHAT CAN TAKE AWAY THE INSPIRATION FROM YOU?

• Stijn: I've been responsible for writing all the lyrics on the demo even though the other band members are welcome to write some too. The topics very but are all written from a personal few on things. Some songs deal with things I see are happening in the world around us but from a more social few. For 6 years I worked as a social worker with kids the ran a way from home. Their stories of abuse and misfortune still help and inspire to write songs about. Other songs are a result of long talks with friends about personal issues.  And a third inspiration are the general social topics of our society. For Example "A shameful disease" is about how people with AIDS still are considered as outcasts. "Dead blue sky" is about a someone who wants to commit suicide. "Childhood" is about how parents try to push their unfulfilled dreams onto their kids, Even though all the songs have their own topic I still find it necessary to write the lyrics in an abstract way so that everyone who reads them can give it their own interpretation. Song-writing is a way for me to get some feelings in the open but it should also be a way for others who read it to find stuff of their own in it! I hope this makes some sense!

6.HOW ARE YOU PLANNING TO PROMOTE YOUR WORK? ARE YOU THINKING OF SENDING THIS DEMO TO ANY LABELS? ARE YOU SATISFIED BY THE FEEDBACK YOU GET FOR THIS DEMO?

• Werner : This demo is mainly recorded to get us some gigs and to get some attention in Belgium, but thanks to the internet it’s possible to spread the promotion to a more global (underground) scale. We’ve sent our demo to some underground labels who asked for it, but it is not our intention to go labelshopping with it. The feedback we get is quite good, with some remarks on the sound, but  Signs of Cain is a band that is far more powerful live then on CD (for now).
• Stijn: Hopefully a lot of people get to know us by this demo or the songs that are on the net (for those who don't know it: you can download our songs on our website). It would be nice if we can get some shows by spreading our demo around. What ever happens will happen. We're just glad we can play our music!

7.WHICH WAS THE BEST AND WHICH WAS THE WORST REVIEW YOU HAVE RECEIVED? WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'D DO IF ALL THE REVIEWS YOU GOT WERE NEGATIVE? WOULD THIS PREVENT YOU FROM INVOLVING WITH MUSIC OR NOT?

• Werner : We haven’t sent any demo’s yet for reviewing to anyone, just because of the fact it doesn’t really compare to a studiodemo soundwise. Maybe we will sent in a few, I don’t know. I’d like people to make up their own opinion and actually hear the music instead of the industry-standards regarding sound. Maybe this is a bit hypocrite becouse we too like a good production over a bad, but this is our baby we’re talking about,you know? If the reviews and reactions were all bad though, we would certainly not stop this band. We’ve all been making music for quite some years now, so we’ve grown past the desillusions of negative reactions. The S.O.C. members are all great guys and we haven’t had one crisis or conflict during its existence, and that’a a rare thing with musicians, I can tell you that. Furthermore we make our music because we love playing, and with every song we add a piece to the puzzle, we improve a little bit. If you pull the plug on a band you love playing in just because of the lack of success, you’re either crazy or you’re not a REAL musician.
• Jacques : No reviews so far. Comments after live gigs are generally very good. Of course the way the synth sounds on the demo is quite distracting to some people. I agree, but a studio-album would definitely sound better and at live-gigs it’s a non-issue. Then again how the hell is one supposed to mix a deliberately distorted synth in a proper way ? But this is what we do and we wouldn’t do it any other way.
• Stijn:When you start a band the first reason for playing music should be FUN. You should play music because you like it and not because you want to become a star. After awhile it is normal to want to play live shows cause you want others to hear your creations. But just being in a band with musicians who really love the things they are doing and have the same goal in mind is a great thing to be part of!

8.WHICH DO YOU THINK IS THE BEST AND WHICH IS THE WORST PART IN YOUR MUSIC? WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU NEED FURTHER IMPROVEMENT?

• Werner : This is a difficult one. I guess the best part is the diversity in our music. For the worst part …..I think we could use a bassplayer to fill in the blanks, but those are always the most difficult ones to find. Just like every band : Better songswriting and tighter playing.
• Jacques : The sound of the synth on CD needs improvement, period.
• Stijn:I think I still can improve my voice. I come from singing in a HC band and ever since I have joined S.O.C I tried to find different ways to use my voice. I'm happy with the results on the demo but I think I can do better. There is enough room for improvement. Oh yes a bassplayer would nicely add a new dimension to our sound.

9.IN THE BEGINNING YOU DID SOME LIVE SHOWS WITHOUT HAVING A SINGER. WAS ANOTHER BAND MAMBER DOING THE VOCALS OR WERE YOUR LIVE SHOWS INSTRUMENTAL?

• Werner : No, those were instrumental gigs. Of course it’s more difficult this way to keep people listening, because they’re used to a band being fronted by a singer, but on the other hand, we’ve gotten some good reactions from people who are not into metal, but really liked our music. I thought about it and I came up with two conclusions regarding peope who are not into metal : A lot of people are impressed with the technical ability of metalbands.They can not get past the voice in thrash or deathmetal. But you definitly can’t get the same vibe without a good live singer.

10.DO YOU REMEMBER ANY FUNNY OR WEIRD INCIDENTS DURING A LIVE SHOW OF YOURS? WHICH PERFORMANCE  OF YOURS DO YOU THINK WAS THE BEST? SHARE WITH US YOUR FEELINGS DURING YOUR FIRST APPEARANCE ON STAGE.

• Werner : We’re all funny and weird persons, so maybe we’ll write a book about that. The stupiest thing I remember was with my first thrashband while playing a gig for a mixed audience. Just before we went on the stage, the guy who organised the gig came up to us and asked if we could play a little softer. We asked “What , turn the volume down or what ?” “No, play less fast and heavy”. Duh!! Idiot We haven’t performed for a big audience yet, but I expect when you get a big crowd moving, that would be a blast.
• Jacques : At a a particular gig, I forgot to tune the synth, so we played pretty disharmonic at the soundcheck. On moments like these, Cain isn’t too far away and sweat of stressing out breaks free. Nervous breakdown hides behind the wall…Generally a few drinks will do to temper bashing adrenaline.

11.WHICH IS MAN'S BIGGEST TEMPTATION?

• Werner : Metal, definitely
• Stijn: The forbidden fruits of lust and laziness.

• Stijn: There are many things I would change and the first at this moment was getting rid of Bush, Sharon, Arafat, Saddam and Bin Laden. The world would be whole lot better without these 5 assholes. Personally not much has to change. I have a wonderful wife, a house and a job I like! So why change anything about it.
• Werner : I would ban all sorts of religions : Have faith in yourself and the people surrounding you : That’s true belief!! I’d wish everyone did something creative instead of destroying everything.

13.IF THERE WAS NO ELECTRICITY, WHAT DO YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN TO HEAVY METAL MUSIC? DO YOU THINK THAT IT'D EXIST, WOULD IT HAVE A DIFFERENT FORM, WHAT?

• Werner : It obviously wouldn’t be the same, but metalmusicians would seek to create music with the same level of intensity. By the way you’ve just given me the idea of creating an acoustic deathmetalband.
• Jacques : Metal without electricity? Dark classical music.
• Luc :  There would be made very heavy music using only drums and percussion.
• Stijn: I guess metal would have evolved into the stuff Neurosis and Sepultura are doing with their tribal drumming.

14.THANK YOU! HAVE I FORGOTTEN TO ASK YOU ANYTHING AND YOU'D LIKE TO MENTION?

• Stijn: If you want to discuss our lyrics feel free to get in contact our e-mail is: [email protected]  or go to our website: http://signsofcain.revolutioneyes.com/
• And thanks for the interest you show for our band!