Silent
Scythe
"Suffer In Silence" is
a remarkable debut work, an album that sets the stadards really high right
from the beginning for Silent Scythe. The competition is big, the bands
are countless, however, this group has something unique and special that
makes them easy to recognize. Tommi Djukin, the band's mainman is here
to answer to questions regarding the band and he managed to offer us a
really interesting and informative interview. Here's everything we spoke
about...
1.FIRST OF ALL CONGRATULATIONS FOR "SUFFER
IN SILENCE"! I THINK IT'S AN AMAZING ALBUM! YOU DID AN EXCELLENT JOB!
2.YOU ARE A VERY NEW BAND. HOWEVER, WHICH DO YOU
THINK ARE YOUR GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS THIS FAR? PLEASE PRESENT YOURSELVES
AND SILENT SCYTHE TO THE READERS...
A: Yes we are. We´ve been around for
maybe three years or so and this is our debut release. The name Silent
Scythe was taken from a book I wanted to write some time ago. The book
was supposed to be about my interpretation of Death and his scythe was
called Silent Scythe. The first demo we recorded (Death Is Coming) was
based around that story. We realised early on that that worked against
us so I started writing more personal lyrics. Which not only were easier
to write but more true the concept of what Silent Scythe is about, also
it´s a good way to vent the shit that´s going on inside. The
band is me, Tommi Djukin, on guitars, Peter Henningsson (guitars), Peter
Ogestad (bass), Johan Strende (drums) and Fredrik Eriksson (vocals). Fredrik
and Peter O. joined this year replacing Anders Frykebrant and Tobbe Jansson.
Tobbe was the one who did all the vocals on Suffer In Silence except the
growling parts which were done by me. Greatest achievement for me would
have to be recording this record, and playing the 2000 Decibel Festival.
Hehe, not much maybe but like you said, we´re a new band and we haven´t
experienced that much yet!
3.HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE "SUFFER IN SILENCE"?
WHICH WORDS WOULD YOU CHOOSE IN ORDER TO PRESENT IT TO THE METALHEADS?
WHAT NEW DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE TO OFFER TO THE SCENE? I'M REALLY CURIOUS
TO KNOW WHICH IS THE CREATORS POINT OF VIEW? PLEASE BE AS OBJECTIVE AS
POSSIBLE.
A: In one word: Personal. The lyrics on Suffer
In Silence are my life. I never wrote them so people could feel pity for
me. Like I said earlier, it´s a good way to vent the shit that´s
going on. People have come up to me and said that they can feel the lyrics
on another level. Maybe it´s because they´ve gone through similar
things, I don´t know. But if it helps, I´m more than pleased
because music helped me a lot. Musically it might appeal to those who like
both power/thrash/melodic deathmetal. Hopefully we can bring more soul
to it which I believe most overproduced bands don´t.
4.YOU ARE LABELLED AS A MODERN METAL BAND. I AGREE
WITH THIS DESCRIPTION UP TO THE POINT THAT YOUR MUSIC IS ORIGINAL AND THE
GENRES YOU BLEND IN TOGETHER SOMETIMES ARE CONTROVERSIAL AND EVEN COLLIDING,
WHICH MAKES YOU SOUND REALLY UNIQUE. SOME OF THE BANDS I COULD MENTION
AS OBVIOUS INFLUENCES OF YOURS ARE AT THE GATES, IN FLAMES, SOILWORK, NEVERMORE,
ICED EARTH, BLIND GUARDIAN AND JUDAS PRIEST OF COURSE. HOWEVER, WHAT ASTONISHED
ME IS THAT YOU MANAGED TO CREATE A REALLY PERSONAL SOUND THAT IS HARD NOT
TO BE RECOGNIZED. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ON THAT?
A: I would have to agree about the influences.
But that wasn´t my intention, or anyone elses for that matter. I
just happen to be influenced by a lot of different metalstyles and that´s
simply the way it comes out. The same goes for the others guys. The sound
of the record however is something that I´m not too pleased with.
It´s been a year since we recorded “Suffer In Silence”. Looking back
now I don´t like the absence of heaviness. Next time around we will
try to look more on oldschool recordings. Keep it as simple as possible
and not so overproduced with more soul to it. More like modern oldschool
sound if you will. But a year ago I loved the sound and I´ll probably
feel the same way about the next record after a year or so, hehe. I´m
glad that you and the fans like the sound though.
5.WHAT IMPRESSED ME A LOT IS THAT YOU ARE ALMOST
FULLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS RELEASE. TOMMI INVESTED MORE THAN 10000 EUROS
TO MAKE THIS REAL AND IT'S TRUE THAT YOU ACHIEVED A GREAT SOUND AND A REALLY
GREAT RESULT. PLUS WE DON'T SEE THAT OFTEN BANDS SPENDING ALL THIS MONEY
ON THEIR OWN AND BEING SO DEDICATED TO THEIR TARGET. ARE YOU FULLY SATISFIED
WITH IT? IS THERE ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO CHANGE?
A: We all invested, not just me. It didn´t
cost as much as 10000 euros, more like 7000. But yeah, we are VERY decidated
to what we do and that´s still a lot of money. We don´t regret
anything that we´ve done with that so far. However next time we will
preproduce as much as possible to save money and not experiment too much
in the studio.
6.SINCE THE PRODUCTION AND EVERYTHING WAS MADE
FROM YOU AND YOU SPENT ALL THE MONEY, HOW AND IN WHICH WAYS HAS NEW AEON
MEDIA HELPED YOU? WITH WHICH CRITERIA DID YOU CHOOSE TO SIGN WITH THEM?
DID YOU GET ANY OF YOUR MONEY SPENT ON THE PRODUCTION BACK?
A: They helped us with the release, promotion
and all their contacts to get the thing out. At the time they were the
only ones who were interested and we felt that we couldn´t wait because
time was ticking away. It´s hard being a new band, you have to learn
the hard way. I mean the record wasn´t released in time and some
internetshops even sold it by the original name, “Longing For Sorrow”.
Which means that if you searced for “Suffer In Silence” you couldn´t
find the damn thing! Silent Scythe is like a baby that you´ve raised
and suddenly you give it to someone else and they basically don´t
have the same love and passion for it. Of course things will fuck up and
no one wants to take responsibility. I´m very uncomfortable with
that and I´ve been proven to be right. We got the money back, but
not from the company. We released and sold the original print of Suffer
In Silence aka “Longing For Sorrow” before we got the deal.
7.WHERE ARE YOUR LYRICS REFERRING TO? WHICH ARE
THE TOPICS THAT ATTRACT YOUR INTEREST AND INTRIGUE YOU TO TALK ABOUT? WHO
IS THE BAND'S LYRICIST AND WHERE DOES HE DRAW INFLUENCES FROM?
A: That would be me. I´ve been through
a lot and I´ve always been open and outspoken. I like
topics that
involve psychology, philosophy and so on. I like to question personal topics
on a very deep level. The influences come from my personal opinions, and
my experience. I’m very glad that Fredrik has joined the band because he
can really feel the lyrics and is constantly searching for the same answers
as me. It´s great to have a singer who really understands the deeper
meaning of the lyrics. I can write about something and he´d go “Man,
that´s like a torn page from the book of my life”.
8.RECENTLY TWO MEMBERS LEFT THE BAND. ONE
OF THEM WAS THE ORIGINAL SINGER, TOBBE, FEATURING ON THIS CD. YOU WANTED,
LIKE YOU SAID, TO RECORD THE VOCALS WITH YOUR RECENT SINGER, FREDRIK, BUT
DUE TO SOME REASONS THIS WASN'T MEANT TO HAPPEN. CAN YOU MENTION THESE
REASONS AND TELL US IN WHICH WAYS IS FREDRIK DIFFERENT THAN TOBBE AND WHAT
NEW DOES HE BRING TOT HE BAND?
A: The reasons are simple: Time and money.
We had neither at that point and when we got the green light from the exmembers
we released it the way it was. Fredrik has brought a lot more depth to
the singing than Tobbe ever had because he simply understands exactly what
he´s singing. Their singing style is basically the same, Fredrik
screams a little better than Tobbe (there´s a sample at our homepage
www.silentscythe.tk). He also has a little deeper voice which suits the
band better. Live he brings so much more energy with his performance than
Tobbe ever did.
9.NOW LET'S TALK A BIT ABOUT THE ARTWORK... "SUFFER
IN SILENCE" WAS FIRST RELEASED UNDER THE TITLE "LONGING FOR SORROW" AND
WITH A DIFFERENT ARTWORK. SO, CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE PREVIOUS COVER? AS FOR
THIS ONE I THINK IT'S EXTREMELY ELOQUENT... DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO COMMENT
ON THIS? BY THE WAY IS IT TOMMI, THE ONE ON THE COVER WITH THE SEWED MOUTH?
A: Thank you! The first cover was a collage
of all the shit going on in this world. I wanted to put out the naked truth.
It went really well with the title “Longing For Sorrow” but not with the
lyrics though. When you look at it at first you´re disgusted but
still you´ll take a second look out of pure curiosity. But for some
reason only Black- and Deathmetal bands are allowed to feel like shit,
so we had to change the cover, hehe… We changed the name to “Suffer In
Silence” to match the new cover. That´s not me on the cover. It´s
a friend of mine, Maria Bodell.
10.DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR LIVE SHOWS OR A TOUR
PERHAPS? WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE ABLE TO OFFER TO YOUR FANS? WHAT SHOULD
THEY EXPECT TO SEE IN A SILENT SCYTHE LIVE PERFORMANCE?
A: I wish that I could say that we´re
planning a worldtour but we´re not. When you´re a new band,
coming from a small town in Sweden you have a fight just to get one gig.
The lastest thing I heard is that New Aeon Media is planning a promotour
but nothing is confirmed yet. We´re also looking for a good management
who truly believes in our music. We´d love to play in other countries
than Sweden. I think that the fans would love our shows because we really
give it all we got and have received great reviews because of that.
11. LET'S SUPPOSE THAT SUDDENLY ONE DAY ELECTRICITY
CEASED TO EXIST... WHAT DO YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN TO HEAVY METAL MUSIC?
COULD YOU REPRODUCE YOUR MUSIC IN AN ACOUSTIC WAY IF YOU'VE BEEN ASKED
TO? AFTER ALL, YOU ALREADY HAVE THE SONG "FEATHER" ON THE ALBUM...
A: Hehe, of course it couldn´t be reproduced!
Perhaps there´d be more unplugged shows but let´s just hope
that that doesn´t happen. Not that I don´t like unplugged stuff
it´s just that metal needs distorted guitars and that’s final.
12. IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD
IT BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
A: The word would be Fear. Fear is the only
thing holding people back from true personal insight. I personally embrace
fear as much as possible because I need to learn from it. The painting
would show a naked person scared of his own reflection, and being laughed
at by people pointing a finger at him as they try to cover their own reflections
with the other hand.
13. IS THERE AN ELEMENT IN YOUR MUSIC YOU THINK
YOU ARE OVERUSING AND YOU'D CONSIDER OF REDUCING IT ON YOUR NEXT ALBUM?
IS THERE AN ELEMENT THAT YOU'D LIKE TO ADD IN YOUR MUSIC?
A: Hehe, that will show on the next record.
14. IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO INVITE AN IMPORTANT
AND FAMOUS MUSICIAN TO PARTICIPATE IN YOUR ALBUM WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND
WHY?
A: There are so many to choose from. Marty
Friedman, Chuck Billy, John Petrucci, Rob Halford… The list could go on
and on.
15.TOMMI WAS ALSO A MEMBER OF BRIMSTONE. ARE THEY
STILL ACTIVE? DO YOU HAVE ANY NEWS FROM THIS CAMP? IT'S A PITY, BECAUSE
I REALLY ADORED BRIMSTONE'S MUSIC, BUT THE BIGGEST PART OF THE PRESS CAME
HARD ON THEM. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ON THAT? WHICH IS YOUR PERCEPTION
ON THINGS?
A: Brimstone don´t exist anymore. I
would have to agree with most of the press because some of the elements
in Brimstone taught me a great deal on what NOT to do.
16.BESIDES BRIMSTONE, ALL THE BAND MEMBERS WERE
PREVIOUSLY ACTIVE IN OTHER BANDS LIKE CARNAL LUST AND CRIMSON TIDE, FAMOUS
BANDS IN THE UNDERGROUND. WHAT MADE YOU LEAVE THOSE BANDS AND WHAT IS THIS
YOU FOUND IN SILENT SCYTHE'S MUSIC?
A: Speaking for myself I left both Carnal
Lust and Brimstone because I saw that they were an accident just waiting
to happen. People´s hearts were either not in it or they were too
egodriven to get anywhere. I wanted to start a band with people who truly
believe in the music they play and are not afraid of the commitment that
follows.
17.WHY DO YOU SAY THAT WE SHOULDN'T TAKE YOU SERIOUSLY
CAUSE YOU SURE AS HELL DON'T? WHAT IS THIS BAND FOR YOU? WHAT DOES IT STAND
FOR? BY THE WAY WHAT DO YOU MEAN WITH THE PHRASE "C YA UNDER THE TABLE"?
A: This band to me is my life. I live and
die with it. But at the same time we´re just people who love metal
and play metal. That´s it. There is also a deeper meaning to it which
would take a long time to explain this way. Buy me a Kilkenny sometime
and maybe I´ll tell you, hehe. The phrase “C´ya under the table”
was said by my best friends grandmother. The lady was 89 and she could
drink us under table at any time. When we´d raise our glasses she´d
always say “Cheers! See you under the table!”. It just stuck and that´s
something I´ve been saying ever since.
18.THANK YOU! IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE
TO MENTION? LEAVE YOUR MESSAGE TO THE READERS...
A: Thank you so much for this interview! Feel
free to visit our homepage at www.silentscythe.tk and check out “Suffer
In Silence” if you haven´t already!
CHEERS! C´YA UNDER THE TABLE!!!
Christine Parastatidou
|