GRAVEWORM –

GRAVEWORM

Italia kan hvis de vil de ogs�…….
2005-01-27
Av Rune

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Et noe dristig albumcover, var det f�rste jeg tenkte da jeg satte meg ned med denne nye skiva fra italienske Graveworm. En verden oversv�mmet med vann er i disse tsunami tider ikke helt passende. Men nok om det. Jeg m�tte selvf�lgelig ta en prat med dette bandet som mange sammenligner med Dimmu Borgir og jeg avtalte intervju. Et h�p om at jeg ville f� vokalist Stefan Fiori p� tr�det hadde jeg, med Stefan hadde gjort rundt 200 intervjuer og hadde derfor tatt seg fri den dagen jeg ble oppringt. I stedet fikk jeg bandets nyeste medlem, gitarist og l�tskriver Lukas Flarer p� tr�den. Noe av det som kom ut av samtalen kan du lese nedenfor.

ET � Hello Lukas, congratulations with your new album, (N)Utopia. Can you tell me what the meaning of the album title is?
LUKAS � The album title has 2 meanings. First it has the meaning of the devastation and destruction of the world and on the cover the whole world is under water. The second meaning of the title is the new beginning of and the new music from Graveworm. The music on our new album is different than on our previous albums. We all think that the music has changed a lot.

ET � Don`t you think this cover picture is a little bit over the edge with the tsunami disaster in South East Asia?
LUKAS � The cover have been ready for like 2 months now. Sure the thing in Asia is very tragic, but we couldn`t dream of that this would happen.

ET � The album has great reviews all over, so you must be proud of it yourself?
LUKAS � Yes of course. We have seen a lot of reviews and also at our pre listening party, most of the people there said that the new material sounded great. We didn`t know if people would like it or not after the change. If you just listen to a few seconds of the album you will hear that it is much different from the older stuff. We are very happy that all reviews, till now, are really great and it seems that you all like it.

ET � This album has even more melodic parts than the previous album Engraved In Black had.
LUKAS � I don�t think there is so much melodic parts on (N)Utopia because the guitar parts are stronger, more riffs and they are also more in the front. The guitars are much more riff based and not so melodic as on the older albums. Also the keyboards isn`t there all the time as they were earlier, so in my opinion this album is less melodic than the other albums from Graveworm. There are just some typical Graveworm parts on it. But you`re allowed to have your own opinion, hehe.

ET � What is the biggest improvement as you see it?
LUKAS � I think that the biggest change is the guitar parts. They are much more in the front and I think that the songs are stronger now. Another thing is the vocal parts, which we tried to make more rhythmic than earlier. We tried to use the vocal as the vibe of an instrument. On many of the earlier songs the vocals was added upon the music, but on this album we tried to add the vocals on a much earlier stage of the recording.

ET � Graveworm got a nice amount of attention after Engraved in Black. Do you feel that the change of label is a major reason for this?
LUKAS � It sure is, it wasn`t bad when we were on Serenade Records. But Nuclear Blast is the biggest label in the metal scene. They have much more money and they have much more contacts world wide. You can go to every metal CD shop around the world and you can be sure that they either have our CD or easily can get it. That is great and we are also playing at big tours and big festivals.

ET � The synth seems to be very important in your music.
LUKAS � Yes, the keyboards are very important in Graveworm. When I joined the band for about a year ago, I took the old songwriter Steve`s spot in the band. I said to the rest of the band that in my opinion that we have to change some little things. I explained to them that we could change the style a little bit if we put the guitars more in the front and tune down the keyboards a bit. In the beginning when I showed them my ideas, none of the other members was too happy with this idea I had. But when they heard how it sounded, they liked it and we went to the studio and recorded all the songs.

ET � Do you agree with the fans that compare you with Dimmu Borgir?
LUKAS � In the beginning the band was compared to Dimmu Borgir, and that was ok I guess since we were also using keyboards as them. In my opinion the sound of Dimmu Borgir and Graveworm are totally different. I know that many magazines and stuff compare us with Dimmu Borgir, I don`t know. Do you really think we have so much in common with them? We don`t say that we are a black metal band as they are, and Dimmu Borgir is in my opinion a black metal band and we are a dark metal band.

ET � Where will Graveworm be musically on your next release?
LUKAS � I don`t know exactly where we will go musically. It`s for sure that we will continue to do some more experiments. Try to get forward but I can`t at this point say what we will do because we haven`t started to work or write on any new stuff yet.

ET � On my last interview I asked Stefan about the chances for a gig in Norway. How are the chances for us Vikings up here to see you live soon?
LUKAS � Maybe this spring or summer, we are doing a tour in April and May, but we don`t with which band we are going on tour with yet. Finntroll didn`t want us�..I really don`t know. For sure we are doing this tour this spring but I don`t know if we are doing a gig in Norway. But I know that we will probably play a Scandinavian festival, but I don`t know if it`s in Norway or where it is, hehe. It`s a big metal event, but I don`t remember the name of it.