CEREBRUM – Spectral Extravaganze

Det greske death metal bandet Cerebrum slapp sitt debutalbum "Spectral Extravagance" i august i fjor. Å slippe et debutalbum er normalt ingen stor greie for tiden, siden alle og en hver spiller inn og slipper album i hytt og pine. Men Cerebrum har ingen fast trommis og fikk i stedet med Nile trommis George Kollias på albumet. Ingen dum reserve det og etter at bandet tok kontakt med oss, ble det til at Ole-Kristian sendte over noen spørsmål til bandets gitarist og grunnlegger Jim Touras.

To kick of the interview, could you state your name and your role in the band?

Hi, I'm Mike and I'm playing guitar.

How did you first get involved in the death metal genre and how did you end up in Cerebrum?

Cerebrum is the reason I got involved with death metal. I created the band along with Jim.

How did Cerebrum first get started and was it a difficult process to get from the start of the band to the release of your debut album "Spectral Extravagance"?

As I told you, Jim and I formed the band around 2001 and about a year later Apollon joined. The difficulty was to find a capable drummer for the band. And that's why it took us so long, but it was well worth it because our friend George (Kollias from Nile) did a great job!

Cerebrum is a quite new addition to the death metal scene, how did you manage to create music that didn't sound like anything that's already been made?

Thank you very much for this comment! Well, basically we just wrote and played the music we would like to listen to, heh! We didn't plan anything.

What inspired you to make the music you did on "Spectral Extravagance"?

Everything can be an inspiration: from the everyday life to all kinds of good music and art. So I can't tell you something in particular…life itself.

Your music is not only consistent of one genre, but it mixes different genres like death metal, progressive metal, plus several others. How did you agree on the arrangement of the songs and why did you decide to mix different genres?

It was not a decision we made before we create the album. We just did what we wanted to do. We mostly write music individually. I wrote 6 songs, Jim wrote 2 and the rest 2 we co-wrote together. So we bring the songs ready and if we agree that we like them, we give them to Apollon who then creates the vocal patterns and writes the lyrics.

The drums on the album were done by George Kollias from Nile. How did that collaboration start out and how satisfied are you with the result?

George is an old, good friend of us and he really likes our music. I play with him in a jazz-rock project too. We just asked him if he wanted to do it. And of course we are really satisfied with the result. He'll probably do the second album too.

George did the drums on the album while he is still a part of Nile, was/is there any talks of him being your touring drummer as well or will the collaboration end with the studio drumming?

Touring with us is not possible now because Nile's schedule is very tight as you know. But we found someone that George suggested us, that is capable of playing his drums. He's Jakub Chmura from Sceptic; he'll help us on tour.

As I said, George will probably do the 2nd album too so the collaboration is not over.

George Bokos from Rotting Christ mixed the album, how was it working with him?

George is also a good friend. Working with him was great. We knew exactly the sound we wanted, so I and Jim had a great time working with him. Everything worked out fine, couldn't have been better.

Are you happy with how the album ended up? I mean with everything from the sound to the artwork.

Yes we are very happy and proud of our work.

Are there any bands in particular that's inspired you to make music, both with Cerebrum but also to get into music to begin with?

Mostly old school stuff. Bands like Atheist, Watchtower, Morbid Angel, Coroner, Nocturnus, Gorguts, Pestilence, Mekong Delta…70s prog rock played a great role too along with jazz-rock. Also guitarists like Allan Holdsworth and Frank Gambale…

On your myspace page you (the band) state that the band is going on tour in 2010, has any deals been made in regards to this? I mean for instance support/headlining deals, or sponsorships/endorsements from different distributors of musical equipment.

The label is still trying to arrange the tour. It will probably be around April along with Gorod and Sadist and maybe Loudblast. Some summer festivals are also in our plans. As for musical equipment I and Jim are currently endorsed by Framus guitars.

When can Europe expect to see Cerebrum live? Will the US, Australia and the rest of the world also get the chance to see Cerebrum any time soon?

The European tour will probably be around April. We definitely want to play in the US, Australia and everywhere possible but that doesn't only depend on us as you know. We'll try to play everywhere we can. Can you hook us up somewhere up there in Scandinavia? Inferno festival or something else maybe?!

You've already worked with people from Nile and Rotting Christ on a professional level in relation to making the album; are there any plans for hitting the road with those bands?

No plans. We haven't arranged anything but of course it's possible. It's in our plans to discuss it with the guys anyway.

If you could go on tour with any 3 bands of your choosing, which 3 would you chose, why and in what order would the different bands play (the running order)?

Gentle Giant, Watchtower and Atheist, haha. And if not Gentle Giant as they're not a metal band I would say Nocturnus. Or Coroner…It would be better to have a fest with more bands haha. Well these are my favourite bands.

Before we end the interview, is there anything you would like to add?

I hope people who read this will enjoy the album and see you on tour!

http://www.myspace.com/cerebrum