SOILWORK (Dirk) – The Panic Broadcast part 2
- Posted on 31-05-2010
SOILWORK er ferdige med sitt nye album "The Panic Broadcast" og Eternal Terror hadde som 1 av 5 nettsider i hele verden gleden av å poste bandets studioblogg. Som en naturlig oppfølging av dette tok vi kontakt med vokalist Björn "Speed" Strid og trommeslager Dirk Verbeuren for å høre litt mer om sluttresultatet. Her er Dirks bidrag.
Before we begin, let me congratulate you with the new album. Does it feel good to finally be done and what is your personal opinion on the album?
Thanks Rune! It sure feels great to be done, although I was pretty lucky… I recorded drums for just six days, whereas Peter worked his ass off producing and recording the entire band for two months straight. All of the hard work paid off though! The Panic Broadcast is definitely my favourite record with Soilwork so far. The songs feel complete and inspired, the production is true to our natural sound, and as a whole it's a rollercoaster ride which is exactly what I want an album to be. Everyone did an amazing job writing and performing their parts! I can't wait to play these songs live, hopefully we'll get to try them all out on stage during our upcoming tours.
You brought your wives and family over to the States during the recording process. What did that mean to you all, having the family around you?
Peter and I were indeed lucky to be able to bring our families to the studio. It's a lot easier that way, even though we obviously spend most of our studio time working hard. But my wife's support keeps me motivated. She makes me feel at home whenever she's around, which is a big plus. As a touring band we spend quite a bit of time away from home, so we usually don't miss a chance to hang out with our families.
Everybody who plays in a band knows it is very difficult to combine a career as a musician and being a family father. What's it like for you, as you play in 3 bands?
Unlike Peter I'm not a dad yet, but even so, it can get a little tough to travel 6 to 8 months per year. In 2004 and 2005 I toured almost non-stop with both Scarve and Soilwork, and as much as it was fun, after a while it became a lot to deal with. My personal life was starting to suffer from it. So in 2006, I decided to play live exclusively with Soilwork. But then, offers for drum clinic tours started flowing in… I love playing live though, so in the end it's all about finding the right balance.
In Soilwork you and Sylvain (also in Scarve) play with a bunch of Swedes. What's it like?
It's… interesting! Haha! Over the years, I picked up some basic notions of Swedish so I can usually guess what the others are babbling about. But Sylvain joined much more recently… I feel for him, haha! Well, at least he and I can talk French together! Seriously though, despite the occasional language barrier we all get along perfectly. Everyone in Soilwork is very easy going, and with all the touring we do, we probably would have split up a long time ago if that wasn't the case. Also, I'd like to add that it's quite amazing for Sylvain and me to end up playing together in a high-profile band we both love. We're pretty damn lucky… Peter and Sylvain are definitely a dream duo on guitars if you ask me!
You play drums in several bands, let's just say it's metal, though it's mostly death metal. What do you feel this does to you as a drummer, playing in different bands?
I continually learn from it. Even in metal, every band functions differently both on a human and musical level. Drum-wise, Aborted or Scarve songs are pretty different from a majority of Soilwork tracks. Coming from the ultra-technical world of Scarve, learning Henry Ranta's beats definitely taught me a thing or two about groovy and tasteful playing… at least I hope it did, haha! Session work is always inspiring as well. For the Warrel Dane record I had to strip down my drumming to the bare essentials, so I focused all my attention on the groove. Sybreed was all about extreme precision and creativity, whereas Sublime Cadaveric Decomposition was a trip down the lane of classic crust and grind. Every recording I've done helped me become a better drummer, and I feel extremely lucky to be able to play with so many talented musicians.
"The Panic Broadcast has 10 tracks. Speed did a Track by Track on the first 5. Can you do the last 5 songs?
6. "King of the Threshold"
This one started off with Peter and Sylvain trading guitar riffs. One of Peter's riffs was supposed to be mid-tempo, but instead Sylvain combined it with one my fast drum beats from Toontrack's Metal Foundry. I was instantly blown away by the result! Sylvain finished the song from there and I think it turned out really killer. Bjorn's chorus is ultra-aggressive without sacrificing the melodic side, definitely a different step vocally speaking. "King" sounds like Soilwork but at the same time it stands out from any track we've ever done. You can also hear a bit of Scarve in there I think.
7. "Let This River Flow"
Peter wrote this track and he did a truly outstanding job! As much as I like all the crazy fast songs on this record, "River" may just be my favourite. The emotion in Bjorn's vocals blows me away and the structure is perfect. It's the only track that has no guitar solo but the groovy break more than makes up for that. On the demo version, that break sounded like Devin Townsend and Tool getting naughty together, haha! But Bjorn and Sven's parts added that extra Soilwork touch to it. It's a challenge to play this on drums, getting the dynamics right on stage is gonna be interesting to say the least…
8. "Epitome"
Another Sylvain song and you can easily recognize his style even though it sounds pretty different from what he would do in Scarve. It's a slow and groovy track- the working title was Groovy Rudolph- but it still packs a whole lot of punch and the end builds up to an insane double kick explosion. In my mind, "Epitome" is somewhat of an uncharted territory for Soilwork. It definitely adds to the variety of the album, and as usual Bjorn's amazing chorus comes out of nowhere to grab you by the balls!
9. "The Akuma Afterglow"
If there's one song on this album that reminds me of the Stabbing the Drama era, it would be "Akuma". Peter's trademark writing and playing style is very apparent here and even though it's possibly the most straightforward track on this album, it still kicks plenty of booty. Powerful, melodic, moody and groovy- that spells Soilwork, right?
10. "Enter Dog of Pavlov"
This was the first song Sylvain wrote for The Panic Broadcast, except for the doomy intro which was initiated by Peter. I remember that "Enter" took quite a bit of adjusting. Even when tracking the drums, we weren't really sure how it would turn out. It's one of the most adventurous songs on the album for sure, not your typical Soilwork track, but I think people will dig this one because it's super heavy, catchy and in your face!
As a closure, can you give us an update on what is happening with Scarve these days?
We've been exchanging some ideas over the internet, and there's some kick ass sounding stuff, but I think it will be a little while before anything concrete happens. My agenda is so chock-full I hardly have the time to breathe, and I know the other guys have pretty busy lives as well. When we do record a new Scarve album, we want it to destroy everything! So we're going to take our time and let the inspiration come naturally. It's been a while since The Undercurrent and people keep on asking us for a new record… I will answer this: patience my friends, Scarve will be back when the time is right!