CONFESSOR – Join the Confessor cult

Franske CONFESSOR har vi så vidt vært borti tidligere her i Eternal Terror og etter at bandet spilte på Rockefeller sammen med et knippe andre norske Season of Mist band, måtte vi ta en prat med CONFESSOR og nedenfor kan du lese hva som kom ut av dialogen mellom CONFESSOR og Jan Roger.

 
ET – First off I’d like to welcome you back to the metal world and I’d like to say congratulations with a new and fresh amazing album! What are your own thoughts on the album?
CONFESSOR – Thanks Jan, let me also start by saying thank you for giving me the opportunity to do this interview. My thoughts on the album, well I have to say we are all very excited about the new album ”Unraveled”. I feel that this album really shows all different sides of CONFESSOR. There is a good mixture of the old type of ”Messed up” rhythm parts as well as really groove-based riffs mixed with melodic vocals and emotional leads. The CONFESSOR of 2005 is certainly more palatable that the CONFESSOR of old and we hope to fulfil our old fans and turn on many new fans and get them to join the CONFESSOR cult!!!

ET – Can you tell me a bit about the reason for your 10-year ”break” and the process/reason of your return?
CONFESSOR – After Condemned came out and we got off of two European tours, one of them being the infamous, Gods of Grind tour, we became very distant with Earache and were not seeing eye to eye. After the decision to ”be done” with each other we did not really want to get back into another deal and we all sort of started doing other things. We eventually pursued those interests and eventually split up. Then a few years back our old guitarist Ivan, passed away due to cardiac complications. His wife was left to incur the medical costs and we decided to get together to play a benefit show for her. It was on stage that night we felt there was still something there and the spark had been lit. We decided not to let that go and ultimately decided to reform CONFESSOR.

ET – I sense a certain more laidback and groovy atmosphere on ”Unraveled” than on ”Condemned” which seemed more intense and very dramatic at times, or am I way off on that you think?
CONFESSOR – No I think that is fair to say. Looking back at Condemned, I think it was pretty one-dimensional. The new CONFESSOR material is a bit more ”laid back” or as we like to call it; a bit more mature. There are nice song structures and the songs were written with the vocals in mind this time, not like in the past. I think you can really hear the different things happening with lots of vocal harmonies and different types of vocal layering.

ET – Has the very sad loss of previous guitar player Ivan Colon influenced the music on this album in any way? Has the introduction of a new axe man had much influence on the band or the music style in your opinion?
CONFESSOR – Yes, I think some of the music was influenced by the death of Ivan. I can tell you for certain that some of the lyrics were. The first song on the album, Cross the Bar is totally about Ivan. The ”new” guitarist, Shawn McCoy and the old guitarist Brian Shoaf write most of the songs. Well, they get the riffs going but Cary and Steve both have a huge roll in the music too. The guitarists throw the riffs out there and Steve and Cary ”mess” them up with off beat patterns. Everyone in the band has a hand in the writing process.

ET – How has the overall feedback been so far from the press and the fans? And how about live shows?
CONFESSOR – So far the response has been great to the new album, ”Unraveled”. It is still early but so far the reviews have been positive!! (knock on wood) HAAA!!! Live it has been great!! We have done shows in our local area as well as a show in Oslo, Norway for the filming of the live CONFESSOR DVD to be released next year. I can’t wait to play more!!!

ET – What do you see as the major differences between the old and the new Confessor? Do you still listen much to your older material?
CONFESSOR – Well as I stated before, I just think the new stuff is much more mature and will actually reach a larger audience that the polarizing CONFESSOR of the 90’s.

ET – Can you tell me a little about what you guys have been doing these 10 years? Any other musical projects we don’t know about perhaps? How about Fly Machine, some people are wondering if that band will rise from the ashes or if the album will be re-released in the future?
CONFESSOR – After I left CONFESSOR I started a band called Drench and yes Steve, Cary and Brian went on to form Fly Machine with Brian leaving a year or so after. I do not think there is any desire for Cary and Steve to do anything with Fly Machine. That is really not something they are interested in. However they do have a side project with Penn Rollings called Loincloth, which they still enjoy playing in from time to time.

ET – I see there has been some touring lately; do you think the metal scene has changed much since the last time you were active touring? Have you been keeping eyes and ears on the scene in general over the years or is this also a comeback on that side as well?
CONFESSOR – Well we haven’t really toured yet, not extensively. But yes, for me it is all kind of new again. I really don�t listen too much metal so it is actually quite hard for me to ”get” the new metal stuff. I know tons of people are into it but it’s just not what I necessarily enjoy. But that’s coming from someone who listens to traditional Middle Eastern and Indian music one second and them Radiohead and Bjork the next. So go figure!!

ET – How is Season of Mist as a label to you? Can you compare them to Earache in the good old days? Positive and negative sides?
CONFESSOR – Season of Mist has been great to us. It’s nice to be on a label and feel appreciated!! We have only good things to say about them. As far as Earache, it’s the total opposite. THE only good thing from all of that was The Gods of Grind tour. We have no relations with them anymore and have not had an easy time recently getting statements and such from the past. Before I really go off, I will stop here!!

ET – What are the main goals of Confessor anno 2005? Do you all share the same dreams and visions today? Can you share your plans for the near future?
CONFESSOR – I think the first goal is to get the album out there and get it heard. We have to sort of take it as if we are a new band, ya know? I mean we have the old fans who know of us, but there are countless new fans out there that we need to reach out to. Since we were gone for so long we all have pretty good jobs and they are not so easy to drop and go out and tour. So we are going to do some limited touring next year and see what we can come up with. We will be releasing a music video and hope that airplay of that will get the name and sounds out there to a wide audience.

ET – Hopefully we don’t have to wait another 10 years for the 3rd album?
CONFESSOR – Well, all I can tell you is we are already writing for the next one. I have a feeling it might be a bit more ”messed up”, beat wise than the new album but we will see. I know what I have heard so far is incredible!!!

ET – Here I would like you to list your top 5 metal and top 5 non-metal album:
CONFESSOR –
Metal:
Alice in Chain’s, Facelift
Trouble, Trouble ’84
Morbid Angel, Alters of Madness
Fates Warning, No Exit
King Diamond, Abigail

Non-Metal:

Radiohead, OK Computer
Bjork, Homogenic
Fairuz, Andaloussiyat
Portishead, Portishead
Beth Gibbons, Out of Season

ET – I would like to thank you for your genuine musical art and for your time to answer these questions for us! Good luck with Confessor in the future! And last but not least, the final spot is for you to say what you want to the readers of Eternal Terror:
CONFESSOR – CONFESSOR would just like to thanks all of the supporter from way back and invite all the new supporters to come and join the CONFESSOR cult. Check us out at www.confessorband.com to see what we are all about!!!