Interview with Suffering Souls
Tell us about your latest release: the main concept; what fans should expect:
After the pre-production in September 2015, which was created in my studio, I decided to let the almost finished album rest. In November, it was time. I went to a longtime companion from Nuremberg in a very familiar studio, where I once again played all the instruments from scratch for months and reorganized the orchestral parts with him a little bit.In the autumn of 2016, I then started with the vocals, but something was missing, right: Vocals are sometimes “clean”. Like listening to “In Synergy Obscene” now, I also wanted to try the “normal” vocals, which I think I coped quite well with, in addition to bringing in Joe Jones, a guy from an Irish folk band. Writing, arranging and recording the whole album took from January 2010 to autumn 2017. Afterwards, the tracks were mixed and mastered by me for about nine months until mid-2018, in a local studio called the Musikomm in my hometown, Amberg.To be expected are 9 symphonically arranged Black Metal songs in the usual Suffering Souls style.The main difference to the predecessor albums is that this album is going to be much more structured, catchy and towards medium tempo – but still satanic and inhuman.
Did you have a specific sound in mind when you formed the band, or did that grow and evolve as you played together?
When I founded the band in October 1994, I was even more into the direction of Death Metal at the end of the 1980s at the beginning of the 1990s. Over the years that followed, we kept developing over and over and then, in 1995, decided to use keyboards and synthesizers to give our music a much darker and more mystical character. Now in 2019, Suffering Souls sounds as symphonic and gloomy as a black storm straight from hell.
How does your writing process normally work out?
Basically, the symphonic arrangements are always the basis of every Suffering Souls song. From the choir to the orchestra everything is planned down to the smallest detail and structured, just as if it were a real living orchestra of flesh and blood. I mainly work with plug-ins from Native Instruments and East West Quantum Leap, which are extremely expensive and consuming to deal with, but in the end, worthwhile. Time, effort and financial costs are secondary. I live it and it lasts as long as it lasts and it’s only done when I say it’s done.
What are your ambitions and how far do you want to push your band?
Of course, I expect a chart placement! … only for this album “In Synergy Obscene”, not for the next one. We want to distribute the album around the world, infecting it with it, bringing German black metal a bit further to the top. That’s the main goal of Suffering Souls. What are your influences/musical references and the impact those same influences had in your sound? Brahms, Rachmaninow and I, the calm, the loneliness and the bringer of light, it changes, promised… nothing!
What’s next for you?
Next we will start our promotion, so I will be attending some festivals throughout Europe to sign autographs and keep in contact with the fans. In addition, I am working with Patrick from Schwarzdorn Production on a teaser for “In Synergy Obscene”.