One of the most important extreme metal festivals in the country, Setembro Negro , returns with a special edition between September 2nd and 4th at Carioca Club, in São Paulo.
The event, now in its 14th edition, will bring more than 30 extreme metal bands to the capital of São Paulo, and Wikimetal had the opportunity to interview the Dutch group Soulburn.
Soulburn's blend of death/black/doom metal, and their lyrics about death, demons, and battles, translate into something quite heavy and dark. The band's lineup features Twan van Geel (vocals and bass, and also a member of Legion Of The Damned ), Eric Daniels (guitar, ex- Asphyx ), Remco Kreft (guitar), and Marc Verhaar (drums).
Check out the full interview with guitarist Eric Daniels!
Soulburn will perform on Sunday the 4th, with a set scheduled from 3:35 PM to 4:15 PM. Tickets for Setembro Negro 2022 are already on sale at the Clube do Ingresso website . Prices range from R$250 to R$1,400 – the latter being a three-day pass for the VIP area.
Wikimetal: Hello, how are you? First of all, thank you for taking the time for this interview! Secondly, for those who are just getting to know the band, could you tell us a little about the band, your sound, and how you got here?
Eric Daniels: Hello, we're doing well, thank you, I hope it's the same for you, and thank you for the opportunity to do this interview. Soulburn was formed in 1996 before we went back to Asphyx [former band] again.
Soulburn was created to do something musically different from what we were doing with Asphyx at that time. I formed Soulburn and had the idea of making it darker with death metal elements, with that vibe of songs like Bathory that we both love and still love. It's like a red thread running through our music. We're not stuck in one type of style; we just like to play the music we enjoy, with our own kind of feeling and vibe in the music.
It's like a curse/death/black mark. In 1996 we released our first album, Feeding on Angels . After many years we returned and now with our latest album, Noa's D'ark.
WM: Your last album, NOA'S D'ARK , was released during the pandemic. Looking back, what was that experience like for the band? Did you feel you lost momentum? And what did you learn from the experience?
ED: The album was recorded in three different studios in the Netherlands. The guitars and drums were recorded at Tom Meier studio, the bass recordings at Purple studio, and the vocals were recorded at Double Noise studio. JB van der Wal (bassist for the band Dool ) did the mixing and mastering. The first mix he sent us, he nailed it! I think in the end we tried 4 or 5 different mixes, but we kept coming back to his first approach, which he did entirely on his own, the way he thought would bring the right atmosphere to the whole album. And wow, he was right! He did an incredible job and really elevated the whole thing to an existential height. He communes with the spiritual depth and cosmic freedom of the lyrical content and thus contributes to an ultimate auditory journey experience of NOA'S D'ARK .
It was truly a special process to begin recording. We never rehearsed for this album all together because the rehearsal rooms were closed due to the pandemic, so basically we prepared the entire album in our homes. Also, the fact that it was a little scary and we weren't sure if we could get into the studios at that time. Luckily, we were able to record the album, with a maximum of 3 people present as a rule. So we started recording the album, planning, and it went very, very well. Strange, of course, because that's not the usual way to record an album, but for us it was great. In the end, perhaps it was a better approach to work this way, in a relaxed and very focused manner. It didn't affect the whole album to record and mix. For us, it's another special item; many years later, we always have this situation marked on the album, when we turn on the CD player, the turntable, or any other digital device, we go back to this process with memories of how to make an album, not in the usual way.
WM: When you look back on your career, how do you see death/black metal and the extreme music scene now?
ED: Of course, a lot has changed. Everything has a more professional approach than in the late '80s and early '90s, when death metal was on the rise, with many bands releasing their first album, like what we did with the first Asphyx album, *The Rack* , which I played on. Almost every month, a new release of pure death metal was coming out. Death metal was new, although we sat in the underground scene for quite a while, pen and paper, writing with everyone in the world. There are many good bands emerging, with the right death vibe, like Dutch bands: Graceless , Bodyfarm , etc. The spirit is still high, the Dutch roots. Also, social media plays a big role in all of this, unlike back then. So for me, a lot has changed. The up-and-coming bands are much more professional, cool pages, etc., extreme music is still here, and that makes me happy, and I think it will never go away. I also know that in South America there is a lot of love and meaning for extreme music. I really like that!
WM: How do you see the role of music, and especially death/black metal, in current political issues? How can we use music to shed light on some of these topics?
ED: Well, to be honest, I don't like music tied to politics. I mean, for me, they're two different worlds. Politics is constantly changing, while good conceptual themes for writing an album are enduring. We don't need political elements to be shown through our music. We like the darker sides of life to be reflected in our music, like I said, dark doom/death/black. Politics won't combine with our music. I also believe that political lyrics in music show that you can't change something, which I believe you can't change. But every band, of course, is free to choose what to reflect and say to people.
WM: What are your musical and lyrical influences these days?
ED: We draw our influences from a lot of music, different music as well; we're not stuck in one type of musical style. For us, it's about having the right vibe in our music. But to mention a few bands: Bathory , Venom , Celtic Frost , but also old psychedelic rock bands from which we draw our influences. Lyrically, it's a concept album with all sorts of themes.
As everyone can see, at first it's a play on words about the biblical story of Noah's Ark. The ark was supposed to be filled with all the different species on this planet to escape the flood that would eradicate all life on Earth. With this Ark, the diversity of species would be saved to start a new one and finally repopulate. With Noah's Ark, the future doesn't look so bright, I fear. Twan [vocals, bass], his lyrics are about death, but perhaps even more so, life heading towards it. He likes to draw a thin line between imagination and reality, play with words and deceive the reader. Confuse the mind and all the things that are so full of dirt that they connect to our ways of thinking in the monotony of everyday life. Inspired by great writers and free-thinkers who break taboos, such as Nietzsche, Bataille, De Sade and Crowley, he pours the ink that flows like blood from his soul directly into the lyrics.
As everyone can see, at first it's a play on words about the biblical story of Noah's Ark. The ark was supposed to be filled with all the different species on this planet to escape the flood that would eradicate all life on Earth. With this Ark, the diversity of species would be saved to start a new one and finally repopulate. With Noah's D'ark, the future doesn't look so bright, I fear. Although the flood is coming, and metaphorically 'Arks' are being built to save us from annihilation, we throw everything to the wind against it, to accelerate our storm of self-destruction. The most beautiful animal species have become extinct and the ugliness of humanity prevails; we are so profoundly lost. And we are not to be saved because of our short-sighted, arrogant, and ignorant way of thinking. Simply stupidity and selfish greed and the denial of our true nature pave the way for desolate lives, depression, and despair. Did you know that Noah is also a very popular name for newborn babies these days? Somehow people feel that a new messiah has to come, maybe invent a trick to get us out of this mess! [laughs] With the song “Noah’s Dark” I bring a vampiric touch to that. If I bit you, you would be like me and, eventually, the more bitten, the more alike we become, until there is no more diversity, no identity, except the empty void, a dark vessel with an eternal thirst that is never quenched. In the end, the Ark must be filled only with this hollow species, we will all become bored
Regarding other future releases, at this stage, we cannot say what the subjects and album titles will be. Twan first leaves the music composed to gather ideas for lyrics, song titles, and album titles. Everything is connected for us through music and spoken words.
WM: You're coming to Brazil in September. What can people expect from your show at the festival?
ED: Yes, and we are very happy to visit your country and a great honor for us to play at the Setembro Negro festival. People can expect dark, doom, death, blackened music, pounding and pure metal that we like in our own way.
Our shows are full of energy and we like to tell our story in pure old-school death metal style.
WM: Also, it's your first time here. What are you expecting from the show?
ED: Yes, it's our first time abroad, so we're very excited about what to expect. We really don't know; we'll be surprised. For us, what matters is making people happy with our music and showing respect to our fans there. I'm sure it will be an experience we'll never forget.
WM: Thank you for the interview! Do you have any final words or anything to add for our readers?
ED: Thank you very much for this interview as well. For the dear readers of Wikimetal , check out our latest Soulburn album, Noa's D'ark , and feel our dark musical vibe.
Stay healthy, stay safe, take care of each other, and we'll see you on September 4th at the Black September Festival in São Paulo.
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