Meanwhile in Germany, Crematory have just released their new album “Oblivion” and are preparing the promotion tour. That’s synonym of power after 27 years active. Let’s find out more...
M.I. - What are your expectations considering the release of the new album “Oblivion” and its promotion tour?
Hi there… One week until the release. We are excited of course. I think that „Oblivion“ is one of our best produced albums and features 13 tracks that are very powerful and straight forward. The first video has been released lately, and the second one will come soon. The tour starts at the end of April and we are rehearsing for the shows right now. We are trying to find the right balance in the setlist between new songs from „Oblivion“ and the old CREMATORY hits. Of course we hope the album and the tour will be successful. We have a lot of very loyal fans, so we are very positive about it.
M.I. - How was the recording process?
We started about 6 months ago with collecting ideas for „Oblivion“. I’ve been producing the albums for years now, so I start sorting out the demos and work on the first arrangements. We ended up with 20 songs that we worked with in the studio. We like it that way, because we use the time in the studio to work on details and sounds. Once you started with a song you get so many extra ideas, and you have to be careful not to ruin it. That’s why we choose „less is more“ as a motto for the work on „Oblivion“. You can tell a good song from a bad one really soon, and then you have to go with the flow. In my opinion we created a straight forward, and very powerful statement with „Oblivion“, that goes straight to your ears.
M.I. - How did the band name come to life?
Felix came up with the name. He is a good painter, and he came with different band names and logos, and we simply choose the one, we liked the best. That was in the 90ies, when we spent most of our free time in the rehearsal room. Felix still has the original drawings and he was the one who designed our first T-Shirts as well.
M.I. - What are your main influences?
We have a wide range of musical influences. Tosse and Rolf have their roots in traditional metal and power metal, while I listen to a lot of music from the 80ies, also outside metal. The last 3 shows I watched were „Cradle of Filth / Moonspell“, „Testament“ and „5 Finger Death Punch / In Flames“. Felix is the one who listens to a lot of underground bands. He has more than 5000 CDs and LPs at home. So you see, it’s a wide spectrum of influences. When we work on our songs, they always sound like CREMATORY.
M.I. - What do you think that is absorbed by the public through your lyrics? Where do you get inspiration from?
Felix writes all the lyrics. He writes a lot about good and bad that lives in everybody. I am sure that a lot of people find things that also happened in their lives when they listen to it. When Felix and Tosse work on the lyrics in the studio it can happen, that some things get changed, because someone has a new idea. You probably recognised that there are no German lyrics on „Oblivion“. As always, Felix had German and English versions ready, and both were recorded to see what’s best for the songs. When we were done finding the 13 tracks for the album, it turned out, that we choose all the songs that just sounded better in English.
M.I. - In your opinion, how is the (gothic) metal scene now compared to the mid-90’s?
When we started, we were the first band that used keyboard melodies as a trademark. The true metal scene didn’t allow themselves to do that back then. Today, with all the technical possibilities, almost every band uses that. I think CREMATORY influenced a lot of bands, and that is something we are really proud of. I think the metal scene in total got more open minded. It’s great if you play a festival and also have the chance to see all different kinds of metal bands performing their music. You can play your music to people, that are not your fans, and find new ones there.
M.I. - Do you think that your music evolved more since the “new” members have entered the band?
We sound different, that’s a fact. First of all, working with 2 guitarists gives us a wider range of sounds and variety. Tosse and Rolf worked out great riffs for „Oblivion“. Right now we are rehearsing for the tour and put the setlist together. Tosse’s vocal melodies are more coming from his power metal roots, compared to Matze before him. But I don’t want to say, that CREMATORY today is „better“ than before. That would put a bad spot on Harald and Matze, and we don’t want that. There is no bad blood and we are still in touch. Both decided to focus on their private lives. But of course, change can be good, and allows you to try new things, cause you get new ideas as well.
M.I. - How do you feel while on stage?
Just great! The 3 new guys bring in a lot of energy and especially Jason is a madman, when it comes to his stage performance. For the new members most of the places are brand new, and that makes it more intense, ‘cause the older band members suck up their energy as well.
M.I. - Will the ‘Oblivion over Germany tour 2018’ be your last? When we will see you in Portugal?
You ask, because you read the post on Facebook? I really had to get that off my chest. People have to wake up and realise that the streaming and download will kill the music business sooner or later. I can tell you already that we sold more tickets and also the presales for the albums are increasing. We didn’t mean to threaten our fans, or force them to buy the album. But the truth had to be spoken. About Portugal I can’t really tell. Of course we would love to play there. Maybe our friends in „Moonspell“ can invite us. We’ve just met on their tour in Germany.
M.I. - Thank you for the interview. Please leave a message to your Portuguese supporters.
Thanks for your support. We hope you like „Oblivion“ as much as we do. Feel free to contact us on our website or on Facebook!
For Portuguese version, click here
Questions by Dora Coelho
