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With Grave Human Genuine the German band Dark Suns released their 3rd album. That's a good reason to talk - via email - with Torsten about the new album!
Grave Human Genuine is your 3rd album. What's the difference between Grave Human Genuine and Existence for you?
It's quite interesting, coz now as we finished Grave Human Genuine we see that it's the quintessence of what we did so far with Dark Suns. The album has a very dark aura, but it still has all the trademarks of the Dark Suns sounds - and it's modern. Some parts of Existence was a bit playful, Grave Human Genuine is right to the point. And we think the album has a flow, so we can't imagine a more homogeneous track list.
Did it take long to find the title? Or did it just spark up? Your last album Existence was released in 2005, why did it take so long?
The title came with the music, so it wasn't a spontaneous thing. As soon as we know which way we wanted to go - musically and lyrically - we had this title, coz these 3 words sum up what the new album is about.
For us it was quite a surprise that there were another 3 years passing by. We didn't just take it easy, we started writing songs soon after the release, collected ideas and during that time we created a lot new stuff. I think most of the time went by when we collected ideas - and it was great, coz we could sort ideas and saw which way we head. At a point we even thought about doing a double CD. In the end it was the right decision to focus on our strong points, but it took time. But I assure you we don't do this to keep you hanging! ;)
Did touring with Pain Of Salvation influence you?
We all will always remember this tour! When we were back home, it was like falling down the black hole. The time on the road with them was magic! POS and their crew gave us a warm welcome, that made it easy for us. Every show was special in its way and we met so many great people! Not just talking about band and crew, also the fans we met. Such a tour leaves a mark! But it influences you more as a human. Musically it didn't really leave a mark.
Which song represents Dark Suns 2008 best? What do you think?
Hmm... I think everyone of us would name a different one. I would say it's Flies In Amber, coz it is heavy, dark, melancholy, human, true... Everything which stands for the sound of Dark Suns!
And which song is lyrically most important? Why?
I think every song has something to say. And so it's again very individual. There are different topics like social criticism, human letdown, loss, but also some dream world. So there is something for everybody.
Who did the cover artwork? Who's idea was it?
Niko came up with the idea for the cover... for the whole layout. The artwork don't give away too much about the music. Niko tried to show the way to self-knowledge by connecting the head with a trap. the trap is connected to the brain and shows the obsessive connection to our fears and the pain we have to go through on our way to self-awareness.
Any stories to tell from the tour with Pain Of Salvation?
Oh, there been so many great moments! We have about 10 hrs. on video which we want to edit, but we haven't had time to yet. One of the highlights was the Paris show where Daniel sang One Endless Childish Day (Existence) with us in front of about 1,000 people. A magic moment! At the last show the crew played some jokes on us. They exchanged our guitars just a moment before the kick off of the show, that was touch, coz Maik is left handed! They glued the drum sticks to the snare, etc. Meanwhile I heard that this is a kind of tradition and that many bands / crews do this at the end of the tour... We laughed a lot, been surprised again and again - and experienced things which made us reflect. But we also had some typical after-show parties! ;)
This time you worked with a session bassist - none other then Kristoffer Gildenlöw. Did you meanwhile found a permanent replacement? Or will you live work with a session bassist?
At the moment we work with a session bassist who assisted us at the release show. Jacob Müller is at the university of Leipzig. But there is one more guy to check out... At the moment we haven't made a decision, but there will be a permanent replacement.
It's no secret that you are fans of Pain Of Salvation - and you been on tour with them. But who else inspired you? Who would you like to tour with?
You get inspired by all music. Its good to listen to a large variety of music. In my opinion it's very important to broaden your mind and to develop. Well, a tour with Opeth or Tool would be really cool!
You played ProgPower VIII. How was it to play there? Any interest of the other ProgPower festivals?
It was just great to be part of ProgPower! Especially as it was the first show we played with Kristoffer as session bassist. So far there haven't been any offers by other ProgPower festival, but we will do our best to play there!
At YouTube you can discover a video called The Chameleon Conflict. Who's idea was this video? Can we expect other unique and funny videos from Dark Suns?
It's not like we had this in mind, initially we only wanted to document the recording sessions. Everything from scratch... setting up the equipment, playing, everything. And we wanted to put Chameleon Defect as 'background' music. When we realized that there were several passages which really fit the song when played faster, we came up with the idea for the final result. It was just funny and crazy at a time.
In the end it really is a funny, trashy video, but it has a story. Btw, that's why it's ...Conflict.
What is on Dark Suns schedule in 2008?
I hope a lot! We want to play live a lot and that's what we focus at. Many one-off shows, but a tour would be killer! We do our best! :)
//Torsten
Looks like we will hear and see more from Dark Suns in 2008... At least guitarist Torsten seems to be convinced that even without a tour they will be playing live a lot. Hopefully it will work out, but I keep my fingers crossed for them that they get a good tour offer - and make more friends!
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