"We don't want to talk just to the Swiss people, but to the world."

Swiss extreme industrial metal avantgardists Samael shall release their probably most brilliant, diverse and high-class offering to date on June 1, 2007 via Nuclear Blast. Entitled "Solar Soul", this CD is "pretty much a collection of everything Samael's been about through all these years", according to the quartet's vocalist and guitar player Vorph...

Vassil Varbanov: Vorph, hello! How are you?

Vorph: I'm fine, how are you?

V. V.: Good! You know, we're very impressed by your new album. Are you impressed by "Solar Soul" yourself?

Vorph: We're happy with it, definitely! It took us a long time to work that one out - almost the whole year of 2006. We started working on the album right after our tour in January 2006, and throughout the year we only did this - writing and recording the songs, producing them, mixing the stuff in January this year...

V. V.: It's not so obvious that you have the chance to be internationally big, having in mind that you're hailing from Switzerland. Of course, we know about Celtic Frost and Gotthard, but to what extent has your origin doomed the way of your personal history?

Vorph: I understand what you mean, but I think this is not that bad actually, he-he... Switzerland is a small country, so if you really wanna do something with music, you have to export yourself. That's why we have to think internationally, not nationally - that's always been one of the main goals for Samael. We don't want to talk just to the Swiss people, but to the world. That's a plus, I'd say.

V. V.: The other thing is that you share the responsibility for Samael with your brother, Xy (keyboards, programming, percussion). What are the advantages and disadvantages of having him in the same band?

Vorph: I don't really see a disadvantage, because we're pretty much on the same pace. Besides, we've been with Mas, our bass player, since almost day one, so it's good that he can interfere with us a little. I mean, it's a group thing - we're four members, and we all talk together about the direction of the band and everything. Of course, however, Xy's doing the music and I do the lyrics.

V. V.: Let's talk about your new album now. "Solar Soul" sounds very hypnotic in a way and... What is the strongest thing about this Samael release, according to you?

Vorph: Wow, it would be difficult for me to pick up one thing, because I really got the feeling that this album is pretty much a collection of everything Samael's been about through all these years. We tried to put together everything that we thought was the best we did. I think in a way this CD represents Samael in the best possible way.

V. V.: You started almost 20 years ago. What's the main difference for you - I mean in terms of approach, as well as personally?

Vorph: Probably today we're more experienced. We've been going around with certain things that we wanted to have with this band. We're a lot maturer now, I think. Everything's more to the point nowadays. Also, we probably have more content now than we used to in the beginning.

V. V.: So what's next for you after the release of "Solar Soul"?

Vorph: We're gonna play some festivals this summer, and then, probably around October, we'll start touring. Nothing's really fixed at the moment, but we are looking for the best option for us.

V. V.: By the way, you come from the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Are your local people a bitВ angry at youВ that you're not expressing yourself in French?

Vorph: He-he, I don't think so. All the bands we've beenВ listening to with my friends came from either England and America or Scandinavia, so we've never been into some French rock scene. There is no influence coming from France for us music wise.

V. V.: Anyway, if you have to write a song in French, what should the tile be?

Vorph: Ha-ha... Actually, we never did that, but we had a title in French on the album "Eternal" (1999), which was the song "Ailleurs", meaning "somewhere else", so probably I'd keep that one.

Copyright: Tangra Mega Rock