'Slayer, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Venom, Bathory, early Possessed' have influenced this record"

SAMAEL are putting out their 9-th studio record - 'Above' (Nuclear Blast/Wizard) in early March.

We decided to talk with them about it, not prior to their concert in Sofia(31.01.09) but just a couple of weeks after, so they have a settled impressions of the Bulgarian metal scene.

So here we go - this is frontman Vorph on the telephone

IT HAS BEEN SOMETHING LIKE 2 WEEKS SINCE YOUR FIRST EVER SHOW IN BULGARIA, SO I BELIEVE THE SOUVENIR IS STILL ALIVE AND KICKING?

That was a great show. The first time coming to Bulgaria, to Sofia was a great experience to us. It’s always great to play at a new place. But you know, people were amazing to us. And we’re very thankful for that.

DOES THAT MEAN YOUR SECOND SHOW HERE IS GOING TO BE WORSE?

No. That’s the excitement. You cannot repeat that for a second time. But we are definitely looking forward to a second show.

THE IDEA IS TO TALK ABOUT THIS 'ABOVE' ALBUM. WHERE DOES THE EXCITEMENT FOR THIS ONE CAME FROM?

Well, you’ve probably heard about that. First we thought we’d do a side project called ‘above’, so we were doing this without knowing we are going to release it as a new Samael album. So it was a different work. We wanted to do an album that was a more stripped down metal album. We didn’t want to use the new influences that we had on our last three albums. We wanted something like what we would listen to when we were teens – 15, 16 years old.

YOU SAID IT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE BANDS THAT HAD INFLUENCE ON YOU WHEN YOU WERE TEENS. COULD YOU NAME SOME OF THEM PLEASE?

Well, you know, basic stuff – Slayer, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Venom, Bathory, early Possessed. We put the names of these bands in the booklet, saying “it is these bands that make us do this music”.

WAS IT A CHALLENGE? BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, MAKING A RECORD LIKE THAT IN THE END OF THIS CENTURY’S FIRST DECADE, IT’S NOT THE SAME AS IN THE MID 80’S.

Yeah, definitely. But it was also easier to make this album than some others we did, because we had more experience now. And it is something we know about, not some kind of an experiment. It was a lot more instinctive, more fluid than the last three albums we did, where we had a lot of experiments and a lot more of work mixing it together. It is music that we know, so we were more comfortable this time.

KNOWING YOUR RECORDING HISTORY, YOU’RE LIKE ALL SEARCHING MINDS, I’M SURE THAT WHILE MAKING THIS “ABOVE” RECORD YOU STILL HAVE A LOT OF EXPERIMENTAL STUFF IN YOUR HEADS. SO, IT IS IT LIKE VERY FAR AWAY FROM THE DAY THIS NEW STUFF IS GOING TO SEE LIGHT?

Well, I can’t say when the next album will come out in this moment. It is neither going to be the continuing of “Solar Soul”, neither the following of “Above”. Probably something in between. We still have some things we want to experiment with I think we’re going to have some more lightness, but also keep the spontaneity. Because I think we are going to have some different writing on the next album, definitely.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE TRACK ON THE RECORD?

That is always difficult. There’s a few that stand out a bit more for me. I’d say the first single “Illumination” is one of them. Maybe I’d mention “Black Hole” and “Virtual War” as well. Those three probably come as my favorites. But then again there are certain things that I find better in one song of the other, so it is a difficult thing to say.

BASICALLY THE ALBUM IS GOING TO BE RELEASED IN A MONTH, BUT YOU’RE DOING THE PROMOTION NOW. DOES THAT MEAN YOU’RE GOING TO RETURN TO THE TOURING SCHEDULE AGAIN IN THE COMING MONTHS?

Yes. In two or three weeks we are going to do a tour in America with Carcass. We’re going to present one song from 'Above'. Then comes the festival time. It is not decided yet if we are to do a proper tour for 'Above' or if we will start to work on the next album this autumn. So, we’ll see what the reaction is before we go to planning. But I think we’ll start writing new stuff as soon as possible.

YOU MENTIONED AUTUMN. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON OF THE FOUR?

Well, I don’t know. Autumn is kind of a nice thing. Still warm, but the colors are changing – we live in an area where there are still a lot of trees and mountains. Autumn might actually be my favorite one.

LAST QUESTION IS – WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE CLASSICAL COMPOSER OF ALL TIME?

That’s tough question. I like Russian composers in general. I don’t know… I’m more into Stravinski, Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff – the more experimental stuff.

rights Tangra Mega Rock

read interview Vorph 2007
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