Metal Mayhem: Thanks for talking to us!
Frank Harthoorn: You’re very welcome, thanks for showing interest!
MM: After about 7 or so years, how did you guys manage get back together?
FH: Someone offered us a chance to re-release our back-catalogue, and maybe do a DVD with some old stuff in the process.
While we were talking things over, we thought we’d jump into the old rehearsalroom and knock out some old shit,
just for the hell of it. Things just took off from there.
MM: What was it like when you first played together again; did you feel like you still had it?
FH: Though I’m not really sure what ‘it’ really is, it did feel pretty natural, as I’m sure most bands who haven’t
rehearsed in such a long time will tell you. You might forget a riff or a few lyrics, but you pick up the old dynamics
of the band very quickly. It’s a bit like having sex with a former girlfriend, which, well, I’m sure we’ve all been there...
(cue ‘yes, we have while you were still going out with her’ gag)
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MM: Not long to go now until the release of “La Muerte”, how happy are you with it? FH: Very happy indeed. It turned out exactly how we wanted it to, all the choices we made appear to have been the right ones. Well, to us anyway. Picking Tue Madsen to mix the album was probably the best decision we made, and thankfully he was able to make some time for us. |
MM: How was the writing process for the album, did you find it hard, or did things just come naturally?
FH: Things went a lot quicker than some earlier albums we did, that’s for sure. Mind you, half of these songs were written
when we weren’t even trying to be a proper band. We went into rehearsals not really knowing what would come of it,
but new stuff was being written almost from the point when we turned on our amps for the first time. A couple of months
later, and all of a sudden we’re looking at half an album’s worth of material, so we thought we might as well start looking
for someone to release it.
MM: How did the deal with Nuclear Blast come about?
FH: Well, first we had to make sure SPV, who released our final album Chapter 13, weren’t interested,
or if we were legally bound to them in any way. They weren’t, we weren’t, so we were free to go where we wanted.
Nuclear Blast heard we were doing some things again, and promptly offered to take us under their wing. Which we accepted.
We’ve been with NB for half the 90’s, and they’ve always treated us well. They know Metal, they like it, and they know how
to handle it. That’s good enough for me.
MM: We’ve had it on non-stop here, what can people expect to hear on the new album? Is there anything they might be surprised at?
FH: Well, it’s certainly a lot heavier than anything we did since, well, the first one I think. Our later albums have been
a little different, and even though there’s still a lot of that stuff in La Muerte, it’s way more Metal than those albums.
Anyway, it’s always been about really heavy, downtuned guitars and insanely powerful drums, so nothing new there.
MM: I’ve noticed the first reviews of “La Muerte” floating around the Internet. Have you seen any of these yet? What has the reaction been like?
FH: Yeah, I’ve read most of them. Reactions, as always, are mixed. In fact I’m a little shocked you’re admitting to liking
it, as most UK reviewers have been thrashing us about like nobody’s business. It’s interesting though. When we stopped
being a band in ’98, none of us had internet-access, so all you read was in the magazines. Nowadays, everybody with a PC
and an Internet-connection seems to be a reviewer. You can do a gig one night, and find out if you were actually any good
a few hours later. I’m trying to stop reading all these reviews. It can be pretty depressing, seeing all these people write
stuff when they obviously haven’t got the slightest idea of what you’re actually trying to do.
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MM: What is happening regarding the bands you were in after the break-up of Gorefest? Are you still going to continue these? FH: No. That was one of the things we all agreed on, this has to be your #1 musical priority, at least during this first period. You don’t want to this and spend all this energy on a cool album and have it all go tits up because of your ‘other band’. |
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MM: 2005 is nearly over, but is there anything you’d like to achieve before the end of the year?
FH: No, not really, I think we did everything we wanted to, and said we’d do in 2005, which was do some shows again and
write, record and release a really fucking heavy, Towering Monolith of an album. We did that, and now it’s a case of
actually enjoying the album, and rehearsing it so it’ll sound even heavier live.
MM: Are there any notable gigs/festivals/tours on the horizon?
FH: Yeah, at the moment we’re focussing on some shows we’re doing in December here in Holland. Then, early next year,
we hope to be all over Europe for 6 weeks. We had some offers from the US, but we’re taking things real easy at
the moment. Right now we’re having a good time, and we’d like to keep it that way for a while.
MM: Will there be a full tour in support of “La Muerte” during 2006, or is it too early to say yet?
FH: I guess we’ve covered that, haven’t we?
MM: Thanks again and good luck for the future, any last words?
FH: Hope some of your readers check out La Muerte. If you like really heavy guitars, even heavier drums,
and your Metal with a capital M, chances are you might like it! Visit Gorefest at http://www.gorefest.nl
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