Night In Gales pour l'album ''Five Scars''

1. Hi and thank you for according me some of your time for this interview. After so many years, 2011 is finally THE return of Night In Gales. Your new album "Five Scars" has just been released at November 4th and I suppose you must be impatient to hear about people reactions and play it on stage. How are you at the moment?

We're fine, thanx! Our drummer has just married his longtime girlfriend in the same week "Five Scars" was released. And we have been impatient about what people think of our new album indeed, but now there's no more need to be impatient, cause each day two or three new reviews are rolling in, so it's really exciting. The majority of the reviews is really good, though some people don't get the point and think we're newbies, playing "trendy" melodic death metal haha! Some people should just do their homework before writing reviews, you know?


2. Before talking more about this fifth album, I would like to talk about these last 10 years. At first, what happens to the band between the releases of "Necrodynamic" and "Ten Years of Tragedy"? Did you encounter any problem with Massacre Records in particular?

Sure, without any problems there wouldn't have been a break I guess. It was a mixture of different issues - some smaller, some bigger. After being pioneers in melodic death metal ourselves – at least here in Germany, we felt the need to take a step away from that with "Nailwork" and even took it further on "Necrodynamic". I still like those albums a lot, but especially "Necrodynamic" somehow didn't reflect what Night In Gales were meant to be. Quite a few people thought so, too, and the sales were decreasing. We also had some minor personal issues as well, and after a disastrous tour we hit rock bottom. I don't want to accuse only Massacre Records here, as it always takes two to tango. But they surely had their share in the whole process. Finally our drummer Chris left the band, and no later than that we needed a break. A bit later we found a new drummer in Adriano Ricci and played a few shows here and there, while our first collaborative release was the "Ten Years Of Tragedy" EP. That's what happened between those two releases...


3. In 2005, you released the "Ten Years of Tragedy" EP, containing 4 tracks of pure thrash/death metal, closer to "Nailwork" than "Necrodynamic". At this time I thought you would come back but then came a long silence of almost 6 years. I suppose it should have been the sign of your return. What went wrong after this EP?

Nothing went wrong, but it obviously just wasn't the right time for us yet. We didn't feel motivated enough to return with full force, and round the release of this EP we were more active in our other bands such as Deadsoil, The Very End, Grind Inc or In Blackest Velvet.


4. Did you think about to split up or have you always knew you would come back?

Exactly! We never split up because we knew it was just a break. Some bands would have split up, reunited and split up again a dozen times within such a time, but we didn't see any reason for this. It was just a hiatus for an indefinite period.


5. Finally, how spent the process of creation of "Five Scars"? When did you compose these 13 songs? And did you have many more songs to record actually?

No, we're not that kind of band that writes songs for the trashcan. I always think it's stupid when bands say something like "We wrote 50 new songs, but only the best 12 made it on the record". I mean, once in a while Jens also came up with more material before the actual "Five Scars" songs, but we never approved those songs due to their lack of quality, they just didn't feel right. So after all they're not even worth to be mentioned. When Jens had another creative turn in summer 2009, the first song was "This Neon Grave", and we instantly knew the time had come. So he continued writing, and every song he consciously wrote for the new album also made it on the album. All killers, no fillers haha!


6. All your albums are totally different, from melodic death metal to heavy/thrash metal or even thrash/death metal… So the melodic death metal of this fifth album is like a "back to the roots". Is it the style that best suits Night In Gales finally? Why don’t you decide to continue with the "Necrodynamic" style?

I don't think our albums are all totally different. Of course they're diverse, because copying yourself doesn't make sense. But they're all linked to each other if you listen closely. On the other hand there was no need or desire to continue with the style we played on "Necrodynamic". Apart from that I don't consider "Five Scars" as "back to the roots". It may be closer to our old releases, yet it's kinda best of, also including some fresh elements. "Five Scars" features elements from all previous albums. But you're right that we wanted to write a classic melodic death metal album. Nothing more, but for sure nothing less!


7. On "Five Scars", we can also see your very first logo, only used till your first album "Towards The Twilight", redesigned with a more aggressive touch. What did you mean by returning to this first sign?

The old logo was indeed revamped. But this happened rather from aesthetic points of view than being a statement. It just fits the vibe of the new album.


8. You worked with the famous Dan Swanö who left some nice words about working with you on "Five Scars". How spent the recording and what do you keep in mind of this collaboration?

Right, Dan really passed some very nice compliments to us and "Five Scars", which is an honour for us! I can really recommend working with him. He is really into an album when he is working on it, he deals with all its details and works with passion and professionality. We also met a few times in person, and he's a nice guy as well! Of course we chose him also because of his masterworks in Swedish Death Metal, like some of the older Edge Of Sanity albums.


9. The lyrics contain a lot of references to song titles of your previous releases: "The Zeronaut", "The Last Living Song", "Counting Flies" and many more... Is it just for fun or is there anything else? What are the lyrics talking about?

Do the lyrics sound funny to you? Then I recommend to read them again! Of course there is more than just words and of course there's a lot in between the lines that might only be found if you're willing to deal with the lyrics. Finally all lyrics circle around themes like loss, death, desparation and other human tragedies. I try to paint pictures with words, giving a song a special atmosphere. It's not about tits, beer & dragons. Not that I would despise tits, beer or dragons, but just grab the booklet and find out yourself!


10. A few words about the artwork that I found very nice, capturing the atmosphere of your new style. Who designed it and what does it represent for you?

Thanx! Glad that you like it! Actually I did it myself. Besides screaming my lungs out in heavy metal bands I am a graphic artist. You may have heard of my studio Killustrations. I have designed various artworks, shirts, logos, posters etc for diverse acts such as Dew-Scented, Aborted, Kataklysm, Death Angel, Sodom, Pendragon, Six Feet Under, Norther, Amon Amarth, Nervecell, One Many Army and many more. Check out my website www.killustrations.com! Getting back to Night In Gales, the front cover shows obviously five rocks in a very stormy sea and an abandoned rowing boat. It's a visualization of the songs "Five Scars" and "The Tides Of November" and should grab the recipient with its mood of total hopelessness.


11. Is there any gigs already scheduled to promote this new album or maybe a tour with another band? Do you think you will come to visit us here in France?

A few one-off shows are confirmed already, yes. A tour is in the works as well, and we definitely want to come to France again, too! Our last show in France was on May 20th, 2000 in Toulouse, where we played the Le Bikini with Old Man's Child, Krisiun and others. Great Club, yummy catering and awesome memories! But you know, depending on where we should play we could also play one-off shows in France. Finally cities like Metz or Strasbourg are only a 4 hour drive away. So if any local promoter reads this, don't hesitate to get in touch!


12. Night In Gales exists for more than 15 years now and the line-up has always been very stable, despite all style changes. How did you meet in the early years? And do you all agree with the musical direction of the band?

Right, except for a change on the drum seat (And a very early change behind the microphone before the debut album) our line up has been stable over the years. And even during the long break after "Necrodynamic" we've always stayed in contact. Finally we're friends, not only band mates. However of course we agree with of Night In Gales musical directions. Wouldn't make sense if not, right? We've done this all deliberately haha! Surely we could have done things a bit differently here and there, but I don't really regret anything, because you learn from your mistakes.


13. Now a very difficult question: except "Five Scars", what is your favourite album of your discography and why?

I got five favourite Night In Gales albums: "Towards The Twilight", "Thunderbeast", "Nailwork", "Necrodynamic" and "Five Scars". Why? Because they were all written with blood, sweat and tears and simply represent us at the times of their genesis.


14. What are you listening to at the moment? Any good things to share with our readers?

Well I listen to quite some stuff haha! New bands, old classics, and I don't limit myself to metal either. I mean, at the end of the day we're all metalheads, but musically there's so much more to discover. To give you a rough insight of what occupied my player recently: Dark Age "Acedia", Konorkator "Es werde nicht", Undertow "Don't pray to the ashes", He Is Legend "Suck out the poison", Rollins Band "Get some go again", Dead Can Dance "Spiritchaser", Eddie Vedder "Into the light", Place Of Skulls "The black is never far" etc etc...


15. Thank you for the time passed on these questions and I really hope to hear a new album before 2021 ;) The last words are yours!

Hmm let's see if we can make it before 2021. But in any case, we will hopefully see us soon in some French live club! Merci beaucoup & cheers!