Deströyer 666 pour l'album "Defiance"

Chaque album de Deströyer 666 est un évènement en soi, mais c'en est encore plus un quand le groupe met plus de six ans à écrire un album. Pourquoi ce délai ? Reverra t-on bientôt le groupe en France ? Shrapnel répond.

How do you see the fact you've become « cult » since Phoenix Rising ? Your popularity seems to be increasing again with Defiance.

We have worked fucking hard over the years so in some ways you reap what you sow. I'm not so sure of the cult tag, but you I do agree that the band seems to be reaching a wider audience these days. There's been a lot of anticipation for Defiance … I guess the time it's taken between releases has helped in some ways….


When Terror Abraxas came out, it was very confidential, without any promotion (at least in France), did you want it that way or was it unintentional ?

Terror Abraxas was something we wanted to do to try and regain control of the band. We had some problems with season of mist during the final stages of the release of the Cold steel album. Wrong photos were used and some layout issues caused us to want to do something with a smaller label like Iron Pegasus. We wanted to recorded it at our mates place and be fully in charge of the layout. Of course there are the problems of releasing with a very underground label, like the lack of promotion a small label will have compared to a much bigger label. But it was a compromise we were willing to make. We figured if people wanted it they would be able to find it. It was an underground release for underground metal heads. Funnily, since then we have sorted out our issues with season of mist and re-signed with them for the current release. So far, so good.


Why did it take so long to make Defiance ? Six years have passed since Terror Abraxas...

A lot of things have happened since then. Soon after the time of the Terror release the band was pretty much burnt out. It had been a long slog since we left Australia. We had worked incredibly hard and sacrificed a lot, more than any other band I know. We were living together, literally in each other's pockets, working at the same electronics company together and pushing the band as far as we could and in the end I think it just got to us. Simon's visa had run out and he had opted to go back to Australia. My visa had also expired and I went across the channel to England to live. KK was having mixed feelings and had been for a while. At some point we even had a conversation on the phone where we agreed to call it a day. I can't really recall what happened to get it all back on track; it kind of just fell back into being a band again. We went for a long period where we didn't do anything and then occasionally we would get together in Holland for a rehearsal. Then, we started to send each other new ideas we had been working on and everyone's enthusiasm began to pick up. It wasn't until these ideas started to form the skeletons of songs that the ball really started to roll again. Of course, we write music incredibly slowly which hasn't helped, and now with the massive distance between us all, things move at snails pace. We had many, many rehearsals that didn't eventuate into anything, not being as productive as we could have been which really slowed things down. We went through a period where the band was beginning to pick up its sprits but the productivity was super slow. It wasn't until we found a formula that we could write music effectively with that we started coming on leaps and bounds. We now have three different countries between the four members, so we can't work as a normal band. KK now lives in Denmark, Mersus in Germany and Myself and Matt live in London. We have to be super organized to be able to rehearse. There is no ‘lets just hook up for a jam'. We have to always look for cheap flights, organize time off work, planning two to three months in advance just to get the fucking rehearsals happening. It took a maximum effort to get anything done. Flying to get to rehearsals is as ridiculous as it sounds, its expensive as hell not to mention all the fucking time you waste getting to Airports and waiting around. Fucking hell, I'm getting stressed just thinking about. So you can see its been quite an up hill battle to get the album out, which in many ways makes it more rewarding for us all now that its completed.


Could you tell us more about the new member, Matt, who's also a member of Razor Of Occam ?

Matt is someone we have known for a long time. He's another Aussie that grew up in the same shit hole that KK grew up in South Australia. So he's been part of the inner circle for many years. He's the man behind the band Razor of Occam, he's also a scientist but you'd never guess by the way he develops into a monkey when he drinks shitloads of booze.


Half of the members of Deströyer 666 also play in Razor Of Occam (Shrapnel and Matt), what do you think of the comparisons between both bands ?

Destroyer 666 has much more varity with the sort of songs and tempos that are created. Razor of Occam is a band that is very much into the thrash / speed style of riffing. I guess there are some similar elements but I think really both Defiance and Homage to Martyrs really don't sound anything alike.


Why did you chose to go to the Necromorbus Studios ?

Necromorbus does a good job, Simple as that. Good studio, good bloke and the end results always have power …and that's what we really were after with this release. We wanted a powerful album that really punched you in the head. I have liked just about all the albums necro has worked on, so for me it was an obvious choice.


Who did the clear voices on « A Sermon To The Dead » ? Just like for « Lone Wolf Winter », I've never read any negative opinion on this song, furthermore it is often seen as the best track of the album, are you going to use clear voices more and more in the future ?

The clean voice is Mersus, He fancies himself as a bit of a singer….but we try and encourage him to stay behind the kit as much as possible. If songs require vocals like that then we may consider using something like that in the future….It all depends on what works with song. I'm not a huge fan of using this style of singing in the music we are creating but if it works with the spirit of the song then it's no problem.


How was it to play at Hellfest ?

Hellfest was a very cool festival. There was a real diverse range of bands playing which was interesting. We had a really good time and they really looked after us well. The backstage bar was a great place to drink, and equally a great place to throw people over.


There were rumors after your last show in Paris that you wouldn't be touring anymore... looks like it was wrong. Will you make more shows for Defiance, any in France ?

We will be organizing a European tour which will have Paris clearly in its sights. Paris has always been a fucking killer place for us to play,


Are you focusing on the next album ? I hope we won't have to wait another seven years for the next one !

Yeah some songs are in the works already. There won't be the big delay between releases this time.


What do you think of today's Australian scene, has it changed a lot since you're gone ?

It's been so long since I lived there that I'm probably not the best person to ask. There are still some really killer bands putting out brilliant stuff. The new Nocturnal Graves and the Cemetery Urn album is great fucking Aussie metal. Some bands still hold the flag high. Which is good to see and hear!!


As long as metal is concerned, how is Europe compared to Australia ?

The attitude is the same …or in many cases more extreme then a lot of the Europeans…. But the scene with concerts…well that fails in comparison. It's like the old saying of ‘chalk and cheese'. It couldn't be any more different, well at least when I was living there. There is just so many shows and festivals going on here…. Australia had one festival going for a while but it really can't compare to the dozens and dozens of gigs / festivals going on over here literally all the bloody time. Europeans really don't know how good they have it over here.


Could the whole band go back to Australia one day ?

We plan to go back there to tour in the near future but the band would never relocate back to Australia. Europe is the heart of the beast for metal, without a fucking doubt. Australia is the most beautiful country in the world…with so many amazing things on offer. But for music it unfortunately just doesn't cut it.


Thank you for the answers, I let you conclude.

Thanks for the interview !!!