Dawn Of Demise - Danish death metallers going for a polished sound
Not so long ago Danish death metallers Dawn Of Demise released their debut record entitled Hate Takes Its Form, an album that was very well received by the press and fans of modern death metal. After writing a review, I got the opportunity to ask bassist Bjørn Jensen a few questions. Here are the answers.For those who are not familiar with Dawn Of Demise, can you please introduce your band to our readers?
Well of course… We are a Danish death metal band that focuses more on heaviness and catchiness, than on high-speed grinding and super technicality. We have been playing together for about 4½ years now, and we have just released our debut album on Deepsend Records. Our lead singer is Scott Jensen from ex-Infernal Torment… If anyone should care…haha!
Where does the bandname come from?
Hmmm… Kim (our drummer) came up with the name. We had been looking for a name, but nothing really stuck. So when Kim showed with something that we all thought sounded kinda cool, we just went with it - Nothing fancy behind that story.
How long did it take you guys to write Hate Takes Its Form and where did you record it?
It took quite a long time actually. We were very picky with our playing, so if anything sounded not 100%, we changed it. I think the recording process was about…hmmm, let’s say a month. Give or take a few days. We recorded it ourselves at our own practice area. We then went down to Jacob Hansen’s studio for 4-5 days, where we got it mixed and mastered.
How was working with Jacob Hansen?
Great!!!! The man is a genius. He really does great productions for bands. I love his sound. The sound was not all that great before we gave it to him, but after he laid his metal-hands on it, it turned out marvellous. The man really knows his shit, and apart from that, he’s a really nice guy.
Who did the killer artwork for Hate Takes Its Form?
Our very good friend - Johnny Haven from Danish metal act The Burning. He did the whole thing, and we are more than satisfied with the end result. If anybody should be interested in hiring him to do a shirt design, or a cover design, they can contact him here ... He’s really cool at what he does. I would recommend him to everybody that is in need of some killer artwork.
Illdisposed’s guitarist Jakob Batten recently said “a lot of the new albums you hear these days are so tight and over-produced that it doesn't sound like humans playing anymore and in the long run you get tired of it”, do you think he’s pointing on bands like Dawn Of Demise? What are your thoughts about that?
Yeah..haha… That would be a band like ours. I totally get what he is saying, but that is the way things are now. I think the difficult, but right thing to do, is to find a way that satisfies all listeners. We would love to do that, but it’s easier said than done. We probably have an over-produced sound, and we use triggers on bass drums and all that, but I would say that we are far from the worst. There are bands out there where the drumming sounds like a machine, and if you ask me… I think that sometimes it is…haha!!!!! I like raw productions on some albums, but it’s not our thing. We will be going for the polished sound next time as well, for that is, what we in the band, think is the most fitting for our music.
You guys were honoured at the Danish Metal Awards 2007 for best live band. Now I’ve seen plenty of great Hatesphere appearances in my life, and I also know that Volbeat knows how to rock the stage. What does this say about a Dawn Of Demise show?
It says that we kick ass!!!!! Hahaha!!! … We were more shocked than anybody else when we took the prize away from bands like Hatesphere and Volbeat, but to be honest - I think we deserve it just as much as they do. They are both great bands, and I have all their albums (I really do - Hatesphere ROCKS!!!!!), but in my opinion our live show is just as good as theirs… So why not?
Dawn Of Demise is signed to Deepsend Records, a label that I’m not familiar with. Can you tell us something about their profile/roster and how it is to work with them?
Deepsend is a small label, but they have released some cool things. Bands like Lecherous Nocturne, Bled and Embryonic Devourment are all good bands. They have also done vinyl releases of Despised Icon and Satyricon, so they have released things that we “know” off. Graham Landers, the dude that owns the Deepsend, is a nice guy. He is very cool to work with, and so far there have been no problems at all. Everything is working out great between us... No complaints from us.
What is exactly Listenable Records’ role for the release of the album?
Listenable is handling the distribution of the album in Europe. Deepsend do well in the US and Canada, but not too well in Europe, so Listenable is handling the album in Europe for us. We love that they are in on the album as well. It is probably my favourite label. If it weren’t for them, the album would disappear in Europe… So they are definitely in our cool-book.
Can you tell us something about the video for Hate Takes Its Form?
Yeah. It was done by our good friends from Division666. We shot it in an abandoned flight hangar. Turned out pretty cool if you ask me. People can check it out on our MySpace site, or on YouTube. Leave a comment - let us know what you think.
On which bands did you grow up yourself and what is your all-time favourite album?
I grew up on bands like slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Megadeth and so on. Later it became bands like Suffocation, Deicide, Morbid Angel, Malevolent Creation, Monstrosity etc. But the death metal bands that “rock my world” these days are: Suffocation (the kings of death metal), Inveracity, Pyrexia, Dehumanized… There are so many!!!! All-time fave…hmmm… Probably Suffocation’s “Pierced From Within”… Could be “Effigy”… No, “Pierced”….hmmm? Both are killer!!!!
What are the latest releases you've been listening to a lot? Any recent discoveries and/or underrated Danish talent?
Probably Inveracity’s “Extermination Of Millions” and Suffocation’s “Suffocation”... Denmark has so many great bands. Check out monsters like The Burning and Scamp. First band is really great stuff with a monster production on their debut album. The latter is crazy ass tech metal. If you are into bands like Meshuggah or Textures, you should definitely give them a shot… For I shit you not, when I say - It is at least just as tight… And just as far out as Meshuggah, when they still were interesting.
Can you tell us something no one knows up till now?
Hmmm… Let’s see. We are working on a couple of cover-songs... But it is still hush.. So no names yet.
What can we expect from Dawn Of Demise in 2008?
Songwriting.... We are working on our next release, which we think will see the light day December 2008 or January 2009. We are also planning on playing loads of gigs to promote our little monster of an album...yeah, that’s about it... So, to everyone out there - Go buy our crappy album!!!!! If you like heavy death metal with a decent production, you will not be disappointed...haha!!!!! Hope to see you all in the future… Keep it sick. Death metal forever motherfuckerz!!!!!!!!!!!!
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