Rockezine.com interview with Obsidian on Sep 12, 2007

with Melle on Sep 12, 2007


		When did it all start with Obsidian and at which point in your career are you now? Obsidian started way back, before I joined the band, but we have set the official starting point in 2002. We felt that from then on we started experimenting and composing and playing what we really wanted. At this moment we feel that we have completed the very first fase of this process, we just released our debut CD ‘Emerging’ in Europe through Rusty Cage Records and the reviews are slowly pouring in – most of them very positive. We’re hoping to do a lot of playing this year, but next to that we are really busy on writing new material for the follow up to ‘Emerging’. Writing songs is still a bit of a time consuming enterprise, so we’ll have to combine playing live and writing and working on new material.
		Why did you guys recruited a new singer? Because our former singer, Serge, and the rest of the band saw that his true passion lies in another field than in performing music. So we had to start looking for somebody to replace him. That was quit an arduous job, but we happened to succeed in the end by inviting RobbeK for an audition. He was – and is – so enthusiastic and we have a very good musical and inspirational click so that gave the band a great new impulse!
		How did you hook up with the people from Rusty Cage Records? That was a classic hear-say story: I heard from a friend that there was a new label out there looking for bands. We had some demos out to other labels, but that rendered nothing ‘till then. So, we decided to send RCR a promo package too. And to our surprise they where very positive and they offered us a deal. After some negotiating we came to an agreement and now they are working their asses of to make us into True Rock stars hahaha!
		Are you satisfied with the work the label does for Obsidian? Yes we are very happy with RCR and the work they do. We feel they are very dedicated, they think along with what we are doing and they help us a lot with new things and even with shows. They are also very innovative in scouting out new ways to bring our music to the public (think of selling mp3’s etc.).
		I think that the album cover is really strong. Who is responsible and what is the idea behind it? Thanks man, that’s very good to hear. We are – as with everything in the band – all responsible. But the main motor behind it was Sjaak, our designer-composer guitarist. He came up with a concept that incorporated some nice ideas and atmospheres behind the band.
		Why did you choose the name of the band to be Obsidian? I don’t really know what the original, probably very perverse idea behind it was, but probably because it sounded cool and because it’s a form of volcanic glass used in all sorts of ancient rituals. It also has a link with what became the album art for ‘Emerging’. In one of the forms of ritual use, it appears as a smoky mirror in which you can see the feature, and more precisely: things connected with your death and the death of your enemies. Also, at that moment we didn’t realize that later in time there would be around three dozen other bands roaming the shadows of metal land, bearing the same name hehehe.
		Is there a certain message you`d like to pass on with your music? If so, what is it and why? Not really. As people – and as musicians – we all really like to create and discover. You will not always find uniquely new things, but when you proceed from your hart and your inspiration, you might end up with things that are very powerful. As for the lyrics, they reflect this process. There is not really a central theme, or a very ‘slay-the-dragon-rape-the-princess’-sort of thing going on. The lyrics and the music tend a little bit towards the dark and melancholic side, but that’s just the result of what we do, we are not really setting a framework within the Obsidian music should fit, or something like that. Maybe this is one of the main ideas that you might call a ‘message’, within our music: discover stuff, find things out. See what’s there. Confront it and polish it and see what it reflects. See, now I’m going all metaphoric again, that’s exactly how it works.
		Who would you name as your influences? Bands we all appreciate and like very much are Meshuggah, Cynic, Death and Morbid Angel, but also Allen Holsworth, Classical music, minimal music. Tastes shift also, and those different moods and periods all influence the songs and our inspiration. We all listen to a bunch of different styles and artists; every person within the band brings his own specific taste. Simon is very fond of strange and noisy music, like Venetian Snares or The Mars Volta to name but a few. Sjaak is more a Tool-person or Extol; Glen is our Metal core-dude – and Robbe doesn’t like music at all. Personally I am really into what you might call ‘a diagonal cross section of metal in general, with a heavy accent on technical, trashy death metal.
		How much fun and how important is it to do these kind of interviews? I think it’s lot’s of fun, because it forces you to look at what you are doing and thinking, and that’s always very cool. Next to that I think it’s really important because you just might end up on a page or a screen of somebody who did never here from the band, and who might get interested! Personally I always like to get to know a band a bit better through an interview, and I also hope that that works for us.
		What is the most embarrassing album in your own private album collection? (How/why did you get it?) Hahahaha!!!! I have a whole lot Willeke Alberti vinyl records standing in the cupboard! And some very embarrassing operetta stuff – but that’s all part of a record collection I inheritated from my grandpa. My uncle and I both where interested in the records, but at that time my uncle was the one who had a bit more experience with music and he knew exactly what he wanted. I didn’t hahaha. So he gave me some of the essentials, and some of the very much not so essential stuff.
		Finally: why should our readers check out your new album? Well, they like metal, don’t they? No, seriously: they have to check it out because we hope to offer them something interesting; we hope to spark something in the listeners. Next to that there’s a whole lot of work and time invested in this record, and we are very much interested in what people think… So check it out and drop us a line at www.obsidian.nu/forum or leave a comment at www.myspace.com/obsidianrocks.
(Jeroen Habets)