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BIO | INTERVIEW
2006 - Ariën Van Weesenbeek about ’The Toxic Touch’
Hey Ariën, how are you? You are just about to hit the road along with VADER! How does it feel to be back?
I'm fine, thanks. I'm happy to go on the road again! It's gonna be exciting and challenging to play 41 shows in 6 weeks and two days! But it's gonna be fun.
Your new album ‘The Toxic Touch’ will be released by the end of October! What can you tell us about the recording sessions?
It's been a very great experience, and we are very satisfied with how the things were going,and the final result of the album is by far our best to date. It was great working with Jorg Uken, and though we didn't know him to well, we were convinced by the latest album of the deathmetalband TOXOCARA, whose album was recorded in just less than a week! And already that marvelous sound! Jorg certainly proved to be a very good producer and sound-engineer. He made us sound optimal and the production is very well balanced and clear, yet there's still this raw edge to it. Recording there was very relaxed and an inspiring experience. Everything was done pretty quickly too.
It is a fact that ‘The Toxic Touch’ is your most melodic effort to date – but it’s is still heavy and grim as fuck! How did it come to this development?
We just went on writing new material, and we all seemed very inspired after having toured for about two years. Also, we wrote this album with the four of us, and we had a lot of ideas to choose from. Most of the riffs and ideas had this melodic character, plus the solo's on this album are played mostly by Isaac, who's got a classical training before playing electric guitar. That's part of his style that fits the band perfect. We all recorded our tracks in a brutal, furious way, and I think that's a big aspect that the album sounds heavy. Jorg captured our vibe and translated that in a crystal clear sound.
One song is entitled ‘2014’ – where do you see yourself as well as GOD DETHRONED in 8 years?
I hope I'm still playing in GOD DETHRONED, and that I've grown as a musician, artistically, and commercially. And hopefully in a good environment away from the prediction of Nostradamus...
What’s the idea behind the album title, the cover artwork and the song titles?
The cover represents the negativity and grimness of the whole album; musically and lyrically. The toxic touch is a binding metaphore for all the subjects of the songs: 'Hating Life' is about someone who's lost the will to live, and wants to commit suicide. That person's mind is infected and ill, and so he has the toxic touch. ‘Typhoid Mary’ is about the woman Mary, who carried the typhoid virus without knowing this, and she infected a lot of people that died after that. So that's a toxic touch as well. All the lyrics of the songs are quite black and negative, and the needle of the cover is the symbol for it.
How would you compare ‘The Toxic Touch’ to its predecessor ‘The Lair Of The White Worm’?
The new album is a big step forward. The songwriting improved as well as our playing. We toured a lot for 'The Lair', and that resulted in an inspired album, and we learned a lot from our experiences. And the sound just blows away all of the albums we've done before!
What are your plans after returning from the tour with VADER?
We've planned some seperate gigs, in Holland, Belgium and Greece. We're going to present our cd in Holland and Belgium. I guess we'll be playing a lot for the new album!
What’s the last you want to tell our readers?
Enjoy the good things in life, including GOD DETHRONED, haha. See you on tour, Cheers!
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