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Interview
Deutsche VersionInterview mit Poisonblack (15.02.2007)
A long time eclipsed between the debut album Escapextasy (2003) and the successor Lust Stained Despair (middle of 2006) of the Finnish gothic-metal-band Poisonblack. Mastermind Ville himself telles the tale of line-up alterations and the long construction time of the album.
HH: Hi Ville, how do you do after having Lust Stained Despair finally on the way to the fans?
Ville: Relieved and proud. After it was recorded spring 2004 a lot things happened which postponed the release. Fights against alcohol, the last amok run with Sentenced and other heavy shit. But the main thing is that now it is finally coming out and the future is wide open.
HH: Why did singer J.P. quit Poisonblack?
Ville: He wanted to concentrate his main love Charon. The whole deal with JP was that he was only supposed to sing on a demo tape but after we got signed he agreed to do the album and a tour also. So we knew that he is not going to be a permanent member of the band.
HH: Why did the two Jannes Dahlgren (Guitars) and Kukkonen (bass) quit the band?
Ville: Dahlgren's attitude towards the music of poisonblack was not really as intense as I would have wanted it to be so he was kicked out, though we are still friends.Kukkonen just wanted to do something else in his life which I totally respect.
HH: Where did you find the replacements Janne Markus (guitar) and Antti Remes (bass)?
Ville: They have both been playing music for years and are friends from the time before STD even. Janne use to play guitar in this band called Scent and Antti is still playing bass for the finnish band Mary. I got a demo tape through our drummer of Janne playing the guitar, liked it a lot and immediately invited him to join the band after a 3rd degree examination... I met Antti in a local bar gave him the 3rd degree too and behold the band was solid. Finally. Except for the singing part...
HH: You released your debut album Escapexstasy in 2003. The second album Lust Stained Despair is just now going to be coming out. I read this was because you weren't happy with the first mixing of it. When was the first recording finished?
Ville: Like I said spring 2004. After we went back to the studio we did not re-record anything. We laid down three new songs and some keyboards here and there onto the already recorded ones. After we found out that we can produce the album but not really carry through the mixing we sent one song to Tue Madsen at anfarm studio and he nailed down this rocking, heavy almost a live kind of a sound which was the thing we were after in the beginning.
HH: How did Century Media react when you told them that you didn't want to release the first recording?
Ville: It was actually agreed on both sides. Within the band and the label.
HH: What did you do in the time when you "lived and died a little", before you "attacked the songs again with the right state of mind"?
Ville: Tried to get my drinking onto a sensible level and spent a lot of time with my wife and my kids. Basically emptied out the bag of shit which I had been carrying for years and still doing that.
HH: Now let's go on to the music on Lust Stained Despair. It seems to me you almost have forsaken the soft gothic touch in favor of many modern influences, most in the guitar sound and in the way you sing. (example:The beginning of "Rush", parts of "Raivotar".) Was this a deliberate move or did this changes just come naturally?
Ville: The original idea which has been in the PB's music has not changed. This time the feelings I wanted to express were more harded and dirtier so the music developed in that way too. Naturally. The gothic vibe is still here but spiced up with elements from rock and metal. At that time I was writing music for Lust Stained Despair the softer side of music couldn't have been enough to feel relieved and to get a point across in angry, frustrated way.
HH: Did the new band members have any influence on the guitar and bass sound or was Lust Stained Despair written before they came?
Ville: The album was allready recorded before antti and janne joined the band so I played the bass and all the guitars there except the three new songs which were recorded by the whole band. The production resbonsibility was on my shoulders but still everything was discussed together and will be that way from now on.
HH: Did you copy the intro melody of "Nail" from Tubular Bells from Mike Oldfield? It sounds quite alike.
Ville: The inspiration to that song was the movie the exorcist.
HH: What's a "Raivotar", anyway?
Ville: A finnish word for a rage-filled female in heat.
HH: Will you take a touring guitarist or will you do both on stage, singing and playing guitar?
Ville: I'll sing and play the lead guitar.I`ve done it before Sentenced already so it is pretty natural to me.
HH: Thank you very much for your time! Any last words?
Ville: Hail satan, god is passed out.