Your new album Invocation is out at the end of May, this is your eighth album - how do you see it? Do you have a standard routine now for writing and recording, and is there going to be anything unusual about it or is it more of the same top-notch death/thrash metal?
Well, I am actually really, really happy with how "Invocation" turned out. We went through a hard time after the release of the previous album "Incinerate", as we came to the point where a large part of the band’s line-up had to change, following several intense years of work. So, in order to keep the band motivated and challenged, we looked for new members in 2008 and started working on this new album‚ behind closed doors, so to say, always making sure we only get to start to record whenever the material is really ready and it could prove to be a step forwards for DEW-SCENTED. So yeah, we first needed to get to know each other a bit better as players and writers and after some pre-production, we decided it was time to do the album. I actually think it sounds really fresh and varied, which is a good thing for a band as extreme as ours. Yeah, I guess what you call 'routine' is what I would like to describe as 'experience', having already done 7 album recordings prior to "Invocation". Then again, seeing how this is a new team and a different atmosphere all-together now, it was somewhat of a first for us, really! I do see quite some new elements on "Invocation", mainly of course because of the new songwriting team, but we also tried to accentuate the lead guitar parts some more, improve the technical edge by adding more melody and I also think we tried to be not so one-dimensional in terms of heaviness this time when arranging the new songs. The vocals also had more space and air to breathe really, so that we could increase the amount of hooks as well. Obviously the style remains being extreme thrash metal all in all, but I definitely think there are some things on "Invocation" that set the record apart from our previous ones…
You’ve managed to turn out albums remarkably quickly, with bands sometimes taking years to get their act together how do you manage it... and why do they always begin with the letter "I"?
Well yeah, we have always been a very dedicated and hard-working band. I came to think the other day that doing 7 albums releases and loads of worldwide touring in 12 years is a pretty good output! That said, it’s also straining and takes a lot of energy to keep the quality level but also the spirits high, especially when we are not full-time musicians that can afford to pay their bills through their band activities. So yeah, I am definitely proud of what we have achieved this far, but it has also been taking its toll lately with some member changes and so on. I guess we will always try to work as much as we ever can with DEW-SCENTED but we are mainly concerned with writing some cool music and playing fun shows, in the end of the day! Why do the album titles always start out with the letter "I"? Well, why not, hahaha!? We meant it to be some thread of catchiness for a couple of records when we initially started the band, but I honestly didn’t think we would have such a long and fruitful run of releases or otherwise we might have gone for some different pattern, really, hahaha! Oh well, as long as the titles keep working out decently with the theme of the music and the artwork, I guess we can go forwards with it. "Invocation" was a pretty spontaneous suggestion after we already had a song done that was called "The Invocation", so we simply moved ahead with it…
I was talking to a German friend the other day who comes from the same town as yourselves in Saxony. He said that Dew Scented was involved in putting on things for a youth club in earlier days. As someone who grew up in a small town I’d of appreciated a cool metal band coming doing some stuff for the local kids, is there any truth in what my friend said or his he just talking guff?
Oh really, from the Walsrode area? Cool! That’s where the band originally started out in its first line-up and where all of us lived. But I haven’t been living there since 1998 or so, so it’s been a long time. Yeah, I was doing an internship in the local youth club of town and tried to help arrange local shows whenever possible to keep the scene entertained and growing. We had a pretty good movement there in the 90’s with a good amount of bands in all extreme music styles (Metal, Hardcore, Punk, etc.) so it was a good togetherness between the people into music. We also tried to help other local acts along the way but obviously as we moved away from there into other areas of Germany this became more and more difficult to follow up. As a band and with our rehearsal room, we were based in Braunschweig for long years afterwards because both our former guitar players lived in that city and it also happened to be the 'geographical middle' for where all the rest of us were living. With the new line-up since 2008, DEW-SCENTED has moved its homebase to Emden, in East Frisia, at the very North-West end of Germany, by the coast... and things are working out well there. As for Walsrode / SFA, where we started out, the youth club/center where we played our first shows and also arranged gigs for befriended bands had a 25th anniversary celebration early 2008 so that after many long years of not playing that area, we did a special 'homecoming' show around then. It was a great gig with tons of old friends coming out to see us again and also a really good aftershow party in a local pub. I mean, music is about making friends along the way and having a good time together to me, so this was a cool thing to do for sure...
You’ve played with a host of utterly legendary giant metal bands, including recently the UK’s own mighty Bolt Thrower. If you had to pick, who’s been your favourite to share the stage with and why?
Wow, tough question, as we seriously had a lot of luck with the choice of bands we have been fortunate to be able to tour with. Everyone from Cannibal Corpse, Destruction, Nevermore, Grave, Napalm Death, Behemoth, Misery Index and many more has managed to give us a great time. So it wasn’t only cool to be on tour with bands that you musically respect or that eventually also influenced you along the way, but it was also great to see that they were really nice people! It wouldn’t be fair to pick just one band because we were lucky enough to make many good friends on the road by now! Bolt Thrower was especially cool for us because we had been hoping to be able to go out on the road with them for several years already now, and it was good to see this working out at last this year! BT were super cool people and we all really appreciate and respect their attitude towards music business and their 'independent' status. I liked to see how they set their own rules for what they are doing and treat everyone with utter respect and best intentions. That was very impressive...
You’re playing across Europe over this year but were scheduled to play only one UK show in London with Atheist, and now that’s fallen through it seems. What happened and when are we likely to see you in the future?
Yeah, unfortunately the Atheist shows (including the one in London) has been cancelled again because they are focusing on their new studio album. Bummer, as we were looking forward to playing with them but also to come back to UK shores. Been a while (since 2007 actually) that we didn’t come over, so I indeed hope we will make it back there sooner or later. Next up we have a small local record release show and then a string of summer festival dates, which is always fun. We are keeping an eye out on touring options for later in 2010 and we indeed hope to have UK included in those dates then as well.
You’re proudly carrying the flag for modern thrash metal rather than a more retro style, do you still have a lot of influences from old school thrash? How do you feel about some of the thrash resurgence bands?
Well, it’s 2010, isn’t it?! That’s why I don’t see much of a point for us to pretend to be 'retro' and re-live the 80’s. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love my old school Metal and the first wave of Thrash (as that’s what got me started as well) but these are different times now and I think it would be wrong to live in the past, especially since it was the atmosphere and vibe of those times that influenced the style as well. We certainly do have a strong amount of influence from the 80’s Thrash scene as well as from the very first wave of Death Metal, but we try to add our own elements to things and present it in the most aggressive and up-to-date way possible. We like traditional and raw productions, but I don’t see much point in sounding 'worse' than possible, so we also for sure try to utilize modern recording techniques to sound as heavy as can be in the studio. I mean, I like some newer bands that are sounding 'retro' as well, but it simply wouldn’t be the right thing for DEW-SCENTED. The new Thrash generation is cool to me all in all... loads of dedicated young bands with strong releases lately and working/touring hard, just like it was meant to be. Warbringer (who we are doing a split 7" release with, by the way), Municipal Waste, Merciless Death and most recently also Vektor have made some strong releases, so that keeps the scene interesting and challenged as well. There are more younger kids coming to the shows these days again as well, so I guess that’s due to the uprising new movement as well...
Which of the festivals are you looking forward to playing on?
Oh, festivals are always fun! We look forward to playing France’s Hellfest because they have an amazing line-up once again and also we didn’t get to actually play when we last were supposed to in 2007 because of technical problems at the site, so it will be good to make up for that missed show at last! I am sure Summer Breeze festival in Germany will be a blast too because we haven’t been there since 2003 and the festival has grown a lot in the meantime. Good things ahead...
What’s the strangest thing that’s ever happened on tour?
Hahaha, touring is full of strange things but they happen so often and continuously that you actually don’t keep track anymore, hahaha! I mean, when people ask me to tell them stories from on the road and give them an overview I mostly don’t even know where to start and what to actually say! A lot of what happens only really "makes sense" when you are there and experience it in person, I guess. One thing I remember was that when we played one of our first bigger package-tours in 1998 as support and we got to the first venue, we saw there were shirts made with the full line up of bands printed on the back but we were called "Dew Sentenced" on there. That was quite a bummer and I am sure some people still remember us as 'that band' up to this day, hahaha!
