As a longtime fan of Dissection, still sharing the same level of love I have for that band after so many years, it was a real honour to chat with someone such as Brice Leclercq, who was their bass player between 2004 and 2005, and also contributed his bass duties on Reinkaos. After Dissection, he was briefly active in Satyricon as their live/session bassist, but ever since he left the band, he wasn't really active anywhere else, up until recently when he announced his new project From Kaos with Dark Funeral's drummer Janne Jaloma. When the debut single "The Outskirts of The Mind" was published on Spotify and Apple Music, I was really impressed with what I had heard, because it sounded like a real return to form for someone who was once a part of a great and important band in melodic black/death metal, and all of extreme metal in general. Along the way, Brice had also launched his YouTube channel where he frequently posts bass covers and Dissection playthroughs, as a great way of helping other bass players around the world, while attracting more interest in learning the songs he covered. During our conversation, we've discussed a variety of subjects from his recently started project From Kaos to hiring Janne as the drummer, while also deeply discussing his experiences regarding Dissection and Satyricon, his YouTube channel and the importance of maintaining musical freedom. If you are a longtime Dissection fan such as myself, I truly hope you will find this conversation incredibly engaging and enjoyable, and I suggest that you also keep an eye out for Brice's new project From Kaos, because you might like it.

Vladimir

Hey! How are you, man? It's good to see you.

Good to see you too. Doing great. I'm launching a new band, so I'm pretty excited. A lot of work behind me last year on this all year long every day. So, it's like it feels like it's good to put it up. Let's put it this way, it feels good to put it up now and see the reaction and see if people are gonna like it or not. And I feel I like what I hear, so I'm satisfied with myself and how people will like it as well. We'll see.

You were fortunate to send the link to the new single on Spotify this morning. I got your email, and I was like "Wow!", I didn't even know you were working on a new project. As soon as I got it, I had to listen to it. I just need to hear what's going on because I wasn't even aware if you were musically active anymore outside of you doing your usual YouTube covers and such. So, when I heard that, I was like "Damn". This really reminded me of oldschool Dissection and the good oldschool melodic black metal with a kind of that kind of heavy metal feel to it. And I really loved it. I have to say, I'm so curious to hear more stuff from you. I hope that we'll get the first full length album in the near future.

I would do the second one. I'm already thinking about it, about the second one, obviously. I don't know how long it would take me for the second one, but it took me around a year to do this one. So, I guess next year, I would be able to do at least one single or singles, because I'm surprised myself, but when I focus and sit to write music, it didn't used to be that way, but now, it kind of just comes up, and I don't just focus on making music, and it works. And then the riff just appears, and then I record myself, and I move on. And it feels great, sometimes I don't even remember what I composed, I'm like not here anymore. It's almost like a spiritual thing. I just write it and then I don't know what I did, and then, I work on it later on. Sometimes I have a hard time finding out what I was playing, really, but it's me. It's me playing everything on top of it. People didn't know that I could play guitar as well, and then I didn't know that I could scream or sing as well. And, it seemed to work out. So, I'm happy, and I'm really, really, really satisfied with it and happy with Janne's drumming as well. I must say that he really contributed to making this record sound like it does, and I'm grateful that I could have Janne on this album because it just did it perfectly. I had a vision before, and I wanted to ask him because my vision was with him. I mean, with that kind of drumming, and I asked him, and he said yes right away. He was very interested, very, very into it. So, I know him from way back. I knew him before Dark Funeral as well. I mean, even though I know him from Despite because we had a common friend. The guitar player is a friend of us both, and that's how we got to know each other. And I saw that he joined and I was happy for him, and he seemed to do very well. And so, when the question came to a drummer, I thought about it right away. I mean, it was a choice that came to my mind right away. And I'm very, very happy that it's him, actually, because I think he plays very well on the fast stuff, he's very used to that. But he plays very well on the slower stuff as well because I like my music to be slow and very fast and very aggressive. I like contrast all the time, and that's what I'm used to with Dissection as well. We used to have this kind of contrast all the time. I was of course influenced by Dissection, but I wanted to do my own thing as well. I didn't want to do a second Dissection. To me, Dissection was Jon's band and I respected that it's Jon's band. It was Jon's band, period. And it was his baby, and he put so much into this band that I did not want to make it sound exactly like Dissection. I mean, of course I'm influenced by it and because I played in it and I loved it. And still today, I love the music of Dissection. I still listen to it. So, it was logical that you could hear a little bit of it in my music as well.

Was this your first musical project that you're working on, or have you tried to do that in the past as well?

Yep. But it didn't work out. In the past, when I was pushing myself to write music, I didn't like what I was hearing, so I just forgot it, and then I kept playing all these years. I played bass all the time, because it's my thing. But last year, when I sat down and tried again because it just popped up, a lot of the planets were aligned kind of, and it was the right time to start writing music. It felt like it and then, when I sat down, I bought a guitar, I started playing and all the riffs came up, and then I recorded everything.

Similar thing happened to me, because when I used to play in my first band, I was only the bass player, and the funny thing was I never grabbed the guitar and I never tried to make riffs. I didn't even know how to make riffs. And it wasn't until like maybe 6 years ago when I bought my first guitar. It was a PRS guitar with bat inlays. It is the model that the former Cradle of Filth guitarist Paul Allender used in the days when he played in the band, and it's such a nice smooth guitar that I even quickly started learning chords and then started writing riffs and melodies. Back in the day, I was heavily influenced by Dissection and influenced by a lot of Swedish black metal bands even more so than the Norwegian ones. Even then I tried to actually learn the classic Dissection songs from The Somberlain to Storm of The Light's Bane and even something from that kind of very mid-tempo stuff on Reinkaos. The funny thing is, I think that I should give credit to Dissection for the fact that now I can write riffs even when I'm not making black metal stuff or death metal stuff, whatever it is, I think I should always give credit to a band such as Dissection for giving ne a wind in the back to start writing riffs on the guitar, even though I am primarily a bass player. So, I think it's great that we both have that in common.

Yeah, and Jon was an awesome guitar player and great composer. I mean, the guy was a genius. I played with the guy, and I can tell you he was a genius. He really was a natural talent. He didn't think much of what he was playing, he just played it. I mean, the time I remember from Dissection is that Tomas, Jon and myself, we could play anywhere anytime, and it was always sounding the same. I mean, I had a great time playing with those guys. Every day was a pleasure because everybody was giving 200%, and then we could rely on each other and not think "oh, he's gonna fuck up or he's gonna fuck up". Everybody just went for it, and it was great. It was really a good time. It was a special time, a very special time. I can tell you many stories, but very special times. Many people don't know that the interest the band had back then in 2004 was incredible. I think it was before doing Stockholm, Sharon Osborne called our manager to do Ozzfest. The manager from Iron Maiden called our manager to open for Iron Maiden in the United Kingdom and they were like within the same week. I mean, we couldn't do the Maiden thing because we had already booked the European tour and we couldn't do the Ozzfest because of Jon's record, and he couldn't get into the US. So, we couldn't do any of that, but it was impressive. When we did Rebirth of Dissection, there were buses coming from all over Scandinavia and people coming from Chile and from Japan. And it was all the labels, all the magazines back then were there. It was our 1st gig together as well. So, the pressure was pretty intense, but the atmosphere was very special to this day and a great memory. Very good memory.

When you joined Dissection 20 years ago, what was your relationship with other members of the band at the time?

Good question. I didn't know anybody, neither Jon or Tomas or Set. Back then, on the official Dissection website, John put an ad saying that they were looking for a bass player and a drummer and a guitar player. At the time, a friend of mine was filming me, and then I played "Unhallowed", and sent the tape to the address that was on the website, and one week after that, Jon called me and he told me that he liked what he saw. He told me that he wanted me to meet him. And so I went to Stockholm, and we talked for maybe 4-5 hours. We only talked. He wanted to know me. I looked at how I saw things in general, religion or not religion, in general, if I was maybe committed enough, all that kind of stuff, but it was a nice talk. It was really not difficult. He didn't put any pressure when he talked. Jon was not like that, he was not that kind of person, and he liked the conversation and he told me "Okay. We will do 4 or 5 songs next week. You come back and then we do with the drummer", which I just joined a few weeks before, I think. And when I got there, I remember we played the first song and I looked at Jon and I said "What did you think?" And then he laughed, he smiled and he told me "Like a glove, man. Like a glove". That's all he said. And, we kept playing maybe 8, 9 or 10 tracks. I mean, we just kept playing because he felt good and then the week after that, it was not over. The last thing of my audition for Dissection was to put bass on "Black Dragon". And so, he told me "Listen, I couldn't come up with any basslines because I didn't get inspired. Put down your bass, just do whatever you want". There was no bass on the track and then we went to the studio together. And then I recorded the basslines you heard, I remember when I heard the track, I thought too much "I hear an AC/DC bassline, man". I'm not sure that it's gonna fit with Dissection, and he told me "No. Just do what you feel. Just do how you would do it". And Jon loved it right away. He told me "That's exactly what I wanted to have". So, then I got in.

That's a great story. I mean, speaking of AC/DC basslines, I always think about Cliff Williams as a very proficient bass player. His playing is so simple yet it's always on the beat and it works flawlessly. The funny thing is, somebody even said "You know what's the best job in the world? Being a bass player for AC/DC. There's no easier job than that".

AC/DC's music really is not that easy to play. On paper, it's easy, but if you want to play it right, it's not. And Williams is a really good bass player. It's difficult. After having studied a few of his bass lines, some of them are more complicated than they seem to be. They are very good musicians and I love Cliff Williams, and I love his sound as well. I played pretty much with the same equipment, kind of. I have an Ampeg now. A cool story about the AMPEG, I didn't want to use it because I was looking for an SVT 350 or 450 transistor, because I didn't want a tube bass amp.  It's easier with a transistor when you record yourself then and I didn't want any amp sims whatsoever. So, I wanted real amps. No samples, real amps, no tricks on the kicks. That's all. And then, I found this amp on the second hand in France. And then when I came to pick it up, when I went there to pick it up, I got to know that it was the amp of a French band called Magma. They mix jazz with all kinds of styles. It's a very weird sounding band, but that's the amp that belonged to the bass player and I'm very happy that I got this. I had the vision right away, but for this album, I wanted this album to sound more like a studio rehearsal, also in the studio's environment. Something very authentic, very raw. Not too raw, but authentic because I don't like the way metal is, the path is taking at least sound-wise. I don't like too polished, compressed, clean clinical sound. I don't like that. I think it's not a matter of taste. It's a matter of if you're a musician, you want subtleties and little nuances to be heard. That's what makes the music great, I think. And I cannot have that if I use that kind of sound and even on the bass, I bought the Darkglass stuff, and it sounded like everybody else and I sent it back. I don't like it. You basically just sound like everybody else if you use it. And I get creeped, I'm like "No. I sound like everybody else". Back in the days, I remember in the nineties, bands had one goal, it was not to sound like the other band. Everybody was very eager to have their own sound and now it feels like it's the other way around. Everybody is trying to sound like everybody else, and I fucking don't like it. I mean, it's a risk of course, when you don't want to sound like everybody else, because I might have some people that would say "Hey. It sounds like shit", but I'd rather take this risk and enjoy what I'm making as music, instead of trying to pass and do like everybody does.

Yeah. I mean, imagine if Dissection did Reinkaos with Andy Sneap. It would not be that great. Andy Sneap just completely ruins that feeling, especially with the great bands like Saxon, Judas Priest and Accept, they're all great bands. They still made great albums, but the problem with the production is the fact that they're missing that authentic raw live feeling. Because when I listen to Invincible Shield by Judas Priest and I compare it to something like Screaming for Vengeance, you could say that it's the same band, but it's not the same feeling.

That's right. And once again, it's not a matter of taste. I mean, you can have preferences, and some people like it heavier, and some people like it lighter or whatever. It's not about that. It's about being able to hear the subtleties of the musicians playing the music, and that's what it's all about. And I understand these bands. For example, you're naming Judas Priest. Judas Priest has been playing for so many years. I think they're a little bit afraid to sound as if they cut out an album with the sound from the eighties, you know, because they did it. They did it a lot. It's a bit difficult. For me, at this point, I thought that "No. I want my sound, how I had a vision", and I wanted to go all the way to the end of this vision. I wanted to do something pretty raw. That's about the idea. A little bit like a rehearsal, a good rehearsal.

Speaking about Reinkaos, what were your initial thoughts on the whole album? Were you a bit surprised that the band's direction was a major stylistic difference from what their album sounded like in the nineties?

 No. I got to hear the demo of the album very early when I auditioned, and I really liked it. And I agreed with the evolution of the band. Jon did not want to be a part of the black metal scene anymore and he was clear about that. He was clear about that and he told me "No. I don't want to be a part of that. I don't like the way it became, and I don't wanna be a part of it". So, he wanted to do his own kind of style of dark heavy metal, you know, satanic music. I really liked the way it sounded. But, one of the reasons why I left Dissection was because I did not agree with the main choices when it came to a label, when it came to the manager, when it came to the producer as well. I thought that we needed to have somebody kicking our ass sometimes. We were good at our instruments, but it's always good to have somebody pushing and trying to get the best out of you, and I don't have this feeling on my end. So, I think we could have done even better than that. But that being said, I really like the music, and I really like how the album sounds. The only difference I would have if I was alone, I would have a producer that would have pushed the thing a little further. That's the only thing I would change. But I had one mindset when I recorded. I wanted to make it sound as dark as I could and nice as black and dark as I could. That was my main goal when I recorded it. I remember clearly. I did very quickly. I recorded, I think, in one and a half days, something like that, so it went fast and I think that drums went fast as well. I mean, it didn't take that long because we were very well prepared. We got used to the album quite a lot. We knew what we were going to do and it went well. But, yeah, if I could have changed something, I would have changed that. It's delicate when it's not your band. It was Jon's band once again, and I respect that. So, when I understood that things were not going to go the way I thought they were going to go, I jumped up. And, it was very difficult to jump up. It would have been a lot easier to stay, I can tell you that. It would have been a lot easier, for it took me 3 years to touch my bass again after Dissection. So, it was a tough choice, but I know I did right because things went to hell for them at least when it comes to the financial side of things. But I knew this was going to happen, and that's why I wanted to be surrounded with people that knew what they were doing, and we were not business minded people, neither was Jon, Tomas or I. We were not that kind of people. We played music and we needed those kinds of people around us that could think business. That's what I thought at least, but at the same time, with the age maybe and looking back at it, I can understand why Jon didn't want to sign with any record labels and stuff. And I kind of understand better now that I had my own band, how it feels to kind of give your music away to some label. It's tough. When you make your own music, it's your own, you don't want to give it away when you sign contracts with labels. I mean, he got screwed a few times. He didn't like it and he didn't want this to happen again. That's for sure.

The thing is, before he ended up in prison, they were signed to Nuclear Blast. It's a very major record label and you still have great bands signing to that label. You still have bands signing to Century Media as well as Napalm Records. When I spoke to musicians who are still part of those labels, when they were signed to those labels in the nineties, they didn't really have so many great things to say about them. Nowadays, they say it's a completely different story when you have other people managing those labels and being more cooperative in that sense because you don't really have labels screwing you up. But nowadays, labels have changed. Labels don't really accept everyone under the wing. It's hard to find a record label and it's really hard to find somebody interested, to even listen to your music, especially if we're talking about a record label. I'm talking about this from my own personal experience because when I had my second EP finished, I sent it out to at least 50+ labels. Only a couple of them responded, and everybody said no. We're not talking about major record labels; we're just talking about very small underground record labels with pretty good band rosters. In hindsight, I think it's good that Dissection didn't put out the last album over Nuclear Blast or any of these major labels because on the other hand, these labels would insist that they go on tours, that they do more promotional work and that's how things work out. For a band such as Dissection, it's not really like a mainstream rock star kind of band. It's more like a band that maintains its raw feeling, its very kind of intense energy. Whatever people may think about how Dissection changed their sound, at least they did not change their approach and their mindset. It's authentic and it's not bullshit.

Yeah. And I think the fans love Dissection a lot because of that, because they knew it was not bullshit. Nobody was bullshitting, plus, Jon was really talented. I think Tomas was very talented as well. I mean, he still is, but I think he was great for Dissection. I mean, I never had a bad concert with Tomas. He always played very steady and very solidly, I had a great time on stage with Tomas all the time, and Jon as well. Of course, he was very natural. He was very natural and nothing was forced, and everything was very authentic. That's what I remember about Dissection. That's how I remember Dissection. Everything went very smoothly and even when I play today, I do covers of Dissection on my YouTube channel. When I play them today, it's easy for me to play Dissection stuff, it feels like I'm at home. I don't force it and from the first day it was like that. I never forced myself to play that stuff. It really came just naturally. And I felt like it was like this for Jon, and it was like this for Tomas, and it just worked naturally.

Do you still keep in touch with any members of Dissection that are from the latest lineup, or did you even make contact with any of the previous members from the classic 90's period?

Sure. I'm still friends with Tomas. I'm still in contact with Thomas and he's recording Dawn right now. I also know Johan Norman and Ole very well. I lived with Ole for 2 months actually, after I joined Dissection. So, I know him very well. I've had some problems and he was very helpful. I'm good friends with Johan, I've never met Peter Palmdahl, but I heard Jon met him sometimes when I was in the band, and we talked about it. And he was open again. And I met Tobias as well, once or twice.

Awesome that you're still keeping touch with other members, you even mentioned that Tomas is now working on a new Dawn album as well. I wasn't even aware of that.

Yeah. I liked what he did. He did 2 albums with them and he recorded them because he was interested in music production, which I was as well at the same time in Dissection. And then I went and studied sound engineering in Sweden for 3 years and I have a license. That's how I could do my own thing as well, and now he's doing a bit. He has been doing it for a few years now. He's trying to finish the new album this year, that's what he told me. I know some of the guys in Dawn and Hellbutcher as well.

I just remembered the Rebirth of Dissection video because the twins from Nifelheim even appeared in the front row and I remember Hellbutcher going fricking nuts.

I'm also a fan of Maiden, so we got along quickly because they're the biggest Maiden fans in the world. I mean, they have everything, so it was great.

I really have to ask you about the whole Rebirth of Dissection thing, because it is widely regarded as one of the greatest comeback shows in metal music history and even to this day, 20 years later, it's still regarded as one of the comeback events in metal history. I mean, how do you look back on the whole event? Do you look at it as a once in a lifetime experience?

Yeah. Definitely. Magical once in a lifetime experience. That's how I would put it. When I came to the show, I took the bus to the place and I had my backpack. When I came, it was all empty, and there were guys building the stage. It was enormous. It was big, man. And, at this time, I was aware that this is gonna be a very, very big show. And then from this point on, the pressure kept on building, but at the same time, it was such an honour to be there with Jon and see that after so many years he came back with Dissection in such good form. And I remember, we were talking about the old members coming up to me after the sound check and telling me "Man, I'm gonna tell you one thing. Dissection has never sounded that good as today. Never. And I know Dissection". And I was like "Okay, man. Thank you". I was very nervous, because Tomas and I worked a lot on the stuff as well. I mean, during the time Jon was still in prison, we worked on this stuff and we could rehearse only every 15 days. So, the rest of the time, we rehearsed on our own, Tomas and I, and worked on the stuff.  And then Jon would come back sometimes and tell us "Okay. Cool. Sounds good", and then we would rest 15 days later.  Remember, he was very confident with us, we had freedom, and he was very confident, and sometimes fans wonder what he was like as a person. I think many believe that he was very hard and tough, but he was not alone, man. Not with us, not with the people he had around him. Once he knew somebody, Jon was very reliable and very nice. The only time I thought it was shit, it's when I left, and I found out after a year that my bass was on the album, and that was not what we agreed on. When I left the band, it was not totally finished. I told them "Okay. You've got a choice. Either we make a contract and you keep the bassline as I recorded it, and it's fine by me. Or, you re-record everything, but in that case, you erase my bassline, and you do something totally different". And they told me that they wanted to erase it. But, when I found out that it was my bass, it was too late. And you won't see who played the bass if you look on the album, because they didn't write it. It's a shame. I found it had a little bad taste, but I moved on. I don't stay in the past and move on. So, I moved on. I turned the page, and I thought he was fucked up, but I turned the page. And now, I think Jon took it quite badly when I left, and I understand. We don't always agree on everything. That's why I say these things. It was harder to leave Dissection than to stay in Dissection. That's for sure. Because I didn't need Dissection to join another band. You didn't see me much. So, I'm not that kind of person.  I didn't join Dissection to make a career during Dissection because I like the music, and I thought that I would fit in the band. And I respected it, and I did my best to the end. So that's the way I see it.

It's good you still have fans identifying you as the bass player on Reinkaos.

Yeah. And I was very surprised by it when I heard the album to hear my bass so loud in the mix. I mean, for a heavy, dark metal album, the bass is very loud in the mix, and I was surprised. There again, I did my best, to work on the stuff, and I remember what I used. I used the Warwick from '87, handcrafted in Germany, as a bass. And I used it because I could go very low, we were tuned down to C, I think, at some point, on some songs, and then I used the 5th string. So, it was very good and I used an Ampeg SVT 4. I'm an Ampeg guy, so that's what I used, it's very heavy. That's what we wanted to have. I wanted very heavy, dark sounding, melodic basslines. That's how I wanted to make it sound.

Speaking of the basses that you used, I've seen you play various basses from Warwick to Spector to Ibanez, and even in your YouTube videos, I've seen you use the Sterling Stingray and even the Squier Precision bass. Which of the basses that you own or that you owned in the past are some of your favourites?

The Music Man.

Ah, yeah. I knew it.

By far. I never had a bass where I was more comfortable with than this one. It just works perfectly and I like the role of The Music Man. I like when the bass has a little bit of rolling, and The Music Man is good for that. A little better than the Fender or another brand. Warwick was pretty good. Spector is good at rolling as well, but the neck was a little too thick on the Spector, I thought. But I like the Music Man better.

It really takes time to get used to it, because I use a Yamaha, and it's a 5-string bass. The funny thing is I bought this bass like almost 10 years ago and back then I wanted to use the 5th string because I needed some songs for the very low ends. And now I'm like "Okay, this 5th string is completely useless right now". I don't even use it. And the worst part is now because the neck is very thick and because you don't really get a nice grip, it's not like a relaxed grip, but I still kinda manage to get into it.

Yeah. I understand. I'd like to put a cover of "Black Dragon" actually or more tracks from Reinkaos, but I need the 5-string bass, I only have 4 string basses. I have two 4-string basses, and I need a 5-string to be able to do so because it's not gonna sound right if I do it otherwise but I'll do it, and especially "Black Dragon". I would like to show people how I composed it back then, it's very important track for me, "Black Dragon" and it's probably my favourite from Reinkaos.

Mine too. It's my favourite from Reinakos. I love the song. I keep listening to it.

Every time I go back to it, Jon sings things incredibly well. Jon sings extremely well on this track, and he plays very well. And, there is a groove that I like on this track, and everybody is on it. So, it's really a good track indeed.

Since we talked about your YouTube channel, I was very fortunate to discover that you post videos on there. I don't even know how I came across that, maybe it was Dissection playthrough videos or whatever. I really gotta ask you, what made you start that YouTube channel?

Good question. First, I thought that some bass players in metal didn't get the recognition they should have. And I'm thinking about it. And I think especially Jimmy Bain. I mean, he played great stuff, this guy. He really was an awesome bass player, but for some reason, bass players are always the last wheel. So, I wanted to make a channel showing the playing of these guys at the beginning. And then at the same time, I wanted to give people the desire to play the bass because I see many guitar players doing this on YouTube, but bass players in metal not that many. I think it's a shame because bass is a really interesting instrument if you take it the right way and that's what I wanted to show. I wanted to focus more on the bass learning aspects of things in metal. That was the goal. Of course, people were asking me about Dissection and Dissection playthroughs, so I started to put in some Dissection tracks as well, and now it's evolving more and more. And now I'm doing some comments, as well on my covers where I try to help people that are trying to play this on bass to give them tips and give them help on special tips or helps according to my experience, according to what I know, and try to share this information with some people that would be interested in. That's all.

That's very good. I presume that the Dissection playthrough videos are the ones which have the most views. Am I right?

You're wrong, hahah.

Really?

Yeah. I'm surprised as well. The interest is here. But you know, not many people know about this channel. I don't have many subscribers, and I think with From Kaos, I think there will be more people, reaching out and checking in at least.

I was actually gonna ask you, do you often have Dissection fans reaching out to you and expressing how much the band means to them?

I have a few now. I recognize them. I have few fans that always come back to the Dissection stuff, and I'm very grateful that I put this out, but not that many. The ones that I find that I like my covers are of course fans of Dissection, but I didn't reach out to everybody yet. It takes a bit of time, I think there will be interest if people know about it, but many don't. And it has to do with the algorithm and YouTube and that shit, then we'll see.

I could help out to spread awareness of the new project From Kaos because it wasn't until today that we all got the news that you were working on this new project. So, hopefully more people, especially if they are Dissection fans, will reach out to you and that they will keep an eye on this project, that they will listen to it.

For sure. I think they might like From Kaos, if they like Dissection, but it's not exactly the same thing. But we stay in the raw melodic field, having dark metal which is a good thing. I wanted it to be a little faster. Like I told you before, I had the vision of very fast drumming sometimes, and I needed a drummer that could deliver that, and Janne was definitely the right choice. He did some stuff that he could do however he wanted. He asked me "Can I play whatever?" and I said you should play what you feel. Because the way I see things, and you would be surprised, with some bands, the leader tells others how to do the stuff and I find it stupid for the sake of the music, because if I asked to play drums, it's because I liked how he played drums, and I want him to put himself in the music. Otherwise, I would ask somebody that I would pay and just do as I tell him to do or even use fake drum stuff. But I wanted him because I like how he plays, and I wanted him to put his personality in the music. 

Speaking of musicians who only want what they want, rather than having some sort of communication as to what would work well in the song, that's the case of Ritchie Blackmore. If we're talking about Rainbow in this case, he always pushed what he wanted, as opposed to what everybody felt like. That's why you had three albums with Ronnie James, and then you had one album with Graham Bonnet, and then there was Joe Lynn Turner. After a while it starts to feel more like a job rather than a passion.

That's right. And, I don't really understand that because he cannot be very constructive in the long run. I mean, the guy, sooner or later, was gonna get the fuck out from the band and do his own thing or do something where he's gonna have more freedom, instead of doing what somebody tells him to do. And I came to realize that I didn't want to play in a band anymore as well in the sense that I didn't want that bullshit anymore. I cannot stand to have somebody telling me what to do and not do. I cannot stand it. That's the way I am. That's the way I always was. And so, I decided that it would be better taking this in consideration to start my own band instead where I wouldn't have this kind of problem. And, that's why I started From Kaos as well. I mean, I could compose music and at the same time decide what to do and how.

I'm very happy that you are still musically active even though you're not playing in a band, because you even expressed yourself in one interview that you don't really want to play in a band because the overall band chemistry just kills everything.

Actually, very often, playing in a band is not only about musical chemistry. And especially at a certain level, it becomes very complicated. And you live with all 14 other people all the time on your tour, and I have a hard time doing that. I really do.

Speaking of bands that you were a part of, you were also a live bassist for another great black metal band, which is obviously Satyricon from Norway. You were their bassist for 2 years, from 2009 to 2011. How did you get involved with the band?

I think I did less than that, but I'm gonna tell you. I saw that they were looking for a bass player. Same thing on the website and I applied for it, and I auditioned, but it was not at all the same audition as this. The old adventure was not at all the same thing. I had eleven tracks to work on in one week to play. I did the audition one time and added another eleven tracks to play the weekend after that audition. It was very tough auditioning for Satyricon, but it went well, obviously. And I got the gig, and then I did the American tour and a part of the European tour, but not completely. But, as I told you before, I was not made to be in that kind of band. Simple as that. I'm not made for that. I'm made for playing music, and I did well when it comes to playing music. I was playing differently in Satyricon than I was in Dissection because the music calls for another plane in Satyricon. And I played a lot harder with Satyricon. I used to break strings every day on the bass, I broke picks and strings every day, but I played very hard. And then it all depends on the music you're playing. I can play very hard, and I can play very soft, and I like when there is both. That's what I tried to do with From Kaos, actually. I tried to have a big contrast with very aggressive fast parts and slow parts, very melodic slow parts and I tried to put everything together. You will hear the album and you will see what I mean. But there are some songs on the album that are more or less a blast beat from start to finish, and others where there are no blast beats in the tracks. So, it's very different.

Since we already mentioned Satyricon, I really gotta ask this. How was your relationship with Satyr and Frost? Were you good friends with them?

No. I think we were not made to be in the same band. Let's put it that way. I have a certain temperament, and I take it on me. As I told you, I don't like being told what to do and not do, and I don't take anybody to tell me that. I don't give a shit about the consequences. I don't give a shit if it's Metallica, I wouldn't accept this for anything. I'm free and I will stay that way. That's why I'd rather start my own band than join any band.

You really keep it to yourself, I'm very happy for you that you're confident in that sense that you don't really let people push you around. It's a very common thing in the musical world. A lot more common than people would think.

Exactly. You're exactly right. If you knew the numbers of musicians, I know still today that accept things I would never accept, you would be surprised.

Yeah. I mean, if I could have more frequent conversations with a lot of bands, maybe I could probably tell if one of them is telling the truth like yourself or if somebody is trying to sugarcoat everything and just give a nicer story for the press rather than say how things are. Even if it's an ugly picture, I would prefer to see the truth rather than see things as people would want them to see. Think about bands like Cradle of Filth. How many members were in that band? There were probably over 40 members. Imagine if you were part of that.

No, I cannot. I wouldn't even apply. I'm not gonna name drop anybody, but I've been asked to play bass in bands. You would be surprised. But I say no every time. I'm not interested. I don't do it for the wrong reason. Many musicians do things for the wrong reasons. They do it for the money, the fame. I'm not interested in that. If I didn't do much in 20 years since Dissection, it's because I'm not interested in that. Otherwise, I would have known it. And I've been asked to play bass in pretty big bands and turned down the offer, most of the time.

I think it would have been crazy to see if you ended up playing as a live bassist for Watain, for example, instead of Alvaro. But Alvaro has been a long-time bass player for those guys, because as we all know, Erik did the bass on most of their albums apart from the last two, and he even did gigs for Dissection when the band was still around. That's probably around the time when you left the band.

That's right. I don't know who does what or doesn't do nowadays, to be honest. So, I don't know. But when I left, I think, there was a Norwegian guy for a while and then Erik.

Yeah. There was that one guy, this Norwegian bassist, whom I read that he started some sort of National Socialist movement. And I was like "Well, this goes against what I would imagine for somebody playing in Dissection". But I was like, I'm not gonna judge. It was weird just to read that bio of a musician.

Yeah. It is. It was indeed.

Before we wrap this up, I just wanted to ask, what are your current plans for the project From Kaos? Can we expect a new single anytime soon?

Yes. The current plans, the first single "The Outskirts of The Mind" will be released on November 19th, Tuesday next week, officially, on the digital platforms, like Spotify, iTunes, and so on. On December 3rd, a second single called "Point of No Return" will be released. And on 18th December, the entire album called Synchronicity one will be released.

Brice, thank you so much for taking your time. It's been such a pleasure and I'm looking forward to hearing this new project, and I am honoured to have you here both as a long-time fan and a follower of your work, as well as for Dissection. All I can say is best of luck to you, brother.

Thank you very much. Very highly appreciated. Very much appreciated.

Just for closure, are there any final words you'd like to leave?

Check out From Kaos. You might like it, really.