The Old Dead Tree - a French institution whose music has always been of a deeply artful and personal nature has returned. Let the fanfare sound! For in this month of frigid winter, The Old Dead Tree will release their return-to-form LP, "Second Thoughts", via Season of Mist. Friendship, tragedy and heartbreak have been the driving influences for this band, and their gorgeous brand of dark progressive metal has placed them in the fold of the greats: Paradise Lost, Katatonia and Opeth. To understand The Old Dead Tree's music is to understand the value of life's many deep moments: mourning, renewal, doubt and redemption.

It is truly an honor to have the opportunity to interview someone who is, in my opinion, one of the greatest metal vocalists I've ever had the pleasure of hearing. And this band happens to be an epitaph of class whose dignified approach to their craft will surely help to preserve a most brilliant future for their genre.

This band has seen their fair share of turmoil, and during this interview frontman, Manuel Munoz, casts an expositional light upon some of the trying times The Old Dead Tree has experienced over the years along with the ideas/concepts behind their new album.

Jeger

Greetings, Manuel, and welcome to MetalBite. I've been following The Old Dead Tree since 2019 when I happened across your EP, "The End", and became enthralled by it. The Old Dead Tree has been a French institution since 1997, and you've seen your share of turmoil throughout your career. Can you tell us a bit about the band's formative years?

I was 19 when we started playing together. From the beginning, a strong friendship was built between the members of the band. In 1999, our drummer Frédéric committed suicide. Despite this tragic event, we decided to keep playing music together and four years after his death, we released our first album called The Nameless Disease. All the lyrics are about how I dealt with his decision. This album had quite a success in Europe and we got to tour with bands we admired like Paradise Lost, Katatonia or Opeth. After this first chapter, we released two more albums in 2005 and 2007 and toured Europe with Epica and as a headliner. We eventually parted ways in 2009.

The Old Dead Tree has undergone a couple of splits: one was due to creative differences and the other was due to geographical challenges, but you've persevered despite these difficulties. What would you say has been the driving force behind the undying spirit of The Old Dead Tree?

Friendship has always been our greatest strength and our greatest weakness. We remained close to each other despite the distance and the time. Most of the members moved far from Paris, but we kept gathering once a year to play our old material for fun and to go to the restaurant with our families, the technical staff and the band's relatives. Most of the people we worked with in the 2000's are still with us now. The Old Dead Tree is some kind of a second family for many of us.

Your debut LP, "The Nameless Disease", is one that seems to mean a lot to The Old Dead Tree as evidenced by the fact that you reunited in 2013 in order to celebrate its tenth anniversary. What stands out about this album when compared to your other recordings?

This was a very good first album. And the fact that the lyrics were tragically personal touched the audience. Still now, people come to me after the shows to tell me that they've been through a similar experience, and that our songs really helped them to overcome the pain. Hopefully, both the albums that followed did not carry such a heavy burden. And even if I consider that "The Perpetual Motion" for example is better than The Nameless Disease, there is no way it could mean as much to the fans.

I genuinely admire your talents as a vocalist. You have a very broad range, and your style is oft delightfully dramatic. What can you tell us about your artistic background? Are you formally trained and do you have any background in theater?

Actually, I only had a few singing lessons back in 2019, as we were about to release the EP The End. I never felt comfortable with schools and musical theory. I always preferred finding my own path. It slowed down my progression because I had to understand by myself, little by little, what I was able to do with my voice. But it helped me building something more personal I think. I never acted in theater, but for me, our songs have to tell a story and they need a deeply committed narrator to deliver it. I go deep inside myself to get the emotions needed, especially on stage. Sometimes it can be really disturbing and I need some time to put myself together.

You had a series of live performances scheduled in 2019 in support of your aforementioned EP, "The End", but they were all canceled due to COVID, except for the sold out Paris show, which was rescheduled for 2022. I imagine it must've been a deeply meaningful performance.

Oh yes. We were under a lot of stress. We had announced that we would be playing a two hour show, and as we all live far from each other, it was complex preparation. The venue was filled with people who traveled from Germany, Norway or Spain. It reminded us that we were not alone in this adventure. The band meant a lot to many. This evening had a huge impact on our decision to put the band back together for real and to get back to composing music seriously.

There's a notable sentimental value to "The End". Was it intended to be your farewell record?

Definitely. After the short Anniversary tour we had in 2013, we had some money left and we thought it would be a good thing to use it to finish the unreleased songs and to record them. The project took a long time because Julien Metternich, the video maker we've been working with since 2003 wanted to make a documentary about the band. we thought it could be great to gather both these products together as a farewell gift for the fans.

You're on the cusp of releasing a brilliant new LP in "Second Thoughts", scheduled for a December 6 release via Season of Mist. This feels like a very personal piece.

When we started discussing about reuniting for good, I was filled with doubts. Would we be able to reach the same level of quality we had? Would our music be relevant after so many years? I was not sure it was worthy to put our friendship at risk on this. So, in order to know where we stood, Nicolas Chevrollier and I composed the song Terrified and it was a total blast! It convinced Season Of Mist - our historical recording company - that we were back for good and it allowed us to play Hellfest before 10,000 people who welcomed us like if we never stopped.

Writing a full length album was of course more complicated. We had tons of ideas, but it's been often difficult to decide which one to keep and which one to turn down. The older I get the less certainties I have. In a way, most of the songs of "Second Thoughts" deal with having doubts and taking responsibilities.

"Better Off Dead" is one track from the new album that really stands out for me. It appears to be a song that's centered around family. It's very dark indeed, and it's more of a soliloquy than an actual song. It bridges over to the much heavier "Without a Second Thought". From what sort of experiences did you draw inspiration for these two tracks?

When Nicolas Cornolo and I started working on this, we knew that it would be a three song story. And as soon as I started to hum some vocal melodies, I had the first sentence of the song in mind "Please, I want to know, I need the truth…". This was all about a secret. This idea drove the rest of the story step by step. Regarding the secret these songs are about, I'm happy the story is not based on a real experience!

There's a cultural, almost historical vibe to parts of "Second Thoughts". What are some of the ways by which you've been inspired by French culture and History?

I use to take inspiration everywhere I can. It can come from something I or a relative of mine have been through. It can also come from situations my imagination built from scratch, and sometimes it comes from stories I've  read or watched. Besides my accent, I don't think that the fact that I'm French really influenced the way we sound.

What does The Old Dead Tree's live performance schedule look like in support of "Second Thoughts"?

Of course we're eager to tour and perform the new songs on stage. We already played some new material during the Fall. We now work with an important booking agency, and some gigs will be announced soon. We never played the US yet and we would love to do so!

Do you have a message for your followers?

First, I want you thank you David for giving us the opportunity to address your audience. That means a lot to us. As a band we fell many times but we always got back on our feet and kept going. We worked very hard to create this album we're really proud of. If you take the time to listen carefully to "Second Thoughts", you will discover an infinity of layers, a forest of ideas. Behind the songs that may sound simple, there are sad stories and tortuous roads.