When Zack exited Dead For Days I was worried that talent and passion that he's got for extreme music will be lost. I was worried that problems that they were having will burn him out and throw him on the tracks of everyday boredom and lack of willingness, but instead he decided to start a new project - a furious ass kicking to anyone interested, but from a slightly different angle than what he used to. God Dementia is the name of his new band/project and if death/grind is something that interests you than don't skip that one. With everything that happened over the last couple of years and with the new album out in the open, I had to find out whatever happened, when it happened and who did what. And why.

Tom

Hey Zack!! Thanks for finding time to answer some questions. It’s been quite a few years since the last time I interviewed you for MetalBite.com, what have you been doing?

Yeah it has been a while. I've been just preparing my latest project after I quit Dead For Days. That’s kind of when I realized, wow I really enjoy writing music! I should do that more! So I did just that.

And what a great idea that was, new album has been available for couple of months now, people like?

Yeah so far we have very positive responses. I mean, you never know what you have until you release it to the vast areas of the internet. So far there has been no negatives so that’s very encouraging.

How did you come up with a name of the band, what would you like people to think when they hear it?

Ah the band name... let me just say that it is very difficult nowadays to come up with a name because everything that you think sounds cool already has been taken. God Dementia has a versatile meaning: it’s about turning a positive into a negative which is happening a lot around us. Turning a concept into a demented view. Lots of social or religious views start out as great ideas and then people get their dirty hands on it and twist it to their own benefit. Think about religion or capitalism or socialism. On paper they sound great but yeah... people...

Tell us about rest of the dudes in the band, are they permanent members? It seems Dead For Days turned Reign Inferno and then ended up God Dementia LOL?!

Yeah we pretty much are all the three bands minus one troublemaker. Band drama you know! Some people just want to cause problems rather than make music. That chapter is done finally and we can focus on making sweet grind core slash death metal!

What about the cover for the album, care to explain meaning behind it, who is responsible for it?

The cover was done by the very talented Raphael Gabrio of Insane Visions. What I wanted to capture there is how we are. You pretty much have shit shoved down your throat forcing us to consume and constantly being watched till we are barely human anymore. Just shred of a person that’s constantly being preyed on based on its religious or social delusions. Consuming the delusional. Raphael did a great job, I gave him a vision and he made it insane! Maybe that’s why he calls his work Insane Visions.....

You are credited with composing and arranging music and writing lyrics on Consuming The Delusional, but even though bass lines you could probably do, I’ve never seen you behind drum kit, care to elaborate?

LOL, I've never touched drums in my life, it’s just something that is just too much for me and frankly I have huge respect for death metal drummers to be able to pull that off. The whole cd is a collaboration of all of our talents we all play different instruments, like Rick for example is a great drummer but even greater guitar shredder!

Rick on guitar is something I’ve never seen but if he’s not behind drums than who is and how do you mean collaboration of all your talents?

We are in search of a drummer because the drummer is Mr. EZ Drummer from Toontrack (drum machine). If we won't find a decent candidate Rick would pick up his drum sticks one more time. I would really like him to play the guitar he’s talented as hell and no one really knows about that because he’s always been a drummer. But yeah, if ya know a good guy let me know!

Enough about that, tell me about recording process, is that the same studio you’ve used with Dead For Days?

The recording was done at Comatose Studios in Kankakee IL by Dennis Pleckham who is also involved with a very popular doom metal band Bongripper. He did a fantastic job on mixing and mastering and we will definitely work with him again for our follow up. We did a lot of work at my house and brought the files to him to mix. With the technology that is available nowadays you can do a lot of preproduction at the comforts of your own home.

Great job indeed, album is powerful and it’s a great mix of death and grind sound I’m also pleasantly surprised with the inclusion of many new pieces to your new puzzle, there is even few solos in there, yours?

Hell no! I’m not a soloist I actually look like I play guitar hero compared to Rick. Very talented guy, we worked on the solos together but 90% of them is just him being awesome!

You’ve mentioned that you got some new stuff prepared already, leftovers from last session or brand new never used?

I always have stuff brewing. I love death metal and always create something in my spare time. We actually have 10 songs ready to go and we should go to the studio in a few months. Just need the guys to check the songs out and tell me what can be improved. And there’s stuff for a 3rd release already, I can’t stop!

Keep going man and never stop. Every time you put something out you improve on all levels. I like what Cody did with vocals on the album, they sound angry and demand attention, was it all him or did you have a say so with vocals too?

It’s all him, he’s an angry dude and you need that in death metal! Of course we worked together but his style is all him. He delivers the message and he can do it in a way that you can understand which is awesome.

Which brings us to our next question. You wrote all the lyrics and I see you being pissed of about quite a few things, there’s society, religion, life, media and some more. You seem very conscious about what is going on with the world and not afraid to talk about it. What gets you going the most?

I would say ignorance, bullshit arguments and just plain stupidity. Common sense is pretty much gone. I think social media exposed the idiots of our society and I sometimes miss the pre-Facebook era when I was not aware of all the fucktards that are out there stating their shitty opinions and have even shittier people agree with them. I would say people get me going the most.

We could talk for hours about what you just said. Completely agree. Since you are the guy that writes most of the stuff tell me this…how do you do it, where, on what, what do you use and what guitar do you play?

I do it right at home, I have a mini studio that is perfect for writing. It’s awesome the way technology progressed! I use a drum machine and recording software and bam! Song is done. So fast if you’re in the creative mood. Really enjoy it.

Who is responsible for cooking up the sound of the album, I hear mix of many different influences in there, was it your idea, was it in any way premeditated?

I listen to a lot of different bands and a lot of them influence me during the writing process. It’s by no means premeditated it just happens, I don’t try to sound like a certain band. It’s just kind of whatever I’m into at the moment. If I listen to a lot of grind core the songs that are going to come out are going to be grindy and so on.

I just used a word cooking and it got me thinking…you’re pretty good in the kitchen so can you share your favorite dish lately and how do you prepare it?

Mmmm cooking....
I just did potato pancakes. I prepare it with brutality! Lol

Potato pancakes…did you grate them or did you GRIND those suckers LOL. And the last one….when are the shirts gonna be in? LOL

Ah shit... they're coming I promise. Everything takes so much time. It’s frustrating.

Interview with Jenny Larsson (keyboards, vocals) and Markus Sarronlahti (guitars) by Jeremy Carpenter.

To start off, tell us about how Inner Sense came to be. How many of your current members have been there from the start, and how did the line up come to be what it is?

Jenny: Me and Markus met through our old band. After a while we realized that we had similar musical influences so we decided to start a new band with a bit more of a progressive approach. More progressive elements. The old band was more... straight forward heavy metal I guess you can say.

Markus: Yeah, so Jenny and I have been in the band from the beginning. We found our current drummer thru an ad on a musician seeks bands site. Then his brother joined after a short period and since then we have had the same line-up

What are your musical influences, including artists that inspired you to become musicians and artists that influence your band's sound? I mean both for your band as a whole and personally.

Jenny: Ok, my influences are many. There is sooo many great musicians out there. I'm inspired by groups like Pain of Salvation, Dream Theater, Poets of the Fall, Gary Moore, Sonata Arctica, Kamelot and many, many more. When I was really really young I wanted to grow up and be just like Slash... that didn't really happen though :} I also love video game music so composers like Harry Gregson Williams (Metal Gear Solid) and Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill) have become very special to me and of course... a big name in both mine and Markus' world is Daniel Flores and Mind's Eye.

Markus: After hearing Appetite for Destruction by G'n'R I was sold to hard rock music and shortly after I bought my first guitar. At the age of 14. Nowadays I have many influences and bands that I like and get inspiration from. So here are a few bands - Nightwish, Dream Theater, Symphony X, Poets of the Fall, Kansas and The Alan Parson's Project.

I understand Daniel Flores of 'The Murder of My Sweet' is the producer of your upcoming album 'Life Sentence'. How did this come to be, and what has it been like working with him?

Markus heard a song from "A Gentlemans Hurricane" online and decided to buy the album. He went to the music store to buy it but they didn't have it so he ordered it, but they only had the dvd-version (special edition). When we got it we watched the video and realized how kind he seemed to be to the musicians in the studio and instantly thought that he would be a great guy to record with. Markus saw that he was stationed is Stockholm, so he just wrote to him, expecting nothing really, but got a reply the day after. He told us we could go to the studio and meet him and bring some sound samples, so that's what we did - nervous and shaking, with a terrible-sounding cassette-recording from a rehearsal. Although it was of poor quality he liked the harmonies and chords and decided to help us. He was as kind in person as he seemed to be in the video. Working with him has been great, and very educational and of course fun. He gave us the confidence to continue what we were doing and grow as musicians.

There are many difficulties in being an up and coming band and I admire those who persevere through difficulties. How do you stay positive in the process?

Jenny: I just love music and nevertheless what happens on the outside it's an outlet that will continue to be there. A way to tell stories, and work through emotions. I think we may have two different answers here. It's just great if somebody else likes it as well, it's a bonus.

Markus: We just love music and want to compose something of our own. With our own sound. Try to be original and have fun doing it.

What inspires you to want to be musicians? Would you say there is a lot of intrinsic value in it for you, where the feeling of completing great work alone goes along way?

Jenny: Yes, for me it's the most important factor of them all. Just... writing music, because it feels good doing it and hopefully, someone else will get some value from it also. It feels great if you can influence somebody in a positive way.

Markus: We do this for the love of the music and try to make music that we like and if someone else likes it that's awesome!

You seem to do a lot of interaction with your fans, which I really appreciate as I'm sure they do. How much have you enjoyed the positive response you have gotten from fans since having more of a Facebook presence, and being able to interact with them?

Jenny: Well, I merely think of our Facebook contacts as "followers" and/our "friends". I love having people around that I can share the passion with. And to see people connect that wouldn’t have gotten to know each other otherwise is also a very warm feeling I think. We have always dreamt of releasing our debut album and for me it's wonderful with all the support we have gotten. Feels surreal.

Markus: It makes it all so much more fun when people actually like what we have done. It's really a great feeling and makes you wanna write more music. Really motivates you and lets you know that we're doing something right! We wanna be an open family for the people that like our music.

One big happy Inner Sense family.

I understand that it is primarily you two who do the songwriting. What is the songwriting process like, do you write about themes that are personally close to your heart?

Jenny: Yes... that is also kind of why we have "Inner Sense" as the band name. Everything "story wise" always has a close connection to something that we feel is important for us. It's all about what is going on on the inside. When it comes to writing the musical parts Markus brings the riffs and I write the keyboard arrangements and melodies/lyrics. Then we fight over the song structure. In the end we try to compromise as much as we can and usually we come to an understanding in the end.

Markus: Mostly the stories are things we have experienced ourselves and our thoughts about them.

'Safe In The Shadows' was the fan voted winner for your first lyric video, I personally had high expectations for it and it still exceeded them. Do you guys each have a personal favorite from your upcoming 'Life Sentence' album, and if so what is it and why?

Jenny: I'm glad you felt that way about "Safe In The Shadows" :} Well, every song on the album has a different meaning to me so it's hard to choose a personal favorite. Although some of them are based on things that are more personal I guess. "This Body Of Mine", and "Safe In The Shadows" are maybe two of those, and "Only The Silent" and "Thy Will Be Done". That was four... it's hard to chose... but if I could chose only one, I guess I would have to go with "This Body Of Mine" It feels like it is the most important song to me personally. Markus favorite is "Pitiful Mind". "A Different Part Of Paradise" is also written to a deceased close relative to me so it's important too. Just wanted to say that but... "This Body…" is the "winner" :}

The 'St. Elmo's Fire' theme is one I particularly like; about finding hope even in what are seemingly the worst of situations. I commend you for a unique idea of a song about a near tragedy having a positive spin. Do you find writing about positive themes like this to be personally inspiring or therapeutic, for your music and/or other things?

Jenny: Well, I think it is important to everybody to always keep some light in the darkness. Even when things look reeeeaally bad (as in St. Elmo) there may still be some un-thought-of hope. For me, it is very therapeutic; it's a major factor in why I enjoy writing music so much. It gets me through hard times and leaves me with something more positive as a "physical" memory, rather than just the bad experience that may have been the inspiration to start with.

Jenny, you are both the vocalist and keyboard player for Inner Sense. What are some of the challenges that come with being involved in both vocals and an instrument for a recording or live performance?

The more "roles" you have, the more time it takes up of course. But since it is fun it feels like lifetime well spent. When it comes to recording I record most of the keyboard arrangements in my home studio before even entering the recording studio so that saves a big chunk of time. Sure, it’s more work than just having one instrument, but it also helps in writing melodies and harmonies since you know the arrangements inside and out. Of course I can play one of the channels, but then I feel that the vocals are more important live. Live I have to focus on the vocals of course. Since the keyboards may have many (I’m looking for a word...channels, tracks midi/audio-channels) it's not possible to play all of these live by myself.

In the future, which bands do you one day hope you can tour with?

I would love to play with Poets of the Fall, I think. But there are so many great bands out there... It would be great fun to tour with The Murder of My Sweet also :}

I think Markus would love to tour with Nightwish one day haha.

What, if anything that has not been covered in this interview would you like the listeners out there to know.

We are unsigned and releasing this debut-album on our own, but we still are open for suggestions.

French death metallers Akiavel self-released their second studio album "Væ Victis" on April 23. Their monumental new opus comes only one year after their debut album and is a dark and twisted affair lyrically exploring the depths of human depravity and delving into the darkest parts of the human psyche and musically further evolving their sound taking a radical approach to their musical assault, consuming the listener with dizzying maelstroms of chaos. "Væ Victis" embodies the word "death," putting forth an intrusive battery of blistering guitars, pummeling drums, and scathing vocals that culminates in one of the most robust death metal records the genre has seen yet. Auré (vocals) and Jay (bass) answered a few questions about the album, creation of it and all things around it.

Tomek

Thanks for taking time to chat a bit, how is Akiavel doing after the release of the new album?

Auré (vocals): Hi! Thank you for taking time for us! It's going very well in Akiavel's camp, thanks for asking! We are pretty much focused on the promotion of our new album Vae Victis.

Jay (bass): We are really happy and proud of this second album, we hope it will please our existing fans, and convince new fans to follow us!

What is the story behind the name of the band, what is Akiavel?

Auré: Akiavel is a word derived from the name of the famous Italian humanist and political thinker Nicolas Machiavelli, mainly known for what certain might call "cynical" or "amoral" political theories.. We loved the ending in "EL", because it reminds of the archangels. We wanted to recall the half-angel / half-demon side of our music: aggressive and violent on one side, melodic on the other side.

Jay: Also, the "EL" sound means "she" in French, which was funny for a female fronted band (laugh)

Let's talk about your newest album, how long did you work on it and how was the whole process?

Jay: After the release of the first album V, in February 2020, we had a full tour scheduled, but unfortunately the pandemic toppled everything. During the confinement, rather than remaining frustrated, we composed and worked on a second album. The composition of the music was really fast, fairly quickly everything was almost fully written, and we arrived at the step of arrangements and rehearsals (remotely, of course!). This was relatively fast, notably due to the successive lockdowns. This was one of the few advantages of the current situation… And we love the outcome, we hope you do too!

Auré: It took us a little less than a year to compose and record the album. As to the lyrics, I focused on the serial killer's theme. We were stuck at home, so I took the time to watch documentaries and read tons of books on this subject. For my part it was really interesting to dive into the brains of such monsters. Containment gave us time to work on this album quietly but fast!

What can head bangers expect from the new album?

Auré: The Akiavel's touch! (laugh)

Jay: Our fans appreciate our music because it is a mixture of our 4 influences, which are death metal, thrash, hardcore and heavy metal. Each of the 4 members come from one of these "worlds". Akiavel is the result of the mixing of all these types of metal.

We have actually created Akiavel' style with our first album V, without being aware of the way all this would actually sound once put together. The result was, at least to us, crazy, raw and powerful. For this new album, Vae Victis, we kind of knew what such mixing would create, so we took advantage of this knowledge and dug way further into our personal and collective style. So, you can basically expect something ever rawer and more powerful than our previous album. And always with Auré's stunning growling voice, of course (laugh)

What is the meaning behind the title of the album?

Auré: Our latest album is called Vae Victis. It's Latin and could be translated as "Woe to the Vanquished". Basically, this relates to the victims as well as to serial killers.

What was your frame of mind when composing, what was your main inspiration?

Auré: For the lyrics, each track is about a different serial killer, we are telling their stories in different manners. We took this subject very seriously and talking about them doesn't mean we do not consider them as horrible monsters. We just wanted to describe some of the mechanisms that were behind their silly acts, but overall, the whole album is a tribute to the victims.

Jay: The composition of the music is very natural; it is just the mood of the day that leads to the composition to this or that riff by Chris (guitars) or me. Then we submit them to Butch (drums), who add his parts on our raw ideas.

Was there anything that influenced you differently while composing; were there any non-metal influences that surprised even yourself?

Jay: We are influenced by everything we hear or listen to; we have no boundaries when it comes to composing. The only goal we have is to compose the music we actually want to listen to; we don't think in terms of influences. As we said, our 4 musical backgrounds are very different. When we compose a track, we try to think with the same eyes as each of the other musicians: knowing he/she likes this kind of music, what would he/she play on this or that part? This is very helpful to obtain and keep Akiavel's consistent style (laugh)

What do you think about all this categorizing music?

Auré: I think it helps people "understanding" or discovering new bands when it's labelled death metal or melodic metal or whatever, and it might help bands like us being discovered in their home countries or abroad. For bigger bands, I think the question is not really a big deal though.

What would you call your style yourself?

Jay: People tend to call us melodic death metal. It's way too small and limited for us, since pure melodic death metal songs are not supposed to include hardcore or even pop music riffs, but we do accept this labelling, which is not completely wrong (laugh)

What does it mean to you?

Auré: I think it is an invitation to listen to our music to realize how inaccurate labelling are (laugh)

Do you create for yourself or for others?

Jay: We are all 100% focused on Akiavel, which is demanding enough (laugh)

What do you expect from the listener?

Auré: We do not expect anything, but we do hope they will like the new album as much as we do!

Jay: We cannot wait to play live and share our music on stage, we will now have 2 full albums to promote on stage!

Do you play to build or to destroy?

Auré: Good question! I'd say that we want to create good music and share it, which is a positive state of mind. We do not need to destroy anything to play our music and grow as a band.

Jay: Yes, but we made a cover of "Destroy Everything" during our first live appearance as Akiavel, in June 2019 at the Off Hellfest festival. Who can tell that it was not a prediction? (laugh)

Which emotions do you have plenty and which not enough?

Auré: For the writing of Vae Victis, I went through all the emotions. Anger, rage, sadness, compassion… It's not always easy to be a lyricist when you enter a field as realistic as crimes. But my lyrics are made to be howled, so it's a good outlet!

What would you do without music?

Auré: Depression… (laugh) Music is with me throughout the whole day. From the moment I get up, at work and until bedtime… It's just vital to me.

Jay: Without our music I would... record music for some other bands (laugh). That is actually what I'm beginning to, since we launched Akia Studios a few days ago, and I'm in charge of it, and the start is very positive, with a lot of cool bands to record there. As you can see, music is also a big element in my life (laugh)

Where do you see yourself and the band in the next 5-7 years?

Auré: Touring the world, meeting tons of cool people, sharing the stage with amazing bands…

Jay: And continuing growing as a band by playing the music we like together. Because it's weird to say it, but we are the 4 greatest fans of our own music (laugh)

Ok, we covered past and present. What are the plans for the future?

Jay: First we are working on the promotion of this album. We released one music video in early April, and are going to release another one in June, and then a third one by the end of Summer.

Auré: And we will also shoot at least one live session by the end of the year. Then will come 2022, and either we can tour (at least!), otherwise we'll go back to the studio (Akia Studios of course!) for our third album… This pandemic won't preclude us from composing and recording the music we love!

Most labels and bands release their new material on CD, vinyl and cassette. Vinyl is coming back some say but for me it never went away just like cassettes. What is your opinion about the physical media, which one do you prefer?

Jay: We all are from the generation of cassettes and CDs, and we still love to listen to music on CD. But we must admit digital platforms are extremely convenient ways to listen to music everywhere (laugh). I personally like the contact of the object itself, the booklet, photos and lyrics you can discover while listening to the music. This is a different experience, a different way of listening to your favorite albums.

Auré: For this reason, both albums (V and Vae Victis) are available in CD versions as well as on vinyl editions. You can check everything out on our website www.Akiavel.com!

Thanks a lot for taking time to answer all the questions, the last word is yours.

Auré: Thank you for your interest in us, do not hesitate to discover our music and videos on all usual platforms as well as on our website!

Jay: We hope we can soon meet and play our music live in the US!