BLACK COMEDY - Marius

\r\nBlack Comedy come from Norway and they consist of members who are very popular in the extreme Metal scene. Instigator is their new album which is out on Season Of Mist Records. Vasilis Mazaris & Metalzone.gr had the opportunity to contact one of the guitar players, Marius (he is also one of the singers) and here is what he said... \r\n

\r\n
\r\n

\r\nMetalzone: Since Black Comedy are a totally fresh new chapter in the extreme sound lets begin our chat with a bio of the band and the circumstances under which it was formed. \r\n

\r\n

\r\nMarius: Jon, Bjorn and I were the only ones left from an earlier disbanded project. We decided to continue and quickly recruited Stefano as a second guitar player. We had begun writing material and making preproductions. By coincidence I saw Tjodalv at a bar and decided to approach him and ask him if he would be interested to try out for us, as I knew he was a very talented drummer. He also brought Memnock along which made us a complete band. From there we decided to focus on writing new material and grow as a group. \r\n

\r\n

\r\nMetalzone: Instigator is your debut album, through Season Of Mist. First of all we’d like you to describe your music. Your influences are diverse and they come from different styles of music. How would you define Black Comedy’s music? \r\n

\r\n

\r\nMarius: I would like to describe Black Comedy as modern metal or maybe "cyber-thrash". We have futuristic elements in terms of sounds from keyboards and samples that add a great atmosphere, which is an important part of out sound. There are also both extreme and melodic parts. We decided from the start that Black Comedy should be a very "heavy" band but we also wanted melodies and variations. Inspirations vary a lot. All members have different sources of inspiration that drives them. I think that’s a really good thing cause it will add more to the group and make positive variations with the material we write. Some of us are inspired by prog and technical stuff wile others are inspired by more classic or modern stuff. I think it’s important for a band to be able to show more then one particular side all the time and I think our differences helps with that.
\r\n
\r\n

\r\n

\r\nMetalzone:  Give us a few details about the line up of the band. Two band members have been in bands like Old Man’s Child, Susperia, Dimmu Borgir etc. What about the rest? \r\n

\r\n

\r\nMarius: Tjodalv and Memnock are also members of Susperia and have previously played in Old Man’s Child. Tjoldalv also used to play drums in Dimmu Borgir. Bjorn has a solo-project with electronic music and I play drums in a trash/death band called Dead Trooper. I guess doing more then one thing will improve your musical skills and open your mind a little. Still it’s important to keep focus at what you do at all times.
\r\n
\r\n

\r\n

\r\nMetalzone:  What made you create a style like that and not something relative to Susperia? When someone takes a look at your line up he expects melodic Black metal and instead he listens... \r\n

\r\n

\r\nMarius: Well, besides from Tjodalv and Memnock both bands have different songwriters and members I guess. When we brought in Tjodalv and Memnock we shared our philosophy about what kind of music Black Comedy should be and they really dug it. We wanted to create something new combining different styles in metal with new ideas. Also, both guys from Susperia have great experience with arranging material which I think shines through very well. Even though we share two members with another band, Black Comedy has nothing to do with Susperia other than that. Musically we aim in another direction.
\r\n
\r\n

\r\n

\r\nMetalzone:  Do you feel that Black Comedy’s music can compete with the music of the bands in the particular genre of the past? What is the one thing why a fan should check out your music? \r\n

\r\n

\r\nMarius: Hell yeah, we can compete. We wanted to make something that sounded fresh, brutal yet catchy. If you are bored of people with ideas of how metal "should" sound like you should definitively check out Black Comedy. We’ve agreed to have absolutely no "rules" when writing material. Some stuff and arrangements might sound like a crazy idea, but the more surprised we get when trying it out the more we’re probably going to like it and keep it. It is a lot more interesting to take the listener by surprise and try to write the material more original or unpredictable. However, we don’t want to make any kind of  "weird" music, so we always make sure it’s still catchy. \r\n

\r\n

\r\n \r\n

\r\n

\r\n \r\n

\r\n
\r\n

\r\n \r\n

\r\n

\r\nMetalzone:  Where there any difficulties in the recording of the album? How long did it take you to get to the final result? Are you 100% satisfied with it?
\r\n
\r\n

\r\n

\r\nMarius: Yes, we are 100% satisfied. We worked a lot the reach the point where we could be honest to our self and agree we had reached our goals with the album. The album would not have been released if we where not 100% satisfied with it. There was a lot of difficulties when recording the album though. We had to learn to record and produce the hard way. As we produced, mixed and mastered the album ourselves the whole process was one big learning curve. In the end it gave us a lot of experience and know-how for next time. We worked on trying recording and trying stuff out for almost a year. The actual recording was fairly easy but the production part turned out to be quite a PITA. The good news is of course that we are a lot more prepared for next time as we are going to have the know-how from day one. \r\n

\r\n

\r\nMetalzone:  An overview to the reviews you’ve received brings us to the conclusion that you’ve been accused of copying the style of Fear Factory. I personally disagree, but tell me your thoughts on that. \r\n

\r\n

\r\nMarius: Well, in many riffs the kicks will follow the guitars when picking really fast. That does not make you Fear Factory, it’s rather a common technique used by many bands. To be honest, I really feel sorry for those who can’t hear the difference; I think they are missing out on music in general.
\r\n
\r\n

\r\n

\r\nMetalzone: Tell us a few things about the lyrics. We can see the hate pouring out of every track especially Sum Of All Shit which is about the music industry. Would you really want the music industry to burn? Why are you so disappointed with the music business and MTV?
\r\n
\r\n

\r\n

\r\nMarius: There is not really a lot of  "hate" going in the lyrics, we are not bitter people. We are just being realistic and taking things for what they really are. Music is originally an art, but modern culture have made it more into a product one can make money of without any integrity at all. All of Black Comedy’s lyrics are written in a dark, yet sarcastic tone, hence the name "Black Comedy". Letting the music industry burn made great sense when writing that song, personally I would laugh my ass off if it was ever to happen with that particular part of the industry.
\r\n
\r\n

\r\n

\r\nMetalzone:  What are your future plans with Black Comedy? Do you have a tour planned out or a live show in Norway?
\r\n
\r\n

\r\n

\r\nMarius: We are working on that right now.  It will definitively happen. Hopefully in not too long. We are really looking forward to play for an audience, personally I can’t wait. I think the live experience is going to be even more exiting then listening to the actual album it self. \r\n

\r\n

\r\nMetalzone:  Thank you for your time and the interview on behalf of Metalzone.gr. If you want to send a message to the Greek fans who will listen to the album and read the interview, you can do it now! \r\n

\r\n

\r\nMarius: Thanks for taking the time to read the interview. If you want something new and fresh from the metal scene you definitively want to check out Instigator, you are going to be surprised. \r\n

\r\n

\r\nVasilis Mazaris  \r\n

\r\n

Copyright 2024. All Right Reserved.