A while ago a new CD popped into my mailbox and after some time I popped it into my CD player to see what was hidden on the EP, with the saying title 'The World Slaughter EP'. What I found was a pummeling mix of old school death metal with some more modern influences and great vocals, so again, after some time I got in touch with guitar and bass maestro Søren Jensen and had a little chat.
Hi there, how are things at your end?
Fine thanks! We are currently in studio-mode, working on a bunch of new tracks.
Six String Slaughter, a new band on the Danish death metal scene, how did it all start?
It all started when Nicholas told me he was leaving Corpus Mortale and wanted to know if I was interested in doing a new project together. Nicholas and I have been friends for many years and I thought it could be great fun to work with him again.
The core of the band, guitarist and Drummer Nicholas Maschøln and you, have earlier roamed in Corpus Mortale, how did the stint with that band end?
Personally I left the band in 1999 just after we had recorded the 'Spiritism' album (which was never released). I felt I had to take a break from playing in a band and focus more on writing and recording my own music. There was no drama at all and we all parted as friends. In the time after I started to build up my studio and also played in a few other bands such as Ironfire and Granhammer.
In 2007 Nicholas also felt that it was time for a change and here we are haha!
Now you both are in Six String Slaughter together with vocalist Daniel Wilkens, what do you want to do with Six String Slaughter?
The very first day Nicholas and I met up, we quickly set out a bunch of goals, call them guidelines if you will. First of all we didn't want to assemble a full line-up and waste a lot of time in some crummy rehearsal space. Secondly we wanted the drums to have a bigger influence in the writing process – in fact Nicholas wrote the main riff of 'In Search for Truth We Will Stagnate' just by humming it to me while I was trying to translate his ideas onto the guitar. Thirdly we are a studio based band but in no way just another project band.
This does not necessarily rule out playing live gigs – we will play live, but for a reason. Meaning that due to the fact that we would have to hire session musicians and spend a lot of (their) time rehearsing the material, we aren't really able to play small clubs and such. So the main focus now is writing and recording some great songs and bringing them out to the listeners.
The music on your debut, 'The World Slaughter EP', is a good mix of old school death metal and a more modern take on it, with a lot of grooves, how did it end up like that, it is not like you were known for doing anything too modern in Corpus Mortale?
Again, we have been quite conscious about our musical expression with this band. Just the fact that the drums are a big source of influence combined with the more melodic approach to songwriting that I represent, results in a more varied outcome and a wider range. Or at least, we’d like to think so.
Where do you find inspiration when you write music nowadays?
Well, I would like to give you some kind of deep philosophical answer to this but the fact is that we more or less just pull these songs out of our asses, haha! Don't get me wrong, we do take songwriting seriously but we don't sit and think too much about it, as we basically just play what we would like to listen to ourselves. No egos to satisfy here. If you think about it there's no unnecessary solos or other shit on the EP.
You've been in the game for quite some years, have your way of writing music and finding inspiration for it, changed throughout the years?
Sure! I mean, in the beginning it was all about how many riffs you could fit into one song whereas now it's more about the overall feeling of a song and finding the famous red tread.
Do you have to be in a special mood when writing music, or are you spewing it out all the time?
Sometimes the theme of a song just pops out when driving home from work or from fiddling with an acoustic guitar while watching TV. And last but surely not least - never underestimate the 'pulled from ass' method, haha!
How did you end up with the name Six String Slaughter? When I first saw the name, without knowing anything about the band, I didn't really associate it with death metal.
Actually it came from a song by All That Remains, where the singer yells Six String Slaughter right before a guitar solo.
Lyrically Wilkens is dealing with some not that used topics within death metal, social awareness, politics and some personal lyrics, if I have analyzed it properly, is there a message with the lyrics, or is it just venting off steam?
Daniel really likes to reflect on what's going on around him and writes all the lyrics exclusively. He was also the one who came up with the title for the EP. In fact there is sort of a chronologically order in the lyrics of the five songs which also makes up the title.
Where is the inspiration found for the lyrics and how big a part of Six String Slaughter is the lyrics and vocals?
As mentioned above, Daniel is greatly inspired by the world around him, personal experience and of course, the mood of the songs provided by Nicholas and I.
Right now you are handling the bass together with the guitars, are you looking for a steady bass player and when will we see you hit the live scene, something I am looking forward to, as I think the music will work really well live?
At this point we're not looking for a steady bass player due to our way of working. However I really try to think like a bass player and not just a guitarist when writing the bass parts. I think that the bass is often overlooked in many of the bands out there which is a shame as a proper bass line can really compliment the guitars and drums instead of just doubling whatever the guitars are doing. Something which we are focusing even more on with the new songs.
You have released 'The World Slaughter EP' yourselves, have you had any label interest since the release?
Yeah, in fact we recently received the news from our manager that a Dutch label was interested in offering a distribution deal. But it's still way too soon to say what will happen.
When will we see a full length from you guys, if I know you right, you are working on new tunes all the time, what do you so far have ready and are there any concrete plans for a full length, title, tracks etc. at this point?
At the moment our management (CBBM) is working on a few labels and in the meantime we are (as you very well suspected) working on a bunch of new song. Nicholas already finished the drums and I completed the bass a few weeks ago. Now I just need to records the guitars, but recently my girlfriend gave birth to our lovely baby girl so the rest of the recording process was put a bit on hold as the guitars are hard enough to play even without a baby on one arm, haha! Lyrically Daniel has already written the greater part of the lyrics so now we're just waiting for the guy with the guitar!
How do you look upon the future for Six String Slaughter and what would you like to accomplish with the band?
Hopefully we should have a full-length out in the not too distant future and the visual expression is also something we're working on regarding videos, MySpace etc.
I really think there's a great potential in the band, especially since Daniel came on board. We originally had another singer but when that didn't work out we got introduced to Daniel who quickly rewrote and re-recorded the vocals for the entire EP. This time he has a lot more time to focus on the songs and on the new songs I'm quite convinced we will see another and even stronger side of his vocals as this time, as he has been involved in the songs from scratch.
What 5 albums have you been spinning a lot lately?
- Killswitch Engage – Killswitch Engage
- As I Lay Dying – An Ocean between Us
- D:A:D – Monster Philosophy
- Gorefest – Revolt
- Vader – XXV
Taken from, and with the kind permission of Nocturnal Horde
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AUTHOR: Nocturnal DK
A Danish metalhead on the way to become old, enjoys most types of metal, though brutality and darkness are mostly preferred, and too modern takes on metal are not always positively looked upon. Have been writing about metal for 10 years in own and at other publications as Fishcomcollective, Ancient Ceremonies, Northern Shadows and now Corazine and the upcoming Terror Propaganda (might have forgotten a few, come and kick my arse!).