PARASITE INC. interview about the upcoming new album!!!

Well, I know you guys are just working hard for the upcoming album. How is the recording process going?

Kai: Hey Kumi, thanks for asking. Yeah, recording time is always quite a tough time, but so far everything worked well. The mountain of tasks is shrinking slowly but constantly. The guitars have been done already, drum tracks as well and most of the bass parts too. At the moment we are working on the vocals, keyboard and effects stuff and after that we will have to work on the album cover, the new website and stuff like that.

Benni: Well, Kai summed it up pretty well. I just can say that he is spending an incredible amount of time on the new album. You know, he is quite the perfectionist. But I totally agree on that. I mean, this will be our first album released by a label!

Can you tell me any details about the new album?

Kai: Sure. After we signed with our label GoodDamn Records we wanted to release the new album as fast as possible, but we soon realized two problems: first of all we weren’t able to write about 10 to 12 new songs in such a short period of time. Well, writing so many songs maybe wouldn’t have been a problem, but writing so many really good songs which also would have fit and felt like Parasite Inc., that was the problem!
We also felt that we were not completely done with the existing songs yet and that they simply don’t have the sound they deserve. That was the second issue that bothered us and that’s why we decided to re-record all the existing songs again and get the best out of them this time.

Benni: Yes, you know, we played the old songs live for quite a while now and constantly improved subtle things. And after Kevin joined the band his playing style and especially his tightness added even more character to the songs especially to the rhythm parts. That’s another point why we finally decided to re-record the old songs, too.
I should also add that we were on a very tight budget with the last album. We didn’t have much money to spend on the recording and mixing process. Hendrik did a good job with first album given this tight budget. But we feel that with the better equipment and the experience we have now, we get much closer to the Parasite Inc. sound we have in mind and want the album to sound like this time.

Kai: Yeah! Anyway, back to the album details: the album is called “Back For War”. I think the name fits pretty well because of two reasons: in the last years we struggled a lot to keep the band running. Changes in the line-up as well as personal throwbacks made it sometimes very difficult to bring the band forward. But well, the band still exists, we’ve got some kickass new songs and last but not least we have a label now and we are ready for our first official release! And here is the preliminary track list for you:

1. Intro
2. Back For War
3. Time Tears Down
4. Chaos Inside
5. Function Or Perish
6. Armageddon in 16 to 9
7. Pulse Of The Dead
8. The Scapegoat
9. In The Dark
10. Unmeant Outcasts
11. Hatefilled
12. End Of Illusions

 

 

 

 

Kai: Oh and we have planned some surprises as well but obviously I can’t tell you more about it right now, wouldn’t be much of a surprise otherwise wouldn’t it?

Wow, cool. As far as I saw the list, there’s four new songs plus the new intro, right? You mean, the new material has the same atmosphere as the rest of the songs in the list?

Kai: Well, I feel the new tracks have a darker and more aggressive atmosphere but without losing the focus on melodies. It’s more directly into the face. Anyway I am not sure if someone who doesn’t know the old songs would hear a big difference…

Benni: …since the new ones still sound typically Parasite Inc.

I’m curious about the sound of the production. Do you think the new album will be more killer-sounding than the first release - “Parasite Inc.”?

Kai: Let me see… damn yes! When we worked on the pre-production of the new songs we also tried some of the old songs with the new sound and I can tell you that even the sound of the pre-production already was SO MUCH better hahaha.

Benni: Yeah, I definitely agree here. I think Kai especially nailed the guitar sound this time! I can’t wait to hear the final master when everything is ready! Oh by the way, that’s something we are looking into right now: since we are doing the whole recording and mixing ourselves this time, we definitely want a fresh pair of ears for the mastering process!

Kai: I've already bought a soap for your ears hahahaha :D

Hahaha. As you mentioned above , Hendrik (metalmixer.de) is an awesome sound producer and actually I don’t have any unsatisfied feelings with your first product “Parasite Inc.” but you guys are trying to aim more higher class, I’m happy to hear that :) Do you feel any pressure with it?

Kai: I am not sure if I would call it pressure, maybe rather a natural development that every band has: You try, you do, you learn, you grow. With the old recordings I would say it’s a feeling like “Okay it, was the best that was possible at that time and now we give our best again and bring it to our new limit”. We just do what we did from the very beginning: Just put all our passion into the music and try to make it as good as possible until we are satisfied with it.

Benni: Yes, definitely. You know, for us the sound of the recording is very important to make the songs sound and feel like Parasite Inc. It’s a not easy to explain, but even in the pre-production we work with sound as a big part of the songs. That’s why the pre-production almost sound the same as the final recording, just a bit more sloppily played. I think you’ll understand it best with this example: take Hatebreeder by Children of Bodom. By today’s production standards it’s not a very good production: it has relatively thin guitars and thin drums, still in my opinion it’s exactly how it should sound like. I think with this typical modern metal sound the songs on this album would lose a lot of their feeling. Well and whenever I listen to Hatebreeder I get a certain COB feeling. You know, what we try to archive is a certain Parasite Inc. feeling whenever you listen to our songs and of course whenever we are listening to them, too. And for us it’s simply not quite there with the old recording.

This is the first recording with Kevin. Is everything good with him?

Kevin: Well he is the best guitarist in the world and got the biggest balls =D

Kai: Haha. Kevin is such a modest guy as you can see, that’s what we all like about him. Yes, everything is great! We just got a new medicine from our psychotherapist that helps us bear with him :P. But seriously again, the recording with him was relaxed. He is a great and involved guitarist with great ideas and I often was amazed how exact his playing is.

Benni: Yes, definitely. As I already mentioned, his way of playing the old song was one of the reasons we wanted to record them again. He fits Parasite Inc. perfectly and we are all happy to have him in the band. On the other hand, maybe it’s just the medicine Kai mentioned ;)

This time, the album will be released by GoodDamn Records as you mentioned above. How do you feel about it? What will change with it?

Kai: Oh, I would say we still feel good with our decision. Jürgen (the founder of GoodDamn Records) is a very nice guy and we really want to thank him for his patience with the album recording so far! Actually we were supposed to have the album finished by March, but well, the delay will be really worth it you’ll see.

Okay, you mean, we don’t need to wait such a long time for listening to your new album Back For War anymore? :)

Kai: There is still much to do but we’ll work hard on it in every free minute and we don’t call our album “Time” ;). So I am sure we will be back for war very soon.

Benni: Haha, I think it’s save to promise it will be released before the new Wintersun album and definitely before the next Guns and Roses album!

Hahaha, as long as you cite Wintersun as an example, I can never feel relieved about the release date, haha. *joking* Anyway, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you guys!

Parasite Inc. official web site: www.parasiteinc.de
Parasite Inc. Facebook: www.facebook.com/ParasiteInc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOw2A3NznwU