Sometimes the music press can be very hard on young bands that are trying to establish themselves in the music industry.
One of these bands is Scenteria from Sweden, a young quartet that has quite recently their debut album "Art of Aggression". Daniel Landid, the band’s drummer, answered some questions, which will help us all understand why Slayeric riffs and fast pounding drums are the band’s main inspiration.
Since Scenteria is a relatively new band, and the "Art of Aggression" is your debut album, I would like you to present your band to our subscribers.
Daniel: We are four guys from Halmstad in Sweden.We started Scenteria about two years ago, we made three demos and then signed a deal with New Aeon media. We play Thrash metal the way we like it and I think we have our own way of doing it.
Sweden is famous for exporting large numbers of bands that are influenced by the sounds of Slayer, Entombed, The Haunted and At The Gates. How easy is it for you guys to prove that you're not just another At the Gates clone, but a band that has something new to offer?
Daniel: It’s hard sometimes when people who write for magazines are trying so hard to find a band to compare you with, but the easiest way to find out is to buy the record. There will always be a part of the music you write that will sound like another band, but that’s inspiration and you can’t escape that your inspiration will show in the music you play.
Let's talk about your debut album, the "Art of Aggression". The studio recordings must have been a totally new experience for the members of the band, still you managed to create quite a solid sound. Who was the person that helped the band achieve that sound, and how important is it, in your opinion, to have the support of a producer that understands the band's vision?
Daniel: We recorded the "Art of Aggression" in our own home studio then we went to Slaughterhouse studio to record vocals and do the mixing. The man who runs Slaughterhouse is called Rickard and he did a great job. I think a producer can be very important to a band, we would love to have one but we didn’t have the budget on this record to have a real producer. But Rickard did as much as he could to produce some parts and to give us his opinion on things in the studio.
What is the song-writing process that the band normally follows in order to create a song? Is it one person that comes up with ideas, or a collective effort?
Daniel: Our songs usually starts when a member brings a couple of ideas for a song to our rehearsals then we all do our part to write riffs or lyrics to make it a song. Sometimes we start with one riff and sometimes the song is almost finished we start working on it.
The "Art Of Aggression" is a thirty nine-minute trip in the world of Slayeric riffs, barbaric vocals and heavy drumming. Was Slayer the only main source of inspiration for the band, and if not, which are the reasons that make you play such an intense music?
Daniel: Slayer is a big inspiration but bands like At The Gates, In Flames and Testament are also a big source of inspiration.
When you're composing music, is there a specific story line that you have in mind? Are the lyrics that you write directly associated with the music of the band? Who's Scenteria's main lyricist, and what are the subjects that you like to address?
Daniel: No we don’t have a story line for our songs, we all write lyrics but mostly Johan and Stefan do the lyrics. Sometimes the lyrics are very personal and sometimes they’re pure fiction.
The album has been around for a few months now. Have you made any gigs in order to promote it? What are your plans as far as touring is concerned?
Daniel: We did a gig at the release party for the "Art of Aggression", and we are working on getting gigs around Sweden. We will probably be playing a couple of gigs in Holland and Belgium this fall on a mini tour set up by New Aeon Media.
Now that you're in the first steps of your career, the support of a strong record label is a definite must have. You have signed a contract with the label New Aeon Media. Are you satisfied with the way that the band is promoted by them?
Daniel: Yes we feel that things go really well with New aeon media, and we hope they do as much as they can to promote us, so far we have been doing interviews for magazines and radio stations and we hope to do a couple of shows as well.
Have you considered any alternative ways of presenting the band's music to a wider audience, like perhaps a video? How useful do you think that a video would be for the band at this point in your career?
Daniel: I think that playing live and have a music video playing on TV is the best way of promotion. The sad part is that a video is really expensive to record and the money for that doesn’t exist right now.
How easy is it for a young musician to make a living out of his music? What are the everyday things that the members of the band have to do outside Scenteria in order to survive?
Daniel: We all have day jobs in order to make a living I (Daniel) work as an electrician. Niklas works as a chef, Stefan runs his own company in printing and Johan is unemployed at the moment.
Now that your debut album was released, you have managed to achieve the very difficult first step of your career. What is it that Scenteria have to do in the near future in order for them to become a successful band?
Daniel: Work hard to get gigs and to take every chance to play live so that people can see and hear you, just work as hard as you can to make yourself heard.
You have grown up in a country that has quite a strong music culture. How much do you believe that this thing helped your decision to become a musician? Was that something that you wanted to do since you were a little boy, or was it revealed to you while growing up?
Daniel: We all like music and started to play in bands when we were teens. I didn’t listen too much Swedish music when I was growing up it was mostly American bands, but I listen to a lot of Swedish music now.
Name some of the bands whose music was the main influence for the members of the band.
Daniel: The main influence would have to be Testament, Dimmu Borgir, At the gates, In flames, The haunted, Iron maiden and Metallica.
What do you want to say to those who do not feel that the band has anything interesting to offer? What's the message that the band wants to pass to the Metal fans out there?
Daniel: Give the record a chance it has a great variation of fast parts and heavy and melodic parts as well. We play Thrash but I think we have our own personal style of doing it.
The last words are yours. What do you want to say to the people that are going to read this review?
Daniel: Thanks for reading this and I hope you check out the album "Art of Aggression" and we hope to see you on tour.
Related>>Album reviews
Interview © 2004
John Stefanis
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