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Interview with
Lille Gruber, drummer of the German Brutal Death Metal band DEFEATED SANITY
Germany's most Brutal sons, Defeated Sanity, have been in existence since 1994, and spent their first decade honing their craft with a series of demos and split releases. It wasn't until 2004 that their debut album ‘Prelude to the Tragedy' was released on Grindethic Records, signifying the arrival of a serious young contender onto the international Brutal Death Metal scene with a level of Brutality akin to that of California's Disgorge melded to old School Death and Gorguts influences and a malleable rhythm section plus musical flourishes which suggested they'd been taking notes from beyond Metal's sphere. 2007's monumentally heavy follow up ‘Psalms of the Moribund' confirmed the potential suggested on their debut, reigning in any last suggestions of melody, disfiguring them in acid, and subsuming them into a morass of uninhibited barbarity. Defeated Sanity had evolved, redefining themselves and perhaps Death Metal's boundaries too. Bands had been this fast, or this brutal, or this technical, but rarely all at the same time. As the band make final preparations before heading into the studio to record their third album ‘Chapters of Repugnance', drummer and founding member Lille Gruber takes time to answer Diabolical Conquest's questions.
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Diabolical Conquest (Ewan):
Having released your previous album 'Psalms of the Moribund' back in March 2007, and toured in support of that album up to summer of 2008, I understand Defeated Sanity are coming to the point where you're finishing up album number 3. What stage are you at with it? Do you know who is doing the artwork, who is engineering it or where it's being recorded? When are you hoping to enter the studio? Defeated Sanity (Lille): We are not hoping but knowing that we will be entering the studio in July/August ‘09. We have to finish the music for one more song and write lyrics/vocal patterns to 2 more songs and then the song writing process will be finished. We will record at Soundforge Studios, Berlin. That is where we recorded our ‘Prelude to the Tragedy' album as well. Artwork is in the works by Ray, our exclusive artist.
DS: It will indeed be a concept album dealing with some of humanity's darkest chapters. There will be 4 chapters with two songs each who will be connected lyrically as well as musically. One chapter for example will deal with the depths of aberrant sexuality.
DC: Could you give an idea of the direction of the new material? There was quite a shift between your debut album 'Prelude to the Tragedy' and 2nd album 'Psalms of the Moribund' - can we expect a refinement of the 'Psalms...' direction or new developments entirely? What about the sound production that you are hoping to achieve this time around? DS: Soundwise we will go for a mix between ‘Prelude to the Tragedy's clarity and the brutality and massiveness of our Promo ‘07. I would say this album is kind of in the same vein as ‘Psalms of the Moribund' but we always invent new types of songs. For example ‘Engulfed In Excruciation' is a new type for Defeated Sanity, that we never used before, as well as ‘Calculated Barbarity' which has some unusual shit, that you wouldn't expect from us. I am very proud of the new material, we have found our perfect balance between traditional and avant-garde.
DC: You've had some line up issues since coming back from the US tour in early summer 2008. Guitarist Wolfgang Teske has left the band, as has vocalist Jens Staschel. Could you bring our readers up to speed on what Defeated Sanity's current line up is? DS: Right now it's unfortunately still the three remaining members. But we are stronger than ever, believe me.
DC: Jens announced his departure from the band pretty much immediately after you returned from that USA trek. What happened there? DS: Human relationships are probably the biggest difficulty when being in a band. I don't wanna go into detail here, but it had nothing to do with big drama or anything.
DC: I understand that, since Jens' departure, Despondency/Resection vocalist Kostantin Lühring has filled in for vocals in the band, is he a candidate to join the band full-time? What can you tell us about the progress in your search to find a replacement for Jens? DS: Hmmm the progress is slow but promising big things. Konni helped us out for 2 shows and agreed to do whatever amount of gigs we will have if it doesn't interfere with Despondency's touring schedule. We are still trying out vocalists though. We still wanna go for the perfect guy for our band.
DS: We are as of now not planning to replace him. Well him leaving has definitely changed the situation in this band. He was very good with organizing certain things. Also he had a very expressive musical identity which is hard to replace. But everyone who has seen us live as a four piece recently has said that we crush like always, so I am not too worried about it.
DC: When you announced Wolfgang's departure it was mentioned that you would likely be involved in a separate project together in the future. It is interesting to point out to our readers that you are both accomplished guitarists and drummers (you played session guitars with Sinners Bleed for a while, and Wolfgang has played drums in several bands over the past 30 years). Have you jammed together on this yet, and what sort of style of music will you play? DS: We have in fact jammed together recently and all we do is free improvisations and jamming a theme here and there. The music is very abstract, we recorded some kind of rehearsal tape and it sounds like some kind of "Dark Jazz Rock", I mix all my influences from Jazz and Classical that I can't really use for Defeated Sanity. I am not using a lot of blues/pentatonic scales, but more dark scales like augmented/diminished/whole tone scale, etc....while Wolfgang plays a very abstract and jazzy kind of drums, we are also talking to another amazing musician to maybe complete the line up soon....
DS: The underground has come to a very tough point recently. Most musicians have to work hard on their jobs so they can pay their bills, so it's hard to do a lot of touring. We are trying to do everything we get offered that is worthy playing for. For us it is extremely important to get more shows. As a musician you don't wanna sit at home all week and have one rehearsal a week/month, you wanna go out there and play every night.
DS: I can't answer that question because the line up is still not confirmed for the album.
DS: Yeah it definitely evolves. Right now, musically I have the strongest members in this band since its creation. It is really like a good bond between the members personally and they do bring very good stuff into the music. About the singers, Kelli wrote his own lyrics while Jens was barely involved in the writing process.
DS: No I don't think it will reappear, but I have incorporated those influences to form my own style which is a lot better in my opinion. I still wanna rerecord ‘Expectoration of Fear' from the promo 2000 one day, just for fun and not on any album. This one is complete Gorguts/old school death metal worship.
DC:
The release of 'Prelude...' on the UK's Grindethic Records saw a move towards a more sophisticated form of Death Metal for that label, whereas before they dealt in rawer Deathgrind/Goregrind. How did the original association with Grindethic come about? Why did you decide to go with the label considering their background? How would you say they've performed for you on your 2 albums so far?
DS: I think Grindethic did a great job distributing and advertising this album. We have a lot to thank them for. However, we will be on a different label for ‘Chapter of Repugnance ' which we will announce soon. [DC: Shortly after the completion of the interview the announcement was made that Defeated Sanity have signed with Willowtip! www.willowtip.com] DC: Revisiting 'Psalms...' now, you recorded it back in the summer of 2006, so for you as artists it's pretty old. How do you regard the release now 2.5 years on? Do you look upon it with pride more so than irritation at things you would like to be different? DS: Yeah we are still proud of it, but it's essential to criticise yourself. So I would say irritation and pride are equal.
DC: Has the response from fans and critics to 'Psalms...' attracted the attention of any record labels? Have you received any new label offers for the release of your next album? Which of today's labels do you think would be a dream partner for Defeated Sanity? DS: We got tons of offers, I will announce soon which one we took.
DC: Why did you choose to re-record the song 'Prelude to the Tragedy' for 'Psalms...'? Is there any other song in your older discography that you think might still fit in today if given a similar re-recording treatment, if so which one? DS: Yesterday me and Jacob talked about trying to get ‘Drifting Further' and ‘Liquifying Cerebral Hemispheres' out for the live set perhaps. It is kind of a conflict with the other material but It could be cool for fans of ‘Prelude to the Tragedy' and it's always great to play it.
DC: What is your opinion of the album being affectionately labelled "Slams of the Moribund" in some quarters? In my opinion there are undeniably a hefty amount of Suffocation-style breakdowns, but nothing that's overtly slammy in the Dying Fetus/Internal Bleeding/Devourment mould. What's your take on Slam Death Metal in general? Is it a style you're a fan of? DS: I love some slam stuff. The bands you mentioned are killer as well as Inhuman Dissiliency, Heinous Killings, etc....As for us being slammy. What is wrong with that? Just ignore the fact that someone came up with this stupid term "slam death metal". Isn't it a great way to describe those essential slow brutally stompy power chord riffs?
DC: Defeated Sanity are undeniably right on the bleeding edge of Death Metal brutality. What is your opinion of what detractors call the "Death Metal Arms Race", where bands can be negatively regarded as only being focused on being as brutal, as fast, or as technical as possible? DS: I think we create the perfect balance between speed, brutality, dark atmosphere, sickness and technicality in our songs, so we have nothing to fear. DC: Which of the current crop of active bands you would consider to be right alongside Defeated Sanity at the cutting edge of Death Metal, and do you think there is any aspect of competitiveness when it comes to pushing the envelope in the genre? DS: I can't judge about where my own band stands really. I also don't think there should be competitiveness. We just do our thing.
DS: Yeah there is some good stuff from Germany , I think you mentioned the most important bands. Maybe include Sinners Bleed and Infested. We barely have any Brutal Death Metal though. Its all more old school/technical stuff here.
DC: In line with Defeated Sanity's status your drumming is among the elite of the genre. Who do you regard as the most exciting drummers in Extreme Metal at this moment in time? DS: Lyle Cooper from Abhorrent/Faceless is crazy, I have always loved Zach Gibson/Gutrot`s style, but unfortunately they split up. Obviously George Kollias is the best drummer regarding double bass/traditional blasting right now!
DC: And mixing this with a previous line of enquiry, how exciting do you find the prospect of Jon Longstreth working with the reformed Gorguts? DS: I saw some video clip of Luc and John jamming and yeah that seemed interesting, couldn't really say much cause I am sure there will be a lot more going on in connection with the other instruments. Luc Lemay has always delivered great music, I hope it will continue like that!
DC: As a last line of enquiry I would like to look to the future. In one of your interviews a few years back, you stated that one of Defeated Sanity's biggest ambitions was to play at the Maryland Deathfest in the USA . You accomplished that goal in 2008, as well as playing some mini-tours in the USA . What is your next driving ambition as a band? What are your hopes for the new album, and what are your longer term goals? DS: The new album will be our masterpiece and I already am afraid of having to top that. But remember after ‘Reign in Blood' came ‘South of Heaven' and ‘Seasons in the Abyss‘! I hope that we can finally do some more touring, especially a European tour would be in order but its hard to realize, most European bookers don't seem to like us or something. We will probably come to the UK in August already. We hope to do another US tour, this time hopefully for longer. And one of the most important things for me right now is to finally get a perfect vocalist confirmed for Defeated Sanity!
DC: Coming to and end now, what can we expect from Defeated Sanity over the next 12 months? The new album I suspect - do you have any tours lined up? Also, what personally are you looking forward to in the Death Metal world in 2009? There are a few big names coming back onto the scene such as Pestilence, Believer, Atheist, a new Suffocation album and exciting prospects from Fleshgod Apocalypse, Infected Disarray, Reciprocal, Unmerciful... Please share with us your top tips... DS: Right now I am listening to this Russian band called Cephalic Impurity they kick ass. Also Ulcerate seems quite interesting. I am curious what the new Suffocation will bring for sure. New Insidious Decrepancy is going to be insane!! I am not at all into all these Reunions to be honest. I would rather like to see fans supporting young, fresh bands! Nostalgia is bullshit!
DC: That about wraps it up. Thanks once again and please take this opportunity to add anything else you feel is important and hasn't been covered. DS: Thanks Ewan for the interview! Prepare for ‘Chapters Of Repugnance‘, it will be so intense it will make you vomit!
[Defeated Sanity Website] [Defeated Sanity MySpace] ['Prelude to the Tragedy REVIEW] ['Psalms of the Moribund' REVIEW [1] [2] ] [Discuss/Comment on the forums]
- Interview conducted by Ewan Gibb
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DC: In connection with previous lines of inquiry, how important is it for you that the band's recording line-up for the next album is the same one that eventually tours for the new album? 
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