The Dutch symphonic death metallers MAYAN are back with a 2nd album entitled "ANTAGONISE"! Here's an interview with the guitarist Frank Schiphorst about their latest release and their new lineup!
-Before we start talking about Antagonise, let's talk a little bit about the new lineup! Laura Macrì and Henning Basse, new members in the band. What can you tell me about their joining and MaYan before and after it?
On Quarterpast, they were guests. We first wrote the music and then looked for suitable vocalists for certain parts on that album. Now with Antagonise, with them being permanent members, we knew who we work with, so we wrote music with their voices in our minds as well. On Antagonise, you hear a lot more of Henning, for instance, and more of Laura. And now they came up with their own vocal lines too, instead of us and the producer in the studio making up lines for them like on Quarterpast. It worked out great if you ask me :)
-According to you, how important is the presentation of the female voice in the symphonic metal world?
Just as important as men. There should be no difference in importance. We love to use the female voice on certain parts to give it the atmosphere we have in mind. It's another instrument so to say. And a matter of taste. There are lots of great bands with just a female vocalist and lots of them with just male vocals, but we like to use both to not be limited in what we do :)
-Antagonise, the 2nd album of the band! Talk to me a bit about it!
It was lots of fun to write and record. This time for Antagonise, Mark, Jack, and I went for a better flow in the songs, and kept it a bit more metal as well. We were a bit more critical of each other when writing together for it, and we know each other's style better now, and that worked out very efficiently. Next to that, our bass player Rob wrote a track (guitars+drums) as well at home, which became Bloodline Forfeit. On Quarterpast, we used almost everything we wrote and were more experimental in songwriting, so we had more hooks and 'technical' parts in our songs. With Antagonise, we aimed for a better flow in the songs without making concessions in what we love to play. So everything is still in there, but in a better way I think. The more you listen to the songs, the more you'll discover what's in there. With Quarterpast, you discovered more of how the songs were built up/discover the logic behind the songs after more listening sessions, and with Antagonise, it's the other way around. First songs, then discover all layers/technical stuff (being used in the most musical way, of course). For recording Quarterpast, we went to the Gate Studios and recorded everything there, and for Antagonise, we did everything in our home studios except for the drums and guest vocals. That worked out much better as well for this album because you don't have the time pressure you get in an expensive studio, and we could record in the comfort of our own homes. This also worked for a better result. And worked very efficiently because we could record different instruments at the same time. When the drums were recorded in the studio (Sandlane Recording Facilities), I got those tracks in my home studio and recorded all guitars on them. The finished tracks I sent to the rest of the guys who recorded their parts in their home studios. And when everything was finished we sent those tracks to Joost van den Broek, our producer for Antagonise, who re-amped the guitar tracks in the studio and mixed the whole thing. All in all, it took less time and we got a better result than the first album. I'm really happy with how this worked out.
-What's the story behind the title?
Frank - Governments/world leaders antagonizing their civilians, us 'normal' people, by corruption, lies, intimidation, spying, etc...
-What do the lyrics deal with?
Frank - The most obvious is the spying by our own governments which is all over the news now. And in the bigger whole all corruption and lies going on to keep us 'under control' and getting more power and money in the end. We are being lied to as in they tell us they protect us by the so-called war on terrorism (is it really a war on terror? ;)), trying to gain our trust by misleading us. Just as big corporations 'giving' us things like social media but in the end just to use it for their own benefit by the information we give them without knowing. The whole album is about this messed up world we live in.
-What makes Antagonise different from Quarterpast?
The lyrics are more of the present as you see being revealed lately by people like Snowden. And musically, Antagonise has more of a flow in the music than Quarterpast, which was more experimental and more complicated listening. More 'sympho'/proggy as well. Antagonise is more metal (still with all the technical/progressive stuff in there). For instance, Jack now uses more in-your-face sounds like overdriven organs, etc., as well.
-"War on terror" was a successful video, are you guys thinking about making a video of one of Antagonise tracks?
Yes, we're working very hard on trying to realize a new video clip like we want it. So not just a simple band-in-a-hall video. It's hard to realize with the budget we have, so we are checking all extra possibilities next to that to make a new video at least as good, and thought-provoking and talked about as War on Terror. It is very important for us to show our message through our video clips to make it stand out and make people think!
-Let's talk a bit about Mayan's future. Tell me more about your upcoming shows and events and the band's next step!
At this moment we are working on more shows here in Europe. We try to play at some summer festivals as well. Epica releases their new album in April so it's synchronizing our agendas with Epica's to try to get the best out of it. January 30th and 31st we had our two album release shows which were awesome, we just got confirmed for the Belgian PPM Fest in April, and soon more! And hopefully a good tour as well this year! That's the next step we're working on; more shows and the video clip.
-And in the end, do you have any message to your fans around here!
First of all, we hope to visit you someday!! So go get our album Antagonise, and do let us know what you think! Thanks for all your support and see you on the road!
And thank you again for this interview!!
-Thank you too!
