With diligence, perseverance and their fourth album “Icons of Ruin”, Dutch band Graceless have earned themselves a firm place in the Dutch and international scene as well as a place in the hearts of many fans. I spoke to founder, singer and guitarist Remco Kreft about the new album, the band's history, upcoming live activities with Asphyx and Sinister, the importance of a good social structure in the band and about the hopefully soon to be released new album by Soulburn, which also features Graceless' drummer Marc Verhaar alongside Remco.
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Hello, how is the new album "Icons of Ruin" going, what do you think of it now that it's finally out?
This is the best feeling ever! The album was already finished in December last year and we really had to be so patient. It's really a great feeling that we can now share it with everyone. The reviews are also amazing and we are of course super happy with that! We worked so hard on this.
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"...and "Hardening of the Heart" is indeed a song that stands out. We also hesitated to put it on the album because it's so different, but the song became so good in the studio, it just had to be on the album."
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This is
without a doubt our best album. This is how Graceless should sound. The first
album "Shadowlands" was a tribute to death metal from the 90s. On the successor " Where Vultures know your Name" we
already found our own musical identity a lot more. And we perfected this on the
penultimate album "Chants from Purgatory". We did feel that there needed to be a bit more power
on the new album, and I think we succeeded. "Icons of Ruin" has become exactly what we
had in mind and maybe even a lot more and "Hardening of the Heart" is indeed a song that stands
out. We also hesitated to put it on the album because it's so different, but
the song became so good in the studio, it just had to be on the album. Now we
are happy about it because it is everyone's favorite. The song is not a typical
death metal song and that just happened to be the way it developed. It has more
of a pop song structure but with a thick, dirty Graceless sauce over it.
We have quite a few weekend shows planned, including the album presentation with Asphyx, in our own city Leiden, on September 26th in the Nobel. After that we will go on tour in December with the legendary Sinister and the great Pessimist from the USA. We can't wait to play the new songs live!!
I do have one small point of criticism though. I don't like the video for "Resurrection of the Graveless", I just can't get used to the AI-generated images that some bands have been using for their videos lately. A simple standard video like the one for "Hardening of the Heart", in which a ban plays their song at a certain location, is much better in my opinion... Can you agree with that?
Yes, I can definitely agree with that. I don't like it that much myself. We are not a mega big band and we obviously have a limited budget. Within that budget we look for creative solutions. We were a bit done with the lyric videos and the standard videos, so we tried something else. Not everything you shoot is a bull's eye.
In general, you are a very hard-working band, or just very effective. How do you do that, releasing your fourth album in only nine years?
It's exactly what you say, we are a hard-working band. We also really enjoy writing new songs. Usually, after promoting the last album, we already start collecting ideas for the new album. I also think that you shouldn't lose momentum when things are going well with the band.
Let's go back to the founding of Graceless, which took place a year after the end of Nailgun Massacre. Was the end of this band the reason for Graceless? And in general, you seem to get along very well, a band that hasn't had a line-up change for almost 10 years, respect! Are you such a harmonious unit?
The end of Nailgun Massacre was indeed the birth of Graceless. We were all done with the atmosphere within the band and the chosen direction that differed enormously. This caused a lot of frustration, so I left and took Jasper and Marc with me. I had already written "Shadowlands" at that time. We met Björn at Graspop Metal Meeting in Belgium. We already had a good connection there and that turned out to be the case later on in terms of music. He completed the band, as a person and as a musician. In all the years that I have been playing in bands I have learned one thing, there is nothing more important than having the right group of people around you. You are so dependent on each other. You eat, sleep, drink, laugh, cry, travel and party with each other so it is so important that you can get along. Of course we have discussions and sometimes we are diametrically opposed to each other, but always with respect and with the best intentions for Graceless. This is a band of metal brothers, brothers who are striving for their dreams and live for metal music.
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"...extreme metal has always had a strong base in the Netherlands. Almost everyone here is in a band and there's a lot of competition. That makes the level go up."
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Graceless has grown from an insider tip to a permanent fixture in Dutch death metal. From the perspective of a German neighbor, the Netherlands has always had so many great bands, even though you have less than a quarter of the German population. What do you think is the reason? And which Dutch bands have had a lasting or recent influence or impression on you?
I don't
know the exact reason, but extreme metal has always had a strong base in the
Netherlands. Almost everyone here is in a band and there's a lot of
competition. That makes the level go up. And every province has a slightly
different approach. We are also super proud of the standard bearers who made
our small country so big in the scene; Gorefest, Pestilence, Asphyx, Sinister,
Thanatos, Severe Torture, Altar, Legion of the Damned, and I can name 25 more.
And there are also some really good bands coming up such as Mouflon, Deadspeak, Burial
Remains or Release the River.
Now that I have you here, Remco and Marc, I saw that Soulburn is recording a new album. Can you tell me something about it? I love all Soulburn albums, but "The Suffocating Darkness" especially stands out!
"The Suffocating Darkness" is also my favorite! And yes, we just went into the studio. Marc just finished recording his drums at the Soundlodge Studio in Germany. It's super tight. Tomorrow I'm going to record the guitars with Eric Daniels at Tom Meier Studio. We also recorded the latest Soulburn album "Noa's D'ark" there (read an interview with Eric Daniels from Soulburn on the occasion of this release here.) Bass and vocals will be done in July in the Toneshed Studio. We hope to release it at the end of this year. This is really going to be an amazing album.
The last
words are yours, everything that hasn't been mentioned so far can be said
here...
First of
all I want to thank you for your interest in Graceless, we really appreciate
that. And of course all readers of Systematic Desensitization Zine and all
metalheads on this planet! Go listen to our new album “Icons of Ruin” and
hopefully we'll see you live at one of our concerts. Horns up my friends!!
