“And then we stood in front of all these unhappy, ultra-angry people, who were now even angrier because their heroes hadn't come and instead they were being served a complete untrue melodic death metal band.”
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Night in Gales, which the band will celebrate with an anniversary concert in November. The band's first release, the “Sylphlike” EP, will also be performed live in its entirety, as it has been completely re-recorded and will be released soon. So there are several good reasons to speak with guitarist and founding member Jens Basten. He has a lot to say, and in addition to the latest news, he also digs deep into the archives to tell old (tour) stories. These include the band's old hometown of Voerde, the numerous side projects and other bands of Night in Gales, musicians, bad business decisions, and militant vegan metalcore. But read for yourself...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Let's start the interview with an event that took place a long time ago: September 20, 1998, Live Music Hall Cologne. Dismember, Gorgoroth, Children of Bodom, Agathodaimon, and Raise Hell are scheduled to play there as part of a Nuclear Blast festival. Suddenly, a promoter steps onto the stage and tells the audience that Gorgoroth has canceled (I can't remember the reason; there were no internet announcements back then) and that Night in Gales will be stepping in as a last-minute replacement. The whole hall seems to be angry (including me, haha), everyone was waiting for the ultra-evil Gorgoroth and then you came along with your contrasting melodic death metal. Do you remember? How did you experience it as a band? Did you play again later instead of Gorgoroth? I think I read something about that.
Several years have passed since then. At the end of November, you will be celebrating your 30th anniversary in Duisburg and playing your debut EP in its entirety. What are you particularly looking forward to on this evening?
We're looking forward to it because in 2018, with the same concept, i.e., a small, sold-out venue and free beer, it was an unforgettable experience for everyone involved. Everywhere you looked, there were happy people, and many still talk to us today about how we have to do it again, etc., so we're doing it now for our 30th band anniversary and the release of the new recording of our first EP “Sylphlike,” which will be released on October 31. This time, we even have an upgrade for the crowd with the "Rock Im Biss" food truck, and we'll have our good friends Enemy Within and Tyranthrope as support acts. We'll also get an oversized PA system for the small venue so that it sounds great and is easy on the ears. There will be special merchandise for the band's 30th anniversary, and we will be playing the “Sylphlike” EP in its entirety for the first time since 1996. At that time, those were our first few songs, and “Autumn Water” (a song from the then-unreleased “Towards The Twilight” debut album - author's note) was already finished, I think. But in order to fill a 35-minute set, we still had to add two cover versions, “Iron Maiden” and “Raining Blood,” in the early days.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“We didn't change the songs because they were just perfect, haha. The sound is fatter now, we've tuned down to C, which makes the sound a bit darker, and the songs still rock anyway.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------
You have re-recorded this EP, and as you say, it will soon be released on your label Apostasy. How do the new versions differ from the old ones? The re-recordings of the old Sepultura albums, for example, offer real added value. Where do you see this added value in your re-recordings?
It's good that you mention Sepultura, because the added value is exactly the same here as it is for us. You can't really expect anyone who didn't hear the releases back then to listen to these old recordings today. And there are certainly quite a few new listeners, because with the last four albums on Apostasy and the two vinyl re-releases of “Towards The Twilight” and “Thunderbeast,” we've gained many new fans who have certainly never heard the 1995 version. And on the other hand, it's just totally awesome for us to be able to do this. It's a luxury: you've re-recorded your band's first demo exactly 30 years later with no musical changes, it's been mixed and mastered by none other than ‘Göteborgman’ Fredrik Nordström, the cover has been repainted and reinterpreted by Paolo Girardi, and the whole thing is being released as a digipack, MC, download, and several vinyl editions in a gatefold cover on Apostasy Records. An opportunity like this doesn't come around again. It's just exciting for us to try it out. We didn't change the songs because they were just perfect, haha. The sound is fatter now, we've tuned down to C, which makes the sound a bit darker, and the songs still rock anyway.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“If everyone in the scene were technically and theoretically perfect musicians, the output would be pretty boring, I think.”
“Nuclear Blast wanted to send us to Peter Tägtren's Abyss Studio in Sweden, but we refused because we were lazy and wanted to record nearby.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Nuclear Blast albums sounded a bit more moderate compared to the Swedish stuff, that's true. That was partly because we were still playing in D-tuning at the time and because we didn't record in a studio that was experienced with death metal. Our producer at the time, Wolfgang Stach, had a huge chart success with the breakthrough of the Guano Apes (“Open Your Eyes”). He had also done stuff like Sodom and Sinister, but nothing specifically in the melodic death metal genre. Nuclear Blast wanted to send us to Peter Tägtren's Abyss Studio in Sweden, but we refused because we were lazy and wanted to record nearby. We also wanted to have a different sound. Strategically, that may not have been one of the best decisions at the time, haha. On the other hand, the different production and a few riffs set us apart from the crowd with those albums, which from today's perspective isn't such a bad thing.
It's really amazing how quickly you were labeled as plagiarist by the press back then, even though you were actually still pretty original compared to what's going on today. But the constant comparisons became increasingly annoying back then and, especially since the Nuclear Blast phase, didn't influence our decisions for the better. Even bands like Grave were belittled because they sounded too much like Entombed and Dismember, but were somehow too late to the party. There was always something to complain about, it was awful. Today, on the other hand, it's not uncommon to read things like “sounds exactly like Left Hand Path – 9 points” in some reviews. Bands may have the same goal in mind, but the results will naturally differ due to various factors. I call these limitations. Some of these limitations are difficult to influence in the short term, especially musical limitations, budget limitations, etc. Venom certainly didn't always play such simple stuff on purpose. If they had been more technically proficient, they might have sounded more like Metallica, but fortunately that wasn't the case, haha. If everyone in the scene were technically and theoretically perfect musicians, the output would be pretty boring, I think. You see, I think about things like that. But when you've been releasing music with the same band for 30 years, that's only natural. You've become a different person over time. Of course, you reflect on why you did things the way you did. For me, that includes songwriting.
I can't really say, I don't think enough time has passed since the releases. Maybe it's also because we deliberately didn't change that much between the albums. What tends to happen is that if we overdo it with one ingredient, we tend to tone it down a bit on the next album and emphasize something else instead. For example, we thought the mix on “Black Stream” was too polished and transparent; you could hear all the instruments really clearly. We changed that again with the “Shadowreaper” album. Everything sounds nice and noisy on that one, which gave us the right kick again. Out of the living room and back into the garage, so to speak. We're approaching the new songs with that in mind right now.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“The fact that the time wasn't right isn't really the problem in our case, haha. The problem is that we changed our style so radically so quickly, and the implementation of the ideas wasn't good enough for it to be successful.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------
In some interviews, you were also asked about the possibility of Night in Gales breaking through at the time of their debut album and afterwards, which, as we know, didn't work out. There are some bands that could make a living from it, but have consciously decided against it because they don't want to play a minimum of 100 concerts a year these days. But that's another topic. You also experimented, although that was at the end of the 90s/beginning of the 2000s, when many bands started to break down old structures and break new ground. I'm thinking of bands like Samael, Tiamat, and Kreator for example. Many of these bands, including Kreator, have returned to their old-school sound, although in retrospect, the more experimental albums are now much more popular (in my opinion, quite rightly) than they were at the time of their release. Was the time not ready for your changes back then?
The fact that the time wasn't right isn't really the problem in our case, haha. The problem is that we changed our style so radically so quickly, and the implementation of the ideas wasn't good enough for it to be successful. When you change your style so drastically, you have to be sure that you'll gain at least as many new fans as you'll lose by taking that step. But we didn't do any analysis like that, let alone agree on a common goal. Instead, we had a healthy dose of artist arrogance, along the lines of “I don't make music for other people,” haha. But of course that's not true. Musicians make music for their fans and the record company. When you lose both, you learn that. You can make music for yourself, sure. But then you just have to stay in your basement.
But there was definitely something in the air at that time, that's true. We weren't the only ones who messed up big time, haha.
Speaking of melodic death metal, besides the well-known and lesser-known bands such as In Flames, Dark Tranquility, At The Gates, Dawn, Gates of Ishtar, Eucharist, Sacramentum, Ablaze my Sorrow, etc., can you name some perhaps almost completely unknown gems that never enjoyed a larger audience?
Harasai (RIP) from Essen released two pretty cool albums in the 2010s. Otherwise, apart from Dissection and Unanimated, I can't think of anything essential from the 90s that you haven't already listed above. But even if it's not pure melodic death metal, I always mention Desultory, Paradise Lost, Amorphis, My Dying Bride, Cradle of Filth, Anathema, and Cemetary as bands that paved the way for the style.
Tell us a little about your hometown of Voerde. According to Wikipedia, it's a town in North Rhine-Westphalia with just under 36,000 inhabitants, making it one of countless medium-sized towns in Germany. What was your youth like there, how did it shape you as a band, do you or some of you still live there? Due to its close proximity to Duisburg and Oberhausen, a lot of the (sub)culture activities probably shifted to these cities or the Ruhr area back then, right?
I knew Christian Müller from school; the two of us had been making noise under the name “Tombstone” since 1990, in the style of Grave and Pungent Stench. My brother knew Tobias from his moped clique back then. So when we were looking for a bass player for our first real band before Night In Gales, “Intestinal Ulcer,” he was quickly found. The others all came from the surrounding area or suburbs of Voerde. We picked up Christian Bass in Dinslaken. From the beginning, we rehearsed in the basement of our parents' house in Voerde until 1997. Tobias is the only one who still lives there. Frank ended up in neighboring Hünxe. Christian and I now live in Moers after various stops along the way. How did Voerde shape us? I think in the sense that it was a good place to grow up, where we had everything we needed and, thanks to our parents' support, we were able to start a band early on, alongside finishing school and so on, and have nothing else on our minds, haha. So I thought it was a great time in Voerde and I wouldn't want to trade it for anything else. But at some point it became too small for me; I don't like it when you know two people from school in every store and everyone waves at you at every crosswalk.
If so, it was a correct and important counter-reaction, haha. But joking aside: no, I think the timing was just a coincidence. It simply took a while until the album was completely written and ready for recording, and a label was found. The other members had previously played together in other constellations such as “Pope Death Threat” and “Flames Await,” and there were also “God Said War” and “Deadloss,” in which musicians often came and went at that time. It would be interesting to map out who collaborated with whom, as it would likely form a beautiful spider web.
By the way, during my research, I noticed that I own another work of yours, namely the Bloodred Bacteria album. Musically, you seem to be exploring a wide variety of paths, especially when I think of Gloryful. What are your memories of your time with Bloodred Bacteria?
Bloodred Bacteria was the grindcore band that simply had to be done. It all started with our drummer Christian (bass, now Heaven Shall Burn), who was completely into power violence and noise/crust/grind around the turn of the millennium. We agreed on Brutal Truth and Total Fucking Destruction and got started. Jan (vocals/bass Agathocles) was on bass at first, followed by Michael Löttgen (ex-Deadloss), with Chucky on vocals, followed by Christian Müller. The idea was to create something that was the opposite of what we were doing with Night In Gales. Above all, we wanted to be completely free of any business considerations, instead focusing on DIY and releasing as many split 7"s as possible. It was also a kind of stress outlet, as more and more things were going wrong with Night In Gales during those years.
Then there was Deadsoil from 2005 to 2008, where I also played with Christian. However, we lacked the militant vegan image needed to break through during the metalcore heyday; the music alone wasn't enough to sell enough shirts. But it was still fun, it was a good group and a completely different scene back then. Night In Gales also ran out of steam at first. We were in a kind of reflection phase, recording promos and looking for a label.
Gloryful followed in 2010. It was a spontaneous idea—when I heard Johnny's voice at a karaoke night on the Nintendo Wii, I was hooked. It was immediately clear that we had to form a true metal band with him. It was also a good time, although it unfortunately ended somewhat abruptly last year.
The last words are yours...
Thank you very much for your support, Gerald. The interview was really enjoyable because it included well-researched and interesting questions that you don't get every day. Many thanks to everyone who has supported us for so many years, who buys our albums and comes to our concerts. Feel free to check out our Bandcamp-shop from time to time, where you'll find some great bargains and exclusive merchandise, and the Apostasy back catalog is just a click away—it's worth it!
