Then news came from one of Belgian funeral priests: Lawrence van Haecke, creator of Solicide and a voice of Wijlen Wij is closing to finally perform another masterpiece of his art. If you’re ready to take part in next act of sonic inhumation then this interview is for you.
Hi Lawrence! I’ve heard that your funeral project Solicide is active again, what news do you have to share?
Hi! Well, Solicide was never inactive. I have just been very slow at actually getting to record songs that I have been writing ever since the debut album “Der Untergang des Abendlandes” was released by NULLL Records.
I am working on releasing a new album called “Götzen-dämmerung oder Wie man mit dem Hammer musiziert”.
Is new Solicide a solo-project or are there any other musicians besides you?
I still consider Solicide to be a solo project, because I take all the decisions and write the lyrics and songs. I have, however, for the new album, asked to a number of friends, to help me out with the recording. I have always liked to cooperate and get some fresh ideas into the music. What is already sure for the new album, that is the help of Kostas Panagiotou (Pantheist, Wijlen Wij). He wrote a church organ introduction for the new album. Giuseppe “Stilgar” D’Adiutorio (Arvensvarthe) contributed bass guitar tracks for the song called “The Land of Lost Content”. I will further work on this song with Christian Moore-Wainwright (From the Mammoth’s Mouth). Then there is the song “Eli Eli Lema Sabachtani”. I recorded this in 2004 with Arne Depoorter, one of my closest friends. This song was formerly known as “Pushakha”, but the planned split release with Funerary Dirge never came to pass. I really like this track, so I started writing songs and material to support the release this song. The last song, “Ita Missa Est” is a cooperation between me and another close friend of me, Peter Moorkens (Electric Loopstation, Schlachthof Berlin, I.A.W.E.H.). Reading this again, perhaps, the “solo” part of the project isn’t that clear. Haha! Well, in the end, I don’t think that it matters that much, does it? :)
I think that now it doesn’t :-) It seems that “Götzen-dämmerung oder Wie man mit dem Hammer musiziert” album sounds very diverse, what is it content? What is there besides classic funeral doom stuff?
The new album is clearly a funeral doom album, although the song “Eli Eli Lema Sabachtani” holds some a different number of passages with elements that usually don’t fit within the scheme of funeral doom metal. It is always interesting to bond different kinds of influences into something that might offer new experiences to a listener with an open mind. As far as the progression of the music of Solicide is concerned. “Eli Eli Lema Sabachtani” also holds most elements that refer to the first album as it was written shortly afterwards. The other songs probably give a more updates image of where my vision of writing songs is at. So, it is in that way also a more diverse album.
How do you plan to release the album?
I have had contact in the past with one label. But, I’ll first make sure that all of the songs are finished and in a releasable state.
After nearly ten years you return with new ideas, what did you do all this time? What was a reason to bring Solicide back to life?
I never stopped with Solicide. I was busy with university and then started on a PhD. In the meantime, I had written up to three albums worth of material. I just never got into actually recording. I took some distance to it all. Then in 2010, I felt the need to really do something again. Doing the vocals on the split album Wijlen Wij (namely, “Unveiling the signs”, with Dissolving of Prodigy, Gallileous, Kostas Panagiotou and Pantheist) was a part of the reason that put me to work again more actively. I first started to re-write my old material. Then in the beginning of 2012, Christian Moore-Wainwright and I started compose material for our own project (From the Mammoth’s Mouth) and a short while later, Wijlen Wij had plans for the second full length. All this brought Solicide into faster waters as well.
Man, what is your specialty in university?
I have studied History, more precisely contemporary history. My fields of expertise are historical demography on the one hand and (Belgian) legal history on the other.
What’s about Wijen Wij? Is this project still alive?
I am the vocalist of Wijlen Wij since the split-album and we are recording a new album. Recently, we became a three-piece as Stijn (Until Death Overtakes Me and tons of others projects) waved the music scene goodbye. Kostas and I wrote songs. Kris Villez already recorded all the drums – I currently completed vocals on 4 of 5 on the songs. It is safe to say that we aim for a release in 2013.
Why did Stijn leave Wijlen Wij? And how does new stuff of the project sound?
He has his own personal reasons for wanting to lay of being busy with music for the moment. We all wish him the best of course. It was a privilege to be able to work with him. I think the new material of Wijlen Wij will sound as a good mixture of we stand as individuals and as a band after progressing for almost ten years since the songs of the first album was written. There is more melody, but at the same time the crushing and the melancholy are as much prevalent. I am really looking forward to hear the end result.
I watched your blog on MySpace, and it’s said that you already did some new records in 2008 – what did happened with that stuff?
Yes, that is true. Two songs got recorded more or less. Arne and I were working on those for a second full length album, based on the poem “Wasteland” by T.S. Elliot. Most of those songs got re-written by me in 2010. I would love to record and release these songs completely. I still have the raw recordings of the first two songs. I think not more than 5 people heard that until now. :)
I’ve read that your new album is based on poems of Housman, do you still hold on this idea? Why did you choose Housman?
I had written an album with poems by A.E. Housman, but I lost my notes. This unfortunate happening made me put that plan aside and brought about the aforementioned release to the fore, with the song “Eli Eli Lema Sabachtani” as a center point. It’s a piece of more or less 25 minutes bringing my interpretation of what happened when Jesus Christ was hung on the cross. The lyrics are a conversation in Aramaic between Jesus and god. The song “The land of lost content” is in fact the only left-over from my plans to do an album with poems of Housman. I still remembered most of the riffs as I had written this song first. This song is about 12 minutes long. The shortest Solicide full song to date.
I had chosen Housman and his magnum opus “A Shropshire Lad” in particular, because of the central place of death in his poems – even though, his work does not appeal to me as overly dark or pessimistic. His work holds thoughts about the lost youth and decay of life. It is a call to live and live now – an important, albeit still disregarded or wrongly understood philosophical truth. Because of his classicistic background, his poems have a rhythmic musicality that I was trying to catch and that you can still hear in “The land of lost content”. With his bass-lines, Stilgar made a great contribution in this respect. His work fits in with the riffs I wrote and the atmosphere that I tried to invoke.
Some metalheads assert that funeral doom is primitive genre because of it’s repetitive riffs and slow cyclic structures, what can you answer onto such sentence?
Well, I could agree with that statement, but I would have to know what those people actually mean with the claim of “being primitive”. It is a criticism of course, but I would not consider this description necessarily a bad statement – I would, however, use “primal” next to primitive. Funeral doom metal is primitive in its usually minimalist approach in the portrayal of emotions. It is a highly emotional genre – it brings out deep feelings – but in slow, hard and profound hits. It was not, is not and will never be suited for everybody. I would never accept this statement as a critique towards the musicians that play funeral doom. There are some very talented people out there, bands like Skepticism, Evoken and Worship, to name but a few, consists of highly capable musicians. It is not because people prefer to play slow that they are not able to play a decent tune on their instruments. In fact, playing as heavy and slow as funeral doom bands do, is actually not an easy thing to do. It’s easier to play 120/150 bmp than 30 bmp, without making a rhythmic mistake.
What are your authorities in funeral doom and why? And did you check the link onto album of first Russian funeral band Voj? (Bandcamp)
First of all, I want to thank you for pointing me out to Voj. I will check them out. :) In Funeral Doom, my first and foremost “authority” would be Skepticism. Not a surprising choice perhaps, but they really capture the essence of this music. Slow, lumbering tragedies, infused with church organ, but also very sacral, almost religious. In my top three live gigs, there are two Skepticism gigs. Possibly the best live performance I have seen, was January 2012, Pantheist and Skepticism in the Saint-Giles-of-the-Fields Church in London. Not only, two of my favorite bands, but both high in quality and a great combination to experience live. I, myself, have also been influenced by the drone-band Hlidolf and by Thergothon. Two unique bands with a special take on music.
And can you tell us about fate of NULLL Collective? What did happen with this project? Do Stijn and other guys think about new release under this name and what do you think about that collaboration?
I was always interested in the NULLL collective. It’s the kind of projects that can actually churn out interesting new releases and provide the small funeral doom scene with some interesting collaborations and material. I suppose that this project will not continue, unless it would continue in one form of another without Stijn. I think it is up to him, but I don’t know any kind of details.
Lawrence, thank you for your time, I’m glad that Solicide is in service again! I wish you all the best in your positive, negative and neutral beginnings. Would you like to say few words to our readers before they go to their beds?
Don’t let the bedbugs bite you! ;)
In any case… I wish all those that got to this point in the interview not only a year full of doomy pleasures, but of course also pleasures in metal and beyond! Solicide and Wijlen Wij both have a fan page on Facebook… So, if you want to know more about these bands, that is the best place to check.
Interview By Aleks
Facebook
Wijlen Wij Official
Wijlen Wij | Facebook
Solicide | Myspace
Hi Lawrence! I’ve heard that your funeral project Solicide is active again, what news do you have to share?
Hi! Well, Solicide was never inactive. I have just been very slow at actually getting to record songs that I have been writing ever since the debut album “Der Untergang des Abendlandes” was released by NULLL Records.
I am working on releasing a new album called “Götzen-dämmerung oder Wie man mit dem Hammer musiziert”.
Is new Solicide a solo-project or are there any other musicians besides you?
I still consider Solicide to be a solo project, because I take all the decisions and write the lyrics and songs. I have, however, for the new album, asked to a number of friends, to help me out with the recording. I have always liked to cooperate and get some fresh ideas into the music. What is already sure for the new album, that is the help of Kostas Panagiotou (Pantheist, Wijlen Wij). He wrote a church organ introduction for the new album. Giuseppe “Stilgar” D’Adiutorio (Arvensvarthe) contributed bass guitar tracks for the song called “The Land of Lost Content”. I will further work on this song with Christian Moore-Wainwright (From the Mammoth’s Mouth). Then there is the song “Eli Eli Lema Sabachtani”. I recorded this in 2004 with Arne Depoorter, one of my closest friends. This song was formerly known as “Pushakha”, but the planned split release with Funerary Dirge never came to pass. I really like this track, so I started writing songs and material to support the release this song. The last song, “Ita Missa Est” is a cooperation between me and another close friend of me, Peter Moorkens (Electric Loopstation, Schlachthof Berlin, I.A.W.E.H.). Reading this again, perhaps, the “solo” part of the project isn’t that clear. Haha! Well, in the end, I don’t think that it matters that much, does it? :)
I think that now it doesn’t :-) It seems that “Götzen-dämmerung oder Wie man mit dem Hammer musiziert” album sounds very diverse, what is it content? What is there besides classic funeral doom stuff?
The new album is clearly a funeral doom album, although the song “Eli Eli Lema Sabachtani” holds some a different number of passages with elements that usually don’t fit within the scheme of funeral doom metal. It is always interesting to bond different kinds of influences into something that might offer new experiences to a listener with an open mind. As far as the progression of the music of Solicide is concerned. “Eli Eli Lema Sabachtani” also holds most elements that refer to the first album as it was written shortly afterwards. The other songs probably give a more updates image of where my vision of writing songs is at. So, it is in that way also a more diverse album.
How do you plan to release the album?
I have had contact in the past with one label. But, I’ll first make sure that all of the songs are finished and in a releasable state.
After nearly ten years you return with new ideas, what did you do all this time? What was a reason to bring Solicide back to life?
I never stopped with Solicide. I was busy with university and then started on a PhD. In the meantime, I had written up to three albums worth of material. I just never got into actually recording. I took some distance to it all. Then in 2010, I felt the need to really do something again. Doing the vocals on the split album Wijlen Wij (namely, “Unveiling the signs”, with Dissolving of Prodigy, Gallileous, Kostas Panagiotou and Pantheist) was a part of the reason that put me to work again more actively. I first started to re-write my old material. Then in the beginning of 2012, Christian Moore-Wainwright and I started compose material for our own project (From the Mammoth’s Mouth) and a short while later, Wijlen Wij had plans for the second full length. All this brought Solicide into faster waters as well.
Man, what is your specialty in university?
I have studied History, more precisely contemporary history. My fields of expertise are historical demography on the one hand and (Belgian) legal history on the other.
What’s about Wijen Wij? Is this project still alive?
I am the vocalist of Wijlen Wij since the split-album and we are recording a new album. Recently, we became a three-piece as Stijn (Until Death Overtakes Me and tons of others projects) waved the music scene goodbye. Kostas and I wrote songs. Kris Villez already recorded all the drums – I currently completed vocals on 4 of 5 on the songs. It is safe to say that we aim for a release in 2013.
Why did Stijn leave Wijlen Wij? And how does new stuff of the project sound?
He has his own personal reasons for wanting to lay of being busy with music for the moment. We all wish him the best of course. It was a privilege to be able to work with him. I think the new material of Wijlen Wij will sound as a good mixture of we stand as individuals and as a band after progressing for almost ten years since the songs of the first album was written. There is more melody, but at the same time the crushing and the melancholy are as much prevalent. I am really looking forward to hear the end result.
I watched your blog on MySpace, and it’s said that you already did some new records in 2008 – what did happened with that stuff?
Yes, that is true. Two songs got recorded more or less. Arne and I were working on those for a second full length album, based on the poem “Wasteland” by T.S. Elliot. Most of those songs got re-written by me in 2010. I would love to record and release these songs completely. I still have the raw recordings of the first two songs. I think not more than 5 people heard that until now. :)
I’ve read that your new album is based on poems of Housman, do you still hold on this idea? Why did you choose Housman?
I had written an album with poems by A.E. Housman, but I lost my notes. This unfortunate happening made me put that plan aside and brought about the aforementioned release to the fore, with the song “Eli Eli Lema Sabachtani” as a center point. It’s a piece of more or less 25 minutes bringing my interpretation of what happened when Jesus Christ was hung on the cross. The lyrics are a conversation in Aramaic between Jesus and god. The song “The land of lost content” is in fact the only left-over from my plans to do an album with poems of Housman. I still remembered most of the riffs as I had written this song first. This song is about 12 minutes long. The shortest Solicide full song to date.
I had chosen Housman and his magnum opus “A Shropshire Lad” in particular, because of the central place of death in his poems – even though, his work does not appeal to me as overly dark or pessimistic. His work holds thoughts about the lost youth and decay of life. It is a call to live and live now – an important, albeit still disregarded or wrongly understood philosophical truth. Because of his classicistic background, his poems have a rhythmic musicality that I was trying to catch and that you can still hear in “The land of lost content”. With his bass-lines, Stilgar made a great contribution in this respect. His work fits in with the riffs I wrote and the atmosphere that I tried to invoke.
Some metalheads assert that funeral doom is primitive genre because of it’s repetitive riffs and slow cyclic structures, what can you answer onto such sentence?
Well, I could agree with that statement, but I would have to know what those people actually mean with the claim of “being primitive”. It is a criticism of course, but I would not consider this description necessarily a bad statement – I would, however, use “primal” next to primitive. Funeral doom metal is primitive in its usually minimalist approach in the portrayal of emotions. It is a highly emotional genre – it brings out deep feelings – but in slow, hard and profound hits. It was not, is not and will never be suited for everybody. I would never accept this statement as a critique towards the musicians that play funeral doom. There are some very talented people out there, bands like Skepticism, Evoken and Worship, to name but a few, consists of highly capable musicians. It is not because people prefer to play slow that they are not able to play a decent tune on their instruments. In fact, playing as heavy and slow as funeral doom bands do, is actually not an easy thing to do. It’s easier to play 120/150 bmp than 30 bmp, without making a rhythmic mistake.
What are your authorities in funeral doom and why? And did you check the link onto album of first Russian funeral band Voj? (Bandcamp)
First of all, I want to thank you for pointing me out to Voj. I will check them out. :) In Funeral Doom, my first and foremost “authority” would be Skepticism. Not a surprising choice perhaps, but they really capture the essence of this music. Slow, lumbering tragedies, infused with church organ, but also very sacral, almost religious. In my top three live gigs, there are two Skepticism gigs. Possibly the best live performance I have seen, was January 2012, Pantheist and Skepticism in the Saint-Giles-of-the-Fields Church in London. Not only, two of my favorite bands, but both high in quality and a great combination to experience live. I, myself, have also been influenced by the drone-band Hlidolf and by Thergothon. Two unique bands with a special take on music.
And can you tell us about fate of NULLL Collective? What did happen with this project? Do Stijn and other guys think about new release under this name and what do you think about that collaboration?
I was always interested in the NULLL collective. It’s the kind of projects that can actually churn out interesting new releases and provide the small funeral doom scene with some interesting collaborations and material. I suppose that this project will not continue, unless it would continue in one form of another without Stijn. I think it is up to him, but I don’t know any kind of details.
Lawrence, thank you for your time, I’m glad that Solicide is in service again! I wish you all the best in your positive, negative and neutral beginnings. Would you like to say few words to our readers before they go to their beds?
Don’t let the bedbugs bite you! ;)
In any case… I wish all those that got to this point in the interview not only a year full of doomy pleasures, but of course also pleasures in metal and beyond! Solicide and Wijlen Wij both have a fan page on Facebook… So, if you want to know more about these bands, that is the best place to check.
Interview By Aleks
Wijlen Wij Official
Wijlen Wij | Facebook
Solicide | Myspace