Rockezine.com interview with As It Burns on Nov 02, 2003

with As It Burns on Nov 02, 2003


		I think most people don’t know you so far. Can you give me a summary of the history of the band? We started out about 6 years ago. In the first two years two Cdemo’s were recorded Soured and Obsolete Prophecies. On the second Cdemo our current style was starting to develop. After two years a stable line-up was formed and the CD ‘Inferno’ was recorded. Many gigs followed which helped improve the band’s music, sound and performance skills. Mid-2001 the original drummer has rejoined the band to play bass. Since then there have been no more line-up changes. The following recording sessions resulted in ‘Mortal Dusk’ and a record deal with Cold Blood Industries.
		Your music cannot easily be placed within one genre. I hear mainly death, but also black and thrash influences. How would you describe your own music? Our music can indeed be described as an atmospheric mix of black, death and thrash metal. The exceptional use of the keyboards tend to give the songs a refreshing twist.
		How is the style of writing in As It Burns? Is there one person who writes the music, or is it a group process? Most of the songs are being written by Rocco, Jeroen and Joost. Rocco always has the complete arrangements of the songs finished before the songs are being rehearsed. Joost and Jeroen only write riffs and while rehearsing the drum parts are being created. Gert is completely responsible for the keyboard parts. You could say that the writing is something like a group process.
		And who is responsible for the lyrics and what are they about? Arend writes the lyrics and they deal with hate, anger and frustration. Also one of his favourite topics is the overestimated phenomenon called God.
		The Rockezine review was quite positive. How has the album been received by the press, so far? We are very pleased with the reactions so far! Most of the reviews are graded between 7 and 8 points and for a first worldwide release we think that is pretty OK.
		We see that CBI releases very good albums lately, under which ‘Mortal Dusk’. Are you satisfied about the way CBI promotes you? Yeah, we are very glad we signed with CBI. Promotional matters are very well done which results in loads of interviews and reviews. We get interviews from e-zines as well as from regular printed magazines. We are being promoted on all fronts which is great!
		Are there plans for live gigs in the near future? At the moment we are trying to arrange a lot of gigs in Holland. When we have done some gigs in Holland we also want to try and arrange live shows in Germany and Belgium. We might do a tour with a label mate somewhere next year but nothing is arranged yet.
		How important is playing live for As It Burns? Playing live is very important for As it Burns. I think playing live is the best promotion you can get. In some reviews it was mentioned to go and check us out live. They labelled us as a real live band. That’s always cool to hear of course!
		How is the metal scene doing in the north of the Netherlands? The metal scene in the north of Holland is blooming! You should check out bands like Katafalk, Seuzure, Winter of Sin and Obtuse. Great bands! It is also great that in the scene in the northern parts of Holland lots of styles are represented.
		Is there anything important REZ forgot to ask? A last statement? No, thanx for this interview and lots of luck with Rockezine!
		(Pieke Schoonbrood)