Rockezine.com interview with Symphorce on Feb 03, 2004

with Dennis Wohlbold on Feb 03, 2004

About a year ago Symphorce surprised us with their powerful third album phorcefulAhead. Now these Germans are back with an even more powerful offering, with the title Twice Second. Although 2004 has only just begun, Symphorce has right away set the standard, and it is very high indeed. Bassist Dennis Wohlbold talks about Symphorce and the new album.
		Your new album Twice Second has been released a few days ago. How would you compare it to its predecessor, phorcefulAhead? I think Twice Second is much heavier than our previous releases. Also we learned as songwriters and musicians. Everything just sounds way better than in the past.
		How have the reactions been so far? The reactions are really good so far. We reached album of the month in Germany’s ‘Metal Heart’ magazine as well as in French’s ‘Rock Hard’. Dutch magazine Aardschok placed us on no. 2 and so on... We are really happy with the positive reactions.
		In my opinion Twice Second is definitely a step forward and I think the band has developed enormously (especially song writing wise) since phorcefulAhead; like to comment on that? Yeah, I totally agree with you as I already said in the first answer. Sascha (Sauer - REZ) is a huge talent and really works hard to get better and better, which you can hear on Twice Second. We wanted to record a rawer, harder and even heavier version of phorcefulAhead and I think the final result is exactly that.
		One thing, which I already noticed on phorcefulAhead, is that Symphorce has more of an American sound than most European metal bands. How would you describe the sound/music of Symphorce in your own words, and with what band(s) would you compare yourself? Yeah that’s true, Andy and I grew up with bay area heroes like Forbidden, Exodus and Testament. I always liked the American metal bands more than European or even German bands. That may have influenced our way of song writing. Which band to compare ourselves with? Hmmm, we’re often told that Symphorce sounds a bit like a lighter version of Nevermore. I think this comparison is a huge compliment because we all love the music of Nevermind a lot.
		The title of the album has been puzzling to me and I was wondering what or where it stands for? Well Twice Second is just another game of words (like Sinctuary or Symphorce in the past) Twice stands for 2, same thing with Second... so combine 2 + 2 and you have 4.Twice Second is the fourth album of Symphorce and that’s the whole story! hahaha!
		Twice Second opens with some nice calm ocean sounds and the cover artwork features seahorses. Is there a concept behind this? Not really, we just thought it would be cool to have an intro which goes a bit along with the artwork.
		Twice Second is the third release in a time span of roughly a year, that features Andy B. Franck on vocals. How does he cope with such a busy schedule and how does he balance his work between Symphorce and Brainstorm? He’s just a sick motherfucker, that’s it haha! No just kidding! This year was really a lot of work for him so he already decided to give himself a break until we begin working for the next album. So for sure you won’t hear his voice on any album again this year.
		How does it affect the song writing and recording? Well, every band has its own songwriters - so there is no danger of finding a ‘Symphorce-written-but-never-used-track’ on a Brainstorm album. haha! Well, the situation forces us to balance the dates of recording, touring and so on, not always easy, but it works.
		Metal is tremendously popular right now, and the situation reminds a lot of the eighties. Do you think the same will happen to metal like in the nineties? Or do you think metal is here to stay for good this time? I am afraid the same will happen again, but that´s not the problem. I don’t give a shit about wannabes who wear leather and steel today, and shorts and socks as hats tomorrow! Metal was, is and always will be an underground culture.
		In your opinion, what three bands have been the driving force of metal in the last couple of years? Hmmm for me the driving force of metal for years is NEVERMORE because I love them. I don’t care a lot about bands which i don’t like... anyway, in a commercial view, maybe Metallica opened doors for harder music hahaha! Brilliant bridge isn’t it!?!.
		Right now you are on a short tour with Grave Digger. How have the gigs been so far? The tour is already over and it was a great success for Symphorce. It wasn’t that easy to get the Grave Digger true-metal audience into the more modern power metal sound of Symphorce. But there were also a lot of people who had just come to see us. These freaking out fans and our powerful stage performance were the gateway to our success.
		Are there any plans for a bigger tour, and if so with what bands? And if not, are you working on something? I’m certain that a good European tour could increase your popularity tremendously. Right now there aren’t plans for a second Symphorce tour. In March/April Cede and Andy (Freedom Call and Brainstorm respectively – REZ) will be on tour with their other bands and after that Andy is looking forward to having a break. Maybe we will play some single shows anyway... we’ll see. But I agree with you, a good European tour would be great!
		Well that’s it! Good luck with the release of Twice Second! Is there anything you want to add to the interview? Well, hey People, visit us at http://www.symphorce.net and give Twice Second a try in our listening section! Thanks so much for your support - YOU ROCK!
(Frank van de Voorde)