Rockezine.com interview with God Dethroned on Jan 18, 2005

with Ariën Van Weesenbeek on Jan 18, 2005

God Dethroned recently released their new album "The Lair Of The White Worm" on Metal Blade Records. An email-interview with drummer Ariën Van Weesenbeek.
		Congratulations on the new album. As far as my knowledge extends I’ve only seen positive reviews. Satisfied? Thanks! It’s amazing to read all those positive reviews and to hear from the fans that sometimes they like this album even better than Bloody Blasphemy. That’s good to hear. We are very satisfied; it’s going in a good direction again.
		I understand that “The Lair…” has been recorded under great pressure. Did this affect the recording process? Are there things you rather would have done different afterwards? The strange thing is that only during the recordings I had this feeling. I would hear my drum tracks and I got doubts about tempo and timing and things like that, but that’s mainly due to the fact that the tracks sound very dry and basic without any guitars, bass and vocals. When I hear the end result I’m wondering why I ever had doubts. Of course there are always things that could have gone better, but on the other hand: too much perfection and focus on details is killing the atmosphere of an album and that is still the most important thing for us. I think we pulled it off with this album. It has an ink black atmosphere, maybe because it was a period of great turmoil for the band, half year before the recordings. Because of the pressure we perform better, it keeps us sharp and concentrated and then it has to be put on tape, you know? It helps….
		Jens and Beef (guitar and bass) have left the band. Did this have any effect on the sound of God Dethroned? No, I don’t think it had a great impact. The only thing that has changed is the way the guitars sound and most importantly the solos.
		New members Isaac (guitar) and Henke (bass) are not known very well yet in the scene. Would you like to take this opportunity and introduce them? Henke always was the stand-in for Henri regarding his Cold Blood Industries label when we were on the road. Furthermore he plays the bass in Grindminded. He was a logical choice because he has the same attitude towards playing the bass as Beef has. The bass has to be functional and in service of the music, there’s enough going on already with all the guitars and drums and he’s a cool dude of course! I know Isaac from the conservatorium where he is graduating at the moment, I knew he was an excellent guitar player and he has the right attitude as well. So we invited him over to our rehearsal place and jam a bit with us. He struck the first chord, Henri and I looked at each other and we just knew we had the right guy. Isaac’s playing style probably leans towards more classical bluesy metal styles and his solos add a whole new dimension to the God Dethroned sound. I think we can try some more experimental stuff when it comes to song writing.
		Are you satisfied with the new members? You really get to know each other when you are doing gigs and tours. Do you think you can endure touring with these guys in a crowded tour bus? Oh yeah, we’re getting along really good, when we were in Sweden we went out a few times and we had a really good time. The gigs we’ve done so far were really cool and the atmosphere was good so I’m looking forward to touring with these guys.
		The Grand Grimoire is still considered your best cd by many people, does that create a certain pressure when recording a new album? What’s your favourite by the way I personally like to listen to Bloody Blasphemy and Into The Lungs Of Hell most of the times. We certainly felt the urge to top Into The Lungs Of Hell on every front and I think we succeeded in that. Everything: playing, sound and songs, it is all more intense, more aggressive and most importantly more tasteful.
		The name God Dethroned and songs such as “Rusty Nails” and “Under A Silver Moon” clearly indicate that you don’t have warm feelings for Christianity. Don’t you ever feel the need to bash the Islam as well? At that time it merely was for us a means to protest against the Christian extremist and the hypocrisy that accompanies it. Slowly we began to realize that behind every big religion there are a lot of people who corrupt it and make it a tool to repress people who are not as extreme as they are in their views. We try to keep it more generic these days so yes that means we also bash Islamic fundamentalists as well as Christian ones.
		I saw you perform in Arnhem last Saturday. Besides the fact that the sound was not more than decent it seemed that Henri sang a bit forced and not as powerful as normal.
		Was it just too early for you guys or do we have to fear for the “Legion-syndrome”? (Former Marduk singer who at the end of his Marduk career sounded more like a crow with a cold than a black metal vocalist) Uhm I didn’t notice... Maybe it was a bit early for his voice or he wanted to spare his voice a bit because we had another gig that night. Luckily no “Legion thingy” whatsoever, that would be bad.
		Besides that it was a good gig but it was a bit of a shame you didn’t play “Loyal To The Crown Of God Dethroned”, my favourite track of “The Lair…”. Was this because of the tight time schedule? Thanks! I was very content with the gig myself and am looking back with positive feelings. It was good to see it was already pretty crowded so early on the day. Of course we’d liked to play a few more tracks but the time pressure wouldn’t let us. “Loyal To The Crown…” is indeed a nice track to play
		Next year God Dethroned will celebrate its fifteenth year in existence, are there any special activities planned to celebrate that occasion. There will most hopefully be a new album! Nothing else is planned besides that at this time.
		How do you see God Dethroned in ten years? I hope that we are still performing at that time and still writing music. I also hope that things continue to get better as they did in the previous years. Furthermore it’s going to be a surprise for us too how thing are going to work out but with this line-up I have confidence in the future.
		Do you still keep an eye on the Dutch scene? What are your favourite bands at the moment? I think that Katafalk is a really good band with great riffs and a skilled drummer. Nemesea is another talented band. I think it’s cool for the people in Within Temptation that they are doing so well at the moment.
		Thanks for the interview. Did I forget something? Anything to add? Buy "The Lair Of The White Worm" with the bonus DVD! See you on the road.
		(Roy van den Brink)