Susperia

Norwegian thrash attack with depth

Interview with guitarist Cyrus of Susperia by Vera in April 2007

There are records that immediately create a feel good atmosphere and the new Susperia album ‘Cut From Stone’ is such a gem. The band was founded by members of Old Man’s Child, Dimmu Borgir and Satyricon, but plays thrash metal of the infectious kind. Through the years they have fine-tuned their own sound and this resulted in an outstanding record to bang your head on. But it is not only straight thrash metal; those who listen with attention will discover a lot of depth in the compositions. Here you can read all about Susperia and their hard working attitude to wake up the nations. Guitarist Cyrus was the man who answered my questions.

You guys are going to be pretty busy soon: a tour with W.A.S.P. and a tour with Onslaught are coming up. Are you looking forward to it and what are the prospects?

Yeah! It's going to be fantastic to play with a band like WASP, it will be fun. I don’t know too much about Onslaught but I know they are thrashers, so I’m sure it's going to be great.

Susperia was founded in 1998, but Tjodalv and Cyrus, you had quite a lot experience in famous bands. Can you tell a bit more about those earlier experiences and the early days of Susperia itself?

Well, the early days were a time when we had a lack of experience about everything, especially when it comes to the industry. We thought everything was ok but it was not what we thought. We were out on tour with some great bands and we learned a lot of lessons about how things work. In the early days of Susperia I was also playing with other bands like Satyricon. It was a good experience, but when Susperia got the deal it was easy to quit Satyricon. There were some great times and the “Reinventing The Steel” tour with Pantera was a blast.

You pretty soon inked a deal with Nuclear Blast and released two albums. Can you resume this period in the band’s history?

“Predominance” was the first record we did with Nuclear Blast. That album was more like an experimental album. We were still a new band looking to find our own style. By the second album “Vindication”, we started to feel which direction we wanted to go, which was more and more into thrash metal. At this time Athera was also developing his vocals. He was changing his voice and along with the song writing. This was the way we wanted to go!

Why did you leave Nuclear Blast?

We felt that Nuclear Blast was too big and wanted to find a label that would focus on us and also to gain a better deal, which we did! TABU only have a few bands, so can give more attention to each of them. Nuclear Blast did a great job for us, but they have so many bands that by the time we did the second album, we felt lost. We were sitting around with nothing going on, so we asked if we could finish the deal. They agreed and that was the end of it. We all remained friends, which was a good thing.

Okay, enough about the past, now it is time to have a look at the new record, the second one for Tabu Recordings. Can you tell a bit more about the writing process this time?

This time I wrote some of the songs at Memnocks’ cabin. I took my studio gear to his place. I was sitting there making music and the guys would come down now and then to help me with the ideas. I did the rest of the songs in my own studio. Athera came over regularly to do pre production on the vocals. After a couple of songs we knew that it was going to be a killer. The inspiration was there all the time. We found ourselves having the same feelings as when we did the “Predominance” album. I really enjoyed the creative atmosphere we had together. It was nice! :)

The album was recorded at the Strand studio and produced by the band. Is that your home studio or not?

No it’s not my home studio. This is a nice studio in Oslo. I would say that Strand Studio could become the Norwegian version of Fredman Studio. Marius did a really good job on the record and was 100% dedicated from day one. He put all his effort into it and was always willing to improve things.

The mix was done by famous Daniel Bergstrand. As it was the first time you worked with him, please tell us about this experience…

The experience with Daniel was fantastic. I have never seen a guy working so hard in my life. His work is really old school but when Doctor Digital (Marius Strand) met Doctor Analog (Daniel Bergstrand) it was total melt down. We got a fabulous mix. (LoL) The mixing of the two styles was magic.

The artwork looks as aggressive as the music. A few words about this subject?

I have always liked the cover for “Arise” by Sepultura and the cover for “Casue of Death” from Obituary. I was on the phone with Rune Tyvold and asked him if we can have something similar with just our own faces. So he tried different versions and ended up with this one. It took a while but we got there in the end.

But besides the powerful thrashy nature of your music, melodic guitar lines are as much important in your music. Would you like to mention some music that had an influence on you?

Hehe... Well, everyone knows that I like Testament and Death, so I guess you could find Testament VS Death in some of the songs. (LoL) To be honest I make the music I feel is right to me, but it's great to be influenced by other musicians.

As you had some success in the charts in the past, are there plans for a single or a video?

Not for time being, but we are going to shoot a video, but I don’t know when yet.

‘Cut From Stone’ will be released at April 02 in Norway and April 09 in Europe. Any news on the American release?

As far as I know it will be happening in June. Everything is being prepared at the moment and there is also a tour in September on the agenda.

Your bass player Memnock was featured in a TV documentary series on Norway TV. Can you tell anything more about this?

Hehe… This was a TV show which followed a couple who were going to be married. They selected Memnock and his partner and followed them from the day the guys proposed until they got married. It was fun, two nice families and a lot of guys with long black hair. (LoL)

You are a band that very often plays live. So I guess there are plans to go on the road further on in 2007 as well? Maybe some festivals too?

Yeah, it's going to be this year and the next with lots of touring. The first tour coming up is with WASP for about three weeks, then we are going back to England for a short tour with Onslaught. After this we are going to do some one off shows through the summer. About festivals outside of Norway!! There has to be a curse. I don’t know what’s going on but it seems to me that festivals don’t care. It's a pity because we are ready to kick some major ass, and Susperia fans have asked us a thousand times why we never play. But still we keep trying.

In 2005 you joined Testament on their Reunion European tour. Any fine memories on that? Or bad ones?

For me personally, there was a nice moment when Testament were going to the stage for their show. They dropped by our dressing room and Chuck congratulated me on my birthday. All I heard was this deep voice from the corridor saying, “WHERE IS THE BIRTHDAY BOY” and there was Chuck!!! (LoL) There were lots of fine moments; they were really down to earth. The bad memories have to be the hangovers. We had too much alcohol sometimes, hehe…

What were the highlights in your career until now?

Hmmm... The Festival tour we did with Dimmu Borgir, In Flames, Nevermore and Lacuna Coil. Also the tour with Testament and now the upcoming tour with WASP is going to be up there.

Are you still in contact with members of Dimmu Borgir, Old Man’s Child or Satyricon?

The Dimmu guys and Old Man's Child guys are close to us. We hang out with them every now and then. We often have parties or hang out at concerts together.

What are your plans and wishes for the near future?

Plans are to hit the road as much as we can. My wish would be to sell 10 million albums – that would be nice ;)

If there is another news you want to mention here, now is the moment:

Well we have had some bad news recently. It has only just been announced. Our drummer Tjodalv broke his ankle in an accident, which means he will miss the tours with WASP and Onslaught. He will be fully recovered from his leg fracture in July so should be back behind the drums by the fall. It’s real bad news, but we will continue the tours with a replacement drummer. Anders Haave from Blood Red Throne will help us out.

My last words are for you guys to convince the metal fans to buy ‘Cut From Stone’…

This album is our statement about how we think real melodic thrash metal should sound like!! If you beg to differ, go buy it and see!

We wish Tjodalv lots of courage and a prosperous recovery, it is truly sad that he has to miss the announced touring. We hope the touring will be fun for the other guys and check them out if they are in the neighbourhood!


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