Hi! “Afterworld” is your sixth full-length album. How did you challenge yourselves to push your creativity and experimentation in this album compared to your previous works?
PASCAL (LEAD GUITAR & MUSIC COMPOSITION): following the release of an album, I like…. to do nothing! just take some time to recharge without stressing myself or setting any goals. Listen to and play other things, experiment and work on the instrument, but especially take a break from the last album. It’s an important phase and not to be neglected, it contributes to recharge the batteries and renew inspirations. Then I start the music composition without giving myself a particular objective, just keep the feeling and bring my personal evolutions.
The album was recorded and mixed by “Drop” from SAMAEL at Downtone Studio in Switzerland. How did his expertise influence the overall sound of the album?
PASCAL: I think that Sybreed with his particular sounds and atmospheres have forged the futuristic and atmospheric sound style of Drop so recognizable and unique, his contribution and experience are a great plus for our music, it’s the second album we work with, and we are always so delighted! The formula works wonderfully, if he still supports us for a future album we will be happy!
You have been existing as a band for over 30 years now. How has the French metal scene evolved over the years, and how have you adapted to these changes?
PASCAL: as we don’t put pressure on ourselves, as music remains above all a passion and a pleasure, the evolution over the years has been done without any difficulties, we remain ourselves, natural, the evolution is not forced or constrained by a style or another. The evolution is just made with the experience gained technically and musically year after year, the inspirations which come and go, and especially the motivation to go forward, and do better on the next album.
How do you balance the heaviness of your sound with the melodic aspects, and how important is this balance to your overall style?
PASCAL: difficult to explain why we sound like this, I guess it’s the essence of our musical style, it’s natural to us, we do it naturally without necessarily thinking about it or forcing it, and it’s not going to change!
“No Aftermath” and “The Hive” are the first two videos released from the album. Can you talk about the inspiration behind these two songs and how they fit into the overall concept of the album?
JEROME (Singer): No Aftermath is a song about endless wars and The Hive about overpopulation in megacities and the criminality that comes with it. Both are treated with a futuristic flavor, which is typical of Carcariass, a dark and hopeless future…
The band name “Carcariass” is inspired by the Latin name for the Great White Shark. How does this connection relate to the themes explored in your music?
PASCAL: this band name dates back to our beginnings, we thought it was cool at the time, but I think that for English speakers it is strange! (car, car, i, ass!). It’s not a concept and if we keep it it’s because with the years we made a name on the French scene, so it’s almost impossible to change. A funny thing is that some people confuse us with Carcass, write that we are clones when we have no relation with grindcore (a style I don’t like at all…). Let them listen to our music or learn to read before opening their mouths…
How do you approach songwriting to achieve this level of fluidity in your compositions?
PASCAL: when I compose the music, I don’t just make a montage from a bank of shots recorded over time, as many do, I always start with a shot or two that I play with my guitar, and then the rest are musical parts that I improvise, that come naturally to my mind and that flow naturally with the previous part, when I look for a continuation, I always play the part before: one plan leads to another and so on, this is my way of composing. Then I create a logical structure for the singer to develop his parts.
How important is it for you to experiment and push the boundaries of music genres?
PASCAL: it’s important not to stagnate, and always go forward and improve, that’s the point of making music and art in general: no limit, no end, you never get tired of it and you always want to do better on the next album. Otherwise you’re just making commercial crap.
Your music has been well-received in France and Europe, with appearances at festivals like Hellfest. How important is it for you to connect with fans through live performances, and how do you prepare for these shows?
PASCAL: the concerts are in a way the finality of the process of creation of an album, it’s the moment where we put everything on the table! we wait for these moments with impatience and joy, with also a little bit of stage fright (at least for me) because we always want to do well and to please the public that came to see us. for the preparation, we eat and drink a lot especially after the rehearsals! well that is for the atmosphere and the cohesion of the group, but if it works well at the base between the members of the group, we will have even more pleasure and enthusiasm in concerts, the public is receptive to that.
“Afterworld” is being physically distributed by Season of Mist Distribution and digitally distributed by TuneCore. How do you approach marketing and promoting your music in today’s digital age, and what role do physical distribution and merchandising play in this process?
BEBERT (Drummer): We’ve had label offers but the terms didn’t appeal to us. 20 years ago, to be physically distributed, you had to be signed to a label, otherwise it was mail order. With digital distribution, any band can distribute their own music through music platforms, without being signed to a label, all over the world. For the digital distribution we work with Tunecore and for the physical distribution of the CD in stores, we are with Season Of Mist which only does the distribution. We manage our own promotion. This allows us to be totally independent and free, if we invest ourselves in our band, doing concerts and merchandising, the fruit of the result or the loss is for us! And as soon as we receive money, we reinvest it directly in the band like promotion or merchandising! We are the only ones responsible!
CARCARIASS has been compared to bands such as Opeth and Death. How do you feel about these comparisons, and who are some of the artists that have influenced your music over the years? Thank you!
PASCAL: for Opeth, I have to say that it’s a band that I don’t know well, and that I discovered unfortunately only too recently, it’s really well done, but they didn’t influence my playing at all, but why not in the future if I listen to their albums over and over! «Death» on the other hand, as a kid I was a big fan! I learned guitar by working on «Death» music, «Iron Maiden» and «Coroner» mainly, so of course it left its mark! Even if it’s not really what I’ve been playing for a long time now, I never lost the basics which are definitely imprinted in my mind and which sometimes are felt in my compositions.
Thanks a lot for your interview and support!
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