Answered by Lukas Swiaczny – Vocals
1. Hi Lukas. What inspired the creation of “Rising from the Ashes,” and how does it fit into the overall theme of your new album?
Thank you for this interview, I am very pleased that we can talk today. “Rising from the Ashes” was planned from the start as the album’s “anthem” and by being in the middle of the album, the clean intro brings people back down from the wild ride of the previous songs.
We tried to find a balance between brutality, technical riffing and quieter passages without losing the groove. The bottom line is that we think this is one of the best songs we’ve ever written.
2. “Rising from the Ashes” features some truly blistering riffs and punishing rhythms. Can you talk about your creative process for writing and recording this song?
Like every Stillbirth song, the creative part of “Rising from the Ashes” started with a concept. I write 95% of the Stillbirth songs and I always write myself a script of how the record should sound and what the songs should convey. Since we at Stillbirth usually create concept albums, there is a red thread that I follow when writing, not only about the lyrics, but also about the songwriting itself. We recorded the song at our home in the respective home studios, except for the drums. For that we went to the Whitehouse Studio in Cologne, where we also recorded the drums for the other songs. I recorded the Guitars and the vocals and Lukas Kaminski recorded the Bass Guitar. We sent all our clean DI’s to Demigod Recordings and he created the sound you can hear today.
3. “Homo Deus” will be your eighth studio album. How does it differ from your previous releases, and what can fans expect from this new offering?
After 7 albums we have set ourselves the goal that our 8th album has to be more structured and be more variable in terms of the songs.”Homo Deus” could be seen as a mix of “Revive the Throne” and “Annihilation of Mankind”, garnished with a pinch of Stoner Rock and groove. Each song has its own atmosphere and takes the listener to a different part of the story. The work on the sound was completely taken over by Demigod Recordings this time. Demigod mixed and mastered Homo Deus and we think he did an excellent job. On the drums, only the bass drum is triggered and the rest was held naturally, as well as hardly any effects on the vocals. The sound is very natural and you can hear every riff clearly.
4. How did the tragic loss of your bassist Dominik “Pumpa” Koenig impact the creation of “Homo Deus”?
We were all shocked when we heard the news about Pumpa. The whole thing happened shortly before the release of our EP “Strain of Gods” and that was one of the hardest releases in our musical career. We have decided to continue, but not to fill his position with a new member. Of course, this loss is also worked through on “Homo Deus”, even if only subliminally. But we dedicated song 9, “Decending”, to Pumpa and Lukas K. recorded a two-part bass solo at the end of the song. The fretless bass in the solo was Pumpa’s custom 666 bass, so we got a little bit of his spirit on the record.
5. The new album features a track called “Proclaim the Anarchy.” Can you talk about the lyrical themes and inspiration behind this song?
As already mentioned, our album “Homo Deus” is a concept album and thematically it picks up where Revive the Throne left off. Civilization has slowly recovered from the nuclear attack on “Annihilation of Mankind” and now lives in a post-apocalyptic world where monarchies are predominant again. However, humans are exploiting the planet to the brim and are polluting the environment more and more. During the song “Proclaim the Anarchy” the last sources of energy break away and panic begins to spread. That was the starting signal for the revenge of nature and other unwelcome opponents. On “Homo Deus” mankind tries once again to oppose extermination.
6. With its intense, aggressive sound and uncompromising lyrics, STILLBIRTH is often described as a “brutal death surf metal” band. How do you feel about this label, and do you think it accurately describes your music?
We’re very happy about this label as we also would describe ourselves as Brutal Surf Death Metal. We usually do a mix of brutal death metal, slam death metal, deathcore and technical death metal, but we’ve also our surf live-look for a number of years now. Since we are all very weed and beach related, the encore “Surf” fitted very well. You have to have seen one of our live shows to understand the whole thing 😀 But when you once fell in love with our Surf-Shorts, you also wanna have one.
7. What was it like working with Distortion Music Group on “Homo Deus,” and how did you come to sign with them?
We switched to Distortion Music because we wanted full control over our music back again. Distortion Music Group is a boutique label which supports the bands but does not secure the rights to the songs for themselves. Since we are always somewhat DIY-oriented in our work, this partnership is very convenient for us. We were able to let off steam with the songwriting and the release and didn’t have any pressure from the label, no matter in which area. We are happy to be able to work with such a professional team. Even if the label is still young, the people behind it are veterans in the metal field.
8. What do you hope fans will take away from “Homo Deus” after listening to it?
We hope that we can make our fans happy with the new music. We ourselves think it’s the best album we’ve written so far, but we’re happy about every opinion we get from outside. As long as the corners of the mouth are pulled down while listening, we are happy and hope to see many of our fans at the live shows. With “Homo Deus” the fans get 43 minutes of new music, in which every song differs from the previous one and you have to strain your neck.
9. STILLBIRTH has been around for over two decades now. How has the band evolved over time, and where do you see yourselves heading in the future?
In our opinion we currently have the strongest live lineup in our history due to the additions of Leo and Szymon on the guitars. So we can’t wait to play more shows and shoo people around in the circle pit.
We don’t worry too much about our future, because no matter how the whole thing develops, I know that I’ll still be on stage when I’m 60. We take every chance we can to spread the name “Stillbirth” and we hope that many more fans, who don’t know us now, will discover our music.
10. What’s next for STILLBIRTH after the release of “Homo Deus”?
After the release of “Homo Deus” we will start writing the next album, but in the meantime we are also planning some other things. For example another Asian tour and maybe we’ll finally manage to do a US tour. South America is also high on our list, so there’s a lot to do. We are also planning to enter some bigger festivals in europe and around.
11. Thank you!
Thank you very much for this interview and we also want to say thank you to our fans and supporters. Without you the whole project would make much less sense and you are responsible for the fact that we are still motivated to create new music even after 20 years. Thank you for your support! Cheer Lukas
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