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You can't say Dutch death metal without immediately talking about Severe Torture, Sinister or Gorefest, to name three, but people with a wider knowledge about extreme music know there's a myriad of Dutch death metal bands. Caedere is one of them. The Dutchmen have almost finished work on material for the next album. In addition to that the band has a new promo out and is presently looking for a label to team up with so there was plenty to ask bassist Herbert Cats about.
Are you still looking for a label to ink a deal with?
Well, we haven't signed anything yet, but there are some negotiations with a Dutch label going on. If the deal falls into place then we'll be the first to tell the world.
Has it become more difficult to secure a deal nowadays?
After we put out the Gore to Banish Fear demo Goregiastic Records got in touch with us and the deal was inked quite fast. We only sent out a handful of demos back then.
It seems to be a lot more difficult nowadays and this even tough there are a lot of small records labels all over the world. We have sent out a lot of promos this time so we had hoped for more reactions. The bigger labels didn't show any interest at all. It seems that to even come under consideration you have to have put out a couple of releases over a certain period and given that it's been more than three years since Mass Emission was released we're a little behind on that one. The labels that contacted us are pretty slow in responding or aren't very clear about what they can offer.
A lot of bands pay for the studio and such out of their own pockets these days. Is this something you've considered as well so you have a finished and complete product to present?
All our previous releases were completely financed by ourselves! With modern recording techniques you can produce a very good sounding album. For an example, Mass Emission was recorded in an attic. All it takes is that the equipment you use is good, but also a good sound-engineer is just as important! With regards to the new album we have plans to do it the same way. But if there's a budget to record in a professional studio we may consider doing that.
Musically Caedere sounds like a blend of American and European death metal. Could you say something about your influences?
That blend has been our trademark since the beginning and for good reason we think. Some of us are really into old school European and American death metal. Some of our favourite bands include Entombed, Dismember, Gorefest and older Hypocrisy as well as Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, but besides those we also listen to the more modern bands like Dying Fetus, Deeds Of Flesh and Pyaemia so, we aren't influenced or a copy by one band in particular. We try to take best from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
What do you think musically sets you apart from your fellow countrymen in bands like Prostitute Disfigurement, Severe Torture, Sinister, Pyaemia, Gorefest or Disavowed?
I know that we are better looking [laughs] Nah, seriously we have a different sound and our approach of writing songs is also a little different. All of the bands you named have a sound and approach of their own and I think we have that as well.
How do the new three track promo compare to your previous effort?
You still hear the same band, but the songs are way better structured. Technically we have grown and we just spent more time on writing the songs. The result of this is songs with a better balance and multiplicity.
The promo has a forceful and spotless production that is very easy to listen to. I take it you are satisfied with the result?
Yes we are very happy with result! The recording took only four days and our goal was to have a good, but raw sound. A lot of albums nowadays tend to be overproduced and after three songs your ears can't take more of it. I think that's a pity because it doesn't necessarily mean that the rest of the album is bad. This is also a good example of why you don't have to spend a lot of money on recording an album as simplicity sometimes is way better.
Will you be working with the same studios to produce and mix the next full-length?
We don't know that yet. Paul [Beltman, Sinister drummer] who owns the Helter Belter Studio doesn't have a room to record in anymore so we have to hire a studio which is pretty expensive, but Paul did a good job and is a great guy to work with so who knows!
The same goes for Pascal at Ground Zero Studio where we recorded our two first releases. We aren't sure what we are going to do. Maybe we'll only record the drums in the studio and the rest at home. Hopefully we can work with one of these guys, but they are both very busy, so we'll just have to wait and see!
From what I understand you have the majority of material for the next full-length ready?
Yep, we have eight songs ready. One or two needs a final touch. It's about 35 minutes of music so there's enough for a full-length. Maybe we'll write an extra song so we can choose the best eight songs. In our opinion a brutal death metal album shouldn't have a playing time of more than 30-35 minutes.
When working on the new material, were there any basics from the debut CD that you wanted to keep or anything in particular you were looking to improve?
We wanted a bigger challenge for ourselves when playing the songs. So overall technicality is what makes it different from Mass Emission. This time we also really wanted to write the songs. Not just riff after riff, but also consider carefully about the patterns and such. That's also one of the reasons it took the long time it took to complete these songs. But yeah, we really wanted to keep the mix of old school and modern death metal.
The three promo tracks are they are good guideline as to how the new material sounds?
We think so. All songs have their own characteristics, but they fit together. So if you like the promo there's a good chance you'll like our new album as well.
The Dutch death metal scene has always appeared to be very productive. How is it doing nowadays?
To be honest, I'm not really that much into the scene anymore. But for what I know there are dozens of death metal bands in Holland these days. Every village seems to have their own metal band. The quality fluctuates, but mostly the good bands will get the recognition they earn! Every year there are several good death metal albums released by Dutch bands so I guess the scene is doing well.
A lot of musicians stay busy by working on different side-projects of a more or less serious kind. Is this the same with Caedere?
That's true. A lot of musicians are bandwhores [laughs]. Back in the days three of the four members had two bands. I didn't, but now I'm the only bandwhore in Caedere [laughs]. I also play in a psychotic chaos metal band called Dimensional Psychosis. My focus is on Caedere, but Dimensional Psychosis are good friends of mine. It's cool to play in a band like that because it takes a lot of me to play that kind of music. It's original, technical and fucked up metal. Unfortunately I have very little time to practice with them because of Caedere, college and such. It's a shame since the band is good and they deserve a bassist that's a little more dedicated. Hopefully I have more time after the summer.
When looking ahead what next is in store for Caedere?
On June 10th we'll play a gig with Immolation. We are really looking forward to that. After that we'll continue to work on the new album and hopefully have it out in early 2008 and then do a European or American tour and play some festivals in the summer.
Anything you wish to add to conclude this interview?
Thanks a lot for the interview! Hopefully we can do some shows in Denmark sometime! Maybe you or one of the readers can help us out with that!
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