If you don’t follow metal news, the famous drummer Joey Jordison (Vimic, ex-Slipknot) and guitarist Fred Leclercq (DragonForce) launch a new death metal supergroup under the name Sinsaenum. RockUrLife had the great privilege to meet the two musicians, visiting the capital, to talk about this new and first project “Echoes Of The Tortured”.
Joey, you’ve reached Fred through a text message. How did you know he was working on this project?
Joey Jordison (drums): We were on tour, together, Slipknot and DragonForce, and we became very close friends. He’s a big death metal fan, as much as I am. We were just speaking and we found a concept. You don’t find this thing very often, it’s not something like a side project like “just pulling out and it is going to be it”, we form a unique band. I don’t find that with many people at all. Because I’m kind of a vagabond, I have to find the right people at the right time, Fred is one of them. He’s one of the biggest part of my heart, he has created music and especially dark music and I’ve been looking for that type of person to create that for a long time and finally I found it. When we met, that was the initial kick off to what Sinsaenum was to become.
Fred Leclercq (guitar): Yeah, I wrote, not most of the songs, but I started to write this album, some of them back from the 1998, it’s been a long time, it’s been a long process. Joey and I met in 2009, I believe, when we were on tour together. So I started this project on my own. Then I started to talk to Stephane Buriez from Loudblast and I was just like “yeah I’m doing this, do you want to join me? Do something and see how it goes?”. He said yes, and then, Joey sent me a message : “everything is fine but who is the drummer?” and I said “no one”, “OK I’ll do it”, and me “fine, let me think for one second”. And we recruited Attila Csihar and Heimoth from the French black metal band Seth.
Joey, why were you interested by Fred’s music?
Joey: We started touring together and you met certain people along the way who become friends. But that was different because you always meet those types of people, you find a kind apart, like musically it’s hard to explain this but the thing is, when you find that person, and you know you have it you do not let it go. That was Fred for me, so when I knew that we had this concept with fucking death metal and we had both not been able to release a death metal or black metal record in our careers yet, we knew that we had to fucking do it and fucking find the right people, and fucking make it happen because we knew that we had it instantly. All the people were getting involved : I’ve met some of the best friends of my life through this project, because the fucking whole thing is absolutely 100% and everyone is focused on the right direction.
Fred, you make power metal and then Joey, with Vimic, you’re doing a kind of heavy metal. How did you make this transition technically?
Joey: The thing is, I’ve been in music for so long, and I’ve studied a lot of different types of style through my life, I’ve been able to necessarily exercice all my different styles, so the best thing I love about music has always been able to go through a curve. I’m a metalhead, always will be, that’s what my heart likes. Sinsaenum finally let me show my fucking true talent. These guys I’m playing with in Sinseanum have given me the opportunity to do that. I’ve always done it before in Slipknot, and others bands, and my rock and roll style I’ve done before, like I do in Vimic. Sinsaenum is not just about speed, it’s not just about the technicalities, it’s about the force.
Fred: I have never had the chance to show people that I’m able to play that kind of music so I didn’t change anything at all. No one never asked me to if I was able to speak German, but yeah I can speak German, that’s that. I did all the songs so I didn’t adapt anything at all, it came very naturally.
How did you think about the name Sinsaenum? It seems like latin.
Fred: No, it’s no latin anymore, it has like a latin ending. But we were looking for a band name, and Joey said that it will be better if we had a name that doesn’t exist. And it’s true because it’s not that easy to create a band, because you have to find the right people, you also have to write the songs, and find the right name for it. If you go on the Internet these days and you tape any sort of crew name you can think about, for example, we have a song call “Death Souls”, I thought that could be a nice name for the band. You tape Death Souls, and there’re like two in Chile, two in Poland, two in Germany. So Joey said it will be better if we could come up with something that never existed before and he came up with the name. That’s a mix of “sin” and “insane”, has Latin resonance, but I don’t want people to think too much about the name, the music makes the name exist.
When did you start working together? How was the writing process?
Fred: The songs were written and Joey sent me a message asking if we had a drummer, I said no, if you want to be it yes. That meant we had to finish all the songs because he was doing something else so I said “OK give me time to finish it”. I did the beginning, so I did a rough drums, like rough demos to have the beat and then I sent them to him in the second-half of 2013 with guitar and nothing else so he had time to incorporate and do his own.
Joey: He sent me the stuff, he had created so many songs. Playing the tracks, like it came so fucking naturally, and what the beauty of this, I’m listening to something my friend created, and linking with it so easily, it fucking unleashed you, and I knew I had it, I knew we had something, it’s not like just playing certain parts, playing a certain blast. It’s all about the feelings.
So tell us about the line up, this is an international band, and you mixed the record in Sweden.
Fred: They’re just friends, we are lucky enough to be in the music business for a long time, so you meet people with whom you share the same passion. You want to do something with them so it doesn’t mean they have to be at the next door. Joey is from Iowa, Sean is from Atlanta, Stephane and I are from France, and Attila is from Hungary but he plays with a Norwegian band. It’s because nowadays, there is Internet. That’s the beauty of it, talking through Internet, I hate it sometimes, but that’s the good thing about it, it makes things easier sometimes. And we mixed it in Sweden because the way I see this band, I’ve done everything with good feelings, because I felt there is a nice connection with Joey. It was the same thing with Jens Bogren, I worked with him before so we did a really strong connection. Let’s go for that. The same with the label. Because sometimes, you can try to pre-plan stuff and things. But it was not like that, we all met together in Budapest to rehearse the songs before doing the video. I was a little bit nervous first because sometimes you have a group of friends number 1 and a group of friends number 2, and you try to put all of them in the same room and sometimes it doesn’t work. But it just fucking worked, it was like the best party ever. We all connected and that was just great.
“Echoes Of The Tortured”, why this title?
Fred: Because each song can represent an echo. Each song could be a scream of someone suffering. “Echoes Of The Tortured” also refers to this, which is a particular book.
Joey: One thing I can add, “Echoes Of The Tortured” is a fucking term that actually explains everyone’s life. Cause no one’s life is fucking easy. Also, as the way the world is right now, no matter how you live in your life right now, the fucking things could completely fuck up. And so “Echoes Of The Tortured” are every fucking screaming right now, on all over the fucking planet. We all see it, we all know it, and it’s fucking right there on your face. So it’s a reflexion.
Among these 21 tracks, there are some interludes.
Fred: I grew up with albums that had interludes and that’s something I wanted to incorporate into our music because it just makes more sense, creates an atmosphere, and also it forces people to listen to the album from A to Z, it’s something nowadays you don’t do because of iTunes or YouTube. You listen to one song or whatever. In the entire experience, it’s a piece or art. I’m not forcing people but if they want to get the real thing they have to hear the whole album, and they can pick and choose the songs they prefer but I recommend them to listen the whole thing because I want to take them on a journey.
Joey: It’s much a part of the journey. The songs are created one by one, it’s a story, it goes through it, the songs were created very, very strategically, but the thing is that the interludes are almost as important because you need it, it’s almost like taking a breath.
Listening to the first track “Materialization”, it seems like we were watching the movie “Sinister”. And then “Lullaby” for “The Clown”. Do you watch too much horror movies? (laughs)
Fred: It’s not too much, I grew up watching horror movies of course. There is an Italian band that is famous for doing soundtrack like “Profondo Rosso”. It’s called The Goblin. Yeah, again, horror movies are important along with the suspense and the waiting, the soundtrack creates all. Yes, I’m a big horror movie fan. I think it’s great when you can tell something with just music, there is no need for lyrics, just with this particular sound, people can hear something is going to happen.
And you Joey?
Joey: I’ve never seen one.
Really?
Joey: No, I’ve never seen a horror movie of my life.
Really? (laughs)
Joey: (laughs) Of course! I was in a band before that was a big horror movie, basically almost as the tribute band, but yeah, it’s a big passion of mine. The thing is that my type of horror movie is not something that’s fun, it is more intellectual thing that I like to look out, especially with European horror movies, it’s what I love more than anything. American horror movies are great, they’re great but I’m definitely more into necromantic movies, easily care about Japanese horror movies. If I’m going to watch one, I can watch all the horror movies.
Our favorite track is actually “Army Of Chaos”. You released a video clip for this song. Do you have a favorite one to play or to listen to?
Joey: “Splendor And Agony”. This is another one we wanted to release first because it’s another that come apart to pretty much what we do with “Army”, because of the tempo, it is a different part of the musicianship in the band. And also the message; the lyrics are fucking deep in that one, this is what is great about this fucking record, that’s what I want people to take from this record. I didn’t write any of the lyrics, but they speak to me. I’m proud of all of them.
Who writes the lyrics actually?
Fred: I write the lyrics with Sean, Attila and Stephane. But I keep an eye on everything. But as far as a favorite song, the one I’m really proud of is one of the interludes, I don’t know the name right now; there’re Schönberg’s influences, from dodecaphony, we tried to recreate that.
You all have your band by your side. Will you find time to tour all together for this album?
Fred: Yeah, we will, there’s nothing plan right now so there’re no pressure, but fuck yes, see you in September. But there is no pressure, no one is pushing us. But we have all the duties, so it’s all about respect for the other bands because that’s new so we can’t just say “OK, that’s new, fuck you guys”, no. But something for sure, it’s that we will tour, it wasn’t even sure before but once we all get together in one room, it will happen.
Let’s finish with our traditional question: as we are “RockUrLife”, what rocks your life?
Fred: What rocks my life? I don’t know, Joey what rocks your life?
Joey: Metal, music overall, my lady and my kids. That basically. And Sinseanum and Vimic, that fucking rocks my life.
Fred: Basically the same: my lady, the music, and good food. (laughs)
Joey: I still have good food. (laughs)
Fred: (laughs) Yeah, that suppose to rock my life.
Website: sinsaenum.com
