THE RISEN DREAD comes
from Ireland and is a really good metalband
which I was so interested so I did an interview
with them in february 2002
Please tell me a little bit about the history of
the group?
-The Risen Dread was formed in the beginning of
2019 by William, Colum, Marco and Mat. Colum and
William started playing together around summer
2018, Marco joined at the end of the same year.
We decided the name only after Mat joined in
early 2019. We had Robbie as a second guitarist
for a few month after. He recorded our EP
“Delusions” in May 2019 with us. But things
didn’t work out with him… we tried another
guitarists a few time, until we decided to keep
as 4 pieces.
Our EP “Delusions” was released in October 2019.
After that we played a few gigs in Ireland… we
received an invitation to open some date for
Malevolent Creation in their Eastern European
tour in 2020, we also booked our tour for the
same year. Everything got cancelled due to the
covid. We decided to work on our album in the
meantime. We finally recorded our album during
the summer 2021 and our first album “Night Hag”
was released in January 2022.
Please tell me a little about every member in
the group right now, age, family, work,
interests and something bad about everyone?
Earlier bands? Other bands on the side?
-We all work, we’ve got different jobs. Mat is
26, Colum is 33, Marco is 34 and I’m 36
(William). Mat, Marco and I are married and I’ve
got a daughter. Colum is single. Back when I was
used to live in Brazil I played in a
Thrash/Death band called “Imperial Devastation”
from 2002 to 2006. They don’t exist anymore.
Marco who is also from Brazil played in a Thrash
Metal band there for a few years. I’m not 100%
sure if Colum and Mat played in a band before. I
know they were in bands before, but I’m not sure
if they’d played live with them.
Marco likes making drinks and cocktails. He’s a
bar in his house… he makes some interesting
stuff. He also specialized in cigars, he teaches
cigar classes.
Mat is into gaming, whether is on PC or just
candy crush on his phone hahahaah
Colum also likes gaming, but he’s a busy man..
he works a lot, not much time for anything else
but the band and his drums.
I’m the quite one, I like staying home with my
family.
I can hear much different influences but
thrashmetal and hardcore? Favorites from the
past?
-We’ve got a lot of influences. I never thought
that our mix of influences would make us sound
as close to Metalcore as we sound in this album.
I had a lot influences from bands like In
Flames, Lamb Of God, DevilDriver, Thy Art Is
Murder and so on. I believe those influences
made us sound as we do in the album. Plus the
production brought us closer to Metalcore as
well.
Marco loves Pantera and how Phil Anselmo used to
sing back then.
The Risen Dread are you satisfied with the name?
How did it come up? You weren’t afraid that
some other band would be named like this? Which
is the best band name you know?
-Yes.. we’re very happy with the name. We
had some brainstorms based on the theme we
wanted as name. The name comes from the
fear/voice we all have inside of us and it makes
us to do something when it’s risen.
No, we did a research to check if there was any
band with the same name. We couldn’t find any.
I’ve never thought about best band’s name
before. I like Rebaelliun a lot.
What´s the best thing about playing live? Have
you done any since the covid came? What is your
strength as a live band?
-Playing live is where you show to people what
you’re made of. The interaction with the crowd
is one of the best thing about plying live.
Since covid hit the world, We were able to
finish the tracks and record our album. We tried
to take advantage of that time to prepare our
album.
Our energy and stage presence are our strength
live. We leave our 100% on stage.
And where is best to play? And the worst place?
-The worst place is an empty venue. It can’t be
any worst than that. I don’t have any favourite
place to play.
How is playing this sort of music in Ireland
right now? Which types of bands do you have
concerts together with? Is it only similar
bands or which type is it?
-I believe it’s pretty much the same everywhere.
You’ve got some small venue or bars to play. At
the moment we have dates scheduled with Marduk
and Vader in their United Titans tours. We also
have a gig scheduled with CandleMass and Coroner
in Dublin. They’re not similar to each other.
How would you describe your music in three
words?
-Heavy, Catchy and Dynamic.
What does punk mean to you, is it only a word or
is it a lifestyle? I know you don´t play punk
but I hear some elements of hardcore in your
music?
-To me it’s just word. I never looked into what
punk means to punk people. I know it’s a
lifestyle for some of them. I believe the
hardcore elements in our song comes from our
metalcore influences.
Which song/album or group was it who took you
into music and to be playing yourself?
-My best album is Imaginations From The Other
Side of Blind Guardian. But what took me
into playing was bands like Krisiun, Sepultura,
Morbid Angel and so on. I remember having their
albums when I bought my first guitar.
What shall a young guy do today to shock their
parents the way we did when we were young? They
have already seen everything ;-)?
-When we did, our parents took it as phase. I
remember my mother saying “this is just a
phase”, “This phase happens to all teenagers”.
They always thought it was some kind of a
teenager rebellion just because we liked those
“crazy” music. Being a father myself, I can tell
one thing would shock me is my daughter being
racist, or homophobic, or something similar.
How is it to live in Ireland right now?
Politically? Fascists? Anti Vaxxers?
-There’s not many Anti Vaxxers here, Around 95%
of the adult population took the vaccines.
Politics are bad everywhere to be honest. But
the inflation is on its rise, let’s see what’s
going to happen.
Is there any good bands from Ireland right now?
What do you like about old Irish bands like Thin
Lizzy, Therapy etc. Is the punkscene/metalscene/hardcorescene
big? How is it in your hometown? You don't like
traditional irish folk music?
Does U2 count? Hahahah To be honest I don’t
listen to Irish bands much. But they’re good
bands like Ten Ton Slug, Gama Bomb, Words That
Burn, Neon Empire and so on. None of those
scenes are big in Ireland. They’re a lot of
people who like punk, metal or hardcore. But
only a few that support the underground scene. I
don’t listen to folk music.
What do you know about Sweden? Have you been
here sometime? What is typical Swedish?
-I spent 2017 Christmas in Stockholm. I
absolutely loved the city, well organized and
great food. I remember I stayed close to the
Avicii arena.
Have you heard any good bands from Sweden?
-Yes.. I’ve got a lot of influences from Swedish
bands like In Flames, At The Gates, The Haunted
and Arch Enemy. I also like Dissection,
HammerFall, Hypocrisy, Marduk and so on.
How do you do your songs, is it someone who
comes up with an idea or are you jamming them
together in the rehearsal room? Your lyrics, who
does them and what influences you? ? Please
tell me a little about the following songs
-In general, I’ve got the riffs and we start
jamming them. After we have a rough structure
done Marco starts writing the lyrics. He reads a
lot and mental illness was the theme of the our
album.
-Psychoses,
we talk about mental disorder treatments that
went wrong throughout history, such as lobotomy,
electroconvulsive therapy and trepanation.
-White
night, is about the Jonestown massacre that
took place in 1978 in Guyana. It donate a crisis
within Peoples temple, followed by a rehearsal
of collective suicide. Reverent Jim Jones had
ordered his entire community to drink a flavored
drink mix treated with a mixture of potassium
cyanide and tranquilizers, placed in industrial
buckets. In total, 909 individuals died.
-Lazzaretto
tells the story of Poveglia island and the
doctor who allegedly experimented on
patients with lobotomies and other unorthodox
medical treatments. The doctor jumped the
bell tower in the 1930s after claiming he had
been driven mad by ghosts from patients he
killed throughout the years.
Is there any subject that you will never write
anything about? Or isn't anything sacred?
-Not really. I wouldn’t write a love song ha ha
ha ha. I don’t think it fits to our style.
Politic and music, does it go hand in hand?
Which is your most political song? Is it
important to get out your opinions in music? Or
is it OK to play music and not sing about
politics?
-No, music is about freedom. You can write about
whatever you want. Some bands talks about
politics in some albums and some couldn’t care
less about it. It’s important that you feel free
to talk about whatever you want in your music
and you’re happy with it at the end.
Best political band/artist?
-I like Ratos De Porao from Brazil. They
sing in Portuguese.. but punk and hardcore fans
probably heard about them once.
How come that you could have Andreas Kisser from
Sepultura on White Night, how did this happen?
-Renato Zanuto who’s our guest in The Night Hag
is a personal friend of Marco. Renato is Andreas
friend as well. Renato worked in the last 3
Sepultura albums. Marco asked Renato to check
with Andreas if he’d appear as a guest in our
album. Andreas was in Renato’s house on Marco’s
birthday, they recorded a video just to say
happy birthday to Marco and in that video
Andreas said “Marco, I’ll give you a solo in one
of the track in album as a present for you”.
After that we decided which track we were going
to give to him and worked our both schedules.
Do you think that music(lyrics and so on) can
change anyone's life, I mean people who listen
to music?
-Yes… It can give people motivation to do
something, or to fight for something. It doesn’t
need to have a good lyric. If you have a good
harmony it’d do the job just fine.
Your favorite record cover all time? Who does
your record cover? And do you have any
good record stores in your hometown?
-I don’t think I have a favourite album cover.
Marcelo Vasco did our artwork, he’s
worked with big names such as Slayer, Machine
Head, Kreator, Hatebreed and the list goes on.
There’s few good stores in Dublin, new with
vinyl coming back. The stores are coming back
too.
Is it important to get out physical records of
your stuff? Why or why not? Vinyl, CD, cassette,
what would you prefer if you could choose
whatever ? If you only had released an
album digitally would it feel that you have
released an album then? Do you buy
much records yourself?
-I don’t buy records anymore. But I liked having
a physical copy of an album. I always liked to
read the booklets to know who the band is
thanking for, where they recorded, who produced
and so on. I don’t think it’s important to have
physical copies of your record.
We didn’t release any physical copy of our
album. All we printed was for promotion only.
We’re an independent band and a new band as
well. We couldn’t put money towards to physical
copies since we’re still building our fan base.
That doesn’t mean we won’t print it in a future.
But, it isn’t worth it as business right now.
All I can see us being stuck with a lot of
physical copies since we don’t have enough
potential buyers.
Please tell me a funny thing which has happened
during your career and under some gig? With this
band or any other band?
-It hasn’t happened to this band yet. But, with
my first band, we were almost at the end of the
song and my pick fell off my hand. I finished
the song with my fingers hahaha And I only had
the pick, I couldn’t find it, I had to borrow
one from another band to finish our setlist. I
hope this doesn’t happen to me again. But I hope
to have funny a lot of funny stories to tell
with The Risen Dread.
How does your audience look like? Which people
do you miss at your concerts? Which is the
biggest band you ever have played together with?
-I actually don’t know how our audience look
like. I miss the people that stayed at
home hahahah. But, to be honest I learnt to
appreciate who showed up. I played with Torture
Squad which is Thrash Metal band from Brazil.
But, I’m about to play with bands like Vader,
Marduk, CandleMass and Coroner. So, I’d say
there’s a lot more to come.
Please rank your five favorite records, five
favorite concerts and five most important things
in life?
-Records: Blind Guardian (Imaginations From the
Other Side), Sepultura (Arise), Metallica (Kill
‘Em All), Dio (Holy Diver) and Live (Mental
Jewelry)
Gigs: Blind Guardian in Sao Paulo 2011, Slayer
in Sao Paulo 2014, Iron Maiden in Sao Paulo
2014, Dio in Sao Paulo 2006, Slayer farewell
tour in Dublin
Important things. My family!!! All my top 5 is
my family.
And which is the record you would like to have
been on and played?
-I don’t know which record, but I’d like to have
been a part of the Blind Guardian. Just give me
one gig to play with them… I’ll learn the
setlist and will play live with them.
First, last and most expensive record ever
bought?
-I can’t remember when and which was the last
time I bought a record. It’s been at least 15
years since I bought my last record. But the
most expensive one was a DVD from Blind Guardian
released in 2003. It hadn’t been released in
Brazil and I imported it. As you can see… I’m a
Blind Guardian fan hahahahahah
Is it boring with interviews? Are there many
interviews?
-It depends on the questions. I usually don’t
like generic question. I’ve got some interviews
that you can see that the person didn’t even
care to google about the band. They usually send
the same random question to almost everyone.
Do you care about reviews? Which is the most
peculiar you ever had, with this band or any
other band you have been to? Have you ever
changed anything after a bad review?
-I don’t usually care much about. But there was
one from our album “Night Hag” that bothered me
a lot. Not because it was bad, but because it
felt it was a personal attack to us. Nothing on
the review was relevant… I get that reviews are
made based on personal opinion as everything in
life. But, this particular one was just an
attack.
Which bands do people compare you to, is it
boring that people compare you to other bands or
is it understandable? Which is the most odd
comparison you have got?
-Some people have compared our album to some of
the old In Flames albums. Which I liked.. but I
got surprised how people compared us to a
Metalcore style. Not because I don’t like
Metalcore. Because I do.. it’s just because it
wasn’t our intention at all. We didn’t plan to
sound a Metalcore band… the odd comparison was
with Black Dahlia Murder. I don’t even listen to
them hahahaha
If you could choose five bands from the past and
the history and nowadays and both dead and
living bands to have a concert together with
your band. Which five have you chosen?
-Dio, Pantera, Death, Blind Guardian, Parkway
Drive.
Is music a good way to get out frustration and
become a nicer person outside the music??
-Frustration, it does help you. Some people need
to put their frustration or anger in something
and music is one of them. That does help a lot.
Having said, I don’t know about making you a
better person. Maybe it does… but it depends on
each personality. We’re in constant change,
we’re affected by what happens to us and around
us. Personally, There’s only a few things that
make me to forget the outside world and band or
music isn’t one of them. I wish it was.
Which is the most odd question you ever have got
in an interview?(Except this one)
-Ahhhh, I was going to say this one hahahah. I
can’t remember being asked an odd question. I
probably was asked something weird at least
once… I just can’t remember. I remember my
reaction to some questions like “what question
is that?” or “this question makes no sense at
all”. But I can’t remember what the question
was. I’ve got good memories for a few things and
bad for others. My wife usually says I have good
memories for things that don’t matter hahahahaha
Which is the question you want to have but you
never get. Please ask it and answer it?
-I was never asked technical things. Like why
did you guys choose this studio to record, or
why we decided to work with those people and so
on. But one question that would be good is. Why
did I decide to get back with a band after over
10 years and having a family? I always missed
the stage, being on a stage is something unique
and you’ll never be the same once you take that
“drug”. I think I found the right guys to be in
a band with… we all want to take this seriously.
If you come to me and say, let’s get together
and form a band and the band’s intention is to
play in pubs and bars in weekends. I’d say “No!,
I rather stay at home”. For me it’d be a waste
of my time. I respect who likes that, it’s not
for me though.
Future Plans for the band?
-We’ve got this tour with Vader and Marduk
coming next month (March) and a festival to play
wit Candlemass and Coroner. We’ve got a few
dates to announce in the UK, we’re working on
another EU tour for the end of this summer and
let’s see what’s going to happen after that. I’d
like to bring The Risen Dread to play in my home
country (Brazil). Let’s see if we can make that
happen in 2023.
For yourself?
-Enjoy my life as best as I can and take care of
my family. Educate my daughter as best as I can.
Everything else will come around if you work
hard… opportunities don’t fall from the Sky and
if they did. You have to be prepared for when
they fall on your lap.
Wisdomword?
-Respect. Just respect each other and we’ll have
a better world to live.
Something to add?
-I’d like to thank for the space. I enjoyed this
interview… you asked questions not easy to
answer hahahaha
To your readers, If you don’t know The Risen
Dread yet. Go, check out our album “Night Hag”.
Come to see us live and I hope we get to play in
Sweden soon. Hopefully this year… it’s just a
matter of a call or an email. We jump on a plane
and that’s it.
A last question. Beer Favorite sort? If you did
a beer with your band, which sort would it be
and what has it been called?
-Hummm, I’m afraid. But, I’ll have to disappoint
you on that. I actually don’t drink beer. But,
I’d name our beer “Outsiders”. That’s how we
feel for a few things related to this band.