Interview with Sybreed - Benjaming (vocals)

Infernal Masquerade: Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions and let’s get started:

Sybreed has released 3 albums so far, and they keep getting better and better. What is the secret behind this constant improvement?

Benjamin: I don’t know if we can speak of “secret receipt” or whatsoever. We just try to have fun when composing music. However, I guess it is normal to improve at every album, for we earned experience since our first release: the contrary would be sad ahah. Then, I have to say we have become quite obsessed with songwriting and musical theory recently, so it might have helped us “upgrading” our level as musicians, as well as being able to obtain songs which sound very close to what we imagine at first.

I.M: “The Pulse of Awakening” is the band’s latest release. Featuring a very intriguing combination of Industrial Metal elements with some Groove Metal elements (a la Meshuggah), how long does it take for you guys to come up with such complex songs and refine them?

Benjamin: not so long actually. For this album, the whole composition lasted three months. Of course, we already had a couple of riffs and ideas we have matured before, but the real process was quite short. That’s something we wanted to try out, making an album in a short delay in order to keep it “fresh” … was kind of an experiment for us.

I.M: Does every member in the band have equal input in the songwriting process? Or is there a main mastermind behind the band’s music?

Benjamin: yes, we definitely work as team now. In past, Drop was in charge with most of the composition process. It was definitely exhausting for him, though. So we decided that three brains working altogether instead of one might a better way to function. It was quite a natural move for us. Then, each member has is own “specialty” I would say: Kevin is oriented on the rhythmic aspect, whereas I mostly work on the melodic side, some arrangements and transitions. Drop, on his side work as the “producer” directing the composition sessions, improving ideas, creating riffs, and so on. Well, he is still the “mastermind” somehow.

I.M: Why do you guys choose to call the band’s genre “Death Wave”?

Benjamin: actually it started as a private joke. You know, we always found the habit of creating odd sub-genre name very funny. Then, a time Drop and me where kind of drunk, we have been asked how we would define our music, and we just reply something like “we play Death-wav, dude”. We though about it sober after, and we agreed it wasn’t such a bad way to describe our music, though, for it represent well this mix of extreme metal and cold-wave melodies we play.

I.M: Musically, where do you see the band going?

Benjamin: it is difficult to say. What I know is that we have decided to completely ignore trend so I don’t see us trying to follow the current movement of the scene. We began as mavericks and we will keep on doing so. However, who knows what the future holds, even on a musical side. What is sure is that we will never stop doing heavy music, no matter if it is melodic or brutal, and if one day we happen to get bored with metal, we will just disband to preserve what Sybreed represent to us. Hopefully, I don’t think this day will come.

I.M: What is the main concept or ideas behind “The Pulse of Awakening”?

Benjamin: it revolves around the idea of constant questioning of moral. In my opinion, moral can be deceitful, and what is good today might be considered as wrong or evil in the next century. This is why a human being should be able to judge by himself what is appropriate or not without being dependant from an existing philosophy or a set of values, and thus being able to take distance from the weight of social bounds and from the fears they create, to maybe one day reach true freedom. This is a personal, inner ordeal and every song of the album explores a specific source of human misery and how one could break it, with each step being linked to a specific emotion/state of mind you can feel while listening to the music. Anyway, at the end nothing is solved and the whole process end up with a complete failure. But through this failure and the destruction of the very ego, when there’s nothing more to loose, one might be able to really feel what I call the “pulse of awakening”. In every way, this is a particularly nietzschean album lyrically wise.

I.M: If you guys had unlimited budget for a live show, how would you bring the band’s music to life?

Benjamin: well, we would avoid fireworks since we found them very silly ahah I guess we would try to have a stage looking like L.A in Blade Runner, with laser show and stuff like that: in anyway it would be something really cyber-punk. I hope we will have the opportunity to do so one day.

I.M: By perfecting your style in each album, are you guys afraid that one day you might not be able to deliver a good release and get slammed by fans and press?

Benjamin: we try to not think about it, and just keep on composing songs we enjoy. Of course, we are human and we could fail one day to meet our standards. Anyway, we make some kind of controversial music, which divides opinions. The Pulse of Awakening has gathered opposite reaction in Europe, from absolute praising to distaste. I guess it is what we deserve for having chosen to follow our inspiration and not the expectation of press and people. That is a risk, and we willingly take it, for the music is the most important things to us. I just hope we will be able to propose a better album every time, or at least stick to a “high quality” level.

I.M: Besides the recent tour with In Flames, any massive tour planned in support of the new album? Any shows in the US in the works by any chance?

Benjamin: we are working on this part, yet it is not easy to find an interesting tour support, or not too expensive for we haven’t a lot of money for touring. Unfortunately, the economical aspect is always a concern, because if we spend too much money in a tour, we have a hard time doing anything else after. However, we have a couple a nice opportunities we are trying to secure right now, especially in the U.S. so … wait and see!

I.M: Anything else you want to add for your fans and our readers?

Benjamin: nothing special or awesomely original, except that I hope people will appreciate our new album, and also thank you for the interview.

I.M: Thanks for answering the questions and good luck with the new album promotion.