Interview

Callenish Circle is further distinguishing the death metal sound of the Netherlands. With their raw, aggressive sound, this 5-piece is attacking the world and breathing new life into death metal. I spoke with Ronny Tyssen, one of the two guitarists, who not only is an awesome musician, but one hell of a cool guy.

Martha: Where does your name come from?

Ronny: Do you know about Stonehenge Circle, it?s like that. It?s situated in the north of Scotland. It was found ages ago, and some thought that people back then would have never managed to get those stones into that area, so a myth was started.

M: Have you visited there before?

R: No, but I would like to.

M: It sounds like a photo op waiting to happen.

R: (laughs) Yes, it does!

M: Does it take a long time to record an album for the group?

R: We were in Stage One Studios for three weeks. That was only the recording, and after that we had do to the mastering.

M: Who owns those studios?

R: It is the studio of Andy Clauson of Holy Moses.

M: How is Flesh_Power_Dominion different than Graceful..yet Forbidding? I have yet to hear Graceful, but I?m looking forward to hearing it.

R: Well, musically wise, flesh is more straight-forward, more intense, more aggressive, but I think it still has the Callenish Circle.

M: Was this a natural evolution or done to be intentionally different?

R: No, it was a natural progression. We had a lot of shit to work through from our last label.

M: Who was your last label?

R: DSFA Label. They have bands like Orphanage, and are a pretty known label with good promotion. But he really fucked up everything with us. He got into serious financial problems and didn?t promote at all and only arranged like three interviews for us.

M: You would expect them to do more for you.

R: Yes, we did.

M: I find similarities between Callenish Circle and God Dethroned. Is there a specific Dutch death metal sound?

R: I don?t know, in the early yeas, like five or six years ago, there was a bit of a doom influence in a lot of Dutch bands, and now I think a lot of the Dutch bands sound like American bands, some sound like straight forward death metal bands. Some people think we sound like Swedish death metal.

M: Yes, I can see the similarities, but I think you are more aggressive-sounding than a lot of Swedish bands.

R: Yes, I think so too.

M: What is the most frustrating part of the music business?

R: I think the label bullshit is the worst. It caused the little aggression explosion in this album.

M: You know what this means, don?t you?

R: What?

M: You?ll have to find something to be pissed off about for your next album.

R: (both laugh) Yeah. I don?t expect that will be hard.

M: No, just pick up a newspaper. Was there any time during the band?s problems when you felt like giving up?

R: No, not really. We have had a very hard time and we talked a lot about it with each other. We decided to put all of our energy into recording, and we wouldn?t give up for anyone.

M: The three of you have been together a long time. It sounds like you have a good communication going.

R: Yeah, we do. I joined the band in ?93 and we weren?t a real band then, we played other band?s songs. Bands like Death and Bolt Thrower. Then we started writing our own music.

M: What is the very best part of the business?

R: Well, just to be creative and work with all the melodies that are in my head, to put them professionally into songs and perform them, that?s part of the best thing.

M: You?re going on a big tour this month. Have you been on a large tour yet?

R: Yeah, for us this is the first tour in ten years.

M: Are you excited about it?

R: Very excited. We are doing the tour with Amon Amarth and Vomitory.

M: Are you playing any of the big festivals this year?

R: We are still talking about the Dynamo Festival.

M: They?re doing Dynamo this year?

R: Yeah, but it?s only one day. They only expect a small crowd of about 20,000 people.

M: That's too bad.

R: Yeah, it used to be a great festival.

M: I went to Dynamo in ?99 and Wacken last year; they were two of the best concerts I?ve ever been to. Of course, the Dutch were the nicest.

R: (laughs) I live only about 50 kilometers away.

M: Way cool! Who writes the band?s songs?

R: The songs we all do, the lyrics I?m responsible for. I wrote all the lyrics on the new album except for one. The music is pretty much the whole band?s project. In the rehearsals we try to put together the songs.

M: Do you get into arguments over the songwriting?

R: Yeah, pretty much all the time. We each try to bring out what we think is the best. You?re going to get into arguments.

M: But then you can work together to find a common ground.

R: Yes, that is how I think, the best songs come out.

M: How long does it take to write new songs?

R: Pretty long, I think, we?re very critical of our own music. When we write a song, we keep changing it until we really like it. Sometimes it takes three months to finish one song.

M: Do you put songs you?re working on away for a couple of weeks and then look at them with a fresher eye?

R: Yes, that?s how we do it. Sometimes you get too close to a song and can?t really ?see? it anymore.

M: Which band of any in the world, would you like to open for?

R: It was Death. Unfortunately, that?s not a possibility anymore. Who else? Slayer.