Belgian metalheads EVIL INVADERS are about to release their third full-lenght album, “Shattering Reflection”, on on April 1, 2022 via Napalm Records. We reached out to guitarrist Max Mayhem, who quickly brought us up to speed on the latest EVIL INVADERS activities.
-Hello, thank you very much for your time. How are you? I hope you’re fine. I guess the pandemic has been one of the reasons we've had to wait five years to enjoy a new EVIL INVADERS studio album. Still, five years is a long time. When was this album supposed to have been released in the first place?
Hi! My pleasure! I am doing fine so far! Well, the pandemic definitely had an impact on the writing process of the album. I mean, we couldn’t rehearse, nor really hang out together, so the “creative flow” and the motivation got disrupted a bit. For this album we really wanted to take our time and work out our material properly and pay attention to the details, so I guess, if there would have been no Pandemic, it would have been released maybe late 2020, early 2021. As you can’t and should not force creativity, sometimes it takes a bit longer to write an album. Quality over quantity I would say! (laughs).
-“Shattering Reflection”, does that title of the album refer to something or where did you find and how did you come up a title for the album?
It’s pretty much what is displayed on the artwork. The idea of the artwork came first and then we started looking for a title. Reflection (thinking) is also referring to memories. A shattering reflection can be a traumatic experience or something from the past that scarred you for life, or things you think of that drive you insane.
-I really enjoy your new album. Music-wise, I think is the most varied EVIL INVADERS album to date. But how would you describe the music in “Shattering Reflection”?
It is definitely darker and colder than the previous releases. Also a bit more mature in songwriting. There are more different influences that got worked with than on for example “Feed Me Violence”. It’s a tad less straight forward but I think that makes the album very interesting, as not every song is in the same style. We had a bit more of an open minded approach on the album, that’s why for example “In Deepest Black” and “Forgotten Memories”, which in my opinion are quite untypical for us, got on there. The songs sounded good to us so we thought it would be stupid not to use them only because they maybe would not fit our style. I mean, METALLICA also has their ballads and “The Thing That Should Not Be” is also slow, downtuned and heavy. So I personally wouldn’t even say it doesn’t fit in the style, but the opinion lays within the eyes of the beholder (laughs).
-Behind the sound of the new album was Francesco Paoli (FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE). What convinced you that they could make an EVIL INVADERS record in the best way?
Francesco is an insanely talented musician and producer. I would not say he is behind the sound of the album, but he definitely played a great part in helping us out with the arrangement of our songs. You can easily get stuck in a loop while writing a song and then you get stuck, change things everywhere, go back to the original version and so on and on. He had a fresh mindset and ears, really got us out of that loop and helped us get back on track with the progression of the songwriting. It’s very important that a producer understand the band and the music he is working with and he did so straight from the beginning. It was a real pleasure working with him!
-Tell me about the vocals in “My World”. In this song it seems like someone else is singing… Am I right?
We fed Joe a bag of nails and made him sing with a German accent (laughs). Joke on the side. Actually it is me singing on that song. I recorded this song for shits and giggles about 3 years ago and out of curiosity I showed it to the band if this could be something we could work with and they all liked it. The original plan was not that I would be singing it on the album, but the guys preferred my vocals in the end because it matched the vibe of the song better.
-You have released two videos for the new album so far (“In Deepest Black” and “Sledgehammer Justice”). The “In Deepest Black” number was chosen to be the album’s first video for some specific reason? What will be the next video out?
Originally we wanted to release “Sledgehammer Justice” as the first song, but after thinking about it, everyone would expect us to release a song like this. The idea, to release a song no one would expect us to do was just way more interesting to us. It took us 5 years to release this record, so it’s cool to show that we didn’t need 5 years to create a record that is basically the same as the record before. Of course we were aware that some people would freak out or think we only do power ballads now, but then we just kicked something fast and heavy after to calm those people down (laughs). The next video will be released on the 30th of March.
-You decided to put with two instrumental tracks on “Shattering Reflections”. All of your three full-length albums include an instrumental track. Is that something you’re going to continue doing in future releases?
I always thought it is something nice to include on a record. It gives it a bit of air in between all those heavy and fast songs, plus I think it’s nice to demonstrate a bit of a different side of the music. You can be a bit more experimental with synthesizers and your instruments, as it is more of an ambient song. But I would not say we will have one on every record in the future.
-The album ends with “The Circle”. To me it's like John Carpenter playing Heavy Metal. What can you tell me about this song?
“The Circle” was a very very difficult song to realize. Joe came up with the idea. It was a long song stuffed with a lot of elements that were all really really cool on their own, but the pieces somehow didn’t match yet in the big picture. We dicked around with it for a loooong time trying to make it work but eventually we all got stuck on it. Francesco was really the man with this song. We had so many attempts on realizing this song... We were so stuck on our idea that we never thought about mixing the riffs and parts in a different way. Like we were stuck in this loop, but since he wasn’t involved in the writing process from the beginning, he had a fresh mind and saw the possibilities that we just could not see anymore and saved the song. And so “The Circle” got completed and I am myself also very very happy with the end result. It’s one of my favorites on the album as well.
-What kind of lyrics we can find on the album this time?
The lyrics are pretty classic EVIL INVADERS style. We like to sing about the dark sides of the human mind and the cold bitter reality. A lot of the songs are personal experiences that have been processed through writing music, except “Sledgehammer Justice”, which is more like a “Raising Hell” kind of song. It had a more “Gang” kind of vibe so it’s a bit more metal cliché, but not every song always has to have a deep serious meaning in my opinion.
-How many songs did you end up writing for the new album?
In total we had 12 songs, but two of them weren’t developed enough yet and we figured that they need quite some more work, so instead of delaying our album even further, we just left them out and use them for the next release.
-Where did the concept behind the art work come from?
The artwork of “Shattering Reflection” is based on two ideas. A few years back I came up with the idea, that it would look pretty cool if our icon would crash through a mirror like a wrecking ball (a bit like the cover of SAVATAGE’s “Power Of The Night”) and within those broken shards that are flying away, you could see pictures of the content that is sung about in the lyrics. Like in the reflection. Joe had this idea about an old factory in mind. Like you stand in front of this huge old metal gate that is opened just a little bit but enough to have a glimpse of the inside. The inside itself would display some kind of factory of pain, where all the evil takes its form before it gets unleashed to the world. Since we could not really decide what is the coolest, we decided to just put both ideas together and the result is the artwork we have now.
-You are signed with a great label, Napalm Records. How important is having a label to back you up today when you can just release your music on any sort of platform online?
Theoretically you can do it all by yourself, but a label is also some kind of status I think. They take care that your music gets spread physically and digitally all over the world. If people from the US discover us on Youtube or Spotify or whatever, they can find our record in the shop in the town.
-I noticed that you're going to tour with SCHIZOPHRENIA and CRYPTOSIS. What else have you planned for this year live-wise?
We got a bunch of festivals line up for summer like Barcelona Rock Fest in Spain, Rock Harz in Germany and of course Alcatraz in Belgium just to mention a few, but we have bigger plans in the making for the near future so stay tuned to our social media!
-If I'm not wrong, EVIL INVADERS was formed in 2007. So, this year marks your 15th anniversary as a band. Are there any plans to celebrate that in any kind of way?
To be honest, we haven’t really thought about it (laughs). We did have the talk about the idea of maybe doing a special EP show next year, as the “Evil Invaders” EP turns 10 years old next year. But there are no concrete plans yet. Would be definitely cool to do something special in my opinion!
-How much do you follow new traditional metal releases? Do you have any favorite band?
There are many good new bands that play in the traditional style. I really really liked the “Shock To The System” record by the US band TOWER. Also “Watcher Of The Skies” by LYNX from Germany. Plus, I am also a big fan of the Speed Metal VULTURE. But there are plenty of really great bands out there that keep the spirit alive!
-Name ten of your favorite albums of all time.
DEMOLITION HAMMER – Epidemic Of Violence
EXHORDER - Slaughter In The Vatican
KING DIAMOND – Conspiracy
MOTÖRHEAD – Orgasmatron
ROSE TATTOO – Rose Tattoo
CANDLEMASS – Nightfall
VITAL REMAINS – Dechristianize
MISFITS - Walk Among Us
MISFITS – American Psycho
DISSECTION – Storm Of The Lights
Bane
-Thanks for your time! Last words are yours!
Stay true, stay save, eat your veggies and fuck Putin and his war! Cheers!
Diego González.
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