EVIL INVADERS (Eng.)
– Hello and first of all, thanks for taking the time. How is everything going right now with EVIL INVADERS? What are you currently up to?
Everything’s going great! We’ve been playing some shows in Germany with Alpha Tiger and Stallion the last few weekends and we’re working hard on the preparations of our release party for the debut album!
– First off, I guess your name might be inspired by RAZOR’s masterpiece «Evil Invaders» but, how did you come up with the name? Considering your style, have RAZOR been an influence for you?
We’ve been searching for a cool band name for a long time but nothing really seemed to fit. Until one day I bumped into the Razor album. I really liked it and as I read the title I immediately came up with the idea to use it as name for the band. Great album, great song so why not a great band name? Well we like Razor but I wouldn’t say it’s one of our biggest influences. We’re influenced by a lot of bands going from Heavy metal and Hard rock bands like Black Sabbath and AC/DC to Thrash metal bands like Over Kill and Flotsam And Jetsam, and all in between that. I would say our music will remind you of the 80’s metal bands.
– You are just about tu release your debut album, «Pulses of Pleasure» so, first off, would you mind to share some history of the band?
We had our first gig back in 2009 and released a shitty demo tape. We played a lot of shows in Belgium and the neighbouring countries the following years and had quite a few line-up changes. In 2013 we released our self-titled EP and that’s when doors started opening for us! We started playing a lot more shows abroad. We played the Heavy Metal Espectros festival in Murcia, Keep It True organised our own first European tour, did a club tour with Ostrogoth in Belgium, opened for Angel Witch in Greece, went on another tour (with Striker), and even won a mainstream music contest here in Belgium. In 2014 we had a sold-out video gig and shortly after we went to Japan with death metal legends Possessed and At War. In the summer we played a lot of festivals in Europe and after that we started recording our album. In the middle of our recording process we went on a crazy-ass tour with Destruction and Lost Society. When we came back we finished our album and shortly after went on another tour through Europe. Right now we’re preparing the release of our first full length album and we can’t wait to play our new stuff live!
– Anyway you have been around for a few years now, and with the self titled EP you managed to create some buzz and play live a lot. What did «Evil Invaders» mean to you? Did it open many doors?
Definitely! We didn’t expect such a good reception of this EP! That was something that made us realize we had to start taking this band more seriously. Pretty soon after the release of the EP Napalm Records contacted us and we signed the deal that summer. We managed to play a lot of bigger festivals like KIT (DE), Out & Loud (DE), Devilstone (LI), Metal Fest (CZ), Graspop Metal Meeting (BE), Pukkelpop (BE),… we had so many opportunities and we embraced them all with open arms! We’re really thankful to all the people that supported us through all these years.
– For instance it made you play one of the biggest, most veteran underground Metal festivals, dedicated to the most classic sounds, as it is Keep it True. What are your memories from that show?
Keep It True was a total blast! It was the first time we played for such a big audience! I remember we were the first band to play on the second day and there was nobody in the venue when we were doing the soundcheck. We thought everybody would still be sleeping in their tents with a huge hangover from the day before haha. But as soon as we started our show and we ran on stage we saw this huge amount of people standing there in the front! All these maniacs banging their heads. It was crazy! Such a good festival and such nice people who organise it. We went there before as fans and I had never dreamt I would be on that stage one day… it was amazing!
– You have even played in Japan. How does the Japanese crowed compares to the European crowd?
It’s a totally different world! People were already waiting for us in the streets with their Evil Invaders vinyls for us to sign them and to take pictures while we hadn’t even played yet hahaha. They’re really fanatic and the crowd was raging during the gig itself. After the show they all wanted to have a picture with us and we almost got blinded by their flashlights hahahaa. Funny people but really friendly. They almost treated us like gods… it’s pretty weird when you think about it. We’re just a bunch of dudes that traveled a bit to play some tunes.
– And of course you have also visited our country, Spain, a few times, and you’ll be back in May with SKULL FIST. Any nice memories from your gigs here?
Heavy metal in Spain is alive and kickin’ and the people have the right spirit! Great afterparties and great gigs! And it’s nice and warm compared to Belgium! We can’t wait to get back and see all those maniacs again!
– As I said, you will soon release your debut full-length album, entitled «Pulses of Plesure», but it has already hit the press so, how are the first reactions being? What are your expectations and goals with this record?
So far we had nothing but positive reactions to it! We made a lot of progress as musicians and you can clearly hear that if you compare this album to the EP. Everybody has their own favourites on this record so that’s a good thing. Every song on this album has its own soul and we really like it that way. We experimented a lot on this record and I think we have a nice combination of Heavy/ Thrash/Speed metal for this record. We hope to take this band to a higher level with this record and play a lot of shows during the next years! With Napalm Records on our side we get a lot more exposure so we’re really thrilled on how people are gonna react to this album.
– As expected, this album is nothing but a pure 80’s Metal onslaught, built upon a classic Speed/Thrash Metal basis, with both American and European flavour. This is just who you are and I know you are honest and passioante about it but, did you have a clear vision of how you wanted the album to be like when starting to create it? Or is the songwriting process something more spontaneous?
Thank you! That’s a great compliment. For this record we really had a clear view on what we wanted. It needed to sound just the way we had it in our minds. We didn’t want a modern, over-compressed, sound. But it still needed to sound strong enough to stand up to the modern bands of today. We took our time to get the mixing and the mastering right and did everything ourselves with our live sound engineer Koen Keijers in his own studio (Waveshape Audio). Before we went in the studio, we made preproductions of all the songs so we were well prepared to record and we could use our time for the full 100 percents! We took 2 days to look for the perfect guitar sound and rewrote some songs if we felt like we could improve them. In the end I think we don’t have a single filler on this record and that’s exactly what we aimed for. We worked really hard on it and we’re satisfied with how this record sounds.
– There is also a lot of Heavy Metal and NWOBHM specifically riffs. So still always sounding traditional, adds some dynamic to the album. Was important to make this album etertaining?
We didn’t really think that much about all of that. We just wrote stuff that came to our minds and mixed it all into one album. We have alot of different influences and I guess that could be the reason why our music sounds like something new. It will remind you of a lot of old bands but we don’t just copy them.
– Fo r instance «Shot to Paradise» has a certain IRON MAIDEN vibe to it, specially on guitars. What could you comment on this song?
I really love this song! I think it has the most extreme vocals of the entire record! It’s got a really catchy riff but also some weird progressions in the musical parts. This song is a monologue of a needle talking to a junkie and it keeps on building up towards the end.
– And I don’t know if it’s just my perception and maybe it’s too risky to say this, but I also noticed a really subtle Prog inspiration to. Would you agree on this?
Haha yeah that could be! I’ve been listening to a lot of Savatage, King Diamond, Crimson Glory and Sanctuary lately so that could be the reason.
– By Progressive I’m not meaning complex structures or endless solos, but it’s something more in the development and nature of the music. For example «Eclipse of the Mind» shows what I’m saying, with powerful and interesting changes in different levels. What’s the story behind this track?
That’s definitely the most experimental song we have on this record but also one of my favourites! The song was originally written with an acoustic intro but we chose to cut it off since it didn’t fit on the album. I hope we will be able to release the extended version of this song one day though… We recorded the acoustic parts in a real church to get that spooky vibe and a nice natural delay and reverb to make it sound really dark. The song tells a story about somebody who’s in a coma. It’s composed of 3 parts. In the first part the guy wakes up inside of his own body.. he’s confused and angry and it all seems like one big nightmare. He wants to go back to the way things were and he screams out for help but nobody hears him. Part one ends with a desperate scream and he goes into some kind of trance/sleep again. Part 2 is a moment when the character is confused and he doesn’t know where he is or what’s happening. Or was it all just a nightmare….? In Part 3 all hell breaks loose…
– As I said earlier, you just play 80’s Metal throwing in some different elements so, what bands did inspire you the most to form a band and create what you are doing with EVIL INVADERS?
We have so many influences.. It’s hard to mention them all but to name a few: Mercyful Fate, Exodus, Budgie, Iron Maiden, Exciter, Judas Priest, Crimson Glory, Dio, …
– What did the 80’s had that is lacking into today’s scene and you want to bring back?
Back in the day you had a lot of thrash, heavy and speed metal bands and artists that all sounded different! These days almost every metal band sound the same or they try to copy what another band did. The thrash metal bands nowadays are influenced by the thrash metal bands from the 80’s but the 80’s thrash bands were influenced by the NWoBHM and older stuff. We like to think in that way and get our influences from older bands and take that to another level just like the thrash and speed metal bands did back in the 80’s. Back then most bands had so much energy on stage and we really feel the adrenaline pumping through our veins when we play live. When we play live we give it everything we’ve got and we really want to be one with the crowd and feel the energy flowing. That’s what heavy metal music is all about for us!
– All this about «Pulses of Pleasure» being said; how could you describe it in just 3 words?
Fast, Loud and rude!
– You are hailing from Belgium, and even though it’s scene isn’t too known or too prolific, it has a good state in an underground level into different genres; there have always been ENTHRONED into extreme Metal, ACID back in its day, and now there are also acts such as HORACLE or WITCH TRAIL among others. How is the scene over there as an insider? And what Belgian bands could you suggest?
It’s a small country but we do have a great scene over here. We have a really loyal fanbase and everybody supports eachoter. And as you already mentioned Horacle and Witch Trail are really cool bands! You should definitely check out new bands like Hammerhead, Prematory, Bloodrocuted, Wildheart, … there are a lot of bands playing here it’s crazy haha! Too many to name.
– And how is for a relatively small band to play Speed Metal in Belgium?
I think it’s great! There are always plenty of people at the shows. We have a good scene. And good parties too hahaha.
– Finally, what are now your near-future plans? As I said earlier, I see you have some touring ahead.
We’ll be hitting the road with Majesty on a European tour in March and we’ll be teaming up with Skull Fist in May/June. In the summer we’ll be playing some festivals. Hopefully we have the chance to play some festivals in Spain too! That would be awesome!
