KOMMANDANT (Eng.)
– Hello, thanks for answering to our questions. What’s currently going on into the KOMMANDANT’s camp?
We recently released our second full-length album, The Draconian Archetype through Aeternetus Tenebrarum Musicae Fundamentum of Italy. We also just returned from an eleven date tour of the US East Coast with Demonical (Swe) and Horna (Fin). We are preparing now to invade New York City again in a few weeks for the inaugural Martyrdoom Festival in Brooklyn.
– I guess there may be some people who aren’t familiar with you yet so, first off, could you please make some history of the band?
Kommandant started as a studio project in 2005. At the start, there was no intention to become a full-fledged live band, but as the demo Iron Hands on Scandinavia circulated and received more momentum, the decision was made to gather a committed line-up and to start writing more material as a full-time band. Stormlegion was released in 2008 and around that time we started honing the vision of what we wanted for this band from not only a musical but an aesthetic and philosophical standpoint. During this time we started playing live more and incorporated the uniforms and gas masks that have now become our trademark, so to speak. By fall 2011 when Kontakt was released, we had quite a great deal of the Draconian material written, so we rolled right ahead and went into the studio for Draconian by the winter of 2011. The Draconian Archetype, however, is quite different than the Kontakt-era songs and represents a refinement of our message. We spent a lot of time in the studio with Draconian until we were wholly satisfied with the result.
– You play an interesting blend between different extreme Metal styles I’d dare say but, what are the main musical influences for the band?
Individually,we are each inspired by vastly different artists and musicians on a variety of different levels. As a group, we are the mostly inspired,even driven,by our ability thus far to improve on each of our releases concurrently.We ourselves are the biggest fans of Kommandant,and therefore draw the most inspiration from our own music.
– Since your inception you have been through different line-up changes. Has this affected the band or its sound in any way?
With us, the line-up does not affect the sound as much as the sound affects the line-up. The musicians in Kommandant are cogs in the machine, and since a few of us have the ability to play more than one instrument, the positions in the band have been rather fluid as we determine which arrangement works best. Most obviously and most recently we moved Marcus Kolar to vocals and relieved our previous vocalist from his duties. This was because the music was evolving and we needed to fill the position with the person most appropriate for the job.
– You have recently released your sophomore album, “The Draconian Archetype”, how is its feedback being so far?
The feedback we’ve received from fans as well as critics has been overwhelmingly positive. Many people are only hearing us for the first time with this record and it is making quite the impact. A lot of the reviews have been praising the new dynamics and experimental vocal patterns that we’re employing for the first time with this record. Our song “Hate is Strength” in particular seems to be a fan favorite on the recordings and particularly live.
– With this second record, do you think you have released the material you have always wanted to publish? I mean, could you say have you shaped a bit more your own personality? How do you see that as an insider?
The United States has a lot of extreme metal fans, but the sheer geographical size and the distance between major cities in the US makes the scene very fragmented. If you are a fan of extreme metal in a smaller or out-of-the-way city, or in a rural area, you have to either travel a very long distance for shows or not go at all. Chicago has one of the healthier and most vibrant metal scenes in the US, but we consider ourselves to be on an island; that is to say that we could exist anywhere – we are not dependent on being integrated into any one particular “scene” or another.This sense of independent self perception is proof, to us,that we are definately moving towards a more unique style;as free as we can be from outside influence.
– And finally, what are the near-future plans for KOMMANDANT?
We have quite a few irons in the fire, currently. We plan on doing some more touring in the US but we are mainly focused on bringing our rallies to the European front in late 2012 or early 2013. A couple of split 7″ releases are also planned for 2013.Touring in support of our new album is definately the main focus currently.
