Dominum: The Night Awaits
There are few power metal bands who have had as good of a career launch as the German zombie outfit DOMINUM. Led by Dr Dead, the band has now released a couple of albums, with the third right around the corner, and have played numerous tours along the way. In July this year, Night Is Calling, the third album in the DOMINUM discography is set to be released, and afterwards, the German four-piece will be embarking on their biggest headline tour to date. Because of all this, a deep dive into this brand new, infectious zombie era was necessary.
The lead single of any record or EP is arguably the most important of the release campaign. Usually because it is the first impression of a brand new piece of work, and sets the tone for what the rest of the release will sound like, and for Night Is Calling, DOMINUM wanted to shock everyone with the lead single. “This one is a very slap in your face, SLIPKNOT-y, metalcore-y.” Considering that the German outfit are a power metal band, a breakdown was far from expected, but as this is something a little more experimental, it is always fascinating to see and hear what the reaction is to something a little more out of the box. “It was a very different direction we went for that one, and it was received quite well.”
The Circus Is In Town is only the first single to be released from Night Is Calling, and seeing as how a track that is so heavy was the first to be unveiled, it was fascinating to hear the thinking process behind picking which tracks should be released ahead of time. “Singles are very difficult,” frontman Felix Heldt, or to the fans known as Dr Dead, continues by explaining, “you have those 10-11-12 babies and you have to choose what’s your favourite babies.” Ultimately, his thinking process is all about which songs stick out on the new record. “Every single song takes up so much energy, time and love that it’s really hard but at the end, it’s like what represents the new DOMINUM, the new record. We thought that The Circus Is In Town is a shocker!”
Night Is Calling is all about evolution. Not only do the songs sound differently compared to ones on their previous first two albums, the overall theme is different too. “We always evolve. Not necessarily darker, but something different. On this record we tried to put Dr Dead more in the spotlight, because we’ve done a billion zombie stories on record one and two, so we thought it would be cool to highlight this a little bit more, and to explain how he became such a villain and weirdo.” Telling the listeners stories they would not have heard before. It is this idea that drives the vibe for the record. “We tried to spotlight on the emotions of Dr Dead, and that leads us into different ideas for songs. Songs like Dark Melodies, it’s a very dark topic. It’s about depression and the voices in your head, and this dictates what the song will sound like.”
It is at this point where once again, the lead single is mentioned again, as the discussion on the themes of the new album resumes. “The message behind The Circus Is In Town, is that whenever I open the news or switch on the TV, I have the feeling that everyone is going completely mad, and it’s driven like a circus really.”
If you survive the initial infection of the first 11 songs, you will then get another bonus bite of a handful of acoustic tracks, re-recorded from the first couple of records, Hey Living People and Don’t Get Bitten By The Wrong Ones. This is a very welcome surprise, and so, asking about the inclusion of these bonus songs was once again unavoidable, both in terms of the overall album, and what this could mean for the tour setlist. “We did that on the BATTLE BEAST tour, a VIP set, and that was so fantastic, we decided to record those songs as well and put them on the record, as people have been asking, so probably something like this could happen.” Heldt believes that this emotional, vulnerable side to the band should be explored live. “It will be a shame if the emotional side won’t be shown.”
Showcasing that evolution can be done sonically as opposed to visually, and for DOMINUM, they are more than ready to get to the next level and infect a much bigger number of people, with their most ambitious album and tour yet, getting bitten by the wrong ones is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when.
Night Is Calling is out now via Napalm Records. View this interview, alongside dozens of other killer bands, in glorious print magazine fashion in DS131 here.
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