INTERVIEW: Marc Görtz – Caliban
Having pioneered in the extremes of metalcore CALIBAN have pushed themselves and the harshness of their sound for many years. Constantly asserting themselves forward, never staying with one movement and one dynamic for long, they stand the test of time, and come with their latest album, Elements, due April 6th. Here, on the cusp of their latest release, we caught up with guitarist Marc Görtz to talk about the recording of the album, the changing of the band’s sound and the personal and musical progression CALIBAN have undergone over the years.
Your upcoming new album Elements is eagerly awaited, how was the process of writing Elements?
Marc: We took our time and I experimented with a lot of things. First we went with a vocal couch and took Andy [Dörner, vocals] through some first stage songs and tried what’s possible and which way we could go, because Andy took completely over with the vocals, Denis [Schmidt, guitar] is not doing the melodic vocals anymore. It just feels more natural to us having just one singer and also Andy has more power and aggression even when he is singing melodic. We really liked that. From that time on I wrote like 30 rough song ideas and we went through what fits best together and what’s best for the vocals etc. We wanted to expand the elements of our music, more heavy and aggressive and on the other hand more melodic, so it’s a lot more diverse.
How has this album’s sound progressed from the last?
Marc: I think that’s also the biggest difference. The diversity and Andy’s vocals. And the overall production is more hard hitting and in your face. With a lot of room for all the atmospheric layers and so on.
CALIBAN have put out more than ten albums at this point, do you feel there’s always something new to learn and add to a record?
Marc: Always! And it always has to be, it’s a never ending learning curve! If I wouldn’t, I think I would get bored and just quit, my motto somehow is “never be to satisfied with what you do”, always try to expand your own horizon.
Can you tell us a little about the name and the artwork, do they have any deeper meaning?
Marc: The name is somehow pretty simple! The album contains more elements of music than we ever had, like I mentioned before. Also the lyrics cover more subjects as well! So we thought like “hey that’s a good title”, it just fits and describes the album! So we gave the title to the artist what we had in mind for the design and that’s what he came up with. We wanted something simple and mysterious!
Having created so many songs at this point, what do you think your fans seem to connect to most in your music
Marc: That’s a hard question! [laughs] Maybe the energy and the emotions the songs transport live and on the album! Many people identify with Andy’s lyrics and then the opposites in the music (fast, heavy, melodic, slow etc) transport those feelings. We always work very long and hard for the lyric topics to fit well to the vibe of the song. But maybe that’s just in my mind, maybe it’s better to ask our fans about that [laughs]
Looking at the pre-orders for Elements, you’ve got some cool vinyl colours. Do you think that the resurge in vinyl has been a good thing in the metal scene?
Marc: Hm, I’m maybe not the right person to ask that. I don’t collect vinyl but our bass player Marco [Schaller, bass] does, so he probably strongly agrees with you, he always says it sounds better! I like that the artwork is bigger and you can hold something in your hands but that also goes for CDs in nice packaging. I’ve never bought a download of an album, it feels still strange to me to not having something in my hands, if I want an album I get it. I think I speak for many people in the metal scene! More than the pop and chart music I would say.
CALIBAN have been going for more than two decades, how do you feel the scene has changed over that time?
Marc: First I would say that It got a lot bigger! But also less personal of course, not as much underground DIY shows anymore. But in a recent couple of years many good new bands popped up. Some years before it felt a bit different, but these days it’s a lot harder for young bands. Like I mentioned, the underground shows are not so popular anymore, most people just go the the bigger shows. We always try to take new younger bands as support to some shows, like on the upcoming release shows for example.
In terms of preforming, how do you keep the energy high after such a long time?
Marc: We just love what we do, so that’s a simple answer really. Without passion it has all no meaning to me!
With this new album, how are you looking forward to touring?
Marc: I’m actually not thinking about that yet. We’re just focusing on the release of Elements and we’ll see from there. But we already started planning some stuff like the stage setup but I can’t wait to play the new material live though.
What’s the most rewarding thing about playing your music live?
Marc: To see people’s happy faces when we play their favourite songs and they share the energy with us. There is nothing better to connect to fans this way, to see that your music has a strong meaning for them!
Elements is set for release on April 6th via Century Media Records.
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