Tenside: A New World
Ahead of their eighth studio album Come Alive Dying, German-based metalcore band TENSIDE are determined to completely switch everything up, vowing to never make the same album twice. Their last release, Glamour & Gloom, catapulted them into success, and gained them worldwide recognition. Almost four years on, the band acknowledge the pressure that this success brings, but also how it simply encourages them to make something that they are really proud of. Sitting down with vocalist Daniel Kuhlemann, and drummer Johannes (Hani) Jorg, they explain why they needed such a long time to get this album right, what the recent success has done to the process, and how Come Alive Dying came about.
Daniel says, “we really wanted to create a great record, since we had a lot of time during COVID without live shows. It was very important for us to give each and every song on the record the time it needs to grow, to create a lot of good songs.” Hani goes on, “when you start to write a new album, you have the peer pressure to be better than with the album before, but once you get used to the process of writing, it gets easier from day-to-day. Michael’s our main songwriter, and after he wrote the first three songs we knew we were after something big with this one, so we’re pretty confident.”
From the beginning of the writing process, it was clear that this was an album designed to be played live. Hani explains, “Michael comes up with the first few ideas, and from that it grows naturally. Daniel did a great job with the vocals, a lot of clean hooks and a lot of singalongs. It’s most important that the music builds around the vocals, so if the vocal line isn’t good, if the hook isn’t catchy enough, then we’re thinking about rewriting riffs. We wanted to have songs that people can enjoy, and remember the lyrics.”
The band were forced to take time off because of COVID, like many others, which meant they weren’t able to completely tour their previous album, and they’ve been itching to get back to playing live for a while. Additionally, as they tour these newest songs, they will have some of their biggest ever crowds to play them to. Daniel says, “we are a live band 100%, and this is what we really love. So when you’re in the studio making a record, you’re always dreaming about when it’s time to go back on tour.”
Timing is something that keeps coming up in our discussion of this album, and it’s clear that the band made a very conscious decision to not rush any aspect of the making of it. While they mention that COVID was a factor in the four-year delay, they make it obvious that it was mainly out of choice, and that they wanted to create something really special, and on their own terms. The band have their own studio in Germany, where the majority of recording took place, allowing them to experiment and adjust as much as they needed to.
Hani says, “if you’re in a studio that you have to pay for day by day, then most of the time you’re feeling uncomfortable changing something last minute.” Daniel then explains, “as a vocalist, having pressure recording a record in two days or something really sucks. I want to have endless tries and endless takes until I’m happy with my vocal take, because this gets on a record.”
While they wouldn’t necessarily consider themselves perfectionists, they explain that their guitarist Michael Klingenberg definitely is. Hani says, “he can’t stand still, he can’t let a song be a song. I think in the end it’s always a good thing, like when he changes something up last minute, it’s always for the better. So I think we’re lucky to have at least one person that’s like a pain in the arse and it’s like no, it’s not finished, we have to do it again.” While the dynamic of the band is generally pretty equal, it is apparent that Michael takes a kind of leadership role, pushing the others to be at their best.
Come Alive Dying is, in its entirety, a very vulnerable album, and is the result of some really difficult times that Daniel experienced in the last few years. Through all of their music, it may be obvious that their lyrics are always deeply personal, and reflect their own experiences and emotions. Daniel explains that he definitely uses writing as a form of therapy and to process difficult feelings, and this latest album is no different. “It’s a natural process, and I get influences from everything. When you’re around as a human being, you see a lot of things that you get confronted with, and you have these personal things going on. That’s always the direction for me to create lyrics, it mostly comes from the heart.”
While the last few years have clearly not been easy in Daniel’s personal life, and the album is a direct reflection of that, it never fails to be uplifting and keep a positive spin on everything. The lyrics often mirror Daniel’s current mindset, where he is focusing on moving forward and pushing himself out of his comfort zone, and he says, “the old time died and it was time to go into a new direction, and a new world. That’s where the title comes from, because sometimes all things need to die and completely disappear to have enough space for the future. During that time, I had to do a lot of changes for myself, combined with working on new music, creating new songs to go into the future stronger than ever.”
As the writing of Come Alive Dying helped Daniel in navigating difficult aspects of his life, he hopes that listening to the album will help fans of the band in similar circumstances. He says, “most definitely there is always a way for it, and there is always the chance to go in a new direction and get over it, and become the best version of yourself.”
Come Alive Dying is out now via Ivorytower Records.
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