Progressive technical death metallers Cerebrum have released their newest album called "Cosmic Enigma" so Mike and Jim discusses this all new release.
1. Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Cerebrum, and how long the band has been together.
MIKE: I m Mike and I m the guitar player of Cerebrum.
JIM: My name is Jim and i am the guitarist - vocalist of the band.
2. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there?Are there any local bands you could recommend?
JIM: We are based in Athens/ Greece, and yes we have a big scene and a good one i think…Well the problem is that the bands are so many and I can’t mention them all ..hehe,so I will say only my favorite which is Sickening Horror! They play also progressive death metal and they are more of our taste.
MIKE: As Jim said the scene is getting bigger and better every day.So many bands that I cant choose any of them without forgetting others...So just search and you wont be disappointed.
3. What lyrical theme do you guys use in your music? What message do you want to send?
JIM: The lyrics are abstract. Of course we have a concept which is about human , dreams , nature , the development of our selves, and the general meaning is that you must observe everything, develop, and have your own mind, don’t let them get into you.. DO NOT listen to everything.
MIKE: By abstract we mean that it doesn't have a specific subject except from some exceptions...I think that they can be translated in many different ways.It will not be necessarily what I had in mind , but this freedom to interpret according to your imagination I think is better.
4. What bands have influenced your band and its sound?
MIKE: There are many bands we listen to from death metal to to jazz-rock and 70s prog rock some of them are Death, Watchtower, Gentle Giant, Atheist, Nocturnus , Morbid Angel , King Crimson, Toxik...Guitar players like Allan Holdsworth,Frank Gambale,Shawn Lane...and many more.
5. Is there any story or concept behind the Cosmic Enigma title?
JIM: It relates to the albums artwork .It's a design Mike made and it appears in the CDs tray card..Its an "enigma " ,a cryptex it's a combination of signs and numbers which has the answer inside of it haha.
6. Select two songs from Cosmic Enigma and what inspired the lyrics.
MIKE: Self regenerate is the story of the human who can reach his zero level and reborn from his ashes like the phoenix. The point is that we must have the mental strength to develop and reborn when we are down. I believe that some times is necessary to fall in order to rise again Phobos manipulation is exactly what the title says. The use of fear in peoples mind in order to be able to have them all controlled and unable to do something different from what is ''expected''. These 2 songs are the exceptions we talked about before.
7. Who produced Cosmic Enigma and what was it like working with them?
JIM: We did as we are both sound engineers and we have our own home studio. The good thing about it ,is that we knew exactly what we wanted and how to do it.. I hope you like the final result.
MIKE: Knowing what we want doesn't mean of course that we didn't spent many hours trying different things in order to achieve the best result.
8. Who did the cover art for Cosmic Enigma and how much input did you have on it?
JIM: We worked again with Michal Loranc know as "Xaay" . It's a plesure to work with him again .He is one of the best in what he does and the fact that he has worked with bands like Behemoth, Nile, Kamelot and Necrophagist, is not accidental.
MIKE: We worked close with Michal and gave our ideas in every step of the creation...We told him what we wanted and started from there.. So if you also add what Jim said about the design in the tray,i think that we had an important input on the artwork.
9. How does Spectral Extravagance compare and differ to Cosmic Enigma? How has the sound evolved between them?
MIKE: I think its a natural development and it is a more mature album.Both musically and production wise it is an improvement. Its also much more technical although in first listen or if you don't pay much attention it may not seem so.
10. What are your expectations for the CD?
JIM: I would like to sell 1 million copies the first month of its release haha. I am kidding of course .The only think I want is that the fans like the music.
MIKE: And by that,maybe some more people will listen to our music and hopefully find something they like.
11. What is it you’d like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?
MIKE: The music...that's what its all about. And that he enjoyed what he listened to.
JIM: Remember to listen to it again..The "problem" with technical music is that you have to listen it many times to get into it. I hope they do and travel with it ...
12. What plans do you have for the near future as a band?
JIM: At the moment we rehearse for some shows here in Greece, and we hope to make a European tour before the years end.
MIKE: And maybe do something in Japan as our label is Japanese and in the US where we seem to have many good friends that support us...
13. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
You can listen and check the news at :
https://www.facebook.com/pages/CEREBRUM-OFFICIAL/213184332066830
www.reverbnation.com/cerebrumofficial
www.myspace.com/cerebrum
and you can find all our merch here:
http://cerebrum.bigcartel.com/
14. Any final words of wisdom?
MIKE: Thank you for the interview and support!Hope you enjoy the album!
JIM: Just be your selves have your own mind listen to a lot of good a lot of music and read more!
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