THE RETALIATION PROCESS
Questions asked by Jon Wilde, added to Rock Realms 17th March 2010.
The Retaliation Process is a German thrashy death metal band with a new album Downfall out. We recently reviewed the LP, so thought we should probably have a chat with the guys to find out what makes them tick.
Bassist Micha and guitarist Sascha answer questions on behalf of the band.
Hi, thanks for taking a moment to answer these questions. Hope you are well?
Micha: We are fine right now, thank you. Album just released in Europe, most of the reviews are pretty good and now it depends on the people to make this dream a perfect one!
Could you give us a brief history of how The Retaliation Process got started?
Micha: Well, Jury (Guitar) and Andre (Drums) used to play together in several bands for about 15 years before “TRP”. I joined a band called “Nayled” 5 years ago. When this band split up back in late 2007, we sat together and thought about ways to move on. The three of us agreed to start something new - not just replacing those who left the band.
So we got started as a trio and wrote heavier shit than ever and it felt natural. In early 2008 Christoph (vocals) jumped onboard and we completed the recording of the album “Downfall” in the Eikey Studios in Hamburg with our friend and preferred producer Eike Freese (Dark Age).
In the recording process, we lost the second guitar player, who was replaced in mid of 2009 by Sascha. From this point on, the band seems to work out better than ever before. We are already in the middle of the writing process of the second album…but that’s future music…
What is the metal scene like in Hamburg?
Micha: If you are walking in a cities music scene, you always stumble over the same faces. I think this is the same in every city in every country on this planet. There are always those who are in it to be something…but these guys are gone as soon as they see how much work is needed to harvest one minute of “fame”.
In Hamburg there is no such thing as a vivid metal scene. There are the Black Metal heads and there are the Death/Grind bands. But every genre is separated from one another. So there is no Metal community in Hamburg, at least none that we are part of…
Did you have a vision of how the band was going to sound right from the start, or has it developed over time?
Micha: No, there was no vision. The music we write is just the natural output of the bands creativity. And I think this is the only music that this band is able to play in this constellation. Every one of us brings a special background and style to the table and the mixture is what you get under the label “The Retaliation Process”!
Who would you list as your main influences?
Micha: This is a question every band mate would answer in a different way. For me, the main influence or in other words the reason why I´m doing this music thing, is definitely the bay area sound of the early eighties. Metallica and Megadeth are the ignition of my metal love. I think for Jury and Andre the Swedish Death sound from Dismember or Entombed is the one and for Sascha the Math metal stuff from Meshuggah
Presumably there is a reasonable crossover in your musical tastes?
Micha: There is a style or a set of bands that everyone of us can relate to, the obvious ones are “Machine Head”, “Pantera” or Crowbar. But if we go a little into details, there you will find a completely different story.
How would you describe the style and sound of The Retaliation Process to somebody who hadn’t heard you before?
Micha: “Downfall” is a thrash/death bastard with a high number of neck snapping grooves. But there is not only one dimension in this album. There are a lot of sound and melody layers to make the songs interesting even on the 100th play. The guitar melodies next to the up-tempo hard-riffing set an interesting counterpoint in the songwriting. I think there is everything in place to make “Downfall” the right album for the pit and the sofa!
When did you start work on the debut album Downfall, and how long did it take to create from start to finish?
Micha: The work on the album started even before the Band started to be the band as it is today. Some of the ideas where born back in “Nayled”. We took the good ideas and added even better ones to create the sound we are able to present today. And the work ended with the final mastering done half a year ago. Hopefully the next album won't take too long to find it´s way into the light.
How did you end up getting signed to Silverwolf? Were they there from the start, or was the record already finished when they came onboard?
Micha: It was a long hard road, that much is clear. In times of a dying music industry it is not an easy job becoming a signed band. There are so many established bands out there without a contract, that I still feel blessed to be able to present our music not just on the demo-level underground way. We appreciate the risk Silverwolf takes by giving a no name this chance, but we are willing to work as hard as possible to make this work not only for us.
Now it is up to you to give “The Retaliation Process” a perspective for the future. There is a big amount of songs already written for the second album, but if there is nobody out there buying our album, there is no reason for Silverwolf to let us record this stuff. So please check out the album and buy it if you like what you hear!
Was the creation of the album work, pleasure, or both?
Sascha: Although that was before my time in TRP, I know it had its pain in the ass moments haha. But that’s always part of any creative process, isn´t it? It´s like some songs seem to write themselves. You hit the stop button, listen to what you´ve recorded and think “where did that come from?”. Other times it´s more of a struggle and you sort of fight with the songs, but at the end of the day it´s all worth it.
Does the band have one main writer/composer, or are the songs a band effort?
Sascha: As for Downfall I think most of the music was written by Jury. He still writes the majority of songs, but Micha and I are also contributing songs and ideas. In terms of songwriting I´m still some sort of the newbie and coming from a Meshuggah / Fear Factory background I´m figuring out how to add my flavour to the TRP. Most of the times someone brings in an almost complete track and we´re working on the arrangement as a band. Everybody has to be satisfied or the song won´t make it.
Was there any particular theme/concept to the lyrics, or are the individual songs standalone entities?
Micha: “Downfall” is no concept album. The Lyrics are created by Christoph, Jury and me. Christoph is the one writing about social critical lyrics, Jury and I just take a look on the inner voice. The stress inside modern living and the depressions a human living has in store for everyone of us are the topics we write about.
How do you come up with ideas?
Micha: This is a thing that can´t be explained. Where does a riffing come from? You never know. But if there is something new/good coming out of your brain into your fingers out of the amp, you know that the magic happened. Everybody has his own approach to the creativity process. I have to have a clear mind and a couple of hours jamming on the guitar. If we approach the topic from the lyrical side, I find the topics inside my mind. I´m trying to give feelings or inner conflicts inside the urban living an expression.
Do you use any special techniques or instruments to get your sound?
Sascha: Technique-wise I´d say just the usual suspects such as down and alternate picking and a little legato played as tight as possible with heart and soul. Gear-wise Jury´s and my sound complement each other very well. He prefers a slightly dirtier sound whereas I like my sound tight and tidied up and we´re both using Tube Screamer to boost our amps. I fell in love with 7-string guitars a couple of years ago but I probably never get Jury to play one haha.
Micha: I love the clear bass sound with a lot of attack and a big chunk of bass. There is no need for the mid frequencies, because this is already created by the Guitar, as is the gain.
Do you have any favourite moments on the record?
Micha: “Down” and “On The Way Back” are my favourite tracks. Down is special because the lyrics I wrote are very special for me, they are a note from a dark time in my life. “On the Way Back” takes me on an emotional journey that I can´t explain, but this happens every time I hear this song.
What did producer Eike Freese bring to the record?
Micha: Eike is a close friend of the band (and the bands before “TRP”). He is definitely our producer of choice, because I think he is one of the best Metal producers in Germany right now. Even if you give us a bigger budget to book a big name of the business, I think we would prefer Eike, because it feels comfortable to work with him. And he is always willing to work harder than the band itself to make the record work if he believes in the material.
Are you looking forward to playing this album on the live stage?
Sascha: We did, of course. The Downfall release show and the follow-up shows went extremely well and the songs feel great on stage. I mean playing live really is the best part of being a musician for us.
Micha: “Downfall” is our debut album. So there are no other songs we can play right now. And yes, we still love to play the tracks, we are not yet bored to do, but ask this question again in 10 years time.
No chance of sneaking a few cover songs into the set then?
Sascha: Not for the moment being. Cover songs have their up and downsides. The cool thing is, if you´re doing a classic such as “Davidian” or “A new level” you pretty sure get the audience going and playing songs of your heroes is always good fun. But since we are promoting our album right now, we haven’t thought about doing covers just yet. What we do is throwing in one or two new songs to see how they connect with the audience and feel on stage.
Micha: If you decide to play a cover song, you have to make sure that you either can add something out of your own style to the song or to play the song that tight to the original, that you are able to withstand the comparison to the original. There is only a small gap between death and glory! We discussed playing a cover but were never able to agree on the one to be played.
What should fans expect from a Retaliation Process live show?
Sascha: Five guys having a blast on stage delivering a tight performance while rocking as hard as they could.
Micha: Expect a hungry band ready to tear down every fucking club and to rock even the smallest venue. We don´t accept a bored audience, we fight for every one with all the energy we are able to give. We try to let the people be a part of the energy we feel by playing our songs.
Any chance we’ll see you in the UK, and do you plan to head over to the Americas?
Sascha: We´ll surely sell our grannies for gigs in the UK and America, but right now there are no plans on touring neither the UK nor the US. Seeing the good responses from the UK, that might happen sometime soon. The album isn´t out in the States just yet…
Micha: If we get the opportunity to play, we are ready to go. We love to play live and it would be a big deal for us to go on a small tour outside of Germany. But let´s wait and see, everything stands and falls now with the commercial success.
Are you going to produce a video for any of the tracks on Downfall?
Sascha: Probably not. We thought about it and talked it over, but in the end it´s a matter of money. We had a quite distinct vision of what the video should look like and after bringing it all to the table we figured that it would be too expensive. We could have gone low budget, but we felt if we´re doing a video it should keep up with the production level of Downfall. We would have picked Four Seasons Of Self-Mutilation by the way. Nevertheless we´re uploading random video bits and pieces to our MySpace page.
Who did the album artwork on the album?
Micha: The artwork was done by “Asrael Design”, who already delivered great work for some bands like Heaven Shall Burn, Six Feet Under, and The Sorrow, among many others...
Any question you love being asked that I’ve missed? If so, what’s the answer?
Sascha: Nope, I´m all fine.
Micha: Jeopardy! If you do the interview marathon for a new album with an unknown band, there are more or less always the same questions. And what else should be asked to a band that no one knows anything about. That’s the game. Sometimes it´s hard to always find new words for the same content, but in any case we are thank full to be in this position, cause this is our dream come true.
What are you up to once you’ve finished answering these questions?
Sascha: Finish breakfast, get the daily business done and wait for Christoph to pick me up, cause we´re playing a show tonight.
Micha: Get the car started and drive to our next show!
Anything else you would like to mention?
Sascha: Buy our album and a big “thank you” to all who already bought “Downfall”, come to our show and support The Retaliation Process. You rock! And thanks for giving us the opportunity to write down a couple of lines for this interview.
Join TRP on Myspace, Facebook, LastFm, Twitter and YouTube (links below)
Thanks again to Micha and Sascha for their time. You can check out the Rock Realms review of The Retaliation Process' latest album Downfall here.
http://www.myspace.com/theretaliationprocess
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Retaliation-Process/274412010359
http://www.lastfm.de/music/The+Retaliation+Process
http://www.youtube.com/Deathstarful
