Suicide Commando - January 2010

Interview with

Johan van Roy of Suicide Commando

We promised you another, more detailed interview with Johan van Roy recently and here it is. It contains an in-depth view on the new album ‘Implements of Hell’, its abysms and gulches. In short: All you ever wanted to know about the new record.

Reflections of Darkness (RoD): Is it just a coincidence that the new album bears a reference to a serial killer again or is it simply a fascination of yours for this type of human beings if you can call them human at all?
Johan: Well, it’s a bit of both I guess. Indeed the new album once again refers to another notorious and sick serial killer; this time the lucky winner is Albert Fish who used to name the tools he used to kill his victims his “implements of hell”. But apart from that, this is not just another album about serial killers as it also deals with lots of other issues like religion, hate and envy, sexual perversion, human intolerance, war… But it’s a fact that after finishing the ‘bind torture kill’ album I kept on reading books about serial killers and murderers, and compared to Albert Fish, Dennis Rader (aka the BTK killer) was just a pussy. The list of serial killers is almost endless, so I still have a lot of reading to do…

RoD: How did you stumble across Albert Fish in the end?
Johan: I don’t remember exactly how I bumped onto the Albert Fish case, but I do know his case fascinated me from the start, simply because it was such a sick and disturbed person. Albert Fish got known for his sick and perverse actions, not only brutally killing his victims, but also mutilating, raping and eating them. The Albert Fish case truly is one of the most sick and perverse stories I ever read, it really gave me shivers.

RoD: At which point in the working process would you say it was settled that ‘Implements of Hell’ was to be the new album’s title and why was it chosen?
Johan: Pretty soon actually as I simply liked the name and the meaning behind it, I think it also fitted perfectly to the ideas I was having for the new songs and the artwork.

RoD: Is the new record a concept album in the conventional sense of the word, I mean is there an overall theme that connects all the tracks or isn’t there any connection between them?
Johan: No, like I just said, ‘implements of hell’ is not just another concept album about serial killers like ‘BTK’ was, but it also deals with lots of other issues. In fact, Albert Fish only appears as inspiration on one song and that song is not even on the new album, but only appears on the extra bonus single in the special limited box set (infliction of pain). It would have been too easy to do just another album about serial killers, and I already could imagine the press blaming me for repeating myself again, something some already blame me for over 10 years.

RoD: The cover artwork is showing blood-stained “tools”, those of which in the centre forming an X if I’m not mistaken. Are some of those also tools Fish used on the victims or are they just what they are: An artistic depiction of the album title!
Johan: Sure, in a way it perfectly represents the album title and the instruments Albert Fish used to commit his morbid crimes. But it also represents the SUICIDE COMMANDO logo, but this time the letters are made out of instruments or “implements” as Fish loved to call them.

RoD: Are the illustrations in the artwork meant to deliver an insight into the inner world of a sick mind?
Johan: Partly yes, but moreover it should represent the ideas behind each song. I think the music from suicide commando is easy to visualize, so I love to do that on stage with the live projections, but also in the booklet with shocking images and illustrations. In my opinion it’s the only way to open the eyes from the people. Sometimes only few words or images can say more then 1,000 hollow words.

RoD: Contrary to the opener ‘The Pleasures of Sin’, the following ‘The Dying Breed’ isn’t as much of a jackhammer and comes with a complex build while not lacking the necessary force to break through walls. Was it intentional to confront the listener with a contrast like that?
Johan: It was a bit of both, ‘the pleasures of sin’ for me was the perfect opener with its weird intro and it’s fast catching rhythm. But as I didn’t want to do just another club album like ‘BTK’, I had to surprise and try to keep the attention from the listener from beginning till end, so that’s basically why this album became so unpredictable and way more diverse then the ‘BTK’ album which was mainly just meant for the dance floors.

RoD: Is the title of ‘The Dying Breed’ also a reference to the affinity of Albert Fish towards children r has it an entirely different meaning?
Johan: Not directly as it basically is a song about the decline of our world, we’re slowly destroying our own planet, we’re destroying our own species and breed, but somehow we don’t seem to care and it almost seems as if we want to suffer and be sacrificed…

RoD: What inspired you to ‘God is in the Rain’? It’s in its own way completely different than the rest, less forceful and violent but all the more urgent.
Johan: Yes, ‘god is in the rain’ indeed is pretty different from the rest and somehow goes back to my roots again, indeed it’s not that violent or aggressive, but nonetheless it’s a pretty hard song, which I somehow like to compare to a song like ‘love breeds suicide’, that also wasn’t aggressive or violent, but nonetheless turned out to be one of the hardest suicide commando songs ever, mainly because of its atmosphere and lyrical content. ‘God is in the rain’ actually deals about “the” big question we probably ask ourselves quite often, “if there is a god out there, where the hell is he when we need him?” If there is a god out there, why in hell are thousands and thousands of people still dying from hunger every day, while we eat ourselves almost to death over here, in Africa thousands of people still die from hunger, lack of water or lack of basic needs and medication… I wish to believe in a god but I refuse to believe if you see all the grief and sorrow in this world.

RoD: ’Come Down With Me’ lyrically sounds like the killer’s trying to explain himself to somebody else, at the same time wanting to persuade him to follow him deeper into the abyss. Is it like that?
Johan: Sort of yeah, ‘come down with me’ indeed is written from the killer’s point of view, trying to explain his cruel deeds and trying to convince us from his innocence. Indeed some serial killers are really not aware of their cruel deeds and don’t understand they did anything wrong. Often serial killers also don’t show any remorse or emotional feelings after their often cruel and morbid actions as they simply can’t place it.

RoD: ’Severed Head’ is the only instrumental track on the album. Why does this track have no lyrics and from which movie are the samples you’re using in the track instead?
Johan: Initial idea was to include lyrics, but since the used samples already spoke for themselves I think lyrics just would have ruined the entire atmosphere of the song. Maybe I’ll do a vocal version soon, but to me it’s perfect as it is right now. Musically it almost can’t get any more morbid and cold. The samples I used in this song are taken from a TV documentary about Ed Kemper, another one of those sick serial killers, a serial killer who not only brutally killed his victims, but also killed and violated his own mother, raping her headless body and throwing darts at it. I mean, how sick can it go?

RoD: There’ll be a limited edition of the album as well with a bonus disc containing several remixes of the album tracks Is there any remix in particular You’d recommend?
Johan: I think most of the remixes are worth a listen. This time I didn’t only want big names to remix my songs, so therefore you also will find quite a few new or unknown acts doing remixes, ranging from weird psychedelic sounds (KOMOR KOMMANDO) to industrial (XOTOX), from old school electro (FÏX8:SËD8) to dance floor techno (MODULATE)… It even contains the last ever remix from NURZERY RHYMES (as they split up shortly after this remix) and meanwhile the first ever remix from BETAMORPHOSE (the new project from 2 former NURZERY RHYMES members)… Oh, and on the extra bonus single inside of the special box set you’ll also find an exclusive :WUMPSCUT: remix of ‘god is in the rain’. If you know that :WUMPSCUT: hardly ever does any remix work for others, I’m happy to have him on here again.

RoD: Also another version of ‘Until We Die’ will be on that disc. Which direction is the “Winter Version” going to take, apart from it supposedly becoming even colder than the original?
Johan: Exactly, the “winter version” of ‘until we die’ is an extremely cold and intense off beat version. There’s already a different version from the original vinyl version on the regular album, the vinyl version was the most club friendly version, but any colder then the “winter version” is not possible I guess. Fits perfectly to the weather we have now.

RoD: I think that’s it. All the best for you in 2010 and much success with the new album!
Johan: Thanks very much, my very best wishes to you all as well. May 2010 be a year with lots of love, happiness and hopefully good music. Thanks again for all your support and of course I hope you’ll enjoy the new album!

Johan
Suicide commando

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