Delain

[Serena]

Apocalypse and Chill Release

Vengeance (ft Yannis Papadopoulos)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j4sN8wu5ik

[Serena]

Seemingly growing with each release, the last decade saw Delain rise to become one of the dominant forces within the symphonic metal scene. They’ve been able to take a sound and directed it into something more of their own, combining elements of rock, metal, and beyond. This is no more evident than on their latest release, Apocalypse & Chill, soon to be out on Napalm Records (Pre-order HERE). With an interest-piquing title and cover art, alongside some fresh tracks with some unique elements, they’ve been generating plenty of buzz for us to chat about. So we were able to get ahold of both keyboardist Martijn Westerholt and vocalist Charlotte Wessels to pick their brains about the release, as well as discuss some surprise hobbies, worldly concerns, how we can reach equality in metal, and even a story of a recent impromptu kitten rescue the band played a role in.

Dead Rhetoric: Going right in with the title of the album and artwork, were you trying to show that you were pushing some boundaries with this release?

Charlotte Wessels: Not necessarily directly – we took a lot of things into consideration and were very aware that both the album and the artwork would be perceived as a big break from what we’ve done before. It wasn’t like we were going out of our way to try to shock people – it was a matter of the title fitting the album really well, the artwork fitting the title really well, and it went from there to an end result that I can understand people seeing as a diversion from what we’ve done before. It wasn’t to shock the hell out of people, although we did see it and to be honest, I quite enjoyed that [laughs]!

Dead Rhetoric: What do you feel sets Apocalypse & Chill apart from the rest of Delain’s work?

Martijn Westerholt: When it comes to the music, I think the album is really diverse. I think it’s the most diverse album we’ve made. Listening to it today – we got our album in the mail today, which I haven’t done since we finished mixing it…I thought, “Wow, there’s a lot of electronic stuff going on!” The funny thing isn’t that we planned it that way, but you do what you feel the song needs. I think that’s a very refreshing thing. Also, if I may be so free to say, Charlotte’s singing – she pushed her boundaries even further. I think this makes the album stand out, together with the artwork and the very modern album title. I’m really happy with it.

Dead Rhetoric: Merel [Bechtold] left last year. Are you planning to fill, or have you filled, that second guitar position?

Wessels: We are not actually. For most of Delain’s history, we have been a 5 person band, with the exception of the very beginning and our time with Merel. Even though our time with Merel was great, musically we are going back to what we know with 5 people. We’ve done it like that for a very long time. Timo [Somers] is a phenomenal guitarist, and with technology these days, it can really help to give you that big wall of guitars sound live. We are going to keep the team as it is, just the 5 of us.

Westerholt: To give you an example, we searched for years for this double guitar sound with a single guitar player and it was very elusive. In the last few years, there have been some technological breakthroughs and Timo has been really active in that department. Live, we don’t really miss a guitar at all, and it has nothing to do with Merel herself. [The technology] just makes the need for a second guitar player not really there. So I can only really second what Charlotte says there.

Dead Rhetoric: There’s been a lot of members through the years – how important is the relationship between the two of you and Timo at this point?

Wessels: I think it’s very essential, and I think if you look at the band historically, especially Martijn and I as a duo, Martijn has been working on Delain for a long time, even before we met each other. We have been working on music together for 15 years!

Westerholt: I’m old!

Wessels: It’s a very long time, and I think that creatively, we found each other very early on in the process. When it comes to Timo, I think that he really put his mark on this album as well. I should mention Guus, because the main songwriting team for Delain is Martijn, Guus [Eikens], and myself. It’s been like that since Lucidity onwards. For this album though, I think that Timo really made his mark in not only arranging, but also the writing of the songs.

Westerholt: In the past, it was only more in the arranging. Timo would do some stuff with the riffing and add a guitar solo, but this time, he also really contributed in delivering song ideas, such as “One Second,” which was almost ready to go. That’s quite different than just arranging songs and guitars here and there, and putting in some solos. He’s really, really grown.

Wessels: Of course, everybody puts their mark on the way that they perform their parts on the album, but when it comes to the writing that has always been the case.

Dead Rhetoric: There’s been a very grandiose scope for the last few videos. What do you look for when you are making a video for a song? How important are the visual aspects?

Wessels: I think that with a lot of the songs, especially the more bombastic ones like “Masters of Destiny” or “Burning Bridges,” a lot of these songs dictate a certain visual. I cannot hear the songs without seeing certain images, like a movie flashing before you. It’s always a very exciting process to bring that to life, within what the song calls for. The important thing is that everybody listens to a song and hears/sees something different.

For the last year, we’ve worked with the same video company for 4 videos. Our visions kind of match with the songs. You have album tracks, which are great for the album, you have live tracks, which are great live, and certainly there are some songs that just ask for a visual accompaniment. I think “Masters of Destiny” is one of my favorites, along with the one that is coming soon [“Ghost House Heart”].

Dead Rhetoric: Given the subject matter and themes with the album, what are some of your concerns with the world of today?

Wessels: Besides it being on fire and stuff [fires in Australia]? Well, if you look at the album title, it kind of says enough and it does it in a tongue and cheek manner, because we don’t want to be preachy and don’t want to act as if we are doing anything better. But in general, the thing that is worrying at times is not only the state of the world, but our attitude towards it. We were just talking about it earlier – we aren’t really pessimistic about what we can do, but we really have to want to do it first. Sometimes you see that people are more concerned with their…Instagram following than their home. I guess that’s kind of the thought behind the title and the thematics behind it.

Westerholt: The last thing we want to be is preachy about it. If you look at our job, as a musician, we really spent a lot of CO2 on flying, for example. It’s environmentally not the best job that there is.

Wessels: We also spend a lot of time selling ourselves as well, which is also that side of it.

Dead Rhetoric: It’s nice that you are so upfront and knowledgeable about it in that sense. You are going on planes and doing this and that.

Westerholt: True, and sometimes we really struggle with that from time to time. Like, we have one show in Mexico. Is it worth going all the way there for that show, and fly all that way? We do talk about those things.

Wessels: It’s a growing awareness, with like KLM. You can do CO2 reduction rates on your tickets. You see a lot of bands only playing festivals that are easier to reach – public transport. We try to end our shows so that people can still use public transport and don’t necessarily depend on cars, even though in some parts of the world everyone kind of does. We go back and forth on it. There’s the awareness that what we are doing isn’t necessarily leaving a small footprint.

Dead Rhetoric: Much of Delain’s more recent artwork and merch designs features hummingbirds. What do you like about the association with that particular bird? I saw that was also set pretty prominently in the new art as well.

Westerholt: This artwork is really different than what people expected, but there’s also your own house style. I think the hummingbird is part of our home furniture, so to say. It comes back live and on the albums too. It’s a really nice contrast, if you have a really cute hummingbird but with a gas mask on it. I think it also pertains to the music, because it can be tough, with hard-riffing and sometimes soft or even sweet. So there’s a lot of contrast and I think that the hummingbird translates that very well.

Wessels: I get more attached to it with every album. Or with every fan that tattoos it. It’s definitely become a Delain representative over the years.

Dead Rhetoric: Can you talk about the impromptu kitten rescue that you had in France last month?

Wessels: It was early on and it was cold out, and there were two kittens laying around in the parking lot. One of them was limping and they were crawling into cars. It didn’t seem like the best spot for two adorable kittens to be in. So we caught one of them, and we put out a social media request. We knew that there was a shelter nearby, but it was quite late by then so we just needed someone to take them for the night. We thought with the reach we had that maybe someone would turn up. They actually did – a photographer, Emilie Garcin, picked up the first one that we had been taking care of during the day.

Sadly, that one didn’t make it. It died the next day, but it had a last day full of cuddles and purrs and playing. It is what it is, but the silver lining to the whole story is that she went back with the association and they managed to find the other kitten. That kitten is becoming a very fat and happy house cat at Emilie’s, who has officially adopted him. One out of two, at least. But on the street, they would not have made it. They were cold, had worms, and everything that tiny kittens can have. So I’m very happy that one of them survived, and the other one had a more comfortable end than it would have had on the street.

Dead Rhetoric: I’m switching gears entirely here, but what are you most proud of accomplishing with Delain?

Wessels: Besides rescuing a tiny kitten [laughter]?

Westerholt: I think that it’s still very special that if you write music, it comes out of your brain and goes into the world. The biggest compliment is that people all over the world – from Chile to Japan – are listening to your music and they are enjoying it. We hear people who get support by listening to the music in their lives, and I think that’s really special. If you can do that as your job, I think you are quite blessed.

Wessels: I totally agree. It’s the most special thing to me too. You make something out of nothing, and I have so much love for the group. It really feels like a community of people that surround us, and have been surrounding us all of these years. It’s really amazing the amount of loyalty that we receive from our fanbase. We can do what we do because of them.

Westerholt: It’s also special when you play somewhere in the States, and people show up to listen to you. You play somewhere in Russia, and people do the same. Or Spain. There are people everywhere that appreciate the music. I think it’s quite special.

Dead Rhetoric: A lot of times, people ask what you remember about when you started the band, or during your first album, so I’d like to ask instead, what do you remember best about the times of We Are the Others?

Wessels: Sweden – that’s where we recorded it. We spent quite some time in Stockholm. I felt like a true world citizen. Spending a few months in a different country and city to record an album. It was kind of a terrifying time as a band because we were working quite differently than we had before. It wasn’t without any tension, but I really, really love that record and I have fond memories of the time looking back.

Westerholt: I agree. I really look back with a smile to our time in Stockholm. We rented an apartment for about 4 months in the city center. Indeed, we did feel like world citizens. You really felt like you were living in a big city. Right now, I’m not living in an international city. It was great. We also worked with a producer – normally I produce the albums but that time, we worked with a team surrounding Jacob Hellner. He is known for producing a lot of Rammstein albums. It was really cool to learn different ways of working. Also, that album was quite different. Like right now with Apocalypse & Chill, it was quite different than the albums before it. One of those ‘marker’ albums I think.

Dead Rhetoric: What’s something that you enjoy that may surprise long-time fans of the band?

Wessels: Can you guess what I’m doing right now during this interview? I’m knitting, which is probably the most un-metal thing ever. But it’s something that is very new. I haven’t even put it on the Interwebs, so that is definitely something that will surprise people. They know all about the arts-ing, the books, and stuff because I throw all of that shit on Instagram. But this, I believe is a surprise.

Westerholt: Unless you are knitting a black sweater with a skull on it! That’s very metal!

Wessels: I’m actually really excited to learn about that! I want to make pink mittens with “666” on it. I’m really ambitious about making this a thing.

Dead Rhetoric: You can make your own stage gear.

Wessels: Yeah, exactly. We can sell it as merch!

Westerholt: Knitted sweaters made by Charlotte for sale [laughs]

Wessels: We could finally be rich [laughter]!

Westerholt: I’m very boring, I’m not doing anything at the moment. Just sitting in my living room. In general, a weird thing I like that might shock people…man, I’m so boring! I like to play computer games, PC games – I like to travel and to ski. That’s kind of it, but I don’t have any weird things. I’m going to make a new bed in our bedroom, because it’s falling apart. I’m going to make it myself though.

Dead Rhetoric: This one is more geared towards Charlotte, because I know you do put your thoughts out there on this topic. What do you feel needs to happen in the new decade to see true equality in the metal world in regards to gender/sexuality?

Wessels: I saw a great article today on the female-fronted metal term, which I have absolutely no judgement on towards people using it, because it’s convenient. But let’s call the genre what it really is. It’s starting to pile on – there’s death metal, folk metal, symphonic metal. It’s pooling it altogether and that’s not too cool. It would be great to have more diversity in general, but I think that in the end, that all has to do with not treating those instances where it happens as some kind of unicorn. I’m actually really pleased, some years ago, people would ask me really different questions than they would ask Martijn or any other guy in the band. That’s already getting much better.

There are more different voices in the scene now, and as long as they are heard – you can see now that it is changing organically, and I think that’s good. But I’d be really happy if the term ‘female fronted metal’ gets ditched. Not because it’s offensive, but just because it’s not correct. It keeps treating women in metal as if they don’t really belong there.

Westerholt: I never really heard the term ‘male fronted metal’ used…

Wessels: Exactly. It’s weird, and this was not really too long ago but I had an interviewer ask me questions like, “Hey, you are a woman in metal, how are you different from other women in metal?” I was like, “How are you different from other men in journalism?” That’s just a really weird question. Maybe how are you different as a person, or how are you different as a singer?

Westerholt: The only thing I can say in defense of the female fronted metal term, which I don’t like, is that I remember when we started Within Temptation in 1996. Most, like 99% of the metal bands, had males as front people. I can imagine that you could say, “Hey, there’s a metal band with not a male as a front person.” But very quickly after that, it already became so useless. It was changing already at the end of the ‘90s. To use the term within the past decade is completely ridiculous.

Wessels: Again, that’s why I say, no judgement for people who use or used it at one point, because I’m sure it was convenient. But talking about genres, it reduces the band to what’s between the front person’s legs and that’s not really serving any purpose these days.

Dead Rhetoric: Like you said, there’s so many different things out there now. I completely stopped using it myself just because it doesn’t make sense to put it out there as it’s such a vague term now.

Westerholt: Not anymore. As I remember, and gosh I’m getting old, but “there’s a band with a keyboard!” I remember my brother telling me that the keyboard was setting us apart from the other metal bands. Now it would be completely ridiculous but then it made sense, because no one was using them. But that was more than 20 years ago.

Dead Rhetoric: What’s planned for 2020 with Delain, outside of the album release next month?

Westerholt: We are going to play live, and I think we will start in the UK. Then it’s Finland, and we will have festivals in Europe. We played a lot in the States last year, and I think since 2013 we have played every year, so this year we will not be in the States. We’ll see if we can come back next year, but we are going to play live a lot. There’s a new video coming out at the end of this month [“Ghost House Heart”] too, so there are exciting times ahead!

Dead Rhetoric: Will there be any more whiskey stuff going on?

Wessels: [Laughs] There’s always some whiskey stuff going on somewhere. Otto [Schimmelpenninck van der Oije] and I certainly enjoyed the 3 Delain whiskey editions that we have done. They all sold out within a few hours…for the longest one. The fastest one was like 30 minutes. We don’t have anything planned at the moment, but if the opportunity arises I am sure we will go for it. The previous editions have been fun, tasty, and successful so I don’t see why not.

[Serena]

"COVID-19 postponements

We regret to inform you about the following postponements due to government regulations concerning the corona virus.

- Our upcoming show in Oslo on April 1st is postponed, due to the government banning gatherings larger than over a 100 people.
- It is likely that the same will be confirmed for the Finnish dates in the days to come. Keep an eye on this page.
- Durbuy Rock will postpone its 18-04 Festival date.

We will inform you as soon as we have information about new dates and ticket policies.
We know that these regulations are very impactful for everyone involved, but for now it's better to be safe than sorry. Stay healthy everyone!"

[Serena]

Lizzie (Ft Alissa White-Gluz)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=EwiIrOqsZ68&feature=emb_logo

[Serena]

Closer (NIN cover)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7DCYXNOR3c

[Serena]

FSU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpN4zYBKTAU

[Serena]

Message Martijn:

Delain Goes Back to its Roots

For the last year or so, the collaboration within the band ceased to work as well as it once had. Some of us were no longer happy with the current roles in the band.  We all tried very hard to find a solution for over a year, but sadly we were unable to find one.

As a result, we will all be going our own ways and pursuing our own endeavors. I am very sad our cooperation has come to end, but at the same time I am very grateful for all the years we were able to work together. Together we toured the world, shared highs and lows, and met with many successes as well as times that pushed us to learn and grow. We all enjoyed meeting our fans and making new friends all over the globe. I would like to thank my fellow bandmates and wish Timo, Otto, Joey, and especially Charlotte the very best for the future. And I hope that will mean onwards and upwards to new musical adventures for each of them!

That being said, Delain will live on. The others have chosen to pursue different paths. I have decided to keep Delain alive by continuing on with writing and producing the music for Delain as I always have. I started Delain as a project in 2002 and for the next album I will take it back to a project form, releasing music with special guests. As it looks now many familiar faces will be returning to join me on this journey.

I can’t express my gratitude enough to all of you Delainers that have supported us over so many years. Your dedication to the music and the community you created for us has been overwhelming. Even though this situation is not ideal, change never usually is at first, I hope you will continue to join Delain on its new journey. This is not the end of Delain. It’s the end of a chapter, but also the beginning of a new one.

[Serena]

A year and a day after the last Delain show, it is with heavy heart I inform you all I am no longer part of Delain. Charlotte, Timo and Joey are also no longer part of the band.
I played my very first Delain show in March 2010 in the Garage, London. Almost exactly 10 years later, Timo, Joey and I sent an e-mail to tender our resignation from the band.
Everyone close to us knew that Delain was always a very intense working environment. I could deal with it, because touring with Delain was my biggest passion. And the amazing shows we did, the great fans we had and awesome bands we toured with, all made it worth it. I really started at the bottom when it came to touring, playing for crowds of 10 people, driving thousands of kilometers crammed in a hot and smelly van, and sleeping on the couch at promotor’s houses, so I’ve always been immensely thankful of the level Delain operated on.
In 2018 and 2019 however, the atmosphere in the band deteriorated. This came to an all time low during the 2019 fall tours in the USA and Europe. While these tours were successes in themselves, with great crowd responses, a very good production and amazing road crew, good sales and great (support)bands, it became increasingly clear that Martijn was very unhappy to be on tour, and unhappy about how Delain had developed from his own project, to the band it became. It was obvious to everyone we couldn’t continue in this way.
Joey, Timo and I talked with Martijn and Charlotte at the beginning of 2020, saying we didn’t want to continue with Delain in this way. We proposed Martijn would abstain from long tours, at least for the time being. Those tours were the most intense, and we felt things would be better if he could focus on writing music, both for Delain as well as his long-envisioned side project. Martijn had a different view: he wanted Delain to be his project again, and his proposition was to bring the number of Delain shows down considerably, while degrading Timo, Joey and me to session musicians. Needless to say, that was very different from what we had in mind. It was also quite hurtful to be degraded to session musician after I gave Delain my everything. In March 2020, we concluded we weren’t going to reach a compromise and sent an e-mail tendering our resignation.
A few weeks later, Martijn outlined a proposition for Charlotte, Timo, Joey and me to continue with the band, while he would focus on other things. I was very impressed and humbled by Martijn’s decision to give up his own band, and at the same time very excited at the prospect of continuing Delain with Charlotte, Timo and Joey. For much of 2020, we all hoped Delain would be doing shows again in 2021. Unfortunately, we never came to a deal. We tried to reach middle ground, but we were simply too far apart. I think it’s a real shame and everyone (the fans, Martijn, and us) would have been winning with Charlotte, Timo, Joey and me continuing the band, but I guess it wasn’t supposed to be.
So now, almost a year after I (and Timo, and Joey,) decided to leave Delain, it’s official. Charlotte is also no longer part of Delain, so Martijn will be continuing Delain on his own. Over the past year I’ve been disappointed, furious, heartbroken, frustrated, and most of all I have just really really missed touring. But as you all know, we all happen to be in that same boat. Around the time we decided to quit, COVID-19 became the monster it is today.
This is by no means goodbye. I may be ‘getting too old for this shit’ but have no intention of retiring! I will definitely do everything to be back on the road whenever COVID-19 measures permit shows again. Meanwhile, I’ll be working on play-through videos and I’ll keep sharing my photography adventures.
A lot of the memories I made over the past 10 years are the very best of my life. I want to thank everyone who was a part of it, Delain fans all over the world, bandmates and road crew, and bands we toured with in particular. I wish Charlotte, Timo, Joey and Martijn the very best in the musical adventures that lay ahead of them. For their stories, check out their and Delain's Facebook statements.

[Serena]

Delain has been my world for nearing 16 years, which is half of my life and my entire career. So it is with a heavy heart that I am confirming that Delain will continue as Martijn’s solo project, and my involvement with Delain ends here.

At this time, I know that you might have questions about the ‘why’ in all of this. I fully understand and respect that. Simply put, it is the sad conclusion of more than a year of trying to find solutions to built up grievances. Part of me feels like I’m letting all of you down, I’d like you to know that this decision was not taken lightly and I apologise to those of you who had high hopes of seeing all of us together live on stage again after lockdown. Until recently, I thought this might still be in the cards for us as well.

In the last 15 years we have released music that we have poured our heart and soul into. We have toured the world, rocked so many stages and met so many wonderful fans; I cherish all of that beyond measure. Every eye locked during a lyric, every front row high five, every after show hug (remember hugs?) From the sweaty hole in the wall to the Wembleys, Wackens, and Paradisos of our career. The memories we - band, crew, fans - have made together, will last forever. And in the end, they are more important to me than the differences that we couldn’t overcome, so that’s where I’d like the focus
of the narrative to be.

So where do we go from here? Otto, Timo and Joey are also leaving Delain, but will carry on making music with their own projects. Make sure you’re following what they’re up to. I can’t wait to see and hear how they will take the world by storm. Martijn will continue with Delain, and although it may be painful at first to see a Delain that I’m not a part of, I do wish him the very best in this new chapter. Like any relationship, our creative partnership has required work at times, but it has also been incredibly fruitful and I am grateful for all the things that we made together. Finally, I hope that Delain remains a positive force in everyone’s lives. We Are The Others, always will be, and none of this changes that.

[Serena]

"Ese del que Vd. me habla"

We are no longer a part of Delain.
It’s with heavy heart to confirm that Otto, Timo, Charlotte and myself are not with the band anymore.
This is a very very hard decision, because I’ve truly loved every minute of playing with these awesome 2 guys and girl.
I want to make this very clear;
This isn’t about money, this isn’t about fame or wanting to do something else. This isn’t about Dear Mother or other projects that are ‘too time consuming’. This hasn’t got anything to do with the whole situation the world is in right now.
& this has nothing to do with Charlotte, Timo, Otto or any of our crew-members.
This is about one single problem, one we’ve been dealing with for a long time and that created a lot of tension, making it so there was no good environment to work in anymore.
We really really wanted to continue and the four of us have done everything in our power to fix things in the past year. But we didn’t succeed.
Delain for me was a dream come true and I still can’t believe I was a part of this amazing band.
I’m not sure what the future holds but the thing I’m sure of is that a lot of cool projects are coming soon, so I’m super excited about what is to come.
I sincerely want to thank you, the fans, our amazing crew and Charlotte, Timo & Otto for what I can call the best time of my musical career so far.
Let’s look forward and let’s hope this is not the end of us four playing together.   
Joey

[Serena]

The making of Lucidity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfpSzz_0auk

[Serena]

La version de Martijn

[Serena]

Agradecimiento de Martjin

[Serena]

As some of you already know. Drummer Sander Zoer is back!
Sander re-introduces himself in this video:
Please give him a warm welcome.
You can also follow Sander on Facebook & Instagram:
Facebook: Sander Zoer
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sander_zoer
More (re)introductions & other news coming soon, we will keep you posted.

[Serena]

Welcome back Ronald Landa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6TgEHjW3yA