Artist: The Committee
Orgin: Brüssel, Belgien
Genre: Black Metal, Doom Metal
Label: Folter Records
Link: http://thecommitteeband.weebly.com/
Bandmitglieder:
Vocals und Guitare – Igor Mortis (The Conspirator)
Guitare und Vocals – Aristo Crassade (The Trigger)
Bass und Vocals – Marc Abre (The Mediator)
Drum – William Auruman (The Charter)
Time For Metal / Rene W.:
Hi Igor,
let´s talk about your band The Committee and your latest record Power Through Unity that was released earlier this year. Can you say what is essential or typical for The Committee?
The Committee / Igor:
First of all, thank you for this interview and your interest in our music. As you might know, we hate labels and definitions, so if one would distill what The Committee is all about, I would say that it’s a collaboration of artists who are united by extreme Metal, history and personal passions that are expressed through music. It’s a community that will not remain with 5 members, but it will be expanded by guest musicians and vocalists as we go along. We choose to focus on our music and not on our personalities.
Time For Metal / Rene W.:
You are from Brussel, a Belgian city that represents Belgian Black Metal in itself. How close is the connection among other bands in Brussel? Do you team up with other bands and do you help each other or is more like every band on its own?
The Committee / Igor:
In the mean time some of our members moved to different towns. However off course we have contact and very good relations with Belgian Black Metal bands ( that we know personally) and the ones we don’t know, we support by showing up at their shows and owning a piece of their music. The cooperation between bands in Belgium is just the same as in any other country in Europe; there are bands that are selfish and there are bands that help each other out. We are not shy in sharing our backline and putting bands on our thank list online. Black Metal scene is very small, so we prefer to cooperate, rather than to exclude.
Time For Metal / Rene W.:
Folter Records is a very motivated record label that is known for its extreme bands and success in the underground scene during the last months. How did you guys come into contact and what possibilities do you see for that cooperation in the future?
The Committee / Igor:
After the amazing reply to the release of our demo Holodomor, we decided that working with a label would have better results for our full album. Out of all the labels who refused the release of our album, Folter Records decided to pull the trigger. Yes the label is very well organized. Their connections in the Underground scene are priceless and the experience over the years have been very productive. Many Folter bands have made their footprint on the pages of underground Metal scene. Skyforger, Lugubre, Kult and The Stone are just a few examples. So far our cooperation has been very powerful and productive. We do not sit around all day and like to roll up our sleeves in order to promote our music. One of the results of our cooperation will be announced in 2 months because of numerous requests from the Fans of analogue sound.
Time For Metal / Rene W.:
Your band formed in winter 2007 and uses, in terms of music, hard riffs and doom -arrangements. How does your songwriting process look like?
The Committee / Igor:
We have our own personal preference in music and we try to combine different elements and only focus on what sounds good. We write many riffs and drum lines and end up editing even more. For the lyrics, I mostly focus on the themes that are close to us all. The music and lyrics should always flow in a uniform fashion in order to reinforce one another. In general the music has to FEEL good first. The more senses are involved, the better. So far this method has proven to be very useful and we are not planning to deviate from this path just yet.
Time For Metal / Rene W.:
Besides your music the disc´s cover is distinctive. What deeper interpretation can be found in the brotherly entangled hands in the centre of an ammunition belt right before a bombed out (supposedly) Belgian city?
The Committee / Igor:
Actually the 2 buildings are the German Reichstag and the Kremlin. This symbolizes our fictional story of reconciliation between the Germanic and Slavic nations that were set up in conflict between one-another. The reason for this is simple: Germanic and Slavic nations gained absolutely nothing from the past conflicts, while other nations have gotten stronger riding on the back of the financial and social war machine. This is far from a unique occurrence, but rather a bizarre historic rule. From the perspective of Power Through Unity, the most strangest thing for me, was finding out that most troubles between the Germanic and Slavic nations have started from the moment that these nations began to challenge the maritime hegemony of other countries, while being mutual partners of technological and material trade throughout many years. In a cold, hard and pragmatic way Power Through Unity tells the story about the realization of who gained and who lost due to conflict. The voices of the dead tell the story from their point of view. One might think that digging up old bones and chewing up pages of history has been done before. We are aware of that. This is why we want to show our side to the story, might it be a fictional representation of what could have been.
Time For Metal / Rene W.:
War seems to be an essential topic in your band´s conecpt. Why is that topic so inspiring for you and what kind of message do you want to give to your listeners with that?
The Committee / Igor:
War is only one chapter. The more we develop towards our next release, the clearer it will be. In the theme of Power Through Unity war plays a big role as much for the Germanic nations, as for the Slavic ones. It’s the idea of mutual slaughter that has been cleverly imposed on us, that is so fascinating. It’s the big elephant in the room. If you analyze the lyrics, you will see that The Committee takes a step back from the conventional “finger pointing” and “name calling” that is so much prevalent these days. We do not judge and we do not condemn. We look at events from our cold blooded fascination that floats above the “labels”. The dead have no nationality and no hatred any more. They share mutual sorrow and grief in the mass graves of the battle fields and yellowing pages of history books.
We tried to express the spirit of the past in the best way we could. From what we hear in reviews and ( most importantly ) from our Fans, we feel that the point has been made pretty clear. It’s amazing to read it and to find such great support for our album. This is also why I took the time to learn to speak a few words in German, so that the linguistic barrier would not be a problem with our communication with our Fans.
Time For Metal / Rene W.:
What is the secret ingredient in your sound that enables you to find an independent sound among worn out paths and what enables you to put that sound on stage perfectly?
The Committee / Igor:
I don’t think that there’s any secret. One of the best ingredients however, would be our collaboration. All of our members ( including our guest vocalist ) have something to contribute. It might be a special technique for vocals, a certain brand of guitar pickups or some recording technique. In any case a pool of knowledge is better than a one man’s journey. On stage things turn out a bit differently. We have to be obsessive perfectionists and have to keep the process of “own sound” under total control. We are allergic to digital sound and try to stick to living, breathing analog sound as much as we can. Off course we realize that this path deviates from the typical black metal sound, but it seems to be the only way to bring the emotion in the music across to our listeners.
Time For Metal / Rene W.:
What plans do you have for The Committee in the future?
The Committee / Igor:
Right now it’s hard to say. The evolution from Holodomor to Power Through Unity went fast and surprised us quite a bit. We are still quite amazed that our fans completely understand our music and philosophy. As far as future plans go, we would off course like to play more European Shows and expand our field of influence. Only time will tell. Off course having a diverse team of musicians creates some logistic issues with time and possibilities for live concerts.
Time For Metal / Rene W.:
Is there already a following record to Power Through Unity in production? Do you plan to appear on the big summer festivals this year or do you tour in order to promote Power Through Unity?
The Committee / Igor:
From the end of 2014 ( beginning 2015 ) we have planned to start work on the next album ( no names will be mentioned at this moment ). Our Fans can expect a vision of The Committee in witch the theme of Power Through Unity will also play a role. The ideas have been floating around in our collective think tank for some time. Now it’s time to define and shape them.
As far as promotion goes, we are thrilled with the Excellent work of Folter Records and their partners in promotion of our music. Off course we don’t sit around ourselves. We do our part in the Underground scene and do what we can to make our presence known. Off course our Fans who have been there from the start deserve all the credit. They understood us from the beginning and we do not want to disappoint them!
Time For Metal / Rene W.:
Thank you for the interview and good luck for the future. Any final words to our readers and listeners out there?
The Committee / Igor:
Once again, thank you very much for this opportunity to be heard. As final words I would like to express our apologies to our Fans who missed our show at the Under The Black Sun festival due to the movement in the time schedule. We are negotiating a second show in Berlin and will be there for them soon. In the mean time we do our best to keep our channels of communication open and will answer you when you reach out to us.