(This content originally appeared on Blistering.com)
A one-song EP is not the most orthodox ways of re-introducing oneself to the underground after four years, yet such measures are necessary (and warranted) when you’re competing in the dog-eat-dog of post metal. Having broke onto the scene with 2006’s Times Like Vines, the Norway’s She Said Destroy became one of the numerous bands grappling with the post-metal tag (see: Isis, Cult of Luna, etc.), a trait that was expanded upon for 2008’s excellent This City Speaks In Tongues. Realizing that a break was needed in order for long-term survival, She Said Destroy took an extended leave and quickly dropped off the metal map.
Fortunately for them, this year’s Bleeding Fiction EP is a delightful 27-minute one-song outing that re-establishes the band as a force in the post metal world. SSD’s robust atmospheric gaze is complemented nicely be searing melodies and brutish riffs, making the one long song, feel like several tidy songs packed into one. If it does anything, it puts SSD back on the course of full-on relevance, and sets up a would-be full-length quite nicely. With that in mind, vocalist Anders was kind enough to give Blistering the lo-down…
Blistering.com: During your two-to-three year “hiatus,” what were the members of She Said Destroy up to? Other projects?
Anders: We have all been busy. The guitarists Snorre and BT moved to Lithuania where they are working with their pop band Rasabasa and Snorre has been building a recording studio in Vilnius. Drummer boy Torris has become a family man and I have been focusing on cocktail bartending and my grind project, Beaten to Death.
Blistering.com: Was the break needed in order to re-charge the proverbial “creative juices?”
Anders: The break just happened due to all of us living in different cities and countries. It’s hard to keep a band together then. We have chosen to not be an active live band since we´re still spread across the world, but will keep recording and releasing music. But it’s safe to say we were pretty tired of working hard and getting nowhere with this band back in 2009, so I guess the break wasn’t needed, but it was still welcome.
Blistering.com: What was the main reason for the band ending the hiatus and going forth with the Bleeding Fiction EP?
Anders: The EP was actually recorded in the fall of 2009 with vocals, mixing and mastering done early 2010. It just took very long to release it since we’ve been focusing on other projects.
Blistering.com: Dong a one-song EP or album can be difficult to do. How did you approach putting it together?
Anders: The music was written in its entirety by Snorre while he was living in the UK. He sent us pre-prods of the song and everyone practiced their parts on their own. I wrote the lyrics while listening to the pre-prod. The vocals were arranged in the studio.
Blistering.com: Is the song/EP something you rehearsed in full, or did you break it into separate parts for recording purposes?
Anders: After we had rehearsed this piece for a good while, everyone hooked up and travelled to an old mill in Wales where everything but the vocals was recorded over six days. The whole session was more live and organic than anything we’ve done before. We did a studio journal at my promotion company website while recording. (Check it out here) The vocals were recorded at LIPA Studios in Liverpool at a later stage, with a handheld mic and no overdubs to get that awesome live feeling.
Blistering.com: Is there any type of lyrical theme running through the course of the EP? It’s quite the excellent title…
Anders: Why, thanks! The lyrics are about escapism. When shit gets tough, and it does often enough, you can always rely on your fantasy, movies, books etc to save the day. In Bleeding Fiction our hero gets so fed up with the real world he decides to become one with fiction. It’s kinda like something Rush could have come up with. Rush meets-The Last Action Hero with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Blistering.com: One can see that the band is quite adept at both the beautiful, atmospheric parts and the more heavy portions as well. Which side do you prefer?
Anders: We like it all equally!
Blistering.com: By your estimation, how different is the band from the time you did This City Speaks In Tongues?
Anders: I guess we are pretty different now. From the beginning, She Said Destroy has never managed to stay the same musically for too long. We are a restless bunch. Our opinions on music are always changing.
Blistering.com: You’re working with Mas-Kina Recordings, who are a relatively new label. What made you decide to sign with them?
Anders: Mas-Kina has been around for about ten years, so they’re not that new. Martin Rygge who runs the label is a good friend and bandmate in my grind outfit Beaten to Death. Mas-Kina is all about releasing music they believe in from pop to death metal. No two bands on their roster sound the same.
Blistering.com: Any live show plans for the year?
Anders: At the moment we are not an active live band. We all live far away from each other and practicing and planning tours would take too much money and time. Money and time is something we have very little of.
Blistering.com: Finally, what’s on the agenda for the rest of 2012?
Anders: We have started working on material for a new full length album, which hopefully will be recorded in 2012 or 2013. Most likely it will sound like a bastard child of Bleeding Fiction and This City Speaks in Tongues. Or maybe it will be something else entirely. Thanks for the interview, dude. Peace and love. Nordisk Institutt for Gås og And FTW!