The avant-garde experimentalists SCHAMMASCH recenty released their fifth full-length album titled 'The Maldoror Chants: Old Ocean', which serves as the second installment in their The Maldoror Chants series, inspired by one of the most fascinating literary works of the the 19th century, the French surrealist poetic novel Les Chants de Maldoror by Comte de Lautréamont.
The evolution in the sound of SCHAMMASCH is clear, giving a vital and fresh addition to their discography. But let's learn more about it from the band itself, as C.S.R. was kind enough to answer in detail our questions.
Read more below.
RockOverdose: First of all, sincere congratulations on your latest achievement. We talked about creating it the same period as with“Hearts Of No Light”and came out 5 years later. How long did it take in total, and did the pandemic in between play a part to be a bit left behind?
Schammach: Thank you! It took a bit over 4 years from start to finish, not considering that the biggest part of the first song “Crystal Waves” was already written back in 2015. The pandemic indeed played a big part in making it such a long process, but not solely. Along with the pandemic I also went through a lot of personal hardships, foremost health issues, which made me question all and everything for a long time. Being a professional musician is very a tough road nowadays, and during those 4 years I paid the price of a decade of constant work, struggle and pressure. It took me a long time to find my way back to a place where I felt comfortable enough to work on music again.
RockOverdose: “The Maldoror Chants” EP was a way described by you to elude the shadows of “Triangle”. Is “Old Ocean”, the second part of “The Maldoror Chants” releases of yours, a way to elude the vibe of “Hearts Of No Light” too, or you didn’t feel the same need of “protection” this time?
Schammach: No, Old Ocean stands on its own and isn‘t overshadowed by past works. Some people still seem to be whining around that „Triangle was our peak“ with every new album to come, and are surprised that, in fact, it isn‘t a second Triangle. I find that utterly ridiculous. People evolve constantly, and so does art. And so it should. We will never make a second Triangle.
RockOverdose: Once again, as with every album, you choose a different way to express yourselves. Is progress a pivotal part of your evolution and future? I find “Old Ocean” a logical continuation of “Hearts Of No Light”, with your personal touch looking ahead for the next things to come.
Schammach: For me there‘s no point in repeating old formulas time and time again, I‘m not interested in that at all. Instead, I let the muse guide my hands and follow wherever it takes me, without constantly comparing things to the past. Art is self-exploration, a constant process of getting to understand who you are in this world, and there is a lot more to discover than just one place. Old Ocean is indeed a logical step of progression, but it was also written to fit and reflect the aura of the book/the story, hence the overall atmosphere inherits more gothy, more romantic, more poetic tones. „The Maldoror Chants“ can be seen as a sort of alter ego of Schammasch, where things follow a different mindset; the abstraction and surrealism of Lautréamont – which is one more reason to making comparisons to our remaining works obsolete.
RockOverdose: I really loved the way you treated a comment on your personal page about not being “black metal enough” in the words of a fan. Since you made huge steps from the first album, how much “accepted” did you feel the change with its release and how much more certain do you feel for yourselves with the new album?
Schammach: I don’t think that guy was a “fan” at all haha. Honestly I don’t care enough about these things that they could ever make me change anything in my approach to making art. I never really saw Schammasch as part of any particular sub-scene or genre to begin with, we were always kind of outsiders, which always gave us the freedom to do whatever we wanted. People who think we “aren’t enough of x to be part of y” obviously live with a very simpleton-like understanding of art and I couldn’t care less about such opinions, they are nothing but a good laugh for us. If you paint a painting, you got two options: either you use one and the same kind of paint for the whole piece, or you use whatever kinds you got at your disposal. You can start sketching by pencil, use aquarelle as a basis, continue with gouache, maybe even mix some cement in there, hell, you can use your own blood or piss for all I care. None of these approaches are “wrong” or “right”, they are simply different. It doesn’t matter at the end of the day, if the result is a satisfying one. That’s how I approach the writing of music pretty much. I use whatever the structure needs to get where I want it to go. And at the end of the day, the only judge for my art I have to face is myself – which is a harsh enough one, believe me. If I’d start caring too much about things like “being accepted” into a scene or stuff like that, I’d probably end up in complete misery.
RockOverdose: I would like to know if you have worked in something else parallel to “Old Ocean” all these years, as you did with it and “Hearts Of No Light”. I know you never “rest” in a way, so was this the case this time, or its concept was more demanding and took your whole attention?
Schammach: That’s exactly the issue, the modern music business does not allow for rest. If you want to get somewhere, it is a constant, relentless grind, and I‘m done with that today. I will allow myself to take as much time as I need in the future. Old Ocean was an intense stretch, and it absolutely required all the attention and energy that was available, and I never willingly write on 2 seperate projects at the same time, that would be madness – even more so than writing on one.
RockOverdose: “They Have Found Their Master” was the first single and the closest track in my opinion to continue the sound of the previous album. Was it chosen as first sample because of this, or was it a way to declare that you just can’t tame the old ocean, a large force of nature, and kinda prepare your listeners for the lyrical grandeur of the album?
Schammach: I didn’t give it too much thought to be honest, it was a very natural and easy decision. It was the most logical choice, because I think the track is the best representation of the album’s aura.
RockOverdose: We talked for the importance and unique feeling of creating “A Paradigm Of Beauty” last time. Do you feel that “Image Of The Infinite” creates a same vibe for you and the fans too? How did you come to cooperate with the lovely Sylvaine, and what is your opinion for her art, combining it with your music?
Schammach: There certainly is a connection between the two, for me at least. By now I also kind of like the idea of having one ballad-like song on every album, which is a bit of an old school-rock/heavy metal formula and maybe even a bit of a cliché, but I don’t mind that at all. A well-placed ballad can really bring a beautiful moment of contrast into an album, even on an extreme metal record. And as probably everyone knows by now, we’re big fans of contrasts. Kathrine/Sylvaine is a good friend of mine, has been for a while now, and the idea of asking her for a contribution just popped into my mind someday while we were talking. I have huge respect for all the work she does as a musician and, again, it was a promising way of bringing more contrasts to the album, shaking things up a little, bringing some outside freshness. And that’s exactly what happened. I’m deeply in love with her contribution, it couldn’t have been done any better, any more fitting. She’s a one-of-a-kind artist really, and I feel like we share much of our stubborn obsession and determination for making quality art.
RockOverdose: We saw you did a very special show to celebrate your 15th anniversary as a band. We would like to know the vibe you received and if these first 15 years, saw your dreams and goals coming until now. Did you expect to come this far in the beginning? How do you feel that you and Bølzer are considered to continue the legacy of great bands like Celtic Frost and Coroner from your country?
Schammach: We did indeed, we played the longest set of our career thus far, a full 2 hours. We rehearsed our asses off for that show, for at least half a year, and luckily it turned out very well. We were quite astonished about people travelling half the world for it, coming from as far as Australia or the US, that was quite surreal. So it was well worth it. As for dreams and goals: well, the music business drastically changed within those 15 years, much for the worse, so our dreams back then were rather unrealistic taking all these changes into consideration. But for what that’s worth, I think we did fulfill most of them, adapted to the current standards. The biggest goal for me was always staying true to myself and being my own boss – both is the case today, so that’s something. And when it comes to the old Swiss metal legacy, haha, well I’m certainly glad that there aren’t any stupid feuds amongst us “younger” Swiss bands, as there seemed to be quite a few of these with the older examples. If you take Bølzer for example, we are close friends and have highest respect for each other, which I think is important and great. And I’d be lying if I wouldn’t admit to feeling some ego-patting pride when being mentioned among the successors of some of extreme metal’s most important names, but then again that’s just that – a little ego-jerking off, which is nice but nothing essential for me. I would hope to have overcome such rather low-form egoism for the bigger part by now. In the end I mostly care about making good art, that’s all I want.
RockOverdose: We know you choose very carefully all steps you take regarding the band. Which are your intentions, touring and promoting wise for this album? Have you confirmed a tour so far? Is it possible you’ll need such a long break after “Old Ocean” like you did after “Hearts Of No Light”?
Schammach: We get asked a lot about touring plans currently, which is a natural thing to ask of course when a new album gets released, and I’m always sorry to disappoint, but the touring business has become a thorn in our backs over the years, especially health-wise. I always struggle a lot with the inability to sleep properly while touring, as well as with the complete lack of privacy and quietness. My everyday life is a very secluded one, at will, because I can hardly bear the noise, stress and chaos of society anymore, that makes touring really tough for me, as well as for most of the others in Schammasch. So instead of extensive and expensive nightliner tours, we will focus on festivals and maybe short weekend runs here and there. As mentioned before, health comes first these days, I had to learn that lesson the hard way over the past 5 years. Same goes for what’s coming next, record-wise. People should prepare for another long wait until our next chapter will be ready. Most of our fans really have no conception of the sheer endless amount of work that goes into making a Schammasch record, not to speak of the toll it takes on mental and physical health each time. For Old Ocean I pretty much spent this whole year working 7 days a week while not being paid anything apart from design jobs I had to squeeze in here and there, to be able to pay my bills - just for the final production and the release process alone, not taking into account all the recording sessions and years of writing. That may sound like an exaggeration to some, but it is nothing but the hard truth prior to 24. We aren’t getting younger, and the youthful passion and energy there was 10 years ago has long been burned to the ground and trampled down by age and the abomination that is the modern music business. We have a simple saying in German: “gut Ding will Weile haben.” – “good things take time.”. Everyone knows the wait will be worth it though.
RockOverdose: We would like to thank you deeply for your art and your time for this interview. Last question is how do you consider the duality of light and dark accompanying Schammasch, takes place in the new album and how much of your vision before its creation was completed with its release. Best of luck for the future, you really deserve it.
Schammach: Thank you for the support. That interplay of duality can always be found within Schammasch, but it is also a deep element of Les Chants de Maldoror itself. As an example: for as much praise for the ocean there is in the story, at times the protagonist turns it upside down, spewing curses towards it. I’m always intrigued by duality as a concept, because there rarely is anything in life that doesn’t have more than one face.
As for the second part of the question; I’m very satisfied with Old Ocean and I can confidently say that it is everything that I wanted it to be.
On behalf of RockOverdose.gr
Aggelos Katsouras
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