With five years elapsing between their last two records, and a notorious history of bad luck in the studio, Darkane are no strangers to overcoming obstacles for the love of their art. In spite of this, they’ve concocted a career spanning six highly-regarded albums. Their latest, The Sinister Supremacy, reunites the band with original vocalist Lawrence Mackrory, who left shortly after their debut release way back in 1998. Ghost Cult took time to chat with founder and drummer Peter Wildoer to find out where Darkane have been since we saw them last.
There’s five years between The Sinister Supremacy and the previous album. What happened?
We built our new studio, and that took us about two years to accomplish during our spare time in between our full time jobs. There have also been family issues that have made us slow down with writing music and focusing on the band.
The new album brings Lawrence (Mackrory) back to the fold. What was it like to reconnect with him again and have him sing on a Darkane album?
It was great! We’re very happy to be together again and Lawrence ignited a new spark into Darkane that we needed. He brought the necessary energy that we needed to take it to the next step. Also Lawrence contributed almost all lyrics, and he wrote the vocal parts himself. That’s something we always did together before and was very time consuming. It was great having everyone focusing on his own parts and making them the best possible!
What’s the albums’s artwork all about?
The artwork is a Rorschach test that shows what a sick mind sees in it. It goes hand in hand with the lyrics and fit the vibe of the album very well. If you look closely then you can see that the person sees snakes, guns etc. All the bad things.
The recording sessions for the previous albums have always been a nightmare. How did things proceed for the new album?
Yeah, we’ve always had problems in the past with our recordings. This time around though, things went well, but just took a very, very long time. I guess that’s the downside of having your own studio—you have a hard time saying when it’s finished. You always go back and improve things and change stuff. But now when done, we’re very happy with the result!
In a weird way the album reminds me of your debut Rusted Angel at times as far as the frenetic energy and arrangements go. How do you see things?
I think the same way. The Sinister Supremacy is like the natural extension of Rusted Angel. Not only because Lawrence is back on vocals but the songs breathe with the same energy and melodic approach. I also think that Layers Of Lies from 2005 is a link between these two other albums. The new album sure captures the fundamental element of what Darkane is all about; energy!
One thing I never quite understood is why Darkane aren’t much bigger/more popular, despite releasing some excellent albums. What’s your take on this?
I think we haven’t toured enough. To get bigger you need to tour way more. Not that we haven’t wanted to tour, but we haven’t got the opportunities. Perhaps the music was also a bit too technical for the bigger masses? Today bands are way more technical but some ten, fifteen years ago it was a different story. I actually don’t know and I sure hope the new album will be more successful.
You took part in the Dream Theater auditions back in 2010. How do you look back on the whole experience?
It was a great experience and very good promotion for me of course. I was flattered, being asked to audition and that together with some of my biggest drumming influences. All in all, it was amazing to be a part of it and the Dream Theater guys were very cool and also everybody else involved. So happy I did it! I don’t think it actually influenced Darkane that much since we’re a solid band of many years and musically we have our own direction. But hopefully it made some new fans check out Darkane.
Making a living as an extreme metal musician was never easy, but it’s next to impossible nowadays. How do you cope with this harsh reality?
We’ve never made a living out of Darkane. We all have daytime jobs and Darkane is handled in our spare time. This is also a reason why it takes so long for us to do a new album. Of course, it would be great making a living out of playing music. I don’t see that happening, but who knows?
What touring plans do you guys have in support of the new album?
Nothing is booked but we’re looking into some North American and European touring options right now. Hope there will be some great tours on this album.
Raymond Westland