Raimund: Nailed To Obscurity was formed in 2005 and the current line-up found its way in 2012. Our music is mainly based on doomy melodic death metal but it also incorporates some progressive and even sinister black metal influences when it comes to the atmosphere. And the atmosphere and the melodies might also be our strongest trademark.
Over the years, we played numerous shows but the most memorable shows have been as a main-support for Paradise Lost and Arch Enemy or the festival-spots on the Wacken Open Air 2014 and the Summer Breeze 2015.
After two albums, namely “Abyss…” and “Opaque”, we are currently preparing the release of our forthcoming album “King Delusion” which might be the main-reason for this interview :)
2. You play melodic Death Metal mixed with Doom. Which are your influences that made you create this kind of mix?
Ole: Well, since we are all involved in the songwriting process and we all have our personal favourite bands and influences, which are sometimes ver different, but quite often bands that everyone in the band likes a lot. The most obvious influences are Paradise Lost, Opeth and Katatonia, also bands like Anathema, Porcupine Tree. But actually we can get inspired by every kind of music that we like and it doesn’t necessarily have to me a similar style like ours. Also I would say that our personal lives, experiences and things that happened or are happening in our environment have a much bigger impact on our songwriting.
3. Your 3rd studio album “King Delusion” is coming next February 3rd, 4 years after “Opaque”. Tell us more about the songwriting process and the recording of the album.
Raimund: For us it doesn’t necessarily feel like four years. We all have regular jobs and that means that we only have the weekends to either rehearse or to play shows. Because we played a lot of shows in support of “Opaque”, it was always tough to find enough space to write some new material. As we write our music as a band in the rehearsal room, it is a lot more time-consuming compared to other ways of songwriting like one band-member writing and arranging the full songs on his own. Ole and Volker prepare their riff- and song-ideas together before they enter the rehearsal-room but the whole arrangement- and fine-tuning-process is done by the whole band. Even I am there, as the lyricist who is not playing an instrument in the band, to give my feedback. And when the songs are taking shape, I am sitting in the room next to the rehearsal-room and prepare the lyrics before I involve Ole and Carsten (bass) to also give their feedback to the lyrics when it comes to phrasing etc.
I joined the band while “Opaque” was already written instrumental-wise and my predecessor also had finished lyrics. So I first wrote new lyrics together with Ole and Carsten. Then, Ole and Volker re-recorded the guitars due to the non satisfying sound of the original-guitar-tracks and I recorded the new vocals (and lyrics). This time, it was completely different. We went into the studio with the whole band and spend a lot of time together which was very cool and made the bond between us even stronger. We chose Victor Bullok as the producer for “King Delusion” and we are still very happy about our choice. He understood our musical vision right from the start and encouraged us to try different things when it comes to our playing/ singing and so on. He really got the best out of us and became like the sixth member of the band during the time we’ve been in the studio with him. So the whole recording circumstances were a lot more fortunate compared to “Opaque”. But in the end, it’s always the same: There could have been a lot more time when it comes to the recordings in the studio.
Seriously, we will do our best to make the gap between “King Delusion” and its follow-up to it a lot smaller but you’ll never know :)
4. You started with this project in 2005 but you changed your frontman in 2012 and Raimund Ennenga is singing with Burial Vault too. How is this affecting Nailed To Obscurity?
Raimund: I am doing double-duty for more than four years now and it simply works. I always loved the music of Nailed To Obscurity and to be part of the band allows me to express myself in a totally different way compared to Burial Vault. Sometimes it’s tough to manage both bands at the same time but up until now it works. Both bands have their own unique approach when it comes to songwriting, to the direction of the music and I also write completely different lyrics for Burial Vault and Nailed To Obscurity. While Burial Vault allows me to be social critical, I use my inner feelings and emotions for the lyrical cosmos of Nailed To Obscurity.
5. The release show will be on February 3rd and 4th. The tickets are really cheap, just 6 euro, and you will share stage with December Noir. What are your expectations for the release shows?
Raimund: We really look forward to this one. We are preparing to do a very special show which incorporates our longest setlist to date. Besides playing the new material, we also do rarities of “Abyss…” and “Opaque” and hope that everyone will enjoy it. It’s also great that our friends Décembre Noir are with us. We played together one of the first shows in support of “Opaque” and now it seems like everything is becoming full circle. It’s an evening with friends so to say.
6. What is your plan for the tour? Just Germany or you’ll go around Europe too, maybe further?
Raimund: We try to play as many places as possible. We are currently in good contacts for tours but we have no confirmations yet so are still hoping that everything works.
7. Is there any possibility for a headlining tour happening soon?
Raimund: To be honest, I think we are still too small for a headliner-tour but it’s very cool that you ask for that. We are currently looking on a tour-package where we might fit in. We think it is a better way to grow on the regular way: To play shows in support of bigger bands, learn from them and then tour the world when we know how to do it properly.
Ole: We are actually also planning a small co-headline tour, but if it works, it will be rather short and probably basically in Germany and some of its neighbors.
8. If you could choose the perfect line-up to do an European tour with, which 3 other bands would you choose?
Raimund: This is a tough one because there are many ways to choose these bands. You can do it based on our individual musical interests but also with our influences in mind. I would say Katatonia, Dark Tranquillity and Insomnium when it comes to a well-fitting line-up. I would love to do that tour.
Ole: Paradise Lost would be great, too. We already played with them and it worked very well for us as their fans seemed to like us a lot as well.
9. Which are your favorite 3 songs from your discography and why?
Raimund: This is also a tough one because the answer could be very different today compared to the answer I would give you tomorrow. Because we rehearsed yesterday, I am answering with the live-aspect in mind: “Abyss”, “Opaque” and “Protean”.
Ole: Also for me this is a pretty tough question. I actually avoid thinking about any favourite songs. I like them all and I always realize that when we have to pick songs for a live set and can’t really decide which ones go out and which go in. For now, I personally would pick all 3 songs from King Delusion, because I’m so proud of the album and it’s all still new and exciting. But I actually can’t pick 3 favourites on this record. I really like them all the same.
10. Anything else to add?
Raimund: We hope that the people out there enjoy “King Delusion” as much as we do and that we will get the chance to meet as many people as possible during our live-activities. We are really looking forward to that!
