I am very happy to welcome the Russians from DRUKNROLL to our pages again. The last time we talked was in 2018 after the release of “Unbalanced”. Since then, you have had changes in the line-up. Introduce us to the new guys and tell us where the old ones went.
Druknroll: Great! We have already become regulars of the ATMOSFEAR magazine, which we are also very happy about! Yes, there are changes in the line-up, but not very big ones, we changed the recording studio and therefore Knip has moved away from our project a little, although we continue to work with him on vocals! And the new person in our group is Oleg Kireichuk, a multi-instrumentalist, sound designer, he is the one in charge of the studio where we are currently working.
It’s time to accept congratulations on the release of “Freakingface”. If I counted everything correctly, then it is already the sixth album in your discography and the tenth if you count the mini-albums as well. Did you think, when you started, that you would have 10 albums?
Druknroll: Thank you for the congratulations! No, we didn’t think about ten albums, but we took a great, even, so to speak, comfortable pace of writing music for albums, we make one album every 2 years, the brain needs to air out, gain new ideas, and not scribble three albums a year. I don’t count mini-albums, because the tracks are repeated there and it’s only an intermediate stage between full-length albums!
Horror: I certainly didn’t think about 10 albums, for me it’s an interesting project, a kind of adventure. I had no idea what it would all turn into.
What is the main difference between the newest album and its predecessor?
Denis: This album has its own concept. It has a dark character and does not want to be convenient for everyone.
Druknroll: Yes, I agree with Denis, he’s like a pain in the ass, stuck and there’s no getting away from him!
Has the Russian language left DRUKNROLL forever?
Druknroll: No, it’s just a certain stage in the band’s life! Writing lyrics in English is a certain challenge to yourself, especially if you’re not very good at it! We’ll learn Chinese – we’ll sing in Chinese! We’re trying to be heard not only in Russia, but all over the world! Long live metal!!!
What has changed since the band switched to English lyrics? What pros and cons have you already managed to identify?
Horror: I’ve managed to identify the biggest minus – my pronunciation, there’s a whole struggle and work on each song))
Druknroll: Yes, one plus is that you’re understood all over the world, the rest are only minuses, writing lyrics in English is difficult, recording Uzhas’ vocals is generally work on the verge of madness!
The album has been on sale for two months now. What do people say about it? What kind of feedback have you managed to collect and how important are they to you?
Oleg: We worked very hard and very hard on the new album. You could say that we put a part of ourselves into it and it’s no wonder that people liked the album! Every day we receive positive feedback about our album from all over the world and we understand that the effort was not wasted!
Horror: Of course, every review is important, at least it means that you were listened to at least once)). Fortunately, the reviews are mostly positive. Of course, there are those in which we are pointed out our mistakes and shortcomings, and we naturally pay special attention to them.
You have recorded a composition with a female lead vocal again, “My Fateful Day”, and it is again attracting a lot of attention. Maybe you should hire a female vocalist on a permanent basis, then there will be more songs like this?
Druknroll: This is more of an experiment, otherwise we are all screaming and screaming, and here you can at least sing a little! A mixture of Maria’s lyrical vocals and Uzhas’ grunts is, in my opinion, an evil cocktail of snowdrops and fly agarics!
Traditionally, you supported your album with two videos. How relevant are videos now, given the lack of specialized music TV channels for their rotation?
Uzhas: Nobody has canceled the Internet! People watch even without TV channels. The number o
f views is the rotation.
Denis: Music TV channels have long since sold out. The Internet platform has the same influence, if not more. The relevance of videos has not disappeared, since a visual source of information is just as important for our regular and future listeners.
Oleg: Videos are no less important now than before. Now no one watches TV and rotation on it makes no sense. YouTube is the new television and it has a lot of advantages. We can share our work directly with fans and instantly receive feedback from them!
How has the corona virus raging on the planet affected you? What plans did you have to revise?
Denis: There is free time for new ideas, time for creativity and honing your skills.
Druknroll: Yeah, I thought so the first week too, and then I sat belly up on the couch in front of the TV and self-isolated!
Oleg: I can’t say that the pandemic and self-isolation slowed down our creativity much. Each of us just did our part of the job. Of course, sometimes it was a little more difficult to get together, but in the era of the Internet, this is not so important now!
And finally, the traditional question about the band’s plans for the near future and your words for our readers.
Druknrol: The plans, as always, are grandiose, we are writing a new album in full swing, and it would be nice to shoot a video, I think we’ll do it in the winter! And big respect to all the readers, remember, metal ennobles! All the best!