“Everyone has their own cockroaches in their head… and cockroaches need to be caught!
Saratov’s DRUKNROLL is more stable than ever in its instability, and their freshest full-length album is the best proof of this. They are mathematical and at the same time catastrophically illogical, and their style of presenting thoughts is simply enchanting!.. I was about to correct typos in the text of the interview and edit them “thoroughly”, “scrupulously”, “subconscious anals” and other similar pearls of guitarist Druknroll, who answered me, but then I realized that this specific spelling is precisely where the whole flavor lies. Welcome to the circus of psychopathologies!
Congratulations on the release of the long-awaited full-length! How long-awaited is this release for you, and did the work on it seem like a long time?
Druknroll: Excellent! The release was rather expected, everything went according to plan, rather with the plan, we stuck to an even schedule of work with metal structures, first the EP, then the full-length! All in all – 2 years!
Do you have a feeling that the album turned out to be difficult and long-term? In what atmosphere did you work on it?
Druknroll: Not at all, playing metal is a pleasure, not work, everything went like clockwork (with bread, sausage, caviar and pickles, oh, I almost forgot, you need to pour condensed milk on it all)! The atmosphere is in perfect order, you take a can of condensed milk, throw in sausage, caviar, cucumbers…aaaaaahh, delicious!
And what was the result – a long-term construction or a long-term destruction? How do you feel, what is more on the album: creative or destructive?
Druknroll: Only creation, destruction – this is probably Black in its darkest corners and thoughts, or, for example, Meshuggah – complete destruction of the brain, the first 10 minutes are normal (like you count the bars …), then the brain liquefies and you don’t want to listen to anything else …, although I am their fan! But the destruction of the subconscious – Slipknot, personally I am more into the 133rd dude with nails in his head!
What do you think is the main difference between “Gross Puzzle” and your other releases? What is its main distinguishing feature?
Druknroll: Pressure, guys, only pressure! Everything has become tougher, less singing – more screaming, a simple principle, although you also want to sing! In this album they even bothered with the bass, the sound is cool, it grunts great!
Where did the album title come from and at what point did it become clear that this disc would be called “Gross Puzzle”?
Druknroll: But that’s not clear, there isn’t even a track with that name, it’s not a puzzle, but a brain teaser, or rather some kind of brainwashing! And what does the blue guy have to do with it? In short, it’s not clear, it’s time to make some stronger tea!
What three words could you use to describe this album?
Druknroll: Only one word can be found, although it consists of 3 words, and I haven’t tired of repeating it for many years – F..CK`N`DRUCK`N`ROCK`N`ROLL!!!
Is there some kind of underlying idea or general message on the album that unites the compositions?
Druknroll: Yes, damn it, there is, but I don’t know what kind yet!
How do you define your current style?
Have you ever thought of calling your musical style puzzle metal? In general, what is your attitude towards assembling puzzles? Do you sometimes while away your evenings doing this?
Druknroll: Great idea, you just discovered this style, and we are its founders, the main thing is not to bother too much, puzzle metal is trash-death-gothic-mat-melodic-modern-symphonic-prog-black-cracks-pex-fex-and a drop of jazz! I don’t specifically play puzzles, but making a music track is a real puzzle, you tweak it here, pile it on here, connect it here, blow it here (again, not about that) and in the end it all comes together!
And when was the last time you bought a newspaper or magazine with scanwords and crosswords, can you remember? Druknroll: Of course, I bought it from a mute on the Gryazi-Terpigorevka train, back then the Rhodopes were still cigars, remember?
How similar is creating your music to putting together a puzzle? Can we draw such analogies here or is it better to compare this to something else?
Druknroll: Yes, it is similar, but it is not like that at all! Maybe jazz musicians are more into it, they have a lot of bells and whistles and don’t know where to go next, rockers have it simpler, intro-verse-chorus-insert and everything revolves around that!
And how did it happen that you became so attracted to mathematics and mathematical patterns? Did you like mathematics at school?
Druknroll: Everything was fine until I ended up at the last desk with Tolyan, what we didn’t do there, everything except mathematics, that’s where the broken meters came from, I think!
How often do you feel the mathematical nature of music and understand that your tracks also consist of mathematical patterns and numbers?
Druknroll: That’s right, it all starts with the size, it’s not for nothing that it stands at the beginning of the bar! Then, to put it simply, 2 verses-3 choruses, which are repeated 5 times and the hit, by the way, is ready! The magic of numbers… And then I remembered the magic of words, the Kruiz group and the track “I didn’t believe”, how many times he repeats these words, higher mathematics is needed here!
One famous mathematician once said that it is much more interesting to be friends and “communicate” with numbers than with people. Don’t you notice this in yourself?Don’t you think that everything will go even further for you, and mathematics with puzzles will lead Druknroll to numerology?
Druknroll: All this is bullshit!
And until now, have you noticed that you want to release a release on a certain date or include a certain number of songs on an album?
Druknroll: No, it’s just that we always have 3 tracks on an EP, 10 tracks on an album, we release an album once every 2 years, but otherwise, no, we haven’t noticed anything!
One of the types of obsessive neuroses is, among other things, that the neurotic constantly recounts everything. Have you noticed this in yourself?
Druknroll: Neurosis is a medical term, and to put it simply, everyone has their own cockroaches in their head and some run slowly, sit and quietly snore in the warmth (brain), while others run in different directions and try to catch them, and you talk about obsessive neuroses, cockroaches need to be caught!
In general, does making music help you get rid of psychological problems or, on the contrary, does it deepen them and take them to a new level, as you yourself think?
Druknroll: Playing music is simply a cure for all diseases, a Kremlin pill, grandma’s moonshine, if you like, an Almag, in the end, when your joints start to crack!
How do you feel now – mathematicians and scientists or still crazy rebels?
Druknroll: It’s hard to say who you feel like when you play puzzle metal, rather a crazy mathematician, especially when several puzzles have fallen under the baseboard and it’s hard to find them there, so the picture will never come together!
And what do you think about mat metal? How close is it to you and do you like Meshuggah, for example?
Druknroll: Yes, I already talked about them, a brain fracture, but after 10 minutes it’s already a brain abortion, then the eye starts to leak, in short, if you can’t count, then after listening to Meshuggah in math you’ll immediately get all A’s, although at school they definitely got B’s!
How did your EP grow into a full-length? What was it like? Was it mathematical and systematic or was it more in the spirit of chaotic randomness?
Druknroll: Rather systematic chaos, the plans were for a full-length, and everything else is just chaos – writing songs, lyrics (this is a complete mess, a separate topic), then recording, arrangements, how it all came together, only Druknroller knows!
Can you call your new disc the most technically complex and perfect in your entire discography?
Druknroll: Of course, every new material is a huge experience, in my opinion, this desire is obvious in every musician, maybe, of course, not everyone succeeds!
Was there any update of instruments and recording devices for the recording of “Gross Puzzle”?
Druknroll: Of course, before recording new material Oleg always suggests new hardware, this time he stuck in the bass sound, and the guitar looks fatter!
I have no doubt that you put a lot of instrumental and technical Easter eggs in your album and there are various sound surprises and references. Can you name at least some of them or hint at them?
Druknroll: For example, tell me, what great bands are buzzing at the beginning of “My Spiteful Clone”? Hint – they are all, of course, about clowns!
Were the references to “Enter Sandman” in “My Spiteful Clone” unconscious or was it done on purpose?
Druknroll: Of course unconsciously, I wrote “Battery”, and you say “Enter Sandman”, some kind of confusion! I’ve been wanting to make a song about clowns for a long time, there are too many of them now, here you go!
What is “Retrogradation of Fate” about and how did it happen that it is so balladic, lyrical and piercing in sound?
Druknroll: A song about a soul tormented by narzan and a corrupt conscience! In general, I like slow songs, it all started with the Scorpions track “Holiday”, it was just a bomb when the heavy guitars came in the middle, it was just a mind-blowing, it was a long time ago, of course!
Should I think that “I’ll be in black” is a reference to the famous phrase of Schwarzenegger in the role of Terminator?
Druknroll: Right on target, the answer is already in the question, although Schwartz is not a black man!
Where did you get the samples for the tracks and how conceptual and non-random was all this?
Druknroll: These are not samples, everything is done manually by our sound producer Oleg Kireichuk, he knows this topic thoroughly and meticulously and does everything interestingly and clearly!
Should we expect DRUKNROLL concerts this spring and the coming summer?
Druknroll: I have been dreaming of doing concerts for 20 years now, but so far it hasn’t worked out, if I want to play all the material live (there are about 80 tracks in the arsenal), I have to hammer it out all night! By the way, this year DRUKNROLL is 20 years old, wow, it seems like only yesterday they released the single “Metal Night”, by the way, my buddy Marat wrote it in the 7th grade!
Where and on what stage would you most like to play the material from the new album and why?
Druknroll: I don’t know where or why, but for some reason I want to play with Lamb of God, by the way, I was more into their 2020 material than their 22nd!
Won’t it be difficult to play such complicated and broken music live? Doesn’t that happen?
Druknroll: Yes, it does, not even exactly, it’s a big problem, because I’ve never done it, maybe that’s why I’m nervous, here you need to not only play great, but also put on a show (without a cool show it’s better not to start), and the slips are a joy to watch!
What’s in the nearest future?
Druknroll: And here’s a rhetorical question, of course to make new material, now I’m already preparing a new EP of 3 tracks (that’s the magic of tsikhr), and then I can aim, you know, at our William Shakespeare, or rather at a full-length album!
What question were you most looking forward to from me today, but ultimately didn’t hear?
Druknroll: Who’s that blue guy on the cover?
Your final words and wishes to those who read us today?
Druknroll: As one of the greats said: “Druknroll demonstrate stability, raising high the flag of loyalty to their broken style!” So let’s, friends, proudly hold the bar of sacred metal!
Astarta