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Na een lang leven onder de naam Sacramental Sachem is na het verscheiden van de band Fuelblooded uit de achtergelaten as herrezen. Alhoewel, verscheiden? Fuelblooded is niets anders dan het voortzetten van Sacramental Sachem, maar men had bedacht dat bij een verse start ook een verse naam hoorde. Gitarist Michiel Rutten legt onze lezertjes uit waarom men bewust koos voor de noemer Fuelblooded, de crematie van Sacramental Sachem en de veelbelovende toekomst van de huidige reïncarnatie. Met hun eerste album ‘Inflict The Inevitable’ – wat mij voor een Nederlands debuut behoorlijk verastte - staan grote namen als Jacob Hansen en Travis Smith op de krediet lijst. Genoeg om hoog van de toren over te blazen, edoch Michiel blijkt een rustig en bescheiden woordvoerder te zijn…
Text: Jean
As an introduction, please update us about how Fuelblooded got started? Our Dutch readers may be consider it as given that you guys once were known under the banner Sacramental Sachem, but our international readers may not be aware of that.
Fuelblooded basically is the continuing saga of Sacramental Sachem. That band was formed in 1989. I joined them in the summer of 1990. In the years after that we went through lots of line-up changes, made several recordings (like the cd ‘Recrucifiction’ in 1995 on Lowland Records), did some cool shows and some not so cool shows. Finally, in 2000 we recorded the mini-album ‘Anxiety’ at Oscar Holleman’s RS29 studios, together with Stephen van Haestregt (Within Temptation). I thought that was a great album. Unfortunately, nothing happened. Looking back, we have to take responsibility for that, but back then it was kind of disappointing. Anyway, we did not quit as a band, but several members did. We got new people in the band, Norbert (drums) and Vital (vocals), and we made a new start. We changed our sound a little, started playing faster and more aggressive again, so we decided to change the name into Fuelblooded. That’s basically the whole story…
Wasn’t it frightening to imagine loosing your old fans from your former band Sacramental Sachem in the time you took to manage deals and writing new material for Fuelblooded in the past 4/5 years?
I think we made some cool music with Sacramental Sachem over the years, lots of different things. From brutal death metal in the old days, through a kind of ‘Mercyful Fate-meets-death-metal-with-black-metal-vocals’ (sounds interesting, right?) to a more power-thrash oriented style on ‘Anxiety’. But honestly, I cannot imagine we lost a lot of fans, cause I don’t think we had that many to begin with. Commercialism is kind of a dirty word, but it basically means trying to sell your band. We didn’t do that at all. We just didn’t try hard enough. In the old days we were pretty well-known in the underground, but we lost that connection at some point. So I guess a lot of people thought we were long gone anyway.
What was the biggest reason for all of you to bury Sacramental Sachem?
We could have recorded our ‘Promo 2002’ under the Sacramental Sachem moniker, but we didn’t feel we would break any new grounds with that old name. It had a bit of a negative vibe for us after all these years, especially for me, since I was in that band since 1990. When you can’t seem to make things happen after thirteen years of work, it’s time to try something else. We had the prefect opportunity when we got two new guys and we changed our musical course a little. So it was an easy choice really.
Who came up with the name Fuelblooded and is there any reason for the banner?
It took us some time to come up with a good name. Everybody came up with at least fifty names. At some point I came up with Fuelblooded, which is basically a combination of fuel and full-blooded. Full-blooded metal. The fuel is what kept us going all these years, and will keep us going for some years to come, I think.
Your debut album ‘Inflict The Inevitable’ will see daylight soon through Copro Records, but will be released four years after your 2002 promo. Why did it take so long to release your debut album?
Well, after the promo we started doing great. We got some label attention here and there, did some very cool shows - a four date mini-tour with Darkane and Outburst and a gig with Arch Enemy in a packed Effenaar, among others. We did a show together with Outburst in Eindhoven in February 2003, and after that our drummer Norbert was injured. He was injured before that actually, but he couldn’t continue playing anymore at that point. So we were out for about seven months. We tried other drummers, but nothing worked out. Then Norbert came back around September 2003, we slowly started rehearsing again and then our guitarist Michiel Stekelenburg left to pursue other musical interests. So we started searching for a new guitarist, while working on new songs. We couldn’t find one, so halfway through 2004 we decided to prepare for the recording of the album as a four piece. We started recording the album in June, together with Stephen van Haestregt (who also did the last Sacramental Sachem EP), but he was just too busy to get the job done. We finished the recording ourselves. Then, around Xmas 2004, we traveled to Denmark and had Jacob Hansen do the mixing and mastering for the album. After that, it took us another a year to find a label, close a deal and have the album released. Which is pretty normal I guess… In February 2005 we finally found our new guitarist Danny, after Jos from Outburst helped us out for a few months. With Danny, the line-up is stable again.
Are there any particular messages to spread trough your lyrics, or are they just lines and words to fill up the music?
No real messages no, but the lyrics definitely mean something. Some are just fictive stories, like ‘Dissector Of Souls’, but others are inspired by all that is happening around us. ‘Dream Tech Inc.’ for example touches upon the cloning of humans. There’s all kind of stuff, really. But I can say that the lyrics are made with the utmost care, cause we want them to be good and they have to fit the music as well.
Who is mostly responsible for the lyrics and the music individual? Does one single person lead Fuelblooded or does the band combine all musical parts of the members involved?
Actually, I have been responsible for most of the music since I joined the band. At some point I had to start writing lyrics as well, because we had music but no words. Things were a little out of balance, so I started writing lyrics as well. Luckily for us, Vital writes most of the lyrics now. Everyone is welcome to join the writing process, but in the end most of the stuff comes from me. I think Danny is working on some new stuff though. That’s going to be something else – It’ll probably mean I have to start practicing again. After the basic song is handed to everyone in mp3, we start working on the song together, which often leads to changes here and there. So we definitely have a mutual process going on as well.
What bands influenced you guys to play music like Fuelblooded does on ‘Inflict The Inevitable’?
Lots of influences: from old-school thrash like Exodus & Testament, to bands like At the Gates, Soilwork, Darkane and alike. I consider Megadeth to be one of our main influences as well. But I’m not sure a lot of people actually hear that. Maybe I just want to hear it hahaha.
Despite the fact that ‘Inflict The Inevitable’ is fresh and on the brink of a release, does Fuelblooded have any future plans considering new material already for a second album?
We are working hard on new material, yes. We have about two songs ready as a band. But a lot more stuff has been written already, we just didn’t get to work on it with the whole band. We want to record a new album this year, probably around November. It’ll be a lot of hard work to make that happen, but we’re going to try.
I’ve mentioned in my review of your ‘Inflict The Inevitable’ album that it reminds me a lot of the band Mercenary. Mercenary is also a melodic, twin guitar and multi vocal band with a Jacob Hansen production. Can you imagine my comparison or even share my opinion?
I can imagine the comparison, yes. I think, production wise, our album sounds a lot like the last two Mercenary albums. But that is mainly because of Jacob Hansen’s signature sound and way of producing and mixing albums. He makes this guitar sound that is so typical! I mean, when you listen to Aborted’s ‘Goremageddon’ you can hear that sound as well. Personally, I like Mercenary (especially ‘Everblack’) but I don’t think we sound a lot like them. I would say we are a little faster, more aggressive and less melodic in the vocal department.
The album will be put out by Copro Records, how did you get this deal? And is it a one-album deal or are you both in for a longer co-operation?
We sent them a promo and they responded within a week, saying that they wanted to release the album. Some other labels showed their interest, but for different reasons that didn’t work out. Copro stayed interested and when they sent us a contract, we signed it. The contract is just for this album, yes. There’s an option to continue our co-operation after this album, but nothing is sure about that at this time. We’ll see what happens with this album first.
They seem to treat you guys very good. Considering this is your first album, you have entered the studio and record an album that is produced by Jacob Hansen and as cream on the cake artwork by Travis Smith. How did you manage that?
Well, let me correct you here. I’m not saying they don’t treat us well, but Copro had nothing to do with the making of this album at all. They chose to release it when we sent them a promo. We did the recording ourselves, we decided to mix at Jacob Hansen’s studios, and we asked Travis Smith to make the front cover. No record label involvement at all. We just wanted to make sure everything about this record was as good as possible, music, lyrics, artwork and production. I’d like to think we did a pretty good job…
Who came up with the idea to let Travis draw such a cover as ‘Inflict The Inevitable’ possesses? Or did Travis already drawn the cover artwork in the past and sold it to you guys?
Our webmaster is also responsible for Travis’ website. So she asked Travis if he wanted to make the cover for our album and he said yes. We mailed for a while about several ideas and this is what he came up with in the end.
What is your personal experience considering working with such a great producer like Jacob?
Well, Jacob did not actually produce our whole album, he just mixed and mastered it. But you can definitely say that he is responsible for the sound of the album, that is true. We were at his studio for a few days when he was mixing. That was great! He’s very easy to work with, has a great ear for details and he’s open-minded and willing to try out a lot of things if he thinks it could work. He listened to what we wanted, then turned the knobs and there it was! The rest was just fine-tuning. Besides all that, he’s a very cool guy with a good sense of humor. For a Danish guy I mean hehehe.
Did Jacob have any musical ideas or did he influence your songs at any way when you recorded the album?
He had some ideas for the overall sound and some details here and there, but he didn’t have any input in the actual songwriting, cause all the music was already recorded when he started his part of the recording process.
With all abovementioned credits in your pockets the bands seems quite ready for the next big step. Are there any plans for touring in support of the album?
Oh, we have plans. We’re working on a UK tour together with Detonation. That should happen in early May. Let’s hope that will happen! We have a few shows here and there confirmed, a show with Destruction and Dead Head in Dynamo in September, but nothing like a European tour yet. We hope to get a chance to do a full tour, but I can’t say if it’s going to happen. We’ll have to see how the album does. The better it is received, the bigger the chances for us to go somewhere. We do hope to play a few festivals this summer.
Which bands would be the perfect fit for Fuelblooded to combine a package to go on tour with?
I think there are a lot of bands we could go on tour with. Bands like The Haunted, Arch Enemy, would be great for us to open up for. But I can see us open for a more old-school thrash band like Exodus, Testament or Death Angel as well. I would say the package Testament – Soilwork – Fuelblooded would be a great one. But I don’t think Soilwork and Testament want to open up for us haha!
Which of your ‘hero’ bands would be the ultimate dream to play or tour with?
I would go on tour with Maiden any fucking day of the week! Bring it on!
Where do you think Fuelblooded will stand in about three years from now?
With both feet firmly on the ground, that’s for sure. I hope we’ll have our second and third album released in three years, and maybe a few tours under our wings. That would be great. But as I said, we have to wait and see how this album is received before we can say anything about the future. One thing is sure: we’re going to give it all that we can to make a new record after this one and play shows and tour as much as possible!
Are there any band members active in other projects or bands? And if not, does Fuelblooded take all attention and priority to stand any maneuvers as mentioned in it its way?
Our singer Vital is playing with another band called Skulltured. I think Danny is always working on some music outside Fuelblooded, but I’m not sure if he’s working with another band at this moment. I am playing guitar for an old school thrash band called Nemesis Divina. We’re working on some songs right now, and want to record a demo this summer. Norbert is focusing on producing music in his spare time. And Michel is a happy daddy with a bass guitar.
Lets have a breather and move away from the band a few questions. Would you please give your comment on the following releases/bands?
Sadist – Above The Light: Great album! Excellent guitarist/keyboardplayer. Their ‘Tribe’ album is great as well. Lost track of them after that…
Suicidal Tendencies – Lights, Camera, Revolution: Definitely the best Suicidal album in my book. Great songs and great guitarwork. And their bass player… damn! They made some more classic albums for sure, but this one’s my favorite.
Manilla Road – Open The Gates: Sorry, heard of this band, but I can’t say I know this album.
Accept – Breaker: Hmm, I’m not the biggest Accept fan around. I like some of their songs and Wolf Hofmann is a great guitarist, but singer Udo Dirkschneider gets on my nerves after a while.
Forbidden – Forbidden Evil: Eviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiil! Yes! Classic album! I know this is a favorite Bay Area thrash album for a lot of people. I actually like their second one just a little more, but this is a classic for sure!
Last but not least, suppose your house is on fire. Next to your beloved ones you are only able to save THREE releases out of the devastating flames. Which ones will they be?
Damn, this is going to take hours man! I have to go through all my records and cd’s now… But I’ll give it a shot. Here we go: First of all, I’m going to take my first ever heavy metal album with me (on vinyl): ‘Powerslave’ by Iron Maiden. It doesn’t get any better than that. Second album I’m going to take with me is Nevemore’s ‘The Politics Of Ecstacy’, because it’s brilliant and they are never going to top that one. Which doesn’t mean their other albums are not good, buy the way! Excellent band! Third album I’m going to take with me is Soilwork’s ‘Chainheart Machine’, I guess… That album made me a happy guy for a few months in a row! You know that by this time I’ve perished in flames, right? Why didn’t you just say, take two arms full of cd’s and run the fuck out? That would have been much easier and we could have listened to some great music together. O, and can I trade my loved ones for a few cd’s maybe?
Thanx for answering all questions asked and I wish Fuelblooded all the best in its future activities. If you have any words or lines you want to share with our readers, this is your chance to express them.
Thank you Jean, for this cool interview! I hope everyone interested will check out our album. It’ll be released on March 20th. There’s a few samples on our website, and on our MySpace site as well, so you can form your opinion. Let us know what you think, we appreciate it a lot! See you on the road somewhere!
http://www.fuelblooded.com
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