ENEMY OF THE SUN, the German band featuring guitarist Waldemar Sorychta — former member of GRIP INC./DESPAIR and producer for such bands as LACUNA COIL and MOONSPELL — will release its second album, ‘Caedium’, in Europe on May 28 via Massacre Records. The band was founded in 2006 and named after the 1993 Neurosis album of the same name. At the beginning of 2007 the band recorded a demo which was voted “Demo of the Month” by Rock Hard and Metal Hammer. The Enemy of the Sun debut album Shadows (2007), which was produced by Waldemar Sorychta was proclaimed "Album of the Month" by Rock Hard.

In order to get to know this band a little better, we tracked down Jules Näveri (Vocals) to answer some of our questions. Here you can read what he had to say to the readers of Metal-Experience.com.

Your latest album ‘Caedium’ was released  a couple of weeks ago, so of course we’d like to ask you a couple of questions about it!

First of all, how are you doing?

Jules: Doing fine! The summer is up so I’m recharging my batteries from the insanely cold winter we had this year in Finland.

I think your band is not that well-known in Holland yet, so could you start this interview off with a short introduction of the band and an explanation of the origins of the band’s name?

Jules: The band is a follow-up to Waldemar’s previous band Grip Inc. We were playing shows in Germany with my Finnish band Profane Omen in 2005 and through a mutual friend I met with Waldemar in Bochum after our show. He said he was looking for a vocalist to try some stuff he couldn’t use for Grip Inc. and apparently he liked my style of singing. We decided to have a session at his place to try the material that would be the starting point for Enemy Of The Sun. After a while he called and asked if I was still interested in starting a band with him and I said yeah, why not! The material was very intriguing in the first place and I wanted to try something different. At this point he had already started practising with the drummer to be, Daniel, so the line up started to take shape. Shortly after my arrival, the bassist Alla joined in. The name comes from the Neurosis album Enemy Of The Sun. Neurosis is one of the biggest metal inspirations for Waldemar and the name suits us fine.

How did you launch into writing material for your album ‘Caedium’ and how much time did you spend on creating the songs?

Jules: We already had a lot of songs ready for pre production shortly after we finished our first album ‘Shadows’. A lot of the material comes from this era but half of the material is from only few months before we headed for the studio. For pre production we spent give or take six months before recording the material for the album. There are also few songs that date back almost 20 years. Waldemar has shitloads of material on his bookshelves and these old songs fitted in just fine!

Which approach did you choose to create this album, did you go for a more raw exposition.., or something all together different?

Jules: While doing the pre production we already knew that the new stuff was heavier than the first album was. So we continued on with this because it came out naturally. There’s also some breathers in between because we didn’t want the album to only be a head against the curve experience, we wanted to have the feeling that something stopped in between the beating. Then we could continue on with the beating and make a bigger impact.

Did ideas come easily so that you just had to write them down or was it more of a careful composing thing?

Jules: With Waldemar it’s always just phases. When he locks into his writing mode you can expect to have enough material for four albums in one week! Nope, no worries in the writing process. We tend to have too much material for the albums to choose the right ones, and that job is not too easy sometimes. Got to find the cream from the crap.

How can we imagine you work on new songs, what's the typical writing process like for Enemy Of the Sun?

Jules: As I said, Waldemar writes the songs and whenever he is in the writing process, it’s hard to stop him. Then he works like a machine that goes on and on and on. I wonder if he even eats during this process, he’s so concentrated!

What were the goals you had in mind when you started to record ‘Caedium’, any elements you definitely wanted to include on the album?

Jules: We had a more clear vision about the context of the album the whole thematic side of the album was definitely discussed before I started to write the lyrics. ‘Ceadium’ is about self conflicted death that happens in many different variations, by your own hand, by someone else, by an institution or idealism.

Could you please describe the implications of the title ‘Caedium’, what does it stand for and is there a special meaning behind it?

Jules: Read the above. This world has taken a very wrong turn loooong ago and I wrote about how the concept of ‘Ceadium’ (Latin meaning self conflicted death) happens in life. Let’s take democracy for example. So many things in the western society are handled by the elite that in the end it rules above the people and above the representatives who were chosen by the people. Nowadays or better yet always people have been too lazy to search for the truth and we are very easily intimidated by the elite. One example of this is the swine flu, the media told us that it would wipe out a big bunch of the world population if we didn’t get vaccinated against it. What happened was that after research we found out it’s just a form of the nastier flu. I mean, people die of the normal flu every year but nobody writes about it. A big bunch of medical corporations made a lot of money with this hoax. What I’m trying to say is that in much of the top news today there might be bigger news behind that wouldn’t be good to let out in the light so the tail wags the dog. The more we swallow blindly these “truths” from the media, the more we become cattle for the people who worship money and power. This way, mankind is causing its own demise.

Where do you get your inspiration for the lyrics and can you tell me something more about them? Did anything in particular inspire your lyrics?

Jules: While I was writing the lyrics for ‘Ceadium’ I was reading the comic novel Watchmen’’  and a lot of that scenario ended up in the album. The story is very easy to relate with what I wrote in the earlier answer. I wanted to put a part of the story in the modern society and write in this perspective.

How important is it to you that people pay attention to the lyrics apart from listening to the music?

Jules: I think it is very important. You might have a great band writing about “oh baby yeah” – stuff but if the band has lyrics that actually mean something it takes the band to another level and grows further. Good tunes with good lyrics easily turn into great bands!

If someone was only going to read the lyrics and not listen to the music, what would you hope they would take from them?

Jules: Lyrics are very often based on the rhythm of the music so I’d say it might leave you confused, at least a bit. Of course there are songs of which you will know what they are about but I strongly recommend to read ‘em while listening to the music.

What is the utmost important ingredient for a song according to you?

Jules: There has to be a clear beginning, the structure that creates the drama and an end that makes you think about the song again. So the structure and the drama should be clear even though the song itself could be complex.

How did the recording process proceed and how much time did you spend in the studio?

Jules: Altogether I’d say we spent about a month in the studio. I think in the end everyone rose up to their level and went a bit above it too. For me, starting to record the vocals was difficult. That time was very busy for me and I came to the recording booth straight from Profane Omen’s Baltic tour so it was hard at first to put my mind into recording mode. It started to become a lot easier after two days of struggling so we also re-recorded some stuff from those first two days. For the vocals we needed six days to record 14 songs so in the end it went pretty damn smooth.

What do you think are the main differences between your debut album and ‘Caedium’?

Jules: It’s the sound and the straightforwardness. With ‘Ceadium’ we knew much more what we were doing compared to when we did the previous album. The pieces in ‘Ceadium’ fit together great and there is nothing that we are unsure of.

How would you describe this album to someone that has never listened to the band before?

Jules: The music itself is not easy to take in on one portion so I’d describe it to be a rewarding experience to the patient listener. It grows on you more after every time and you will come back to it in the long run.

Which element of the CD are you the most proud of?

Jules: The drums. Daniel did a fantastic job nailing the drums on this record. The dude works like a doomsday clock, pounding and punctual and the rhythm of the whole album is based on the groove he makes.

Can you tell us a little about yourself and the kinds of things that motivate you in your writing, your poetry, and your lyrics? What are you personally into?

Jules: The inspirational sources that work for me usually come from the social environment and how to monitor the outside world. I can easily get a spark out of a good book or movie and start writing stuff about it. My all time favourite lyricists are Maynard James Keenan, Layne Staley and Mark Lanegan to name a few. I have a habit of putting something from personal experiences into my lyrics but I don’t see it in a bad way. It makes the text more personal to me, that’s all.

Could you respond to the following terms in just one word or sentence:

Thrash :                 Slayer

Underground :       Vital

Internet :                The new way of independent media for all

Religion :               The most dangerous threat to mankind

Politics :                 Puppets of the elite

The Netherlands :  Ganja

Germany :              Beer

What have been the highlights and low points throughout your career?

Jules: Absolute highlights would be the summer 2008 with all the festivals. We had a great time throughout the summer. The lows, well, not having any shows to play right now. This is the low point when you have an album out but no shows to do, it kinda feels you’re pissing on your own shoes.

What is your opinion on the metal scene these days? Is there anything missing from the scene?

Jules: It feels like different genres are recycled again and again, time after time. There’s nothing bad about it though. Every band that can bring something new to the scene and create it in a way that people get it is going to be successful. Sometimes the metal scene feels very generic so every fresh idea should be welcomed. Of course it’s not easy to bring out something “new” when everyone thinks that everything has been done already!

What makes Enemy Of the Sun different from all the other metal bands out there?

Jules: A recognizable sound, fresh ideas and the ambitious music.

Which goals did you have when the band started out and how do those goals stand now?

Jules: The goal for every band that wants to go forward with their music is that someday they could make music for a living. This is the goal for us too. Another goal is to make music that comes naturally without thinking about what’s the flavor of the day.

Are there any particular bands who’ve been a big influence on your song writing, metal or otherwise?

Jules: There are so many different elements inspired by different bands that we all together bring in to the soup so it doesn’t really serve a purpose for me to list them here. I’d give a wrong impression anyway!

How would you describe your own music?

Jules: Surprising, avant-garde, metal.

What can we expect from Enemy Of the Sun in the near future? Any touring plans?

Jules: We’re hoping for a tour for Autumn this year but at the moment it appears to be difficult. We might end up doing zero shows with this album and that feels unacceptable. Let’s see what the future brings out and start from there!

Any last statement?

Jules: Try some ‘Ceadium’ at www.myspace.com/enemyofthesunband! It’s goooood for ya!

Thanks!

Thanks for your time,

Eugene Straver

Line-up:

Waldemar Sorychta - Guitar

Jules Näveri - Vocals

Daniel Zeman - Drums

Alla Fedynitch – Bass

Albums:

(2007) Shadows