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INTERVIEW – UNTOMBED ZINE #4
January 23, 2010
INTERVIEW WITH TEMPLAR’S DAN AND RAPHAEL BY DRAWNSWORD
1. Could you tell us about how Templar got started and what direction your taking these days?
DAN : influences : when I got Stryper To hell with the devil, the first metal album I bought and still love and Whitecross 1987, I heard Rex Carrol play and knew that I just wanted to play guitar. Also Bride, Bride is where Raf and I first connected with music and metal. In Nov 06, Raf and I ran into each other after many years at a Mortification concert and he was starting something new and I also wanted to.
RAFAEL : Templar feel their music would sit sweet with many other dark secular bands , bands that many other Christian music labels would not take the risk with and that would not get the mission and art form because of the subversive imagery and music style and not realizing that Templar are just sheep in wolves clothing"
2. In what ways do you think your sound has developed with the new album "Dark Circus"?
DAN : Dark Circus, it really sums up the sound and attitude of the band and it rocks hard
RAFAEL : I wanted to bring to light in the song how Satan uses media , politics and religion to ensnare the world to get involved in his dark circus, only those who see it for what it is can avoid it.
3. What inspired the track "Green back nation"?
RAFAEL : After seeing the money crash this yr I saw many people around me panic and were in fear and stressed and why because these power hungry leeches in the world banks decided to do it , trying to kill the US dollar so they can get their one world currency , I thought it was important to address this sham for what it is...
4. Can you share about what some of the other songs are about on the new album?
Heres a few ...
INSTIUTION is about all those people with serious conditions like Depression , Epilepsy, Bipolar Disorder etc, our out dated Freud / Jung dictated medical profession stick away and feed them drugs , not to ever cure them but only as they say to treat the problem , that becomes a living hell for those people, its a crime....
APOSTATES REGRET is about those who think its ok to mess around with the occult thinking they can control it and even that they can Still believe in God and be religious, its clear what Paul says about the Apostates fate.
SWEET MISERY another song addressing multimillion food and drink company's who put artificial sweeteners in soda diet drinks and sweet foods , knowing Aspartame 951 is a neurotoxin and very toxic , causing so much deaths and cancers in our population, more people need to be aware of this, just because the Food Association Board says its safe , doesn't make it safe.
NEW YEARS REVOLUTION Mainly a tune about the coming New World Order that the corporate Elite are trying to bring in to our world we need to take a stand against this before they force their phoney monetary system, population control and religion on us all.
5. Wow, interesting issues covered there. In regards to "New Years Revolution" do you think its inevitable that the New World Order will come anyway as Bible prophecy foretells, so how can we take a stand against this?
RAFAEL : For sure I agree with you, however if the rapture doesnt happen before it arrives, we cant be sheep to the slaughter, look what happened to the Jews when they went passively, if the new order goons come to take my wife and kids to be chipped and herded like cattle, I will fight them, I think our first priority is not to bow and protect our family, like the guys who did not bow to Nebuchadnezzar's golden idol, if it means being a vigilante so be it
6. With your stage image is there a theme, and do you get a lot of flak for your artwork or does it open more doors to enhance your message?
RAFAEL : Most people who have a problem with our sort of imagery often don't understand subcultures and react in stupid politically correct or religious ways, we have been deleted twice from myspace because of so called politically inncorrect content, but we have have not crossed any lines , its just artform and with a title like Dark Circus it cant have a soft sissy approach, satans circus out there is ugly and cruel , behind the curtain of the glittery media and Hollywood charade. Most kids in the Goth industrial metal scenes email us and say how much we are cool and rock hard , a lot being secular kids so I think that says it all
7. Is the Metal, Goth and Industrial scene very large in Perth, do you play gigs a lot and are those in these subcultures quite conscious or responsive about the issues you address?
DAN : There is a decent metal scene in Perth, most of which is metalcore or death metal, not much in the way of industrial or Goth. Perth however is not large and the scene is quite limited to those particular styles. With the current structure of the Band playing live is difficult and will probably stay as a studio Band, at least for now
8. Do you have any songs directly about particular secret societies?
RAFAEL : Well not really as most secret societies are sinister , weather its the shriners, druids, freemasons, illuminati the last being the most evil in my opinion, so I usually put them all in one basket , however if you listen to new yrs revolution I do name the skull and bones society with its involvement with the NWO . " THE BEAST OF EUROPE.... IT KNOWS IT WILL NEVER HAVE TO BE ALONE, COZ IT HAS A GODDESS MOTHER AND A SKULL AND A BONE"
9. What did you do differently as far as the sound goes with "Dark Circus" than previous recordings and how do you go about composing your music/songs as a band?
DAN : The production of Dark Circus wasn't that much different from Preaching(2008) but we just tried to do it better. When we started Preaching I was still in the process of building my studio so it took longer and because Preaching had a different sound to WitchHunt it took us a while to establish the sound we wanted. With DC we knew what we wanted and so less time into finding the sound and more time into making it. I wanted to make the guitars more expansive in the solos and smoother in the rythym so it meant a lot of layering guitars, on Preaching there was maybe 3 guitar tracks on the songs but on DC there are as many as 7 or 8 rythym tracks. I learned a lot about producing when doing Preaching and those lessons made a big difference to the overall quality of DC.
When we write songs I will write the riffs for a song, put down a quick drum track and try to arrange the song in a rough fashion, if I have a lyrical idea I will put down a guide vocal track to get an idea of what the song could sound like, sometimes I will write a song based on a particular sound that I want to hear myself. When I have an idea of how it will sound, Raf will come to the studio and we will arrange the song according to the way we want the song structured, that structure could be to achieve something specific but mostly it is just the way the lyrics flow that determines it. The songs are usually structured by the person who wrote the lyrics and then the other will add their bit and suddenly we have a song. After we have the basic song ideas, I lock myself in the studio for a bit and record it properly, which can sometimes take a lot of time, sometimes its fast but mostly it isn't
10. Tell us about the label your on, "Rotting Corpse" and how has the new album been received abroad so far?
RAFAEL : Really well with RCR and YoungSide Records on the East Coast as well...
11. What other musical projects or bands are you guys involved in?
RAFAEL : few of the guys are also in Toads band Sourged Flesh , so they are pretty busy of late...
12. Have you started writing for the next album and what can we expect in the future?
RAFAEL : We are writing new material at the moment and may be doing a limited edition 5 song EP to follow on the tail of Dark Circus , We are also doing a cover of a metal classic of the 80s for a metal comp , song by Ministry " Jesus built my hotrod" luv that tune...
13. Thanks very much for interview. Any thing else to say?
RAFAEL : No just thanx to you for the interview opportunity, its great to see guys like you right behind modern metal…
Rafael
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