Immanu El - O regresso

Os suecos Immanu El, uma das bandas que entrevistei no passado, postaram no myspace 3 faixas novas, que farão parte do novo LP da banda ," Moen" que chega à "rua" já em Novembro.

Gostei das faixas, especialmente da "Storm" ( apesar de me fazer lembrar mais os ( igualmente ) suecos Ef do que Immanu El ) .

Dia 9 - I de Immanu El

Banda : Immanu El

Género: post-rock / shoegaze

Origem: Gotemburgo, Suécia

2003-

Immanu El é uma banda que já referi varias vezes aqui no blog. Ainda assim, não resisto a repetir o que já disse : é um dos grandes nomes da cena post-rock europeia actual. Misturando os crescendos explosivos do post-rock com a sensibilidade do shoegaze, este quinteto sueco consegue resultados muito interessantes, umas vezes a transbordar de melancolia, outras a rebentar de optimismo. Um bom adjectivo para caracterizar os trabalhos destes suecos seria "triunfante". Outro seria "timido". Como me disse o guitarrista/vocalista Claes, na entrevista que lhe fiz, " We play music that we believe in". E o ouvinte percebe isso, facilmente...

Entrevista : IMMANU EL

O Art is Fucking Dead tem o prazer de estrear hoje uma nova secção do blogue : entrevista . Para começar em grande, dificilmente poderiamos ter escolhido melhor que IMMANU EL. Este quinteto sueco é uma das maiores promessas do underground europeu. Facto. Falei com o vocalista/guitarrista, Claes, para saber os planos da banda para 2009, a origem do nome, entre outras coijas .


Pereira - Introduce yourself and your band

Claes - My name is Claes Strängberg and I am the lead singer and guitarist of the swedish band IMMANU EL. We play music that we beleive in.

P- What is the origin of your band's name, Immanu El?

C -I'ts a male name in Hebrew, like Michael, Gabriel, Samuel etc, but in its original form. I think it's a timeless and beautiful name and didn't think of it that much when i started the band.

P - Its been quite some time since you released your debut album "they’ll come, they come” . What are your plans for 2009?

C - We will record our second full length album called "MOEN" in June/July and hopefully release it this fall through some labels and distributers around the world. We will make a pre-release/showcase tour in Aug/Sep and then enjoy some heave release touring this fall/winter/spring season.

P -You guys have toured in the past ; what are your best and worst memories from the road?

C - There are many memories. The first two that pops up in my head: The last tour we had a tourbus breakdown in poland and everything - including the hotel - was freezing. We were stuck in the cold for 2 days and couldnt do anything about it. At the same tour we had 5 hours off in Innsbruck - Austria and rented some skiing and snowboarding gear, took a taxi to the cabinlifts and enjoyed alpine skiing between 2 shows. That was amazing.

P - What is the concept behind the artwork and lyrics of "theyll come,they come" ?

C - The concept is an album that reflects the first years of IMMANU EL. There are mostly old and re-arranged demo songs which we made when we were 16-19 years old. The lyrics and the artwork is some kind of reflection about the hope in our music. I beleive in that music.

P -I know that you had some line-up changes in the past.What happened?

C - Its not an easy thing being an independent musician today. We all have to sacrafice a lot in our every-day lives to make our band activity go around. Sometimes people feel like taking a break or doing something completely else. You cannot have a fulltime job or university-studies if youre a part of this group, it takes to much time. Therefor there had been some lineup changes in the past.

P-Your sound is quite epic and cinematic ; do you guys watch a lot of movies , are you influenced by them in any way?

C- I believe so yes. Movies as well as any arts inspires us with or without knowing it...

P - Including IMMANU EL, there are some good swedish bands playing shoegaze/post-rock, like Pg.lost,September Malevolence, Ef...
Do you agree that there is a growing swedish scene in this kind of music?

C- Absolutely. There are many young lads starting up post-rock bands these days and i am glad to see that so many young people take this music to their hearts.

P -Can you describe what gear do you use?

C - We use drums, guitars, bass, keys, strings, electronica samples and vocals added to a lot of effects (more or less).
Lots of delay/reverb/distortion/loops/tremolo etc.

P - What have you been listening lately?

C - I can only speak to myself but i have listened a lot of different bands lately. From Interpol to Nick Drake to Chet Baker.

P - What are your main influences, when writing a song?

C - It is very hard to say, we write many different types of songs these days. I guess you will know when you hear the new album! It sounds cliché but i have to say "everydaylife".

P - I know that you guys have some shows planned for the summer. When can we expect you in Portugal?

C - As soon as we get good requests from promoters and booking agencies we would love to come to Portugal. Hopefully next year!

Como diria o Émile Zola... "j'accuse!"

Novo objectivo de vida : transformar o nosso AIFD numa coisa destas -->

I'm the most important fucking person in the world.

Além dos 2 senhores fazerem parte de Angel Eyes ( que é apenas uma das melhores bandas da cena sludge ), são tambem ... opinion makers.



Agora a serio, I'm the most important fucking person in the world é um blog muito interessante, especialmente para quem tem um fraco por musica extrema ( ou, como eles preferem chamar, "slooow,heavy as fuck, hardcore-influenced music " ). Recomendo os amantes do sludge e instrumental em geral a darem uma olhada as summer series, um conjunto de bandas que Ryan e Todd destacaram como "resposta" às lamurias de escritores de sites como o The Silent Ballet , que, entre outras asneiradas, fartaram-se de defender que Russian Circles foi a única banda da cena a fazer algo decente em 2008...

Já que estamos na área do instrumental e das acusações, aproveito este espaço para acusar o SirensSound de me ter dado a conhecer muitas bandas ( como os suecos Ef e Immanu El, bandas que partilham o mesmo vocalista/guitarrista, da foto abaixo ) que não só passei a gostar, como mais tarde,a adorar. Obrigadão...sacan**




E,já que estou numa de "confissões" : estou neste momento a ouvir o "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" de Katatonia, e os vocals do Jonas começam a me irritar seriamente.



Tá na hora de mudar para :


a) um melo-death/black nórdico, com berros gélidos e agudos...
b) uma cena qq instrumental...

Desde que seja uma mudança para algo que não comece faixas com "we had you down on your knees / we were kicking you in the head"... Sinceramente, Jonas...




( Para não dizerem que sou má pessoa, aqui vai uma boa faixa de Katatonia )

(Já agora, depois de cagar no "Last Fair Deal Gone Down", mudei para In Flames - The Jester Race . )