Interview with doom death metal band from Belgium - MARCHE FUNÈBRE.
Answered Dennis, Kurt, Arne, thank you!
Recenze/review - MARCHE FUNÈBRE - After the Storm (2024):
Ave MARCHE FUNÈBRE! To start our conversation with a short story...I got up early and went into the woods. It was quiet and the sun was slowly rising above the horizon. I came to the ruins of an old church. In the ruins, I sat down for a while and listened to your new album “After the Storm” It was the end of July, the album had come to me for review earlier. I wasn’t able to write anything until last week, I preferred to keep listening. Hello Belgium and thank you very much for your new album. How did the album come about, when did the first ideas and thoughts come about? What is the basic theme of the whole record?
Dennis: As usual we just start writing music without too much of a concept in our heads. We released our previous album in the middle of the pandemic, so the real writing started after the pandemic, since we prefer writing music when we are together in the rehearsal place throwing some ideas around and see where they go. There were some online things we did (like some covers and stuff but that was just to keep us busy and not lose touch, more than active songwriting really). Kurt and me had some rehearsals with just the two of us. We wrote some stuff but apart from a part in Stranded we didn’t really do anything with what we wrote during these sessions… When the world opened again we started rehearsing again and soon stuff started to happen and the first ideas of this album came together…
Kurt: Indeed, and when the ideas were brought, there came in a fast tempo. I guess all the musical ideas were held back for quite a while. Once we got back into the rehearsal room, the album was written pretty quickly. At times we were writing three songs at the same time. :D
Arne: Lyrically most lyrics were written shortly after my last break-up, which accidentally was right before we could rehearse again as a band.
I listen mostly to fast music, raw death metal, black and thrash, but doom metal is kind of in my blood since the first albums PARADISE LOST and MY DYING BRIDE. A long time ago, when I was still in college, I discovered this style with my future wife. How did you get into this style? And what is it like to play doom metal in Belgium? To be honest, I don’t know many bands like that from you.
Dennis: I guess we all have our own story on how we got into doom, for me it was the 90’s when MTV still played music and there was Headbangers’ Ball: I discovered sooo many bands trough that show and given my young age back then I absorbed it all like a sponge, always wanting more… It was there that Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride got my attention, the melancholy combined with aggressive guitars and grunts was an instant hit in my book. Around the same time (or even a bit before) I had a few friends that where older than me and they thought it was cool to “educate” me with stuff they liked so they taped what they would be listening to and that way I got to listen to the Gothic record from Paradise Lost not long after it got out,… Ah… the 90’s and trading tapes, I wish I could go back sometimes, everything metal related was pure magic back then (at least for a young kid like me).
I personally discovered you at a gig with OPHIS in Pilsen in 2014. I must admit that I was literally fascinated by the atmosphere you were able to create. I immediately ran to buy a CD with a friend and didn’t listen to anything else for two months. Every time I’m in a “sad” mood or need to stop, I choose doom metal. Do you remember touring with OPHIS? What do you think about the Czech fans?
Dennis: Sure man, we played quite a lot of shows with The Ophis dudes, but that time it was the first time in the Czech Republic for us and we had the best of times !! It was The Pod Lampu we played there (we returned there some years ago), I really liked that gig and the whole little tour we did. I think we gave a good show there and the atmosphere was cool that night.
Kurt: Oh yes, I remember that gig too. It was the tour we did with the bros of Ophis and our friends in Et Moriemur. I woudn’t mind revisiting Pilsen.
If you saw my library, you might be surprised. You’ll find old historical books and novels as well as modern detective stories, science fiction. I’m the same with books as I am with music. I like to sample. For me, for example, the words for reviews come to mind most early in the morning when I’m walking to work. I write them down on my phone and then use them when I start writing. How do you do it?
Dennis: Writing this kind of music comes natural to us, we don’t really have a modus operandi, sometimes someone comes to rehearsal with a song he already wrote at home and we modify it to our liking, sometimes a song starts just from jamming a riff around and sometimes a vocal line is written first and music gets created and draped around it… We do never limit ourselves in style or any other way when we write, we just write what we like to play and hear, so sometimes a more Death Metal part will be integrated, sometimes some post black, sometimes some Heavy Metal, whatever we feel the song demands…
I’ll confess to one thing. You know what literally fascinates me about After the Storm? The vocals! You all have very urgent voices, you complement each other perfectly. It’s like you’re connected in some weird way? Do you have a musical background? Do you take singing lessons, for example?
Dennis: I leave this one to the vocalist…
Arne: Most voices you hear are mine, so it’s not that weird that they complement each other. We like to record multi-layered vocal lines in the studio. Other than that it is a really cool feature of this band to have more than one versatile vocalist. And I think especially Boris’s extreme vocals really work well next to mine. None of us have a musical background when it comes to singing. It’s just our weekly practices and the occasional gigs/touring that made us improve throughout the years, next to other projects with different accents.
You’re from Mechelen, Antwerp. I don’t know if it’s true, but it seems to me that the sea and the surrounding nature must have inspired you a lot? Or am I wrong? I imagine you’re walking along the beach or visiting an old church and suddenly you think of a new motif for a song. Because I feel this strange melancholy from the new record, which is something that not only British doom bands have, but also bands from Finland. Does the environment influence you a lot in your work? Where do you actually like to go? What about you and nature, sights?
Dennis: For me personally it is more of a subconscious thing… I don’t need to be in a forest to know how to create melancholic music. I do enjoy a walk through the forest, I am indeed fascinated by ruins or the atmosphere of old churches and graveyards. I enjoy nature and landscapes. I can really take them in, but I see it more as something I do and need as a person, rather than something I need as a musician…
Kurt: For me, inspiration comes mainly from a state of mind. Not specifically a depressive state of mind, but rather an introspective one.. Just taking out the guitar and just letting the emotion decide the riff feels right to me. It’s kind of the same as sports to me. Being creative is a way to release stress or express emotion without having to use words.
Arne: When it comes to writing our lyrics, I had a lot of personal things to tell this time, but that isn’t necessary for me to write a good lyric. All I need is the right idea/concept and the words usually flow out of me.
How are you on the gigging side of things? Do you play a lot and often? We have a few good doom bands in Pilsen and the gigs tend to be really poorly attended. Which is a pity, although I understand that this music is not for everyone. How many people come to the club to see you? And what are the Belgian fans like? Do they support the bands?
Dennis: Doom is indeed not the most popular genre, not even amongst Metal fans. We try to play Live as much as we can but we also know we should not play a show in our home town every 2 months, so we try to give our shows some exclusivity so people who want to see us get the opportunity but not every 2 weeks.
I think we are quite fortunate to get quite some gigs, we play abroad a lot too, I think we are a strong live band and that audiences don’t need to be all doomheads in order to appreciate our live show.
The attendance of gigs varies from show to show for so many reasons but I don’t think we can complain.
Most bands have rather fluctuating quality in their discographies. But it’s different for you. I don’t think You’ve recorded a bad album yet. How do you explain that? Are you perfectionists? Or does everything happen only under the “guidance” of one person? They say a band is like a family. Well, yeah, but there’s always got to be someone in the band who has the final say. What about MARCHE FUNÈBRE?
Dennis: Everything in MF is a group effort, we do not have one leader or something, we are a collective and all decisions are taken by all, this means sometimes you need to give in… It is hard to explain but for us it seems to work, which doesn’t mean it is always easy (but if you keep in mind that everyone in MF just wants the best for the band you can get far without having to fight a lot).
Sometimes there are strong opposing opinions on things, then we talk and come to a conclusion one way or another…
As for your first question, yes I think we are a bit of perfectionists, we want to deliver high quality releases on all levels and I think we are and are still growing…
Kurt: I agree with Dennis there. We strive for the best result, but also… we know we won’t get the best result when endlessly focussing on one melody or riff. We do look at the song as a whole and do not feel it’s necessary to focus on the minor details. Music is not an exact science so what is good for us, is not necessarily considered the best for others.
Arne: When I look at our creative process, it’s obvious that we always set the bar higher, for ourselves. Whereas in the past we would be happy when a song would be finished, now we put it away for some time, and re-evaluate it months later. Usually we change some stuff, or even delete parts when revisiting the new songs like this. But in the end I think we always wrote the best song with the given basic ingredients.
As I’m getting older, I’m becoming more and more aware of what things are important. There’;s a lot of chaos all around us nowadays. Social media, the news, wars, depression, all of this affects us and every moment we stop and maybe just sit and look at the ruins of old churches and listen to music is terribly precious. Actually, for me, music is not only relaxation, but also a kind of therapy, it helps me to survive in the strange world of today. What does music mean to you as a creator and musician? And why doom metal?
Dennis: Music is life, it is the most powerful force in my world. Not only Doom but music in general, it can help you through hard times, it can comfort, channel anger, make you put stuff in perspective, bring you joy and happiness,….
The world these days is not any stranger than it ever was or than it will ever be imho… It is just a given fact and you as an individual need to deal with this given fact, love it or hate it the world will not care so you might as well try to enjoy it and go with the ride, you only get one one way ticket to death so try to enjoy the ride…
Could you please tell us how your lyrics are created and who is the author? You draw from literature, philosophy. But how does it happen that you think - this particular text, passage, book appealed to me and would be worth translating into music?
Dennis: Another question I leave for Arne.
Arne: Actually our now ex-guitar player Peter was the one who kickstarted the use of texts from dead poets. Since I’m more in charge now of our lyrics, I think we will see it less and less for our songs, as I usually write my own stuff. My inspiration could come from anything, but most of the time it has some personal story behind it, on which I start dramaticing for better effect for instance.
I can’t help it, I have to ask. You have a few clips for the new album. I think they’re very good. Who is the author, director, who came up with the ideas? By the way, what’s the name of the beautiful girl in “After the Storm”?
Dennis: another one for Arne here (really bad with names)
Kurt: I guess this one is even for Boris. :)
Arne: Well, if you checked the video on YouTube, all the info is there actually^^ The actual storyline of the video came from a brainstorming session between Boris and Michaël, the director, who took my lyrics rather literally. I guess the result is really cool, although I never had the intention of writing about domestic violence, but it happened to be a perfect metaphor for the ideas behind the lyrics.
One more trip into history, please. How did you get started in music? Who was your first role model? What about your first gig? And your first stage performance?
Dennis: We will all have different answers to this one of course. We’ve all been in different bands before joining Marche Funèbre. I have been playing drums since I was 15 I think and was in a lot of bands playing a wide range of musical styles: Blues-Rock, Punk, Death-Metal, …
It really shaped me as a musician…
My first gig, I don’t really remember what my first gig was, probably just playing some covers in some friends’ backyard during summer break or something… Whatever it was, I love playing live, it is my main goal being a musician…
What are MARCHE FUNÈBRE planning in the near future? Do you have something to say to your fans? Here is the space.
Dennis: Thanx for taking the interest in our band, thanx for the support !
What the future plans are, first we’ll be promoting the new album that will be out through Ardua Music on the 27th of September.
After that we’ll see, we still have an EP on the shelf which we will probably release somewhere next year, we are writing for what will be the next album, and we’ll continue playing shows !
SUPPORT the underground! We need you to exist!
Kurt: To our fans, come chat with us. Meet us at the merch stand or have a beer with us!
I was up early preparing these questions, it’s also the weekend and it’s about to dawn. You can probably guess where I’m going. I’ve got my headphones ready, ”After the Storm” in them, and I’m looking forward to the woods. I want to close by thanking you so much for your music. Thank you also for the interview, of course, and I wish you lots of inspiration and good ideas. May you do well in your private life too! Playing again...
Recenze/review - MARCHE FUNÈBRE - After the Storm (2024):
Recenze/review - MARCHE FUNEBRE - Einderlicht (2020):
Recenze/review - MARCHE FUNĖBRE - Into the Arms of Darkness (2017):
Report, foto, video - OPHIS, MARCHE FUNÉBRE, ET MORIEMUR - klub Divadlo pod Lampou, Plzeň - 16.11.2014: https://www.deadlystormzine.com/2014/11/report-foto-video-ophis-marche-funebre.html
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