Disavowed and the nocturnal silence

interview with Disavowed

Dutch death-metal band Disavowed was formed in September 1994 under the name Nocturnal Silence. They immediately started writing their own material. After several shows their first demo ’Into the abcess’ was recorded in 1995 of which, despite the poor soundquality, some 150 were sold.

Having built up a worthy reputation in their region they recorded a second demo with a better production, ’...and create a moonless sky’, on which Joël Sta from Pyaemia did back-up vocals. Shortly after these recordings the drummer, Maarten Winnips, decided to quit. A new drummer was soon found in Robbert Vrijenhoek, drummer of Pyaemia. Two months later the lead guitarplayer, Dorus Neijboer, also decided to quit. Joël, who had become second vocalist, took his place.

From then on Nocturnal Silence changed in style from melodic metal to more brutal and fast metal, still keeping some form of melody in their music by varying from raw, fast passages to more melodical, technical ones, to slow heavy ones. In May '98 their 7-song promo-CD ’Plateau’ was recorded, which was well received by 'zines and death-metal fans. After this recording Nocturnal Silence further evolved their musical style towards a more brutal one. It's maybe best described as a mixture of influences such as Suffocation, Vader and Cannibal Corpse.

In December '99 they recorded their 3-song promo-MCD ’Point of few’, just before guitarplayer Joël left the band. Because of all the changes in line-up and musical style they decided to continue under a different bandname: Disavowed.

With ’Point of few’ Disavowed got some really good reactions from labels. After being offered contracts by some well-established labels they chose to sign with American label Unique Leader Entertainment. Disavowed have now recorded their full-length for them, which will be released on the 1st of July 2001.

interview with Nils on 30-5-2001

Please give us a short introduction of yourself?
We're Disavowed, a Duth brutal death metal band, signed on Unique Leader Entertainment where our debut will appear in July.

Did you choose the name Disavowed beause you play other music than in Nocturnal Silence?
Yes, but that's not the entire story behind the name change. Actually, because a couple of Nocturnal Silence members left the band, we changed the style we play and since this style is quite different from the NS-style, we considered a change in the name of the band.

What is your reaction when I say the three song demo is ultra brutal?
Thank you, but there's still a lot to improve.

Why did you change the style of the music?
Our former drummer and guitarist left NS and ofcourse they had a lot of influence on the style we played. But now we've got ourselves a drummer which is able to blast and that created an atmosphere in which other influences got the upperhand.

What kind of music did you grew up with?
Lots of stuff, from the Beatles to Beethoven. When I was about thirteen I started listening to Slayer (still youth sentiment to me) and after that followed Morbid Angel, Suffocation, etc.

Are you also listening to other kinds of music?
Yes, like classical stuff, jazz, Primus, old blues, etc. But I must admit that I listen most of my time to deathmetal.

What musicstyle should never been invented?
R&B new style.

Did you ever felt an outcast in school?
Nope, since nobody dared to diss me (haha).

Other interesting hobbies that are related to the metal music?
Drinking beer and smoking dope, to name a few.

What could we expect from the full length? Worth waiting for?
Definitely. I think we've made a lot of progression since Point of Few. The new songs are more brutal and the songs of Point of Few are much tighter recorded (and played).

Can the band explore new ways to make it more brutal?
Yes, we can make a lot of progression in composition and, as always, riffs can get more technical. These aspects are for me an indication of brutalness.

Do you always wear black T-shirts?
Not always, but often.

Are you happy to be featured on the Suffocation tribute?
Yes, but it's a bit uncertain. There are a lot of difficulties contacting the legal representatives of Suffocation. We don't want to get our asses sewed, you know. But the guys of Repulsive echo (Stelios and Kostas: you guys do a hell of a job!), will take care of everything, I presume.

What do you think of legalizing euthanesia?
Seems pretty normal to me. Nobody but myself has the right to decide whether I want to live or die.

And who would you like to give the euthanesia injection?
Like 95% of the world's population.

Do you have plans for the future? Any goals to achive?
We sure as hell want to get on tour, doesn't matter where, as long as we can have fun. Bringing out a couple more cd's is a nice goal to achieve, I think.

Last rites?
Hail to the underground and cheers Twan! Keep up the good work and thx for the interview.
Interviewer: twansibon
May 30, 2001

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