On Nov. 13, the Dutch doom-black metal band Soulburn released their fourth studio album “Noa’s D’ark” through Century Media Records. The 10-track collection features songs that address religion, death and philosophy and come together to tell the story of a dark, grim and gruesome future. The album is now available for purchase.
This is the first album to feature the work of drummer Marc Verharr after the band’s former drummer and cofounder Bob Bagchus left Soulburn in 2018. On this transition, bassist-vocalist Twan van Geel said, “the sound and spirit of the band have remained firmly intact for [our] next creative chapter.”
In an interview with The Clarion, guitarist Eric Daniels and Twan van Geel discussed what it’s been like producing an album during the COVID-19 pandemic, their inspiration and creative process, challenges they faced and future plans.
Skylar: The pandemic has been crazy this year, and it’s obviously affected a lot of shows. Do you have plans for touring virtually or pushing back to a later date?
Eric: It’s a little strange right now because full shows are postponed. Our booker still wants to see if we can do some shows between 40-50 people. We really want to do this because we are very excited to play the new songs together.
Skylar: What was the process like creating this album? Did you collaborate or was there one songwriter? Tell me how creativity worked between members.
Eric: What we did was start with composing the riff—that took all of 2019 and finished January of this year. I record ideas on guitars and send it to the other guys. From there, they say, “I really like it,” and we put the things we’re good at together. We live very far from each other in the Netherlands. We can’t get together in the evenings or anything, so it’s a little difficult.
But this is how we do it: compose at home, put things together, make blueprints and rough demos. Marc (drums) and Remco (guitars) compose their instruments for tracks and tempos. When that is finished, Twan comes in and feeds it magic with his creative mind for lyrics and concepts, letting it drift out. That’s how we process the album.
Skylar: This album covers a lot of topics, from religion to death to sex. Did you have a theme in mind when you created the album? Or did the ideas come to you as you went along?
Twan: I’m a very big fan of philosophic matters, such as “Thus Spoke Zarathustra,” which was a large source of inspiration. It’s about putting yourself above any religion or deity and finding the god within, which is in the eyes of every religion a very demonic notion. I consider it a bit like a modern satanic perspective. I hate religious traditions. They are so short-sighted and don’t think about the here and now.
They’re always thinking, “No matter what we do, if we pray to heaven, we’re good.” No way. Religion is a way for a small group of elites to rule the earth and keep the dumb dumber. There’s always something like that in all of my lyrics, even in our previous albums, like “Earthless Pagan Spirit” and “The Suffocating Darkness.”
When I got songs for the drum arrangements, I was returning from tour with my other band. The lockdown had started in March, so I started writing with this lockdown and pandemic in mind. I was thinking about people dying and how nature is taking her revenge on humanity. I came up with the theme “Noa’s D’ark” for this album, like Noah’s Ark from the Bible.
The Ark was built to save as many species as possible from the biblical flood that would come to eradicate mankind. In “Noa’s D’ark,” the future isn’t so bright. There will perhaps be no saving us. Our Earth is putting us in our place.
I also wanted to bring in the overpopulating of the Earth; we are taking so much from the earth with our arrogance, ignorance and short-sighted visions. With that in mind, combined with the philosophical and satanic topics, I thought this was good material to write a dark and brutal album that had a spiritual touch as well.
That’s the positive side of it—spiritual anarchy and the freedom of thoughts and mind. Feeding the part that allows humankind to think for themselves and create their own identity generates a very good energy. If people can channel that energy onto others, the world can become a better place.
Skylar: What was the best part of making this album? What was the most challenging part?
Eric: One special thing about this album is the songs were written in the same order that they are listed on the track. We wrote the first song (“The Morgue of Hope”) in January 2019 and finished with the tenth song (“From Archaeon into Oblivion”) in January of this year, so the order is exactly the same. We didn’t shift the songs around.
We wanted to record the album in July, but the lockdown came in March, which was a big challenge. Could we record the album? Are studios open? Are we allowed to do this? I think we are very lucky that the studio engineers agreed to record with us.
Twan: There was another challenge—the new drummer. Normally, Eric and Bob Bagchus went to the rehearsal room, jamming riffs and arranging the songs together. This was the first album that Eric had to do without Bob. But Marc (drums) did an amazing job by keeping the “less is more” approach. He did what was necessary and moved on. It is perfect and contributes to the massive, epical and ultimate pleasure of this music.
Eric: When Bob left, it was a little scary. I knew I wanted to continue with Soulburn, but it was also up to Twan. If Twan said he didn’t want to anymore, then there was no future for Soulburn. I was very lucky and pleased that Twan wanted to continue. That was 2018.
Here we are two years later, and it’s solid. For people now who hear the album, it will be something new. We knew Marc for a long time because he went to shows and was always with us. After just one or two weeks, Marc fit right in. We respect each other and what we do. We enjoy being together and making music. That’s our passion.
Skylar: What’s next for Soulburn? Do you have any future plans?
Eric: Right now, we’re wondering how to promote the album and let people hear it. Maybe we’ll hire a venue for a day and play the whole album, then stream it or something like that. Maybe we can find one or two guys to help film it. We’re thinking about doing something to give the album attention.
Skylar: What is your favorite song from the album?
Twan: It shifts sometimes. I think “Tempter ov the White Light” could be my favorite. Also “Triumphant One” because of the lyrics and idea behind it. I like the whole album, but those two stand out for me.
Skylar: What are you hoping your listeners take away from this album?
Twan: I hope they hear that everything is made from the heart. I think the album shows this in every second, every word written and every riff and melody that Eric plays. We are not a genre-pleasing band. We are a band that creates for the sake of art. It is made with passion and for love of creating music. I hope it translates and brings something to people they can find energy in.
Eric: We make this music because we like it for ourselves. We are big fans of a lot of music, not only metal. We are not a band you can box in between two lines—black metal and death metal. I won’t call it experimental, but I don’t know. Maybe it is from a composition perspective that Soulburn stands out. It feels like this album is our comfort zone. We’re comfortable with this style of music, and it feels really good.
This interview has been revised for clarity.
