When I first heard ‘Resume The Pose’, I thought the album would build on the predecessor of ‘Rapture’, ‘Ghosts’, an excellent record that was characterized by deep heavy guitars. However, ‘Rapture’ became a very diverse record which reminded me more of the record previous to ‘Ghosts’: ‘Yesterday Is Forever’. You have admitted that you purposely chose ‘Resume The Pose’ to put listeners on the wrong track.Why did you do that? I just love to confuse people. I’m a bit of a jester when it comes to stuff like this. I think it makes it all more exciting. For me and the listeners. I wanted them to have exactly the reaction you had. Their first thought should be: “Yeah, I've sussed it.They’re not doing it any differently this time, I know where this is going.” But then, you’ll probably be surprised by the second track,‘Zealots’,which slows things down a lot and changes the vibe. I want things to stay surprising, which after twelve albums is quite the challenge. But that’s exactly what ‘Resume The Pose’ was designed for.And it obviously worked. It’s a Trojan horse. We know you are a huge Bowie fan, and I asked myself if you are trying in a Bowie vain to renew yourself with each new album. Are you aiming for a new sound or a new central ideal with each new album you make? Yeah, Bowie really influenced how I learned to approach things. I think that’s actually his biggest influence on me. I mean, you can probably hear hints of his musical influences as well. But I got a lot of good stuff from him about what’s important in art and what isn’t.You can truly say he was and still is a big influence in that regard. I'll always remember the day he died. It was pretty traumatic. I cried for days. But even though we’ve had a few stylistic changes over the years, we’ve never strayed too far from our roots like he did. We haven’t recorded any soul music yet, if you know what I mean. It all stayed very much in the actual narrative. It was all very reminiscent of Whispers In The Shadow.But I’m really keen not to repeat myself. I couldn’t write the same album twice, even if I wanted to. Well, maybe I could, but it wouldn’t be very satisfying. There are several references to the bible on ‘Rapture’. I know it’s a personal question, which you don’t have to answer, but are you religious yourself?What importance do you give to the bible? And how does your personal point of views on religion interact with the writing of songs and lyrics about this topic? I do not consider myself to be a religious person. Nevertheless, I would self-identify as a spiritual person. I have to say though, I’m fascinated by all kinds of religions, and I’ve got enough empathy to understand what faith can mean for people. I get the idea of faith, but let’s not forget that organized religion causes a lot of pain in the world, and always has. But don’t worry, this album isn’t about bashing religion and faith. That would be a pretty cheap trick. The Bible is the most successful book ever, - 15 - and whether you like it or not, it influences everyone in the Western world. It’s just the way we’ve been brought up.Our moral understanding, and so on. I think it’s a book full of archetypical allegories that had a big impact on our lives and history,which is a really interesting subject to think and write about. A song that is perhaps central to the theme of the album, is the closer ‘Origin Story’. In it, you refer to the bible story about how the devil tries to seduce Jesus in the desert, but also to William Blake’s ‘The Marriage of Heaven and Hell’. You described the theme of the song as about ‘the eternal struggle between conviction and its corruption’. Can you give us more details about what you meant with that? ‘Origin Story’ is a central tune in many ways, and it’s definitely one of my favorites. The problem with faith or religion is when it becomes an absolute truth. That’s when faith goes wrong. Then the problems begin. You’ll find that you can’t tolerate other people’s views once you get to that point. The question is whether religion can exist without that struggle. So, in the first part of the song, it’s like the Devil is trying to seduce Jesus, but the song is actually written from Satan’s point of view. Then, in the second part, you see that the two are inextricable. It’s like a marriage of convenience, really. You know, William Blake is actually a very enigmatic person. That's why I used his poem as a starting point and borrowed a few things from him here and there. I hope he doesn’t mind. Finally, I cannot finish this interview without asking you about that other project, The Devil & The Universe. I heard there’s a new record coming up with this band, and also a tour. What can we expect from our favorite goats in the coming period? Yeah, our new album,‘Occult Pleasures’, is coming out on 19 September. There are a lot of guests this time. Cagla from Ductape, Aux Animaux, Sven from Then Comes Silence, and the Hungarian witchy electronic act Zsüd. There’s a lot more singing on that one.We’ve got shows lined up well into next year, yes. Also, there’s been a change in the line-up. Stefan left the band last year and now Ezechiel from Prague has joined us on drums and percussion. So, there have been quite a few changes. Xavier KRUTH www.whispersintheshadow.com/ whispersintheshadow.bandcamp.com/album/rapture www.facebook.com/WhispersInTheShadow (Read the complete interview on our website) www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be
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