SOURCE – Reduced To Flesh is the newest Hate Sphere album. Where do you see the major differences in this latest effort versus your past discography?
Mike Park (Drums) – Well, this is definately our darkest album yet. Compared to our other albums “Reduced To Flesh” might be more death metal than thrash. This time around we also worked in quite a few orchestral parts, done by Jon Phipps, who also worked with Moonspell, Amorphis and many more. It gives the album a different vibe and it´s a first for us.
SOURCE – Listening to the new album there certainly seems to be some change. My impression is that the songs are a bit more technical than in the past. Is that something you planned or did that just happen in the creative process?
Mike Park (Drums) – Whenever we write songs we never really plan to be this or that. We just go along with what we got. But it´s true that we, this time around, took some more chances and worked a lot on some parts to give them a different feel. But still we always make sure not to stray too far away from the signature Hatesphere sound.
SOURCE – How would you describe the lyrical content and themes on this record? Which comes first for you in development – the storylines and melodies, or the musical foundation?
Mike Park (Drums) – The lyrical content is Esses department. We´re matured a bit on this album, commenting on the state of the world and such. But mainly it´s still about death and destruction. We always write the music first. Whenever we have a song ready we´ll do a crude rehearsal recording which Esse can then use to get started on the lyrics.
SOURCE – Considering the wider underground love for extreme metal and death/thrash bands in Denmark, does this make it more of a challenge to gain proper respect and appeal from the metalheads in your country – or do you consider this a unique advantage? What do you think of your domestic scene overall?
Mike Park (Drums) – We have a lot of metal bands in Denmark, actually too many so the competition is quite hard, especially for newer bands. We have a good thing going both domestic and internationally so we´re doing alright. I actually don´t see it as an advantage. The problem with the danish metal scene is that every band is locally famous, even the shitty ones. It seems that some bands, when getting just a touch of recognition, they lean back and are contempt with playing small hometown shows three times a year. Fortunately we also have some bands putting in a lot of work and progressing and actually getting proper recognition. The danish newcomers Baest is a great example of that.
SOURCE – What do you think defines Hatesphere as a metal band in terms of your sound and approach?
Mike Park (Drums) – I think we have a very unique style and we´re very true to that even though we play around within our genre, adding some new things on each album. It´s important for me that people instantly recognize our sound. So to answer your question, we´re defined as a band you can trust but also throws in some curveballs now and then.
SOURCE – Why do you think the Denmark metal scene was so impactful?
Mike Park (Drums) – Well, back in the early 2000`s we had a wave of influential bands coming out of Denmark and signing with major labels – Hatesphere, Mnemic, Mercenary (which I was actually in at that time) Illdisposed and Raunchy were the frontrunners. And compared to todays bands, or at least most of them, we were willing to sacrifice it all. Driving shitty vans, sleeping on back stage floors/sofas whatever across Europe, no pay whatsoever. We did this just to get the chance to play outside Denmark and in the end it payed off. Now we´re only touring in nightliners…haha. Well, for the longer tours that is. We don´t mind driving around in a van for a short weekend run though.
SOURCE – Do you have any favorite hobbies, activities, or interests outside of music that you like to engage and participate in when you have the free time to do so?
Mike Park (Drums) – I live with my girlfriend and our six years old twin girls so that takes up a lot of my time. Besides that the band takes some time too and I also have another band, a sludge/rock band, with our singer Esse. I love to travel and do so quite a lot with my family and sometimes with my girlfriend only. We´ve already ordered travels to Thailand in February, Japan in April and Cyprus in July so I´m really forward to next year. Being a fan of traveling is quite an advantage when you´re in a touring band. What else, what else….Playstation of course. I try to squeeze in as much Playstation time I can when I´m at home. My girlfriend is a gamer too so fortunately she has no problem with me playing. I even bring it on tour. I have a special case for it with a build-in screen which is awesome.
SOURCE – To finish up, what plans does Hatesphere have for the rest of the year and into 2019?
Mike Park (Drums) – As I´m writing this interview we´re on a European tour with death metal super group Sinsaenum. We started the tour in France on September 28th and it´s ending in Finland October 28th. Then we´ll be home for a few days before heading out on a Balkan tour with Decapitated from November 6th to November 18th. For 2019 we´re currently setting up a Danish tour promoting the new album and we´re working on getting back to Asia and possibly Australia in May but let´s see.
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