Interview with Darkness Dynamite bassist Cris De Oliveira

Metal Blade Recoding artists Darkness Dynamite can best be described as a conglomeration of many different styles of Metal. Their newest release The Astonishing Fury Of Mankind incorporates the full on assault of Death Metal with many melodic and catchy elements; making this one hell of an album. There are even some anthemic choruses and great big sing-alongs. I recently had the opportunity to chat with bass player Cris De Oliveria about the recording of the new CD. Here is how it went.

Many of your songs are so hard and intense that I am sure they translate well into a live setting taking on a whole new life in front of a live audience. How does it make you feel when the emotion and power that you envisioned in the recording studio, come to life while playing in front of a crowd?
Cris: We worked on the songs after the recording to get them perfect for the live show. We play music to share it; the most amazing feeling is when you are playing your music in front of people, and when they just freak out! On the record the songs have some arrangements but when played on stage something happens, we’re not five, but six, Darkness Dynamite is alive.

Every band has its musical influences. What are some of the other bands and artists that have greatly influenced you guys and your music?
Cris: We all are influenced by the 80/90’s bands, Pantera and Metallica are the main influences for us. But bands like Slipknot, Machine Head, Mastodon, Tool, Deftones or even Guns N’Roses are influences in our music.

Your brand new CD titled The Astonishing Fury Of Mankind was released on June 9th, 2009. Now that it is complete, how do you feel about it? Are you satisfied with the outcome?
Cris: We are very proud of our album; we worked on it for almost a year. This record is the result of all the bands work; we have waited for so long. You feel very accomplished when you hold your album in your hands. At least it is not an abstract thing! You have a concrete object of the work done by all the professionals who worked on it.

What was the writing process like for this CD? Did you guys all write together? How long did it take?
Cris: We worked together, we’re a band, not individuals, our record is the work of the entire band, some members bring some riffs and together we change them or arrange them to be as perfect as they can. We are all on stage playing this music so we all have to feel it and be a part of it. So when we finished recording our EP we decided to start a real album, more personal and more mature. Since we began to write the first song until we finished the mastering almost one year passed. We have worked everyday for months to write songs. After that, we had to record it and send it to be mixed and mastered. But now we’re excited about the release because we’re very proud of our album.

How quick are you in the studio? Can you usually knock things out in a couple takes?
Cris: Drums and bass were very quick, it was two days for each instrument. Guitars took six days, and the vocals took a lot of time… like months. We wanted to have the best vocals that we could on it. We all worked hard on this album.

Producers more often than not have their hands in the shaping and or creating of the final product. For this CD you worked with a number of different producers. How did that come about? Did you find it difficult working with numerous people at the helm?
Cris: We wanted the best ones for each instruments. This album needed a big production. It came very naturally. We had friends who were professionals and very talented in certain instruments, so when we talked with them about the record they were very exited to work on it. It wasn’t difficult to work with numerous people because all of the recordings sessions were planned months before.

Playing such visceral music in a recording studio is vastly different from at a chaotic live show. Did you find it difficult capturing the aggression and brutality of that is usually associated with your live show? How was it accomplished?
Cris: Just being natural! We are what we have played on this record and what we will play at a live show. Musicians make the riff aggressive or soft. When we were in the studio we all play with the same energy that we have on stage. The album has to be representative of the band; we had to record it with brutality and aggression.

The songs on your new record are not exactly what you would find on your typical hard music album. You combine a wide range of musical sounds and abilities. Do you think this is due in part to your varied influences and/or a desire to explore new realms of music?
Cris: Both, we all listen different bands in Darkness Dynamite, some listen bands like Mastodon or Tool, others, bands like Motley Crue and the Gun’s or bands like Machine Head Slipknot and Pantera. So listening bands like these gave us the desire to push the “Classic Metal” farther. We wanted to do metal music and to incorporate in it many different things to make it more “complete.”

What is the toughest lesson you ever learned in the studio and on the stage?
Cris: In the studio nothing, because we were ready for it, we worked for months, we did not have any problems. On stage we’ve learned that we couldn’t sleep until five minutes before the show!

What does the future hold for you guys as a band?
Cris: For now a lot of tours, we want to play on the entire world. Some people do not know us yet, and we want to touch everybody with our music. We hope that we’ll have a lot of success and that we’ll sell more albums that I can ever imagine!  [ END ]