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Sweden, a place chartered for its scenic landscape to vibrant culture, but what most tourists don't experience is its varied musical diversity which shines in the inner most depths of that country's metal music scene. Groups such as Bathory, Emtombed, Candlemass to ArchEnemy there raises an act born out of that unique Swedish blend pushing the sounds to another plane welcoming newcomers DEVIAN. Vocalist Legion, an individual of fascinating intelligence explains the making into Ninewinged Serpent to other interesting facts bestowing a lively conversational piece.

Jussi: So how are things going with the DEVIAN bunch?
Legion:
Things are going very well thank you! Lots of things happening and we are fusing as a group on all levels, it feels like the snowball is starting to roll, and we intend to push it into an avalanche.

Jussi: How is Century Media treating you guys since you are a new band amongst many others in their ranks?
Legion:
Very cool. That was the first thing that they pin-pointed that being on the label we should never feel like we need to step aside when we need their attention being a non-established act, and that’s been a fact ever after. We are humbled to be the first demo band they’ve picked up in forever, it’s a great start for us and we are gonna make our partners proud.

Jussi: Read plenty of good things about the group. Heard there is also a new street team that was established for the band called "Kult Of The Serpent". When did this come about and what are you looking in future potential team members?
Legion:
Cool to hear. Yes we figured a street team would be a good way of reaching out there since there is no way mainstream TV or radio would touch a rowdy pack like us, and I mean that’s really the way it should be, we play fucking metal we’re not Kanye West. We seek any individual who are interested in pushing DEVIAN into the spotlight of the scene, be it that you are crafty with design and artwork, like to spread the word over the internet or just get a kick out of taping up a lot of DEVIAN stickers to make the world look nicer hahaha!!! Anybody who likes the band and want to support are welcome. www.myspace.com/kultoftheserpent

Jussi: Back to the album, Ninewinged Serpent is charting the internet waves with a force to be reckoned with. Do you feel that this release offers something that most bands of today lack as far as sound and overall appeal?
Legion:
Yes the response has been great and I couldn’t be happier. We spent a lot of time and hard work on this one and even if the way the work was proceeding made me confident I did a lot of looking into the mirror wondering what people really would say since I didn’t wanna fall back on the musical headspace I had during my Marduk years. What I think is the strength of the album is how a lot of different influences from a vast sonic landscape came together so beautifully. There are a lot of dynamics and blends that makes the music take you places before the song is finished, it’s defiant and multifaceted. I’m a fan of a lot that is going on in the scene today but I think that we are on a good way of carving out a niche for ourselves instead of trying already worn out footsteps.

Jussi: The meaning behind the name DEVIAN?
Legion:
The characteristic Devious embodied. We thought it was a good name for the music and the overall concept.

Jussi: One of the things that sets the group apart from other bands out there in the metal scene?
Legion:
Probably the attitude that there are no ideas to be rejected as long as we can make it come together as great music in the end, we don’t want to dwell in a songwriting prison just because it’s not true to a narrow concept enough but develop and take this as far as possible.

Jussi: Lyrical content for this album is deep, example track Dressed In Blood can you please explain more to this song?
Legion:
The title has a double meaning in the sense that if you have to completely demolish an adversary to get past him he’s gonna look really messed up afterwards haha, plus the fact that if you are up for the challenge to move a mountain there is no way you are gonna come out unharmed on the other side even if you make it. Like a good friend of mine who is a Kempo black belt and has traveled to all kinds of places in the world to learn from fighting experts, he said that the best thing to do if you ever get involved in a fight with knives is to cut your forearms a couple of times first otherwise you’ll get into shock at the first stab, and in such a fight you’re always going to get stabbed. The lyric is symbolical and it’s about self perseverance and the will to overcome instead of remaining in a place because you’re told to. Just because it’s written doesn’t make it so.

Jussi: Heard that the band is working on an upcoming video or at least in the process of one. What song is the interest for this project?
Legion:
Scarred. We are shooting it next weekend. We have found an old stinky creepy cabin out in the woods we are going to use and Mary Mayhem from the Nocturnal Models agency will add killer vibes to it. It’s gonna be a bit The Grudgey and cool looking as hell!

Jussi: Any video director you are interesting in getting to do this video?
Legion:
The guy is called Johan Bangers, he’s aspiring and we thought it would be really interesting to have him do it. You’ll all be available to see the results pretty soon.

Jussi: Is there something about DEVIAN that the general fans don't know about that you would care to share? Can be about anything…
Legion:
When we still was a demo band I had talked a little to CMR and they thought we were on to something and we wanted to show them more so we planned a new recording session for Dressed In Blood, Suffer The Fools and a track that remains unreleased called No Mercy For Adversaries. I was living in Germany at the time on the Stuttgart airport my bankcard gets eaten by the machine! I thought fuck me if this would stop me, we need to act now or it’s not going to happen. So I board and fly with an empty wallet to Stockholm where I spend my last money on a payphone since my cell phone is out of battery, call to the guys 400 km away just to find out that no one is answering, phone dies and I go what the hell now? So I hitchhike, from city to city till late at night I reach Jönköping, in Swedish February I walk to the rehearsal room finding them still working on perfecting the songs. Emil goes, fucking hell where have you been? You wanna smash something? And I was just hell no, I made it here, lets nail this now and show CMR that we can pull some weight, so we worked without anything near good sleep till we were done, recorded and we got signed. That’s been our working ethics ever after too and that is why I love this band, no whiners or softies.

Jussi: How long did it take to record the current material? Was there anything that came up that you wanted to do differently after hearing the final product? If so, what was it?
Legion:
We spent about three months in the studio recording and we’re really happy the way things turned out. As far as the recording goes we are content, I think we made the most of what we had to work with. As far as the song goes, no matter that I consider NWS to be a slab of quality Swedish Metal it’s such a relief to know that there is nothing on the album that we can’t do better on the next one, I would hate for the band to release it’s best work immediately and then just feeding of that and struggle to come up with something better and failing. Prepare for a greater Hell the next time!!!


Jussi: Why the title for the album Ninewinged Serpent, heard that this was the name for the band actually?
Legion:
That was the suggestion for a name we were gonna go for if no one else could come up with something else yeah. It was my idea but the others weren’t too fond of it, and no one could really agree on each others other suggestion either till we settled for DEVIAN. The Ninewinged Serpent is a character I love, mischievous, non-conformist and ambitious. We let him pose on the front cover, I’m sure his gonna rear his ugly head again in the future.

Jussi: What do you think is DEVIAN's most accomplished song(s) and why?
Legion:
I’d say on Scarred a lot of our influences is coming together really nice, it’s got a lot of memorable parts and the lyrics, which deals with betrayal, turned out really good. I love the title track because of its relentlessness, strong language and great riffs.

Jussi: Reading some reviews out there on DEVIAN, it seems that some writers classify the band sound somewhere between melodic black metal to death? Upon listening of your band material I would have to give it death metal with an extreme twist. As a band do you find it hard to describe yourselves musically?
Legion:
It’s a lot of different stuff in there yeah, I’ve been fascinated and addicted to music all of my life, as a baby I wouldn’t stop crying until my dad put on Vivaldi so there is a lot of stuff that is spilling out naturally when I write. I don’t put the greater emphasis on labeling things, we are definitely in the Metal field and that is good enough for me, the Swedish Metal scene has been my natural home since my teens. I’m a lover of vast music styles, and breeds of Metal, but I like hearing people’s opinions about what it is we are up to.

Jussi: Heard you guys are going to be on the Vader XXV Anniversary Tour 2008? When did this come about? Were you asked to be apart of this event?
Legion:
We have been looking for tours for a while now and got really turned on when the discussion with Massive Music came up. I’ve been playing with Vader on several occasions and it’s gonna be a good catching up. I love those guys.

Jussi: Besides a tour kicking off this year and other activities, any news to report about on DEVIAN?
Legion:
We are writing the second album, as of now we are five songs into the process, it’s sounding the same but different as David Lynch would have reviewed it hahaha. It feels more focused, we know where our strengths lay, its vicious loud and obnoxious Metal meant to be played live. We are going to show up on some festivals; also we are looking into different continents where we can raise hell before the NWS cycle is over. Keep your eyes peeled for more info, we intend to work so hard 2008 that you can’t ignore us even if you would want to hahaha!!!

Jussi: Nocturnal Hall.com would like to thank you for this interview and much success to DEVIAN. Additional thanks go out to Century Media.
Legion:
Thank you very much for the interview. Have a good one!

 

1/2008 © Jessie Gough • Devian