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-- Dyscordia gets shredded --

02/07/2016
Stijn Daneels
The release party of Dyscordia’s Words in Ruin in De Kreun in Kortrijk was one event I’ve been waiting for weeks. Two months ago, HardLife Promotion gave me a promo copy of their brand-new album and I had a ton of fun reviewing it! So of course, an interview with the band couldn’t be left out!

And I was lucky too! I had the chance to interview the entire band! Yup, full house, baby! So what did we talk about? Obviously some generic topics like their latest album and their upcoming gig. But me wouldn’t be me if we didn’t talk about some other stuff like Playstation, the band’s inclusion on this year’s Zwaarste Lijst and Stefan’s self-brewed beer! WOOHOO!
BMS: Hello folks from Dyscordia! Since it’s Friday night, I’ll start things off with a friendly question. How was your week?

Wouter N: It was a pretty good week, actually. We rehearsed a lot and went to our jobs like all other regular folks do.
Martijn: It was a very busy week.
BMS: Me too, I had a lot of work to do at my workplace this week, but I finally got my July holiday request approved (meaning I can go the Ardennes) and now I’ve got an awesome concert and the weekend to make me ready for another 5 day gauntlet of hard work.



Dyscordia from left to right: Wouter Debonnet (drums), Martijn Debonnet (guitar & backing vocals), Guy Commeene (lead guitar), Piet Overstijns (lead vocals), Wouter Nottebaert (bass & backing vocals), Stefan Segers (guitar & grunts).
BMS: Now, I’m going for a question that you’ve already had to answer a billion times today. Tell me about the production of Words In Ruin.
Wouter D: Back in 2013 we released Twin Symbiosis, the predecessor to Words In Ruin. We did a lot of shows to promote the album and we gradually began production for WIR. Overall, the writing process went very naturally, we decided to further expand on the elements from TS and took our time to write the instrumental parts for the WIR songs. And eventually Piet added his lyrics to the mix and then it was recording time!
BMS: Piet, where do you get your inspiration for your lyrics?
Piet: Hold on, I’ll get a bit closer towards you.
BMS Yeah, that damn table is getting in our way!
Piet: Ok, that’s better. Well, what my songwriting is concerned, I don’t discuss my personal life in my songs. I simply get inspiration from stories I hear in the media and what I hear from friends and relatives. I write about everything that is happening in our world and society. I also get some ideas from poetry and pop culture. In other words, I mix fiction with reality.

Piet: Our previous album, Twin Symbiosis, was a concept album. But for Words In Ruin, I didn’t have to limit my topic-list so I could just write about whatever I wanted to. But I did want to keep a certain connection between the songs in Words In Ruin.
BMS: And what is that particular connection?
Piet: I deliberately kept the themes in Words In Ruin ambiguous. So you can decide for yourself what that “connection” is.
BMS: That’s a smart answer, Piet!

Me talking to Dyscordia.
BMS: So, now that Words In Ruin is cut and printed, what is your next big goal?
Stefan: Producing another album of course!
Martijn: We never want to play in support for Thurisaz again…
BMS: Oh, why not?
Martijn: Because they are sitting there grubbing away at all our food!
BMS (I turn around to talk to the Thurisaz gang) That’s what he said, folks!
Guys from Thurisaz:…
Wouter D: We were joking of course!
BMS: Damn, and I was looking for a food fight!
Wouter D: We played during Thurisaz’s release party and now they’re here to return the favor! We’re very glad to have them on board and we’ll certainly be playing with them again in the future.
Stefan: We want to present our band and new album to as many people as possible. We also hope to do a few gigs outside of Belgium for that same reason.
BMS: Well, Words in Ruin was my first encounter with Dyscordia. I already saw your name appear on some festivals in the past and I heard that you guys were finishing a new album. I couldn’t wait to hear it and I’m glad I’ve reviewed it!
BMS: A band with three guitarists is rather rare in the metal scene. Has Dyscordia always been like this or did you used to only have two guitarists?
Wouter D: Dyscordia has had three guitarists from the get-go. Some of our guys played in bands wherein there were two guitarists and a keyboardist but we decided to try our hand at forming a band with three guitarists. Our songs are written specifically for triple guitar play.
Martijn: It also gave us the opportunity to mix heavy rhythms with more harmonic parts and the chance for two guitarists to do some back-and-forth guitar riffing. Double solos, triple solos, you name it, we can do it!
Stefan: Oh well, except for making me sing high-pitched vocals! I suck at it, so I stick to the grunts, which I can do better, I guess…
Piet: Leave the clean vocals to me, Stefan. That’s all for the better. ;)
BMS: I wonder, is it easy for the six of you to come to a mutual creative agreement?
Wouter N: Although we all have our favorite bands and subgenres, we share much creative common ground.
Wouter D: It’s very fun to see all those musical influences come together to form Dyscordia’s sound.
Wouter N: Yeah, but it also means that a lot of material gets rejected in the process. We only want to perform and record songs that all six of us are completely satisfied with. Especially since we’ve got some big egos within the band. Like our drummer, who is more or less our quality controller!
Wouter D: Yup! And sometimes I need to use my best dictatorship skills to make sure things get done my way or the high… No, only my way! (laughs)
BMS: As long as you guys get along!
Wouter N: Oh, we certainly do. And if Wouter is happy with the song, than we’ve got ourselves 100% Dyscordia approved material! Although he doesn’t do any songwriting himself! (everyone laughs)
BMS: I myself do both writing and quality control. On day 1, I do the writing, and on day 2, I do the quality control. And like you, I never show content to the public unless I’m 110% satisfied with it.
BMS: What are your other activities aside from Dyscordia?
Wouter N: I do courses at the ACV trade union.
BMS: And how about you Guy? You’ve kept yourself pretty quiet and peaceful up till now.
Guy: I do art design. I’m responsible for all of Dyscordia’s artwork including Words In Ruin’s.


Guy’s artwork for Words In Ruin. Nice work! :)
BMS: And you, Piet? What are your other activities?
Piet: Aside from my blue-collar job, I’m a single father, taking care of 22 year old son. I also enjoy doing some manual labor around the house and watching some TV. Just like every regular family man does.
Wouter D: I’m an IT guy. So I provide technical support for Dyscordia. I also enjoy driving around the country with my motorcycle.
Martijn: I haven’t got much more things in life other than dedicating my time to my job and my music.
Stefan: Aside from my full-time job, I organize events like Headbanger’s Balls Fest. I also brew my own beer. It’s a blonde beer with about 6% alcohol volume.
BMS: Hmm, I’d love to have a taste of that.
Stefan: I’m also interested in brewing my own whiskey!
BMS: AH, now we’re talking! :p
Wouter D: Yeah, but first, it has to get past quality control, and I’m going to be very strict!
Wouter N: Not to mention the whiskey will need a couple of years to mature.
BMS: Then you can sell the whiskey alongside the next Dyscordia album! YEAH!
Stefan: I also love playing Playstation in the weekends or late at night, when I can’t practice guitar anymore because otherwise the neighbors would be complaining about the sound!
BMS: I see, I prefer playing series like God of War and Uncharted.
Stefan: My preference goes to Call of Duty.
BMS: What have been your best memories with Dyscordia thus far?
Martijn: Our performance at GMM 2014 has been a major achievement for Dyscordia. It was the first time we played at such a big festival!
Wouter D: The moment when we get our hands on a fully finished album is just priceless. Then we listen to it and all the memories of us working our asses off to get this done come back. And then we know that all the hard work, endless discussions, recordings, re-recordings, polishes… have finally paid off!
Wouter N: We also look forward to playing here tonight. According to the ticket sales, we can expect about 500 people, which is phenomenal!
BMS: Yeah, a virtually sold-out show right here at your hometown. Do you feel nervous?
Martijn: Not really, just the usual adrenaline rush and desire to play one hell of a show!
Piet: One memorable thing we certainly must mention is the bus trips we’ve made with our fans! Some fans of ours have founded the Dyscordia Army Fanbase, a Facebook group that now consists of about 600 people! They arrange bus trips for us and the fans, they travel with us to our gigs, together we discover the local scenery and we all have a great time doing it!
BMS: One dream of mine is to spend a week or two on the road with a Belgian metal band. Spending time with them both during and in between concerts and then write about my experiences in some sort of diary.
BMS: I don’t expect things have always been plain sailing, so would you mind tell some less pleasant experiences with Dyscordia?
Wouter N: Quite frankly, there have been little misfortunes during our career in Dyscordia. There’s the occasional creative argument, but overall, things have already turned out very well for Dyscordia!
BMS: I was pleasantly surprised when I heard your song Chthonic Star was included on Studio Brussel’s Zwaarste Lijst. How did you learn about your inclusion?
Stefan: Well, one day I received a text message from an unknown phone number saying “congratulations!” I first thought it were birthday wishes meant for someone else, but moments later I received another message from that same phone number with the full message saying that we were included on this year’s Zwaarste Lijst!

Stefan: We were extremely happy with the news! It seemed a lot of people had voted for us!
BMS: I’ll be frank to you. I didn’t vote for you… (sweating)
Stefan: The interview is over!
BMS: D’OH! And we’ve still got a few minutes to spare…
Stefan: Ha, I was joking, you can sit down again. And close the door, will you?
BMS: Ok. Well, my votes went to Ostrogoth (for giving me my very first interview), the Evil Invaders (because of their hospitality during the interview I did with them) and Diablo Blvd. (because my very first autographed album was a Diablo Blvd. album). But next year, I’ll be voting for you, I promise…
Stefan: Ok, but you better keep it. Otherwise, no more autographs for you! (laughs)
Wouter D: I was happy to see so many Belgian metal bands on this year’s Zwaarste Lijst. We’ve had 6 bands (ours included) on the list for a total of 8 songs!
BMS: Yes, and we’ve already had Channel Zero’s Black Fuel at number 1 a couple of times! Not this year, unfortunately, but the fact we’ve got six of our boys on the list has brought a big smile to my face!
BMS: I’ve asked you everything I wanted to. Do you guys have anything else to tell me?
Wouter N: I hope you and the other folks in the audience will be having a good time tonight. We’re ready for action!
Guy: We feel that the tale of Dyscordia has only just begun. We hope to experience a lot more unforgettable moments on stage, with our fans and as musicians.
Piet: We’re very happy with all the positive feedback we’ve received for Words In Ruin as well as our previous work. But we remain down-to-earth and we know that not everybody is going to dig our style as much as the other guy. We create music we want to create and that’s it. Plain and simple!

Wouter D: Thank you very much for the interview!
Martijn: Don’t forget to check Fields of Troy and Thurisaz as well. We’ve selected them ourselves for tonight’s supporting acts and they’re hungry to perform in front of you all!
Stefan: We’ll be offering free beers at 21:45h!
BMS: Damn, I still got to drive tonight, so I’ll be staying clean. That way I can enjoy the concert even more. See you all downstairs at the stage!
Dyscordia - Chthonic Star