Jef Wouters
Rebel's End
Hello Lior, thanks a lot for having us !!! I'm very honored to be talking to you and Metal temple online. I have been doing fine and was able to stay healthy during these trying times.
We were indeed very happy with Pure Steel Records considering us to join their roster of kickass bands. They have been focusing more to old school, that's true. But during the conversations, they made us clear that they were widening their scope for the future. Also they expressed that Rebel's End was "hard and metal" enough for them. So that made us feel we wouldn't be the ugly duck in the row, so to speak.
So far the reactions have been great. Fans really seem to dig the new songs. We are eager to see how the live reactions will be as the first shows are close by now. We have been amazed with the reviews as well. With the aid of Pure Steel we see that our album is heard more and that really shows. We've had far more reviews than our first self-released album. I don't want to jinx it, but so far all the reviews were excellent.
This line was taken from the song "Death and Destruction". A song which deals with religion, fanaticism and atheism. "I'd rather sing to the devil than kneel for the lord. Don't bother bring your bible we feast and rejoice." Or more to the point. Stop all this seriousness and live a little. Enjoy life and embrace other and different ideas.
Once the title was chosen, we were aiming for some artwork that would match. We have a background in the heavier genres such as hardcore and black metal. We like to draw influence from those genres and play around a bit. Also the lyrics deal with darker stuff such as old horror movies and occult themes.
All the songs were written before the virus broke out, so no real relation there. You could say that having a finished album on the shelf during the pandemic kept us focused and driven to really take our time. We were able to search for a record label and do promo step by step.
Well thank you, nice to hear we bring some attitude with our music. Something we don't do intentionally, I think. If you would catch us in daily life, you'll see that we goof around a lot and are down to earth kind of guys.
Mainly because we like to rock, and rock hard. Sounds simple but we love to deliver a head-butt and sing about the darker stuff. We also grew tired singing about parties and girls.
I think we came together more as a band since the debut album, where we maybe were testing the water a bit. With our 2nd album we found our place and sound combining hard rock sleaze punk and metal elements without forcing the recipe.
We were already covering Motörhead song "Overkill" in our set when we were puzzling the new songs together. That made me think that it would be cool to have an original song matching that speed and attitude. It only needed one rehearsal to write the song Outlaw. Mostly what comes easy and naturally, is a good thing. Such was the case as well for Outlaw.
Rebel's End aims for the throat while giving a knee to the groin. Don't expect drum or extensive guitar solos from us. We come to trash your party and leave before the dust settles. We like bring songs that are to the point, with big hooks and catchy choruses supported by larger than life drums.
We have a way of working with ideas and new material. Stijn likes the "no bullshit" approach and just play his idea on rehearsal. Rutger and me like to record a small demo to showcase how we hear the song in our heads. Sometimes it's nearly done with licks, vocals and drums. We go from there to make it our own and add ideas and extra flavor.
It helped us to have an album on the ready whenever the light went from red to green. We had something to look out for, and right now I'm pleased that we did not make the mistake of releasing the album mid corona crisis. The danger that it would die a silent death was pretty big I think.
We do love our gang vocals in the back . I think it really helps to bring a powerful chorus and it's a recipe we love to use. Live is this also a big help for me when the guys give their everything while I take a breather.
Black Crow has a link with the hidden track "Chernyy Voron" at the end of the album. It's an instrumental cover of a Russian folklore song. The original track has lyrics which tell the tale of a dying soldier on a battlefield. He sees a black crow and asks the crow not to feast on his flesh. Instead he convinces the bird to fly to his loved one and speak of his departure. There is where "Black Crow" comes in. The lyrics are our interpretation of that story. Musically the song was formed around the first riff.
Death & Destruction is a song for which we have to give credit to our bass player Stijn. He came up with this one and it soon became one of those songs that are easy and so fun to play. Stijn and myself have a healthy history with punk. Both from playing in a Punk band and going to countless shows. Guilty as charged. We hope to draw more on this in the future.
From the ashes was actually the first song we had after "Seeing red Seeing dead". The opening riff I had for a while back then. We worked our way through the song as a band and were able to move a bit more toward a punky vibe in the bridge and solo. A favorite of ours for sure. It's a song about never giving up whatever life throws at you. No matter what, you will always rise again when misfortune hits you.
We sure do hope to play a lot of shows and bring this new album to the stage. Hopefully we might see each other there. Who knows ?
Thank you for this interview Lior. All the best and more
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