Blackened death metallers Sinsaenum have unleashed their new album Repulsion For Humanity in an intense blast of darkness and frantic riffery. The brainchild of Dragonforce's Frédéric Leclercq and former Slipknot sticksman Joey Jordison, Sinsaenum's second album takes inspiration from French horror, Napalm Death and creepy crawlies.
Here, Frédéric guides us through Repulsion For Humanity one track at a time.
Repulsion For Humanity
"I always knew this song would the first one on the album. The start of [previous album] Echoes Of The Tortured was enigmatic, and this one is straight in your face. It sets the mood for the rest of the album. I wrote the lyrics very easily, something was boiling in me, an anger that was fitting the music – or maybe the other way around? Joey loved the original demos but felt something was missing and so we both sat down and came up with the slow crunchy section after the second chorus. I love the different tempo/rhythm changes of the song."
Final Resolve
"Again, I knew this was gonna be song number two ha ha! I have strange visions like that, 'This song needs to go there,' and it's hard to change my mind after. This is one of the first songs I wrote for Repulsion For Humanity, and the one everyone (band and friends) picked on – so it was an obvious choice for a first single. It has a simple riff, groove, sing-along chorus, and I like the melodic aspect brought by the solo section. We kept most of the original lyrics but Joey and Sean (Zatorsky, vocals) took it from there and made things way better. Also we have (French industrial percussion band) Les Tambours du Bronx on the song to add to the tribal/rhythmical vibe."
Sworn To Hell
"This one has a sort of Army Of Chaos vibe, and it has more black metal elements than the first two songs – at least that's the way I see it. I really like the opening riff. The lyrics are inspired by Satanic rituals from a spell book I read. It has elements of what we had on Echoes Of The Tortured. I think this is my easiest solo on the album, it just felt that way."
I Stand Alone
"Joey recorded it on first take – we let it roll and it was great! Sean did an amazing job on this album, and it shows on this song, especially the chorus. I wanted to try something different with actual melody. This is actually one of my favourite track on Repulsion For Humanity. It covers all bases: it has elements of bands I love but I think they are all blended in perfectly. It's a fun exercise to analyse your music afterwards. For example, my first solo reminds me of Janick Gers' work on the Fear Of The Dark album. It takes me back in 1992. Expect a creepy lyric video soon!"
Rise Of The Lightbearer
"Maybe the first song I wrote for the album. It has an old school death metal vibe, with Satanic lyrics and a lot of different riffs. Maybe it doesn't sound like it, but it has a lot of intricate riffs – I would compare this song to Final Curse from our first album. This song could have been on our first album, easily. I did all the solos because all the ones I had on the demo versions felt right."
Manifestation Of Ignorance
"I had one of the rhythm guitars slightly out of tune to reinforce the feeling of uneasiness I wanted to have on the song. It's slow, evil, with lots of noises and bells in the background. Attila was able to sing on a few songs and to me it made sense to have him on this song – it fits perfectly. The second part of the song is full of intricate riffs/melodies-inspired by Napalm Death and (Norwegian avant-garde metal band) Ved Buens Ende, if you wanna know everything ha ha!"
Scared Martyr
"Most of the riffs were written by (bassist) Heimoth. It has a death 'n' roll vibe for the first half, which is something we didn't experiment with on the first album at all. Lauren Hart sings the choruses and second verse. She has an amazing voice –Dragonforce and Once Human toured together in the US last year. The lyrics are inspired by the french horror movie Martyrs, to reach the apogee of suffering and see what's on the other side."
My Swan Song
"The last song I wrote for for the album, late November to be precise. I felt that the album needed a cold, kinda Darkthrone, repetitive riff song. I recorded a quick demo and sent it to the guys wondering if I should carry on or if we should concentrate on what we already had. They all loved the vibe so here it is! I think this song is going to be killer live, I want to finish the shows with it. Swan song, the end, fuck you, good night."
Nuit Noire
"This was to me the obvious choice for a second video, to really show the other end of the spectrum People sometimes think that first song out equals what the entire album sounds like, but not with us. This one is intricate, violent, intense. The lyrics are based on a french horror book of the same title. I didn't feel the need to translate it in English, but Joey and Sean wrote some of the lyrics as well so it's there take on the story through my vague explanations, to make something more unique."
Insects
"A song written by Stephane (Buriez, guitarist) mostly. I like the brutal, no compromise vibe of it, and the middle section takes you straight into a haunted swamp. Stephane is doing all the solos here. Heimoth started the lyrics with a metaphorical approach, whereas I really wanted to write about insects, so I ended up reading about arthropod, chitinous legs. Who said death metal isn't cultural ha ha!"
Forsaken
"I've always loved long epic metal songs. There were no rules for Repulsion For Humanity so we experimented and went in any direction we wanted. I had the demo version with MIDI brass section on the chorus, and we thought it would be great to have the entire song with orchestration, so we contacted our friend Pierre Le Pape from Melted Space to work on this. For the intro I did something inspired by Goblin/Suspiria. I wrote the lyrics with a little help from Attila. And then there is the long solo at the end, it's like a last middle finger, like 'The entire album has been vile, violent and evil, so you think you can put us in that box now? Fuck you, here is a long, melodic solo!' This could have been on Might As Well Be On Mars or Dangerous Tonight from Alice Cooper. I love the way it ends the album and kinda opens up to more possibilities."
Sinsaenum's new album Repulsion For Humanity is out now and available to buy from Amazon or from HMV.
