ATROCITY Drummer Answers Questions About Upcoming 'Okkult' Album Trilogy

Joris Nijenhuis of long-running German metallers ATROCITY recently answered a few questions about the band's new album trilogy, "Okkult".

The orchestral parts for the first CD were recorded in September by the Lingua Mortis Orchestra under the direction of Victor Smolski (RAGE) in Minsk, Belarus for a tentative spring release.

Q: How was it to record the new songs of ATROCITY?

Joris: "It's very cool that I could finally play on a new ATROCITY album. I joined the band in December 2011 and the drum recording sessions took place in the summer time for the new 'Okkult' album, so that's pretty quick. I'm especially looking forward to play these songs live, so I can perform the songs on stage which I play on the 'Okkult' album myself."

Q: How was your stay at Mastersound Entertainment Studio? How did you like the the studio and to work with Alex [Krull, ATROCITY vocalist and Mastersound owner] and the guys over there?

Joris: "The Mastersound studio is a very nice place to stay. The location is amazing and if you want to eat schnitzels, the XXL Schnitzel Steinheimer Schützengilde is pretty close to the studio. We usually start every morning with coffee and pretzels. After that, I start warming up and then we start recording, sometimes 'till late in the evening. Working with Alex, Sander and Tosso is always very relaxed. I'm usually my own worst enemy with recording, I'm almost never satisfied with a take; there are always a few small things I'm not happy about. So sometimes it's hard but I'm quite happy with the final results."

Q: What can the fans expect from the new material?

Joris: "The new material is more brutal and darker than the last few ATROCITY albums. I would compare it to the old ATROCITY classics of the '90s or 'Atlantis', but then better and more diverse. You can expect brutal drums and vocals, great riffs, very cool guitar soli and big bombastic orchestral parts with horror-like atmosphere."

Q: What are your favorite songs?

Joris: "'Masaya (Boca Del Infierno)' is one the most brutal songs on the album. It's a death metal song with lots of double bass, bombblasting, fast fills, and in the middle a really cool groovy part. 'Pandæmonium' is ATROCITY's new masterpiece, a very epic song with some really brutal blastbeats and huge sounding orchestra parts. This is probably gonna be a new favorite ATROCITY song for a lot of people, especially for fans of 'Reich of Phenomena' and 'Apocalypse'!! My third favorite song is 'Murder Blood Assassination'. Also a very diverse song which is really cool to play. Drumming-wise, this song has got everything you need in a metal song, double bass, blastbeats and really cool fills. I'm looking forward to play this one live."