Fear not Aborted!

When it comes to death metal musicians, most of us tend to think it is all about destructive, frustrated and sociopatic behaviours. Well, Sven Caluwe of Aborted proved this prejudices wrong by offering us a lesson of hard work, seriousness and tenacity. The main reasons for which the Belgian band grew up so fast and so well. Enjoy it!

Metalfan: Hello and welcome. Thinking about how you began, what were your hopes and expectations towards Aborted?

Fairly common like any other band I presume when you start playing music, get some shows and hopefully record an album, when you are a driven and motivated musician goals obviously change as you reach them step by step.

Metalfan: Thinking about where you stand now, do you believe you managed to do what you intended to?

As to the really original expectations I would definately say yes ‘cause we released more than one album haha! We never expected to become a major player like Cannibal corpse or something, just do our thing, and things are keeping on evolving and the band has grown a lot over the years thanks to lots of investment and hard work. We are proud of what he have accomplished so
far and the journey is far from being over.

Metalfan: Why did you choose a moniker like Aborted? Due to this fact, your concept, your lyrics and some of your strange melodies, some people cannot stop comparing you to Carcass? How much of this is true and how much pure fantasy?

We chose the name because it’s catchy, easy to remember and you can give multiple meanings to the word. Some people can also not stop talking about the hot air that comes out of their ass as well hehe. Of course we have a Carcass influence, but there is much more to Aborted to just call us a
Carcass copy or clone or whatever, there are a lot of different influences in the music, for those who listen closely.

Metalfan: Is the comparison with a cult metal band meant to honour or to upset a young band? (I hope you don't mind me calling Aborted a young band)

I don't mind you calling us young, makes me feel pretty quite frankly :-) I think comparisons are usually needed to tell people what something sounds like so they have an idea what to expect, we are not upset by it as long as it makes sense (not like some dude comparing us to shadows fall for
example, which is retarded and hilarious at the same time) and they are not saying
that we are a plain copy, which I think we are not. References are never a bad
thing as long as it makes sense, you know.

Metalfan: When first listening to one of your disks, the thing that instantly struck me was the subtlety and complexity of the songs.
Is it hard to reach such peaks of technicality, taking into account that your music is very brutal too?

I think the music we write comes to us quite naturally, we don't really write songs to be ‘omg check out how tech & complex this is’. It's more about writing good songs in the first place, if it's technical, complex or mansexual only is secondary to this band. We like it brutal and varied,
pure out blasting is simply not fun for us and when you play fast all the time it
kind of loses its impact after a while.

Metalfan: Remaining in the technicality area, is it all premeditate or natural?

As said we never consciously write something 'technical' if you can even call it that, we just write the things we think are cool, so natural, obviously.

Metalfan: When playing live, what do you do if you forget a riff or an important part of a track? Improvise, get over it, get stuck in a moment you can't get out of?

We don't forget riffs and don't forget important parts of tracks; this is not acceptable, simple as that. We all work very hard and take this very seriously (while having a jolly good time as well of course), people come to your shows to see a good show, so you can't afford to mess things up for them in the first place, we don't want to disappoint the fans that came & paid to see us, that's the worst thing you can do.

Metalfan: Now could you please tell me something about your concepts and lyrics? Must the one who makes them have experience in the medical area or is it enough for him to have a strong imagination?

The record is somewhat slightly politically tinted this time around. It's more or less a warning against the uprise of extreme politics in music or in life in general. Some songs deal with religious extremism, global leaders and all that stuff, some are a bit more personal. However, everything is
nicely drenched in the Aborted gore-o-matic so it is still entertainment without preaching for most. For those who are looking a bit deeper into it, they will notice what we mean and can find some more meaning to the lyrics. That is, yet again, for those who want to take the time to look further than their nose is long hehe. You don't really need to have experience in the medical area
to get the point of what it's dealing with, it's not THAT hard really.

Metalfan: What is more important, music or lyrics? Please motivate your answer.

Both are important, it's just a part of a whole. Music, lyrics, vocals, production, artwork. Everything is an equally important part in an album; we think and we always strive to get everything well worked out so we have something we can look back to with pride.

Metalfan: Now let's talk a little about the Belgian metal scene. The only band that I can remember, besides yours, is Ancient Rites. Anything else worth mentioning?

There is Leng Tch'e (where I play drums), Axamenta, Unleash the Fury, Emeth and lots more bands. If you go to www.deathmetal.be you can find out a lot about the whole Belgian metal scene.

Metalfan: Century Media is one of the most important record labels. Was it hard for Aborted to get on their roster? Tell me about it.

They already released Goremageddon and The Archaic Abattoir in the US, so it went pretty natural to go with Century Media; they offered us a deal when they knew our contract with Listenable was over. Since things were going good with the US office and we knew some people at the staff in Europe we were very relaxed & confident it would be a good choice. We're very happy
to be on CM and it’s a pleasure to work with them.

Metalfan: I saw on your website that you are very active when it comes to live performances. Would you rather play indoors or at festivals outdoors? Related to that, where do you feel more comfortable, in studio or in front of the people?

Live and studio are totally different things and we like both really. In studio you're happy (usually) when you are done and to have the result of hard work in your hands, live you feed off the energy of the crowd. It doesn't really matter if it's indoors of a big festival, as long as the
energy and the vibe with the crowd is good, it’s all that counts for us. It's all about having a good time & giving100% in everything you do.

Metalfan: What is the metal/rock band you are most grateful to and what do you think it is the metal/rock band with the biggest influence ever?

That's a hard one... I think probably Slayer & Metallica are some of the most influential bands ever when it comes to metal globally. For us personally that would be Carcass, Entombed, Suffocation and bands like that.

Metalfan: What is the reason for which metal bands don't sell hundreds of thousands of albums? Do you manage to make a living out of music or do you have to keep your regular jobs?

We obviously don't make a living out of music & still have regular jobs; it's extreme metal which makes it even harder you know, there is a limited crowd and all that but we don't care, we do this for pleasure & the biggest reward is the nice people you meet on the road. One of the reasons
album sales went down is obviously burning CD's & downloading, but I'm not going into that discussion anymore. There is also the fact that there are so many bands out there nowadays, no one can afford to buy everything, especially if albums are expensive.

Metalfan: Related to jobs, could you please tell me what do all of the bands members for a living or for multiple livings? Any of you a surgeon?

Hehe, I worked at the veterinary hospital for a while here, but I'm a fulltime graphic designer for Listenable Records and some more people freelance. Peter is still a student in psychology, Seb is a sound engineer, Dan works at a music store (instruments) and studies sound engineering, Sven J.
is still studying at a conservatory in Rotterdam.

Metalfan: By the way, how about Aborted's future plans?

Touring as much as possible & promoting the new album as much as we can, so see you out on the road! We already started working on new material as well.

Metalfan: Thanks a lot for your time. Can we try a little quiz before we say goodbye? I knew we would. Here we go:

a) Brutal death metal or melodic death metal? A little bit of both to keep it interesting
b) Heart or liver? Heart
c) Scissors or scalpel? Scalpel
d) Cannibal Corpse or Carcass? Carcass
e) Anderlecht Bruxelles or FC Bruges? Soccer is for homos
f) Belgian beer or French wine? Belgian beer, without a doubt