I will only mention some facts that are not answered in the following questions:

It is an 12 track album (incl. some surprises) with a total running time of about 50 minutes. It will also be published as a special edition with a bonus DVD that contains a real funny studio report, 7 live tracks and backstage material. Again we worked with some guest musicians like Azathoth (Ex Dark Fortress), Leif Jensen (Dew Scented) or Cédé Dupont (Symphorce, Ex Freedom call). The cover artwork is by Niklas Sundin from Dark Tranquility.
 

The recording process lasted much longer than planned. Eike (vocals, guitar), who was again responsible for the production, moved with his studio and we were the first band really recording in it. It turned out that the studio had sound isolation problems when we started recording the drums beginning of November 2006 and neighbors did complain about the noise. Solving the sound isolation problems lasted over four weeks. So we were not able to finish the recordings before the studio was entered by other bands that booked it. The only thing we could do was to always record a little bit whenever the studio was not occupied for a few days. The final mix and master was not finished before October 2007 but the "net recording time" was perhaps not longer than 7 weeks.

In General the basic song structure is definite before we start recording. We only make experiments with the vocals and some solo parts in the studio. This time we really wanted to bring this procedure to perfection and we worked as long on the songs as required for having songs that also sound good completely without vocals. Our typical songwriting process is that the guitarists come up with some riffs and we try to arrange those to songs together in the rehearsal room. After the song and drum arrangements we start adding keyboards. This time we also tried out other procedures. E.g. some demos were arranged directly in the studio by Eike and Jörn (e.g. "Exit wounds") or completely written by one person (like "The Dying Art Of Recreation" by Jörn) and I came up with my drumming ideas on that.

Eike’s lyrics are always taken from real life and mostly deal with negative emotions and may have political (not obvious), emotional or personal backgrounds. E.g. the idea about the title "minus exitus" is a double negation: Minus times minus is plus and minus death (exitus) means life. This describes the fact that the negative themes in our lyrics help us to deal with our aggressions and other negative emotions. It’s like a therapy. But there are of course also other possible interpretations. For me vocals are an additional instrument that with the help of the power of words can enforce the atmosphere of a songs. But these words may fit to many interpretations just like different feelings that a melody may invoke in different listeners.

This is hard to say because I think that each single song on the album has it’s own great atmosphere and if I’m listening to the album I hear it from beginning to end – then it’s like a trip through different emotions. If I have to decide for one song I would say "Exit wounds" because we never did a song like that before and I really like all the different rhythm and melodic themes.

If you consider our five albums from 1999 to now you will remark a evolution in our music. Every album sounds different. But I think in the last 5/6 years we found our own style. This does not mean that "Minus Exitus" sounds like the previous album but you will surely find typical trademarks. With the years we also found out which songs work best live on stage and this also influences our songwriting nowadays. For me "Minus Exitus" is the next logical step forward. Especially Eike’s clean voice developed to an unique element of our sound. The song structures are a little bit more varied than on the last album but at the same time each song has a clear focus.

In fact we want to play all songs live. Of course we can’t perform all songs in each show due to limited time and songs from the other albums. On our release party (1^st March in Hamburg) we will play the following seven songs: "Minus Exitus", "Black September", "Outside The Inside", "The Dying Art Of Recreation", "Exit Wounds", "Seven" and "Cold" because these are the first ones we can play together. But we will also rehearse the missing ones.

Yet, we don’t have a real video clip for a song. But we are working on it at the moment and in the mean time you can enjoy the bonus DVD ;-)

As I already said, it’s hard for me to pick out one song. And I also already mentioned some songs in the song writing question above. I think what the album really makes special is that it is not an album with 1 hit an 9 fillers. Each songs is worth to listen to and I’m sure each listener will have her/his own favorite.

Yes, we plan a European and a Japanese tour. But nothing is concrete yet. We also hope to play some bigger festivals. Our shows in France were always very special thanks to the great audience. I do not want to say too much because it is not definite yet but we plan a little tour in France in May.

This is again a good but hard to answer question. When I consider our 13 year history everything complied so that we are where we are now: Still a small band but with enough fans and success to keep the fire alive and hoping to go the next step. Some mile stones are: becoming acquainted with Sabina Classen and Schroedey (our first producer), signing with Remedy Records, selling records, getting good reviews, playing in Wacken, recording with Andy Classen, going on a European Tour, etc. I think what really makes us special is that we are still a band of friends knowing each other since years or even decades (we started the band as young pupils). This also counts for new bassist Alex.

Hey listeners of "Metal Choc Radio Show". Please check out our new album "Minus Exitus" and give it some repeats to get the hooks! And of course come to our shows if we play in your region. If you do not have the opportunity you can see us playing live on our DVD. We also have a new website online: www.dark-age.eu