While chatting about with Tomas of Suicidal Seduction, he mentioned they had an upcoming gig with a Swedish band called Decadence. Since I'd never heard of 'em before I got a bit curious. So I checked them out and decided they deserved to be interviewed on here, hehe.
We did the interview by e-mail between the 20th and 27th of March.

Hey Kitty!
Let us just start things of by you introducing yourself and the rest of the band members, just so the readers have an idea of whom we�re talking about.
Hey Kristoffer,
Sure, I am Kitty the lead singer of the melodic Thrash influenced Death Metal band Decadence from Stockholm, Sweden. The rest of the line-up consists of lead guitarist Kenneth Lantz, bassist Joakim Antman and drummer Erik R�j�s. Decadence is a young band which was formed in 2003. Our music can be described as Thrash Metal with the heaviness of melodic Death Metal with no keyboards and aggressive growls.

About a week ago Decadence and your former guitarist Daniel went separate ways. How come? Your press release just says that things weren�t going in the right direction, but what does that really mean? Is it something that�s been on the way for a long time now, and you�ve seen signs, or what?
I am actually glad that you are asking about that since Decadence has had lots of problems in the past with line-up changes. However, there have been different reasons each time. With Daniel it really felt tough for the rest of us to make this decision. This has been something that has bothered us for some time yes, and for personal reasons I don�t want to comment deeply about it with respect to Daniel. But, as the press also says, there are no hard feelings and we wish all the best to him!

In what way have/will the departure of Daniel affect the band? Did he take an active part in the writing process, and that will negatively affect your development? How�ll you work it out on your future gigs, looking for a new rhythm guitarist?
The song writing part will not be a problem since Kenneth and I are the main song writers in Decadence. The most negative part about Daniel�s departure are the live performances. He was great on stage and will be missed. Decadence is currently working on new material so our development in that matter will not be delayed. Concerning a new rhythm guitarist, we are open for auditions but for now, we are not actively looking ourselves.

You�re still a fairly young band, starting in 2003. But you�ve managed to play with some really big names in the metal scene � Ragnarok, Centinex, Dismember, Kaamos, Godhate, Insision� So you�ve obviously grabbed the attention of club managers (one would think). But if I�ve not been misinformed You, Kitty, are managing and booking all of your gigs, and the band is also paying for some of it. Am I right? But this must cost you big bucks� Is it worth it promotional wise?
That is correct, I am booking and managing all shows for Decadence. Of the bands you mentioned above, some have been financed and to some we�ve been invited to play. We do whatever we can to stand on stage and do what we love the most, play live. But, then again there are lots of �behind the scenes� work like big promoting and hard work. In the sense of �big bucks� like you said, it sounds a bit exaggerated, as mentioned above it depends from show to show. Sometime we take care of the economy, and sometimes others do. You have to give to take as the old motto says!

And playing with such great bands must be awesome. Have you noticed a significant increase of interest in the band from fans and such �cause of your gigs?
Yes, playing live is the best thing a band can do. I consider it to be the best way to reach out to people and spread our music. Playing with such great bands has been an honor to all of us and we really appreciate all the great support we�ve gotten from both old and new fans.

You were also supposed to tour Sweden with Behemoth and Insision in 2005, right? But it was cancelled. How come? And I imagine that sucked some major arse�
Indeed it did. Well, the Behemoth tour was only in the planning stage back then. However, I was contacted by Godhate last year (2005) to bring up these plans again and actually make it happen, with Godhate as well. But, with everything done, Behemoth backed out. Sometimes it�s hard to work with really famous bands! ;-)

So do you plan to get a tour together by yourselves then? You�ve released two albums and done a number of gigs, but still no tours� Screw Behemoth and do it on your own, hehe :) You�ve only played twice over seas; maybe it�s time for a European tour when your new album comes out?
That doesn�t sound impossible actually. I look forwards planning a tour when our third album is released!

You�ve released one demo and two fullengths on your own. Is it a choice you�ve made to work without a label backing you up, or have you just not found the proper one? Have you had any offers? On your site it says that you�re looking for a label now, but maybe you haven�t in the past�
Our dream is to get signed but we don�t want it to be at any label just because we want a deal. Working independently has worked out fine for us so we will continue doing it until the deal we really want shows up. Currently we�re in contact with Roadrunner Records and Century Media Records who are reviewing our music. Let�s hope for the best!

I can�t say I know too much about this, I�ve just heard rumours upon rumours, but Roadrunner have a rumour going around about being a bit of rip-offs. I�m mainly thinking of the whole Deicide situation. And Arch Enemy have had some troubles with Century Media if I�m not mistaken� What are your thoughts about this?
I haven�t heard these rumors, do you mean rip-offs in the sense that the bands you�ve mentioned have �copied� songs? If that is the case then I can�t say it bothers me, what those bands do are their own faults and mistakes so just because a record label has these rumors it does not necessarily mean that all bands are rip-offs, anyone can agree on that part I think.

Well, no. The Roadrunner issue is mainly concerned about Deicide not getting paid properly (I think). And concerning Century Media I don�t really know, just that Arch Enemy�s guitarist Michael have trashed them a bit in interviews� As I said it�s all just rumours I�ve heard, and people have a tendency to be full of bullshit, so I can�t say for sure this is true.
Aha, okay I see. Well, I can't say if these are single occasions or not but since there are no facts involved it's maybe best not to speculate. All big companies like RR and CMR have issues to deal with so there will always be somekind of problems, but nothing that can't be handled.

How much effort have you put into promoting your releases? Just releasing it on your own is fairly expensive�
Our main promotion source is actually playing live. As mentioned on the press, we are a live band, playing as much and as often as possible. On the gigs we sell lots of our albums and they can also be ordered from our site. We are also working on giving them out to different distributors. Releasing an album on your own involves expenses, but if you don�t have a record label supporting you, you don�t really have much choice!

At the moment you�re working on your third fullength. Can we expect that one to be released on a label? And when will you be entering the studio?
Yes, our third full-length is being worked at right now. The plan for now is to release it independently since we are planning to have it finished early this fall (2006).

All this must cost (as I said earlier) big bucks � Recording, gigging, releasing, promoting� How can you, as an independent band, afford all this? Are you all pitching in with half your wages, or what?
As I said earlier, you have to give to take. We get most of our expenses back by selling albums and playing live. When it comes to recording we have a studio tech in the band, Kenneth Lantz. He helps us a lot with the studio work. Promoting is a part of gigging and selling albums and that, we obviously get back too. Personally I give my last penny to the band and I would give even more if I could.

Earlier we mentioned the loss of your guitarist Daniel. But it seems that you�ve had some problems, earlier, line-up wise. In 2003 your old drummer Peter Lindqvist left the band. In 2004 you got a new drummer (Patrik Fr�g�li), recorded a demo, and then both guitarists left. And later that year you found two replacements. And then in 2005 both new guys were kicked out, and your drummer Peter was replaced by Erik R�j�s.
And during all this you still managed to complete your two fullengths during �05� Now I might be a pessimist, but I�m not sure I would have had the energy to stick around after all this. How have you managed to keep the band together?
As I read that what you just wrote I get a headache because it has really been a shit-load of work in this band. Lots of members coming and going, lots of successes and failures and good times and heavy arguments. But hey, this is what I love doing, working with the band, both on stage and backstage. Challenges are meant to be taken and Decadence is my life-project, so what the hell!

Well, if you could have avoided all this hassle with the band members, and you�ve had a steady line-up from the start � do you think Decadence would have been in a different place today? Or has it brought some new influences to the band with new members bringing their ideas to the mix, and that is what have made the band what it is today� Know what I mean?
I think that Decadence would not be the same band it is today if we hadn�t had these line-up complications in the past. Decadence have grown and matured by this and developed to this stage. I think it would have taken another turn if the past was different. I wouldn�t say it has brought new influences, but I would say it brought us strength and new goals

As I understand it Decadence evolved from your old project Dekapitera, but under your individual member site it says that Dekapitera is a previous band of yours. Should these two projects be kept separate, and we shouldn�t confuse Dekapitera with Decadence?
Yes, Decadence and Dekapitera are not to be confused however one similarity is that the song Heavy Dose was originally written for Dekapitera. As the band didn�t go forward I decided to split with them and started looking for a new band. I then found one which I named Decadence and it became what we are today.

I�m curious� Under Kenneth�s individual member site it says �Likes: Metal, beer and Kitty�. Is there a romance going on within the band?
In the past we were a couple but I really think this is off topic!

Yup, it�s definitely off topic, but I was too curious not to ask, hehe. And for the moment we�ll continue with some more personal questions about you, if that�s ok�
You hate being compared to Angela Gossow (Arch Enemy). Does that happen a lot?
Oh yes, it happens quite often actually. I have been in contact with Angela and she�s actually had the same problem being compared to Sabina Classen (Holy Moses). I think all of us are completely different vocalists but that we are being compared to each other since we are three of the few women in the metal scene.

But why is that do you think? Are people too narrow minded to have anyone else to compare you to, and they have to grasp on to the only �famous� female metal growler?
Like I said in the previous question, I think it�s very easy to compare the few women existing in the metal scene. Me personally, I don�t like comparing vocalists or other musicians to one another. I like finding what is unique within each individual in enjoy the music from that viewpoint instead.

If I�m not mistaken you don�t drink alcohol. How come? Is it to protect and preserve your vocal chords? Quite unusual for a death metal band member to not drink.
Well, at the time being I don�t drink alcohol because of ulcer problems but I have learned to live with it so I believe I wouldn�t drink alcohol even if I could.

Well, both your albums have received pretty good reviews from what I can tell. So how do you think the fans/press will response to the new and upcoming album? Will there be any noticeable differences or influences?
I think Decadence have developed from the S/T to The Creature but not by changing/modifying influences but rather developed the first album�s material and sound more. I think this is what will happen with our third full-length too. A more developed version of The Creature with new, fresh material!

Except the album, what can we expect to come out of Decadence in the future? More members changes and problems, or are you confident this is the crew to take you all the way to the charts, hehe?
I am very confident in our new line-up. It feels better than it ever has and I truly believe in us as a band now. So, for the future, I think people could expect tours, a stable line-up, a more confident Decadence and lots of gigs!

I think that was the last of the more serious questions� All I have left are the standard stuff.
Latest record you bought?
Vader � �Kingdom� (enhanced version)

Latest record you listened to?
Death � �Symbolic�

Latest book you read?
(I hate books!) �Dante�s Inferno � The Divine Comedy� by Dante Alighieri

Latest show you went to?
Children of Bodom at Fryshuset in Stockholm

Crappiest record you�ve bought?
It must have been when I wanted to give Jason Newsted of Metallica a chance and bought Echobrain�s latest album at the time.

And the last one; if you ever committed suicide, how would you do it?
Suicide is for weak people, and I like challenges so I rather keep fighting.

That�s it. Thanks a lot for your time, and I wish you all the best with Decadence in the future!
Thank you, the Decadence crew wishes you all the best!




Related links:
Decadence

For a closer look at Decadence's discography please click here