We got to speak with Belgium’s very own Schizophrenia!
MPM: First off, thank you for doing this interview for us. Secondly, those unaware of who you are can you introduce yourselves and your contributions to the band?
S: Its our pleasure, thank you for reaching out to us ! I’m Romeo and I play rhythm/lead guitar together with Marty.
MPM: The band is about to release the debut full-length album titled Recollections Of The Insane which will be handled by Redefining Darkness Records. What was the inspiration into writing this album and was it a tough challenge for the band to create it during these wild times the world is facing?
S: Writing the album went pretty smooth actually, the main challenge was what material we would keep or leave put from the album. Obviously the whole Covid phenomenon was and still is a huge pain in the ass for every band. The only positive side about it was that we had an enormous amount of time to just focus on writing new material and see how far we could push ourselves.
MPM: Since the band is from Belgium, what is the music scene like in that country that have heavy hitters from Enthroned, Aborted, Ancient Rites and more?
S: Well at the moment it’s hard to say, everybody is connecting online or doing livestreams given the circumstances. Although id like to see more shows once this whole pandemic is over.
MPM: What I love about this album is it has a wide variety of different genres from melodic black, death metal and even some thrash reminding me of a cross between Sepultura, Morbid Angel, Slayer, Dissection and
Demolition Hammer. Would you say this is the most diverse and ambitious material Schizophrenia has done to date?
S: This is definitely more diverse than what we did on voices. Although its a natural progression of what we’ve always wanted to write. we’ve always loved so many styes of music and draw inspiration from all these different flavours and sounds. This time I feel like we also looked more inwards for inspiration than outwards. We have to love the music first. We just wanna write what we love and what inspires us most, and if people like what we did then that’s awesome.
MPM: Since Redefining Darkness Records is handling the album, what was the connection like between the band and label?
S: Redefining Darkness is Distributing our new album in North-America, so we will again release “Recollections Of The Insane” by our selves. Nonetheless Working together with Redefining Darkness is awesome, the amount of support they give us is truly amazing!
MPM: What song off on Recollections Of The Insane is considered to be the most impacted in terms of the lyrics, song structure and craftsmanship?
S: I guess that’s different for every band member, and I’m proud of every song we put on the album. But if I have to choose one I would say “Sea Of Sorrow”. It’s a wild ride with crazy switching tempos. Lyrics wise it could mean different things for anybody listening to it. Although I feel a strong connection with this one.
MPM: Since shows are still on and off in other countries, what bands would Schizophrenia like to go on tour with when things are starting to settle in more?
S: Oh boy that’s a hard one cause I could mention so many bands id like to go on tour with ! Id love to tour with bands like Frozen soul, Obituary, Blood incantation, Cannibal corpse …
MPM: What makes Schizophrenia different than most bands out there in the extreme metal community?
S: I mean writing in the Thrash or Death genre can be pretty challenging if you wanna do something else, We try to not have some kind of barrier that holds us back from not using certain material. Often we have very melodic ideas but convert that into something that works great together with the heavy parts. In general we just do what we wanna do and not let anything hold us back while being ourselves.
MPM: Was Recollections Of The Insane a inspiration to create more future material now that certain bands have time to forge and visualize for years to come?
S: Oh definitely, we didn’t really stop writing after we finished the album, in my mind I’m constantly making up tunes, melodies and so on .. its like I can’t turn it of it just comes haha. This can be annoying when you just went to bed laying there all comfy and all of the sudden you have to jump out grab your guitar and try to film it or something like that.
MPM: What are hobbies the band likes to do when not creating music?
S: Discovering and listening to other bands, reading books or watching documentaries about fucked up shit, Marty even paints in his free time and does it really well!
MPM: If there was a decision in recording music, meeting fans and playing live shows, what would be in favor for the band?
S: Playing live shows ! This way you can connect with the audience and feed of energy from each other. There’s something special about putting your heart into your music and seeing people enjoy it or make em go crazy, I mean I live for that shit. Everything else just follows.
MPM: If creating metal music wasn’t a interest, what do you guys see yourself doing in the next millennium?
S: Not existing (hahaha) but if there would be one thing I could pick it would be making jewelry, I’ve also studied this but never finished school. School was never for me unless I could’ve just done the thing I was interested in. Theres something about sculpting, bending, filing, polishing and soldering Precious metals and making it into something beautiful that’s almost therapeutic for me. Its funny when I tell people this they are always surprised.
MPM: What’s next for Schizophrenia terms of touring announcements, music videos etc.?
S: Well that’s hard to say, we are definitely always looking at the positive side and trying to push the band as much as possible or jumping on opportunities. Or even creating them. Everything is so uncertain in these weird times but that doesn’t mean we aren’t doing something or planing ahead. But of course we just keep writing more killer tunes hopefully until the end of our days.
MPM: I wanna say thank you for doing this interview. Are there any final words you want to add or inform fans what to expect next?
S: It was a pleasure! Well we hope there will be people that enjoy the new material as much as we do and that we can play them live and start connecting with people again. Keep your eyes open on our socials for all the good stuff that’s coming. Cheers!
Interview by Jake Butler
