Extremity Rising

She Said Destroy from Oslo have just released one monster of a debut album that channels every possible, thinkable aspect of extremity. Time Like Vines is the title of this sonic assault from this band with the rather odd name – but do not let yourself be misled. To make the acquaintance of the non-compromising soundscape that She Said Destroy craft and form is an experience not to be missed. We can but recommend our readers to purchase a copy of Time Like Vines and on their own investigate the universe of extreme metal that constitutes She Said Destroy. In the following, however, we will let guitarist/vocalist Anders Bakke spell out exactly what lies behind the name of the band and their music.

# First of all, please introduce She Said Destroy to our readers and elaborate on your music for those who might not have heard of you.

“We’re She Said Destroy from Oslo, Norway. We are the ‘Dennis the Menace’ of extreme metal.

If our music was a meal it’d be a ten-story sandwich with all the fat of the land jammed in there –plus a side order of shrimps.”

# What’s the story behind the name She Said Destroy, and what is the name meant to signify or refer to more specifically?

“Nothing special, really. It was taken from a song. I tried hard to add meaning to it for a long while, but I’ve given up on that. It sounds cool and a bit emo, which pisses off narrow-minded thrashers, and hopefully it’ll increase the female part of our fan base.”

# What has happened musically and personally in She Said Destroy since the release of the demo Armageddon, Anyone?

“A whole fucking lot! After we released that demo we got a good dose of attention, did a lot more gigs and started seeing that this band could turn into something. We also felt a pressure to up the ante musically as everything we’d done before the Armageddon demo wasn’t even worth its weight in cow dung. Come 2005: we played at the Inferno festival, signed the deal with NAP [Nocturnal Art Productions] and got Snorre in on guitar and additional vocals after our old guitar player quit. Since then we’ve truly been a hard-working band. We are very particular about the song-writing, and I hadn’t really ever rehearsed to get better at playing guitar before we got Snorre in the band. That bastard whipped me into shape.”

# You have secured a deal with Nocturnal Art and have just released your debut album Time Like Vines. How has the reactions been so far and are you in generel satisfied with the reviews?

“The reactions have been all over the place, but mostly very positive. Of course, there are some places in the world and some kinds of music fans that don’t approve of our work, but you can’t win ‘em all! All in all we’re very satisfied with the feedback we’ve been getting. We’re also very pleased with how our deal with NAP/Candlelight is working out. They’re a nice bunch of people. We’d like to cuddle them and scratch them behind their ears – that’s how nice they are.”

# If you were to single out one track on Time Like Vines for a favourite, which one would it be and why? Would it be detrimental to the overall ‘texture’ of the album to listen to the tracks separately, or can each and every song stand alone?

“Hell, I don’t know. This changes from week to week. At the moment I’d say “Becoming the Morningstar” is a favourite. It’s great fun to play and we’ve got a lot of diverse vocal shit going down in that song. The album works beautifully as a unit, but the songs can absolutely stand on their own.”

# What would you describe as the most significant musical difference between Time Like Vines and your previous releases?

“Time Like Vines is good music. Except for the Armageddon-demo which was good music played badly; everything else we did before that was a pile of shit. I can’t believe people actually showed up to our gigs before.”

# You play a blend of aggressive and technical extreme metal. Which element is – to you – the most important factor of your music, the aggressive parts or the technical?

“The emotional/aggressive part is by far the most important factor. You can disappear up your own ass with technicality and end up with the most boring-sounding music ever. There needs to be a lot of emotion behind making a song if you want it to be any good. I’d rather play two-finger punk with a fiery heart than do death metal jazz fusion while staring blankly ahead thinking of nothing.”

# Who are your main inspirations as a band? Do you think the inspirational bands are obvious in your music or have they mainly inspired you to become musicians yourself?

“Bands that inspire us are bands that have created their own musical path while going, for the most part. I’m sure you can find many elements from bands we’ve listened to in our songs. Let’s make it into a contest: the first who manages to list 10 bands I’ve listened to a lot for the last two years, just by listening through our album, gets a kiss.”

# Please tell about the lyris in She Said Destroy. Do you have a message in general you want to share with the fans or are you inspired by a lot of different subjects?

“It’s all a mess is what it is. I don’t really concentrate on one subject. Some of the songs on the album are tied together thematically; we’ve added chapter numbers to these songs in the cover. Although I work hard with the lyrics I’m not trying to get any important points across. They just reflect my point of view on a number of topics at the time of writing.”

# What is the musical environment like in Olso at the moment, and are there any regional impulses that have had either a minor or major influence on what She Said Destroy is today?

“The musical environment is splintered. Although you get to know a lot of musicians by living in Oslo since the place is the size of a village, it’s not like we’re a tight-knit bunch. Maybe the other Oslo bands are and we have been left out? Anyways, I don’t really see that we’ve taken a great deal of influence from other Oslo bands.”

# How would you describe She Said Destroy as a live-act?

“We are ferocious, intense and sweaty. We smile and do evil poses all at once. And my hair looks ridiculous. We’ve got an aim to become a live act that people talk about. We’re great fun to watch, or so I’ve been told. Come check us out – if only to laugh at my hair!”

# Is it important for She Said Destroy to play live or would you rather spend the time on rehearsal and studio-work?

“We’d like to do everything. Touring is important, though. How else are you going to prove yourself? I believe many bands make a mistake when they’ve done their first album. They sit back and wait for shit to happen for them. It takes hard work to be out there in people’s faces and that means you have to play live, a lot. Unless you want to be a one-man black metal band and stay buried by time and dust in the cult netherworlds of trueness…”

# What does the future hold for She Said Destroy and extreme metal in general, in your opinion?

“For our part I haven’t looked any further than summer 2006. We’re doing a UK/Ireland tour with Cryptopsy and Gorerotted in August, which I believe will be great fun. Other than that we’re hoping to get a European tour up and running soon. We’ve started the song-writing process for the next album. All is looking good. As for extreme metal in general, it seems to be alive and kicking. I’m discovering new bands on a regular basis.”

# I have no further questions. Thanx for your time and please close this interview with final comments and random thoughts.

“Thanks for the interview! All y’all make sure to get your beauty sleep and take your vitamins, and last but not least check out our album – it’s got awesome music, nice pictures and pathetic lyrics. Come to think of it, when I look at the artwork, the lyrics and the band name it’s no wonder people think we wear make-up and are about to go touring with Bullet for My Valentine.”

Conducted and written by Bo