DEVIL'S ISLAND featuring Sanity
Welcome to this weeks edition of Devil's Island! Every week we maroon a band or artist on the island and see what they get up to, how they cope with being all alone on a small island in the middle of the ocean. It's not your average desert island and we'll see just how each person copes with the extreme conditions.
This week when we arrived at Devil's Island we find Sanity sat on the beach. The island is far from their home, so how did they end up here and how did they cope with life on Devil's Island?
Find out now...
Welcome to The Razors'e Edge and our somewhat lovely, warm desert island. Don't worry about it's name I'm sure it's not as bad as that would suggest.
You're marooned here on this island, but before you ended up shipwrecked you chose one album that you couldn't live without. Which album did you each chose and why?
Florian (vocals, guitar): Arcturus – Aspera Hiems Symfonia
When hearing this album for the first time, I was just blown away. The compositions on this record are so avant-garde, I couldn’t believe it. The mixture between shouting and clean vocals is breathtaking as is the blending of guitar work and symphonic instruments. A masterpiece!
Julius (guitar): Neal Morse – One
If I can't live without an album it has to be this one (pun absolutely intended). Albeit no metal album (although it does have those moments on 'Author Of Confusion'), this Prog-Rock masterpiece is perfection, even for a metal head. It has the great Neal Morse songwriting with it's light but beautiful melodies over all instruments and voices, it has a great deal of gorgeous symphonic elements and front to back there is not a single bad or filler song. Throw in Mike Portnoy's legendary drumming and the beautifully touching lyrical themes about the prodigal son in a cohesive concept album style and you get the album that I'll never get tired listening to.
Philipp (drums): Death – Leprosy
I still remember vividly when I first heard Chuck Schuldiner screaming out of my loud speakers. What a revelation! This was intensity to the power of ten! And then those kick-ass shred solos from Rick Rozz. It was like the gates of Gehenna opened up! I was mesmerized and still am. This is the number one album for me!
Just behind that palm tree is a shack for each of you to stay in, with enough space for you to put up a poster on the wall of one album cover. What album cover do you each chose?
Florian: I am still very much annoyed by that beautiful sunset and the whole beach-happy-life-coconut-drink-Hawaii pictures in my head, that come to my mind when I try to imagine being stuck on a desert island. The only poster I would hang up there would probably be something you’d see in an eighties Miami Vice episode. So let’s decide it’s a grim, arctic island somewhere north of Hudson bay in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. That’s what we want to be stranded upon! And there I’d gladly put a poster of Summoning’s Stronghold album. May the depression and desperation come!
Julius: I've always been a fan of bright colors (thus my neon green shred machine of a guitar) so my album cover of choice would be Joe Satriani – Surfing With The Alien. Great album, great cover art.
Philipp: Well, I am gonna go with this sunset Caribbean-style ambiance, all in! And the poster would Megadeth's Rust in Peace. It is just this awesome throwback to when I started discovering metal. The skull, the colors, the weird alien life form setting, the scientists and that marvelous green gem – every detail of this artwork is stuck in my mind, the music and the artwork are imprinted in my memory.
There's also a bar on this here island. But alas each of you only get to choose one drink for the entirety of your stay. What's your tipple of choice?
Florian: I am torn between a Pickled Rum Cocktail, which I think is probably the most nourishing drink next to the Bloody Mary. But then again, who wants to drink gherkin water for the rest of his life. Is beer a valid answer? But who drinks beer if he can have a decent red wine. I somehow forget that we are fighting for our lives here. So maybe the best answer is: plain water. With some lemon zest. And a sugar-rimmed glass. And fizz. And Gin.
Julius: Beer for me. Given the desert setting I would definitely go for a refreshing, cool IPA.
Philipp: You know, mate, I am mister “pop”. I've get a whole fridge full of sweet pops in my arcade at home, Root Beer, Dr. Pepper, Pepsi, Cherry Coke, you name it. Hence, it gotta be Root Beer, my all time favorite soft drink.
Your suitcases were lost when your ship sank, but you each managed to salvage one item of band merch. What’s the merch and for what band?
Florian: That would be my Iron Maiden blanket, I couldn’t possibly sleep without it.
Julius: I love wearing band t-shirts, so I'd rescue my Dream Theater – Images & Words t-shirt. Also one of my favourite albums, that item is very dear to my heart.
Philipp: That long sleeve from Borknagar's 1996 debut album with the black and white foggy picture of the house in front of the woods.
You’re sat on the island thinking “I’m stuck here on this island with my bandmates for eternity”… who would you rather have been shipwrecked with?
Florian: Jesus would be cool, but my brother will do. Oh there he is. He’s already in the band. Well, then it’s decided.
Julius: Tough one.. As a musician and christian I would love to hang out with Neal Morse, he seems like one of the most genuine characters in music that I know of. Focusing on guitar I would rather be shipwrecked with John Petrucci though, so I can use all that spare time to have him teach me his guitar wizardry.
Philipp: This is an easy one. My wife, kids and my brother. Most important people in my life.
There's a walkman in your pocket, on the tape inside is the recording of the one live show that stands out for you. It could be any show, from any band, anywhere in the world. What show is on that walkman?
Florian: Symbolic - The Ultimate Death Tribute (2007). What a great show in memory of Chuck. These guys are really hitting it, fantastic tribute, awesome show!
Julius: Another tough one. I'd choose Metallica - Live Shit: Binge & Purge - Seattle 1989. Two hours of fucking Metallica in their prime playing their first 4 Albums, their golden era in my opinion. This has to be one of if not the most amazing metal concert of all time.
Philipp: First of all. THANKS for making it a walkman! I love it! Guns N' Roses, 1992 Berlin. This band, it never gets old to listen to their music.
You're getting desperate, you decide the only course of action is to put a message in a bottle and hope someone finds it. Your message could be to any member of any band, but should be the most suitable for a rescue attempt. Who is it?
Florian: Well that needs to be some rich guy and he needs to be nice, otherwise he wouldn’t bother to save us. What about Dave Mustaine, I mean he became a Christian some years ago, I like his music a lot and if he really rescues us, we could hang out. What a great idea. Dave it is!
Julius: Yeah, I'd agree with Florian, here. Who else if not Dave could know the way to the devil's island? After all, he wrote the song, right? 😀
Philipp: Hagen, one of the lead singers of Van Canto, German a capella metal band, is a good friend of mine. He would definitely get us out!
You've been stuck here for a while and food supplies are running low. There's only one thing for it... which fellow band member gets sacrificed to help the others survive?
Florian: Yuck, that is really disgusting, but who better than a band of Christians to ask who would sacrifice himself for the others. Maybe we all end up dead in the end.
Julius: Morbid question, but I'll try to answer it. I think Silas would the perfect band member to eat. The reason is simple: Out of all the band members he smokes the least, drinks least alcohol and he goes hiking (so his body is fit), so I would guess his flesh is the healthiest and tastiest. Although our drummer Philipp should have some tasty thighs due to his ferocious double bass playing. Maybe I have to rethink my answer.
Philipp: … well, let's lead by example, have the band leader being sacrificed. That would be me, then, I guess :-).
Finally, when the ship sank you each managed to save one person from the wreckage. That person is the one musician that has influenced your career the most, shaped your way of thinking and your outlook on life. Who did you save?
Florian: Man, you can’t ask these kind of questions to a Christian band, what do you expect? It’s the JESUS, man! I mean he was a carpenter but then again, he is the creator of this world, so who else invented music? So I guess he is an uber-musician after all and yes, he shaped my life quite considerably, as you can imagine.
Julius: I think that would be Mike Portnoy. Beyond his stellar musicianship and personality, he somehow is in like four of five bands that I listen to. And since he is in three of them together with Neal Morse, I don't think I'll get him alone, so it has to be Mike and Neal.
Philipp: Well, man, there is that one person that has brought me in contact with extreme metal, has influenced my musical career by his compositions and comradery, challenged my way of thinking through almost daily conversations and my outlook on life through this presence. My beloved twin brother, our singer Florian. He is the one that I saved. Cheers!
