Simon hasn’t just spent his time ruminating – he’s been hard at work on the follow up to the critically lauded Conqueror (2008). Simon and his bandmates – bassist Jason McCash and drummer “Iron” Bob Fouts - just released their fourth album Hymns of Blood and Thunder via Rise Above Records. It’s getting the biggest push of their roughly decade-long career and might help the band reach a wider audience.
About.com chatted with the 34-year-old Simon recently from his home in Indiana about the new album; what it’s like to be a good decade older than most of the metal bands on the touring circuit and what has kept him passionate about metal. He also discussed how he is flattered when people compare the band to St. Vitus or Black Sabbath but irritated when they claim they are clones.
Justin M. Norton: You’ve said elsewhere that you wanted this album to be your Stained Class. Do you think you achieved that with Hymns of Blood and Thunder?
Karl Simon: I don’t think we achieved Stained Class, maybe something more like Sad Wings of Destiny (laughs). We achieved what we set out to achieve. What I meant by the Stained Class reference was a record that flows in the same uniform way from track to track. Even though the songs are their own individual pieces they all seem to be working in the same direction. I’m very proud if it.
The album moves a lot faster and more deliberately than Conqueror and you have more prominent guitar solos. Can you tell me about the choices you made writing this record?
In the past we’ve been accused, and rightly so, of being very long-winded. I wanted this record to be well under an hour. There was a lot of internal friction. Jason enjoys these long, sprawling songs. But on this one Sanford (Parker, producer) agreed that we wanted a reasonable length. A great record, going back to Stained Class, is one that is paced and produced so you listen to all of side one and then flip it to side two. Then by the end of side two you want to listen to it again. That was a goal, to pace it so that by the end of the track “Blood and Thunder” you were ready to hear “Chaos Calling” again.
My solos in the past were a loose, free flowing thing. The main solo break would always be off the cuff and we’d jam it until I had licks that I liked. It was old school and organic. But I was really disappointed with my solos on Conqueror because we didn’t spend time doing that. The solo on “To Kill And Be King” falls flat, because the time wasn’t there for it to grow. I had to take time away from the band to take on sections for this album. For example, on “Beneath The Eyes of Mars,” I composed that section on my own and put my solo on top of it.
How did you hook up with Rise Above records, which will certainly give you a bigger profile when pushing this record?
We’ve been around for a long time. We’ve been in England four or five times. I think they heard what we were doing and thought they could work with us. They came to us through friends who were already on Rise Above. I just made a phone call and we were on our way.
How deep does your fascination with mythology, in particular Robert E. Howard’s Conan stories, go? Do you ever think you will run out of source material?
I started reading those stories when I was like eight years old in the mid ‘80s. Between the movies and all the authors who have done pastiche work of what Howard started there is endless stuff to do. I had hours and hours of fun reading those stories.
Have you ever thought about writing lyrics or songs based more on contemporary society or do you think you’ve found your voice?
We do write lots of stuff about contemporary society. On Conqueror there is a song “The Machine” that is actually about working as a day laborer. At one time in the band I wanted all the lyrics to just be fantasy based, not based in any practical reality. And if they were to touch on it they would do it in a duplicitous way. But as time goes by things change and you get different notions of what you want to lyrically.
My favorite lyrical concepts are the ones that can tie together the fantastic and something reality based. For example, the lyrics of “Trapped In The Web” from Conqueror. It’s essentially about a spider that lives in my friend’s basement. It’s also about being trapped in the webs that society makes for us. Further than that, you could also think it’s about a giant spider.
In reality it’s about a spider that is only about an eighth of an inch across. He’s a long-living fellow. He’s been there at least six years and I swear it’s the same guy. We were there when we were on tour and I’d be damned if he wasn’t right there. It looks like he’s been busy because there are other spiders in the area.
How did you initially hook up with Sanford Parker, who has been in demand, especially after his work on Nachtmystium’s Assassins album?
That was Profound Lore. When we did Conqueror it was a double licensing deal. They really wanted to hear Sanford Parker do our record. I was so happy with what he did with Conqueror that he did the full production of Hymns of Blood & Thunder.
Did the three of you live in a hotel during the recording of this album?
No, because Bob had to go back home because of work and family commitments. Jason and I ended up living in the studio. We were in the studio for like 12 to 15 days.
Any interesting stories?
Yeah (laughs). Some of them are quasi-legal at best. It was a good time. Bob came up the third weekend and we had an interesting time. I’ll leave it at that.
