Interview with ANATOMY OF I (Holland)

An interview with the mainstay of Dutch progressive death metal band ANATOMY OF I, Michael Dorrian (Vocals/Guitar) revealed some interesting topics about the band and its hidden gems. You can check out the albums, ''The Los​(​t) Angered Sessions'' and ''Substratum'' ; It's the potential shown to a straight forward death/thrash metal intersection with a jazz flavoured fusion. The band's distinctive style and exquisite technical ability are highlighted to allow you to explore to several levels of madness, experiencing a unique death-metal with twisting, fast, slow and melting stylistic changes and most importantly, the production wise has a crystal clear sounded. So, they make the listening experience even more exciting in every inch of the tracks! Let's chew while reading the interview..

https://anatomyofi.bandcamp.com/album/the-los-t-angered-sessions

MD : You and all the members have been in some great bands before. Why did you all decide to be with ANATOMY OF I?

I've formed the band in 2009 as a result of numerous attempts to form a band, and decided to invite my friends Steve Di Giorgio (TESTAMENT) and Dirk Verbeuren (MEGADETH) since I knew that their abilities would translate into an album which would not be held back musically. I knew from the get go that it would be hard to get this line-up onto the stage, and decided to get a local live line-up together in late 2011. Over the years, we've had several line-up changes that we're mainly due to logistics, but we've had the same solid line-up since 2016. 

The rest of the band consists of Erwin Harreman (SUPREME PAIN) on rhythm guitar, Roderick Ras (ex-HOUWITSER) on bass and Edwin van den Eeden (ex-SINISTER) on drums. 

MD : Now with the second album out, how do you feel about this creation and as I know most of the songs have been done over the last few years?

The album that was released earlier this year, in February 2022 is not really our 2nd album, we refer to it as our prequel, since it's an album which was mainly recorded in 2005 when the band was called TERMINAL EYE. 

I'll spare you the details, but we had booked two sessions at Andy Larocque's Los Angered studio in Gothenburg, yet, the band fell apart during the recording, with vocals and part of the lead guitars still missing. Rather than finishing the album back then, I've reworked part of these songs into what became ANATOMY OF I's debut album 'Substratum', recorded in 2010. During the lock-down period of the Covid pandemic, with the upcoming album being written and demoed out, I decided to finish the unreleased record, as I figured it would be interesting for fans to check out the roots of 'Substratum'. We're currently rehearsing and getting ready to record the actual 2nd album of ANATOMY OF I, as we hope to get it out before the summer of 2023. 

MD : How much pressure was there when you were composing stuff for "The Los​(​t) Angered Sessions", compared to the first "Substratum"?

As mentioned before, ''The Los(t) Angered Sessions'' was the lost unreleased album that never got to be heard. You can hear the similarities with ''Substratum'', although the songs have different lyrics, have more mature arrangements and time/tempo changes on ''Substratum''. All in all, listening to ''the Los(t) Angered Sessions'' will give people a good idea of our earlier influences, and the spirit of that time. 

MD - Could you explain what is the themes or concept behind the album and the strange title called "The Los(t) Angered Sessions" ?

The studio where this record was partly recorded was called Los Angered, referring to its location near the Angered neighborhood of Gothenburg, in Sweden. Andy Larocque moved his studio activities to Varberg, and changed the name to Sonic Train Studios. I felt it was a good title for the record, in order to point out that it was not the new ANATOMY OF I album, but an older effort that we've decided to finish and release, to give fans some cool stuff to listen to while they wait for the new album. 

MD - How do you translate that science fiction-looking front cover art?

My wife is a painter, focusing on portraits, among others. I've always liked this painting and had it hanging on the wall in my home studio for years. I'll leave people to come up with their own interpretation of the symbolism; I see a certain sense of duality, yin yang, balance in it. 

MD - Mike, Tell about your project with the Finnish band NERVE SAW on 'Peril' album? Do you have any project with others at the moment?

My friend Markus from the band SADISTIK FOREST was working on this punk-death side project with a guitarist he played with in an earlier band, and asked me to collaborate on some songs. We co-wrote 3 songs, and he pretty much wrote the rest of material. The album was released during the pandemic, so we haven't had time to rehearse nor play live, especially with me living in the Netherlands and the rest of the band in Finland. The next album is in an advanced stage, so I'll head over to Finland somewhere in 2023 to jam on the new songs, and get ready for the 2nd album. 

There are some more side-projects about to be released and some being recorded, but I'll keep things quiet for the time being, as I don't want to jinx anything. 2023 will be rich in new releases from my end, that's for sure!

MD : Have you planned at least one or any promotional videos in the making?

For ANATOMY OF I, we're planning on filming some new songs in our rehearsal place, as promotional material. I wish I could share more about this, but we're focusing on getting the new album recorded first, that's our top priority. 

MD : Are there any musicians or bands with a non-metal background that you would like to work with, and give a specific reason?

Sure, I have friends who play various kinds of music, and we're still exploring the possibility of working together on some things. The specific reason being that we've jammed in the past but we haven't cemented it onto a recording. It's mainly jazz fusion, rock and blues artists, so nothing too shocking, I suppose. 

MD : How did this 'Time to Kill Records' become your collaboration partner? Are there other labels that you have consulted with?

We knew some people at TTK and they expressed interest in releasing the album; they also offered a better deal than the other labels we talked to, so it was an easy choice, really.

MD : As for some ANATOMY OF I's future festival appearances and playing live overall, how does your calendar look at the moment regarding playing live with the band?

We're focusing on getting the new album recorded and released before the summer, so we're starting to book shows after the summer of 2023, trying to fill that agenda with shows from that point forward. 

MD : We appreciate your times and the answers much!, Please screw out some word to the fans who reading this?

Thanks for the interview, and we'd definitely want to tour Asia some day and visit Malaysia. We've always heard great things about the state of extreme metal in South East Asia! Let's see if we can make it happen sooner than later!!! (Hopefully! Note to organizers whose reading this!! - ED)

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