SOILWORK drummer Dirk Verbeuren spoke with Metal Blast TV during the band’s recent stop in Toronto, Ontario while on their tour in support of their new album, The Living Infinite. Check it out below:
April
8 – The Rock – Tucson, AZ
9 – Las Vegas Country Saloon – Las Vegas, NV
11 – In The Venue – Salt Lake City, UT
12 – Gothic Theater – Englewood, CO
13 – The Beaumont Club – Kansas City, MO
14 – The Firebird – St. Louis, MO
15 – Trees – Dallas, TX
16 – Backstage Live – San Antonio, TX
17 – Jake’s – Lubbock, TX
18 – Lucky Mule – Abilene, TX
19 – Dos Amigos – Odessa, TX
20 – Tricky Falls – El Paso, TX
22 – House of Rock – Corpus Christi, TX
23 – Geo’s – McAllen, TX
24 – Scout Bar – Houston, TX
26 – State Theater – St. Petersburg, FL
27 – Jack Rabbits – Jacksonville, FL *
28 – The Casbah – Charlotte, NC *
29 – Kingdom – Richmond, VA *
30 – Soundstage – Baltimore, MD *
May
1 – Mexicali Live – Teaneck, NJ *
2 – The Chance Theater – Poughkeepsie, NY *
3 – Broadway Joes – Buffalo, NY *
4 – Al Rosa Villa – Columbus, OH *
5 – Music Hall – London, ON *
6 – Station 58 – Syracuse, NY *
7 – The Palladium – Worcester, MA *
DIRK VERBEUREN has checked in with the following update via his Official Blog:
This page has been calm for way too long, I know. But I’m finally back with a new video! Well, sort of new: below is a drum solo recorded during Soilwork’s Panic Over North America tour back in the summer of 2010. There’s not many solos of mine out there, for the simple reason that I haven’t played many. And not only that,- this is an overhead shot, which I thought you might like!
Many people have asked about the second part of my Mastering Double Kick Drumming video series. I do apologize for the long wait. My schedule has been ridiculously busy, but I promise it’ll be up here in a few months from now! Meanwhile, keep drumming as if your life depends on it! Cheers!
PS: Make sure to get the new Soilwork double album The Living Infinite, coming out this March. All of you drum fanatics will have plennnnty of sexy beats to enjoy on that one!
Dirk Verbeuren, drum skin assassin for Swedish melodic metal band SOILWORK, will be performing at this year’s Titans Of The Throne III Drum Festival, at the House Of Rock in Miami, Florida on February 20th.
Also showcasing that evening will be Gus Rios (MALEVOLENT CREATION, UPON INFLICTION) and Derek Roddy (ex-HATE ETERNAL, SERPENTS RISE).
Tickets are $15 in advance; doors open at 6 PM. For more information head to this location.
Last week, Björn „Speed“ Strid of Swedish melodic death metal maestros SOILWORK gave some short descriptions about all the tracks of the first disc of the band’s upcoming double album, „The Living Infinite“ (out March 1, 2013).
Dirk Verbeuren
This week it’s drum monster Dirk Verbeuren‘s turn to share a few thoughts about the second disc:
01. Entering Aeons
-This eerie, crawling instrumental sets the tone for chapter II of “The Living Infinite”.
02. Long Live The Misanthrope
-An up-tempo thrasher with killer riffs, epic solos and a catchy chorus: in short, 100% pure SOILWORK!
03. Drowning With Silence
-crushing yet melodic, this track perfectly embodies the album’s introspective atmosphere.
04. Antidotes In Passing
-Melancholy abounds in this atmospheric piece.
05. Leech
-At 260 bpm, the fastest song on the album and chock-full of Sylvain’s signature riffing.
06. The Living Infinite II
-Another catchy, heavy track with a timeless chorus.
07. Loyal Shadow
-This beautiful instrumental honors a fallen friend.
08. Rise Above The Sentiment
- A soaring chorus atop a rollercoaster of heavy riffs.
09. Parasite Blues
-Pounding grooves, thunderous guitars and epic melodies: this is blues the SOILWORK way!
10. Owls Predict, Oracles Stand Guard
-A magnificent Sven-penned closer, dark and truly unique, with lyrics by Ola.
Find Speed’s comments attached again:
01. Spectrum Of Eternity
-A fast and thrashy, yet melodic opener bringing you straight to the “core of existence”.
02. Memories Confined
-An epic song with Sven’s signature.
03. This Momentary Bliss
-Reminding you of “A Predator’s Portrait” days. Super catchy and groovy chorus.
04. Tongue
-A fast song with a great melancholic feeling
05. The Living Infinite I
-A heavy driven mid tempo song with a timeless melody.
06. Let The First Wave Rise
-If you mix SOILWORK with POSSESSED, this is what you get.
07. Vesta
-A very heavy and atmospheric song with an elaborate acoustic intro.
08. Realm Of The Wasted
-Insane guitar work with the most intricate chorus on the album.
09. The Windswept Mercy
-A melancholic but hopeful song featuring Justin Sullivan (NEW MODEL ARMY)
10. Whispers And Lights
-The epic ending track of the first album on which we just invented “Levitating Metal”.
The official viral video for the first single off the album, „Spectrum Of Eternity“, can be viewed below.
„The Living Infinite“ is the first SOILWORK album to feature new guitarist David Andersson who replaces founding member Peter Wichers, who first left the band in 2005 only to return four years later.
Produced by Jens Bogren (OPETH, AMON AMARTH, BLOODBATH), „The Living Infinite“ features artwork by MNEMIC’s Mircea Gabriel Eftemie who also created the legendary artwork for 2005′s „Stabbing The Drama“.
SOILWORK live 2013
11.-13.07. D Ballenstedt – Rock Harz
22.-24.07. SLO Tolmin – Metaldays
01.-03.08. D Wacken – Wacken Open Air
15.-17.08. D Dinkelsbühl – Summer Breeze
06.09. USA Atlanta – ProgPower
07.09. MEX Mexico City – Lunario
Nuclear Blast has issued that the Swedish modern melodic death metal maestros SOILWORK have announced some first festival gigs for 2013. More to follow soon.
Photo by Hannah Verbeuren
Commented drum monster Dirk Verbeuren: “Yes yes folks, the SOILWORK summer tour schedule is taking form and we’re excited like little kids to once again bring our very own brand of Swedish metal to the old continent, the US and even Mexico for the very first time ever! Stay tuned for an energetic set blending songs off of our new double album, “The Living Infinite”, with past classics… And maybe even a few rare gems! See you there, metalheads!”
SOILWORK live 2013
11.-13.07. D Ballenstedt – Rock Harz
22.-24.07. SLO Tolmin – Metaldays
01.-03.08. D Wacken – Wacken Open Air
15.-17.08. D Dinkelsbühl – Summer Breeze
06.09. USA Atlanta – ProgPower
07.09. MEX Mexico City – Lunario
The band has also announced to be planning to come Australia as well as Asia in October 2013.
SOILWORK are currently putting finishing touches to their upcoming album, „The Living Infinite“, which will be issued as a double album (the first one in this genre!) including 20 brand new SOILWORK tunes!
„The Living Infinite“ is the first SOILWORK album to feature new guitarist David Andersson who replaces founding member Peter Wichers, who first left the band in 2005 only to return four years later.
Produced by Jens Bogren (OPETH, AMON AMARTH, BLOODBATH), „The Living Infinite“ features artwork by MNEMIC’s Mircea Gabriel Eftemie who also created the legendary artwork for 2005′s „Stabbing The Drama“ – furthermore Justin Sullivan, lead singer of the English indie rock pioneers NEW MODEL ARMY, will guest on the track “The Windswept Mercy”.
„The Living Infinite“ will be released March 8, 2013 via Nuclear Blast.
A video of Dirk Verbeuren‘s recent drum clinic in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, playing along to ‘Banished Messiah’ off ANATOMY OF I‘s debut album SUBSTRATUM can be viewed below.
Guitarist JEFF LOOMIS (ex-NEVERMORE) is featured in a new interview with Ultimate-Guitar.com. An excerpt is available below:
UG: Why has it been four years since you last released “Zero Order Phase”?
Loomis: “Well what happened was obviously a lot of readers out there know I was in a band called Nevermore for many, many years. We were going on 15 or 16 years or something like that together as a band and that kind of was a huge deal for me and to leave that band was also a huge deal. After being together for so long things just didn’t work out anymore and it happens to many bands. You get together for a long time and sometimes a band can be like a marriage because you’re on tour with the same bunch of cats forever. But that was really one of the reasons that it took so long. Just because I had other things going on with Nevermore such as records, touring, etcetera. When Nevermore broke up, which was a little more than a year ago, I was sitting around at home going, ‘What am I gonna do? Am I just gonna sit around and do nothing or am I gonna keep going?’”
UG: That’s when you started thinking about a new solo album?
Loomis: “Obviously I chose to stay busy with music because that’s what I do and I immediately started writing for Plains Of Oblivion. That’s kinda what I did, man. I just kinda stayed busy and started putting music ideas together and had the idea of getting a lot of guest guitar players on the record as well. I started getting to work at that and I just thought, “Hey, what would be a good idea getting some of my hugest inspirations as I was growing up as a musician on this record.” I started sending emails out to Marty Friedman, Chris Poland, Tony MacAlpine and they all obliged to do it so I’m more than happy.”
Photo by Hannah Verbeuren
UG: Drummer Dirk Verbeuren played on the album. What were you looking for in a drummer?
Loomis: “Somebody that was incredibly aggressive and a monster. It’s funny because Dirk is that guy and I consider him to be the best metal drummer out there. It’s funny how that all worked too because he plays in a band called SOILWORK, which is a very popular band. It was probably about a year-and-a-half prior to the recording of the record that I saw them on tour and I was talking to Peter Wichers, the guitar player, on their tour bus and I was telling him my idea about recording another record. We were discussing musicians and stuff like that and he’s like: ‘If you need a drummer, here’s your guy right here’ and he just points over at Dirk. Dirk is very cool except that he’s very quiet. When I was on the tour bus that night he didn’t really say much. He’s one of these amazing talents that’s just a quiet guy that kinda just sits back and listens. I looked over and was like: “Wow, you’d really be into that, Dirk?” And he’s like: ‘Oh, yes.’ So that’s kinda how it came to be. I basically wrote all the songs and just started sending him simple arrangements and stuff like that and he just got to work on it. He flew up to Seattle for about four days and got all his drum tracks done in three. So it was quite incredible to watch him do his thing.”
SOILWORK/SCARVE drummer Dirk Verbeuren has issued as follows:
You can watch below three songs from my Bielsko-Biala clinic in Poland on september 27th. Thanks to Rafal Habrajski for these videos! I played Meinl Cymbals Classics Custom Extreme Metal, a Tama Drums Silverstar kit and a Tama SLP Vintage Steel snare.
Soilwork’s DIRK VERBEUREN has issued the following on his official blog:
What’s up fellow blasters and shredders?! Buried somewhere deep within my hectic schedule, I finally found some scraps of free time. In the resulting new instructional video series, I’ll be focusing on double kick drumming.
Many of you have emailed me asking “How can I get faster feet?” or “How can I build my stamina when playing double kick?” In this and the following videos, I’m going to share what I’ve learned over the years in the hopes of answering some of those questions and maybe even making you happier drummers.
First up: a basic single stroke exercise which should get you started regardless of your level. I’m demonstrating a gradual increase in speed, but remember to begin at a tempo that’s realistic for you. And don’t forget the keys to success: Practice, Patience and Perseverance!
Feel free to email your requests and questions to info[at]dirkverbeuren[dot]com.
Equipped with a personalized electronic kit and stellar Toontrack software and sounds, Die Crawling has been Verbeuren‘s lair of choice when laying down drum tracks for bands such as Naglfar, Bent Sea, Powermad, SCD, Anatomy of I and Colosso, as well as his smash hit MIDI pack series for Toontrack, the Library of the Extreme.
Always at the forefront of metal drumming, Verbeuren took part in October’s infamous first edition of Sick Drummer Camp, instructing and performing alongside high profile drummers such as Gene Hoglan, Sean Reinert, Derek Roddy, George Kollias, Gus Rios and Danny Walker. In 2012, with two highly acclaimed Tama/Meinl clinic tours in Europe and China already under his belt, Verbeuren will lay down drum tracks for Soilwork’s upcoming album The Living Infinite as well as his side project, Bent Sea featuring Shane Embury and Sven De Caluwé among many other unannounced recordings. In the meantime he’s booking a follow-up clinic tour in Asia and is looking forward to touring the United States to reach his American fans.
Die Crawling Studios has opened up Verbeuren’s availability to record with numerous talent packages and he’s always seeking to participate in the next exciting project. Says Verbeuren, “It’s always a blast for me in the studio. I feel at home behind the kit and get a ton of inspiration from all the new music being created around the globe. One thing I never want to stop doing is working with other musicians. Die Crawling Studios is one of my ways of contributing to the world of music. I love it!”
Check out the Die Crawling 2011- 2012 promotional reel below.