After a four-year studio hiatus, EBM staple Covenant is back with their new album Modern Ruin, and this time they have brought Daniel Myer, the mastermind behind Haujobb, among many other electronic acts, along for the ride. We had the opportunity to talk about the state of this predominant EBM group with band member Joakim Montelius, and together with Myer and frontman Eskil Simonsson, it is clear that there are more new and different chapters to be written to their story.

interview by Aaron Andrews and DJ ArcaTek

Can you tell us a little about the new album Modern Ruin? Are there certain themes, ideas, or techniques that have been important to its creation?

Joakim Montelius : Like every full-length album, Modern Ruin is a collection of ideas and reactions. So there is no overall message. It’s a selection of songs that we think represent what we felt over the last four years. The title itself refers to the loss of some of the ideals that Modernism was about: the idea that we can make a difference, our ingenuity and our power of will can help us build a better world, that positive feeling and the ideological eagerness to dedicate a lot of work and energy to such a project. Somehow it got lost and grew into cynicism and confusion and our new technology, our knowledge, even our art became tools to maintain the old paranoia and selfishness that Modernism was supposed to oppose. So, to me, that’s the ‘modern ruin’.

How long was the process of making Modern Ruin? There were push back dates on this album; was it due to record company issues or was it you going back into the studio to perfect the Covenant product?

JM : There were many reasons for the long delay. We toured a lot after Skyshaper, we made a DVD of the tour, then we moved our studio twice, we were busy with personal matters, our record label went bust, we lost our founding member Clas Nachmanson and Daniel Myer took his place, Eskil got married and divorced, I got a daughter… Let’s just say that for us these last four years were anything but quiet but it made the process of recording the album slower. We worked on it on and off for the last couple of years, wrote songs and shuffled demos back and forth, but the work in earnest only started last year. It’s hard to say exactly how long it took since it was so split up and fragmented. A somewhat realistic estimate would be perhaps four to five months in total. Something like that.

read the full interview in the February/March 2011 Issue

VNV Nation – Of Faith, Power and Glory

release date : June 23, 2009
released by : Anachron
info : 7th album . 10 tracks .
50:32 run time
genre : futurepop, electronic rock,
synthpop
reviewed by : Jeffrey Naughton aka DJ ArcaTek

VNV Nation has been the powerhouse group in the electronic scene for the past 15 years now. The last two albums by VNV Nation (Matter+Form and Judgement) have seen Ronan Harris go in a different direction with his vocals. I’m not saying that was a good thing or a bad thing, however I can tell you that I really liked Matter+Form. This new album goes into the same direction with some new styles but also goes back to VNV’s roots, where they put out a string of very successful albums. Let me just say this, VNV will never put out an album like Empires ever again. That was a one in a million album and if they even come close to something like that then I would consider it a success. Futureperfect and Praise the Fallen are excellent albums in their own right, which brings me to this: the new album titled Of Faith, Power and Glory comes very close to the style and sound of their excellent past albums. For me this album is very comparable to FuturePerfect. I felt that way from the first time I listened to this album and feel very strongly still after many listens. I’m not going to break down each song on this album because it wouldn’t do it justice. As a club DJ who’s been a resident in the clubs for the past 14 years I will say that this album has some gems in here; “Sentinal”, “Tomorrow Never Comes”, “The Great Divide”, and “Art of Conflict” are the ones that stand out. Throughout the album I felt that it had a late 90s early 2000s vibe to it, don’t ask me how but it just does. Perhaps it is because the rhythms, sounds, breaks, and vocals, break away from the last two albums and revert back in time to the middle ground of their works.

If you’re a skeptic and think it will be like Matter+Form and Judgement then you are sorely mistaken and are depriving yourself the opportunity of this album. I think many of us fall under the category that if we don’t like something that we will categorize it as something we won’t buy, listen to, or whatever. In music we need to have an open view of things instead of pushing it to the side because we didn’t like an album, group, or whatever. The beats on this album are danceable and complete. This album is good for the many club hits as well as just a CD to sit down and listen to when you’re doing things around the house. I would highly recommend buying this album at the usual stores (that’s if your city still has a music store) or if you’re non committal then buy a song here and there off of iTunes. It’s a decision you won’t regret.

recommended tracks : Art of Conflict, The Great Divide
if you like you may like : And One, Covenant
overall 8 . lyrics 8 . music 9 . recording quality 9

check out VNV Nation on tour now and playing Buffalo, NY March 26th
and don’t miss the Buffalo, NY concert’s afterparty thrown by DJ ArcaTek at Club W