Cyclone (Belgium)

Interview with Guido Gevels (vocals)

https://cyclone-thrash.bandcamp.com/album/known-unto-god

Legendary Belgian thrashers Cyclone reform and release their first new music in 35 years. The five new songs of Known Unto God (read our review here), were all written by core members singer Guido Gevels and guitarist Stefaan Daamen. Recently I talked to Guido to dive into his latest EP and to catch up on what’s been going on in the Cyclone camp during the long hiatus.

Metal Revolution: Hello Guido, how are thing in and around your band and the city of Brussels?
Cyclone: All smooth….we have a great line-up with motivated people… musicwise the city of Brussels doesn’t have much to offer lately.

MR: Can you take us back to the beginnings, when the band was formed? What were the initial plans for the band? It was back in 1988, right?
Cyclone: We formed end 1980 early 1981. We were just a bunch of friends, metalfans that decided to start playing music for fun, from 1983 on we had the definit line-up and we started writing the first songs that ended upon our 1st lp which we recorded in september 1985.

MR: After a long hiatus you decided to reform in 2018 with you being the only original member. Can you introduce other four guys from the band, and how did you get in touch with tnem?
Cyclone: When we re-formed also Stefaan Daamen the original guitarist was still in the band, he only left last year. Todays line-up is Max Deschamps guitar, Jesse Van Den Bossche guitar, Gabriel Deschamps drums, Vincent Heyman Bass and myself on vocals. I met some of the guys in my small club that I run when they played there with their original bands that’s where I saw them and noticed their skills… based on that I asked them to join us.

MR: Your music style is what I would call an old-school & high-intensity thrash metal. Is is a fitting description of your sound, or would you add anything?
Cyclone: No that’s exactly what it is, we combine heavy riffing with aggressive melody and catchiness.

MR: Following a long hiatus, you’re now back, but would you tell us the reason for your absence from the scene, and why this come-back?
Cyclone: Back in 1993 only Stefaan Daamen and I remained from the original line-up and Death Metal was taking over from Thrash Metal so we kept the honour to ourselves and decided to stop.

MR: You’ve also released your comeback five-tracker EP Known Unto God, through High Roller Records. What can you tell about this particular release?
Cyclone: When re-starting in 2018 we rehearsed for 18 months to get things back on the rails as we wanted to sound as good as in the old days so after a while at rehearsals while jamming new ideas came up and after a while we had several brand new songs. As fans kept on asking for something new we thought it was a good idea to record some of the songs. We did send out to a few labels and High Roller was realy interested, it took only one day to decide for both sides to sign the deal.

MR: Where and under what conditions were you recording the new EP? Who was in charge of sound, production and mastering?
Cyclone: We recorded all guitars in our home studio and added temporarily vocals and drums and gave Martin Furia (guitarist for Bark, Destruction ) a listen. He wanted to work with us emediately. We kept the recorded guitars and re-recorded drums and vocals with Martin, he also mixed, produced and mastered it.

MR: It’s via High Roller Records that you released Known Unto God. Are you satisfied by how your label represents you and takes care of you?
Cyclone: We sure are they are very easy to work with, we have a certain freedom and they are honest. They did everything right so far, so we are happy.

MR: During the long period of inactivity, has your sound changed or evolved compared to the beginning of your career? Have you utilized any new recording techniques to this one, compared to the songs you created before?
Cyclone: Well we had already adapted our sound a little bit when recording pour 2nd album in 1990, nothing dramaticly, little changes, we kept our guitartone… and we kept it also for the recording of Know Unto God. The only difference is with modern technology you can record digitally at home.

MR: What about the lyrical content then? Has it also changedduring the years or is the core still the same?
Cyclone: The same here already on the 2nd album lyrics became more actual than fiction and today’s lyrics are even more on the actual news and things happening in the world.

MR: Are you pleased with the reception of Known Unto God? Have you read my review?
Cyclone: We are pleased so far with the reactions and we try to follow it up and read the reviews and yes I read your review… if all reviews were like that it couldn’t go wrong. No just kidding but it’s always great to read reviews where people get it.

MR: How does your creative process work? I mean, what’s the process like when you make a new song?
Cyclone: Well riffs pop up out of nowhere, sometimes while jamming sometimes they just pop up in my head… once we have that riff, we jam it at home or at rehearsal and things start bubbeling in my head as I have the melody in my head and then suddenly you have that chorus. I can’t explain it. It just comes out of nowhere. Of course there is this thing that you have been doing this for a long time so that makes it sometimes easier to come up or work on certain ideas.

MR: What is your favorite track on Known Unto God? Is it hard to choose your favorite or…?
Cyclone: I love “Nothing is Real” because it shows a different side, the influences from the very early days… and I love “Eliminate” for the aggressive riffing and vocals in combination with a very catchy chorus that sticks to the brain after one listen, but it’s hard to choose, I love all five songs.

MR: How many copies of Known Unto God were released and which medium was used for this new edition (CD, digital, vinyl, cassette)?
Cyclone: It was released on vinyl 750 copies and 1000 copies on cd via High Roller, 350 copies vinyl and 750 cd via M-theory Audio, 1000 cd copies via Rock Stakk records… and of course on all digital streaming platforms.

MR: What about your long-term and short-term plans for the future? What do you want to achieve with the band now finally returning with this killer EP?
Cyclone: We want to re-release re-mastered versions of both our former albums Brutal Destruction and Inferior to None. Main goals is to play live especially in places and countries where we never played before. It means a lot to us to play live and getting response from our fans or people that discover us while playing live, making people happy with your music is the best thing. It gives us a great feeling and that’s what you do it for. We don’t expect to become rich out of it. (Laughing). We just play because we love that we don’t have expectations, but whatever that comes on our way is much appreciated.

MR: Now, would you tell us what the next step is for Cyclone? Recording a full-length album?
Cyclone: Well we have planned to start working on all the new ideas in the next two months to come… and yes a full album would be fantastic, but we also have a couple of old songs (from the 1986-87 era) lingering around that we would love to record, so another 4-5 track ep with those songs is also on our to do list.

MR: Being one of the veterans of thrash metal scene, what are your views on modern thrash music today? Do you listen to any of the newer thrash bands?
Cyclone: Well I must say that there is a lot of recycling or copy cat stuff but there are some bands that are not so bad. But nothing beats the early days thrash stuff; like Metallica, Exodus, Dark Angel, Destruction, etc…

MR: How can people reach your band & music?
Cyclone: Well we have an Instagram page, Facebook, Youtube and a bandcamp. You can find it looking for Cyclone official band.

MR: What interests or hobbies do you have outside of music?
Cyclone: Music is my first love it almost takes all my free time but I love being im my garden growing my own veggies, fruits, etc.

MR: I guess we just arrived to the last one – Thanks for the interview. Please tell the last words to the fans and our readers out there to finish this conversation.
Cyclone: Thanx to you and everybody that supported us throughout the years and thanx to all the new people that just found out about us. Great that so many of you bought a vinyl and cd copy, and we do hope we can meet you guys somewhere soon on the road. As said before, that’s what we do it for!!!