INTERVIEW WITH SVEN DE CALUWE BY PAUL CASTLES
If you were a kid growing up in the 80s, you couldn’t fail to have been impressed by a golden generation of bicep bulging all-action movie heroes. Coffin Feeder had no hesitation in turning the clock back a few decades so that they could pay their own personal homage on their debut album Big Trouble.
“Well, hell yeah,” says Sven De Caluwe. “Arnold raised me, Stallone motivated me, and Jean-Claude Van Damme kicked me in the face emotionally. Those movies taught us important life lessons, like ‘never trust a guy with an eyepatch’ and ‘if you’re running from an explosion, don’t look back, just jump in slow motion,’ valuable skills, really.”
Coffin Feeder was created by Sven over the lockdown when he was seeking something to plug the days. He called in a few like-minded Belgian bruisers steeped in death metal and grindcore, and the pieces very quickly morphed into material for Coffin Feeder.
“We were all stuck at home, slowly mutating into couch goblins,” recalls Sven. “We thought, ‘You know what this pandemic needs? More blast beats.’ Naturally, the only responsible thing to do was start Coffin Feeder. Honestly, it was either start a new band or start baking banana bread like everyone else. I think we made the right call, though I still make banana bread—death metal banana bread.
“WE WERE RIFFING AND WRITING LIKE MANIACS. THINK THE
A-TEAM, BUT WITH MORE TATTOOS AND TINNITUS.”
“It was like one of those movie montages where everyone gets a phone call, drops what they’re doing, and shows up fully geared up and ready to go. Within a couple of Zoom calls and some fever dream texts about explosions and grindcore, we were riffing and writing like maniacs. Think The A-Team, but with more tattoos and tinnitus.”
With the lineup completed by Belgian brethren in the seriously stripped form gathered from Flemish firebrands, such as Leng Tch’e and Fleddy Melculy, there was only one direction down which Coffin Feeder could realistically go.
“Well, the initial conversation went something like this,” relates Sven.
“Grind?”
“Yes.”
“Death metal?”
“Duh.”
“80s action movies?”
“SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY.”
We knew exactly what flavor of madness we wanted from the jump—like a dirty mixtape of Stallone movies, horror flicks, and grindcore breakdowns. Perfectly unhealthy. Or a good solid mixture of all the bands we are all in and see if that riff salad is cohesive!”
“SOME PARTS WE RECORDED TOGETHER AND THEN SOME PARTS WE SENT BACK AND FORTH LIKE OLD BLACK MARKET VHS TAPES”
While much of the music to filter through the stench of the Covid cloud was recorded in isolation, the newly formed Coffin Feeder family were able to get together in person at various stages of the recording process.
“Yep, some parts we recorded together and then some parts we sent back and forth like old black market VHS tapes,” laughs Sven. “You know, shady deals like ‘pssst, I got some fresh blast beats for you, meet me behind the gas station.’”
“Modern problems require modern solutions…and Dropbox links,” he adds. “The drums were recorded by Siebe (Hermans) at Project Zero Studios in Laakdal, Belgium, guitars were tracked by Jeroen (Camerlynck) at his home studio, whereas the bass and vocals were tracked at Studio Hearse in Heule close to where Jan (Halbert, bass) and I live.”
The band also played a winning card when asking Dave Otero to produce the album, the highly respected producer and acknowledged master of his craft, having worked alongside the likes of Cattle Decapitation, Shadow of Intent, and Archspire.
The bludgeoning 12 track full-length debut builds on the positive work from two brutal EPs, Stereo Homicide and Over the Top, that were convincing enough for Listenable Records to come knocking. Album tracks like “If It Bleeds” and “Love At First Death” poleaxe you with the ferocity and confidence of a well disguised heavyweight uppercut to the jaw.
“IN THE END, IT ALL CAME TOGETHER. CHAOS IS A KEY INGREDIENT IN EVERY COFFIN FEEDER RECIPE.”
Also noteworthy is the guest appearance of Julien Truchan of Benighted on “Porkchop Express,” an ode to John Carpenter’s timeless movie Big Trouble in Little China.
“There were plenty of technical gremlins, caffeine overdoses, and moments where the drums were this close to being hurled into the sun,” says Sven. “But in the end, it all came together. Chaos is a key ingredient in every Coffin Feeder recipe. The funniest part of that whole debacle was vocal and bass recordings being delayed for four months due to interfering signals from lawnmower robots—no joke.”
The track “Plain Zero” sees Sven pair up for a blistering vocal double header with Chimaira’s formidable frontman Mark Hunter, something Sven was understandably thrilled by.
“Mark is an absolute legend!” he reminds us. “We hit him up and said, ‘Hey man, do you want to yell about explosions with us?’ and he said, ‘Hell, yes!’ Working with Mark was super easy, super fun. He crushed it like he was born for it, which, if you’ve heard Chimaira, you already knew. On top of that, it’s really a bucket list collab for us, as we all have been Chimaira fans since Pass Out of Existence, so with a tear in my eyes, I can absolutely say mission accomplished!”
“EVERY SHOW WE’VE PLAYED FEELS LIKE A SCENE FROM MAD MAX BUT WITH MORE MERCH TABLES!”
Coffin Feeder, the lineup completed by Bart Govers (guitar/vocals), has already made its mark live, the power and precision of the studio work transmitting with equal fervor to the stage, most recently when sharing a tour bus across Europe with Baest and Benighted.
“Every show we’ve played feels like a scene from Mad Max but with more merch tables!” laughs Sven. “The sheer energy has been insane—circle pits, crowd surfing, people yelling Schwarzenegger quotes at us mid-set! It’s beautiful chaos. We wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“We’re throwing ourselves on stages like human grenades. We’re playing Lion Metal Fest, Summer Breeze, and a bunch of other places where the volume goes to 11 and the beer flies like shrapnel. More shows equal more chaos equal more happy Coffin Feeders.”
While the gigs have so far been confined to European shores, a cross-Atlantic adventure is very much part of the plan, adds Sven.
“America, get ready! We’re dying to come over, drink all of the coffee, crash some stages, and cause a national shortage of neck braces from headbanging. If there’s a good offer and we can make it work financially, it would be our absolute pleasure to bring it over there! No Mountain Dew Baja Blast is safe!”
Such ambitions suggest Coffin Feeder is no longer seen by Sven as an aside from his main band Aborted. “That’s right, the band may have started as a side-project, sure, but now it’s developed into a full-on monster. It’s a flaming semi-truck crashing through a shopping mall! It’s wild, honestly. What started as ‘let’s make a fun noisy project’ turned into ‘people are screaming along to ‘Porkchop Express’ in the pit.’”
“It’s been like watching your weird little mutant baby win a gold medal in mayhem. We’re stoked out of our minds to finally unleash Big Trouble on the world! Coffin Feeder has its own identity now, and it’s too late to turn back. We’re in this for the full action packed, sweat drenched ride, that’s for sure.”
“IT’S BEEN LIKE WATCHING YOUR WEIRD LITTLE MUTANT BABY WIN A GOLD MEDAL IN MAYHEM.”
Although Belgian blood drives the Coffin Feeder frenzy, the band members usually communicate in English, as three different regional dialects can sometimes dilute the conversation. There’s no language barrier when it comes to suggestions of a follow-up to Big Trouble with Sven already looking at concept options.
“We’re like a chainsaw on wheels. You think we’re going one way, and then BAM! We crash through a new wall. We’ll always keep that 80s/90s action movie spirit, but maybe next time we bring in horror, sci-fi, more creatures, maybe even a RoboCop concept album. Who knows? The VHS tape possibilities are endless. but there will be a second album, I can tell you that!”
But are the heroes of old still relevant in today’s cleaner cut society? Are there enough new muscle kids on the block to replace the original old school guys?
“Don’t worry, there’s a few,” asserts Sven. “John Wick comes to mind. It’s got the ridiculous action, endless ammo, and minimal talking. Plus, Keanu is the wholesome modern day answer to the 80s beefcake action star, but in general, they don’t make them like they used to. Where’s my 240 pound hero with a rocket launcher fighting mutant alligators? Hollywood, call me.”
