SALEM Drummer Talks About New Album, Full Album Streaming At AOL's Noisecreep

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«Playing God And Other Short Stories», the long anticipated upcoming new full-length from legendary Israeli extreme metallers SALEM, is currently streaming in its entirety via Noisecreep / AOL Music!

Noisecreep.com recently also caught up with SALEM skinsman Nir Nakav on an exclusive interview, giving a more detailed insight on the meaning behind each song on «Playing God And Other Short Stories».

Below are some of the excerpts from the interview:

Salem drummer Nir told Noiscreep that his Israeli band's thrashy new album, 'Playing God and Other Short Stories,' is a «collection of stories … that are not necessarily related to each other. The only quality they have in common is that they were put through the same processor, the Salem digestive system and, therefore, carry the same sound signature.» 

Ah, the Salem digestive system! That means the tunes come out as sometimes thrashy, sometimes doomy, yet always corrosive metal. Nir described the music as having a «good tension and release balance, since we aren't going for the extreme at all times.» His perspective is that a song needs to be constructed like a movie, «with blast sections being countered by slower sections. Extremity for the sake of extremity gets boring. You need to give your listeners a chance to breathe every now and then. It's like being an expert interrogator, and violence is not always the answer.»

Nir walked us through a handful of songs, which you can use as your guide when enjoying the tracks. "'Drums of the Dead' is Salem's soundtrack to a Dark Horse comic book of the same name,» he said of the percussive track. «In the story, Abe Sapien goes on his first solo mission without Hellboy to look into reported paranormal activities that are taking place on a shipping route. We don't want to ruin the story, so go get 'BPRD Vol. 1,' put the CD on and have a blast.»

Nir also revealed that the roaring, staccato 'Exodus' is like their version of the Bob Marley classic. «The Rastafaris use the biblical story of the ancient Hebrews struggle in Egypt to be released from slavery as a symbol for their own fight,» he said. «One theory claims that King Solomon gave the Ark of the Covenant to the son of the Queen of Sheba, who was of African descent and one of his many wives. Another says that the Ark of the Covenant is buried somewhere amidst the mountain of Judea, and that the queen's son took a replica. The Ark is still buried or in exile. We thought it was time for us to reclaim our heritage. So here we are again, on the journey out of Egypt, Salem style.»

'Downfall of Paris' is «a pretty bloody one,» according to Nir. It also features female vocals. «It dates back to the French Revolution, but will be forever identified with the American Civil War. This tune's history is so rich, we could have had an entire article written about that alone. Let's just conclude our commentary about this song with Elson's [National Music of America, 1899] report: 'It was sung to many a scene of massacre and bloodshed; it was warbled and trilled out when the mob carried the head of the beautiful Princess de Lamballe, on a pike, through the streets of Paris, and thrust it up for the unhappy queen to look at.'»

Check out the record, along with an in-depth track-by-track breakdown from SALEM drummer Nir Nakav: http://www.noisecreep.com/2010/03/01/salem-playing-god-and-other-short-stories-album-stream/

The stream will only be available for a limited time. Don't miss it!

The band's seventh studio album «Playing God And Other Short Stories» was recorded at Harold Studios in Israel and mastered by UE Nastasi at the prestigious Sterling Sound in NYC. «Playing God And Other Short Stories» includes a guest vocal appearance by At The Gates frontman Tomas Lindberg, (on “The Mark Of The Beast Part 1” and “The Mark Of The Beast Part 2”) as well as a cover of Bob Marley’s “Exodus» and will be released via Pulverised Records this spring.

SALEM is:

Ze’ev Tananboim – Vocals
Nir Gutraiman – Guitars
Lior Mizrahi – Guitars
Michael Goldstein – Bass
Nir Nakav – Drums

http://www.myspace.com/salemband