Interview: Cold Snap

Cold Snap, how did you come up with that name?

The name Cold Snap is brought by our guitar player, Leo, it actually doesn’t have a real meaning, because we want to choose a name that sound good. Later we found out that Cold Snap is a term that is used in Australia when they announce that really bad weather, really cold weather is coming, in a short time.

What is the rest of the history of the band?

Well, we started the band in the year 2003, we started as a six-piece band and now, twelve years later, we are with four band members. So now we have one drummer, one guitarist, one bass and one on vocals. So far we released three albums, our third album, World War 3, is just released by Eclipse Records last month. We played around 300 shows in Europe, we have done three tours so far, one with Ektomorf, one with Pro-Pain and one part with Dead By April.

Yeah, I reviewed World War 3.

I know, thank you very much for that, it was a great review.

You come from Croatia. How is the metalscene there?

We have very good metal, but the problem is, lots of these bands can’t live from only playing. Few bands can see it as work, so most bands fall apart. I should mention, we have a really great band, Father from Rijeka, but the problem is that they fell apart. Currently there is one really good band called Kryn, also from Rijeka. If you have a chance, you should really have a listen to them. To mention others, we have a band called Free Ride, who are currently on tour.

You play a mix between metal and Eastern European song structures. What does it sound like for someone who never heard your music?

Well, most of the people usually don’t see that we are putting some Eastern European parts in it. Most of the people just see us as a nu-metalband or groove metal band or whatever you say, this new type of metal. So, when somebody hears us first, they mostly say “Oh, you sound like Godsmack, Slipknot, have some Korn parts in it” or something like that. But from our point of view, it wasn’t our intention to copy other bands, just play music we love and it just end up like that.

I think your music is pretty unique.

Thank you very much, we try to make it unique.

What are your musical influences?

Every member of the band is listening to different kinds of music, not only just metal. Our guitarist is listening, most of the time, to electronic music. I am listening to more classic metal styles, I been raised on Iron Maiden, Saxon and Led Zeppelin and bands like that. Denis and Jan are usually listening to new metal, Machine Head and stuff like that. So, from every bandmember we get something. Every bandmember does other things on creating songs.

You just released World War 3, you already mentioned that. How are the reactions you already have heard about it?

Well, we have some really good response from the American market, because Eclipse Records, the record company that released World War 3, is based in New York and most of their promotion goes to the American market. But we got really good reviews from all over the world. So far, everything is going as planned and I hope that we get good responses in the future and I hope that we will also play outside Europe.

Before World War 3, you released one EP and two LP’s, did much changed for the new album?

Well, we were very young at the time when we started the band, we were thirteen/ fifteen years old. We actually just started playing our instruments, so our first record sounds very rough, but that were the very early beginnings of Cold Snap. On World War 3 you can hear that our music grew up, in every way. I mean, the major thing is the sound, this is the second record on which we worked with Danish metal producer Tue Madsen and he did an excellent job on the record, but he also helped us, he gave us tips and he helped with some really hard parts to make it even sound better.

Why did you choose for the title World War 3? Because it could be a bit provocative.

It should be provocative, because our thoughts are that World War 3 doesn’t have to mean that actually war is going on. With tanks, guns and stuff like that. I think that World War 3 is already going on around us. Most of the things in our world are coming from the media. Whenever you heard new news, from the TV, the newspapers, you actually can’t know if they are telling the truth. We are getting information all the time, from the TV-stations, from the local media, from everything around us. The politicians are not telling the truth on almost every word they are saying. And all the stuff what is going on with the genetically modificated food and genetically modificated human beings in certain ways. All this can be announced as World War 3.

Can we expect some touring in support of the new album?

Last year we did a tour, which was called Rise Again Tour and in some sort of way this was the announcement of our new album, but we plan to do some festivals this year, we are in the booking stage right now, and maybe there are some shows in Germany or Belgium later this year, but we don’t have exact dates at this point. And if something comes up, maybe we will have a standalone tour at the end of the year, just Cold Snap and maybe supporting some other bands. But this is only a plan, we don’t have anything booked so far.

Are there other future plans for Cold Snap?

Wow, we always have some future plans. Right now we are writing new music already, we completed two completely new songs and we have ideas for ten new songs yet right now, but we don’t have plans to go into the studio. I think in the next year this won’t happen, because we want to make songs at their best before we record them. So, generally our plan is to tour as much as we can, to play as many shows as we can. We also have plans for the new video, it will be for the song Monster and it will be recorded later this year. After the summer I think.

When you can choose every band in the world, which band would you choose to tour with?

Well, in our wildest dreams, I think it would be very nice to tour with Slipknot, but when we are talking in some more real-life, I would like to tour with Godsmack maybe, Korn, but to me I would really like to tour with Death Angel.

What advice would you give to young and starting bands?

I think the best advice is to keep your head in the middle. Don’t expect too much when you start a metalband. Just be yourself, play the music you want and play the music you can play. Don’t force yourself and you must finish it in the end. This is a thing most newcomer bands actually doesn’t do, i think.

What is your definition of success as a band?

Really interesting question! For me I think Cold Snap already succeeded as a band, because my definition of success, when we started the band, was just to have fun, just to play music I like and just to play on the biggest metal festival in Europe, on Wacken Open Air. I already accomplished all of that, so for me I had succeeded with Cold Snap. So I hope, in next years, I will have more fun than I did already, tour with more bands I like, and to meet more people.

What is the greatest thing happened for Cold Snap?

I think the greatest thing was when we played Wacken Open Air. I think this was the biggest audience we played so far. We were actually very scared before that show, because we didn’t know how the people would respond. Because we are not an old school metal band, which Wacken Open Air is usually presenting. But after the first song, after we played Straight To Hell, almost everybody got horns up in the air and everybody was screaming. That was the greatest moment so far.

Where do you think you would be in a world without music?

I think I would be dead, because I can’t imagine a world without music. I usually listen to music almost every day, I actually can’t live without music in some sort of way. If anyone would say “What would you like to lose, hearing or the ability to see?” Hearing would be, by far, the worst anybody can take from me.

Is there anything else you want to share to the readers of DutchMetalManiac?

I hope readers will have much fun with this interview, which was short, but really good. I had really fun answering the questions.

Questions answered by Cold Snap’s Zoki.

Read my review about World War 3 here.

Cold Snap Official Website
Cold Snap Facebook