Interviews About Albums: SOULRIDE - Murder Act (2024)

In this new interview, we sat down with the Polish Metal band SOULRIDE to ask questions about their album, "Murder Act".

1. What can you say about this new EP/CD?

In 2011 we released our second EP Paralyzed and three tracks from this EP were included on the Murder Act album. This shows that the material on the album is very diverse, actually from the beginning of the band to the present, because the last track, Murder Act, was created at the end of 2023, just before we began recording for the album. This also shows the path that Soulride has taken, as we know there have been many line-up changes, a temporary suspension of the band, and a period when we played only 2 concerts a year. Of course, these older tracks have been slightly modernized, some parts have been slightly changed to match them to the new tracks that were already created in the current line-up. The tracks on the album are of course not in the order they were created, we mixed them up and I think it all fits together very well. Two tracks (Lost Land and Paralyzed) were recorded a year earlier in the studio as promotional tracks before we even began properly planning them and we also recorded music videos for them.

Piotr Szafraniec did a great job, first creating the character of George, who first had just a "face" for the demo, and then, in connection with our ideas and suggestions for the album cover, creating a full character and placing him in the scenery of the title track.

2. What is the meaning of the EP/CD name?

The title track Murder Act - presents a true story about resurrectionists and doctors who wanted to explore the secrets of human anatomy at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries in Great Britain. The full title is "Murder Act - An Act for Better Preventing the Horrid Crime of Murder", it was an act established in 1752.

3. Which one is the composer of the CD/EP?

Only one track is fully Shopen's (A. Sadowski), two tracks we made together. The rest are my songs, which took shape during rehearsals with different line-ups over the years. The same with the lyrics, they were created in different periods and with different vocalists who wrote them. So there is both the lyrics of the first vocalist Paweł Tylek (Paralyzed), lyrics by Kamila Schmidt (Three Witches, Way of Life, Lump of Clay, and This is the End), and the rest by Shopen. In addition, Kamila sang as a guest in three songs and did great as usual.

4. If you had to pick one song, which one would you pick?

All songs are important to us, and especially to me because I have been in this band from the very beginning. It shows our musical path from 2008 to now. How the band has changed, how our music has changed, and how my perception of music, and the way of composing songs has changed. I am very happy with the current line-up of Soulride and I can safely say that it is the best line-up in terms of music and socializing. That's why all the tracks from the Murder Act album sound best in this lineup.

5. Is there a special message in this EP/CD? If there is what it is?

We present stories in individual tracks but with the assumption that it is only and exclusively our opinion or vision. We don't want to impose our point of view on anyone but we want our music to be a pleasure to listen to. Music shouldn't moralize but entertain.

6. Are there some lyrics that you'd love to share?

All of them. Even the one from Paralyzed which deals with alcohol consumption and was created 15 years ago. At that time alcohol was omnipresent in the band that's why this text was created. And now it's definitely less common and in smaller quantities. This is official information for the media ;-) ;-)

7. Which inspirations have been important for this album? Like musically or friends, family, someone you'd love to thank especially?

Musically, we managed to gather people whose musical tastes are in the 80s, which us were the best times for metal and are still an inspiration for us when it comes to music. Personally, I keep going back to bands from that period and not only to metal bands, because rock music from the 80s is also great. As for the sound of the album, we wanted it to be more from that time, with vocals at the level of instruments rather than very in-your-face as it is done now. I personally dedicated this album to my mother who died a few weeks before the album was released and who always supported me in my passion for playing the guitar. She always asked about the progress of work on the album and about concerts during our conversations. Besides, she was at a few concerts and always liked them.

8. Something to add?

Come to concerts, and support local bands, we always want to see you right in front of the stage because we play concerts primarily for you, dear audience. Buy a beer and have fun at concerts with the bands.