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One of Cape Town, South Africa’s very own gems of heavy metal, Sindulgence has announced the release of their long awaited debut album: Recollections. For those that don’t know Sindulgence, all you need to know is that from what we’ve heard so far, this one is going to be a favorite!

We’ve decided to ask the guys at Sindulgence a couple of questions involving Recollections and this is what they had to say: Scream: There seems to be a sense of shrouding mystery surrounding the sub-genre that Sindulgence falls into.  Now we know that a lot of bands hate being pigeon-holed into a genre as it limits their creativity for future material, but whether we like it or not, it remains an important factor. Marco, my trusting metal minion reckons you guys aren’t even sure yourselves of what genre you fall under. But yet he suspects it to be Progressive Melodic Death Metal. What do you have to say about that? Sindulgence: (laughs) This question pops up more often than people think. Yes, we’re not a fan at all of the whole subgenre thing. It’s actually pretty pointless trying to label us with one subgenre, to be honest – there is such a wide diversity in metal subgenre within our material that it’s hard to say. I guess if you had to try call us something, it would be some ridiculous long name like Melodic-Death-Black-Blackened-Groove-Party-Country-Blues-Math-Prog-Hard Rock-Tech-Alternative-Experimental-Fusion- … etc METAL. The way we write music is not genre-specific, we just write whatever we feel like. Rest assured though, it doesn’t stray too far from still being called Heavy Metal. Scream: What is behind the name of your debut ‘Recollections’? Sindulgence: ‘Recollections’ has multiple interpretations. Figuratively, one way of looking at it, is as a tribute to our ancestors and to the ancestors of humankind as a whole. It is also a look into how things have changed throughout history and how human nature remains dominantly evil when you look at things like world leaders and moral decay in society. Recollections is also an homage to the artists of the old days (renaissance, medieval eras etc) who were much better respected and considered rather as noblemen than struggling bums as is the norm today. We feel highly saddened by the direction the music industry has turned because of things like the internet and market congestion. Recollections, as a product and symbol for us, is mainly just a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak, to tell people to look back at how things were and to appreciate artists once more. Scream: How many songs out of the track listing are brand new songs? Sindulgence: All of them except for ‘Thorns’ and ‘Dying to Live’. One of them is still being written as we speak. Scream: I believe that you recorded this album without a label. You guys did this completely off your backs. Is producing albums without a label a good or bad idea to continue doing or would you still prefer to get signed? Give us your views – Good or bad. Sindulgence: The main reason we’re doing it ourselves is because we don’t have the financial aid that a signed band would have. We all have day-jobs to try and finance things, but it is extremely difficult. We wouldn’t mind being signed to a label that treated us fairly; we’ve noticed that often labels don’t give the artists enough creative freedom. We are the kind of band that needs loads of creative freedom because of our strange and unconventional approach to music. To be frank, the only thing besides money that we would need a label for, is distribution and a few more contacts for bigger festivals. Scream: Who’s been helping you produce, record and mix your songs and have they had any influence on the album’s sound? What was it like working with them? Sindulgence: Our album is being recorded, mixed and mastered by Dean Hammond at his home studio in Durbanville (Cape Town, ZA). I’d say he’s had an influence on the overall sound of the album, but not really as far as music writing goes. It’s really awesome working with Dean, he’s super chilled, friendly, and comfortable to work with and he’s very confident in us. Not to mention, highly skilled and experienced. Scream: Word has it that the album will be coming with a DVD too… What kind of material can expect to find on this DVD? Sindulgence: Oh boy It’s mostly interviews, behind the scenes of what we get up to, studio footage, live footage, social gatherings and comedy. We have over 10 hours of footage that’s currently being edited and prepped for a 1.5-2hour feature. There’s everything that a fan and curious onlooker would want. It’s very entertaining and a very honest look into the local Metal scene in and around Cape Town (South Africa). The DVD will be available with every purchase of the album, it comes in the same jewel case by means of a flip-tray. It’s not a super high quality DVD, just a little something extra we’ve included so the fans can get to know us a little better. Scream: Where will one be able to obtain ‘Recollections’ as well as Sindulgence merch and when the set is release date? Sindulgence: For our local fans, you can get the album/DVD and t-shirts at any of our gigs including and after our album launch, 23 June 2012. Local fans can email ryan_e_ns@hotmail.com to pre-order your copy of the album, DVD and t-shirt bundle for an extra low price. For our overseas (non-South African) fans, we are in the process of implementing ways of shipping it out to you. Link up with our Facebook page for more news and updates on that. As far as online downloads go, we will be making it available for purchase to download on websites such as iTunes etc. More info still to come.

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/sindulgenceofficial

Official Event Page of Album Launch

ReverbNation 

Muller Van Niekerk: Vocals

Byron Dinwoodie: Bass & Vocals

Ryan Eberlin: Guitars

Rodney Dosson: Guitars

Michael Snyman: Drums

 Track Listing 01 – Room 302 *intro 02 – Swindle 03 – The Woodsman 04 – Thorns 05 – Poverty and Hand Grenades 06 – The March Hare 07 – Silly Dream 08 – Dying to Live 09 – Wine of the Gods 10 – Keith 11 – Pale Gardens BONUS TRACKS (Maybe)