PW: Firstly congratulations on the album, I have to admit it is my first real exposure to the band. In terms of progression how would you say it compares to your past releases, it comes fairly quickly on the heels of previous album In Love With The End?

KARL: Thanks for the kind words on "War", it's much appreciated. "War" did follow up quite quickly, and in honesty, at first it felt maybe too quick in some ways, because it was only a year and half later and we basically started writing for that album right after we recorded "In Love With The End", so it seemed like there was no real break from writing and when you're touring an album it's quite tough to concentrate on the writing aspect. But I'm really happy we did do everything as we did, because "War" was the outcome and it's our finest release to date. I think it compares to previous releases pretty well, because all of our albums follow the same blueprint, there are always the same underlying musical themes running through them, yet each album is uniquely different and at least in my eyes "War" really is our strongest offering. It's very diverse musically and really expands our sound in so many ways without us changing who we are and to me it sounds very much like a typical Born From Pain album, just with new elements thrown in and these elements really work for us and improve our sound.

PW: Obviously the title War is a definitive statement. What spurred such a bold declaration, state of the world affairs? Can you ever see yourselves doing an Ice Cube and releasing Peace?

KARL: War is a bold statement and that?s something we intended. We wanted to have something simple, yet powerful and something that could really strike a chord with people and reflect what the lyrics are about on the album. That?s not to say all the lyrics are to do with countries fighting. The whole idea behind the album is to talk about what is happening in the world today and how we are at war in many different ways, on a global level with fucked up and corrupt governments, environmental chaos, poverty, disease, social problems and then on a personal level where it is becoming harder and harder to live your life, to support yourself or your family, to find work, to keep work. There are so many reasons for people to give up or lose hope on a global or personal level that it really is a War to live in today's world and we want to really push a message of not giving up, not losing hope and to really believe in yourself. We want people to find their voice through us and hopefully they can find something to identify with in what we say.

PW: You recorded the album with Tue Madsen how did that work out and how quick was the recording process? The full on production of the album was one of the first things to impress me.

KARL: Well we've been working with Tue Madsen now for the past 3 albums and he even re-mixed and re-mastered the first album we made which was "Reclaiming The Crown" and so working with Tue these days is something that is second nature. Tue is an amazing producer and engineer and really is part of the Born From Pain sound. He really makes us sound like us on record and has interesting ideas to add to the songs that we already bring in to the studio. We spent around 12 days in the studio recording and I think he mixed and mastered in 7 days, so it was all done quite quickly really. I definitely think this is the best sounding album sonically too. It really has a lot of low end and is a heavy monster of an album, yet is refined and the details shine through, which is just what we wanted.

PW: The opening track Relentless really is a call to arms with the opening, ?War? chant breaking down into thundering drums and spiralling guitars. You seem to be one of those rare (dare I say) ?tough guy,? bands that aren?t all about aggression but allow your music to develop with an almost apocalyptic guitar groove. Would you say this opens your sound to a wider audience than the purist hardcore fans?

KARL: I like how you said dare I say it, tough guy ha. Well, we really aren't a "tough guy" band, we're just hardcore kids who love hardcore and metal and a ton of other music and I don't see us in that genre. I think we definitely have a crossover appeal to many genres though and I think that is because we're a very accepting open minded band and try to fuse a lot of things in our music so it isn't only about aggression all of the time, but that is something we want to shine through. The groove element is a big aspect of our sound and that?s probably one of the reasons why we crossover so well from scene to scene or for fans of other bands. We've toured with the likes of Hatebreed, Madball, Six Feet Under, Napalm Death, played shows with hordes of different bands and we go over well with everybody. I think that?s something that sets us apart from some other bands, which is that no matter what is your main genre of taste so to say, there is probably something for everybody in what we do, and that?s even more so on "War".

PW: Speaking of which I notice the press statement accompanying the album stating you were ?never in this to win a prize for trendiest and coolest band.? You went from original label Gangstyle to the relative giant Metal Blade. How did this work out for you and did it ruffle any feathers with your fans at the time?

KARL: It's true, you know, regardless of line up, we'll always be the same guys who stand for what we started with Born From Pain. We're not one of those bands who change their style and image to fit with current trends. We are who we are and that?s it. We're just normal guys who love music but having said that, we do have ambition and drive with the band. We want to be successful at what we do, although that doesn't mean selling out, it just means we want to be successful with what we do and what we are, and that also involved going from a label like GSR Music to Metal Blade. It was something we had to do in order to grow, to move on to a bigger label that could support us more, get our albums out to more people, and it was always something GSR hoped for as well and really pushed for us to do and supported us 100% on, it had to be right for us, and Metal Blade was right for us. We talked to a few labels and they were the one that really caught our eye as being a label that understood where we came from and what we wanted to achieve. Metal Blade have been great for us and really have been a pleasure to work with over the past 2 years. Our fans were really happy for us and since Metal Blade still has their integrity it really didn't ruffle feathers. I think the days where bands are on bigger labels from underground scenes has changed and indeed the whole music scene has changed significantly in the past decade as heavier music becomes more popular and more accepted.

PW: One thing I love about the album are the memorable sledgehammer melodies of numbers like Stop At Nothing. What was it like for you seeing reaction to people witnessing songs like this live for the first time and hearing them at the listening parties you set up? Did you get the desired result?

KARL: The melody aspect of "War" is something that we are all really proud of because it?s something that we set out to add to our sound and I think it's probably one of the things that people will notice first about the new album, but it's something that fits with the sound and doesn't take away from Born From Pain. It's just an addition that makes some songs more interesting and adds more diversity to the album. It's not like we changed who we are and we only used melody where we thought it was necessary and served the purpose of the song. But yeah, it's pretty satisfying when people are into it live and totally get what you did so to speak. One of the first comments about the album is usually about the heaviness or the melody that?s in places and it's all been very positive what has been said, from fans and press.

PW: There are a host of special guests on the album. Firstly you have Dutch countryman Jan Chris on Crusader. How did this come about? I have to admit that I somewhat perversely thought the following track Grey Life opened with a riff that sounded like pure Gorefest.

KARL: We were really psyched to have so many good friends appear on the album, and that?s really what it is, friends helping us out and adding something a little bit extra special to the track. Some of the guys are people we've known for quite some time and some we've known not so long, but all of the guys add something unique to the album and really complement Che's voice and it's an honour to have those guys on our album. I mean, we've all been listening and screaming along to those guys for quite some time now, so it's cool as fuck to have them on the album. Ha, I never really heard the Gorefest thing with the intro of "Grey Life", whenever I hear it, I always hear early Metallica ha, but that?s just me probably.

PW: Tell us a bit about the other collaborations Lou Koller also pops up on the new Barcode album and of course you obviously gelled well with Barney Greenaway. I virtually blinked and missed him when he ran on stage at the Underworld on Behind Enemy Lines.

KARL: Yeah, Lou is someone we know and is a friend of the band. We don't see him too often, usually at festivals across Europe, but we always have a bit of a chat and it's good to see him. Barney is someone we got to know pretty well when we toured together on The Persistence Tour in 2005, as Born From Pain and Napalm Death shared a bus and we all got on very well, so we asked him to guest on the album, and his vocals are killer and really fit with "Behind Enemy Lines", both the music and the lyrical content. Hahaha, yeah, he was on and off within the blink of an eye. He did guest vocals on that song a handful or times on tour and it was killer to see him onstage with us, definitely a good guy and a good friend. He even came away with us for 3 shows we had between Christmas and New Year, just to tag along and hang out which was cool.

PW: What have reactions been to the album, I haven?t gone looking really but would be amazed if you got any bad reviews for it?

KARL: You know, I've looked at hundreds of reviews and have seen maybe 2 bad reviews and 10 average ones. The rest have all been really really good, even the UK press has been really good to us, which usually isn't the case with the exception of Terrorizer ha, and this time, everybody has just got and understood what we're doing, but then again, my own personal opinion is that this is a really really strong album and has so many elements that have helped our sound to grow and yet still remains focused and typically us.

PW: Funnily enough I was just browsing the glossy toilet paper that is Kerrang in a local newsagents and it describes your Napalm support as ?uninspired metalcore?. Now I wouldn?t expect accurate reporting from said rag, but metalcore??!! Am I missing something here? If you had to fit in with a user friendly genre definition how would you describe yourselves musically?

KARL: Well, us and Kerrang don't get on very well at all, which is why I was surprised to see a 4/5 review in there for the album, but I think it might just be James Sherry who holds a grudge towards us because he has reviewed us live a few times and despite the fact the shows have always been killer, he always slags us off. I can understand people not liking the music, but you can't deny a good live show is a good live show, regardless of whether you're into the band musically. And "Uninspired metalcore" really suggests he hasn't got a clue what he's talking about. We are not a metalcore band at all. To me, we are a hardcore band with metal influences, almost like a modern crossover type of band. To me, the term metalcore describes a band that is pure metal, but comes from the hardcore scene, at least that?s where the term originated from, with bands like Liar, Maroon, early Caliban, Heaven Shall Burn, Unearth etc. Our music definitely has metal in it, but also still has a strong hardcore sound in there too. I mean, take bands like Cro-Mags or Leeway, they're considered hardcore bands, but if you listen to the music, there is a hell of a lot of thrash metal in their sound, does that mean they're thrash metal bands. Not at all. It's weird, at that show in London, we really wasn't sure what to expect, you know, London is a place that we always go down a storm in and we have a lot of good friends and fans there, but when you're playing with Napalm Death I expect kids to be there solely for them, but that show was fucking electric, it really was awesome, and I don't understand how people fail to see things like that. Ah, whatever, fuck it, we know it slayed, and the other kids there know that too, that?s all that matters to me.

PW: Whilst mentioning the tour, how was that for you? BFP certainly seemed to go down really well in London. Napalm Death play a lot and have a dedicated audience that are not hugely interested in the support bands. How did you rise to this challenge?

KARL: At the start of the tour that was something that we kind of wondered about. Napalm Death are a pretty extreme band and have their own fanbase for sure and so we wondered how we'd be accepted, so we just said, ok, we'll do our thing, play our hearts out and hopefully people will get it and be into it. Fortunately, the ND crowd was pretty open minded and we had a ton of really really good shows on that tour, almost like headlining shows for a lot of them. People were going off in the pit, singing along and banging their head. There were some BFP fans at the shows, but not huge amounts, so it was really encouraging to see all these new people get into the band and the music and it turned out to be a really killer tour for us.

PW: So what?s next on the agenda for Born From Pain, you seem to have a momentum going at the moment. Are there plans for a follow up album and more tours?

KARL: The next major plan is to tour hard and everywhere. Next week we're going to Russia to play Moscow for the first time and we're all totally psyched about that and then in mid February we head to Greece just before starting our "The War Is On" headline European Tour which will see us on the road for around 6 weeks or something. On that tour we'll have support from First Blood, Bloodlined Calligraphy and The Setup, so you know it will slay. That?s an awesome package and is gonna be a lot of fun. Shows are gonna be insane. We hit the UK for like 7 dates I think, so people should check out our website or myspace page for all the dates and details. Other than that we plan to get back to the States, Japan, Brazil and hopefully some other new countries and cities. The plan is to basically tour our asses off, then make another album and click on repeat ha.

Thanks a lot for the interview and support, it's most appreciated and thanks to all our friends and fans who show support. Make sure you check out the tour in late Feb/early March in the UK, it will kill.

So there you have it and here is that list of dates so you can catch BFP in action

26/02/2007 ? White Rabbit - Plymouth
27/02/2007 - Underworld ? London
28/02/2007 ? Met Bar ? Peterborough
01/03/2007 - Face Bar ? Reading
02/03/2007 ? Rios - Bradford
03/03/2007 - Seabreeze ? Lowestoft
04/03/2007 - Furnace ? Swindon

Interviewed by Pete Woods

www.bornfrompain.com www.myspace.com/bornfrompain