Gilles Demolder—known for his guitar playing in dark metallers Oathbreaker and death dealers Wiegedood—is set to release his debut album, Now What?, via Berlin’s Isolation Records.
Watch the video for Demolder’s second single “Honingkuchen” below:
Over the past three years, Demolder has been silently working on finding a new sound and a new way of expressing himself. After what seemed like a lifetime of trial and error, throwing away song after song and a lot of endless nights of recording, Siem Reap arose.
Wearing his heart on his sleeve, Gilles sings about daily life, thoughts about expectational masculinity, friendship, family and relationships, with substance (ab)use as a thread throughout his songs. His debut album Now What? deals with loneliness, loving and feeling loved, but most of all it is an honest experiment and a gateway into Gilles’ thoughts.
The live segment of Siem Reap will be accompanied by Wim Coppers (Wiegedood), Jasper Hollevoet (Sunflower, Ventilateur) and Filip Brans (Dogpeople), with the band soon to announce European shows for late 2021.
On the video for “Honingkuchen,” Demolder states:
“The video is about the burden of trying to be happy all the time. Basically a literal translation of how exhausting it is to carry a smiling face around.”
Describing the motivations behind Now What?, Demolder adds:
“I wanted to write a record that was 100% me, by me and for me. It might seem like a self-centered idea, but I’ve never written a record that was 100% like the way I imagine myself to be. Devoid of a ‘larger-than-life,’ unearthly idea but a mundane, real album that is close to my heart.”
Pre-order Now What? here.
Follow Siem Reap on Facebook.
