Belgian heavy hitters Rise And Fall have just dropped a megaton of noise in the form of their new album, Our Circle Is Vicious (Deathwish/Stomp).

The long-awaited full-length follow-up to 2005’s Into Oblivion, the Kurt Ballou-produced effort re-asserts Rise And Fall’s authority over the increasingly crowded heavy hardcore scene.

With the band set to kick off their first Australian tour in just a few days time (see full tour dates listed below), UB.com’s Danger Coolidge traded words with R&F vocalist Bjorn Dossche…

We love chocolate and beer – would we be in heaven if we went to Belgium? Is it really as awesome as it sounds – why isn’t everyone from Belgium just a drunk, fat slob?
Yes, you would be in heaven. If you believe in the whole concept of heaven and hell that is, but that might be another discussion for another time. We’re known for our chocolate, beer, waffles, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Manneke Pis. We have our fair amount of drunk, fat slobs, but we also have a fair amount of people who just enjoy the taste of a beer once in a while. It’s all about balance I guess. Plus beer and chocolate are so normal and common, most people don’t freak out over those things really.

Belgium has the most diverse national collection of quality beer in the world – what are some of your personal favourite Belgian beers?
This is where I’m going to disappoint you. I don’t drink beer. I’m that one backwards asshole that doesn’t. However, I can tell you what beers my father enjoys the most: Stella Artois, Hoegaarden, Leffe, Duvel, Affligem and de Gulden Draak.

Do you get asked about chocolate and beer a lot when you are overseas?
Almost every day. It’s not a big deal though. I would imagine it’s similar to Australians getting asked about kangaroos, koalas, Kylie Minogue and Crocodile Dundee all the time.

Belgium has three official languages, Dutch (Flemish), French and German – what language do you speak? Is it difficult having people speaking all different languages in the same country?
We all speak Dutch. That’s our native tongue. Plus we all speak French too, to some degree. We get taught French in school from when we are around 10, so some of it sticks. Basically the northern half of the country speaks Dutch, the southern half speaks French and than there’s a small part in the east that speaks German. I wouldn’t say it is difficult having people that speak different languages in the same country, as long as everyone is willing to make some effort. That’s where things go wrong sometimes.

Why was the was four years between Into Oblivion and this one?
It took us such a long time for a couple of reasons. First of all, we toured and played for what seemed to be forever on Into Oblivion that we’d almost forgotten what it was like to get together and jam on new songs. We had been out of that creative mindset for so long, it really took us a while to get everyone on the same page and get to writing. We also really struggled to find a good practice space, once that was settled, practicing and writing seemed to go somewhat easier. Other than that, there was also a fair amount of tension within the band at times, which didn’t help much either. I would say that tension both hindered our progress, as well as made the whole process a lot more intense. We really set the bar high for this album; we wanted to outdo everything else we’d ever done. We were really critical of everything we came up with, which slowed us down too, but makes for better songs in the long run.

Seems there are a lot more bands doing that similar style now – the one you helped to pioneer. How do you feel about this – is it a good thing? Does this mean you had to make Our Circle Is Vicious something extra-special – to stand out from the crowd?
It’s weird but somehow flattering to see the amount of bands that more or less have the same thing going we had on Into Oblivion. However, I feel like we’ve evolved in a different direction with this new album, not to get away from that sound or whatever, but just because that was what was coming out of us this time around. In the years that have passed since Into Oblivion we’ve all evolved and we’ve all been exposed to so much more, so obviously that had an impact on our sound. I still love that record and I like a lot of the bands that operate in that realm, but I definitely didn’t want us to write the same record twice.

Our Circle Is Vicious was produced once again by Kurt from Converge. Was he a different producer than before, with all the experience he’s had since 2005 and was his fee a lot larger than last time!?
Haha. Money’s the thing I usually don’t know anything about, so you’d have to ask him about the fees… However, Kurt only mixed Into Oblivion, we recorded that record in Belgium and he mixed it in his studio. So recording Our Circle Is Vicious was actually the first time we got to actually work together. As in “in the same room”. It was great. He just knows. Kurt understood what we were going for and understood what it was going to take to get us there. Perfect man for the job.

Do you read much?
Yeah I do read quite a lot. I try to read whatever magazines I can get my hands on…  Music, fashion, culture, history, food… those are the things that interest me the most. I read a lot of novels too, being on tour gives you a lot of time to read so yeah. Here’s some of the novels I’ve been reading the past few months: Paul Auster – Man In The Dark, Jack Kerouac – On The Road, John Steinbeck – Travels With Charly. I started reading James Ellroy’s “Blood’s A Rover” a few days ago too. He’s one of my favourite writers. I also raged through When Giants Walked The Earth, that Led Zeppelin biography. Insane. Zines, whatever I can get my hands on. Blogs, whenever I have too much time online. So I guess I do read a bit of everything.

Rise And Fall are heading to Australia for the first time – what are you expecting?
I’ve only heard good things about Australia from all the bands that we’ve talked to that have been there… So I’m hoping it’s as cool as they say it is. We are super excited anyway, I can’t wait to get on that plane.

What is your favourite movie? Or if you don’t have one, how about a rough Top 5?
Top 5 off the top of my head right now… Gladiator, Koko Flanel, Young Guns II, Clockwork Orange, Tombstone. Most random Top 5 ever, I know.

Someone told us that in Belgium Santa Claus doesn’t have reindeers pulling his sleigh but instead he comes on a steamship from Spain and rides a white horse – is he just yanking our chain or what?
You guys have done some excellent research I must say. However there’s been some confusion. We celebrate Saint Nicholas on December 6th. He resembles Santa Claus but is tall and slender and does indeed ride a white horse. He also has a bunch of slaves with him that ride donkeys. Not very politically correct but whatever. He does come on a steamboat all the way from Spain too, or so people tell their kids. It’s weird ’cause Saint Nicholas was actually a priest or bishop from what is now known as Turkey. For Christmas, on December 25th (duh) we have the same fat Santa Claus everyone else has. Reindeers and all. I heard that guy was invented by the Coca-Cola company though?

What do you want for Christmas?
A new Penfield wintercoat. Some fresh kicks. Peace on earth. Milk and cookies.

Thanks for your time Bjorn, look forward to seeing you guys Down Under.
Thank you too. I read most of your back issues while we were recording at God City. Great stuff, I loved it.

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Dates:
Wednesday 9th December – Rosemount, Perth
Thursday 10th December – The YMCA HQ, Perth [AA]
Friday 11th December – Meredith Enigma Bar, Adelaide [AA]
Saturday 12th December – Ding Dong, Melbourne
Sunday 14th December – Meredith Castle, Melbourne [AA]
Wednesday 16th December – Bald Faced Stag, Sydney [Lic / AA]
Thursday 17th December – YAC, Byron Bay [AA]
Friday 18th December – Top Floor, Brisbane [AA]
Saturday 19th December – Rosies, Brisbane

Our Circle Is Vicious is out now through Deathwish Inc. / Stomp.

Rise And Fall MySpace: www.myspace.com/riseandfall13