UN: It's been four years since Luce was released and now Disintoxication has just been released. Would you say that the band has grown and progressed since Luce? Did you guys take the time in between albums to really nail down just what you wanted The Secret to sound like?

TS: Right after Luce came out, we went through endless line up problems. We changed 3 drummers and 3 bass players and the other guy who played guitar on Luce also left the band. Let's say it took a while to find the right people and start working on new stuff. I think the main difference between Luce and Disintoxication is that on new material we tried to keep everything very simple and to take more attention to the songwriting. Songs are shorter and more focused. I don't know if we progressed from our first record but Disintoxication represents what we want to play now.

UN: Disintoxication is a much darker and brooding album yet at the same time is much more chaotic as well. Was there anything in particular that added to the harshness of the band with this record?

TS: The 2 years before the recording of Disintoxication has been a pretty troubled time for all of us in the band. I don't know, maybe it influenced the mood of the record. As I said everything came out really naturally and nothing was pre defined before meeting in our practice space and start jamming. Maybe it's because we spent too much time listening to Sunn o))) and watching senseless obscure movies.

UN: You traveled all the way to Sweden to record the latest album. Was Magnus Lindberg someone you guys have always wanted to work with? Do you think he captured the intensity of the band perfectly?

TS: In our opinion Tonteknik is one the best recording studios in Europe and Magnus Lindberg is a talented and open minded musician and producer so we thought that recording there with him behind the desk would have been perfect for our music. We wanted a not metal sounding record and anything to sound as real as possible and we think Magnus did an excellent work. He made us sound as a band and not as computer playing our songs. Everything has a live feeling and it's exactly what we were looking for on this album.

UN: Was it tough being away from home? Im assuming it would keep distractions to a minimum though. Was this the bands first time traveling to Sweden?

TS: It was our first time ever in Sweden. Staying in Umea (the city where we recorded) hasnt been tough but weird for sure. We felt kinda isolated from the rest of the world for 2 weeks and everything we did when we weren't in the studio was watching David Lynch movies in a small cottage just outside the city. We went out just a couple of times. It was in a small club downtown where we saw International Noise Conspiracy guy at the mix where weve been nearly kicked out because of us being wasted and stupid = fun.

UN: The album has a very dark and striking look artwork wise. Did you guys feel like the artwork needed to be an extension of the chaotic and dark nature of the band? Few bands these days use artwork that truly represents what they sound like. Most bands are content just throwing a skull, some blood and flowers together and calling it a layout.

TS: We're really satisfied about it. Basically we fell in love with a pic by photographer Rik Garreth, we bought it and then asked designer Seldon Hunt to build our artwork using that picture. He worked for many Southern Lord and doomy bands, and we thought his art would have been perfect to accentuate the dark mood of the recordings. We really hope to keep on working with him in the future.

UN: What really stands out to my ears is just how natural the noisy nature of the band seems. A lot of bands seem forced when it comes to playing music of this nature, but with The Secret it just seems to flow much better. Would you say that this style comes fairly naturally to the members of the band?

TS: This time we focused more on songwriting and we spent a lot of time trying to make the songs flow the best way possible. While out first record was more a collection of riffs, this time we tried to build songs around few ideas. Instead of looking for weird time signatures and multi layered guitars, we tried to be very simple and write real songs.

UN: The hardcore genre certainly has grown to have a lot of different styles that still fit into the genre nicely. To my ears The Secret is a hardcore band through and through, just a bit darker and noisier than usual. Does it piss you off when people lump you into the metalcore genre

TS: To be honest, we don't really care that much about it. We don't really listen to any so called metalcore band and we just play what we love and are able to play. I know it sounds gay 'cause it's what 99% of bands says about giving a label to their music, but it's pretty much true.

UN: While I would say that The Secret does indeed have an original sound, one influence that I do pick up on from time to time is Breach. Are you guys big fans of Breach? To me they are a band that is criminally underrated.

TS: I'm personally a big fan of Breach and I consider them one of the most influential bands for my songwriting. I love the way they combined elements of different styles of music creating a cohesive, groundbreaking, original sound. It's cool how they sounded so dark and evil without being metal at all.

UN: Is there much of a scene for bands like The Secret in Italy? I've heard quite a few bands from Italy in the death metal genre, but not many in the hardcore genre. I have an LP for an Italian hardcore band named Crunch, but that is all that I can think of.

TS: I don't think there are many bands playing our kind of music, but there are some very good bands for sure. Our fellas in Slomotion Apocalypse and Amia Venera Landscape are both very good bands and great dudes. Gonna Fall Hard is also very cool.

UN: Is it hard to reproduce the music live? Not due to the technicality, but here seems to be so much anguish in the music that is must be a psychically draining experience.

TS: I think the best quality of our recording is that it reproduces pretty well the way we play live. We didn't use a metronome or triggers or whatever to record Disintoxication right because we wanted the songs to sound like they sound live or in our practice space. I'm totally convinced that a good live show HAS to be physically draining to transmit something to the listener, at least in the kind of music were playing.

UN: Any plans for a US tour to help promote the new album? Are you guys planning on touring a lot to help spread the word about Disintoxication?

TS: We're talking with some good bands right now about touring the states. We'd like to tour for 4 weeks right after the summer but everything is still up in the air. We want to do it.

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