INTERVIEW: Alessandro DeCaro
Photo Courtesy of Creeper
Like most great films, records, or novels, a sequel is always a possibility — but it rarely matches, let alone exceeds, the original. In the case of black-clad English rock band Creeper, however, they’ve not only met expectations but surpassed them in more ways than one with their latest concept album, Sanguivore II : Mistress of Death, a thematic sequel to their triumphant 2023 release Sanguivore. After the release of the first Sanguivore, the band found life beginning to imitate art in eerie ways. The record’s vampire-soaked themes and aesthetics caught fire, creating a fresh, immersive atmosphere for their theatrical music and devoted fanbase to inhabit.
On Sanguivore II : Mistress of Death, Creeper tells a fictional — yet all too real — story of a “vampire rock band” not unlike themselves, touring across America during the golden age of the 1980s. The result is a timeless album that revels in the decade’s playfully over-the-top excess, echoing the best of Sisters of Mercy, Meat Loaf, Iron Maiden, and Motörhead, while also drawing on the blood-soaked, tongue-in-cheek magic of cult classics like Near Dark and The Lost Boys. With Sanguivore II : Mistress of Death, Creeper once again proves that rock and roll is a dish best served with a touch of danger and theatricality — smart enough not to take itself too seriously, yet still able to carry tremendous emotional and creative weight.
We caught up with Creeper frontman William Von Ghould to discuss the grandiose concept and recording process behind the band's new album Sanguivore II : Mistress of Death — as well as Halloween traditions, their upcoming tour dates with Ice Nine Kills, and much more.
Sanguivore II : Mistress Of Death is out now via Spinefarm Records.
How soon after releasing your previous concept record Sanguivore in 2023 did you realize that a sequel was necessary and that there was still more of a story you wanted to tell within that thematic universe for Sanguivore II: Mistress Of Death? When approaching a concept record on this grand of a scale, where does the process typically start?
William Von Ghould: I think with each of the records we’ve made, the starting place has always been different each time. As ambitious as we try to make our records, they take a great deal of planning. When we started playing shows around the first Sanguivore, we weren’t wearing the vampire makeup on stage, [despite] it being in some of the music videos. We saw a visceral reaction with the kids in the crowd who would turn up wearing the makeup, even though we weren’t and suddenly realized we needed to do that every time we perform. It was kind of a sweet thing that the kids inspired us to do that throughout the Sanguivore campaign.
Once we were on tour in America last year, we basically had become a vampire rock band on tour in America, which is essentially what the starting place of what the record was. Sanguivore II is also our first album to feature our Lawrie Pattison, who was our touring guitarist for years but actually played on the record this time. It was quite fun to make a record that displayed the reality of our lives as a bunch of guys dressed as vampires touring America. [Laughs.]
Art imitates life I suppose?
Von Ghould: Yeah! How lucky are we? [Laughs.] It’s so rare
Obviously Sanguivore II: Mistress of Death’s setting is very much steeped in the atmosphere of the eighties. What drew you to that decade as a creative playground to work within and what kind of art were you consuming to get into that headspace?
Von Ghould: A lot of it came from the music we were referencing. One of our biggest pieces of luck is that we are always the odd one out and the strange ones who love older music. We were definitely listening to a lot of The Sisters Of Mercy’s Floodland-era, and that’s the reason why we had Patricia Morrison [formerly of the band] on our record to really present that bombasticness of the culture of the eighties.
Some of my favorite films came out in this era too, especially vampire films like Near Dark and The Lost Boys. There’s something really romantic to me about these fantastic pieces of art that outlive the decade itself and echo into the future. They are remnants of the time where excess and things that were more theatrical and over the top could be in mainstream culture, not to mention rock music was actually on the radio at that time. We knew we wanted to make the ultimate concept record, and wanted to follow in the line of other fictional rock bands like Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars and Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band and pastisque all the things we love about rock and roll and what makes it so great.
You bring up wanting to channel that over the top and bombastic nature of classic rock and roll with this album and story, do you think that the element of theatrical danger has been missing within the modern age of the genre?
Von Ghould: We toured with Alice Cooper a few years back in the UK, and his shows are still so fantastic, outrageous and theatrical, but that style is massively missing [overall] today. I think bands like Ghost are still doing that in a way, but if I’m honest, I do feel like a lot of modern rock music does not appeal to me anymore. What I liked so much about [those classic acts] is that there was a daring aspect to it but also a sense of fun that has been lost in modern rock music. I always hated how grunge wiped out hair metal in the nineties. [Laughs.] Hair metal was far superior to grunge, it had better haircuts, it was sexier but also sillier. I like my music the same way I like my movies: really overblown and really over the top.
“Headstones” definitely has that over-the-top, theatrical danger.
Von Ghould: That one came about from us wanting to feature a punk song on the record since we did start off as a punk band years and years ago. On the first Sanguivore, we did a more punk song called “Chapel Gates” that was a bit of a traditional seventies punk thing in the vein of The Damned or The Cramps, but this time around we looked at bands like Motorhead and tried to put a Twisted Sister chorus in there. [Laughs.] It’s been fun seeing people’s reactions.
Sanguivore II Mistress Of Death is the second record you have done with producer Tom Dalgety (Ghost, Rammstein, Pixies) at the helm. What makes your creative partnership click and what does he do to bring out your best performances and translate your grandest ideas into reality?
Von Ghould: Tom is one of those people who is really in the driver seat with you. He really understands [our vision], writes with us and has a similar ambition of wanting to make something larger than life and recreate some of the magic of records like Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell. There’s not a lot of producers these days making records like this, because I wouldn’t say half the things we are interested in are technically in vogue, but I still think they are the coolest things. Tom loves excess and layers and layers of things. He knows the source material so well, that it makes it very comfortable and easy to do records together.
Speaking of layers and larger than life production, you actually enlisted the Prague Phil Harmonic for this record. How did that come about?
Von Ghould: That was a Tom Dalgety thing. We spoke about it for ages and wanted to do it on the last record, but we didn’t have the budget and would have to find ways to replicate those kinds of sounds. However, this time around, we knew we had to do it, and nothing really beats hearing a real orchestra and the way it makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. We actually recorded the drums for this record at Rockfield here in England as well which you will know from classic records such as Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody and a few from Oasis. Because Tom makes so many records and has these connections, he hooks it up. Creeper is a bit of a passion project for Tom and a lot of the things you’re hearing on this record we wouldn’t be able to get away without his foresight.
Sanguivore II: Mistress Of Death dropped on Halloween, so keeping in the tradition of the season, what would you say are your favorite horror films of all time?
Von Ghould: I mentioned them earlier on, but I would have to say Near Dark and The Lost Boys. We based a lot of our new look around a particular character in Near Dark and obviously, The Lost Boys not only has a great look with the vampires, but it also has a great soundtrack.
What bands, artists or records do you like to put on during this time of year?
Von Ghould: AFI’s All Hallows EP is a right of passage as well as Static Age by The Misfits. I also like to put on Good Mourning by Alkaline Trio, The Power Of Moonlight by Tiger Army and really just anything horror-punk. Honestly though, I listen to AFI year round.
How good is that new AFI album Silver Bleeds The Black Sun? It might be in the top five for me.
Von Ghould: Honestly I think you’re right. I love all of their albums, but I’ve been listening to this new one so much since it came out. They are so brilliant and genuinely fantastic when they are in that slightly darker world. The post-punk elements on this new album suits them so well!
Creeper is supporting Ice Nine Kills for a string of shows this December, which couldn’t be a better way to kick off this new record cycle. What excites you the most about these upcoming shows, are there any particular songs from the new record you are looking forward to playing, and how are you approaching the live presentation of the band leading into this new record cycle?
Von Ghould: We’ve been sat around just itching to play this material for so long! We are so desperate to play this material. The first song on the new record “Mistress of Death” is one we are really excited about performing live and hope we can lean on the audience [to get involved] with it. We can’t wait to be out with Ice Nine Kills and see their show every day, it’s not often we get to tour with a band as theatrical as ourselves. [Laughs.] TPC
Watch the music video for "Prey for the Night" by Creeper Below.
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