How would you compare "Monument" with the previous album "The Art of Grief"?

Well I thought that the first album was also very dark and sad, in my opinion the big difference is that the new songs are much more direct and more maybe a bit agressive. There´s a lot of true rage in the new songs.
And of course we as a band are very much more grown now, we had more time making the album, there was more peace and harmony among the band members in the studio and that all is expressed on the new album. And the fact that we have a new and better guitar player gives me as an singing and guitar playing musicians much more time to concentrate on my own parts and plays. In my opinion the sound, for on the new one it sounds far more greater, is not that important for me as a listener.
The first one sounds a bit messy but I think that has his charm. Its a big cliche that bands speak bad about their former albums. Its a great album still

Can you tell me something about the early days of the band?
Andy and I started the band back in 96 and later on other people started to join in, lots of them left again after they showed us they would not give all for the band and the music. I mean I´m into music for almost 15 years
now while I´m still 27, playing in bands start to play live. This is the band in what we saw our through musical way.
After Nick left (playing now in black metal band : salacious gods) and
the loss of guitar player Edwin, Erwin (an old friend) came to join us.
We played in every way we could in the beginning, like school parties and mostly
for free in clubs near.
After winning the regional final for bands after leaving like 40 bands (all kinds of styles) behind us, we played in the final of the dutch band contest, which is the biggest and important music trophy you can win in The Netherlands.
Henri almost half an year before that offered us an record deal, and after
receiving other contracts and interests , we signed with coldblood because
we think for us as a band who wants to be totally free making music, this
was in our opinion the best deal.
The first album did great , we played with bands like apocalyptica, within
temptation, and on several festivals.At the end of 2001 we recorded our second album.
And here we are.

Do you like your music being labeled as "Gothic"?

Oh, that´s okay with me.
Its true that there is a lot of gothic in our music but also a lot of new-wave and metal.
Its a bit hard to tell nowadays what gothic really is, here in Holland they see within temptation after forever and bands as gothic, more metal bands in my opinion.
I see some of The Cure periods (disintegration), Fields of the Nephilim and Sisters of Mercy more as gothic. Bands that really influenced us.

Which is the most important side of your music: the aggressive one, the
melodic one or the atmospheric one?

All of them are equally important, because the music of the wounded is about what´s going on in life.Those 3 elements are all very important in life. And for us as a band its very important to play different spheres. But then again were not a band that obsessively searches for a certain
style or being original, or just doing things with a plan, were just playing music that we like and doing the things that we feel good with.

Are you going to tour to support "Monument"?
We are planning it but its very hard to do that, its our biggest dream to
get on tour so were doing our very best.

Do you think that the music of the band is better appreciated live than
on CD?
We are more a live band than a studio band but i must say that the album turned out to be with the same intense and emotional spheres as it is with a Wounded live concert.
We recorded the album live and only some double parts, solos and the
singing was done later on.
We did that to get the live feeling as best as we could, and it turned out to be perfect.
I did the singing only at night to get the best feeling and commitment with the lyrics and the song.
In that way I could get better into the sphere of that period in which the song was written.

How were your experiences in festivals such as Eurorock and Nooderslag?
It was very great of course, specially because were from the part of
Holland where this festival is organized.
But we did also a lot of other great stuff like Eurorock in Belgium with bands as Paradise Lost and Gary Numan.
We play a lot life nowadays and i hope to get more on stage because its the best thing that can happen to you. Playing in front of the fans and meet them afterwards.

Which are the band´s main influences?
A lot of bands.
You can name a lot of bands for influences but the things I really hear back
in the music that I write is, Joy Division, Marillion, U2, The Cure, Fields
Of The Nephilim, My Dying Bride, Anathema, Tori Amos, Pink Floyd
You know, i grew up in the eigthies.
The music made those days all have a certain feeling and it makes me feel
great to hear that even if it is a depressive song.
So that is why there is a lot of 80ths in our music.
I myself as a singer am influenced both lyrically or technically by, Steve
Hogarth and Fish both of Marillion, Eddy Vedder, Jim Morisson, Thom York
and of course Robert Smith

What are the lyrics in "Monument" about?

All the lyrics are in a way biographical.
In some cases its a bout a fantasy or wish that as a cause for something
that happened to me or around me.
Philosophies based on true experiences.
For example the song monument is about one of my thoughts.
Its a kind of cruel that everybody dies and within 200 hundred years
everybody lives with the reality that we who live in this time don´t exist,
as we don´t know about them who lived 200 years ago.
Just imagine that everybody who died in WW1 and World war 2 had a
caracter, even an interesting caracter.
Everyone of the 6 million jews the 5 million polish and gipsies and even
the almost forgotten 20 million russians , germans, americans, french, dutch
etc. (its almost cruel to say etcetera)
They all had a reality, they had a mind, a vision about something a mom
and dad, sons and daughters, they were just like us aware of being alive.
Monument is about a fantasy of communication with all those caracters and
souls who died in peace or fear.
To say to them that they didn´t live for nothing, that their being here
wasn´t for nothing. That everyone of them is a monument, or even a kind of god or divine
creature. That kind of thinking keeps me realize that I respect life in any form.
At least I try.
You know, everybody talks in an easy way about respect, but its one of the
most difficult rules in our life. Its not easy to respect someone or something that isn´t part of a vision or opinion that you believe in.
All the goverments together have to build a huge monument for the dead that no one can denie.
I already tried to build my monument, my respect for the death.My kind of remembering
But I´m not some kind of idealist, because my hope for a better world is on a very low level.

Something more to add?

For poeple who buy the album or in any other way listen to our music, i
hope we meet live soon.
And I hope The Wounded will mean something to some of you. You gave us Maxima, Holland gives you The Wounded hehehe

THE WOUNDED WEBSITE: www.the-wounded.nl