THE SATURNINE (NL)

“A collective is as strong as its individual components” - It all started back in 2004 when 5 like-minded musicians came together and decided to make the music they wanted to make. No showing off their technical abilities, but songs with dynamics and atmosphere, melancholy and heart-felt lyrics. Pure expression cannot be bound by musical genres or other people’s expectations. This is real!

2004 saw the unification of Daeonia’s songwriter and guitar player Eric Hazebroek together with Sun Caged drummer Dennis Leeflang and Daeonia’s bass player Douwe de Wilde. The collective was soon complimented by guitar player Edo v/d Kolk and vocalist extraordinaire Sander v/d Thillart. Their debut EP, “Within Without”, was released in the Summer of 2004, after which Dennis left for New York. The band continued on and played several high profile shows with After Forever, The Gathering, Katatonia, Fates Warning, Enchant, and many others. Their debut became an instead success, and there were high hopes for the band.

After several line-up changes, the band saw their pending doom arise in August 2007. Eric was about to pull the plug when former drummer Dennis came back into the fold. The Saturnine went back to the beginning and decided to record a second EP, “The Winter Years”, with a different line-up. Edo had left the band at that time to resurface in Kingfisher Sky. His place was taken by Danny Tunker (Detonation, Fuelblooded).

At the end of 2008 the band was rejoined by vocalist Sander. The band played several shows in this line-up, which were received with open arms. The band has been working silently at new songs since. 2009 will see the return of The Saturnine in its full glory. Stepping out of the shadows once more. They have returned!

Mayones has been cooperating with The Saturnine for several years. The guitar player Eric uses customized Regius 7 and Setius GTM 7 guitars and Douwe, the bass player, a very first Be 5 Gothic bass with EMG 40DC pickups.

I've been playing this bass a lot. At home, in the rehearsal room and on stage. In the next couple of months I'll be recording with it as well. It sounds great all through the spectrum, I use no equalization in my amp at all. When playing live I just roll off a little of the high on the bass itself, because I tend to become a little over-enthusiastic in my attack.

The bass also looks fantastic, I'm glad I decided to get the gothic finish all over, not just the body. Even though both the body and the neck look a bit thin at first glance, it feels solid and sturdy in your hands.

More about The Saturnine at band's offcial services:

- Website: thesaturnine.nl

- MySpace profile: www.myspace.com/thesaturnine