The Dutch scene is thriving. As a matter of fact Dutch bands always had and still have a vital role within the extreme music scene if you ask me. There are still relevant old bands and new younger bands pop up regularly as well. And then there are bands that seem “newish”, but have a past. Buried is a fine example. There newest release ‘Imagined Deformation’ is a killer Death Metal album. So, I decided to hook up with vocalist Joël to dig into the past of Buried and the bands they were involved in before. There are even some scoops in his answers. So, time to dig in and get buried.
Let’s start at the beginning. It seems Buried more or less is the continuation of the band Traktor in which Stefan used to play guitar. How did this band transform into Buried and how did you and Robbe V. got involved?
That is correct, Steve and Robbe V. were playing together in Traktor and when they parted ways with their vocalist, I joined them. I think the sound changed when I came in and so we were looking for a more Death metal sounding name.
Both you and Robbe used to be in Pyaemia and Disavowed. It seems Pyaemia kind of dissolved around 2005 due to Robbe’s injury and that he was replaced in Disavowed. Can you tell what actually happened? And had you already left Disavowed by then?
I consider Disavowed and Pyaemia brothers in arms. I mean we shared band members and all were pretty close. Robbe V., Gerben (guitarist Disavowed) and me used to live in the same dorm so writing music and creating stuff was an everyday thing.
After the recordings of Disavowed’s ‘Point of Few’ (1999) I moved to Rotterdam and traveling back and forth to Amsterdam for rehearsals was getting the best of me. With a heavy heart I had to stop playing with them (I still regret that to this day, haha. I mean, one of the sickest bands out there hah!)
Fast forward to 2001, Pyaemia released ‘Cerebral Cereal’, we did quite some shows and tours up till the point we had to write our second album. We only got around to write two more songs because of a wrist injury Robbe was dealing with for a longer period. I think at first we decided to go on a hiatus, which later evolved in a permanent solution, quitting. We all felt that Pyaemia wouldn’t be Pyaemia without Robbe at that time. Would we have done the same now? I probably would have wanted to try it out with somebody else, like we did when Marc joined us on bass after Frank left.
So, there you have it. A brief history, ha!
So, we shouldn’t see Buried as any kind of continuation of Pyaemia then?
I get it, I mean, there’s a lot of people who have warm feelings towards Pyaemia, but you have to know that it has been more than 20 years ago we played our last show with Pyaemia and everybody has moved on doing other stuff.
Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate the praise our little band has gotten over the years, I still do. Buried is something else. It’s the brainchild of Steve, a child that I love because for me he writes in such a different way than I did.
It’s refreshing to do it differently than you are used to.
Did you do anything within music after Pyaemia dissolved and you got involved in Buried, Joel? Arsebreed perhaps?
Arsebreed was one of the main projects we did after Pyaemia disbanded. Again, a group of friends formed around the Disavowed/Pyaemia tribe.
Good fun with ridiculous output, haha. Besides that, me and Marc briefly played with Rotterdam based When All Life Ends and I jammed around here and there, nothing fancy, just fun to do.
I assume Robbe had to recover from his injury and he probably was able to drum again when you guys joined Buried?
Robbe did some drumming here and there with a softer approach. No blasting and back breaking stuff, at least for quite some time.
What can you tell about the first bass-player Erik-Jan de Waard who was in the band in the beginning? How did you hook up with him? Seems he’s still active in bands but not any metal bands?
I’ve known Erik-Jan as a friend of Robbe’s brother mainly. I think we had a cool time making music because he is one hell of a bass player but he left long before our first album.
When he was with Buried, he had some session gigs on the side and I think he’s in a Sade appreciation band at the moment but honestly, we haven’t seen each other for quite some time now.
Was it clear from the start what your intentions with Buried would be? How did you write songs, collectively or was/is there a main song writer?
Steve was and is the main songwriter. Most of the time, Steve has a ton of riffs and ideas and him and me sit down to discuss the structure of a new song. After that we like to have listening sessions with everybody to do some fine-tuning here and there if necessary.
Weren’t you tempted to play second guitar by the way, Joël?
I like to pick up the guitar when we’re arranging a new song and Steven and I did some Covid sessions together (of which one song morphed into ‘Dwellers of perpetual ruin’ ) but no, I’m happy running around stage looking foolishly, haha.
Your first release was the EP ‘Tenebrous’ in 2014. I assume this can be seen as a demo? Where did you record and mix this by the way? How do you look back on this release after 12 years?
‘Tenebrous’ was basically a way to get shows. Venues needed to hear what we sound like, the new us. Personally, I think it sounds like crap and I really consider it to be a kind of rehearsal tape.
Frank (Pyaemia/Arsebreed) was involved with these recordings but everything else is a big blur…
What happened in the period after ‘Tenebrous’? It seems things became a bit quiet apart from a change in the line-up. In 2017 you replaced Erik-Jan for Marc who had been in Pyaemia as well. Seems like an obvious choice? Marc hadn’t done anything after Pyaemia folded, right?
Erik-Jan left and I immediately thought of Marc who wasn’t doing anything. An obvious choice. Since Marc is a pick playing bassist the output changed a bit. We got heavier so to say. It was then we started to write for our first album. A lengthy and frustrating process at times.
Fast forward to 2021 when you released the debut ‘Oculus Rot’. Can you tell us a bit about the recordings that seem to have been done at various locations?
Because of Covid, this one was scattered all over the place. Everybody recorded his tracks at home, even Robbe. He built this little rehearsal/studio in his garage where he has his electronic kit set up. The output was then replaced with ‘real’ drum samples.
My vocals were recorded at Steve’s workplace at that time. Enough space to sit apart and make serious noise. The album was mixed and mastered by a friend of Steve.
What about the involvement of Robbe K. of Disavowed on a few songs?
What’s the point of releasing an album if there’s no Robbe K. involved, haha. I think we have a history of singing together and I always appreciate his ideas and input.
And how did you end up on Brutal Mind from Indonesia, which doesn’t seem as a logical choice for a band located in the Netherlands?
I got to know Deni of Brutal Mind through the Disavowed guys and he’s a really nice guy who finally caved when I harassed him for moths to release this one, haha.
I don’t think we really fit the Brutal Mind roster but I’m really grateful to all the help and support he has given us around ‘Oculus Rot’.
What the about the inclusion of ‘Tenebrous Worm’ from the first EP on this full-length?
That’s the first song I wrote lyrics to when joining the band, a fun little banger with a lot of groove. We had to incorporate it.
After the first full-length you did 2 digital singles in 2023 and 2024 respectively. Were these both done with the line-up that recorded ‘Oculus Rot’? And both songs never appeared anywhere else, right?
To keep up with the ever so fast changing metal world and music world in general we thought it would be a good idea to release individual tracks. Let people hear what you are up to.
The fact that home recording is so much more common these days makes it easier to release new stuff. These songs were from the Robbe era and will not be released on anything physical, no.
In addition to the previous question you once again had a line-up change. Drummer Robbe left. What was the reason for his departure? It seems he left doing music altogether right?
I think both Robbe and the rest of us came to the conclusion that we were on the fence regarding the writing of new songs. To us, stuff went too slow; we wanted to move forward faster. I think Robbe wanted to take more time to figure out what he wanted with the new songs.
We had some long talks to see what could work for all of us but in the end came to the conclusion that it was best to part ways. I have known Robbe since kindergarten and I have played a good part of my life with him so of course this was a difficult outcome for both him and me, I think.
We played one more farewell show after that decision and that was that. He then returned quickly to the drum seat with the Amsterdam based outfit called Pitchfork but I think their bass player has parted ways with all other members some time ago. Last thing I heard there is a new band in the making with Robbe, Frank and (ex-Arsebreed guitarist) Marco. We are keeping an eye out!
The replacement you got is Tim, who is also active in Lucifericon, which is a different style of death metal. First of all, was it easy to find a replacement on drums? And secondly I somewhere heard Tim had some demands concerning the music. Can you tell us something about that and what that (possibly) meant for the music?
Yes! Tim had dropped me a message saying he really dug the music but was too busy to participate in another band, let alone in Rotterdam (he’s from Brabant). After some grooming on my part, he agreed to come over and have a jam session to see if we connected.
And we did! We wanted Tim to make the music, even the old music his own but after our first session together I think we decided to make this a whole new chapter. New drummer, new music only. That way he could incorporate what he felt with the songs, start fresh.
When he entered, we could try different things. Every drummer has a different approach to music, a different style. I mean, I don’t want to compare two obviously great drummers. Each their own quality but Tim brings something else to the game. Oh, and the only thing he demands is new music.
Haha , he’s very hungry for new material. He’s become a real brother to us in a short time, love him!
With this new line-up you did the new album ‘Imagined Deformation’. First thing I noticed is that it’s a self-financed release. A thought-through decision or a lack of label interest?
We took about one year to write new songs and even record them. We had creativity pouring out of every orifice! Everything was done super quick, we found this really nice painter (RF Pangborn) who granted us one of his pieces. Hella cool.
We recorded the drums with Michiel van der Plicht (Drummer Pestilence) at his recording studio, great experience overall. Then guitars and bass were recorded at home once again. After that Marc and I did the vocal sessions together in a small studio in two days.
Marc mixed and mastered the whole thing wonderfully. In addition to your question; it’s quite easy to set up stuff yourself nowadays although some good promotion takes hard work and a broad network so yes if there’s any label or distributor interested to pick up this release don’t hesitate to contact us!
Another thing I noticed is the role of Marc doing the mix and master. Is that something he did in the past too?
I think Marc wanted to contribute more to the whole process and really dove into the mixing stuff to get the hang of it. He really invested a good amount of time, and still is, to get better and better.
He can tell you much more about it but it’s really nice to have somebody within the band who can set up these great sounding demos to begin with. But yeah, we’re extremely pleased with the outcome of the overall sound.
Looking at your career this new album also seems to gain you guys some momentum. You for instance perform live a lot more often. How do you think that happened?
I think so too, it’s hard to hold that (albeit little) momentum but we are pushing hard. Ever since Covid, I think it has been tough getting involved with shows.
There’s a ton of good bands and all want a spot on that stage. But we are getting our feet in the door more often due to the help of some many dedicated people in the scene (Maureen!), that really helps.
Seems like your future is pretty bright. Any concrete plans? Any last words?
We hope so, haha! Right now, we are trying to get a lot of dates set up in 2027. Obviously, we are working hard on new material for a new release. We have a two-day show in the works with our friends from German band called Farson.
They released a killer album earlier this year, be sure to check them out! And talking about bands right now, shout out to Disavowed, Intercranial, Ab·est (Ger), Lijkschouwer, Gavran, Spit for the Masses, Sepiroth, Caedere, The Curse made Flesh, Man As Plague, Closed Grip, and the mighty Aum Zorion! I’m forgetting a ton of bands but they all deserve hella praise for their sick music and hard work! And last but not least, thank you Pim!
