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A new review section: Buried by Time And Dust

We added a new review section, coincidentally another Mayhem reference following 'The Past is Alive', with the title 'Buried by Time and Dust'. Over the years, a lot of promos have been gathering dust simply because a fresh wave of promos arrived the following month and they were consigned to oblivion. We will review them here to make a clear distinction with our other reviews. We will also use it to complete a discography in terms of reviews. Feel free to contact us if you would like to submit your music or would like to join the staff.

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Fleshcrawl – “We never wanted to be innovative or progressive in any way so you always now what you can expect from a Fleshcrawl album”

Some bands aren’t really looking for something new or fresh. The nice Germans of Fleshcrawl have the same thoughts as they keep on creating Swedish Death metal like they’ve done for years now. And with their new album “Structures of Death” they deserved a little bit of space of the VM server once again. Oliver Grbavac is the unfortunate one who received my questions… 

To start this interview, a phrase of my review: “What I like most about Fleshcrawl is the fact that they never disappoint a follower of their music. Some would label it as “boring” or “predictable”, I would like to label it as “Never change a winning team”. Am I right or wrong?
You´re absolutely right! We are following our way for about 20 years now, playing and developing old school death metal. Why should we change something which is good as it is? We never wanted to be innovative or progressive in any way so you always now what you can expect from a Fleshcrawl album.
So what happened during the previous release and recording of “Structures of Death” within the Fleshcrawl camp?
Well, we had some problems when it came to start the songwriting for the Structures of Death album. First of all Tobias, our former bass player left the band due to personal reasons. During his time in the band, he was a major songwriter and composed a lot of riffs. We had to change the songwriting focus to Mike and myself then which took some time. Also we had some major delay in the songwriting because of health issues of Mike and Basti. Additionally Basti married his long time girlfriend and became a proud father of a daughter.
After all these issues we started over and finally managed to get the old school death metal machine running. Once started our inspiration comes by itself. One riff demands another fitting one and so we write our songs. This time maybe with more melodies than usual because of the change in the songwriting focus.
You’ve recently released your new killer album “Structures of Death”…
For the first time we didn’t record the whole album in Sweden but in our homecity Ulm, Germany. We had to choose a studio near our location because Basti couldn´t go abroad for three or more weeks because of his young family, which is fully understandable. So we found the right place in the Toninfusion Studio with Martin Schmitt behind the desk. After 8 albums we exactly know how a Fleshcrawl album has to sound like and we know how to change things to achieve this. We just need the technical equipment and a good engineer to handle it. Both we found in Martin and his studio. We are fully satisfied with the whole album. The songs have a good variety of all of our trademarks which makes a Fleshcrawl album sound as it sounds. Uwe Jarling composed again an awesome artwork and booklet design and proved again that he is the right man for the job.
During the recording of “Made of Flesh” you’ve said that you spent a lot of time on the guitar sound. You’ve changed settings on the amp and the distortion pedal before you were really happy with the result of the guitar sound. Have you had the same experiences during the recording of “Structures of Death”? Can you tell us more about the recording process?
This time we played around a little with different amps but in the end our usual combination of a Mesa/Boogie Amp with an ENGL Cabinet produced exactly the sound we were searching for. Fortunately we found this sound very fast and could spend more time on other important things during the recording like fine tuning some songs and riffs. We recorded all of the the basic tracks at Martin Schmitt´s Toninfusion Studio in Ulm and mixed and down mastered the whole stuff in Sweden at Studio Underground with Pelle Saether where we also recorded the former 2 albums.
You’ve recorded the cover song “Rockin is my business” of The Four Horsemen during the “Made of Flesh” recordings. The cover song is included on the new album. You were so satisfied with it that it must be included on the new album? Did you also have another cover song in mind?
We planned to release this song on a possible Japanese release of “Made of Flesh”. Unfortunately there was no such release, so this song remained unreleased. It´s a very cool song and so we decided to put it on the digipack release of “Structures of Death” as a bonus track. I have already a good idea for the next cover song but this is not to be published yet.
You’ve said in our previous rendezvous: “The lyrics are not so important in the music of Fleshcrawl. It is more of a means to intensify and brutalize the music. In our opinion, our lyrics are written and put together to make the vocal lines fit best to the music. I wanted to write some classical and cliché death metal lyrics which all have the stuff every fan is looking for when reading it.” While creating the lyrics of “Structures of Death”, you still have the same opinion and vision?
Yes, of course! Even after 3 years we didn’t get any wiser and so we wrote the lyrics we know best…brutal stuff about blood, flesh, demons and death, haha!
In my review I mentioned the following: “At the end I do miss an outstanding track like “Made of Flesh” or “As Blood Rains from the Sky”, but as a whole “Structures of Death” is a pleasant album”. I don’t expect that you have the same vision, but have you heard or read this somewhere else as well? I miss that particular stunning track that everyone will scream for during your live gigs.
As you can imagine it’s not easy to write those outstanding songs. It’s not like, “Hey, lets write an outstanding song!” and things are done. There’s some luck involved in songwriting when you compose riffs that fit perfectly together and create an intense atmosphere like in “As blood rains…”. We always do our best to write killer songs and are hardly satisfied although I think that the title track “Structures of Death” is indeed one of those songs which creates this atmosphere.
You must choose… ”Left Hand Path” or “Like an Everflowing Stream” …which one and why?
Hmm, hard to tell but I tend more to “Like an Everflowing Stream” because I´m more a fan of melodies which Dismember uses. That´s the only difference. Both albums are still fuckin’ awsome.
You’re in the scene for quite some while now, could you give us an old school Swedish sound undiscovered band of the early years as well as a new band? You know…the hidden gems!
You should check out Necrotic Flesh if you like brutal old school songs from the early 90´s! It´s a German band and I think they managed to recreate this sound really good.

Once again, a phrase of our previous interview: “Now, as death metal is growing and becoming more popular again, all those bands suddenly want to be there again and want to be part of a cool movement again. And also want to take some of the profit and attention of those bands that didn’t stop playing this music during all those past years. That’s strange and weird to me and makes me wonder a lot.” Some weeks ago the At The Gates reunion has been made public…your opinion?
I think it’s a trend at the moment. Just look at all the bigger festivals and which bands they booked. There are a lot of death metal bands, new or old on the billing  which of course is a good thing. We can’t change trends but we can use them to gain more attention and spread good ol´ old school death metal to the people, haha!
I also read about the Carcass reunion for the Wacken Open Air 2008. I think I have to go there just because of those two bands. I hope that I’m not going to be disappointed since they were off the surface for so long. I still have a strange feeling about these reunions and I can imagine that therhttp://web.archive.org/web/20071109230752/http://www.myspace.com/bloodyfleshe’s a lot of money involved in those so called reunions…
Alright, I’ve asked my questions…if I have forgotten anything, here your space to shout it out! Cheers!
Thanks for the interview and your support! Check out “Structures of Death” and visit our homepage and our MySpace page. We hope to see you on tour somewhere!

Fleshcrawl

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Endstille – “We got a plan for everything we’re doing. We’re strategists and we know, even when we start writing a new album, how it has to sound.”

As one of the most respected Black Metal acts currently doing the rounds in the underground, Germany’s long standing war mongerers Endstille have just returned in mesmerising form with brand spanking new album ‘Endstille’s Reich’. Receiving rave reviews right across the board and with a new label now in tow (Regain Records), bassist Cruror seems more than happy about the bands latest acheivment and much like us here at VM HQ, seems optimnistic about the bands dark future…  

Endstille have unleashed their much anticipated 5th full length ‘Endstille’s Reich’ on the highly celebrated Regain Records, releasing yet another torrent of black fury that far surpasses 2005’s ‘Navigator’. Although very similar in style, there is something even deeper and darker lurking beneath the simplistic riffing and blasting drums that make this a very different album from the last, so what would you say were the biggest differences both musically and lyrically when compared to your previous releases?
We didn’t change so much. Of course we’re getting better and better and we try to perfect our style. But our main interest was that ‘Endstilles Reich’ sounds like an Endstille cd. Also I must say that we had a bit more time to work on the sound.

Considering that three years separate ‘Navigator’ and ‘Endstille’s Reich’ your overall sound has not changed that much. I mean, it sounds bigger and fatter than your previous material but other than that there are very few differences. Do you think this was a case of subconsciously sticking to a formula that seems to work time and time again, or something that you purposefully wanted to achieve?
I think it had been two years between ‘Navigator’ and ‘Endstilles Reich’. But… who cares. It’s like I said: we wanted that the cd sounds like Endstille. That is the reason why we’re not making very big experiments. We got our style and we’ll not change it! The reason why it sounds ‘bigger and fatter’ is that we’re always working on Endstille. If a cd is recorded we recognize what we can make better next time. We don’t stagnate.

Can you tell me something about the concept behind the new album? In the past you mainly focused on war-associated themes in your lyrics and artwork and I wondered if, judging again by the artwork, you have centred the lyrics on the same? With songs like ‘No Heaven Over Germany’, is it correct to assume that the album is based on when WW2 finally ended?
Jawohl! The lyrics are about that moment, when World War Two ended, about zero hour. It deals with chaos, death, destruction and desperasion. The artwork deals with that moment, too. The cover shows our hometown ‘Kiel’, when it was totally destroyed. Also the most pictures inside the booklet are showing ruins and desolated landscapes from the north of Germany. But of course there are again some lyrics about religion and misanthropy.

What sparked the move from Twilight to Regain Records? Was this an amicable split or was there something more to it?
We’re no good friends anymore. Our lawyer had done a good job for us. The reason why we wanted to change our label was, that Twilight didn’t work so good in many countries. So many fans told us, when we were on tour, that it was very hard to buy our cds for them. So we decided to start working with another label.

How are you finding life on a label that supports bands like Marduk, Gorgoroth, Vader, Trelldom etc? Are they giving you the support you were maybe lacking on past labels?
Yes, I think so. Regain Records has got much more possibilities to support us well. The fact that other successful bands are also on that label, illustrates to me that Regain Records know what they’re doing.

How do Endstille as a band tackle to whole creative process? Is there someone who writes all the music and then you all get together and do the arrangements?
No, we’re working completely different. Our songs are developed by the whole band. Every member knows what he has to do. There is no mastermind, who writes the complete songs before.

Another thing that stands out about ‘Endstille’s Reich’ is although your music is still undoubtedly chaotic; there is a more melodic approach on this album that gives the music a bit more depth and power. Again, was this something that you purposefully intended to do?
It’s like I said before, we’re working our style out. We got a plan for everything we’re doing. We’re strategists and we know, even when we start writing a new album, how it has to sound.

You are releasing ‘Endstille’s Reich’ as a vinyl addition as well if I’m correct. What can we expect from this vinyl version? Will there be any new artwork, additional songs etc?
You’re correct. The vinyl will be released at november 11th. For the cover of the vinyl we decided to take the black cover of ‘Endstilles Reich’(you know, the cd has got two covers). Also the vinyl is limited to 666 copies.

You are doing some live dates in the UK for the first time in November this year. Are you guys looking forward to assaulting this small isle Panzer-style? What can we expect from your live shows in promotion of your new album?
Of course I’m looking forward to the shows in the UK. It‘s the first time for us and I hope that we can conquer the island easily. You know many tried it but failed, but I promise you we will not!
The people can expect that we’ll play a lot of new songs, many for the first time on stage. Of course we’ll also play our older songs two, like ‘Bastard’, ‘Dominanz’, ‘Navigator’, ‘Frühlingserwachen’ etc.

As one of the most, or probably the most respected bands in the German Black Metal ‘scene’, you must be very pleased with what you have accomplished over your musical careers so far. How do you view your progression over the years from a small and relatively unknown band producing a few demos here and there, to playing festivals with some of the biggest names in extreme music?
Yes, I’m proud that we’ve got a lot of success, but we’re not finished yet. We set our sights high.

One of the things that really stands out about ‘Endstille’s Reich’ is the very rounded production that breathes a fresh fire into songs like ‘I am God’ and ‘Scars’. Sounding very clear but with that essential ‘live’ sound still intact, this album is able to conjure an atmosphere that a lot of Black Metal bands fail to achieve with their releases. In hindsight, did the album turn out exactly how you envisioned? Do you play a big part in the overall production of your releases when in the studio, or trust the engineer to get the best out of what you have recorded?
We don’t trust our engineer. He was only allowed to work on the sound, when someone of us was there. That is the reason why the cd sounds like that, because we don’t trust in others. So it became exactly what we wanted.

A lot of people have the wrong notion that because you use WW2 imagery in your artwork and/or lyrics that Endstille are NSBM band. This is of course not true in any way shape or form, but you must get pissed off with this ridiculous tag that is always associated with your name. Am I correct saying that a while ago you had some threats from some right wing organisations?
We didn’t had so much problems with real right wing organisations, only sometimes with single persons, but no big things.
Of course often we get a bit annoyed by the subject. Sometimes I ask myself if we’re musicians or politicians, if we’re a band or a party, because we always have to talk so much about stuff like that.
Endstille is neither a nazi nor a punk band!

A lot of Black Metal bands are very influenced by their surroundings, their culture and their history, paying homage to these things either musically or lyrically. Is it the same for Endstille? Do you feel at all influenced by Germany’s fascinating history, aside from the war aspect?
Of course we are. Germany has a fascinating and huge history. I can’t imagine to play in a German band, which lyrics are about Norwegian/ Swedish landscapes or stuff like that. These are subjects for other bands. We’re interested in German history, so we’re dealing with this theme.

Finally, what do you expect/want to achieve overall from the music of Endstille. What is your overall goal as a band?
The next the cd is always our next goal. When we finished a recording we always start to work on the next album. Some people called us workaholics. But to write new songs makes a lot of fun and that is what playing music is about.

Endstille

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Hollowtone – “The album just gives an overview on how one can die by his own means”

How easily can a band convince you? Quite easy when it comes to Hollowtone. The band (project would be a more appropriate term though) around mastermind Kristof Vandebeek releasded its debut album “Dead Man’s End” after months of hard work. No first demo, no gigs, no hype – Just a damn good album able to convince al non-believers. “Dead Man’s End” got the same quality as old school Gothenburg releases like “Slaughter Of The Soul”, “Mirrorworlds” and “Voice Of Harmony”. Today many have forgotten the great legacy often abused by the new melodic “metalcore” bands – Thus not Hollowtone making a legacy themselves. Here’s the man himself telling his part of the story.

It took quite some time to fully record and finish “Dead Man’s End”. Now the album is out for some days, how do you feel about it? Satisfied this time?
Yes, it did take some time to fully record and finish our first album. The first idea was to release a MCD, but soon I discovered that there was a need for more than just 4 or 5 songs. A need from my side, that was. The idea of a full-length album was born, and here we are now, an album that lasts longer than 45 minutes, with 11 songs on it that all match on the CD. I’m happy with “Dead Man’s End”, just like any band would be happy after their first, or their latest release. After all it is like giving birth to something that came from my very own mind. I must admit that this is the first time that I really enjoy listening to an album that I created, mixed, produced and mastered myself. Two weeks before the release of the album I was really bored with the songs and I promised myself and other people that I would probably never listen to the album again after its release. Seems I was wrong, and seems that all the efforts that I’ve put into the “Dead Man’s End” album in the last 10 months now finally pay off, in an emotional way that is. It has been a very busy period of writing music, assembling the different parts of the songs, programming the drums, thinking of lyrics, indicating what the artwork should be like etc. When I now listen to the album, I can hear the small details again of which I, during the creation of the album, thought that they would add to the value of the songs. It are these little things that I enjoy when I listen to “Dead Man’s End”. Probably no one else will notice them, but that does not matter. On the question if I’m satisfied, I must give you a mixed answer: there’s a yes and a no. Yes, I’m satisfied with the songs and their compositions, the feelings and all the memories they did bring alive again. I must however admit that I’m not that satisfied with the global sound, the final version of the artwork, and the use of the triggered drums. But, at least I’ve learned quite a bit of the production process of a music CD, and this will certainly be of use for a next release. One must also know that I had a very little budget for the release. As a one-man-band without a label you must think very carefully before spending your budget. I understand quite well that a mass-promotion is necessary to regain every euro that we’ve spent. Luckily, internet and e-mail are a handy feature for this nowadays. I think it would have been impossible about 15 years back to release an album like this with the same budget, not only regarding promotion, but also with the ease of home-recording at a semi-professional level. I can only admire those who did it in the past.

Most melodic death metal bands use screams as main vocal input. Hollowtone however, solely focuses on deeper death metal grunts. Why this, let’s say, uncommon choice?
I think you are right that it is an uncommon choice of using grunts on a melodic death metal album. You must however admit that the grunts are not too deep, in other words: you can’t compare them with the grunts you would hear on albums of brutal death metal bands. A first reason for the use of grunts, is that Bart has a very pronounced voice, and since he articulates very well, the lyrics are easy to understand. In my eyes, that is a big surplus. My focus on music has always been on the guitar. This album had to have a little focus on everything, and I understood from many people that their focus, when listening to any album, went to the vocals. This is especially true for the so many people out there that do not play an instrument. A second reason for hiring Bart is that he has always been a close friend, and that I’ve worked with Bart in the past. I knew, even before starting the recordings of the “Dead Man’s End”-album, what Bart’s capabilities were, so these were a deciding factor as well. Before recording the vocals, I already knew how the album was going to sound vocal-wise, and Bart didn’t disappoint me at all. And as far as I know, we’ve only had great comments on the vocals, of course there’s always someone out there who would have been more pleased if we added more screams, but it’s just a matter of choices I guess. Seems that we’ve maybe done something good by choosing grunts instead of screams.

Before recording “Dead Man’s End” you were searching a shitload of singers willing to participate. In the end Bart Goffinghs did all vocals. How come plan A was thrown in the dustbin?
We didn’t use them because it just didn’t feel right on the album. It’s nothing personal against all the singers that we’ve contacted, but the album sounded so complete without all these guest-vocals. Maybe we will use some clean vocals on our next release, which Bart of course cannot provide. So here you go: do you know any singers that have a really nice and clean voice to sing some catchy choruses, just send them over!

Hollowtone is my new drug, though I had down some little remarks about more variation in the drums and vocals lines, when writing the review. How do you look at this?
I think your remarks were correct regarding the drums. But since I’m a guitar player and not a real drummer, I think the job was done quite good. I’m afraid I’m not satisfied with your remarks on the vocals. We didn’t need more variation on “Dead Man’s End”. Bart produced grunts just as I had them in my mind. I guess it’s a personal taste, and maybe your need for variation is fed by the fact that you mostly heard similar bands that used screams on their album (FilipD: I meant the vocal lines and not the sound in particular). By the way, do you know there are three types of vocals on the CD? On our Eucharist cover you actually have a variation with the grunts and the screams.

Eucharist may not be the most famous band around, but don’t you fear people will blame you for listening bit too much to them? The “Wounded And Alone” cover is an obvious choice.
There aren’t many bands out there that are not linked to one or another band, music-wise. So I can accept the fact that we were inspired by bands as At The Gates, Eucharist, In Flames, Arch Enemy, Excretion and so many others coming from Scandinavia. It were all bands which I grew up with in the early 1990’s, and it still are the bands that I listen to nowadays. Anyone who’s got the hots for one of these bands should definitely check our album, since we had to get the inspiration from somewhere! “Wounded And Alone” is one of these songs that will forever stick in my memory, it was released on the “WAR Compilation Volume 1” a long time ago. I don’t know why, but it’s one of the best songs in the genre I’ve ever heard! And I guess it’s just good to have a cover on your CD when you’re new in town, people can then identify your band with the bands you cover and make a link with your music easier.

It brings up the next question: why the infamous “Come Die With Me” cover from your old demo band Last Funeral?
It just felt right to have it on the album. There’s no real other explanation for it. But, if you want a little side-story on this: the original version had a little mistake in the guitar solo, and in the new version I had a chance to play it again correctly. And so I did. I’m quite happy with the new version: it sounds fat and full! Although I must admit that I did not include all the original parts of the song in it, which some people will blame me for. But it’s 2007, and the original ideas of the song back in the year 2000 were altered, but not much.

Besides “Demon In Your Dreams”, the rather short instrumental “Forever Closed Eyes” is one of my favorites. It must be the original use of synths that makes this one special. Is this a prelude of what to expect of further Hollowtone releases?
I must first say that “Forever Closed Eyes” is not instrumental, since it contains a whispering voice. Yes, you can expect synths in one of our following releases. I’m just starting to get the hang of the synths. Everybody thinks it is quite simple to play some keyboard-lines on an album, but in fact it isn’t. Once I’ve got the technique and the knowledge, I will certainly use it more. But: don’t expect synths in the veins of Within Temptation or similar bands. The keyboards we will use will certainly be more into the “Soilwork” or “Dan Swanö”-style! The synths on the “Dead Man’s End”-album only appear in one song. It was just a try-out that turned into something that really fitted the music. I think the synths have a real “goa trance”-effect, but just without the beat of that particular style of music.

What’s the ultimate goal when it comes to Hollowtone? I have the feeling this could be more than just a low profile project. Wasn’t Vic Records interested in releasing something?
The ultimate goal? To compose songs at home for about half a year, to rehearse the songs together with some really good musicians, to enter a studio for more than one month and release a killer album that will blow everybody away. And after that, a big record deal that takes all the costs that we’ve made for that killer album combined with a very good distribution. But that’s just the ultimate goal. Being a one-man-band doesn’t make that easy, unless your name is Dan Swanö. “Vic Records” was not really interested, we had some contacts for a record deal, but Roel van Reijmersdal had signed more bands than he expected for 2007, so I guess he had to keep his own budget under control. No hard feelings against “Vic Records”, Roel is a nice guy and maybe I should contact him again for a next release.

On your website you already stating the next album will be entitled “Misery Loves Company” and will be released in 2008. How’s the writing process doing? It seems like it’s pretty much in a final state when you post such news.
It is far from a final state. And I have no idea yet whether the album will be a full-length again, or a mini-CD with 5 or 6 songs. The fact is that I’m now trying to compose some good songs. The first song is as good as finished and it contains a very catchy chorus. I think the songs will all be similar to the ones you can find on “Dead Man’s End”, except for the fact that I plan to use some clean voices in the choruses. At least, that’s what I have in mind. The album should definitely be the next step in the existence of Hollowtone. I won’t be satisfied with a lesser quality or lesser sound. Maybe it will be finished very soon, on the other hand, it might take some months again before I think it is good enough to be released on the market. Fact is that we’ll most probably book a decent studio to record the guitars and the drums. We’ll go for the killer sound on the next album.

You’re quite cryptic when it comes to playing live. A quote from your website: “the band can currently not predict whether it will hit the stage in the future”. I know you personally don’t aim to hit the stage – But don’t you think a band’s best promotion comes through doing gigs? What keeps you away from live performances?
It is true that I personally do not aim to hit the stages. I’m more into “writing music” and “recording” than playing live. Maybe I want to do a one-time-gig with the band, but then it has to be perfect: well-rehearsed, good musicians, good sound, everything balanced and with a lot of motivation and fun in everything that has to do with all of the aforementioned. A band’s best promotion lies indeed in the fact that they can present their songs to a larger audience by performing. But I think it’s all about the “buzz”. With my other band, Mahlstrom, we sold 100 copies in a few months without performing. All advertising was done on the internet, and the “hype” or the “buzz” was really big, since many people thought of us as the new “Dissection”. In my case, it’s a quite personal decision not to go on-stage. I have been suffering from a disease in my balance-system the past 5 years. I’m now rehabilitating from that, and I hope to recover from it within the next year. The disease did not only bring me a disbalance on every stage that I hit with Mahlstrom, it also gave me a fear on an irregular and unpredictable basis, which I recently conquered by the help of some great people in the medical world. Next question, please.

And if so: why not creating a live line up with only people from your previous band the Quiescent? I’m sure their bass player would love to handle the guitar this time, hehehe,…
I don’t know if that would be such a good idea, haha. If I would start a live-band I would definitely need a guitar player that can handle the leads on the CD, since the leads on the next CD will only be more present than on this one!

There’s also written Hollowtone will work with another drummer for the next album. Are you changing your Drumkit From Hell samples or are you talking about a drummer of flesh and blood? Please explain.
I’d rather give no details on this, as long as nothing is confirmed.

When reading the lyrics I can only conclude one thing: why the obsession for taking your own life?
The album is not about taking MY own life. The album just gives an overview on how one can die by his own means. Of course there are some personal elements in the lyrics, but I’m enjoying life more than ever at this particular moment, in such a way that suicide would still be the last option to kneel for if any troubles should arise in my personal life. No, it was just a topic that really matched with the music to be found on the CD, and it also gave inspiration for our artwork.

Harbinger Design did the artwork for “Dead Man’s End” and the result is pretty good. But why didn’t you create it yourself? Come on, you’re a Photoshop expert yourself!
I can’t deny that I’m good in working with Photoshop. But I wanted to outsource this to Harbinger Design as I’m really satisfied with the work that Dirk did for the album, and with the work that he did for other bands in the past. You can’t even imagine how many designs I’ve seen before the final “Dead Man’s End” design was made. For all the lyrics on the album, Dirk made a separate graphical composition that simply matched. I would never have the ideas to match the graphics with the lyrics. He just did it, and it was a good cooperation. The bad thing is that the printing company (for the booklets) fucked the booklet a little bit, causing it to be a little darker than expected. But that’s life I guess!

I know you for a long, long time ago. And every band or project you wrote songs for (Last Funeral, Deceived, Mahlstrom, the Quiescent, Hollowtone and probably some more) has got your typical trademark – which clearly refers to Gothenburg, Sweden. Why the fascination for this sound? Don’t you think you’ve had it all by now?
It’s just damn good music! And I think I will keep on producing this kind of music for the next 10 years. It just has all the ingredients: good guitar riffs, nice guitar solos, great lyrics. You name it, it’s in there. You can’t need more than that? And I’m very pleased that you call it my “trademark”, since that means a lot of people will again love the music I’ve made in the last couple of months, and thus the “Dead Man’s End” album.

I remember our chief Ricardo being ecstatic about Mahlstrom’s demo “Nordlys”. What’s the status of that band actually? It has been a while there was some news.
Mahlstrom is in the fridge, although there were plans to release an album in 2008. But since my focus lies more on Hollowtone nowadays, I guess Mahlstrom will be something for 2009, or 2010, or…

Thanks for your time. Good luck with your hollow tones.
Thank you for the interview, and thanks to the readers of this interview. I hope they turn into “believers” after reading this rather long story!

Hollowtone

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Impaled Nazarene – “…because it gives you this spark, it fuels the hate”

The Finnish legends are back with what is one of the most hotly anticipated releases this year. Entitled ‘Manifest’ this new album features everything that is great about this band, hitting you even harder with their trademark Thrash/Death/Grindcore/Black Metal, which sounds bigger, better and more hate-fuelled than anything they have released thus far in their 17 year careers. With more than a few surprises up their sleeves and more controversy than you can shake a shitty stick at, long standing vocalist Mika Luttinen is clearly pleased about the direction the band have taken on this release, which considering the circumstances endured over the last couple of years, says something about just how dedicated they are.

Your last few releases have seen a change in your sound, culminating in your new album ‘Manifest’, which sounds quite different from the frantic, Grindcore-inspired albums of the past. More rooted in traditional metal/speed and thrash, was it your intention to create a more straight-forward metal-sounding, fist in the arsehole album this time around?
Hmmm…no, because the thing is we never plan anything ahead so whatever happens just happens. We never have any kind of master plan or anything. There are five different composers of this band and everyone has their own different influences so that’s kind of makes it this fucking mess that we create (laughs). It’s the fact that everybody just makes the music and then we always meet at rehearsals and everybody brings something to the table and then decide if we will keep it, but if like three out of five think that it is complete shit then we don’t use it (laughs).

So it’s a bit of a hit and miss thing then?
Yeah, it’s like sometimes somebody gets annoyed saying ‘why don’t you like my songs’ but we have been working like this since ‘Latex Cult’ or something, so everybody knows how it goes and in a way its quite easy I think.

Are you a band that rehearses a lot, do you spend a lot of time in the practise room?
No…well…it depends. If we have an album coming out then we are practising a lot or if we have some kind of gig or tours coming up, but when we don’t have anything coming up it can be like 6 weeks or 7 weeks then suddenly it’s like shit, but we have scheduling so we just say ok, lets go in next Sunday. Also, we have our own private forum where we keep up with all the rehearsal times but you get messages like ‘I have a hangover, I’m not coming’ and then somebody else saying ‘I have a hangover too, I’m not coming’ (laughs). This happens a lot!

Whereas most bands of your ilk opt for grittier, dirtier sounding albums, IN have for years opted for very clean, powerful productions, which is something that particularly stands out from ‘Manifest’. Do you feel that you got the sound that highlights best the songs on this album?
On this album the production is so superb, especially for me because it’s a very analogue-sounding album. The problem with the previous album, I mean I liked the production when it was done but then like one year later I was listening to it and I was like how the fuck is this so compressed and sounds so damn digital. So, when we started planning the pre-production we said to our producer we want it much more analogue-sounding, like the eighties album’s but make it sound modern. So, we said lets rig the drums without any triggers or bullshit like this, let’s go for a production that sounds like the band playing live. I think it’s true that we always have, well maybe not the first album, but we have a clear and clean production and that mostly comes from me because I’m a sucker for a good production. I really like these massive productions, like some of the Manowar albums for example, so I have always been wanting to get a good sound on our albums because I think it’s kinda stupid that you go to the studio and try to do the worst sound album ever.

I must say that your voice in particularly brutal form on this album…plenty of help from JD and cigars then?
I was actually pretty sober on this one (laughs).

Was that a first?
No. On ‘Suomi Finland Perkele’ I didn’t drink any alcohol either ‘cause the thing was I was so fucking broke when we were in the studio and I was like ok fuck this shit, I’m not going to waste my last money to get some alcohol, I would just drink some water and some red bull and that’s it. Some people have been saying that I sound much better than previously, but it’s hard for me to say anything concrete about it. I know that I was rehearsing like hell before I went into the studio, so maybe that’s the thing that makes it sound different. I am really proud of a track like ‘Original Pig Rig’ because on the chorus there are these Grindcore vocals that I have never done before, so it was something where I thought I would try something new that was still in my range because I am not a good vocalist, I know that for a fact! I would hate to sing something with clean vocals ‘cause I would go out of tune immediately, so I stick to the formula that I did first then tried to spice it up a bit with this death growling or Grindcore shit, but I am very limited in what I can do so I try my best but I am not trying something that would make it sound like complete horrible shit!

Over the years you have had many problems with censorship issues regarding your covers, lyrics etc, resulting in you being banned from playing in Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Poland back in 2005/06. How much does this affect the inner workings of Impaled Nazarene, it must be so frustrating to have a load of fuckwits condemning your music when they know absolutely nothing about it.
Well, sometimes it’s good that they are like this because it gives you this spark, it fuels the hate. The last European tour and they actually managed to ban us and you start losing money, then it gets to a point where it’s not funny anymore because it’s affecting your whole life. The last European tour as well, was a complete fucking disaster for us, so when we finally came back after two months we were in so much debt that it took like eighteen months to pay back everything that we owed. We had quit our jobs and everything to be able to do that huge tour, it was really bad for us. Hardly surprisingly the album deals with lots of that shit that went down during that tour, the aftermath, because the four of us were thinking that ok the struggle is now over but then we were planning Poland and we had never played there before, and some fucking days before we were banned. We were basically ready to go to the airport and that was the last straw for us. I was like fuck this shit, we were so close to giving up. Then, the last two albums went under the review committee of the German censorship and ‘Latex Cult’ was ok but ‘Nihil’ then was banned in January 2007, so there seems to be fucking bad luck following us (laughs). Some people say that when they read our biography on our website, they think it’s amazing how much shit we have gone through, it’s like a never ending stream of shit that follows this band!

But as you say, it fuels the hatred!
Absolutely, because with this album it was really easy to write the lyrics this time, it was just like remember what happened last year and it just comes out like, fuuuuuck!

New member (guitarist) Tomi UG Ullgren who has replaced Tuomio has been a session member since 2000…what has he brought to the table in terms of song writing or did he have this input before officially joining as a full time member?
It was really easy to do this line up change. Even though Tuomio played and wrote some of the songs on ‘Manifest’, with his personal life and everything it just got to the point where he couldn’t continue with us anymore. When he phoned me and said ‘I’m out’ I called Ullgren immediately and said do you want to be a full time member and he said yes and that was it. It took like five seconds!

It probably saved a lot of time auditioning people and going through hundreds of people just to find out they have nothing in common with the people and workings of Impaled Nazarene.
Yeah, definitely. And we didn’t have to teach him any of the songs ‘cause he has been playing with us so long. When we were writing ‘Manifest’ he phoned me and said I have some songs that sound like Impaled Nazarene and do we want to use them but I told him that we already have so many songs now but maybe next time, and now he is suddenly a full time band member. For now at least we haven’t been checking out anything new that might be on the next album, but I am sure that he will write songs for the next album. We always do the same thing when we have a line up change and say that you can do your own shit on these songs but don’t change them too much. I think it’s important that people can still to figure out what the fuck’s going on, especially with the older songs. Every lead guitarist we have had plays differently and I think it’s a good thing because it keeps it exciting for people, like ok, it doesn’t sound necessarily sound exactly like it was recorded but they can still make out what song it is

You also stated that this is your most varied release since ‘Suomi Finland Perkele’, featuring more variations in tempo and riffing style – although it’s still undoubtedly Impaled Nazarene to the core. I mean a song like ‘Dead Return’; it’s something quite different for you guys.
Absolutely, I fucking love that song. Our bass player wrote that song and he sent me an email saying ‘is this already too much for Impaled Nazarene?’. I was listening and it was clear from the first second of listening to that song that this will be the closing song. I phoned him and said that this track is fucking genius, it kind of reminds of old Paradise Lost, something a bit different for us.

Aside from Germany of course, do you plan to do any sort of tour in support of this new album?
No, because the fact is that we had so much bad luck had last year and we don’t even know where we can play! It’s fucking irritating. The head of Osmose phoned me up the other day and said ‘what are your touring plans?’ and I said ‘we have fucking nothing’, and he said ‘what’?! But what can we do? We cannot take the risk again of losing shit loads of money. What we are trying to do now is book weekend gigs here and there all around Europe so we’ll see what happens.

Just how important is playing live for IN? Do you enjoy the touring side of being in a band?
It’s the best fucking thing in the whole world! And that’s why it’s so irritating with that tour because we couldn’t play live. We were sat in the fucking gas stations in Germany for like three days in a row and then had one show in Prague and then we came back to Germany to find out we couldn’t play there either. But playing live is the best thing about being in a band. You get to see the world and eat food you have never even heard of, and all the alcohol and stuff comes with it for free (laughs)!

Like I said before, IN has morphed back and forth from different styles of music from the almost rocking vibes of ‘Suomi Finland Perkele’ to the more abrasive and much more aggressive crust/punk tones of ‘Rapture’. Through all these changes, however, you have always managed to have that distinct Impaled Nazarene sound and I wondered just what is it that connects you from your first album to where you are now. With all the line up changes, it must be hard to stay on track.
I don’t really know. If you listen to the first album and listen to ‘Manifest’ I don’t think there is really that much difference.

Slightly rawer perhaps!
Yeah, but I think the fact is that we have been really lucky when there has been line up changes. We have always been able to find people who are able to adapt to the song writing style of the band, I mean some people who have been fans of the band end up joining us, so that’s been a good thing. For example, our current bass player who has been with us for seven years now hadn’t even heard a fucking Impaled Nazarene song in his life and then he wrote for his first song ‘Armageddon Death Squad’ and I was like, ‘what the fuck’ (laughs).

Now that is some debut!
It sometimes it amazes me when I stop and think about it, but in a way I like the way that every album is a bit different to each other ‘cause people don’t know what to expect from us. I mean, can you name any other band that has like a song like ‘Death Returns’ and then a song like ‘Lets Fucking Die!’, then we have 20 second Grindcore tracks and I think that the scale of our songs is very far stretched. We have everything basically; the only thing we are missing is acoustic ballads!

You definitely don’t want to go down that route.
No, I don’t think so (laughs)!

Even though you guys started off as I suppose what you could call as a Black Metal band with the corpsepaint, inverted crosses and stuff, it always makes me laugh that even today some people still class you as a Black Metal band! For me at least, your sound is quite obviously very different from say Gorgoroth or Deathspell Omega.
It doesn’t really piss me off, I just wonder why they do. Maybe some people just look at the logo and think ok they are Black Metal. I think the whole Black Metal thing of who is true and who is not and all that crap is one of the reasons why we stepped out of all that shit, I mean it’s just stupid. People were saying what would you call what you play but what the fuck can you say? It’s a mixture of every fucking thing from some Grindcore, some Death Metal, to Thrash Metal to Black Metal and that’s our trademark.

A little bit about the future then, I read somewhere that either after this album or the next you will be releasing a live DVD. Can you give us any details of that now or is it too early to say? Is it going to be a DVD of just one show or a compilation of shows spanning your 17 years as a band?
A lot of people are asking this but how things are at the moment I don’t really don’t want to do another fucking studio DVD, but maybe after the next album. We prefer to do studio albums but on the other hand we released the live CD and I fucking love it. We did it cleverly because we have been around long enough to have a good back catalogue, because I cannot understand bands that do two albums and then do a live CD or DVD.

Or a best of album.
(laughs) Exactly, they are just ripping people off. When we do a live DVD I want it to be something special and definitely have a different track list then the live CD. We just want to do something interesting not just for us but for our fans. Who the fuck would want to try and do a DVD after two years that would have the 90% of the same track listing as the albums?

I think that because you guys have been going for seventeen years now and have had a lot of albums in that time, it would be good to let your fans if they haven’t seen you live before, to witness all the classics.
It’s like planning a live set now is a fucking nightmare because there are certain songs that you know people want to hear but then sometimes we are like ‘we have played this forever’, and we’re like why? (laughs) It will come though.

 

Impaled Nazarene

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Dødsferd – “I can no longer look on and stand the debasement of humanity, the predominance of all the parasites who have learned to live at others expense.”

Normally the bands that deliver the best grim and cold Black Metal don’t hail from warm countries. Normally, because there is an exception tot every rule: in this matter, one of those exceptions is called Dødsferd. Bands like Rotting Christ, Varathron and others created a sound which is often referred to as typical ‘Greek Black Metal’, yet Dødsferd wishes to refrain from that, and takes its inspiration from the Scandinavian and US Black Metal. Recently I reviewed Dødsferd latest album ‘Fucking Your Creation’, which was rather impressive. Too bad there wasn’t a band site, otherwise I would have contacted the band before, yet a while ago Moribund Cult asked us if we were interested in doing interviews with their bands… well, how about Dødsferd?

Dødsferd is a one-man-project of Wrath, who during this interview shows himself as the typical one-man-project: working from his own determined vision, and busy with several projects besides just Dødsferd, and a man who wished to speak through his music. Wrath speaks…

Why does a musician from Greece pick a name that sounds Norwegian; isn’t the Greek mythology inspiring enough, like the Norwegians have their own deities?
The Greek philosophy is very inspiring, basically more inspiring than anyone else could think. But that has nothing to do with my band. Dødsferd was born with Wrath into a different world, into a world that only Wrath sets the rules, that only Wrath knows what is best for his ideal. It was the only name that could express my everlasting hate and sadness. So the name of my band Dødsferd, which means “journey of death”, was the only appropriate name to overshadow my vision. I am inspired by other things.

Why did you choose the name Dødsferd? I know it is a song title from Dimmu Borgir’s album ‘Stormblåst’, but I can’t really compare your music to Dimmu Borgir…
For the reasons I have just told you. It is out of my concern if it is a Dimmu Borgir song. ‘Journey of Death’, nothing else. This is Dødsferd. By the way, ‘For All Tid’ and ‘Stormblåst’ are two respectable Black Metal albums.

Dødsferd is a one-man-project: what is for you the key reason to do it all by yourself?
One important reason for me is lack of trust. Dødsferd is my personal haven. There is no one else, except for me, capable enough to enter it and serve it, without any second thoughts. Live in despair, breathe with pain.

How hard is it to criticize your own work?
It is very difficult to be pleased by something. I am still in the beginning of my quest. My music gives me strength. But yes, indeed, criticizing my own work is very hard, but I am used to it.

Something I always wanted to ask a one-man-band: how do you start recording such work, is there standard operation modus, like first the drums or guitars or so?
Recording the drums is the first thing to do. So I work with the session drummer, until he has fully understood the philosophy of my songs and their structure. He records his drum parts and then I continue with the rest alone, guitars, bass, and vocals.

On ‘Fucking Your Creation’ sound samples are used in between the song: from which movie (or movies) are they and why did you put them on the album?
Samples like the ones I used for ‘Fucking Your Creation’ completed my work. No further explanations about the samples. Their great atmosphere combined with my songs creates something completely different from the one that I used them.

What do you consider as the main development from the album ‘Desecrating The Spirit of Life’ to ‘Fucking Your Creation’?
A different drummer, who was able to understand the sickness of my music, total solitude that can be translated as clearer thoughts for my vision, the experience of death…

In closing ‘Wrath’ you have a kind of spoken word message with sound samples under it: a title which refers to your personal statement I guess: in short, what is the message about?
I can no longer look on and stand the debasement of humanity, the predominance of all the parasites who have learned to live at others expense. No pity for them and to anyone else who tolerates such behavior and point of view.

In the review of ‘Fucking Your Creation’ I try to locate Dødsferd as somewhere in between Craft, Darkthrone and Leviathan: which bands actually inspire you most and why? I suspect that also Satanic Warmaster is a band whose fans might like Dødsferd…
Total respect to Bathory, Burzum, mighty Darkthrone, Gorgoroth, great Akhenaten and Judas Iscariot, Nargaroth, Wrest and Leviathan, Malefic and Xasthur, Krieg…Eternal hails to Satanic Warmaster, Horna, Sargeist.

How does a Greek band end up on a US label?
From the beginning of my first demo,’Kruzifixxion of Human Disgust’, I was in contact with Odin and Moribund Records. I had sent it to him. After the release of my first full length album, ‘Desecrating the Spirit of Life’, I recorded the ‘Fucking Your Creation’ album. Again he was the first one to get in touch with. Odin was interested in it so Moribund released it. It was a great honor for me.

Do you have aspirations to perform your music live on stage?
Soon I am going to rehearse some of my songs with session musicians, members from my other projects in order to perform my music live on stage. I have thought about it.

What is next on Dødsferd’s to-do-list?
My second album from the Dødsferd trilogy is ready and it will be released on October 8th 2007 by Moribund Records. 70 minutes of pure hate and endless mourning, ‘Cursing Your Will to Live’. Also, I have started working on new songs for the demands of a split CD and a 7″ EP.

It is hard to find a Dødsferd site for info, if there is such a site: is that a deliberate move to avoid exposure or is there another reason for it?
No there isn’t such a site about Dødsferd. It’s my decision. I have never thought about it.

You also have another band called Kampf; of which I have read that a debut album is coming out soon: again, a Northern/Western European word. Are you sure that there is nothing fit in the Greek history or language to cover the concept?
Difficult, I will find something to cover the concept of my music.

Can you already tell us when it will be released and on which label?
The debut album of my other band Kampf, ‘Nothing but Wrath’, will be released by Regimental Records in the end of September of 2007. Also, BlackMetal.com will release, towards the end of 2007, the debut album of my other project, Grab, ‘Plague…’.

Anything I have forgotten to ask yet that you want our readers to inform of?
Nothing at all.

Dødsferd

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Enthroned – “Enthroned became a unity, a single manifestation rising from the souls of four devoted beings.”

The leading Force in Belgian Black Metal strikes once again. With Their outstanding new album ‘Tetra Karcist’ they have delivered something I never expected (only hoped for) from this band anymore. Since the major changes over the past years, the black flame was burning stronger than ever and I felt my hope could become reality. And now I gladly took the chance to talk to Nornagest about the past, present and future of Enthroned. You’re welcome!

Ave Nornagest. Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions.
Ave!

Let’s start with some ordinary questions, concerning the band and so on. How are things lately?
As you might know, things are going pretty well lately, the Enthroned of today is in peace, never before I rejoiced myself at this point.
Things are back in place and where they belong, which is something rather new for Enthroned, the awakening is getting closer and we are getting ready for the grand moment.

Can you tell the people who didn’t follow the band for some time what has happened over the past years?
I’ll make a long story short; after we released ‘XES Haereticum’ we started to have some troubles with Sabathan, meaning that we couldn’t rehearse as he was always complaining about the fact that we had to change the location of the rehearsal room because me and Nguaroth are living 2.30 hours from his place and the previous place was there, so, regarding our schedules it was impossible to travel 5 hours a day to the other side of Belgium. In the end we managed to get a rehearsal room at an equal distance but he was still complaining, being unemployed we thought it was a bit over acting coming from him.
Anyhow, after a while we even tried to rehearse at his place again, but he always managed to find an excuse to escape the rehearsals, while we heard he was doing barbecues etc.. well whatever… afterwards he started to talk more about money, free festivals, how many girls he could fuck on tour than the real feeling, the devotion etc… and along these annoying factors some other unpleasant things happened concerning him, so we took a drastic decision and we kicked him out. Since then, we asked long time friend Phorgath to join and knowing about the situation and the real reasons about Sabathan’s ‘departure’ he gladly accepted.
I then took over vocal duties and we composed and recorded ‘Tetra Karcist’, toured here and there and recruited a new drummer which is also a long time friend : Ahephaim.

Can you tell a little bit more about the new drummer, since his name doesn’t ring a bell immediately.
He is as I stated, a long time friend of me and Phorgath, he is completely dedicated to the dark arts. He’s been in the scene for quite a while as well and has a lot of experience with other bands but none of them are really well known. We knew he was the right person then, in the past I already thought about him when we were looking for a drummer, but ‘someone’ (guess you know who I mean) suggested that he would never be good enough (what a joke!).
He learnt the whole new album in a week and the whole set list of Enthroned in 5 rehearsals, which I think is quite impressive.

Ok, we’ve been updated a bit, let’s hit you with some questions about the new album. In my opinion, and I think lots of people will share this with me, this is Enthroneds best album so far. How do you feel about it yourself?
This is the album I wanted to do for years, with a concept that represent what I am but not only, which represent every members of Enthroned both in its soul and feeling.
In the past, I always had to do compromises because the previous front man thought my riffs where not melodic or catchy enough. The same thing happened with the lyrics, even worse, I couldn’t express myself the way I really wanted because he didn’t understand half of the lyrics I wrote when it came to serious occult matters or subject upon demonology, the Lemegeton or any other serious topics. Now, with this album all those annoying points vanished; every one composed and there was absolutely no compromises, every one was in harmony with the tracks we were building and with it’s concept, they all insisted to read the lyrics and they were all agreed with a smile of satisfaction if I can use this expression.
‘Tetra Karcist’ is definitely the work of a group of men who are going in the same direction, on the same path and that are also why I think, just like you do, that this is definitely our best album.

I’m always interested in the recording process of an album. Can you give some more informations about that? Where did you record it, who produced it, what was the line-up during the recordings…
The line-up was me on lead vocals and lead guitar, Nguaroth (l.guitar and backings), Phorgath (bass and backing) and Alsvid on drums. The album was produced by Harris Johns, but recorded in Belgium at the Dungeon studio and mixed in Berlin. It was the first time in 10 years that we recorded an album in our home country which was a bit more relaxing; we could focus on several things while being in a familiar element.

As far as I know Enthroneds history, I understood you were the driving force behind it. Now that some issues are taken care of, is this still the same, or are the other members more participating then in the past?
Well, I’m still taking care of the main things, but indeed, the new members are more implicated within the band than previously. Every decision is made by the four of us, if one says ‘no’, we don’t do it. Enthroned became a unity, a single manifestation rising from the souls of four devoted beings.

Since we already talked a bit about the concept of album before, I understood the album should be taken and understood as a Satanic Ritual. Unfortunately I haven’t had the chance to read the lyrics. Can you give some global idea to our readers what they are about?
‘Tetra Karcist’ is a personal vision of eternal ascent. Using the abilities that are learnt through some teachings within obscure doctrines that must remain untouched by the impure (this is why, you will understand that I do not give any further information nor precise names). A way we learn how to control every aspect of ourselves and our universe, rising from ashes and commanding the alliance of some entities in our behalf.  The glow of Divinity which is within each one of us becomes a powerful blaze that will obliterate all that is vanishing and will praise all that is eternal… the Gateway to Eternity.
The visions and experiences of the evocators of Enthroned through the Median path, the path of balance through the roots of occultism and Satanism in it’s purest and original form, that’s the concept behind ‘Tetra Karcist’. Each chapter or song if you prefer, is a phase where a manifestation of our soul expresses itself upon the comminion between us and ‘them’.

Is there room for the other members to write the lyrics as well, and are the other members chairing the same beliefs you do?
Every one in Enthroned now, shares same vision in general, but me and Ahephaim are pretty much similar, we all have a different approach of the same matter, which is quite interesting and more a force than a weakened point. Nguaroth wrote some lyrics about Enochian philosophy actually and I found them quite interesting.

‘Tetra Karcist’ is a fist in the face of the non-believer but Enthroned was always supposed to be a Satanic band, lots of people didn’t take it serious in the past, can you understand why that is?
Indeed and I couldn’t blame them at all, honestly, a band with a front man who is claiming to be a Satanist and is obviously it’s antithesis… the few lyrics written by that person were at the edge of being a comedy or a heavy metal parody… no wonder people were mocking him and us in the mean time, so once again that’s why some decisions were taken…Every single day, I’m asking myself why it took us so long to put things in their right order.

I think you are stronger then ever, and I cannot wait until more releases will be unleashed upon mankind. And although I do like the older records a lot, it is nothing compared to the new one. But how do you look back to the past yourself? I think Enthroned finally is here to claim something it pretends to be for over 15 years.
Thanx! And I think you have your answer within the previous one!

How do you look upon the future of Enthroned? What can we expect more from Enthroned?
The future will depend of how things evolve and which doors will be open.
At the moment, our projects are tours over Europe this fall, working on new tracks and we are planning some dates in different parts of the world. One thing is certain, Enthroned will be there and this time ‘till its last breath wrapped into the devotion it once had.

Are you still involved in any other side projects? If yes, which ones, and can we expect some releases sooner or later?
I use to be involved with some side projects like Plague and The Beast.
Plague split up mainly due to the re-location of the guitar player in a foreign country and The Beast is on hold. I don’t know if I will restart one of those project one day, time shall tell, now my main concern is Enthroned, I have some ideas that cannot fit for Enthroned so when I will have time I shall start something up again, but as I said: only  time will tell….

A tour with Gorgoroth and the Swedish Tyrant is about to start in the fall, can we expect something special for this tour?
Already the fact to tour Europe will be something ‘special’, we did not tour Europe since 2003, I mean in a proper way! The old songs will be performed with the darkness and devotion that the actual Enthroned spreads and people will do the rest.

You did some festivals this summer, I was wondering how they went…
Well, we played 3 festivals; one in Belgium (Méan) which was excellent, great ambiance, nice location and with some close friends like Melechesh. We also played UFTG which I quite disliked for several reasons but at least I could suck the energy out of a few hundred people, and Nocturnal Empire Fest in Erfurt, which was pretty ok as well. The interesting thing is to see and witness the difference between certain crowds how attentive they can be, some place seems to be dedicated to a different genre compare to another one, some places are a gathering of stupid brainless metal heads while others can be filled with people who understand what you are doing and share the same views and tastes.
So, this is kinda the story of those three festivals; different place, different people with a different level of quality and intelligence.

Also some gigs in Mexico have been done. I always hear those crazy stories about those middle/southern American countries. Got some funny anecdotes to share?
Your informations were indeed correct! The Mexican audience is pretty dedicated and crazy… as an example I can give you this; we played in Leon and there was a bunch of guys who were asking a big motherfucker to throw them against the wall by their ankles, which he did several times and they were happy to get bashed and to walk away with their head open, bleeding. After the show I saw some of them, apparently used to it and they had their own little ‘sewing kit’ with them, asking their friends to sew them back on. Also, it’s sometimes VERY annoying, people are always trying to steal your microphone to sing or just scream like an idiot in it, which I couldn’t stand and I just had to make it clear, but it only increased the insanity of the crowd which I appreciated very much to be honest!

So, let’s end with this funny note. Thanks again, the final words are for you…
Thanx for the interview!
Avdite Tetra Karcist!

Enthroned

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Obituary – “I love Allen West as a brother, but what he was doing to the band was killing us, so we needed to take out the cancer”

Every metal style has bands that get everybody thrilled. Within death metal the most common names are the bands that were releasing their first albums between 1988 and 1991. I’m talking about Morbid Angel, Suffocation, Immolation, Cannibal Corpse and the band with those remarkable vocals: Obituary! After the reunion announcement, one album and leaving Roadrunner after almost 20 years, a new Obituary steps up. Full of energy due a new label and a record that grab you by the throat. Unfortunately Frank was quite busy with the new tour, therefore the answers are a little bit short. But I bet Frank Watkins will share the same vision…

 

Hello Frank, thank you very much for doing this interview. At first, the trademark Obituary. You’re in the business for a long time now, still…lot of exposure and lot of people eagerly waiting for a new album. Are you aware of the fact that you are a member of one of the strong holders of death metal?
Yeah I am aware but honestly we have a long way to go to reach the masses. I feel with the break thru of today’s extreme music it will pave a pathway for bands like Obituary to gain more popularity and get to a lot more fans.|

John Tardy said that the whole Obituary line-up was kinda fed up with the attitude of Roadrunner Records as they didn’t promote “Frozen in Time” well enough according to your opinion. What kind of problems did you have in those days? Did you expect more credit for being a Roadrunner artist all those years? And how are happy are you with Candlelight Records? On your official homepage you mentioned you finally got a real “Release-party” of the new album arranged by your label. Which other labels were interested in signing you and why have you chosen to sign with Candlelight Records? You even had a business advisor to help you out right?
We had a shitty deal from day one with Roadrunner. It feels so good to know we are finally finished with them and we can move on in a more productive manner. I feel we help to put Roadrunner on the map but in the end big business took over and we were left in the dark. I really don’t understand why they didn’t just let us go but we were contractually obligated to do one more album. We didn’t expect Roadrunner to do anything but when we asked to be let go of the label they insisted we would be taken care of. Our relationship with Candlelight has been great. The bottom line is they do their job and that’s all we ask. We have every extreme label come after us so we decided to write our own deal. We sought out an amazing business advisor and wrote our own deal. Candlelight had no question with our terms and was the first to step up to the plate!

While listening to the new album my conclusion is that it is 110% Obituary, but with a couple of enjoyable twists. For example the 7 minute lasting track “Contrast the Dead” and the fast moshpit guarantee track “Seal your Fate”. The album screams “ENERGY!!” in general. I bet you got a real kick out of recording and I bet you can’t wait to go on tour…Could you tell us more about the recording process of the album? For the first time you used your own studio, right?
We have been heavily involved in the recording process for years and with technology the way it is now it makes it easier for you to produce your own material. We took a gamble on the band and spent what money we had and racked up some credit cards to invest in ourselves and build our own studio. We call it Redneck Studios and now have the ability to record everything we come up with. Fortunately we have a great friend Mark Prator and he really knows his shit and he helped us out tremendously and walked us thru the entire process of building this studio. We are forever in his debt.

When you look back, what is the biggest difference of recording “Back from the Dead” (last album before the non-active period), “Frozen in Time” (the comeback album) and your new one?
“Back From the Dead” we did with Jamie Locke in a studio in Miami we had to work all day and night and spent a shit load of money. With “Frozen in Time” we experimented with Mark Prator and did it all with him on a low budget and learned a lot. The new one we did our selves with some help from Mark in our own place.

You recorded one extra song for a limited edition release (with poster and special packaging). Can you tell us something about that song? Track title? Fast or slow song? In the vein of…?
Its BADASS you’ll have to wait to hear it!

The cover artwork is a nice one for your backdrop as well as shirts. Especially the detail that the artist (Andreas Marshall, also responsible for the great “The End Complete” and “Frozen in Time”) used the “T” of your logo as a kind of dagger and the dragon of your logo. Whose idea was it? What was your first reaction when you saw the painting?
Andres came up with that idea and was floored when we first saw it. We knew right away what to call the album!

The title “Xecutioner’s Return” is something like looking back at the past. Also one could say it’s a statement: We had a great reunion and we are here to stay, playing the old school way like we always did. Am I getting close? How do you see Obituary’s past? Any regrets (certain album, tour or track on an album)? Also, some experiences you are really proud of?
NO regrets at all. We did it exactly like we needed to. The breaks we took were needed and it shows. The proudest moments the fact we are able to have so many fans from all over the world!

After a long time of silence John Tardy said some things about the imprisoning of Allen West. Phrases like “he’s been a handful over the years”, “the last couple of years have been particularly hard” and “he’s just falling on his face drunk on stage and showing up to practise and he can’t even play because he’s so wrecked”. Those are some hard words! Is this the fury of a frustrated front man who only wants to get and keep Obituary at the top of the death metal league and don’t want any obstacles? What is your opinion on this subject? Is there a chance you guys replace Allen permanently?
Allen was given too many chances and his actions showed us how much he cared for the band. I love him as a brother but what he was doing to the band was killing us so we needed to take out the cancer. We’ll see where we are when he gets out of prison and also see what is important to him. As of now we have a great guitarist that has as much passion for this band as we do and this is what we needed!

There were rumours that you guys and James Murphy couldn’t get along anymore. James Murphy posted a picture on your official message board that proves otherwise. As “Cause of Death” is my personal favourite Obituary album because of the great solos (although John Tardy thinks otherwise, as his opinion is “the leads do sound like they were just put on top of music that was already there”). Do you think you would ever work again with James Murphy? Maybe a guest solo?
NO.

You will tour with Alabama Thunderpussy, Full Blown Chaos and Hemlock in the US and with Holy Moses in Europe. You touring with Alabama Thunderpussy is kind of a combination you don’t expect. Excited? Also, will there be any other bands added to the European bill?
Alabama is a fucking great hardworking band and it is going to be a spectacular show. We choose bands to tour with that we like. I hate going to shows and not having a bit of variety in the line ups. They are going to so killer to watch every night.

Celtic Frost and Obituary, there are some connections, ha! Seriously, what do you and the rest of the band thinks of the come back album and their tour (maybe you have seen them on Waldrock)? Did you all go nuts after hearing “Circle of the Tyrants”?
It’s a great record! I love its sooo heavy and different. I hung out with Martin Ain at the Waldrock and he’s a really great person. Tom seemed very with drawn and quiet but very nice at the same time.

Alright, I promised a small interview, but I’m afraid I still took a lot of your time. Thanks for the answers, Frank. If I have forgotten anything to ask, here your space to mention it. Cheers!
Sorry for the delay but we are tremendously busy with rehearsing and getting ready for our live shows see you in Jan 2008.

Obituary

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Throne of Katarsis – “Black Metal is in our veins, and all musical expressions we use, and will be using in the future will be Black Metal. This has grown too big in us now, and will never let go.”

As one of the most passionate and dedicated Black Metal bands in the scene today, Norway’s Throne Of Katarsis have garnered quite a name for themselves since their inception in 2003.  Keeping the flame of the classic early 90’s era burning fiercely, their latest album ‘An Eternal Dark Horizon’ is a whitewash of biting guitars, whirlwind percussion and freezing atmosphere that sets like permafrost in the minds of all that have been fortunate enough to hear it.  Having received critical acclaim the world over I felt it time to speak to vocalist/guitarist and co-founder Grimnisse about just how this album came into being, the thought processes behind it and the bands impenetrably dark future…

‘An Eternal Dark Horizon’ is a bludgeoning slab of Norwegian Black Metal that captures the primal rawness and heavy emotive (in the darkest sense of the word) drive of the 90’s scene, factors that many of today’s so-called Black Metal artists try and fail miserably to capture. With such a strong debut, what do you feel you have personally accomplished with this album?
I’m very satisfied with the cold and intense atmosphere we’ve managed to create on this album. The songs themselves has got lots of energy, and together with the right production we have certainly achieved what we wanted. We’ve focused on the essence of Black Metal, and we feel that this has shine through in all of the details, from the songwriting and production, to the cover art and layout.

Having been a work in progress, so to speak, for nearly three years and featuring some reworked tracks from your unreleased ‘Blodslakt’ demo and the much sought after ‘Unholy Holocaustwinds’ demo, this album has certainly been a long time coming. With the steadily growing demand by many a Black Metal fan to unleash the album and the fact that it is being released through Candlelight; did you feel any pressure when recording the material?
Not at all. We do this without worrying about who will listen to it, or what people might expect. We would still do the same thing if it was released in 66 tapes. We do this for ourselves, and never consider if the material is good enough for the label or the fans. If fact; the whole album was recorded, and mainly mixed before we got the deal with Candlelight, so there where no pressure from that side. We have never the less had full artistic freedom, and Candlelight has supported us. Even though we used long time finishing the album, we weren’t actually in the studio that long. The album was recorded in different sessions, and sometimes there where months between the studio sessions. Most of it was actually recorded on the first take. The mixing part however was a bit longer affair.

Why did you choose to rework these particular songs and to what extent were they brought up to what you feel is the current context of Throne Of Katarsis’ sound?
We always knew that we would record all of our demo songs in a professional studio. We felt that the tracks was very good, and that they had more to offer than what the demos could provide. I’m very satisfied with the way it turned out, and I feel that we haven’t lost the rawness that is a big part of the demos, instead we’ve managed to make it more intense. I’m very into lo-fi Black Metal bands, and I like certain elements is such productions. Having this in mind throughout the whole studio session, we where able to capture these details and atmospheric feelings that I had in mind from day one.

Being a band that stick quite firmly to the aesthetics, outlook and sound of the ‘classic’ Black Metal era, it was somewhat of a surprise to find out that this album would be released through one of the bigger labels in the extreme music industry, Candlelight. Can you tell me more about how this deal initially came about? What was it that they saw in your music and from the other side, what was it that you saw in the label?
I feel honored being a part of Candlelight’s catalogue. It’s huge being under the same flag that Emperor, and later, bands like Obituary, 1349 & Furze. It all started out when we sent ten promos to bigger labels, a bit too big, we thought at the time. After a while we got positive response from three of these labels, and we first signed with the Greek label Black Lotus. Before we had sent them the master tapes, they got bankrupt or something, and we could then move over to Candlelight, who were a bit late with showing their interest. They first got in touch with us when we were deep into the negotiations with Black Lotus, so we first turned them down, but we are very satisfied things turned out the way they did. I can’t imagine sitting and thinking; ‘we could have been on Candlelight’. For us it was important to be on a steady label, that knew the market, and which had routines on everything. It’s good for us to focus on the music, instead of worrying about whether the album will be release or not, and if the label will make it throughout the year. They have so far respected all of our wishes, both musically and what the cover art and layout might concern, so we’re in good hands.

You have stated in other interviews that you need to be in a certain mood to create Throne Of Katarsis’ material. What (for lack of a better word) rituals are necessary for you to get into this mood? Is it more a question of getting inspiration from nature/everyday life or something more sinister?
I usually have to go deep into myself, to find a silent and dark space. This is important for creating the riffs or ideas from the very bottom, to first built the atmosphere, and then the right tones on top of that. I usually have some ideas to show to Vardalv, and together we put the parts where they belong, and make the additional music when trying out the composition. We have hardly any lights on when doing music, this to focus more on the themes and the feelings. We can get into a trance-like situation, where the music flows rapid, and we just have to record what comes out, there are too much to remember. Other times we can find ourselves struggling with progressing, and we have to break trough. We are very clear about one thing: the music shall come naturally, it shall never be forced out!
The most covering description on what inspires us has to be darkness. The darkness within ourselves, within man, and which to be found in the nature. It’s the anger, the frustration and the nature of the beast that keeps us inspired. Even though we have our inspirations of ourselves, we, together with all other third wave Black Metal bands, cannot forget that our main inspiration is other Black Metal bands. You cannot make this kind of Black Metal out of listening to classical music, or native folk music, etc, alone. For us it has been the early 90’s Black Metal scene in Norway. Therefore the music, the lyrics and the image is also based upon the great times of the Norwegian Blasphemy, the Black Metal elite. This was made us do Black Metal in the first place, and even though we don’t actually think of it anymore, the Black Metal is in our veins, and all musical expressions we use, and will be using in the future will be Black Metal. This has grown too big in us now, and will never let go.

Following on from the previous question, were the inspirations/experiences needed to create the music for this album the same when writing material for your previous releases?
You always need inspiration for doing music, and this album was no exception. We was probably more focused on the early Black Metal area at first, but we don’t really think too much of that anymore, yet it might sound the same for the listener. We just do our music, and what inspirations that lies beneath is also individual from song to song.


What about the lyrical concept for ‘An Eternal Dark Horizon’? Like your music and image, do your lyrics follow the path led by other Black Metal bands or do you find inspiration from sources other than death, darkness, blasphemy etc? Is there any kind of ‘concept’ to this album?
There are four different themes on this album. The first track, ‘Funeral Moonlight’, got the old rituals, devil worship, and plain madness. It describes how old rituals now can be used in our times tool; Black Metal. The next track, ‘Under Guds Hud’, are strongly blasphemous, a very direct lyric in this one, which fits the music perfectly. The title means ‘Underneath the Skin of God’, and includes a bit of Norwegian Black Metal history.. The third track, ‘Symbols Of Winter’, leads us directly into a blizzard, and a mans last walk. This is the part one of a story where this man freezes to death, while begging the Northwind to take his soul to the other side. The forth track, ‘Nattaander’ contains the search for total solitude, and where hanging is the last and final output. The last track, which is the title track, is the part two of the story that took place in ‘Symbols Of Winter’. The Northwind has now collected the soul, and on their way to the eternal dark horizon he becomes a part of what he once feared, and becomes one with the storms, the Night-spirits and Ghosts, and the nature which killed him. Of course, there’s much more to these lyrics, this is just a bleak and quick  summary.

In the past when you recorded your two demos, you have said that the rawness of their overall sound was due to the fact that you only had access to a tape-recorder. Obviously now being signed to Candlelight you are able to work with bigger budget in a proper recording studio with producer Stein Sund at your disposal. With such a huge transition, were you at all surprised to hear just how good your music really is? Did you expect it to sound so fucking huge?
We where probably a bit surprised, but we always knew where we were heading while writing, recording and mixing this album. The coldness and atmosphere was always on our minds, but the fact that it turned out that intense was a thing we didn’t dare hoping for. Yet there was allot of work making the sound, so  this is a result us hard work and keeping the focus all the time.

Likewise when you are writing the material, do you need to be in a particular mood when recording it? Studios can be very atmospherically flat places, so I just wondered if this at all detracted from how you envisioned the overall sound of ‘An Eternal Dark Horizon’.
The mood comes from inside, so that has not been a problem. However, we do turn out the lights, and lately we’ve only used candlelights while playing. This helps us focusing on the music actually.

Having read that you intend to perform your unholy black plague in the live arena, what can we expect from your live performances? Do you feel that playing live takes away from the atmosphere of Black Metal music, or on the contrary, makes it sound even more bombastic and majestic?
Our ceremonies includes a raw visual part, and we decorate the stage with candles, skulls, inverted crosses and torches. The corpse paint and spikes is of course a important part of the show as well, together with Vardalv’s fire breathing. We’re always doing a very good visual show, lots of energy on the stage. I feel that the show don’t take away the atmosphere from our music, and with such incredible feedback we have gotten, I don’t think we do anything wrong doing this. I know some actually prefer the live sessions instead or listening to the album because of the large sound we create while performing. We’re planning our first European tour to be scheduled this Autumn, and it will include the very special and blasphemous Sathanas In Gloriam festival in Rotterdam. The rest of the tour will be announced soon at our website.

For live purposes you have added Lord Imales (bass) and Godhate (Guitar) to your line up. How do you choose your live musicians? Are they people you knew beforehand or did it take a while to find musicians that shared your artistic/philosophical ideas?
I’ve known Lord Imalas for a long time, and have experienced that we’s a really good bass player for quite some years. He has played , and are playing bass in various serious acts, and we are very proud of having him on our team. Godhate has been with us almost a year now, and we are very satisfied with his contribution. He’s a very skilled guitarist who is very dedicated. We feel that we’ve got the perfect line-up now.

In the past you have experimented with recording in Liarlund Forest for the last track on your ‘Unholy Holoustwinds’ demo, ‘Skogens Kall’. Did you try any such ideas for the new album or was it a 100% studio affair?
This time we recorded wind-effects and the sound of burning wood outside, and the ceremony from the intro were not recorded in the studio either. I do believe that we’ll continue to record different sessions in the forest, a special feeling appear when doing these things.

To finish, where do you see Black Metal heading in the next few years? With many bands now focused on experimentation stripping down their sound with electronic, ethnic influences, I wondered if you see the music heading further in this direction or regressing to its more primitive beginnings.
Black Metal has had it’s peak a long time ago, that’s for sure, but there’s still a few bands worth listening to. I really don’t believe that we’ll see another age like the one we had in the early 90’s, not a chance.

Throne of Katarsis

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  • Bands: Sammath
  • Review Date: June 27, 2007

Sammath – “The scene has changed a lot since ‘94. It’s so big that you don’t know who the fuck’s who anymore.”

Black Dutch destroyers Sammath caught the underground by the throat with last year’s blitzkrieg ‘Dodengang’, an album that blew the Vampire crew into the middle of next week. Having recovered from the shock, we thought it was time to catch up with amiable Oz-born frontman Jan to gain a foothold in the Sammath camp. (GeraldR)

Hi Jan! I had the honour of reviewing your third full length ‘Dodengang’ last December and I think I described it as warmongering black metal – is this a fair appraisal of where Sammath is at right now?
Greetings! Thanks for that great review. To say we are at our most violent would be getting it right. It sort of built up to this during the writing of the album. I want to continue to write harsh black metal and somehow try to find my own bit of the woods. With ‘Dodengang’ I seem to be getting there. The last album ‘Verwoesting’ was fast but with a human drummer the music always seems to sound more aggressive.

The music is unbelievably aggressive and militant – were you in a particularly pissed-off mood when recording this album?
As always, we don’t really need to build up some kind of atmosphere. We can drink beers and tell endless stupid jokes or talk about women all day long, but when it comes to metal we are always in the right mindset. The drummer was ill during the recordings; he was very sick after every day. Great to see him suffer while I sat there and told him what to do whilst drinking some nice cold beers! The recording of the guitars, bass and vocals I did in my own studio, it just kept getting more and more violent, every time I met up with the drummer and we were rehearsing some ideas it always ended up very brutal. I never plan the mood of an album beforehand, when you start to write material you know soon enough in which direction you are heading.

The vocals are so spiteful. Where does all that rage come from? I thought Holland was a nice, laid back nation…
I grew up in Australia so maybe that explains it. We Aussies are a rowdy bunch. Over here in Europe it’s all very much more civilized. Where the rage comes from I don’t know, I seem to have it all in life – nice chick, money, big fucking house so I really cant explain. It’s just always there though, when drinking or going to concerts growing up I was always the idiot crazy one in the group.  There are no effects on the vocals, although I always lose my voice over a short period after recording the vocals for a album. I just scream like a pig getting slaughtered, black metal vocals that are over the top I most enjoy, like the first Hellheim cd, or Sadistik Exekution, Bestial Warlust.
Holland is a nice laid back country, people over here have got it good. I think most people in the world would rather live here then where they are right now.

I detect a lot of thrash influences in your sound. Did you guys grow up listening to late 80s thrash metal? What other influences would you cite? I feel a Marduk attitude, but you don’t really sound like Marduk…
I’m 33, I grew up with Coroner, Kreator, Toxik, Deathrow, Sadus, so I’m definitely influenced by 80s thrash. I never really liked Marduk much except the Panzer album. I was a big Metallica and Slayer maniac in the early ‘eighties. I remember getting ‘Endless Pain’ by Kreator, in ‘85 I think it was. My biggest influences on music though are old Gehenna, Sadistik Exekution, Bestial Warlust, Hobbs angel of death, Mortal Sin. And early 90s black metal.

Any news on a follow-up to ‘Dodengang’? What kind of noise can we expect next time around?
The next album will be a continuation along the lines of ‘Dodengang’. What I want to do is to keep trying to write more songs with less dense guitar riffing and easier back-to-basic type riffs. I think more thrash and doom shall find their way into the music, but most of all fast as fuck black metal. I’m looking to keep the sound varied but also very brutal. The next album is already in progress, I don’t want to wait three years in between releases anymore.

Can you provide me with a short history of the band? What is the purpose of Sammath?
I started Sammath in ‘93, just after I arrived in Europe. The first demos I wrote all the music for and someone else did some arrangements as he had recording equipment. After the demos he just wanted a normal life I think, it all got very boring to work with him. It seemed that black metal was just a phase for him; for me it’s more of a total look on life. In ‘98 the first album ‘Strijd’ was released through Folter, various labels showed interest back in ‘97 but I chose Folter due to its status in the underground. I’m still there after ten years. In 2002 I released the ‘Verwoesting’ album and then in 2006 the first cd with a real drummer, ‘Dodengang’. The purpose of Sammath is to create brutal yet melodic black metal packed with influences of all forms of brutal metal.

Do you feel like you’ve achieved many of your goals so far?
Just about all. I’m really satisfied with the last album, even after six months  I still listen to it without hating some parts or wishing I would have done something differently. I really want to create an album in which all my influences appear but that it sounds original, very hard to achieve. Getting the live shows more brutal and to play live on a regular basis is what I’m looking to achieve, buts its very hard with five people in a band, always someone who has to work, study or whatever. It was a lot easier when I was alone.

Do you enjoy playing live? What has been your most memorable gig to date? Any nice ones lined up?
Playing live is great, the first years it wasn’t possible due to me being Sammath alone from ‘97 ‘til 2002. From ‘94 ‘til ‘97 we were a two-piece outfit, also impossible.  Since I formed a band in 2002 we are looking to do more live shows. June 28th in Nijmegen with Salacious Gods and Gheestenland will be our first gig in five years. Then, two weeks later, at the cult fest Under the Black Sun in Germany, organized by Folter, some great bands will be there like 1349, Watain, Inquisition, Decayed so it’s a honour to share the stage with these bands. It’s always a great show at Under the Black Sun, almost every band is pure black metal so it’s a pretty intense experience, and the beer is always there in huge amounts backstage, also something good.  Next year we will be off to the States to do two shows so things are improving. In the winter we will be doing more live shows, some plans for a tour are starting to work out, we will see what happens. Most memorable gig would be Under the Black Sun in 2002, we only practised eight times before going onstage, my first live gig since high school back in ‘87.

Unless my eyesight deceives me, there appears to be a girl guitarist in the band. Was this something you were apprehensive about at all, considering how narrow-minded a lot of BM fans are? I suppose it comes down to talent at the end of the day, right?
When the drummer first informed me of her I was really not that enthusiastic at all, but as she’s good to have in the band, with two guitars it simply sounds better live. For the audience looking at a nice looking chick that plays well must be better then watching the ugly fuckers you mostly see. She is damn dedicated, I was as I mentioned  a bit sceptical at first, but she’s proved me wrong and has shown to know what black metal is about; she seems to have the right feeling and plays the tracks just how I wanted/expected her to, but without having to explain it. Black metal to me has certain boundaries as I really feel true to the roots of black metal. In some ways the borders are expanding too much, having a dedicated female in the band is a totally different matter in my opinion.

If Michael Jackson asked for permission to cover a Sammath track to re-launch his career, what would you say to him?
The track  ‘Met de Strijdbijl in Mijn Hand’. I’d piss myself laughing watching this. He could adjust one word to make the track fitting for his life story.

What other interests do you guys have outside of music? Do you all have to work full-time jobs to sustain the band?
I read a lot of history stuff, I used to teach history but now I’m self-employed, work in the summer and free time during the winter, and I get drunk at the pub or concerts on a very regular basis. Everyone else has a job, the bass player is still at studying. The band doesn’t make enough money to live from, nor is this my intention, for me black metal and money simply don’t mix.

What do you think of the black metal scene in general at present? Which bands are you enjoying most?
The scene has changed a lot since ‘94. It’s so big that you don’t know who the fuck’s who anymore. Contact used to be bigger, through lots of trades, tapes but some of that has died out. I’m always glad there are still a lot of people I know from ten years ago at shows. Some myspace black metal kids or fun bands and shit like that still amaze me, or Christian black metal. It’s all you can’t do shit about but very annoying. I get some mails from kids who are black metal with band pictures in corpse paint and slipknot shirts, I suppose you have to start somewhere. As long as the scene is alive it’s ok, but sometimes I wish it was all as small as in ‘93 or earlier. I really believe that the true meaning and basis of black metal, although it’s interpreted in many ways, should always stand for intolerance, hatred, disgust for religion and a truly violent music. The “I’m so pissed off and sad at life” and “no-one understands me” or as mentioned Christian scene is totally raping what it stands for. Also, people who just are in black metal because they are total social morons and have no feeling with the music at all pisses me off, but what can you do? The Dutch scene is very good the last years. Salacious Gods, Brandhaard, Sauron, Fluisterwoud, Cirith Gorgor, Fenris, to name a few. Also many interesting albums from newer bands such as Graupel from Germany, and long running bands also still bring the good stuff now and again.

Do you believe the world is fucked? What with wars breaking out all over the globe and the climate in meltdown, it’s not looking too good for the future of our race…
I am looking forward to it, nice warm days, get your own wine and palm trees in Europe, screw the next generations, they will find a solution. Everyone always said the world is fucked but it seems we will work it all out, on the verge of destruction we will save ourselves and if we don’t, who cares. Millions of planets, we don’t mean shit. Does it really matter?

Finally, can you give me one word to describe Sammath’s view on each of the following:
Peace: Boring
Satan: Interesting
Nuclear power: Death
Literature: Inspiration
MTV: Tits
Reality TV: Weird
Black metal: Power

Thanks a lot. If there’s anything you’d like to add, feel free:
Metal or death!!!!

Sammath

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Lie in Ruins – “Autopsy…it’s probably the most important death metal act for me and for Lie in Ruins when we talk about US bands”


(Martin)

So the first and always so original question: please introduce Lie In Ruins to us.
First of all…Hi and thank you Martin for making this interview possible.

Lie in Ruins hails from Finland and we are making our best effort to keep DEATH in METAL.
Our line-up is Tuomas K. – guitars, Roni Ä. – guitars and me (Roni S.) – vocals and drums. Actually we have a new drummer debutant and we are rehearsing like mad men to get in shape to do some live attacks. I’ll be doing vocals and bass during live attacks.

Since you are playing the drums and doing the vocals, I would like to know how important Autopsy is for Lie In Ruins and for you personally. How exhausting is it to combine this?
Well it’s probably the most important death metal act for me and for Lie in Ruins when we talk about US bands. Their sick and perverted death metal is one of a kind.
Playing drums while doing vocals is too hard for me. That’s why we have a new drummer debutant. Our main goal is to do live attacks now and therefore we need a drummer since I can’t combine those two skills. It’s gonna be killer though because my first instrument was bass, so the circle has closed, hehe.

Lie In Ruins was formed back in 1993 but just recently in 2005 you guys just released the first (!) demo. What have happened? Was there some lack of inspiration? Did you not have the opportunities or what so ever? Or did you just partied and drank beer?
A lot happened back then. We were bunch of young guys trying to copy some early Swedish death metal and making some own songs as well. After a while we got frustrated that we couldn’t find a decent drummer back then and our other projects just crushed Lie in Ruins.
So all those years in between we played in other bands and kept in mind that we should do our thing later on. Now you can hear the results.

The first demo “… Monuments” has a simple sound demo but with a lot of energy. It reminds me to the early Swedish demo days of Grave and Treblinka with sometimes the sound of the legendary Demigod. Have you chosen this approach with a certain meaning or did this sound just came out of the recording?
Yeah, it’s more kick you in the face kind of death metal compared to …Statues. I would say the sound just came out. Even though I have to say that almost all songs on …Monuments can be dated to -93 era. Skinstripper is the only song which was composed for this demo, all the other songs contain parts of the first songs we ever made.

The second demo “… Statues” has a total other sound and reminds more to Entombed and Dismember. What is the reason to “change” the style (if you can say it like this)?
I wouldn’t say changed but it’s ok though. I agree that …Statues has more rock vibe on it but at the same time it’s more atmospheric and a sicker bastard than …Monuments was. If I try to figure out what are the reasons behind this I can only come up with us having more skills and …Monuments just having older songs on it.

Besides Scandinavian influences, are there any other musical influences? Who is responsible for the music and the lyrics?
As you earlier mentioned Autopsy is a BIG influence for us. Also Bolt Thrower, Pungent Stench, Celtic Frost, Asphyx and such are huge for as, to mention a few. This list could go on forever but those are the most important.
Tuomas has been responsible for all the music that we have made so far. He does guitar and bass parts along with some basic drum parts and then he introduces the songs to us. Then we start to make this song breath. I make some modifications to the drum parts and then some minor changes here and there. After all this is ready I start to do lyrics. Usually I do lyrics a few days before studio which is kind of a bad way to do those but it has worked so far. Also Jussi of Supreme Court has helped me out with a few lyrics.
Roni Ä. has lately come up with some good riffs so maybe we can hear also his songs on our upcoming releases.

Both titles of the demo starts with “…” and are formed by one word. Both words can be described as non-moving objects that in principal are designed to last for a long time. What is the philosophy behind this? What will be the title of the new recording?
Actually you got the point already. Those demos are made to last and those titles describe that well. At first we didn’t think about that too hard. We just named our first demo as …Monuments. After that we processed the concept further and came up with the idea.
We have few releases coming up. A split with DEATHEVOKATION (US) should be out later on this year and also a kind of compilation which compiles both our demos together. This release will continue with the theme and it will be named “Architecture of the Dead”.

Do you think that labels are a still looking for bands like Lie In Ruins or do you think that those days are over? Are you not “to late” with your music? Don’t you regret it that the band has been so inactive for years and that you missed your opportunity?
There’s always some dedicated labels who still love the real sounding death metal. We might be late but its better than never. We’ve always wanted to do this so it’s pretty much the same to us are we making a full length for some label or if we keep coming up with new demos. The scene is pretty active and you can distribute your music on the internet so it’s far easier nowadays.
So, no regrets. I even think it’s better like this. If we would have signed a deal at the age of 14 we probably would have got a shitty deal and got frustrated with all music by this far.

Since you have been active since 1993, you have seen the death metal scene rising and collapsing. Nowadays death metal can be heard again among many people. What does the scene has to do to avoid the Collapse it already had?
Well it’s just matter of trends. For example in Finland metal is so HUGE that even grindcore bands and such can make it to the official sales charts. It’s mad. It’s gonna collapse soon though (hopefully). Anyway, good music will always be there and people who like it will like it even after the trend is over. It’s only the natural thing to harvest the shittiest bands from the scene, hehe. Only the fittest will survive.

What is the main resemblance between Swedish death metal and Finish death metal? And what are the differences between those two? Does it not feel unnaturally to play Swedish death metal instead of Finnish death metal?
The main difference might be that the Swedish come up with more melodies and sort of a rocking vibe while Finnish stuff has been more obscure and even brutal. I’m not good at drawing lines but I think we’ve combined both scenes in our music. It’s obviously more of a Swedish kind of death metal but it’s natural to us because we hardly listened to any Finnish death metal bands in the golden era.

I guess the future for Lie In Ruins looks bright after all those years. What can we expect soon from the band?
Sure is. A few upcoming releases and hopefully lots of gigs later on this year. Like I earlier said, live attacks are our main goal at the moment.
I’m quite sure that we will start to compose some new shit also but first things first.

If you have anything else to say or to add to this interview, be my guest.
I want to thank you Martin for making this interview possible. I also want to thank all the individuals who have supported us along the way. Hails!

Lie in Ruins

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