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Bands: Watain
Review Date: March 7, 2007
Authors: FilipD

Watain – “Lavey’s followers worship the ego, which in my world is the lowest of all entities”

After the legendary “Casus Luciferi” Swedish blackest Watain are back with the splendid “Sworn To The Dark”. The album definitely reached my personal expectations. Soon the band will hit the stage joining the old school hordes of Kreator and Celtic Forst. Here’s vocalist Erik Danielsson providing the answers.

It took you four years to write “Sworn To The Dark”. When do you consider this album successful?
It was successful already after the first tone that was written.

When Seasons Of Mist put the track “Sworn To The Dark” online, immediately people were talking shit on several boards. No, I don’t want to talk about whether they’re right or not. But how come, do you think, the underground scene reacts furious when a band has got a good sound and a professional approach?
If the underground scene is a bunch of people on a message board I prefer to not give them any space in a Watain interview. I’ll save that for the real underground, which burns far below the safety of their computer screens.

On MTV.com you stated some things like, let me quote a part from the interview: “Danielsson claims he tried to “simplify things a bit” with his lyrics on this LP, because “before, I was using a lot of very obscure metaphors, while now, I try to take it to a level where even a kid, at parts, could understand what we’re about. The lyrics on this album are, in a way, a lot more banal. It’s a strange word to use, but you don’t need a master’s degree in philosophy to figure out what we’re about.” Why do you need to make it all easier? I mean, people who are interested in the background of your lyrics will do some research themselves. When it’s too easy the flock of followers only grows in mediocrity.
That was taken out of context; I guess I was focusing a bit too much on who I was being interviewed by. Anyway, all people have to do is to buy the album and read the lyrics, and they will stop whining. The lyrics on Sworn to the Dark are some of the most brilliant lyrics ever written in the history of metal.

Four different labels (Seasons Of Mist, Pulverised, Somber, Ajna) are involved releasing “Sworn To The Dark”. On the album there’s the NOEVDIA mark. Why?
Because Norma Evangelium Diaboli is standing behind the album, it is the label that owns the rights etc. The others are just licensees. Anyway, people care far too much about labels, in the end they have nothing and again nothing to do with the darkness of Watain.

I consider myself as a fundamentalist atheist. Though I’m into spiritual subjects and I do believe in energy fields through some experience I had. But for me there’s absolutely no higher entity – Such as God or Satan. For me it’s all rubbish. Satanism has always been a great part of Watain. Do you praise a higher entity or do you define LaVey’s laws as commercial bullshit? Most of the world shares your “beliefs”, that is nothing new. Satanism is the iron path of the elect, a temple into which very few men will ever enter. If we “praise a higher entity OR define Lavey’s teachings as shit”? Lavey’s followers worship the ego, which in my world is the lowest of all entities. It is the excrement of the human being, which must be entirely discarded in order to transcend into the realms of the true Adversary, who is present in all sinister god forms of this world and beyond.

You express your satanic thoughts through music. But through music you reach a lot of people not solely into the lyrical content. Have you ever considered writing a book or some kind of pamphlets, which obvious would reach more people?
I have never felt an urge to do so, what I share through Watain is what I allow people to know of my belief. The reason I am a Satanist is not because I want to enlighten people. I have my goals and the ways in which they are achieved are many. Watain is one.

Last year I interviewed MkM (Antaeus) and I respect the honest way they are into self-mutilation, pain, Satanism, drugs excesses, etc. I can’t be very sure what to think of Shining’s somehow related ideology. Despite the fact they make great music, sometimes I feel it’s more about self-adoration than the real ideology. You’re from Sweden, just as them. Enlighten me.
If you want to know what Shining are about I suggest you interview them. Hopefully they’d know, although I doubt it at times.

You’re about hitting the road with Celtic Frost, Kreator and Legion Of The Damned (ex-Occult). That’s quite a different line up than the legendary Watain – Antaeus – Secrets Of The Moon bill some years ago. Do you expect a lot of underground people to show up for this one? After all; Watain is rather strange on that bill, and I don’t think the obscure black metal scene will show up for this one.
Touring with Celtic Frost who have been one of our main inspirations from when we were kids is something that I could easily put a “legendary” to. Even more legendary than a tour line-up that never even existed, like the one you mentioned in your question. Those whose hearts hunger for real, burning black metal magic will come. For the rest, I could not care less. What the fuck is the “obscure black metal scene”? Haha… Fuck you all!

Who will assist the band live? Again Set Teitan and A.?
Yes.

You’re also about to invade the USA somewhere around April this year (what bill?). How do you think the Americans will react on a band like Watain? You know, in the States fundamental Christianity is getting bigger every day and is already terribly huge.
We are touring the states with Angelcorpse in May, yes. I don’t know how the American audience will react; I am more concerned of how we will react when they come in their baggy pants and deicide shirts. But anyway, it will be a great fucking tour and we really look forward to share the stage with such a great band as Angelcorpse. About Christianity in the states, it is not like we are scared by our enemies. Let them come! Bring your daughters too.

Success with the tour dates, crush them. Unfortunately I can’t come to the Belgian date. And leave that terrible smell at home this time.
Hail Satan!

Watain

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Bands: Asphyx
Review Date: January 27, 2007
Authors: Ricardo

Asphyx – “I can understand the purists very much. I’m one myself, you see.”

Through the years, many reunions were or predictable or not as groundbreaking as expected. Of course, Suffocation was a great reunion, but there were so many rumours the year before they reformed that it wasn’t a real surprise anymore. No…for a real big surprise we have to go to the 11th of January 2007. The day Party.San Festival mentioned the band name Asphyx as one of the new acts who will play this next summer. Just out of the blue, one of the best death metal acts of the whole world thought “hell…why not!”! Two years ago Vampire Magazine had a gig with the name “VM Fest” with God Dethroned, Desaster, Officium Triste and Bolthorn. Too bad Bob didn’t took our invitation to headline the fest back then…fortunately for every old school death metal follower, the new reformed Asphyx (with Martin van Drunen on vocals!) have chosen 2007 to come back from the grave. Death metal, the Brutal way!

The first question will be the one that everybody would ask. An one time happening or….?
Bob: Hmmm, well, it at first was supposed to be a one time only thing. The Party San called me last year and was kind of begging for a reunion gig. At first I said that it was not possible cause of the fact that Eric totally did quit the music scene. But, I still did sent him and Martin a mail. Martin immediately reacted extremely positive. Eric at first did not respond, so I sent him a mail again and he responded to that mail and told me in all honesty that he didn’t want to do it since he has a very busy personal life. Anyway, then I also didn’t want to do it either. BUT, the Part San kept asking and I stayed in touch with Martin. Then all of the sudden Martin told me he talked To Paul Baayens (CREMATION/THANATOS) and said Paul wanted to do the job. I, at first, had to really think about that, but after a week or so I thought “why not? “. So, since Wannes was also a good member of ASPHYX we asked him as well. Anyway, the day after we confirmed the Party San we got several other offers to play on festivals, but The Party San gets the premiere. If we do play on other festivals remains to be seen. First we’ll do that gig. But maybe we’ll do some more…..

If it is more than a one time thing…tell us more, thinking about recording a new album?
Bob: We are certainly not thinking of an album, since people kinda only want to hear stuff from The Rack and The Last One on Earth, and some old demo classics. We cannot top The Rack anyway ,so why bother. No matter what we do, people only are talking of The Rack.

Quite an answer you don’t hear a lot, a band member who thinks the first album is the best one. Normally they always prefer the last one to be the most complete album they have ever made. Still, you will hear the question “….will you record…” a lot from the fans as well. If that’s the case, wouldn’t you reconsider your decision? If Martin and Wannes say “hell Bob, we’re in!” you will still say “No”? What is so special about “The Rack” for you…as the drummer of that album? They way it was recorded within 3 days? You weren’t very fond of the drum sound as it was buried in the mix…
Bob: Yeah, well, anyways, the drum sound is very much buried in the mix since the engineer did a sort of “in-between mix” of the drums and bass guitar, and put that on one track to save other trax, Since it was only recorded on 8 tracks. But, what the fuck, it sounds raw and brutal and is like 75% live in the studio, so who cares anyway! But the only setback then was we couldn’t change anything on the drums or the bass guitar. But, it probably was the way it was supposed to be done then. So…at the end the result is spontaneous and brutal and listening to it now I’m happy with it. The Rack also has a good atmosphere to it and we had lot’s of fun, so only good memories. Also I like the songs the most on that album since most of them were already quite old. The songs are simple but very brutal and in your face. Sure, we are not the best musicians around, but we do what we can do best and that is producing brutal doomy death metal. The songs are catchy (I hate this word, but it describes our music) and have a nice drive to it. But also I like our first unofficial album “Embrace the Death” a lot! Most of the songs on that album also appeared on The Rack.
As far as a new album concerns, we do not know. Really, who gives a fuck anyway these days. People who will come and watch our show just to hear the old tunes and enjoy themselves with some old school brutal death metal from the old days….You see, I watched VENOM in the original line-up in 1996 on Waldrock ,I totally enjoyed the show, the old songs, but I didn’t care about their new album then “Cast in Stone” at all. But, it’s the music scene and anything can happen, I mean, who thought we would play on the Part San in 2007?? Sure as hell I didn’t……

How did everything happen? Did the staff of Party San Fest just mail you with “Hey Bob, we have a great idea…”? Or was the Asphyx reunion a subject that was on your mind for a long time, only waiting for the right time? Which moment persuaded you to say “Yes!”? How did you feel after the agreement, something like “here we go again…” or “we are going to make something special of it!”.
Bob: Like I said, Party San phoned me and they are BIG ASPHYX fans and wanted to do about anything for a reunion. We will do our stinking best, play only our “classics” of the first 2 albums and some demo tunes as well. It won’t be a very big surprise. It’s a surprise already that we will play at all! As we confirmed we got overloaded with mails and offers, and that’s we’re we thought “here we go again…..” An ASPHYX reunion was totally out of the question, but since Party San tried so hard we decided “why not “.

About those mails, did you also got negative mails? If so, what are they about? I’ve read on some message boards that some people aren’t thrilled with yet another reunion without the full line-up of the first album. In a way, can you understand those people? But I also bet it makes you proud to read all those positive emails, that Asphyx is still one of the most important bands in history of death metal! Did you already got some offers from labels, not to sign a contract but keep the contact warm…
Bob: I can understand the purists very much. I’m one myself, you see. And I think they are also right about that. We also preferred the 100% Rack line-up, but you can’t always get what you want, isn’t it. Most of the people are very positive anyway, but I do understand the more negative reactions, and like I said, if one of my old fave bands would consider a reunion I would prefer the original line up as well. But if the “new member” does a great job then it’s ok. But as long as there are people, there are opinions and we have to respect that. No offers, but we are still in close and good contact with Century Media, so………Yes, it makes us proud to read the positive mails. It shows we did something in the past that matters.

Did you already had a line-up in mind? I’m 100% sure a lot of fans are exxxtremely happy with Martin van Drunen on vocals, to hear “The Rack” the way it should sound! Was it easy to got him on board? The link with Wannes was easily made of course, due the fact Wannes was the last vocalist/bassist of Asphyx (and according to my personal opinion, the only one who could follow up Martin van Drunen). How did you got in contact with Paul? Were there other candidates in your mind to complete the line-up if someone declined? Have you contacted Eric Daniels about the reunion? If so, how did he reacted? If not, why not? Personally I wasn’t really surprised that he isn’t in the line-up, due the fact that he sold his guitars and you said in an interview that he lost the feeling to be part of the metal scene….”
Bob: Martin came up with this line up and he already knew Paul. I also know Paul from his old band Cremation. Like said, Eric didn’t want to take part of Asphyx any longer because of his personal life. We wish him all the best anyhow.

Wannes, what were your first thoughts when you heard Bob on the phone to talk about a reunion?
Wannes: Well, when I checked my mail on Monday morning, I saw I got an email from Bob. I read its content and…I had to laugh! I remember I said to myself: “This is typical Asphyx-stuff.” Concerning this kind of situations, Asphyx is a very unpredictable band. So, as usual one can say, receiving Bob’s email just fitted the whole pattern. With Asphyx, it has always been this case and I doubt if it’ll ever change. Anyway, I went to my job, so I had to let it rest a bit. Of course I had to think about the situation that day. What put me off most was a reunion without Eric. His sound and riffing makes up at least 50% of the Asphyx sound and I just couldn’t think about an Asphyx reunion without Eric. It felt like old Venom without Mantas. He is a very, very big part of the Asphyx history. Without Eric, Asphyx would never had such an outstanding style of Death Metal of its own. Original member Tony Brookhuis was very important during the first years as well. He created the foundation for the band, but Eric really expanded it into an entity of its own. I knew Paul would be a fine replacement. He’s a good guitarist and knows how to perform on stage. Don’t forget, he’s a cool fellow as well, but he doesn’t have the same legacy as Eric. But that’s understandable, right? I wasn’t really sure what to make of the situation.
I knew it would be very difficult to get Eric back in the band. This reunion talk isn’t new to me as there have been several attempts to raise the dead before. Eric always was the big X-factor, so to say. Bob wanted to do it. Martin as well, but Eric was kind of… He didn’t know how to make up his mind. So, every time it went up in smoke and the whole matter disappeared from the scene for a while. Except this time. It just didn’t come up in my mind to have a reunion without Eric. That seemed just out of the question.
I called Bob a few days later to talk about the situation. He had the same doubts about the reunion as I had. But it was clear a reunion with Eric wouldn’t be possible. So, if we wanted to do the gig, we needed a new guitarist. As Paul offered Martin to take to spot, we found a suitable replacement for Eric very soon. Both Bob and I thought it would make a very interesting line up. Although without Eric, we would be able to offer the audience a very special line up with the four of us. Both Martin and I already shared stages during several occasions before, but never with Asphyx. It will be a great opportunity for the crowd to witness an Asphyx show with two (former) front men, who (unlike the Asphyx tradition) get along great. Hitting the stage with a coffin pounding Bob has always been a pleasure, while it seems great to have Paul as a guitarist in the band as well. So, after some thinking and talking it felt right for me to enter the vault again…

Did you ever expect to hear that Asphyx would reunite again? And that you would be part of it?
Wannes: For me personally, this reunion is very important for it offers me the opportunity to deal with some unfinished business from the past. Almost seven years ago, when we were supposed to play the Party.san, the band split up. This left a tremendous mark upon all the people involved. It was really very sad what happened, but Asphyx just wasn’t able to do that show. Bob and I talked about it numerous times, but we felt it would have ended in a disaster if we would have played at the Party.san in 2000. So, being given the opportunity to somehow make up for what happened in the past is very important to me. It’s not about the money. It’s about giving the people at the Party.san something they still deserve. Even after all these years. I’m very glad I’m part of it to make this all happen!
Nah, I didn’t really expect this would take place. I thought it was more likely Martin, Bob and Eric would join up again, but it seemed it was meant a bit different, hehehe…

Although Party San Fest is the only gig that is confirmed, the obvious rumours that you would play more festivals and gigs are all over the internet. Could you tell us more about it?
Bob: I did notice it as well, but we’ll do the party san first. But there are always rumours and that’s we’re we thought “here we go again…”

Lot’s of fans would like to see you…not only because you are Asphyx as a band, but also to hear Martin van Drunen. Another question the fans will ask is “how are they going to pull this off without Eric Daniels, the man behind the typical Asphyx riffs?”. Do you think that this reunion will gain a lot of pressure?
Bob: Quite a bit, but our riffs are easy to play, and Paul has also a brutal sound! And after all, you lose something and you gain something. Just give Paul a chance, it’s not easy for him, especially for him.

I think the audience will certainly do that. How will the next months look like for you guys? Practicing 4 times a week as a band? You guys are all living in different parts of The Netherlands…
Bob: We will start practicing in April, and we’ll do a photo shoot next Saturday (21st of January). We, indeed , live very apart from each other, except for Martin and me, we only live 2 miles apart.

What can we expect from an Asphyx gig in 2007? Something special like fireworks or other special effects…or just keeping it simple with an Asphyx logo as backdrop?
Bob: No fireworks or whatsoever. Just the backdrop, as we can find it that is. Just simple and brutal doomy death metal the old way.

You already said you have chosen to create a set list of the first two albums and some demo tracks. Why not something of the “On The Wings of Inferno” album which got a lot of positive reactions as well. Or maybe even 1 track of the Soulburn album. Both you and Wannes participated on those tracks…Or do you think the first 2 albums and the demo tracks are the songs the fans want?
Bob: I really think that the fans (if there are any, that is) want to hear the trax from the first 2 albums and from our 1989 “Crush the Cenotaph” demo. And we only can play one hour so we have to choose. But we’ll see. But still “Waves of Fire” really is an outstanding track…….

Bob said it would be a set list with only tracks of the demo era and the first 2 albums. This means no tracks from the Soulburn or “On the Wings of Inferno” albums, albums you have written the lyrics for and contained some great tracks. Too bad? Or do you understand, as fan you are a fan yourself, that Bob thinks that the audience only want to hear those songs?
Wannes: Haha, all those demos tracks were a suggestion of me. Yes, the “Crush the Cenotaph” demo still rules!
Well, I can’t speak for every Asphyx fan, but face it, the Martin-era made the biggest impression on the scene. When “The Rack” was released, Death Metal was at its peak and this album still remains as the best sold album of the Asphyx catalogue ever. I think most people will refer to “The Rack” as the ultimate Asphyx classic and not “On the Wings of Inferno”, right? Mine will always be “Embrace the Death”, but that’s another case. So, why not give the crowd what they want? I don’t mind playing those classic songs. When I was in Soulburn and Asphyx, it was always a pleasure to crank up some tracks like “Vermin”, “The Sickening Dwell” or “Streams of Ancient Wisdom”. Nothing wrong with playing some Death Metal, the brutal way! Personally, I just think most people want to hear the material of albums like “The Rack” or “Last One on Earth”. I could be wrong of course, but that’s my opinion on this matter. We actually discussed about playing some material of “On the Wings…” as well. In fact, it was even Martin’s idea to add some of its material to the set list. Bob still loves songs like “Waves of Fire”, while I would like to play “Summoning the Storm”. We have to see about this. We have a limited amount of time at the Party.san and you just can’t play every song you want. The set list will contain many classics and I hope everyone will enjoy themselves.
Soulburn? I read people are referring to “Feeding on Angels” as well. Cool. That’s still a great album, but we stopped playing its material when the band changed back into Asphyx. The situation became a bit too confusing for the audience as during the Soulburn era we played Asphyx songs too, while our own material already sounded like a bastard of Asphyx. At a certain point, it just didn’t make sense anymore to call ourselves Soulburn. We were Asphyx under another moniker. I doubt if we’ll ever play Soulburn material live, but as with this whole reunion, you never know…

What have you done in the mean time, after the split of Asphyx back in the end of 2000? Following the scene for a bit? Did you had plans or offers to join a band or project?
Bob: Not that much. Just work, raise a family,I have two kids named Max and Mika. That’s what I am living for. I did not have plans to join some other band since I already did everything with Asphyx. Most of the music today doesn’t really interest me that much since I kinda got stuck in the 80’s anyway. But, new bands like Necro Christos, Coffins, Eroded or Death Breath are really totally brilliant! Also nocturnal vomit is excellent! They still have that old feeling in their music!

Is there any chance that there will be an Asphyx release like a best of, live album, DVD of the Party San fest or old gigs? Maybe the demos on one disc? Re-releases of the albums with bonus tracks?
Bob: Maybe a DVD from the Part San show. They will record that so. As far as re-releases go, Century Media just re-released The Rack with a whole live gig on it, and The Last One on Earth with bonus stuff as well. They sound and look excellent! Thanx Philipp for that!
If the concert is a huge success, lots of positive responses…and you guys will get a great offer to record a new album, maybe even an offer you can’t refuse…would you give Bob a call to give it a shot?
Wannes: It’s not the case of us being given the chance to record another album again. Legally, Bob is still under contract of Century Media and I even believe Martin has to pay his dues, but I could be wrong about that. So, when we would release an album, Century Media would be an obvious choice (if they’re still interested, of course).
It’s more if Asphyx will enter the studio ever again. Bob is a proud father of two sons and I have a family as well. Priorities have changed through the years. I’m still very active with Pentacle and this will always remain my main focus. I just don’t have as much time available anymore as I had before when I didn’t had a job/family and could concentrate on my music for a full 100%. Plus, Eric is not in the band anymore. As I regard him as the musical nucleus of Asphyx (together with Bob), the mere thought of recording an album without him, doesn’t really appeal to me. Would it still sound like Asphyx? Would the overall sound be the same as before? Would the real Asphyx vibe stay alive? I very much doubt this, so I’m not into the thought of recording something new with Asphyx. I don’t know if Paul would be able to contribute to the song writing process in such a degree he would be able to replace Eric. He’s the guitarist of Thanatos and he has another project with Stephan, Martin, Theo and Ed as well, so he has enough to do these days. I can’t say we’ll never record something new again. Let time be the judge about that.
But, this subject is a bit tricky, because at this moment, the band reunited to perform live again and not to record a new album or whatever. New material is no priority at this moment. First, we have get back into a tight unit which is able to perform the old classics on stage with pride and honour again. That’s what we’re working on right now.

Thank you very much Bob and Wannes, for this interview! Although 2007 is only a few days old, the news that Asphyx reformed was already the best news of this year! 5 minutes before you have to go on stage…hundreds Asphyx fans will be watching you, screaming along with all your classick tunes….would you be nervous or enjoying every fuckin’ second of it? Cheers!
Bob: We would be a bit nervous, but we’ll enjoy everything of it!

Asphyx

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style: Death Metal
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We have 8 articles: 6 reviews and 2 interviews.

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Bands: Horna
Review Date: November 29, 2006

Horna – “To be honest, we don’t care if it brings our music to more people. If it happens so, then it happens on it’s own terms”

A band I’m sure need no introduction to you extreme metal hordes out there are Finnish masters Horna, darkening hearts for over 13 years with their unique and particularly ugly brand of unholy black metal. With an impressive back catalogue comprised of no less than 32 releases, Horna have managed to get creative once more with brand new album “Ääniä Yössä” just being released through Debemur Morti Productions. Based on the black death that swept over Europe during the mid-fourteenth century, the music on offer here is as dark and infectious as its concept suggests and maintains their status as kings of Finnish Filth. Read on to find out more…(DaveW)

Horna have been in existence now for an impressive 13 years. With so many releases under your belts and an impressive die hard fanbase, you must be impressed with what you have achieved as a band thus far in your careers. What in your eyes stands out as Horna’s most monumental moment in your long history together as a band?
I still think that moment was when we had our first album in hand. That was the only goal we ever set as a band and once it was achieved we have pretty much done what we wanted, when we wanted and how we wanted it done. I’m not so impressed with our place but I am honoured to hear this. I try to stay true to what I am and look at myself as another soul possessed by Black Metal and Satan instead of being a fucking rockstar with an attitude. It still bothers me how bands abandon the “underground” scene when they get more reputation and fame. This is something I hope I stood against and it should show. I don’t think the new “fan” to this music is less worthy than any diehard fan, it all depends on what your devotion is.

What would you say is the key that has enabled you to continue for this long together as a band? You must all have a common goal you would like to reach to make you stick with it for so long? What is it you want to achieve?
I am still hungry to create better and better music, to seek within myself and find more to bring forth. As long as this can be done and be satisfied Horna will carry on. I think it’s safe to say that it’s all about me, what I see and reach for. Other members have changed in the band since the first days. Despite that, Horna still exists and will exist for some time. Although, I know already I will not search for any new members if the current unholy core trinity of myself-Corvus-Saturnus is broken. After that there will be no point left to keep Horna alive.

Horna have always been a very productive band in terms of how many albums you release and the short space of time between them. What spurs this endless creative drive that you have as a band?
I think it’s just a matter of consequences. Most of the time we record songs which were written 2 to 3 years earlier because there was never a chance to record them. If we ever catch up to what we compose currently it would be near a miracle… We try to reach this point however, no matter how far it always gets. It is impossible to stop the creative impulse once it begins to manifest through. I believe also that if you process even the worst ideas which come to mind, it will always give room for another idea to take shape eventually. Everything must get out before there is no room for more.

Your latest release, the fantastic ‘Ääniä Yössä’ is a devastating assault to launch into the black metal world in 2006 featuring music that both looks back to the past and future of Horna’s existence. Still maintaining that awesome rawness and aggressiveness that has permeated your work throughout the years, there is a much more obvious melodic side to the writing this time around, something that has been gradually introduced to the Horna sound over the years. Do you agree with this? Why did you decide to take this angle when composing the material?
Well, I think the melodies have been present since the very first songs I have made. It is just something which fits within our music, to give contrast and create atmosphere. We have paid more attention on the atmosphere than usual with this album and it has been the most inspiring creation for ourselves so far. “Ääniä Yössä” has both become a successful experiment as well as a key path to future of our existence. However, I can’t say we’d abandon our roots at all, nobody knows what the future will bring, not even myself.

Aside from the above, what are the biggest differences in sound and how you approached the song writing on ‘Ääniä Yössä’ compared to your previous releases?
The biggest difference is the concept we followed both with lyrics and music…

If my research serves me correctly, ‘Ääniä Yössä’ is a concept album based on the black death. Am I correct? In what way is it represented through your lyrics and music? What is it that interested you in this topic in the first place?
…as you also have correctly found out. For musical part we chose to focus on a darker and more sinister mood than previously, to create something more hypnotic and mesmerizing without losing the edge. Most of the lyrics this time were written by Corvus and are his visions of the black death, given the insight of a satanic soul.

The production on ‘Ääniä Yössä’ is as typically raw as we have come to expect from Horna. Why do you choose this type of production for Horna releases? Is it solely to maintain that true underground ethic? Do you ever feel that your music would suit the more polished sound?
We have tried to make a more “professional” sounding album when doing “Sudentaival” but personally I was so enormously disappointed by the sound of it I will not take Horna back to such a studio ever again. I started learning how to record everything on my own and finally ended up with analogue trackers. I simply love the sound I can get with analogue and doing it all myself is easy enough, specially to maintain the vision all through the process. The rawer production is something I feel most personal for the band.

Finland has always been a breeding ground for some of the most devastating artists in the black metal scene, with new and exciting bands cropping up almost on a daily basis. What is it about Finland specifically that enables it to spawn so many BM bands? What the fuck do you guys put in the water over there?
The environment, mentality – I could’t really say. I would imagine it has all to do with the depressive winters and darkness for one thing… and here we have one of the highest suicide rates in the world too. I don’t honestly know how it turned out this way but I would bet on the mentality of people here.

Horna have always maintained the true BM aesthetic of corpse-paint, spikes, inverted crosses, pentagrams etc. What does it mean to you to keep the traditional spirit alive and burning? A lot of bands use it as a kind of mask, to slip into a different personality when on stage. Is this the case for you?
I still believe it’s essential for Black Metal to veil the band with a sinister, obscure and evil face. Without it the band looks like any other band there is. That’s not necessary a bad thing, everyone should do what they honestly feel they want to do. Black Metal is not music just for the show or for shock values. When we go on stage we go to unleash pure black energy and if the audience is with us, we will give them all we have, join in a black mass of praise.

Most of the members in Horna play in different bands such as the mighty Sargeist, Sotajumala, Korgonthurus, Obscurant etc. Do you find it hard to juggle between bands? Do you find you place one as more important than the other?
I think I speak for everyone when I say that the most important band is the one being currently active. Of course, he who creates music for the band should find it important obviously, otherwise there would be no point to carry on with it anymore. So far there has been no problems at all with finding time for everything, on the contrary almost.

I have yet to witness a Horna live performance but after reading many fantastic reviews of a typical Horna concert, it sounds like something very special indeed. What does playing live mean to you as a band? How would you describe a Horna live experience? Is it purely something to get your music across to a wider audience or for more ritualistic purposes?
To be honest, we don’t care if it brings our music to more people. If it happens so, then it happens on it’s own terms. We also don’t care if we play perfect or make mistakes, we are going on stage to share energy and passion. It could be called a ritual of a kind, something to purify the mind with, to rage and ravage. Playing live means exactly what it should, playing LIVE instead of trying to sound slick and follow the albums.

Getting back to ‘Ääniä Yössä’, did the album turn out how you had envisioned when composing? Is it hard to get the right atmosphere in the studio for creating such dark and atmospheric music?
“Ääniä Yössä” turned out almost perfectly as we wanted. The only thing we considered of doing was to re-record the songs in one session but that would’ve only destroyed the original atmosphere. This album took more than 2 years to finally get ready so it wasn’t like going go studio and getting it done with. We used our time and recorded when the mood was already there. Since I have my personal studio it was not a question of time nor money either. That is how we are creating music most of the time anyway – in the heat of the moment.

Do you feel that with this album you achieved what you set out to achieve in terms of your point across and what you based the album on lyrically?
Absolutely. For once the album turned out as planned, from the first note to the last, from the cover arts to everything else. That is why I have still the feeling it has been the most inspiring recording we made so far. I am curious what will happen next…”

Finally, an obvious one but where do you see Horna heading in the future? What do you feel is yet to be covered by the band musically and can we expect any new surprises?
I think next we will combine the speed and atmosphere, creating something obscure, cold, distant and still raw like before. Tides turn. We have still plenty of older material left to be recorded so who knows what happens, only time will tell. We live in the heat of the moment.

Horna

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Horna - "To be honest, we don’t care if it brings our music to more people. If it happens so, then it happens on it’s own terms" {November 29, 2006}

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Horna ready with 11th album called 'Nyx - Hymnejä Yölle': "...simply, it's Horna. Their legendry continues to be written..." {August 16, 2024}

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Bands: Vorkreist
Review Date: October 13, 2006

Vorkreist – “Violent emotions, intoxication or ritual experiences…”

Ah, France. Land of beautiful women, stunning architecture, and, as of the year 1999, savage blackened Death Metal, coming to us in the form of Vorkreist. With their second LP, ‘Sublimation XXIXA’, the bestial quartet has yet again raised the bar on elegance and brutality. I spoke to them about the past, present, and future of this promising group.

Blackest infernal hails and such! How are things going in the Vorkreist camp?
Great, Noah, Hail to thee. The LP version of ‘Sublimation XXIXA’ is finally released through Fire of Fire Records (USA).

Could you, for our readers, give a brief history of the band?
Vorkreist was created in 1999, then it released it’s first album ‘Sabbathical Flesh Possession’ end of 02 after a short self produced demo ‘Sermons of Impurity’. In September 03 “Sublimation XXIXA ” is out, both album being released through XTreem Music Records.

Where did you get the name “Vorkreist”?
From our perverted imagination : it would be a barbarism meaning “Antichrist”

How has reaction from fans and critics been to ‘Sublimation XXIXA’?
Very encouraging, most of them were very positive, We didn’t really expect from critics due to the number of bands existing but they, and the fans of course, understood our evolutions.

How was the experience making the album?
Much better than for ‘ Sabbathical ‘. Seremoth, the sound engineer did a very good work, very professional in my opinion. He is strict but knows his job. Our time and budget were more important but we did what we can. We kept this underground sound prod which qualifies us and make it as simple as it could be, pure Death Black Metal We recorded in his home’s studio, drank and wasted ourselves for good, but the result was what we expected

Where do you draw your influences? On ‘Sublimation’, there seemed to be elements taken from the whole spectrum of black and death metal.
Exactly, AK departed from all his influences, past and present. Scandinavian Black Metal, US Death Metal and Thrash sometimes. The deal was to fit to our general idea of what we really adore and worship. Personify a vision of Hell through all remaining valid influences we all had accumulated throughout our history. Violent emotions, intoxication or ritual experiences, etc.

Lyrically, what subjects do you deal with?
Experiences, fantasies, sometimes objective observations of our scene today, and doubts about its real purposes. And obviously our scorn for what is so cherished by morality’s dogs

Tell us a bit about the cover art of ‘Sublimation’.
Dust, worms, the crown of Christ, the symbol of our societies, the remains of their hypocrisy exposed as a vulgar corpse in its grave. The raising of new “religious forces” which have already doomed themselves. Islam, Christianity, they know that their evil is embedded in their own beliefs, Satan will scatter these ashes, by reason and knowledge and the gift supreme These assholes think they can destroy what they created

What songs on ‘Sublimation’ are you most proud of?
‘Great Orders of Sterile Lunacy’, ‘Void of Grace’, of course, ‘Sodogma’ it depends on our moods Pride is something so fragile sometimes I can’t really tell actually I think, we are proud of our works today, but maybe tomorrow new blood will be shed to feed our creativity.

Could you tell us about the other bands various members of Vorkreist are part of?
LSK and D.Terror works in Hell Militia, unhealthy and sickening splendor of the French scene, LSK is of course still a militant devotee to Antaeus. AK is the genius behind LLB

What does the future hold for Vorkreist? Is a tour planned?
Next January, a tour is planned with 1349 and the Stone. A great opportunity for us, we will play in countries renown for their metal scene. 3 months of metal and freakish encounters it sounds good to me. Anyway, 4 new tracks are in process of composition, maybe some of them would be played on stage during the tour.

How’s the French metal scene these days? Are there any local or international bands you’d like to recommend to our readers?
Fine, thank you Well, too many bands, as I said, but I will recommend Hell Militia, Love Lies Bleeding, Merrimack, Goatlord, Inborn Suffering, Arkhon Infaustus of course and Antaeus, not even necessary to mention. Like I always say, I’m proud of our scene, a great evolution has occurred here since the 90’s. I will just add Shemhamphorash and Genozid from Spain, and Infernόs and Corpus Christii from Portugal, great bands, interesting guys

Thanks so much for the time and discussion, on behalf of all of us here at VM. Is there anything else you’d like to say before we part ways?
Thanks for you questions and interest, don’t suck too much blood, believe me, it would make you sick, prefer booze and anything you can snort in. Hail S8tn !!!
I would like to thank Vorkreist for their giving us the time and attention to do this interview. The crew at VM is looking forward to more devastating compositions from Vorkreist in the years to come!

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Vorkreist - "Violent emotions, intoxication or ritual experiences..." {October 13, 2006}

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Bands: Mysto Dysto
Review Date: August 30, 2006
Authors: FelixS

Mysto Dysto – “I would never sell my soul for a deal again. Never!”

Dutch Speed/Thrash Metal band Mysto Dysto is as strangely named (after a guitar pedal) as it is cult. They started as early as 1983 and, with two demos and their only LP, ‘The Rules Have Been Disturbed’, have a solid underground status in the Netherlands. And, very slowly, outside it too. With the recent re-release of the album, for the first time on CD, there is more than enough reason to have a chat with the band. Bassist/guitarist Luit de Jong was kind enough to answer my questions …

Hello there, first of all congratulations with the re-release of “The Rules Have Been Disturbed”! How do you think it came out?
Listening to everything like this, I think expectations have been far exceeded. The folks at Rusty Cage have done a great job!

In my review for this re-release I already wrote the history of the band, so I won’t let you answer this dull introduction question. Yet, I would like to know how you look back to the whole Mysto Dysto era.
Mysto Dysto was a great experience. As a couple of young dogs, we embarked on the adventure and had a lot of fun during that period. In the beginning, we rehearsed every Saturday, but rehearsals soon turned into disguised gigs so many fans always turned up. A great time. The gigs in the country were always great too. Making music is great and at first you do it for yourself, but if it turns out that you amuse people with it, that gives you a great kick.

Mysto Dysto never got its breakthrough in the eighties when the band was active, do you think things would’ve been different when you had the internet tool for instance? And do you think you have done enough to get the band on the road?
I don’t know if the internet would have helped, but there is a chance of that. The internet offers very many opportunities. Especially internationally. But with the advent of the internet, many shit bands are also active on the web, this makes the choice more difficult and murky.
Did we do enough to become known with Mysto Dysto? We weren’t so concerned with becoming known. We made music simply because we thought it was cool, not to pocket a well-filled wallet. In this day and age, things are very different. We live in a consumer society. What is a trend today is outdated and discarded tomorrow. Everything has to be fast. If investments are made, the money has to be recouped immediately and preferably at a big profit. This offers opportunities, but it also creates expectations that do not always turn out to be achievable.

The original “The Rules Have Been Disturbed” vinyl release is pretty hard to find these days and a true collectors item. How does that feel after you couldn’t get the recognition you were striving for? And what does it mean to you that the original album is very expensive these days?
The LP was pressed in an edition of 500 copies. In the music business, this is terribly little and therefore a priori an item for collectors. The record in perfect condition represents a value of around 200 euros. Personally, I still have a few unplayed flawless copies. Who knows, maybe one day they will be offered for sale at auction. For now, they are well stored in the safe.

Yet, it must be flattering that there is still a high demand for the album you recorded decades back and that it will was re-released. What do you think is the reason that the band still has a following?
When Remco and Manfred of Rusty Cage Records visited me in Emmen early this year, I certainly could not have guessed that Mysto Dysto was still proving so popular. You could call it progressive insight from both gentlemen! I consider it an honour that Mysto has been re-released and it makes me feel good that so many people still enjoy this music. It’s great to get a piece of recognition for what you have created. Besides, our music has been able to serve as inspiration for today’s rockers and that is of course cool!

On the re-release there are two extra tracks added from the “No AIDS In Hell”-demo from 1987, which led to a record deal for Mandator. Why weren’t all four tracks from that demo added to the tracklist of the re-release and why these two tracks? Are they any more special than the others?
Ha, a good question! No, the tracks that are missing are not more special than the others. The answer is actually more of a legal nature; both missing tracks from the demo were released on Mandator’s first LP, Initial Velocity. This first Mandator LP was released under Disaster’s label, and re-releasing these two songs under the Mysto Dysto name could lead to misunderstandings and malpractices.

After the aforementioned “No AIDS In Hell”-demo you changed the bandname to Mandator. Why the change? And what was the meaning of ‘Mandator’? Mysto Dysto was some kind of a guitar pedal, why did you choose that name in the very first place?
The name Mysto Dysto had to be changed by order of the record company. Eventually after several radio broadcasts of Vara’s Vuurwerk with Henk Westbroek, it became Mandator, which means something like tease. The name Mysto Dysto comes from the Loco Box distortion effect pedal. The pedal got very bad reviews in the trade magazines. The sound was said to be lousy, the quality of the pedal poor. This prompted me to start using the name Mysto Dysto as a band name.

With Mandator you guys recorded two more records and a demo in 1993. What was the reason for you guys to split up? In the Mandator years there were some line-up changes too, what were the reasons for them to quit?
You can think of a band as a relationship. Relationships break down for various reasons. It became clear to me during the recording of Perfect Progeny that we had developed in different directions. With the departure of drummer Claus van den Berg and later singer Peter Meijering, the atmosphere in the band also changed and, for me, a break-up was inevitable.

If you look back? What were the best things you remember? And what was a big mistake you made or a big chance you’ve missed?
Performing around the country especially in the early days was my most enjoyable time. By early days, I mean the Mysto Dysto time. The open-mindedness, the great atmosphere, the thrill of performing, writing songs, everything contributed to a wonderful time and a learning experience. In hindsight, I definitely would have done things differently. For instance, I wouldn’t have accepted that we had to change our name. The name Mandator never appealed to me. Very important is to keep standing up for what you stand for. In this, it doesn’t matter what you do. I would never sell my soul for a deal again. Never!

We all know that Marcel Verdurmen went on with other bands like Altar and Orphanage, what have you been doing? And what about the rest of the guys? Have you been doing other things in metal or music in general?
I studied publicity design at art school. In 1992, I wrote a manifesto for a new style in art that I called Toyism. There are currently 9 artists, worldwide, working within this movement. Being creative is a high good for me and I am happy and proud to use my creativity to interest and convince people of what we do and make. In music, you have to be realistic but also idealistic. In art, it is no different. By the way, the inside of the Mysto Dysto CD cover was designed by me.

One of the other bands from the Dutch underground from the eighties, Defender are coming back with an album with all kinds of songs they were never able to record back in the days. Is there any chance of Mysto Dysto returning with new material?
Six months ago, I said this was out of the question. Under that line-up, I would still rule it out now. If I were to start recording new material with Mysto Dysto now, the line-up would be different from before. How and who? There must always be something to wish for, right…….. :-))

Ok Luit, do you think I forget to cover something? Feel free to add anything you like as you last words for this interview!
Thanks for the interview, Felix. I hope a lot more metal fans will enjoy this re-release from Rusty Cage Records.

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Bands: Merrimack
Review Date: August 20, 2006
Authors: Dave Waite

Merrimack – “…you can expect Black-Metal fanatically faithful to the tradition: spikes, leather, blood, frenzy, violence and death!”

After 4 long, dark years of waiting for the follow-up to 2002’s critically acclaimed ‘Ashes Of Purification’, French horde Merrimack return to us once more to fill our very souls with the purest and filthiest Black Metal this side of Hell. ‘Of Entropy And Life Denial’ showcases a band dedicated to their black art in a way that most others can only dream of, spreading their vile and vicious plague upon mankind and re-lighting the flame of Black Metal the way its supposed to be played. Read on to find out more from vocalist Terrorizt…

Merrimack have been knocking walls down in the French Black Metal scene for quite some time now. With no less than eight releases now under your spiked-belts including the fantastic 2006 masterpiece ‘Of Entropy And Life Denial’ and an army of ever-growing Merrimack devotees, you must be pretty pleased with how things are going for the band?
Sure. We have invested a lot of energy and dedication to the creation of “Of Entropy and Life Denial” and it’s always pleasant to see people being receptive to your work. The response so far is globally more than enthusiast, be it in the underground, mainstream or internet press, from allies, friends or fans.

The composing of ‘Of Entropy and Life Denial’ started right after the release of ‘Ashes Of Purification’ but due to various line-up alterations and a heavy touring schedule there has been 4 long years of waiting for its release. Do you feel that now with everything back on track you have achieved what you set out to achieve with this album?
In fact we certainly have achieved more. The result has blasted away all our highest expectations which were already quite high. I listen to this album very often and I’m very proud of our work. It was a real challenge for us because the one of the main composers has left during the “line-up fuck-ups time”. We had to work really hard to create something as personal, somewhat intimate and über-cold as “Ashes of Purification” has been.

Has having new members in the Merrimack camp changed the way that you compose your music? What elements do you feel they have contributed to make ‘Of Entropy and Life Denial’ the album it is?
Hard to answer since I am one of these new members. As far as I understood the composition process hasn’t changed at all. The individuals have changed, not the modus operandi. The guys who left and who once took an important part in the composition were all very special characters, influenced by nothing much but their twisted ethylic / toxic visions; fortunately enough their substitutes are convinced / dedicated / faithful enough and also are open to everything channelling the right aura, the necessary and omnipresent black vibrations of the higher spheres. This spiritual unity is doubtlessly the strongest element in this album and in Merrimack nowadays.

Improvements in both the quality of song writing and overall production have enabled ‘Of Entropy and Life Denial’ to become one of the best and purest Black Metal releases thus far in 2006. Whereas most bands of your ilk depend on getting the bog standard, recorded in a toilet production to achieve ‘cult’ status, Merrimack have stepped up the pace and recorded something that not only sounds fantastic but also maintains that authentic atmosphere essential to a quality black metal record. Is this something that you thought about a lot when writing/recording material for this album?
While working on this album (be it writing or recording) we never thought of any other band or individual. We never wanted to achieve anything better than anyone’s work, we just wanted to provide even more than the best from ourselves so we could be dead proud of this release, no matter what anyone could say. We do not play in Merrimack for the scene, for any other band or for anyone. We glorify and praise the Devil. And praising your god demands excellence. Our obsession was to accomplish something worthy enough for Him, not forcedly better than the rest.

The song titles on this album are tongue twisters to say the least. Tracks such as ‘Adiabatic Bonds of Consanguinity’ do little to enable the listener to understand lyrically what the songs are all about. So what is the underlying concept behind ‘Of Entropy and Life Denial’? Is there something specific that you want to convey through the albums title and lyrics?
The album is completely dedicated to the faith in the satanic might. The entropy is seen like the work of the Devil, the fruit of His odious deeds in this world. All the lyrics are rooted in the slavery to our God and our will to serve. Some of them portray the conception, birth, life and death of a character. He progressively realizes the presence of the Lord and submits to His might. The lyrics are religious and spiritual reflections directed to those who consider Black-Metal for what it is: the gospel of Satan, the instrument to His glorification.
The entropy is a physical measurement of the disorder rate of a system. This law teaches us that every ordered system tends naturally to go to a state of lower order, and thus increases its entropy. This is the mathematical proof of the absolute ineluctability of everything’s decay. Everything tends to its end, to which every passing second get us closer so fast. Everything dies in the end. This is a teaching about life worthlessness.

Where does the inspiration for you music and lyrics come from? Do you hold any specific beliefs or adopt any particular philosophies you would care to share with the world that enable you to create the music you do?
As a Black-Metal band, we of course convey satanic fanaticism. We acknowledge the Devil as the omnipotent and eternal purveyor of entropy upon this world. I don’t know how this can be felt in the music. It might be felt, for sure, but it’s all instinctive for us. We just create dark music inspired by our convictions, it’s just an illustration. The real expression of our ideology of course lies in the lyrics. Music and lyrics must be 100% complementary. They need each other to make sense.

What were your initial ideas when composing material for the album? Did you see it as a continuation of where you left off with ‘Ashes Of Purification’ or as something completely separate? Did you have a specific idea of how you wanted the music to sound?
The band has changed so much because all the aforementioned line-up changes that it could easily have completely change music-wise. And fortunately it didn’t happen. It has just evolved to something better, yet faithful to the band’s identity. We wanted to show this. If we see “Of Entropy and Life Denial” as a continuation of where we left off with “Ashes of Purification” ? Yes, one thousand times yes, and that’s precisely why the opening riff of the new album is the final riff of “Ashes of Purification”.
For this new album we wanted something as “darkly compact” as possible, creating a thick and suffocating atmosphere of black misery through hopeless servility. As we’re very pleased with the result, I guess we’ve succeeded.

Merrimack have always been a band that have brought your music to the live arena. How would you describe to our readers a typical Merrimack live show? What is it you get out of playing in front of an audience? Is it purely and simply for the adrenaline rush or something more sinister?
For the ones who wouldn’t have seen Merrimack on stage yet, you can expect Black-Metal fanatically faithful to the tradition: spikes, leather, blood, frenzy, violence and death! There’s no real specific motivation that makes us get up on stage: a metal band has to play live, that’s all. We of course enjoy playing gigs a lot, though it’s no fun at all. We all feel the inner blackness of our art while playing live, and our mission is to make the crowd feel it too.

The French black metal scene is something that I have always felt as hugely underrated. The quality and influence of bands both past and present that have emanated from those shores cannot be argued yet it is something that you do not hear much about in the extreme metal media. Why do you think this is? As a country that has so much extreme music to offer, do you find it frustrating that you do not get the recognition you deserve?
I’m not that much into this “recognition” thing. Of course it’s always pleasant to be “recognized”, but is it really important? Is it really important that people consider the French metal scene as killer? It’s much more essential just to have this knowledge, to know the good bands to listen to, not to have everyone sharing it.

You have been around for over a decade now and have seen many a band in the scene both come and go. What is the secret behind your staying power? What is it that urges to keep pushing out your brand of ferocious Black Metal?
Once again it’s quite hard to say cos I just joined the band back in ’02, eight years after Merrimack formed. It’s exactly like in a scene: the sincere individuals stay, the posers leave! So Merrimack stays because of the sincerity of its members. I don’t mean all our past members were posers, but some have lost the motivation and had the intelligent reflex to leave at the right moment.

Is there a statement from ‘Of Entropy and Life Denial’ that would sum up Merrimack’s standpoint at this point in your respected careers?
“Worse and worse… There can’t be any other way. There can’t be any salvation without genuflexion.”
Ave Sathanas
Terrorizt on behalf of Merrimack anno 2006

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country: France
style: Black Metal
Links: Homepage, Facebook, Bandcamp, Spotify

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Merrimack - "...you can expect Black-Metal fanatically faithful to the tradition: spikes, leather, blood, frenzy, violence and death!" {August 20, 2006}

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Merrimack and Season of Mist to unite again to unleash new album: "...an aural journey where grotesque assemblies of roosters and goats languish at the foot of heavens" {December 7, 2023}

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Bands: Drawn And Quartered
Review Date: May 22, 2006
Authors: Jeffrey

Drawn and Quartered – “..Hm, yes, first we must unearth rotting corpses from ancient graveyards at midnight”

Drawn and Quartered’s 4th opus Hail Infernal Darkness painted my room black. This album made me hooked to this US death metal band. Since I’m not that familiar with the band it was about time to ask the band a couple of questions. Herb responded with intresting and indepth questions, not to forget to inject a little humor.

Drawn And Quartered is a rising name in death metal and deserves a little background to freshen the memory, so please give us a little info about the history of Drawn And Quartered?

Sure, well, to start with the newest and most important: our fourth album, Hail Infernal Darkness, was released at the end of January, and is without doubt our most accomplished work to date! Drawn And Quartered is from Seattle and consists of K.S. Kuciemba (guitars), Dario Derna (drums), Greg Reeves (bass), and myself, Herb Burke , vocals.

This album is the culmination of about fourteen years worth of efforts. The band that is Drawn And Quartered began around summer 1994, but has its roots in K.S.’s original band/project Plague Bearer, which dates back to about ’92. I was recruited for the Plague Bearer demo in summer ’93, although it wasn’t until about a year later that we finally established a more solid band core. We went through a number of members, wrote and rehearsed over the next couple of years. It wasn’t until early ’97, after the recording of the s/t Drawn And Quartered demo tape that a steady line-up was achieved, with K.S., Greg, original drummer Matt Cason, and me. This is the line-up that produced our debut cd, To Kill Is Human, which was recorded in August 1998 and released about a year thereafter. In 2002, Matt left the band, and we recruited Dario (a veteran of Infester, Abazagorath, Evoken, among others) to fill the vacancy. Dario has been an incredible asset to Drawn And Quartered, aside from his considerable talent and abilities, he contributes a lot of good ideas, is easy to work with and get along with, and is more on the same page musically as the rest of us. Later that year, we recorded Extermination Revelry, issued by Moribund in 2003, and that was followed by Return of the Black Death the next year. I am proud to say that each album destroyed its predecessor in the same way that Hail Infernal Darkness crushes everything that came before!

Is there a mainconcept behind the band, your records and lyrics,like a red line?
Not really. Concepts and themes found in our works are basically just whatever ideas we came up with at the time. It could be said that we observe some more general ‘concepts’, such as performing a classic style of Death Metal, which is based on writing good songs, riffs that can stick in your head after the song is done, and creating sinister feelings and atmospheres within the music; at the same time keeping it brutal and relentless. Lyrical concepts we use tend to concentrate also on classic extreme topics; serial killers, genocide, anti-religious and blasphemous concepts, death, hate…I personally prefer to write lyrics which are based in reality or history rather than fictional ( e.g., religion) themes, although Hail Infernal Darkness certainly contains several songs which refer or allude to the idiotic fictions to which the weak still continue to cling. Those lyrics usually take the theme of simply butchering the faithful, there’s no point in trying to use logic against people who have already abandoned reality.

I’m not familiar with former works of carnage except your previous work to Hail Infernal Darkness. What I can hear though is a big step forward, considering the handling of the instruments, the compositions and atmosphere. Who or what is responsible for that leap?
We are! Haha! Basically, we have worked our asses off over the years to improve ourselves as musicians and songwriters. With years of experience and practice, we have been able to produce works which have eclipsed those before them. Our second album, Extermination Revelry, was an exponential development from To Kill Is Human. 2004’s Return of the Black Death was an equally monumental leap beyond our previous works; and we were able to outdo that with Hail Infernal Darkness! It was also our third album recorded with Jesse O’Donnell at Autopsy Room, so we were able to render that experience into the amazing sound heard on the new record.

One thing particular to Hail Infernal Darkness is the work that K.S. did this time on leads and second guitar parts. He really went off the deep end on guitar overlays on some songs, and it just sounds unbelievable! Previous albums were somewhat influenced by the fact that we only have one guitarist, which of course limits what you can re-create in a live setting. The older material ended up tailored to some degree toward that one-guitar line-up. On Hail Infernal Darkness, that was not a consideration — everything was done strictly to make it all sound as good as possible. If that meant four different guitar tracks on a part, so be it. I should probably mention that due in part to this, we have been keeping an eye open for a potential second guitarist, or at least someone who could do live session work.

Obvious influence must have been older Incantation and Immolation if my ears not deceive me. The rythymn section and your vocals remind me of that. What other than the previous comparison is a major well of inspiration?
You have good ears! Having started out in the early 1990’s, many of the noteworthy Death Metal bands of that time helped lay the foundation of what we have been trying to do. As you suggest, certainly the darker and dirtier acts had a major influence, including another band of some renown which should be evident to a careful listener (check out the first song on the new album.) Certain elements common to Black Metal have been incorporated as well, although to me it’s more that Black Metal really took over the idea of atmosphere when Death Metal took a turn for the technical (read: boring) rather than taking an overt influence from BM bands. We’ve always appreciated bands able to create feeling and atmosphere within their music. K.S. will sometimes find inspiration in horror movie soundtracks and classical music. A lot of our doomier parts evoke old Black Sabbath.

Let’s talk about atmosphere a bit, cause it’s what most bands don’t have or can’t make. Drawn And Quartered has been drenched in it, death metal hasn’t been so brilliantly dark for quite some time. Is it something that comes into being spontaneously or you first have to do a seance or something in that direction?
Hm, yes, first we must unearth rotting corpses from ancient graveyards at midnight , and violate them under a blood-red moon for the dark lord! Seances are for pussies!!Ahem, I guess I’d say it kind of comes naturally, due to our musical preferences and influences. It is something we are conscious of, in that the dark sinister atmosphere is one of the main things that really separates the best Death Metal from the rest (in my opinion anyway), and so it is something we really want to incorporate into our own works. We have been gradually making use of more dissonant or unusual chord structures, experimenting more with tempos/rhythms when putting songs together, and trying ideas not used in typical Death Metal, to try to create darker and more horrifying sounds and songs, and to help set ourselves apart from the pack. At the same time, we have no intent of letting experimentation water down our heaviness and intensity.

It seems to me that really since about 1993 or so, as that certain technical/brutal style began to really get popular, most new Death Metal bands have been content to follow that same path, writing (or, uh, ‘borrowing’) riffs more technical than catchy, replacing songwriting with intricacy, allowing brutality to obliterate any sense of dynamics…essentially adopting the superficial aspects while completely overlooking the basics…composing material which will stick in your head after the end of the song.

The solo’s are a nice addition, strangely reminding me of pulling teeth. Have they been done at the same time as the rest of the recording and what does it take to make them?
What does it take to produce the solos? A huge pile of killer weed? I agree…the solos on Hail Infernal Darkness are sick! A lot of them sound to me like screaming torment, so I can understand your comparison. They were done along with the rest of the recording. In almost all cases, we have recorded all the instruments and vocals during consecutive sessions, but we will usually mix the album over a longer period of time, to be able to listen to it with fresh ears, and to adjust and re-adjust the levels until we are happy with them. This time, K.S. had more down-time in the studio to work on solos and second guitar parts, so he really came up with some amazing ideas. The leads usually end up being a combination of rehearsed ideas and some studio improvisation. Metal should have guitar solos!

Who made the cover of Hail Infernal Darkness? It suits the music like a glove.
Our good friend Gabriel T. Byrne is the conjurer of all the Drawn And Quartered cover masterpieces to date. When we received the cover art for Hail Infernal Darkenss, we were speechless. Gabriel told me that its creation actually caused him “severe upheavals” physically and mentally! He has been an associate since the early days, when he played in other local bands, actually jammed with K.S. briefly in the earliest Plague Bearer (pre-DAQ) days, but they weren’t really going in the same direction. However, the artworks he was also creating (such as the first Blood Ritual album cover) certainly were suited to us, and so we recruited him to produce the cover art for our debut. We were completely blown away, so we have continued to make use of his services for our successive releases. His style has always seemed to suit our music exceptionally well; for example, the cover art for Extermination Revelry was in our possession long before the album was released, before some of the songs were even written. Still, it ended up perfectly suiting the mood of the album. I also think it’s a good thing to have a consistent/recognizable style of artwork, to help distinguish ours from every other release in the underground.

Gabriel has actually become quite the noted artist. He’s studied in Europe (in fact, painted the Hail cover artwork in Austria and shipped it overseas to us) and recently had exhibitions of his own works in Philadelphia , where he has been living recently. Check out more of his works at gabrieltbyrne.com.

Moribund’s roster contains black and death metal bands in all forms, some brilliant, some less. What do you think about Moribund the label?
Hmmm, what do you want me to say about our label??? Ha! Like any label, you’re going to appreciate some releases much more than others, most of the Moribund releases I enjoy the most are those of other bands from around the Pacific Northwest , such as In Memorium or Thy Infernal. Some of the grim Black Metal is a bit more hit and miss to me. That first Sargeist is pretty decent.

As a record label for Drawn And Quartered, Moribund has proven to be a pretty good home for us. There are drawbacks, like any similar situation, but in that regard we actually really know what to expect, as we’ve known Odin since before Moribund existed, back to when he supported gigs around the area in the late ’80s with some of the local Thrash Metal bands of the time. He helped distribute the Plague Bearer and Drawn And Quartered demos, and actually the first cd was initially just distributed by Moribund (we financed the recording and first pressing ourselves) which ended up being a pretty beneficial arrangement for us, all things considered. A few years down the line, we were ready to put together the second album, and once Odin heard some new songs, he readily agreed to put out our subsequent releases. We elected to re-sign with Moribund for Hail Infernal Darkness…no one else was knocking down our doors with contracts, but moreover, there were some advantages to staying put. With Moribund’s unflinchingly underground approach and ideology, we know we won’t have to worry about interference with our creativity, lyrical or artistic content being deemed objectionable, or anything like that. As well, we can continue to be one of the more eminent acts on Moribund, certainly the best-known Death Metal band I would say, at the risk of sounding less than humble, as opposed to being a lower priority on a larger label’s roster.

The USA seems to have quite some solo black metal bands, Leviathan, Draugar, Xasthur, Crebain to name a few. What do you think about black metal in general and the bands I mentioned?
Interesting way to ask a basic question! Personally, I enjoy a lot of Black Metal. But my taste in Black Metal, as in Death Metal, runs more along the lines of the old stuff and the classics: old Venom, Sodom , Bathory, Destruction…the old Norwegian style, meaning, mostly, Mayhem…and totally raging and/or barbaric BM, like Marduk, or Bestial Warlust. De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is the ultimate Black Metal work…nothing has touched it since, nor ever will. Most of the old Norge bands started sucking as soon as they stopped ripping off Mayhem. Some of the new so-called ‘orthodox’ bands have been able to evoke that same bloodcurdling, unholy vibe, even if the ‘religious’ concepts are laughable to me, but then certain others are just producing bloated, drawn out, boring and self-indulgent crap that ends up disappearing up its own ass, it actually cracks me up, since the modern Black Metal style really was developed in large part as an alternative to how Death Metal had done the same thing in the early 90’s!

There are/were many excellent Black Metal bands from the usa , acts like Profanatica, Von, Krieg, Kult ov Azazel, Nachtmystium…oh yeah, fucking Inquisition!! Even something like Judas Iscariot, much as that was essentially a one-man-project, was still performed with real drums, and did perform live a couple of times. There’s something that really bugs me about that whole “bedroom Black Metal” style…maybe it’s that a musical form which is supposed to be the rawest, most grim and evil expression of violence and negativity can’t be suitably expressed simply through a computer in an apartment, in my opinion. How can it be loud? How can you scream until your throat bleeds? Or maybe it’s just that none of it is really very violent. I also really dislike drum machines, with rare exceptions (Hate Forest, Mortician?.) Tentacles of Whorror is a decent album, but I still don’t find myself listening to it very often///for the style I’d rather hear Krohm (which not so coincidentally is created by our drummer Dario.) Maybe I could sum it up by saying Black (and Death) Metal should be the soundtrack to genocide, not suicide!

Not forget death metal of course, so what are some good bands to mention in your opinion which haven’t got a lot of attention lately?
Top of my list right now would actually be Dismember!! Everyone knows them of course, but their last few albums have been so killer that it just sickens me that they aren’t the biggest band in Death Metal! Hate Campaign was maybe the most overlooked album of all time. I cannot stop listening to their new one, The God That Never Was . The first three songs on that album alone bury every shitty ultra-brutal typewriter-drum gurgling goregrind album that’s been released in the past decade. Dismember can’t turn around without writing a catchy song, plus they have some killer melodic solos.

I can’t call to mind many newer Death Metal acts that have impressed me…new albums by older bands seem more frequent in my listening. Kaamos from Sweden is pretty killer. I don’t listen to so much Death/Grind but just recently heard the new album from Cretin, which is totally sick…pure destruction in the old Repulsion vein featuring Col ex-Exhumed on drums!

If you consider to come to The Netherlands, around what time will it be? (and couldn’t you invite Sadistic Intent to tour with you?)
It will be right around 4:20!!! I’ll just give Sadistic Intent a call and see if they’ll be free then. Hahaha! That sure would be a fucking sick tour, actually! Getting over to Europe to tour is definitely one of our biggest goals, but I honestly can’t say how soon that might be able to happen. There has been a little talk here and there, but at this point it seems unlikely that we’ll get on the road until maybe next year. It’s pretty tough for bands in our position…we don’t make money off this, so we still have to worry about taking time off from regular jobs and shit like that. I’ve visited Amsterdam…needless to say I’ve been anxious to return ever since!

I’ll cover myself in Infernal Darkness again, any last infamous words to our readers?
Hails to all Drawn And Quartered fans, and all supporters of quality Death (and Black) Metal!! We have just finished up a video for “Hail Infernal Darkness”…it looks fucking killer! I’m not sure yet when/where you will be able to see it — check our web site www.drawnandquarteredonline.com for updated information. Otherwise, we have been completing more new material, and plan to record our fifth album before the end of the year! Give praise to Death!!

Drawn And Quartered

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Drawn and Quartered - "..Hm, yes, first we must unearth rotting corpses from ancient graveyards at midnight" {May 22, 2006}

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Bands: Endstille
Review Date: January 27, 2006
Authors: GeertvMook

Endstille – “Everything we do grows its way. Nothing is planned, everything happens…”

Some bands keep on surprising again and again, Endstille from Germany is one of those bands. Since 2000 they already released four quality albums, though with the most recent one ‘Navigator’, Endstille released an album that certainly has the quality to grow out to one of the Black Metal classics of this decade. At the moment Endstille is about to hit the road together with Dark Funeral and Naglfar. Reasons enough to ask Mayhemic Desctuctor (drums) some questions. First of all I asked about the overall reactions in the media about ‘Navigator’…

Most reviews were as we expected. There are always some people who didn’t like our music… they hate us! But this doesn’t matter…
The important magazines thought that ‘Navigator’ was one of the best Black Metal albums in 2005.

Endstille was formed in 2000, since then it seems that you’re marching on in a straight line to become one of the leaders in the nowadays scene, how do you look on this?
We formed Endstille, because of all the pussy stuff in Black Metal. We want to show the world that Germany has a good Black Metal band. We don’t work on it, but it comes as promised.

In comparison with the older albums I think ‘Navigator’ has a little more variety between the fast Black Metal we’re used to hear from Endstille and some mid-tempo parts. Am I correct with this? What was the main reason to create some more variety on this album?
There was no reason to create more variety on ‘Navigator’. We know how to play Blastbeat Songs. Now we showed you, that we can play even slow parts in music.

Besides hateful raw Black Metal, I also noticed more melancholic parts on ‘navigator’ than ever before, was it a conscious choice, or did it just grow this way?
Everything we do grows its way. Nothing is planned, everything happens…

I’ve mentioned in my review that I wouldn’t be surprised if ‘Navigator’ grows out till one of the classics in Black Metal from this decade. How do you see this?
I cannot say what kind of status ‘Navigator’ will reach. For me it’s only another good Endstille album I’ve played the drums on.

I guess you know that it will be a very hard job for the band to record the next album, and again surpass the standard you’ve set on ‘Navigator’.
We don’t feel squeezed when we go into the studio. You can do what you want; there are always people who think that the last album was better than the new one. In a band you always think that your new album is the best, because you can hear the new songs.

A little more than a year ago I saw you live in the Goudvishal Arnhem, during the tour with Koldbrann. It was the first real tour for Endstille. How do you look back on this tour?
The tour was really exciting. Koldbrann (all hailz!!!) have become comrades of us. These guys are very cool, and we had a lot of fun on tour. Its hard to play every day, to party every day, but that’s the way it goes…

How was it to play on the Wacken Open Air festival?
We played on the WET Stage (the Tent-Stage). The Tent was overcrowed, the masses wanted us. But the sound was too boring. We had so much technical problems on stage. We had a power-breakdown, a damaged DI-Cable in our Bass-amp and so on…

What do you prefer, playing on a big festival (like WOA) or play in a small, dark venue?
Both. It a strange and cool feeling to see a big crowd that only want to hear your music. But the atmosphere is better in a small dark venue. You stay in contact with the people. It’s more intensive. It’s better to play in a good crowded small venue, than in a big hall with only some people.

In a few weeks now you’re going again on tour, this time with Dark Funeral and Naglfar. What do you expect from this tour?
We want to show the people in Europe that Germany has a good Black Metal band. These are four weeks of hard work, but I hope it would be worth.

I’ve also heard that Endstille is confirmed for the upcoming edition of the Inferno Festival in Norway. I must be a honour I guess to play on this great festival?
Yes, that’s it. This is one of the festivals we wanted to play and know we can play in Oslo. I hope that they have enough beer for us…

Besides the good live reputation, Endstille is also known as a very productive band, since 2000 you released 1 demo, and 4 full length albums. In 2006 we can expect a new album and a split 12” with Graupel. What can we expect from those 2 releases?
In summer 2006 we will release the split vinyl with Graupel. There will be 3 new songs on it. Maybe we would record an old song new. At the moment we have 7 new songs, and I cannot say which one will be released on the new CD. We all have to wait, but I think that there will be a new CD at the end of 2006.

Isn’t it hard to be so productive as Endstille is since the very beginning? Don’t you guys ever have lack of inspiration?
It’s not hard for us. We go to our rehearsal room and we are creating new songs. We don’t like to play the “old” stuff there.

Endstille hails from Kiel, Germany. It was the place back in the second world war where the Kriegsmarine was situated, is this one of the reasons why lots of lyrics are dealing with War?
No. Our guitarist L.Wachtfels is very interested in WWII. He knows just everything about it. That is why we have this artwork and such kind of lyrics. And it fits best to our music.

Do you guys also collect stuff from the second world war? (I know for example that one of the Marduk members collects everything about tank-battles and related things from the second world war).
L.Wachtfels collects and reads books about the WWII.

Don’t you get tired about the fact that again and again people are questioning themselves and others for the fact that you’re singing about (the second world) war? It seems that it’s still a very big taboo in Germany (and some other counties) to mention the war…
This is a taboo here in Germany… that’s right. Some people think that we are Nazis; some other people think that we are left winged. And nothing is correct. We are Musicians… nothing less, nothing more. We don’t answer the questions about our political thinking here in Germany anymore…

You have a record deal with Twilight Vertrieb since the ‘Frühlingserwachen’ album. Twilight Vertrieb is mostly known as distributor. How are you’re experiences with them as label?
They are doing good work for us. We are growing and they grow, too.

Endstille actively promotes the campaign against using triggers for drums. What’s the reason for this?
We all dislike this plastic sound. We want a normal wooden Drum sound. Drums are made of wood, so they have to sound like that. This digital shit sounds like a drum computer…

That were my questions, do you have something to add to this interview, or something to say to the readers of VM, the last words are yours:
Last words are something for dying people…
See you on tour.

Endstille

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Bands: Waklevören
Review Date: December 14, 2005
Authors: MarcelB

Waklevören – “The thing is that we agreed the day we started the band, that if any of us should suggest drinking instead of rehearsing, then rehearsing would have to step aside…”

Waklevören is a Norwegian band consisting of some well-known members who all share their love for old school Thrash Metal, Punk and of course lots and lots of beers. Because the love for beer is overruling the love for music it took quite a long time before they came up with their debut album. Still, after about ten rehearsals and probably a hundred times more beers their debut demo ‘Brutal Agenda’ has just been released. Therefore I decided to have a chat with Apollyon to find out just a little bit more about Waklevören and the great ‘Brutal Agenda’ demo.

Hello Apollyon, welcome back to VM. How are you doing?
Doing allright, thank you. Hung over and on my way to drinking more.

First of all the bandname Waklevören. What does it mean in English?
I guess the most correct translation would be wobbly or unsteady. Kind of describes the whole band. It’s been sort of our temporary band name all along, and since nobody managed to come up with anything better, that’s what we’re called. Correct Norwegian spelling is “vaklevoren” by the way….

Waklevören was started in 2002 already but only this month the ‘Brutal Agenda’ album was released. Why did it take so long? Perhaps the busy schedules with all other bands all of you are into?
No, I’m not responsible for all the delays. The thing is that we agreed the day we started the band, that if any of us should suggest drinking instead of rehearsing, then rehearsing would have to step aside…

Now that’s the spirit hehe…
So we haven’t rehearsed more than maybe ten times and in between those ten rehearsals we tend to forget everything that happened last time, so we have to start all over again. Quite annoying actually…

The biography can be read in my review already so we’ll skip that part but what I want to know is what were the reasons to start Waklevören while all of you have many other bands going on at the same time?
I don’t know. I was out drinking and so were the other guys. It was definitely not my idea to start a 7th band (or whatever…I’ve lost count).

I think I’ve accepted to join 3-4 bands like Waklevören. The only difference between them is that “Wäklis” (Slang for Waklevören) made it to the rehearsal place. Since it sounds good and is laid back pressure-wise, we’ve continued doing it.

As said, ‘Brutal Agenda’ is out now. What do you think of the end result? And why are there only 100 copies made?
I still haven’t heard the final mastering. Hopefully it sounds better than the last mix I heard and that they have taken away most of my backing vocals. Haha, I’m not the guy to ask…Anyway, the other guys seem EXTREMELY enthusiastic about it, so I guess something sounds nice. 100 copies was what we could afford. They’re sold out now and 100 more are on the way. We’ll even do vinyls I believe.

And have you already seen some press reactions yet? And if yes, what’s written about ‘Brutal Agenda’?
We’ve had only good reviews from what I’ve heard, but then again not a lot of them obviously. We haven’t even started to distribute any promos. I try to avoid reading reviews of my own bands. I never agree with the reviewer anyway and that just fucks the rest of the day up even if it’s a very good one.

The album is released through Neseblod Records from Oslo and Kenneth, owner of Neseblod, also participates in Waklevören. Was releasing the album through Neseblod the easiest option? Or were there perhaps other labels interested as well?
It was the only option I think. We just wanted to release it ourselves…

How would you describe Waklevören’s music? And is much alcohol necessary to enjoy the music even more hehe?
In general it sounds vaklevorent, dirty and with a thrashy punk attitude. It has elements of Crust, Thrash (mostly American), Hardcore and Motörhead-kind of rock and roll….. It depends very much who makes the songs as well. I for instance, will make less Thrash metal stuff, since I already have Aura Noir and I think the same goes for the Red Harvest guys. Then again, Bored who made most of the songs (I believe), is making Thrash metal stuff.

It’s probably a good idea to drink a case or two of beer to fully enjoy the album.

So far you’ve done one gig in Oslo together with Obliteration. How did this gig go and what can we expect from a Waklevören gig?
Everyone says it went great. Even the most “normal” guys on the planet claimed that we sounded killer. I don’t know how to interpret that kind of information. I just know that I had the worst of times behind the drums, cause it had been so long since last time I’d played, so I was hurting and had to do stretching exercises between every single song.

What can you expect from a Waklevören show….uh, well at least I have a good feeling we sound good. Loads of bands sound shit live. We don’t, and hopefully we don’t look shit either. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want us to look lovely or anything….haha. I meant that we look “inspired”. I think that’s quite important.

Still, at least the first show was a bit more jolly than what I’m used to, and that can probably be both good and bad. I don’t want us to appear too silly but it’s ok to have a relaxed yet tense atmosphere at our shows.

What are your goals with Waklevören?
Record a second album and play better drums.

Because I’ know you’re an extremely busy guy I will keep this interview short so do you have any last words to end with? See you in Norway again…..hopefully at a Waklevören gig and for those cases of beer!!!
Thanx for the interview
Hades rise!!!!
Apollyon

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Bands: Severe Torture
Review Date: December 9, 2005
Authors: DannyB

Severe Torture – “Playing Live is the best thing of being in a band”

Severe Torture’s back in town! After a terrifying silence this Dutch Death Metal outfit is back with a new deal and a new label! “Fall Of The Despised” is the title of their third album and it’s definitely Severe Torture’ s best and most balanced album so far, one that will bring more international recognition for the band for sure. I hooked up with Thijs again for a little chat…

I heard and read that you all weren’t that positive about the live album “Bloodletting”, your last release on Hammerheart/Karmageddon, basically because it had a sort of ‘hidden agenda’. Can you tell us some more about this?
Well, we wanted to break the contract with Hammerheart and they insisted that we delivered them one last release. We played a show in Denmark that period which got recorded by Tue Madsen and there was our final release. To make it more interesting for our fans (we realize that a live album after only 2 full-lengths is a bit early) we recorded a Pestilence cover and we added our 1998 demo. Anyway, it was a necessary release and it got us were we are now so we don’t regret it or anything.

What big differences do you take notice of, comparing Earache to former Hammerheart? Do you have a good idea of the promotion and distribution of your new album and such?
We are still in the first month after the release so it’s hard for me to tell much about those differences. We get a lot of interviews and we receive a lot of reviews. Again time will tell I guess.

So let’s go to this new and third album, carrying the title “Fall of the Despised”. Why exactly was the album baptized this way? Comparing your other album titles, this one sounds less gory and more mature…
More mature is the right word I think… We made a list with cool titles and ‘Fall of the Despised’ was the coolest and fitted the lyrics and our vision the most. It sounds really dark and we despise a lot and to see that go down feels even better. But don’t worry; our lyrics are still bloody as hell!

It’s out now for roughly a month. How have the reactions been so far? A lot of positive reaction if reckon, especially concerning the broadening of your style…
Except for 2 reviews in a punk and a hardcore ‘zine all the reviews were great this far! I think that we made our music more interesting for a bigger metal audience and hopefully this shows off in the reviews too.

The art work has gone a new, more professional direction. More graphical and less drawing. Was this an idea from Earache, as you used to work with another artist (Joe Malone)? Was can you tell about the art work and how it relates to the music on “Fall Of The Despised”?
No, this was no idea from Earache. We originally had the artwork done again by Joe Malone and his piece of art was very brutal and bloody again but after staring at it for a month we realized that if we would use this for the album the artwork wasn’t moving ahead together with our music. We still have that design and we will use it for merchandising but for the album we decided to give it a try with Bjoern / Killustrations (who also did the last Aborted). We really like his work and he managed to create what we had in mind with our title. The person on the cover stands for all that we despise and he has fallen and is getting nailed to the ground…..

For this album you also went to a different studio, namely the Excess Studios in Rotterdam. Can you tell us more about this, why you chose this studio and how the recording went?
We recorded our first 2 albums at Frankys Recording Kitchen and this time we wanted to try something different and we wanted to use Protools. Our other guitar player Marvin had recorded some albums with other bands in Excess and was really satisfied about that studio. We first mixed our live album there to check it out and after that we booked it for the new album. The recordings went really well, of course some ups and downs but overall it went smooth. We also mixed it there and are really satisfied with the result!

Your music has evolved quite a bit, if you’d ask me, and only for the better! The songs on your third album sound way more diverse, make use of more influences and in general shows more structured songs and well thought out ideas. Plus the vocals are more varied as Dennis is throwing around different gurgles. How do you look upon this? Did this come natural or was this more a consciously chosen path?
We knew that we wanted to make the songs more interesting and somehow it all came pretty naturally. We tried to create a better contrast between slow and fast and for the first time we put more time in working out leads and double guitar parts. Dennis also grew a lot the last few years and this is the result!

I ask you this because, despite I thought “Misanthropic Carnage” was a very good album, I thought the songs were less ‘catchy’ than on “Feasting On Blood”. But now, due to the wide variety in death metal layers, the songs remain in your brain more easily. You agree?
I understand what you mean. With Feasting we made a very enthusiastic debut album with songs that were written in a period of 3 years. After touring for that album we started writing for Misanthropic and we agreed to make one the most brutal albums from Holland ever. We wrote it in like 6 months and recorded it immediately because we had a US tour planned and we had to record that album before that tour to be in time to release the album before our next Euro tour with Cannibal Corpse. Maybe the album sounds a bit hurried up, I don’t know what it is exactly but I do like the album.

Are your musical influences still the same as when you recorded your “Baptized…” demo or are more or different influences important for Severe Torture’s music?
Back then we were much more narrow-minded about music as we are right now! I guess it’s because we‘re getting older but also we started to realize that it isn’t the speed or the blast beats that make music good. We still listen to all kinds of extreme metal and most of our influences are coming from that music but we do get some of our ideas by listening to other music styles.

How is the contributing of Marvin to the band’s song writing? I mean, this is the first time he wrote along with you guys. Is he perhaps mostly responsible for bringing in new elements?
He brought in a lot of new elements because he comes from a more thrash background. For us it was really fresh to write songs with someone new and besides that Marvin brought in a shitload of cool riffs!

I think it’s clear that Severe Torture is a band that wants to be on stage, right? I think that, leaving the past for what it is, all things now have got you pumped up for some live shows. Not much is planned yet, but do you look forward to playing live (a lot) again?
Yep, playing live is the best thing of being in a band! We are really looking forward to play the news stuff live. We already did some shows were we played 4 new songs live and it feels great! This year we have only one show left but next year will be busy! We’re already confirmed for some summer festivals and most likely will do a tour in march/april which consists of 45 shows all over Europe! Plans for going to the US are being made when we speak so things are looking good for the future!

Luck hasn’t been on your side lately, with all those cancelled tours. I bet that wasn’t working out for you optimism and enthusiasm. Did this have big impact in the Severe Torture camp concerning motivation and such?
Well, it certainly made us mad sometimes because a canceled tour also means that you lost a lot of time only preparing for a tour. When the tour gets canceled you have to start all over again. It sucks that people promise you things and when they realize that they can’t make it happen they still keep it quiet for a month or so and when it’s already to late to change the situation they suddenly pull the plug and you will have to start all over again.

But now, a new label, a new album and probably more live shows, am I right? Can you tell us some more about this? Is earache helping out good with this?
Earache is doing their best to get us on tours and we noticed that it really helps to have a label like Earache behind us.

You’ve already told a little bit, but can you tell us more about the Severe Torture plans concerning promotion and live shows, festivals, tours, etc?
We’re probably going to do a video in December, especially for the US release. We will do a 45-day tour in Europe in march/april and we are confirmed for Party San Open Air, Kaltenbach Open Air and a US Metal Fest already. More will come and we are also working on a US tour for 2006.

Ok, that’s it for now. Thanks for taking the time and as you know, the last thoughts of wisdom are yours…
Well, don’t think that we changed that much, we’re still a brutal death metal band and we will show that on the road! Cheers and thanks for your time!

Severe Torture

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country: Netherlands
style: Death Metal
Links: Homepage, Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp, Spotify, Youtube

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Severe Toture ready to unleash 6th album: "As the anticipation mounts for the release of 'Torn from the Jaws of Death', you can be sure Severe Torture remains alive and thriving in the heart of brutal Death Metal" {March 12, 2024}

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Severe Torture – “Playing Live is the best thing of being in a band”

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