Interview with ... ROTTENNESS and Jaleel

01. OZS: Recently you inked a deal with Polish label SelfMadeGod.Can you tell us how did the deal got closed?

 

We met Karol from SMG at Obscene Extreme 2017, and I have always loved the bands he signs to his label. A few years later when Violentopia was being written/recorded, SMG was the first label I messaged about releasing it. They rule!!

 

02. OZS: Mexico has always had a very potent brutal Death metal scene, with bands like Disgorge,Fecalizer, Septic Autopsy, Blood Reaping,Ravager, Light Of Dark, Deatchrush, Necrotic, Chainsaw, Herpes, Gangrena, Drowned In Blood, Human Devastation, Violate . When you were forming Rottenness in 1994 were there any regional bands that you, individually and collectively, looked up to? 

 

Jaleel: Back in 94, there was no regional bands or even an actual scene, nothing in the south was worth it, however, by that time, several new bands, like us were starting, but as far I remember, there was no any death grind band active. We were more influenced by the internationasl brutal death bands from that time.. early 90's until mid 2000's. We had a minimum exposure for national bands, but Cenotaph, Makina and Disgorge were the ones that give us the punch to continue the search for our sound.

 

03. OZS: 2000 saw the release of your first EP "Blasphemous Gore Enjoyment".Tell us something about the historical significance of this release for the band – and how you look back on those first recording sessions?

 

Jaleel: We were young!! We didnt have any idea about the music bussiness rather than be brutal in our music. We at that time we will still searching our identity as a band and our music. We are so proud of that EP, even that we sadly dont play any of those songs anymore. The time we decided it to spend months at the CDMX to record this and meeting many amazing bands and friends, which, helped to spread the name of the band. We were rookies and young to know how to make a cd, but those times were great due we experienced many great things. 

 

04. OZS: In 2001 "Inhuman Ways of Depravity" was released by Mexican label Emerald City. . It was the last record to feature vocalist Israel. Looking back at that first record deal, in what ways did it help the band grow as an international entity? Did Emerald City and promote the record enough, in your opinion?

 

Jaleel: Emerald city was a side label from OZ Prods, which, gave us so much promotion international and national. We didnt now the magnitud until we made our first trip to Europe in 2002, thats when we saw the gigantic promotion that the label did for both cds. Plus, by 2002, we choosed to start traveling around the world to get the chance to spread our music. Israel actually stayed with the band for a few more years, but nothing on record, he was mostly on the tours, but by 2009 he decided to step up and start a family. 

 

05. OZS: You self-produced and independently released EP in 2006. "Advance" introduced Jose behind the microphone. Was it released locally or was it a quickly put together recording for interested label parties?

 

Jaleel: It was more a demo advanced for what it was intented to be a full album, but nothing came out after that, Jose also stayed a few years with the band, for mostly the tours, and we were spending to much time in the road, so we basically recorded those songs to have something extra in the road, if I recall correctly, that was for the DISGORGE (USA Mexican Tour. Actually, I dont remember we were sending material to the labels hahaha, we were on tour many times and exposed to a few labels at shows and festivals, so we were asking them directly instead of sending demos or packages. Until the Sevared Records deal came, satan bless Barret hehe.

 

06. OZS: 2011 saw the release of "Die Wege der Lust" with new vocalist Silas and your first(and last) for Sevared Records. Are you satisfied with Sevared promotion of the band?

 

Jaleel: Sevared Records, we meet him at the CIM Fest and like I said before, we aproched to him with the offer, it took a few minutes, few tequila shots, we got the deal done. We pacted for two cds, the first one was a compilation cd and the full album. All but great thing the label did for us, we had merch everytime we had a tour overseas or locally. Silas came into the band in 2009 after Israel left the band after an european tour, so having the line up finally living in the city, making the album was easier and with our good conections, we booked a mini tour in the USA and also the studio to record under the ears of our good buddy Steve Goldberg (CEPHALIC CARNAGE)

 

07. OZS: Six years later you release split album with Australian band Dead Root, released as independent and later with the Czech Obscene prod. Tell us more about this split.

 

It was a great split, we toured Europe with D.R. and ended at OEF, so it only made sense to release it via Curby's legendary label OBSCENE PRODUCTIONS and basically have OEF as the official release party! It was a great time and an honor to work with Curby on a ROTTENNESS release.

It's just an evolution of our sound... riffs, technicality, creativity, brutality, everything. Mixing it with Rob Caldwell (Cannibal Corpse, Municipal Waste, Goatwhore) and mastering with Davide Billia (Hour of Penance) really brought the production quality up to an awesome level too.

 

08. OZS: Rottenness has played many shows and festivals in America. Are there any memories or stories that stand out in your recollection as especially memorable or funny? We expect you in Europe this year...

 

We have had so many good ones... touring with Antigama, Cognizant, Cephalic Carnage, Malignancy, Disgorge, so many beers, so many tacos....

 

09. OZS: What about merchandise ? Are you able to pick up a lot of new fans ?

 

Yes, the last few years have been amazing for Rottenness with so many new fans and opportunities. We are super stoked on how everything has been progressing, and can't wait to unleash new music on the world soon!

 

10. OZS: 2018 saw the 3 way split ''The Hate Divide'' with US bands Sacrificial Slaughter and Coathanger Abortion released on US label Horror Pain Gore Death Prod. Rottenness change the vox once again this time with Matthias Joyce (in band from 2015), Andres on drums, Charlie on bass and Jaleel (only original memeber?) on guitars and vox.

 

Jaleel: after the line up for "DIE.." I had the chance to colaborate with many good friends from the metal scene. By 2013 the band made several USA tour with session members or just for the tour, a few stayed for a few years, Nothing but amazing memories, unitl 2014 (if my brain works correctly) I had the "disgusting" time to meet Matthias (read between the lines: the gret moment at the right place and the right time) where our bands did a USA tour, from there somehow, We knew we could make the band go further in recording and touring plans. Thanks to his contacts we could gather new members trough the years, so far he is the "LONGEST MEMBER ACTIVE" in the band... now i know that horses lives many years...

 

11. OZS: Matt Jonson and Karl Schmidt from Gorgatron joy the band in 2018 and 2019 and together with Jorge on guitars and Jaleel and together make Rottenness new slab of brutality ''Violentopia'' (SelfMadeGod).Looking back at your past albums, in what ways do you consider this record superior?

 

Jaleel: Everytime the band have a new line up change, its for the good, its the intensity and passion that each member bring to the table. Without doubt, I can say that Matt is so far the best drummer the band had. For Mr. Chino and Little George, its like taking 666 steps bigger with the music. The production, the mix of every talent made the new album what it is. Without them we couldnt do it, even that actually, Ray Nevison recorded the album with us on his fast and quick time. The best for that kid in the future. Plus, finally, i think this are the best lyrics that we ever had hahahaha... im glad we are not anymore on the porno gore route and now more in a serious path but still brutal. 

 

12. OZS: Rottenness has played many shows and festivals in America. Are there any memories or stories that stand out in your recollection as especially memorable or funny? We expect you in Europe this year... 

 

Jaleel: so many, its was all about SEX, DRUGS & ROCK AND ROLL mentality, we had so many good times with bands, friends, promoters, traveling. There are so many that i cant remember any at the moment. 

 

13. OZS: Well, I’m running out of questions, so feel free to end this interview in any way you like. If there’s anything of importance we might have forgotten to mention or anything you’d like to add, just go ahead. Thanks a lot for your time and all the best to all of you!

 

Jaleel: Thanks so much for the space and time for this interview!! keep following the band at all our social media sites!! Hope to see all of you on tour soon and stay sick and brutal!!

Interview with ... BLACK MASS

01. How would you describe Black Mass to someone who's never heard your music before?

BM - Old school thrash metal with a rock n roll attitude and a raw black metal feel

02. Why Black Mass? Who came up with the name?

BM - Felt it was fitting for the style of music we set out to create. Some of the subject matter in our lyrics can indeed be viewed from the perspective of a Black Mass.

03. How do you write your music? Is there a set guideline or do you write what you feel as you go along?

BM - We write riffsthdf hopefully don’t suck then build a structure to the arrangement either by Brendan or as a group effort.

04. How do you get the inspiration for writing your lyrics?Do you write together or separately?

BM - Brendan writes most of the lyrics. He always said nothing fueled better lyrical content than a childhood in catholic school haha.

05. How would you describe (or categorize) your style of vocals? Who have been your role models?

BM - It’s more of an old school raspy/yelling vocal style.

06. Which bands are on your list of favorites?What bands would you liken yourselves to?

BM - Slayer, Razor, Motörhead, Inepsy, Darkthrone, Aura Noir.

07.Which cities have you played? ... Any plans to go on tour? If so, where and when and with whom?

BM - We’ve played a lot of cities. Done a number of full US tours, some regional dates in north east Canada, and even a European tour back in 2013. We’ve got a handful of US shows announced with more in the works to support our new album “Warlust”. Check our website for more info.

08. How do you compare the Thrash Metal scene here in the USA and in Europe?

BM - Hard to say since we haven’t spent a ton of time in Europe but it seems that it’s more widely popular in Europe. Europe seems to be more akin to the old school sounds while the US is a bit more all over the place.

09. When did you start playing and how old were you when you became interested in metal?

BM - We’ve all been playing our instruments since we were kids. Been listening to metal for much of the same. It’s in our blood.

10. What made you guys decide to play in a band? Had it always been a dream? Who or what inspired you?

BM - Might as well do something with your time before you rot

11. How do you feel about mainstream bands, especially those who at one point started out as Underground?

BM - Might depend on the band and the integrity they maintain with a rise in popularity. Can’t hate on a band for being more well known, unless they abandon their roots entirely.

12. Are you pleased with the current record sales or will there be more promoting?

BM - We’re always promoting. If there are no copies left of the record for sale, then we’ve done our job.

13. Who designs your ''Warlust'' album artwork and who has the final word on what actually goes on the album cover? Does it have any special meaning?

BM - Maegan LeMay designed our album cover. We gave her the lyrics to the title track of our album and told her to go with it. We included some specific requirements of course.

14. What are the future plans of your band?

BM - Play shows and dominate everything

15. How is your album ''Warlust'' different compared to your previous ''Ancient Scriptures'' (2015)?

BM - The new release is much darker than the last record.

16. Could you tell us a little about the lyrical concept for ''
Warlust''?

BM - War, greed, corruption. All heavily ingrained in today’s society. Only a matter of time before it crumbles.

17. How is the metal scene where you guys are at?

BM - It’s pretty good. Lots of shows and tours to see and choose from. Turn outs can be pretty good depending on the bands and the night of the week.

18. How much can you still remember about the demo days from 2012?

BM - None of it. Too many drugs.

19. Alex, you're only new Black Mass member as a drummer from 2016... what happened with band's first drummer Yianni?

BM - 2015 actually. Yianni quit because his parents made him haha.

20. Do you think that Thrash Metal has fully been resurrected last few years, especially ''Old School TM''?

BM - It’s on its way. Less and less bands have been following the party thrash crossover popularity and going back to the old school.

21. Thank you for your time and all the best for your future endeavors with Black Mass. The last words belong rightfully to you...

BM - Cheers from Boston!

Interview with ... KRAANIUM

01.KRAANIUM signed to Comatose Music in 2012 how did that come about and why you split up with Pathologically Explicit Rec.How is your releationship?

We split with PER cos they could not help us to go tour or book shows, and escpecially over in the USA, So Comatose basically offered us a deal and also to book us for the next Comatour they had (2012) and we decided to go for it. No bad blood between us and PER, we are still friends an support each other as good as we can. Its important to do that in a scene which is such small and underground.

02. Are you going to work with them in future?

Well we are not in talk about any releases for cds and such but merchwise we keep the talk open .Also maybe gonna release some of our older albums on vinyl.

03. Personally this one is hard to ask but I should... Unfortunately,You your brother Martin one of the original band members .How is life going on after he passed away?

Its fucking hard man, what can i say! Loosing my lifetime band mate and best friend like that, i struggle every day, and im sure that will never go away ,but try to live my life the best way i can and to move the band and music forward, cos i owe it to my brother and i know that this is what he wanted me to do . Its also what keeps me happy and in focus, my best therapy is by far the music, and i will stick to this for as long as i can. Its my lifestyle and i love it

04. Band have a many line up changes through the years. What is current line up and are you in contact with ex KRAANIUM members?

Mikael: Currently Kraanium is
Jack-Vocals
Mats-Guitars
Jason-Guitars
Mikael-Bass
Tobi-Drums

Erhan who recorded Slamchosis left recently so thats the only ex-member at least im in touch.

Mats: im still in contact and friends with most members yes, no bad blood there .Except a couple of people who decided to fuck us over, but im not mentioning any names here, hehe.

05. KRAANIUM is now co called international band with members from Norway, Finland,Denmark, UK... How you come to an idea to make line up from different countries?

Mikael: I think since early days was hard to have a drummer in Norway who liked this style of music,after the old Norwegian members left was easy to search for members in Europe and with technology nowadays is easy to have band with members of different countries, i personally knew Mats and his late brother Martin for past 15 years and i knew for about 4 years before i joined the band so was easy to interact with them, Jack and Tobi met after but super good guys to play and tour with.

Mats: yes it what he says thats kinda the right story here, we already had several people that we were thinking to ask to join the band after we fell out with out Norwegian members. Cos we were always travelling and met other cool bands/members and always expanding our network in the scene, so we bascially just made a list of who to contact and found out who was interested. Thats how we found Jason, which now also helps me running the band after my bro passed away. He has his own booking company and that helped us alot ant still helps us alot in booking tours and shows. As for Mika, i always knew at some point i wanted to have him with us in Kraanium, just not when, but that mysteriously worked out exactly when we needed him. As for Jack i just knew he would be the right person to take over for my bro cos Martin was was his biggest vocal influence and a long time friend of both of us online as well.

06. Mats, tell me more about your side projects as a Fermented Masturbation, secret Mutilation, Dragging Entrails etc

Well for now , the only active bands/projects im running with is Dragging entrails. Too hard to run the rest of my project now after my bro is gone . Also As for the other bands, right no they are on infinate hiatus unless we decide to start again, all other mmebers are busy with their own bands mostly so not sure anything more will happen ( FM and SM) As for Dragging entrails, we jus announced a comeback som weeks ago with a new line up and a new record which will be released through Brutal mind, hopefully sometimes this year.
Also worth mentioning here is my Sludge slam band Diphenylchloroarsine, which we are currently writing music for our 2nd full length record with. Will be release through Rotten music some tim later this year.

07. How did you write your new slamming brutality album called Slamchosis?

Mats : I just watching one day the "Faces of death" and wanted to write an consept album just based on different ways of torture/murder/deaths, like in this series of documentaries, and the "plot" for the cd was born. Also came up with the idea of "Slamchosis" and the term it was cos of these voices from doctors or specialists that always comments on these kind of documentaries about killings and crazy killersa. So thats where we came up for the slamchosis sample as well were a "doctor" describes the illness. The term itself is fictional offcourse, and also an idea born out of my head.

Mikael: Usually Mats and Jason do the riffs,they get together and program drums to arrange the music, everyone in Kraanium has a different role but mainly Mats and Jason are the ones who do the creative process.

08. What kind of an album was in your mind when you started to collabrate the new songs?

Mats :Devourments slamasterpiece "Molesting The Decapitated" was by far my main inspiration for this release

09. How and why did you choose themes like Gore, Torture, Rape etc What does Slamchosis mean for you?

Well i get inspiration from everything. News, tv shows, documentaries, movies, books and series. Its a fucked up world we live in so pretty easy to find topics

10. KRAANIUM have been releasing ultra sick of good releases.Do you think that you get enough reputation about band from all around the world? What kind of metal music genres and bands influenced you the most to start Kraanium?

I think the reqognition we get for what we do is super sick! Could not ever dreamed to make it this far as being one of the top bands in the brutal genre as we is now when i started Kraanium with my brother almost 20 years ago now.

Mikael: The band has been around and toured a lot i think we are pretty known now in this style and underground scene, i think the obvious influences were Devourment,Internal Bleeding, Abominable Putridity and Cannibal Corpse.

11. What do you think about this new wave of slam and brutal gore bands last years?

Mikael: I don't personally see a new wave of slam,I see more bands calling themselfs slam when they are musically more towards deathcore, and there is nothing wrong if people like that style just slam is a easy word trown around nowadays to sell records and merch.

Mats: Slam seem more like a label for new bands to put on themselves to fool people into believing they are not a genre of music but more a comodity and that sucks because alot of new kids cant really differ from what is real or not. Bands get credit that they dont deserve and that is poison to our scene. I think we all share the same views on this in the band cos we have all been around for many years to know the different between the real slam bands and those who are not.

12. What do you think about today's extreme metal scene in Norway and Europe?

Mikael: Europe got a great scene, some good fests that mix our style of death metal and many others, like Obscene Extreme that we played last year.

Mats : Norwy is as always, its the land of black and thrash metal, not too many people who are into slam and brutal death sadly

13. Are there enough extreme bands,are there enough good shows?

Mats: Mostly black metal but some cool tours come up here as well yes.Lame crowds tho, mostly headbanging. People dont understand a good moshpit up here, they just stand around drinking their beers, haah.

Mikael: Good bands for me, Kataplexia just released a new cd, Skulmagot from Finland old style cannibal corpse and Cumbeast personally some bands from here worth checking.

14. How does a Kraanium show looks like ?

Mats: Go to Youtube and search for us and you will see:) Mostly violent and moving crowds, which we love! Some broken noses and split skulls have occoured too.

Mikael: Intense, brutal, violent.

15. Do you play live often?

Mikael: we try to, we are 5 guys in 5 different countries so not always easy to take time off, coz of job,family,etc but we got confirmed a 4 week USA tour in may/june and two shows in Finland this september.

16. Let's talk about every song pariculary on Slamchosis

01 Bound to Kill 02. Blob of Inhuman Metamorphic Transfusion 03. Gratification Through Annihilation 04. Forced Rectal Exhumation 05. Slamchosis 06. Larva Infested Cum Sluts 07. Midget Fucker 08. Slam Her Guts Out 09. Face Fucked with a Brick 10. Putrescent Indulgenelce.

Mats: Dont really know what to tell here, cos every song is pretty much just a chapter in a big tale, and they dont stand out as sepertly significant. Listen and judge for yourself :)

17. Thx for your time and good luck, Fans here really would like to see you performing here in Serbia... Is there anything that you want to add (merchandise etc.

If ya wanna book us just get in touch! and thanx alot for sending us this interview! We would love to come play Serbia some day since we still have never played in your country !

Interview with ... PYREXIA

Interview with Chris Basile - PYREXIA

1.Hi Chris, how do you feel about the new album ''Unholy Requiem'' reviews and how well has the new album been received so far?

- 1. Hey Alex. Thanks for the interview ! I think like some of our records in the past. Some people love it. Some not so much. I really strive to bring something fresh and original with each release and sometimes people are disappointed that it’s not Sermon of Mockery every time. I’m proud of the record. But I do believe our best material is yet to come so stay tuned.

02. What is the meaning of the new album name and how it ties in with the album concept?

- 2. Definitely a Biblical Old Testament concept. The Old Testament is probably the scariest book ever written.

03. what kind of equipment did you use for the recording ?

- 3. For guitars we stick to the Engl heads. Fireball. Marshal 1960 cabs. Tech 21 Bass Head with Mesa cabs. Pearl drums and Meinl cymbals.

04. how is the new material different from the past material, how have you expanded your sound and what do you add differently to the genre

- 4. With all the genre splicing. Slam ,grind,death core etc. we strive to deliver straight up BDM. Pyrexia will always have slams. We have since 1990. But I never want to box us into any kind of genre. And never want to be predictable.

05. who compose the music for the ''Unholy Requiem''? do you have to feel sounding special in the riffs to be sure it's Pyrexia riffs?

- 5. I wrote all the material on the album. If you hate it or love it it’s my fault hahaha. It just has to brutal and original. If I feel it sounds remotely like another band I won’t use the riff. I hate when other bands sound exactly the same.

06. Who is the person on the cover of "Unholy Requiem"? Who is the author and what about the general meaning concept of this photo?

- 6.Daemorph Art. He’s a madman from Russia. We already secured him for our next cover. I love his work. The cover depicts the battle in Heaven between the Arch Angel Michael against God himself and his banishment to Hell.

07. Does it happen often that when you look back to your songs you think “well, this could have sounded better”? Do you usually encounter this sort of regret regarding some of your previous stuff?

- 7. Yes. I like some am not particularly happy with the final master of Unholy Requiem. I recorded and mastered everything myself and probably bit off a little more than I could chew in my opinion. I’ve since grown leaps and bounds in my post production process and the next one will sound the way I intended unholy to sound. I took a chance and put myself out there. Sometimes you have to. But looking back and knowing what I know now I prob coulda used some help. It’s all part of growing so no regrets.

08. Chris Basile, You are the main man of Pyrexia,through the years and only original band member ...Who are now in band’s line up?

- 8. Pyrexia 2019 is : Myself on guitar. Danny Trapani on guitar. Shaun Kennedy on Bass. Jim Beach on vocals and Ryan Hilerio on Drums.

09. You released last 3 albums on ''Unique Leader''... how's your cooperation with Unique Leader going? Do they give you the support and promotion that you deserve? Are you planing to reissue (or re-recorded) first album ''Sermon Of Mockery'' with ULR?

- 9. UL and Erik Lindmark in particular have been great to Pyrexia since 2006. It’s been a rough year with Erik’s passing. But I’m looking forward to a strong and powerful UL in the future. As far as Sermon , Century Media re released it as a double album including early demos and the 95 ep Hatredangeranddisgust in 2015.

10. how was the scene changed last 10-15 years and how strong is the NY underground scene nowadays?

- 10. I think DM went through a lull 10-15 yrs ago but has since enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence the past few years. The last few Pyrexia tours both in the US and overseas have been incredible

11. How does it feel to hear a band that is obviously influenced by Pyrexia

- 11. It’s great when they pay homage. It’s tough when bands say they invented an entire genre or are The Godfather’s or kings of a genre when Sermon or our early demos precede anything they ever did. But it comes with the territory.

12. Which Pyrexia tour would you name as the best one so far?

- 12. Probably these past 2. Bloodletting here in America and The Grand Slam tour we did last year in EU.

13. When will we see you on the road again here in Europe?

- 13. We tried real hard to get on the summer festivals but it wasn’t meant to be. Look for us in the Fall of 2019 though. We should be back by then.

14. Thanx for interview. Last words are yours

- 14. I want to thank you my brother for your time and the interview. Everyone needs to check out our new content on you tube and twitch. Look for a lot more video content from us in 2019. Go buy Unholy Requiem and look for NEW Pyrexia material in 2019. See you all on the road ! Make sure you come out if we play your city ! Thank you !

Interview with ... FERAL

01. It has been about 12 years since the creation of Feral and it slowly, but surely, did is way through underground metal scene. After 3 years, you've came back stronger than ever with the album "Flesh For Funerals Eternal". Can you tell us how it all began and what brought you to play Death Metal?

In the beginning it was just me (David) and our bass player (Viktor Klingstedt) in our hometown of Norsjö. We were mostly just goofing around and recording some unserious parodies of extreme metal, a genre we were not too familiar with at that point. Eventually we got a taste for it and wanted to give it a more serious attempt, but finding other members in our small hometown was near impossible. I eventually moved to the town of Skellefteĺ, and Viktor followed a year later or so. There we found more members willing to give it a shot. At first we were aiming to do something akin to old school black metal, covering bands like Venom and early Mayhem, but when we tried writing our own material it always came out more in a death metal vibe. A couple of years later we ditched the corpsepaint and all that stuff and continued writing the stuff that came more natural to us: death metal. And we haven’t looked back since.

02. You released new album ''Flesh For Funerals Eternal'' for India's label ''Transcending Obscurity Records''... What is the main reason that you left your prevous label ''Cyclone Empire'' which released your second full length ''Where Dead Dreams Dwell'' (2015) and EP ''From The Mortuary'' (2016)

Things weren’t really working out over at Cyclone Empire, and I can’t really say that it was anyone in particulars fault. It was simply matters that was out of anybody’s hands. We were actually scheduled for another release over there, but after discussing the situation with the label we both agreed that we would be set free of our contract to be able to pursue other options. So the parting was mutual and on good terms. I actually wish that I was in better contact with the guys over at Cyclone Empire still because we had a very good working relationship and it would be cool to stay in touch. Transcending Obscurity Records came very highly recommended from other bands and parties who had worked with the label, and as soon as we came in touch with Kunal over at the label and heard his visions and saw his good attitude and work ethic we knew that it was a label that we would like to work with as soon as possible.

03. Can you give me your vision about Death Metal and it's past, present and future.

I think death metal, much like most genres of metal, is a constant. It is ever present. I mean: this is music that survives throughout the years with hardly any mainstream press or radio play. Death metal gets little to no exposure in the public space, yet the fans keep it alive in the underground. Even the biggest names within the genre I imagine stay relevant mainly due to the work of the underground and their fans. Trends come and go, and it might shift in popularity from year to year, but the bands that built the genre in the 80’s are still here, as well as the bands that came in the 90’s, 00’s or later. As long as the bands that are around stay passionate, and there aren’t many other reasons to play death metal other than passion, I believe the genre can endure anything.

04. How was the preparation and recording process for the “Flesh For Funerals Eternal” album? In which studios did you work for recording? Which equipments do the band members use?

We rehearse a lot before entering the studio. Usually writing a new album takes us a couple of years, and of course we rehearse during this time as well, but even after the album is fully written I’d say we rehearse the songs for about another years before recording them properly. This gives us time to tweak and make small, or big, changes to the songs and give attentions to the small details that give the songs life and make them interesting. Before recording we basically want to be able to play the songs in our sleep. The drums were recorded locally in studio Spiff, probably most famous for being were Swedish hardcore punk band “Totalt Jävla Mörker” has recorded albums in the past, as well as “Vintersorg” at some point. The rest is done in our own studio “Pagan Hell Studios”. It’s all later mixed and mastered by our ex-guitarist Petter Nilsson who has his studio and company “Sonner Produktion” in Gothenburg nowadays. I don’t think we use any particularly fancy equipment, aside from the now famous Boss HM-2 pedal. Markus’s and Sebastian’s guitars are run through a Marshall amp and a Highwatt cabinet. Viktor uses a 4-stringed Sandberg bass without going for particularly thick strings, even though we tune so low that he could theoretically use a 5-stringed one instead. This way it gives the bass tone a bit more attack and metallic feel rather than just a deep rumbling. Roger uses whatever drums are put in front of him, he’s great in that way. He doesn’t need any fancy stuff to sound good. This time though he used his own kit instead of the studios, a Premier Artist Birch. In the past we’ve tried recording with a single kick because it’s easier for the engineer, but since Roger is used to playing with double kicks instead of a double pedal we’ve decided that we’d rather do it that way.

05. Feral is a band formed in 2007. Would you like to talk about the years between 2011 and 2015?

In 2011 we released our first official album “Dragged to the Altar” and the band started getting a bit more attention, we also toured Europe to support the album. We had toured before, but only having demos out back then we noticed quite a difference this time around. Needless to say we had some good expectations for the future, but sadly we were between labels after the release of the first album. On top of that we also lost our drummer and one guitarist while writing the songs for our second album “Where Dead Dreams Dwell”, which didn’t really help the situation. Our hope was to maybe have the new album out by 2013, but instead we lost a lot of momentum when having to find new members. Luckily we managed to at least release a split EP with the Germans in “Revel in Flesh” in 2013. We continued with only one guitarist and our new drummer Roger and actually recorded “Where Dead Dreams Dwell” without being signed to a label, this also caused the release date to be pushed back even further. Cyclone Empire picked us up after having heard the album and released it in May 2015. In a way we saw that album as a last attempt to get things going again and a fresh start, which might be reflected in the album title, with the dream being dead. With a steady line-up since then, including the addition of Sebastian on second guitar by now, we have been working really hard to keep the pace up and the train running.

06. Who did the booklet and artwork studies for the “Flesh For Funerals Eternal” album? I felt it was pretty similar in artwork and preparation compared to your previous album ''Where Dead Dreams Dwell"

Yeah, it’s done by the same guy. Costin Chioreanu of Twilight13Media. He’s a fantastic artist and he also did the cover art for the EP “From the Mortuary”. As we felt that “Flesh for Funerals Eternal” was a continuation of “Where Dead Dreams DwelL” we wanted the album art to reflect that. We always give Costin free hands to create whatever he feels like, as he works great without any restrictions. The only thing we specified was that we wanted the same feel and tone as “Where Dead Dreams Dwell”, and I think it turned out great! “Flesh for Funerals Eternal” really looks like a darker, more evil, older brother of “Where Dead Dreams Dwell” and I think that reflects the music as well. The same, but evolved.

07. In what ways did the composition works of Feral develop in general and how do you prepare them?

As I said earlier, we rehearse a lot before recording. Everyone gets to have their input on the songs while we are working on them in the rehearsal room, but before that most songs are finished in a rough version by a single composer, or sometimes two of us working together on a song. Usually it’s be or Viktor coming up with a pretty much finished concept for a track, but we and Markus work together quite often as well. I think Markus was involved in some way in all tracks that are credited to me on the album. I’ll have to look at the booklet, but I think that is the case. Sebastian joined the band so late in the process that he didn’t manage to contribute any material for the album, but he has already written some really promising stuff for the next one and it feels great to have an additional source of material at this point. He really gets what kind of stuff we are working towards. For “Flesh for Funerals Eternal” we have put even more focus on the minor details than even before, and I think it shows. There should be a lot of stuff happening the background that you can discover after several listens.

08. Your music is a great mix of so called Old School Swedish Death Metal in the veins of old Entombed/ Dismember sound. What determines the proportions of this style in your music? What do you do that your albums are so consistent?

We have a lot of other influences as well. I am very much into classic heavy metal, as well as old German speed- and thrash metal as well. Viktor is a huge fan of prog rock, which I think shines through in his bass playing, and Markus is probably the one of us that is the most into punk. I think all of our influences combined with our love of old school- and Swedish death metal makes out the sound of Feral. Letting our other influences be a part of it all is very important and helps us carve our own identity in an otherwise crowded genre. I think there is a lot more interesting bass playing going on in our material than most “OSDM” and we implement backup vocals in a way that is more akin to heavy- or thrash metal bands. The dual guitar solos is also something that I guess we have mainly drawn from our heavy metal and hard rock influences. I think a lot of that stuff goes over people’s heads due to us having the “classic Swedish sound”, people just hear the “sound” and don’t listen to the actual playing sometimes. As for being consistent I guess it is due to us from the beginning only playing the stuff that we actually want to play regardless of the “old school” genre being on the rise when we released our first album or it probably having reached some sort of height a couple of years back. We love death metal, and that is not going to change.

09. Let’s talk about the lyrics. Could you tell me what is the most important thing to do a good lyric in your case?

I write most of the lyrics and I like having a narrative. Viktor sometimes contributes lyrics to a song or two per album, but he’s very much in the same way. Each song usually has a self-contained story within itself, with a beginning, a middle and an end. In death metal the lyrics are often overlooked, and in that way maybe not as important as in other genres of metal. But for me as a vocalist I wouldn’t want to just sing “cool words” stacked on top of each other. I don’t claim to be any type of lyrical genius, but I want the songs to have a structure and a narrative, even if a simple on, for those who actually care about it. And for those who don’t care about the lyrics I guess it in no way makes the songs worse that I put a little more work into them than what maybe is needed. A good lyrics for me has a structure and a story, and hopefully a punchline or climax in the end or chorus. A bad lyric for me is when you can tell that the song isn’t actually about anything, or that the lyrics are very broad or general in terms of subject.

10. What’s the Feral plan to do in the future? Touring Soon? Where and with who?

No tour plans at the moment, we hope that we will be able to book some cool shows this year and that maybe the album will open some new doors for us. But with us all being family-men with full-time jobs I don’t see us doing any extensive touring at this time. 2018 was very good to us show-wise, with not so many gigs, but the ones we played were of high quality. Hopefully 2019 will bring something along the same lines, or even better.

11. Feral have 3 full length studio albums in their discography and one EP . Which one is the most important record in your career ? Is there a moment in your career that you will never forget ?

Of course the first album was huge for us, and a great achievement for a small band in northern Sweden to actually get to make an album and release it through a respectable label. But all in all I think “Where Dead Dreams Dwell” marked a highpoint in our career and cemented a place for us in the death metal scene, as I said earlier it was kind of our last attempt to get the band going again after a couple of hard years. But if “Flesh for Funerals Eternal” will be remembered as our magnus opus in the future, I think it is worthy of that title even if I know we have a lot of new promising material in the pipeline already. Moments in my career that I will never forget is the fantastic time I’ve had, and hopefully will continue to have, with the guys in the band. They really are the best guys I know and it’s great that we get to do this stuff together and that we all came together in our passion for the music and get to do it at this level, making albums and playing shows.

12. What's the difference between the underground metal scene when you started the band and now?

There’s been a slow shift. I think we were about the last generation of bands, in Sweden at least, that made physical demos and sold at shows and sent them through mail around the world. At our point it was obviously CD’s and not cassettes, but a physical product nonetheless. I’m glad to see that the physical stuff is still around even in this digital age, but I don’t think that there are a lot of new bands, at least bands that aren’t purposely doing things in an “old school” way, that make physical demos at this point. With bandcamp and all other options that are around nowadays. Death metal and its likes are special in that way of course though. Other than the way the music manifests itself, be it CD’s or digital streaming, I think it’s the same close-knit scene as I remember it from 10+ years back. Most bands know each other, or at least if I want to get in touch with a bands I probably know someone else that can help me reach out to them, and vice versa. The underground supports the underground, and that’s how it has survived until today from way before I was ever involved.

13. Have you ever thought of stopping to play music and starting something completely different? What would you be doing if not playing music?

Never. I have a lot of other things I like to do, but nothing that rivals the passion I have for music. Besides my family of course. I do like drawing, but there are years between when I find the time for it. I guess that if I didn’t play music I’d find more time for that. Reading is something that I like doing in my spare time, both fiction and history, maybe I’d study history or something. Or maybe even focus on starting up a ‘zine myself! I have a need of doing something creative, that I know for sure. I wouldn’t be happy just working, eating, sleeping and repeating. Life is what happens between all that, and that time I want to spend with my family and creating.

14. Your final words to the readers of Oath Zine Serbia ? Anything about band's merchandise? thx for the interview and good luck

Thanks a lot for the interview, it was a pleasure! All the bands merch and albums can be ordered directly through the band and we very much appreciate the support. We hope that we will have the honour to visit our Serbian fans in the future, cheers guys!

Interview with ... TORTURIZED

TORTURIZED was formed in Magdeburg, Saxony Anhalt, Germany in 2001. You released two demos "Falsche Wahrheit’’" and "Promo" during two years (2003-2004). Could you give us a brief overview of the highpoints, lowpoints and challenges you faced during these early days?

Siggi -

It’s right, we formed in 2001.
This line up stayed together until 2005. Due to professional circumstances, there were some changes in the line up of Torturized between 2005 and 2010.
Then, we remained together in this constellation until 2014. In 2015, Peter, our latest change, joined the band on bass guitar. This is the current line up. Highpoints are definitely our shows at Summer Breeze 2010 and also at the Metal Frenzy 2016, but every show and every recording session is a highpoint for Torturized.
There had been no too serious lowpoints at Torturized yet. We stand for continuous musical creativity and for a high-quality live presence. This is exactly what we want to continue.

TORTURIZED had a many personal changes from the band’s foundation... What is the main reason for this??

Siggi -

There is no single explicit reason for this. We all lived and still live in different personal circumstances that, of course, affect our daily lifes.
Every line up change was caused by a number of different reasons being mainly family and job related issues. Luckily, there never were serious difficulties on a personal level.

Tell us more about what makes the style of TORTURIZED...Let’s talk about influences and more...

Siggi -

A lot of influences coming from different styles of metal music
The main influences can definitely be found in Death metal but we also dig some Black metal bands. There is so much music out there. All these genres have so many sub-genres. Every member has different favorites. But there is a common denominator, so to say. Overall, it seems that we prefer Death metal that doesn’t have the oldschool touch but rather focuses on more technical nuances.
Regarding our lyrics, local and world wide events / news, TV, social media can be seen as some kind of influence. Roughly speaking, it is about society.

You play Death Metal with some brutal DM touch... What does ‘’Death Metal’’ and everyday brutalities mean for you? Do you think Death metal needs some part of originality, personality and own deeper ideas

Siggi -

Death metal is raw and doesn’t portray hidden secrets which we surely like
Everyone handles this daily brutality his/her own way
Nowadays or on our latest record, Omnivore, we try to deal with society including ourselves in our music
We don’t care about originality and other deeper ideas so much if we just want to come to terms with personally and sometimes even globally made experiences
Also, Death metal is some kind of genre only, musically speaking, that is from a musician’s point of view very interesting. It is challenging and fun to play at the same time. So, it is not only about the genre’s roots and the deeper meaning of it. It is music with some typical and sometimes new elements.

"Uncontrollable Hours" is your first album and was released in 2006. For those who didn't have the opportunity to listen to this piece of DM, what can you tell to awake their interest?

Siggi -

It’s the first LP we did.
A product of what we wanted to do at this point in time for a long time.
A couple of songs which were written and performed years before we were able to record them. So it represents some of our first ideas. It is pretty straightforward with a little bit more groovy sections. This record is still very anticipated by our fans. We sometimes even perform a song from this record live.

When you write songs, do you focus on the intensity and energy, brutal sounding riffs, catchy sounding parts... What do you have in mind, what's your goal during the process of creation?

Siggi -

It is a mixture of these components. We often have a rough idea of how a song should sound like. Sometimes we completely want to go nuts and there are times when we like to focus on more complex arrangements on a deeper level. Therefore, each riff or section stands for itself with this overall feeling. And then we think in structuring elements like main riff, bridge riff and so on, in order to come up with a complete song. Sometimes these things happen by accident. But when we come up with a cool idea, e. g., a catchy sounding part, we then try to incorporate one or more repetitions of this idea or we like to come up with tiny derivations of this specific concept. But this is pretty common. There is no fancy magic behind it.
Authenticity is a big issue for us. We like to identify us with our music. Of course, this is very challenging because of different interests and ideas during the creation, but overall, this pretty much works for all of us.
Regarding our lyrics, there’s a little leaning towards misanthropy and humankind’s aftermath for everything on this planet

Your second album "Omnivore" was recently released. 
Tell us a bit more about the album title ‘’Omnivore’’ and its meaning in your Death metal context?

Siggi -

Death as a person
Eating everyone and everything
The ultimate end

Can you tell us more about the place where it was recorded?

Siggi -

The drums were recorded at Nekrowerk Studio in Nordhausen, Germany. Our good friend Seifo was our sound engineer. All we needed was a decent recording room and decent recording equipment. Therefore, we never searched for an alternative for drums recording.
Guitars, bass, vocals and samples were recorded / done at Lu’s home in a private environment with a pretty simple setup.

The fast beats on ‘’Omnivore’’ are faster than the usual Death metal beats, it's a bit accelerated and in a way it could be considered as some blast beats. Do you feel this element as some kind of blasts, and could feel close to Grind or Brutal DM?

Siggi -

Blast beats are definitely an element we love to use, yes. This is so common. For us, blast beats are one of the typical elements of Death metal music. Of course, we don’t talk about the oldschool Death metal field right now.
We like it brutal, we like it fast, and we also like some grooves. But to be honest, there are so many bands out there that are way faster and way more brutal. And we don’t see our music as Brutal death metal or Grind or Death grind or whatever (referring to the genres).

Could you say how TORTURIZED sounds live? During gigs do you pay more attention to the neat technical rendering, to the brutal emotional impact or to the stage performance?

Siggi -

A summary of all, because a good performance includes everything of the named attributes. The overall goal is pure enjoyment during our performance – for us and for the fans. There is a dependency. If we deliver everything we can with a lot of energy, correctness, and emotions, the fans actually do feel it and throw back their joy. This strengthens the whole experience and show. This is our philosophy and job. 
Of course, it’s nearly impossible to reach 100% in all areas each gig, but we try.

Can you tell us a bit about the creator of ‘’Omnivore’’ cover and how this artwork occurred to take form? Is this an old school painting or a digital work?

Siggi -

The creator of the “Omnivore” cover is Chris Cold, a very pleasant and friendly person.
We sent him our ideas and he did everything step by step. The cover is a digital work but also bears a high resemblance to a painted cover. But that was the decisive point for us. The quality of Chris Cold’s work is just great.

There's currently a new wave of Death metal bands in Germany. What are your feelings about it? Does it awake some old nostalgic feelings or it's not really the kind of metal to awake your interest?

Siggi -

We notice all these ongoing developments in the scene and sometimes we already play some gigs with these bands and respect their style.
Germany has many very good and even very popular Death metal bands focusing on different sub-genres. This is pretty exciting and cool. If the music is well performed, you simply have to respect that but, of course, you don’t need to like the specific music.
But in the end, we focus on our interpretations and style.

If you had to represent Death metal with a picture, a painting, sculpture or maybe a "famous" piece of art, what would you choose? (It could be an imaginary picture).

Siggi -

Just look at our cover artwork from our latest release Omnivore

What's to come from TORTURIZED in the following months? 
Will there be merchandising or something else?

Siggi -

Some weeks ago, we were on a small tour. This was fun. And there will be more shows in the future. There are already upcoming shows on our list. Here and there, we also work on new ideas in their very early stages.
We have merchandise to buy. Just visit

https://torturizedofficial.bandcamp.com/

Thx for the interview and stay brutal !!!