Rogga Jo. ansson ~ Riti Occulti ~ Antim Gra. an h h Editor's Picks: 6 records for the month!

Issue 7 February 2013 Strictly not for sale

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Over the years, Paradise Lost have gone from being one of the pioneers of the death/doom genre to one of the most recognisable gothic metal band, yet maintaining a high level of musicality in their releases. We talk to Greg to find out more. (Ed's note: interview conducted awhile back, so ... )
Greetings Greg, thank you for taking the time off for this interview. How are things going for yourself and the band? At the moment we are fucking tired and dreading the next couple of days. We are in Miami airport for 6 hours,then a 3 hour flight to Mexico, then 4 hours there, then a 9 hour flight to Sao paulo straight into a gig,3 hours sleep and a 6 hour flight straight into another gig. It's so glamourous ;-( The band recently completed its North American tour in September alongside Katatonia and Devin Townsend. This being the first time the band has toured in 5 years, how was the response like from fans? The US tour was good. We get along great with the other bands on that tour which is really important. The response varied but overall I think it was very successful. With the band having tours all over Europe and North America, what are some of the major differences that you notice in the fans? Fans vary from country to country in Europe. Whilst appreciative,crowds in some places are more subdued than others. The same goes for the states. From state to state is very different,so is the east coast to the west coast. Tragic Idol was released this year, entering the North American charts as well as European

ones, despite the decline of the music industry in recent years. How does the band feel about the album entering charts, and what do you think contributed to this factor compared to the plethora of mainstream music that fail to do so? I think chart positions are more important to promoters,managers, labels etc., than the bands. It's nice to see an album chart but it's usually not a totally true representation of overall sales. Having said that,it would be good to get a number one.;-) Let us now talk about the music of Tragic Idol. Like past releases, the songwriting is handled by yourself and Nick. Do the other band members contribute to the songwriting as well, and if so, how? No. We tried a few times over the years but it tends to end up not having the PL feel. Each musician in the band has a very distinct playing style which really helps to shape the music however. Also, this being the first album for Erlandsson on drums, how has it impacted the songwriting and creative process of the band? His style of playing is much more metal than we were used to but he is also very versatile. Having his skills as a metal drummer definitely influenced how intense some parts of the new record are though . The band has also seen numerous shifts in musical styles over its history, from being a pioneer of the death/doom genre to a brief electronic/synthpop to the now heavier style. What was it that made the band constantly shift its musical style over the years, and how did the current style on Tragic Idol come about? Boredom mainly. We are metal heads but playing it day in day out for years makes you want to try to diversify somewhat. I believe that without our more goth periods we wouldn 't be able to play the heavier stuff with as much passion. With the shift of musical styles there would un-

doubtedly cause some stir amongst the fans of the bands. What are your thoughts about fan reactions to the different styles that the band has engaged in so far? I never try to second guess a fans reaction because that compromises the writing style and integrity. All we do is put 100% into whatever we are into at the time and see if the fans like it. I like different periods of certain bands better than others and I fully expect our fans to. Apart from the position of the drummer, Paradise Lost's lineup has remained stable since its formation in 1988. With many bands these days often encountering shifts in lineup, are there any secrets in being able to manage a stable lineup? Probably being friends before we were in a band helps. All the bands that formed when we formed that we knew did it for the love of it,not for adulation or profit. Most bands today it seems are interested in self promotion and being a celebrity which sucks. Also, how does the band handle the often changing musical style of Paradise Lost? We don't release anything unless everyone agrees to it. Nobody wants to be unhappy in the band . Being honest and talking things through help. Tragic Idol marks the band's 13th full length release of Paradise Lost. Which album, in your opinion, is your favourite release, and why? I don't have a favourite release as such. I have favourite songs for different reasons. More often than not though I I tend to prefer the doomier songs like Word made Flesh, Rotting Misery, Forever Failure, Fear of Impending Hell etc. We have come to the last question of the interview. Are there any parting words for fans of the band? Sorrow filled blessings A

Revolting, Megascavenger and Paganizer are just some of the bands that
Rogga Johansson have ben involved in. A name that one cannot avoid when dealing with old school Swedish death, we talk to the man himself to find out more about the creative processes behind his projects.
Greetings Rogga! 2012 was a busy year for you, with numerous from your projects including Revolting, Humanity Delete and Megascavenger. There was also a compilation release from your old band, Carve as well. Is there even a time when music is not on your mind?! Of corpse there is a time when I don't think of music, when lm too drunk or sleeping haha. I don't dream much about music related stuff at all, maybe that's a good thing haha. One of your earliest bands was Paganizer, which up till today is still actively releasing albums. How did your interest in death metal come about, and what was the reason behind being involved in so many different bands? Yes we started in '94 as Terminal Grip and changed to Paganizer in '98. Before that I was just a fan of death metal and played more industrial music in my first band Putashriek. But when I was 17 I thought we would switch to more death metal pureness sort of, and not use as much industrial stuff in the music, even though I still today love industrial music and would really much again start up a project in that style once more. I don't know why lm so much involved in so many projects ... Or actually I know, as I write too much crap haha. While all of your bands are definitely have that old school Swedish death metal touch to them, each of them presents slightly different traditions. For instance, Revolting sounded like pure Entombed worship to me, while Humanity Delete was one that had a more grindcore sound and Megascavenger leaned closer to bands like Grave and Bloodbath. Where do you draw the energy to write so much material in a single year, and why have different bands playing different variants of old school Swedish death metal rather than perform music under a single entity? If I would have just one band for releasing the music I do, then this band would have to release four albums or so every year. And there is no label out there that would like to do that with just one band, so that's why I put my stuff in different

projects I guess. Its fun to do the music, and then some labels wants to release it and I think its cool to have my music on a real release ofcorpse. If there was no lables wanting to release my stuff I would still do it, and just keep it at home on tapes and cdr instead I guess. Many of your bands also feature high profile death metal personalities in the lineup, such as Kam Lee in Bone Gnawer and The Grotesquery. How do decisions in forming new bands come about, and how do you go about completing the lineup? Well I just usually write some music, and then maybe an idea comes up using a guest for something, and that's the way many projects comes into happening. As lve been around a while lve gotten to know many of my own old heroes in the scene, and as we have become friends its also been a fun thing to record stuff together. Bands like Humanity Delete see you handling all the instrumentation on the album, and from the quality of the music of all your releases this year, your ability as a musician are certainly evident. What is your musical background like? Well thanx! My musical background is like many others I guess, that I love music and has done since a kid. Then in the early teens I started trying to make my own stuff, and tried to leran playing some instruments and thern it went from there. lm a shitty musician really and have never gotten any training musically, I just write what I can and this is how it sounds I guess. With so many projects under your belt, how do you go about writing the songs for your various bands? Do you write a song and then decide what band it fits under, or is it the other way round where you specifically write certain songs for particular bands? Sometimes I just grab, or most of the times really, some beers and sit down and write some music. Then afterwards I feel what it fits for, but ofcorpse I also sit down sometimes thinking that I will work on songs for a certain project. For me the feeling is often that I klnow what its for, but I

also understand people that say that all my stuff sounds the same haha. I mean, its just basic death metal, but that's what comes when I sit down and riff. Being a musician that writes music with such intensity (both in quality and quantity), have you ever encountered any dry spells or mental blocks? How do you overcome these when they happen? Ofcorpse, sometimes I don't play or write anything for a week or so. But very often at the weekend when you get the beers down, out comes the music haha. I guess the beer takes the room that the riffs reside in, and for me that's a cool trade indeed haha . One thing that was interesting about Humanity Delete's Never Ending Nightmares was the focus on Malay mythology and horror stories, such as Pontianak, and Orang Minyak. How did the decision to write on such topics come about, and where do you get the information on such mythologies from? Was it different compared to writing the usual topics of gore, horror and death? Jill from Dead Beat Media wrote the lyricsforthe Humanity Delete album. I asked her to, and she came up with this killer idea to write about Asian legends and I think it came out very very cool. Megascavenger's Descent of Yuggoth was particularly noteworthy for fans of old school death metal in that it features numerous figureheads in the death metal scene such as Dan Swano Paul Speckmann, Eric Daniels and Patrick Mameli. First off, how did you decide on who you wanted to guest on the album? I had all these songs laying around for a few years, and didn't know what to do with them really. It was all ready with all instruments recorded and everything. So then I thought that I could ask a few friends for guesting, and also asked some heroes in the scene wich I hadna talked to before. And lm very happy that they wanted to do it, and I think it all turned out really cool.

Also, what was the recording process like? How did it feel collaborating with some of the most important figures in death metal? As I said before the music had been done quite a while, basically songs that I wasn't gonna use but I felt they were cool enough to do something with. And it felt really cool to have these guys doing vocals and leads on my songs, it was a really awesome thing. Being an old school Swedish death metal maniac, I think one thing that fans would be curious about are your non-death metal influences. Are there any, and would it be possible to give us a look behind the scenes? I love heavy metal, it was what I grew up with. Stuff like Iron Maiden and Accept and WASP. I also love crutpunk and have listened to that since ages, aswell as industrial music even if I don't listen to that too much these days. With such a large amount of releases, how do you manage to finance the recording? Is extreme music sustainable for you, and do you think it should be? The labels usually cover the costs for mixing and mastering, aswell as artwork and layout. If they didn't I wouldnt release nearly as much stuff haha . I don't make any money on the music but then again I don't have to spend my own money either, wich is really good . Ofcorpse I spend money on equipment, but that's the life for anyone into music. Something ld love to get is an endorsement deal from a guitar company, so that I would get a shipping of guitars but I don't think thatll happen, you need to be a real musicians for that haha. Apart from your own projects, you have also been a guest musician on various other high profile releases as well, in particular Edge of Sanity's Crimson II and Nasum's Shift. How did these come about and what were the experiences like? lve known Dan Swano for many years and he called me when time came for Crimsojn II, as he

didn't really wanna do the growls himself. As he hurts his throat growling he thought it would be cool if me and also Jonas from Without Grief helped him out with those parts. When we recorded ther album though I bought him some beer and he ended up doing lots of the growls himself haha, and that was really awesome. As for Nasum, Mieszko called me and asked if I could come and do some growls as Jorgen (ex Garve) who they usualy had as a guest for that was on vacation or something like that. Me and Mieszko knew eachother since some eyars as we had recorded a few Paganizer and Ribspreader albums with him, and I was really honored and happy to help out. Old school Swedish death metal is seeing a surge in recent years, not only with bands like Entrails coming back in full force, but also with bands like Feral and Bastard Priest being some of the bearers of the style. What do you think about this resurgence, and what are some of your favourite new old school Swedish death metal releases? Its cool with the new bands coing out and the scene being more alive again, but I don't know many of the new bands at all. Its maybe a boring answer but I don't listen very much to oldschool death metal in the new way, I usually listen to old faves aswell as new stuff from my old heroes, aswell as I listen to so much else than death metal. And the last question: what are some ofthe releases that fans of your work can look forward to in the coming year, and any last words for fans of Swedish death metal out there? A new Paganizer album will be out in april, and we will play Europe during the summer aswell. Demiurg is no more unfortunately aswell as Ribspreader is pretty much the same and new Revolting and The Grotesquery albums are not planned until2014. So actually there aren't much planned this new year, 2013. lm working on a new project with some guests again though wich I think will be very cool and that will come before summer if everthing goes as planned. A

News in 5 IJlinutes
Coffins has started the recording of their new album, and has set The Flesh/and as the title of the new album. Watain has commenced the recording of the follow up to Lawless Darkness, to be released in August via Century Media Record. ChthoniC has returned to Sweden' s Sweet Spot Studios to begin recording the follow up to 2011's Takasago Army, set for a late 2013 release. Firewind has parted ways with vocalist Apollo Papathanasio, and has announced the addition of Sundown Carpenter to its ranks.
In celebration of Cannibal Corpse's 25th anniversary, the band will release a box set and a picture vinyl per month of the band's catalogue.

Editor's Pic. s k
Sulphur Aeon Swallowed by the Ocean's Tide (2013) [FDA Rekotz] German death metallers Sulphur Aeon caused waves (pun unintended) with their past 2 releases, their 2010 demo and 2012 EP. This year the band releases their debut Swallowed by the Ocean's Tide, and one can be sure that the band has not let up on their abilities in presenting some of the most crushing and suffocating death metal to fans of the band. For the most part, Sulphur Aeon's craft sounds like a cross between Polish death metal legends such as Behemoth, with a tinge of Swedish sound a Ia Entombed and Grave, mixed with a touch of melody, all buried under a majestic, yet suffocating atmosphere that makes for a record with a huge sound. And an album that is as brutal as such ensures that one literally feels swalowed by the ocean's tide ... Skineater Dermal Harvest (2013) [Pulverised Records] One wonders what is it about skin that fascinates these Swedes to not only have their band named as such, but also have the title of their debut be dermal-related. But no matter, as Skineater's roster featu res some of the who's-who of Swedish death metal, boasting members of bands such as Wombbath and Dark Funeral. The experience of playing extreme metal in the Swedish vein certainly shows on their debut, with the music on Dermal Harvest ranging from hard-hitting, non-stop blast beat sections to those that are more melodic, all the while maintainng the sound and the style that bands such as Entombed, Grave and Bloodbath have created, and which has been popularised by countless other Swedish old school death metal worsh ippers of late. Yet Skineater manages to carve a niche for themselves with their sense of melody amidst the brutality.

Black Sabbath has set 13 as the title of the upcoming reunion album, with Brad Wilk handling the drums on the recording. Amon Amarth has begun recording their upcoming full length release, tentatively for a June release date via Metal Blade Records.
Long-running guitarist Rob Caggiano has quit Anthrax, citing "time to move on and focus on his other passion : producing records" as the reason .

UpCOIJling Releases
28/1: Ceremonial Oath- The Book ofTruth (20th anniversary reissue) 22/2: Eternal Tears of Sorrow - Saivon La psi 1/3: Taake - Gravkamre, Kroner og Troner 1/3: Thyrfing- De Odeslosa (The Fateless) 11/3: Orange Goblin- A Eulogy for the FansOrange Goblin Live 2012 11/3: Voices- Voices from the Human Forest Create a Fugue of Imaginary Rain 18/3: Anthrax- Anthem 19/4: Amorphis - Circle 7/5: Sodom - Empitome ofTorture 27/5: Dark Tranquillity - Construct

Full reviews available at http://www.heavymetaltribune.com/

Corpus Mortale FleshCraft (2013) [Deepsend Records]
Corpus Mortale is one

Spektr Cypher (2013) [Agonia Records]

Spektr is a band that is

of the longer lasting death metal bands out of Denmark, featuring members that have appeared in other Danish bands such as The Cleansing. If you have heard The Cleansing's Poisoned Legacy and liked it, Corpus Mortale's latest album FleshCraft is sure to please your ears as well, only much more brutal, intense and technical. The riffs on the album easily remind one of Polish bands such as Behemoth, especially in the riffing patterns and the low pinch harmonics that the band loves to utilise, with the energy and aggression of bands like Hate Eternal. The drums here take the cake though, ensuring that not a single moment on the album is wasted as he blasts through the entire album, covering even slower and "softer" segments with brilliant fills. Vorum Poisoned Void (2013) [Dark Descent Records]
Vorum's debut Poisoned Void was the

constantly shrouded in mystery, and even with advent of the internet it is prety hard to find information about this band. And their music is equally mysterious, and with Cypher they prove the weird fuckery that goes on behind their mind . Cypher is one hell of a mindfuck, and if one thought that bands of the French tradition such as Deathspell Omega are weird enough, Spektr takes it one step further, fusing strong elements of ambient and industrial music to ensure that the listening experience of the album is kept as uneasy as possible. Sure, the black metal portions are remin iscent of the aforementioned Deathspell Omega, but these are easily some of the mildest elements on the album, oh, and along with the slight jazzy moments that are littered throughout. Thy Majestie ShiHuangDi (2012) [Scarlet Records] It's been quite awhile since a power metal release has been able to grab my attention the way Italian power metal band Thy Majestie's latest release, ShiHaungDi does. Maybe it is the tinge of novelty that Thy Majestie has included on ShiHuangDi, with the focus on oriental themes (the first Chinese Emperor, Qin Shihuang in particular), or maybe it is the nostalgia that the band invokes with their brand of power metal. Musically, the band is rather reminiscent of power metal bands that I was into early into my metal journey, such as Sonata Arctica and Kamelot, with a tinge of the guitar wankery that personalities such as Gus G have popularised. It definitely helps that vocalist Alessio even bears a strong resemblance to Tony Kakko, making this an easy album to listen to, full of melody and catchiness, complete with an epic story that the album is based on for a fulfilling journey.

very first album of 2013 that really caught my attention, my interest in digging up old school Finnish death metal. The familiar abrasive guitar tone that Swedish bands like Entombed and Nihilist utilise, with the music being pushed to the death metal extreme are all reminiscent of pioneering Finnish bands such as Depravity and Convulse, though there is a markedly darker atmosphere present over here. The music is relntless, and the technicality and complexity that the playing takes (in particular the riffing), at times bring to mind other Finnish legends such as Demilich and their brutal and technical form of death metal. The raw and loud production on Poisoned Void also ensures that the listener is relentlessly assaulted, leaving his ears bleeding after the aural onslaught that the band has set up with the album.

Sounds of the Underground

Italy's Riti Oculti surprises fans with their self-titled debut full length, presenting them with some of the darkenst and most oppressive form of blackened doom metal, complete with quite a unique lineup. Band founder Niccolo enlightens us of the philosophy behind Riti Occulti's music.
Riti Occulti was initially intended as a two person project before the current lineup. What was it that made you decide to form the current lineup instead of carry on as a duo? When Iva no and me started playing the first riffs that gave birth to the album, we realized that, even if it was acceptable, the final result was too groovy and we were afraid to result commonplace such as most of the stoner/doom bands of nowadays. So we choose to add synths and then the scream vocals. Then Serena introduced to us Elisabetta, a singer we already have appreciated in her featuring with another great band from our city, Stormlord, and we found it amazing to enrich the sound with a soprano, something not so often heard in our genre but in gothic or power metal stuff. The band's music is said to be highly influenced by 70s psychedelic music. What was it that made you and lvano decide to form the band in the first place back in 2011, playing this form of music? It was the only way to give vent to our love for 70s music and our interest in occultism and esotericism. Me and Iva no have played together for many years and we had various projects, Riti Occulti represents the achievement of a research of sonorities and atmospheres started long time ago. The band is also rather simply named as Riti Occulti, Italian for "occult ritual". Why such a simple and straightforward name, and how did the interest in the occult come about for yourself?

We chose this name because we found it the best and more direct way to let you know, when you approach us for the first time, what you can find in our music and the themes we deal with . My interest in occultism comes from years of esoteric studies and it' s my key to interpretation of reality. I think there's more rationality in some traditional esoteric doctrines, especially in the Oriental ones, rather than in some epistemological speculation .
Riti Occulti's music is rather unique in that there are no guitars present, with the music being driven instead by the synths and bass. How did the sound of Riti Oculti come about?

what are the visions that are running through your mind?

IMPO I like to start from a concept and from that, create the right atmospheres that can reflect at the best the ones I have in my mind. As concerns our first album we tried to create claustrophobic atmospheres in tune with the concept we started from : even when it seems to let you breathe they drag you in the darkness again to leave you there.
Apart from black metal, doom metal, stoner metal and psychedelic rock, what are some of the influences in writing the music?

When we decided to start this project we were thinking about a line up like Om or Emerson Lake & Palmer, bands that even without guitars were always been able to have both melody and groove with great outcomes. So we simply loaded the bass with effects and let the synths do the rest, for not missing the guitars. Having two female vocals was not a choice led by the gender of the singers, but by their different singing style. Opposing the harsh vocals to clean vocals we want to express the duality that is in everything, like the daily conflict between good and evil that the man lives in each day of his life.
Having such an unconventional lineup, was the recording and writing process different from other bands that you have been involved in?

Esotericism, Ritualism, the anthropological relationship between man and the occult, the spiritual alchemy but even the t raditional Oriental music are definitively the main influences that inspire us when we write music, as well as the musical ones you mentioned that are easy to recognize in our music.
Tell us more about the lyrical concepts and themes behind the album.

I don't think our creative processi s different from the one of bands with standard line up. There's a main composer, that in our case it's me, that introduces the songs to the other members and we make the arrangements and create the sound together. I thinks the achievement of the creative process doesn't depend on how many members are in the lineup but on the feeling between them. Luckily for us we are all in total synergy and that is very helpful in order to achieve a good compositional outcome.
Along with the heavy music, the material on the album are also suffocating as hell, with the atmosphere being extremely crushing and haunting. When writing the music for Riti Occulti,

The first album concept is based on a man, knackered by the existential nihilism of modernity, who makes a journey into the abyss and then reemerges to the light through the initiation to the principles of the Left Hand Path. Each song is lirically linked to each other and follows an exact chronology, starting from It's all Grey that represents the prologue of the opening situation of the main character, ending with Never a Joy that represent the epilogue, at times ironic, in which the main character re-emerges from the abyss completely renewed and with new values and goals to pursue.
On to the album artwork. What is the meaning of the symbol that is on it?

We got the Arabian inscription on the front-cover of the Sufi tradition, it means AI-Batin/ The hidden one, it's one ofthe 99 names of Allah and represents The Occult. It is an attribute which shows the inner face of everything, the attribute of Batin lets us know the hidden ness that there is into everything. We chose that artwork because

its meaning represents the ideological essence of the band. The band recently completed the recording of the music video for Alcyone. What was the experience like, and what can fans of the band expect in the upcoming music video? Making the video we could give vent to our big passion for a certain kind of movies and thank to the help of our young and talented director Alessandro Pontillo, we managed to hold the occult essence of the band in the video, still sticking to the lyrics story, that is the Greek myth of Alcyone, that we used as metaphor for the emptiness of feelings and the deceptiveness of the life. I can't reveal anything more in advance, because the video will be released in March and you will be able to see and judge it by yourselves soon . I think that if you already appreciate our music, the video will be your match too! Bands that deal with the occult have become quite a trend in recent times, but Riti Occulti has managed to stand out from the rest. What

are your views on such developments? I think that in recent times the occult is become mainly a trend, used for aesthetic reasons, because it fits well this kind of music and, like every trend, will disappear soon to make way for another trend. For what concerns us we always tried not to fall into banal clichet, as it often happens by now, and to deal with the question in the most authentic and analytical possible way, because we decided to deal with occult themes not to join a trend but to express our serious interest in esotericism . IMPO bands that managed to mix skillfully a well-read occultism with music, not limiting themselves to aesthetics, are the bands from the past and I'm referring especially to bands as Black Widow, Coven, Jacula, Paul Chain and Black Hole. For what it concerns the recent Occult-bands, I really like Jess and the Ancient Ones and Blood Ceremony, they deal with the topic in a serious way and they have a cool sound. A,

Riti Occulti is out now via Epidemie

Records.

Asian Spotlight

Antim Grahan is one of the most veteran bands coming out of Nepal, with the recent I Wish You Death being their fifth fullength release. We talk to the band to find out more about their history and new record.
Greetings Antim Grahan! The band recently released its 6th full length album, I Wish You Death, to pretty good responses. How does the band feel about this and is the band satisfied with the release? Greetings! I think we had fairly a good release of our 6th album and it has been getting some really good reviews. We wanted to do something a little different from our previous album "Putrefaction Eternity" which was inclined more towards Death metal and wanted to be more closer to Black Metal. And we have stuck with little elements of Grindcore in this album. And we think it has come out well. The band was formed in 2002, and it has been more than 10 years since the band's formation. With Nepal being a country from which extreme metal is rather unheard of, tell us more about the conditions of the band's formation. What was it that made the band decide to form back in 2002, and how did the interest in extreme metal for each of the band members come about? When Antim Grahan was founded 10 odd years
12

ago, the scene was very very small. Extreme metal was not something which was heard of around. From the very beginning till now, the three core members still remain- Parash, Pankaj and Niraj and we have had fair share of members changing throughout these years. Our drummer Surya and Gobinda (drummer for the new album because Surya couldn't play out of his personal reasons) have been together for a while now. And we started coming together because we were group of friends who shared love for the extreme metal and thought we should try to make our own music. And I guess that' s how everything started out. What is the meaning behind the band name, Antim Grahan, and how does it relate to the art form that the band releases? Our music always deals with fantasy realms in the darker dimensions. And Antim Grahan basically means the last day on earth before Armageddon and which is also a counter part of dark fantasy about the armageddon and end of the world sort of things. So I guess this is how things get portrayed upon our music too.

Antim Grahan quickly released material after the formation, with an EP in 2002. The band's initial sound could be described as symphonic black metal, though on later releases, especially on I Wish You Death there is a marked death metal influence. How would you describe this shift in the sound of the band? Was it a natural progression or was it intentional? Well yes. You can say it was a natural progression for us. We wanted to do something different then just playing black metal. So we started using different sounds with Death Metal/ Grindcore. But we think we have more of death metal influences in Putrefaction Eternity then in the new album I wish you death . As I have read from another interview, Putrefaction Eternity was an experimental effort by the band, presenting to fans of Antim Grahan a different sound compared to what the band has come to be known for. How different was the writing of that album in comparison to the black metal releases? How was that album received by fans of Antim Grahan? Putrefaction Eternity was something we did entirely different from what we did before. It had a very strong elements of Death Metal/ Grindcore and very less of Black Metal. We just wanted to create a record, which was very brutal, and with it experiment with new sound. We got mixed reviews out of it as expected. Over the years as well, the lyrical themes of the band seemed to shift along with the musical style, from the rather cold and sorrowful themes on the debut Tales from the Darkened Woods to straight on hatred and anger on I Wish You Death. Why the shift in lyrical focus, and where did the band draw lyrical inspiration on I Wish You Death? We still follow our theme of lyric as in a fantasy realm. Just that the scenario has changed of the story that is being told. Apart from putrefaction Eternity, which was basically more of a Death Metal album, I think we have stuck pretty much with our dark story telling. With lyrics of I Wish You Death, we have actually started going back

to the cold realms of our sorrowful imagination. Apart from the usual symphonic black and death metal bands, what are some of the band's influences when it comes down to the writing of the music of I Wish You Death? Are other Asian acts key influences to the band's music as well? The band's influences varies differently as it ranges from Nile, Behemoth, Older albums of Dimmu Borgir, Anathema, Shapes of Despair, Emperor, Immortal, Gorgoroth, Origin, Pantera etc. The band unveiled the backing female vocalist on I Wish You Death recently. Will she be present on future Antim Grahan gigs, and also what are live Antim Grahan rituals like? Yes, she will be a prominent part for the future projects as well as the live prospects. The gap between album releases of Antim Grahan have typically been pretty short. With I Wish You Death now released, can fans of the band expect to hear new material from the band anytime soon? What are the near future plans of Antim Grahan? We are actually taking a break as we speak. We think it is always good to get away from everything and come back fresh. So we don't know when we are going to start working for the new album but in due time, we shall return. With Antim Grahan being one of the older bands from Nepal that I have encountered so far, what are some of the extreme metal bands that should be heard? We have thus far encountered only Kalodin and Binaash, any other recommendations? We have loads of good metal bands here, but as for extreme metal bands, bands such as Garudh, 11, Perplexia are doing good. A

I Wish You Death is now out via CG Entertainment.

& tl

One of Colombia's best kept Nepente this r releases their sophomore full length album, Suffering is the Seed. Fusing various elments of black and death metal, the band presents a sound that is more barbaric than Polish overlords like Behemoth. Vocalist Jose tells us more.
The band was formed back in 2003, but it wasn't until 5 years later in 2008 that you released the debut album, Atonements. Tell us more about the history and background of Nepente. Well we formed back in 2003 in the city of Manizales in Colombia with the aim of play extreme metal with influences of Death metal and Black metal mainly although I think that with the time we have been introducing some elements of Thrash Metal. All the members of the band already had some experiences in other bands of the region since the 90s (We are a bunch of old tarts!!!!) facilitating the beginning of NEPENTE. We start to doing shows in 2004 with some of the most important Colombian bands of the moment and we recorded a mcd named "Ascension" in 2005 that was well received in the Colombian underground and gave us the opportunity of doing shows in all our country, later we participated in some compilations of underground record labels in the U.S until the American record label METALBOLIC RECORDS offered us a contract for the edition of our first album that record was called Atonements and was recorded in Colombia and later was mixed and mastered In Canada by Jean Francois Dagenais guitarist of Kataklysm in 2008. So far we touring in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru and we had the opportunity to share the stage with bands like Testament, Krisiun, Rotting Christ, Ancient, Inquisition, Omen, etc The name of the band was inspired by the Greek ancient epic poems of Homer where the Npente was an elixir that the gods consume to forget, liberating them of human feelings like guilt or remorse, the Nepente also has been part of The Raven of Edgar Allan Poe and some short stories of Lovecraft. We employ that name as a symbol against the use in some organized religions of concepts as sin as an instrument of domination and control of the human nature. We also think that metal music is a Nepente that can make people to think for their selves. How did the formation of the band come about in 2003? How did the interest in writing and performing black/death metal come about? How I told you before all the members of Nepente have been part of some bands in our region in Colombia but the idea that gathered us was to make music far more extreme and heavy that the music that we played before and the best way to do it was to use the most brutal ele-

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ments of Death metal and the most dark and evil atmospheres of Black metal. 4 years after the release of the debut, the band finally dropped its sophomore full length album late last year with Suffering is the Seed. What was the reason behind the gap? The principal cause was that after a Tour in Ecuador and Peru in 2009 one of the former members of the band the guitarist Juan Pablo Buitrago left the band and we had some troubles finding a new guitarist. It was only in 2010 that the guitarist Pablo Vasquez (Of the excellent Colombian black metal band NOCTURNAL FEELINGS) join the band and we can start to write new material for the second album The music on Suffering is the Seed has been compared to fellow South American bands such as Krisiun, but I felt that there was a slight Polish touch on the album as well. How did the current sound of Nepente come about? We are big fans of Krisiun and we have the higher respect for them but honestly I don't think that our sound be so similar to them. We have been deeply influenced by the Sweedish Black Metal sound of bands like Marduk, Dark Funeral, Triumphator, Dissection , etc We also are, as you noted, big fans of bands of the polish scene like Vader, Behemoth, Hate, etc and for the work of bands that moving between different genres like Belphegor and Kataklysm . Also I think that the guitar style of Pablo introduced in the band elements of the most traditional Scandinavian Black Metal. I Think that we too have elements of the old school death metal but obviously our intention is not to sound like the seminal bands of the American death metal scene or the sweedish, Dutch etc I know that in this moment exists a kind of revival of the old school death metal sound and I know the excellent work of several bands that are playing that kind of music, but as I told you NEPENTE don't wants to be restricted to play just one style of extreme metal. The lyrical themes on Suffering is the Seed often deals with themes of oppression and suf-

fering. Where does the band draw inspiration when writing the lyrics on the album, and do day-to-day living experiences in Colombia help in the intensity that is in the lyrics and music of Nepente? Frankly our lyrics don't have the intention to depict the convulsed reality of our country. Our lyrics have different sources of inspiration. Some try to express in a symbolical language the most dark and horrendous human feelings as fear, hate, pain, etc Others denounce the intent to manipulate people by the organized religions and others are influenced by the horror genre in literature and cinema. Suffering is the Seed was mixed and mastered at famed Polish studio, Hertz Recording Studio. What was it that made the band decide to do so, and what was it like working with them? How I told you we are big fans of the polish extreme metal scene and many of those great records was made at Hertz Recording Studio. But one thing was really important to choose them and was the thundering drum sound that therecords made at Hertz have, of course that they make a superior work with guitars and bass sound, but I think that just a few recording studios in the world achieve a drum sound like Hertz and we are convinced that a big part of the quality of the sound of an extreme metal record depends of how the drums sounds. We are deeply satisfied with the results of the mixing and mastering work in Hertz and our intention is to keep working with them in the future . A music video was released for the title track of the album as well. The disturbing imagery and filming technique definitely went well with the brutal music of the track. What is the concept behind the video? The concept is completely relate to the lyrics of the song Suffering is the Seed and basically concerns with the rebellion that the acknowledge of the pain and suffering that exists in our world produce in some people that since their early childhood has been alienated with doctrines and concepts made to control and manipulate the

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life and thinking of human race.

How did the concept for the video come about, and what was the filming process like? How long did it take for the entire process of the making of the video?

The video is the result of a program that exists in our hometown named Visual Rock which gives the opportunity to the bands of the region to make videos with a really good quality and was made by students of the Department of Visual Design of the University of Caldas, we gave the lyrics of our song to them and they later came with the visual ideas for the video, the shooting was made in a weekend but the entire process of planning and later edition took approximately one month
The album was initially released digitally under Metalhit.com. What was the reason behind the decision to do a digital release, and what are your views on digital releases?

and that the record will be released by Sonic Blast Media. I send a link with two tracks of the album to their face book page and lmran Manaff co-owner of the label contacted us saying that they liked the material, after some negotiations we get a deal and we are very satisfied being a part of the roster of Sonic Blast Media, we know that Sonic Blast Media is a hard working and very professional label and have great expectations with the release of our album in Cd format with them. We are very happy too because the album will be released in Vinyl format by the American label badGod music in the second semester of

2013
With Colombia often being under constant unrest, has this had any impact on the metal and music scene in the country? What is the scene like in Colombia, and what are some bands that we should take note of?

Metalhit.com was the first record label that showed interest in releasing our material. Because of the work of Clawhammer promotions Mike Riddick owner of the label contacted us and offered a deal for a digital release of our album, we know since some time ago the work of Metalhit and think that it was a good move for the band to work with them because they have a really great distribution in the digital market and are the first digital label dedicated exclusively to extreme metal. We think that the digital market is important for metal bands as too many people are accustomed to get the music in digital format, although personally I preferred the music in Physical format.
The band was recently signed to Sonic Blast Media, who will release Suffering is the Seed in CD format. How did this deal come about, and how does the band feel, finally releasing the album on a physical format?

I think that the violence that Colombia has had to endure somehow has influenced the music of the extreme bands of our country producing some ofthe most brutal and destructive bands in the world . We have excellent bands recognized in the underground of the world like Masacre, Internal Suffering, Inquisition, Witchtrap, etc But there are other excellent bands in different genres of the extreme metal like Nocturnal Feelings, Luciferian, Blasting Hatred, Aggressive, Goretrade, Blood of Tyrants, Massive Euthanasia, etc A
Suffering is the Seed (2013) [Metalhit.com/Sonic Blast Media]

We first know of the existence of Sonic Blast Media when we noticed that the excellent Singaporean Band Absence of The Sacred have mastered their last album in Hertz Recording Studio

The Colombian black/death metal outfit hits back with renewed vengeance their sophomore, Suffering is the Seed. Imagine a black/death metal record in the veins of Polish bands such as Behemoth and Hate, only put to a higher speed, with much more inensity and with a more brutal and barbaric style. The blistering listening experience of Suffering is the Seed is one that will not only please fans of Polish extreme metal, but also those of Swedish bands like Marduk.