DEATHRONATION (Eng.)
– Hello and first of all, thanks for taking the time. How is everything going right now with DEATHRONATION? What are you currently up to?
Thanks and cheerz to you for sending us these questions! Well, we are quite busy as always. We had a succesfull year with Deathronation, unleashed “Hallow the Dead”, played a number of shows and had correspondence with people from all over the world. So sorry, for needing so much time to get finally back to you!
– If I’m not mistaken you first started as EYESORE. When and why did you then change to DEATHRONATION?
This name was a relict from the first meetings we had when we started back in 2004. First there was the vision to play brutal and dark metal but things were not all already fixed, be it the line-up, or the exact vision where the journey goes to. The change to Deathronation marked the point where the band has chosen it’s path.
– Under this name you’ve been around for a decade now, and apart from several shows you have also released some short-length releases. Could you please tell a little bit about the activity you have had since you guys formed the band?
Our first official sign was the “A Soil forsaken” demo in 2006. After releasing and spreading this demo we played a number of shows and prepared for the second demo. This was never released due to differences within the band. When our former drummer left the band we had a break until we were able to replace him with an old friend of mine. So we re-startet our activities and recorded finally the second demo “Exorchrism”. We started playing a lot of live-shows and did a kid of basic underground work in this way. In 2013 we released a split ep with Obscure Infinity and finally “Hallow the dead” in 2014.
– Anyway, even though you’ve been around for 10 years, you have just released your debut full-length album, «Hallow the Dead». Why has it taken you so long?
As written before, we had line-up problems, then we concentrated on the live activities until we finally felt, that we have the right songs and skills to record a full length. It really took a long time to release our debut, but we didn’t want to record a demo and sell it as an album like many bands do. Anyway, the next album will be released faster!
– And how are you feeling about finally having it released?
This is a really great feeling. It took so much time to make this step. We were able to close a chapter within the band and the minds are now free to work on new material. Now I’m curious to see what happens. Beside that, it’s great to have the really nice vinyl in our own hands.
– You play old school Death Metal, deeply rooted in the 80’s and 90’s and with some American flavour I could say. Did you have clear since the beginning this was the kind of music you wanted to play?
Yes, this was the reason to start the band. Of course in the first time it was not possible to go this way for 100% because of musical and personal differences. But the vision was already there, so the path the band took is obvious. By the way, see, “The Realm of Shadows” is the second song we ever wrote. It’s now on “Hallow the Dead” and I think it fits very good with the other songs on.
– And what could you say have been some of the most influential acts for the band’s sound?
Well, beside many others, the early records of Death, Immolation, Deicide and of course Slayer showed us the way to go. They are essential for the band. In the time after milleniums break bands like Repugnant and Sadistic Intent have been important. They proved, that there’s still the spirit somewhere out there which was missed so much in the dominating brutal death scene.
– Anyway I think you also bring Black, Thrash and Doom nuances to your sound. Do you think this helps to keep your music entertaining?
Absolutley. Being limited to the death metal genre would make the music for me very unattractive. It’s important to create your own stuff with the ingrediences you can or want to use.
– In fact I think you are getting more diverse with each new release. Is this something important for you?
Of course, as we want to progress. Not in a way like many bands in the past which started to make experiments or changed the stile. There are many things you can involve in your sound without wimping out. It would be boring to copy yourself all the time but you should stay within your sound and style.
– And how do you personally think has your musical evolution been since the «A Soil Forsaken» demo came out?
Well, the main thing is that we became much more tight than in the early time. Means, we have better skills to create that music we have in our minds.
– Also this new «Hallow the Dead» sounds more powerful than anything you have done before, still being raw. Was this something you were aiming for or did you just go with the flow?
Of course we try to progress with the sound. It was obvious that it has to be more powerfull compared to the former releases .
– In fact you’ve had a great production, really thick still natural, not overproduced at all. How did you record the album and how was the production process like? Did you get the sound you were striving for?
The sound was a very difficult point. We had the ambition to record the stuff sounding, like we play it in the rehearsal room. Means the use of the same equipment etc. But usually things always sound different when you record them, so you never know before how it will turn out. But it worked out, we catched the sound as it was meant to be.
– Lyric-wise, most of them revolved around death, also dealing sometimes with religion and spirituality in general, and also covering some questions everyone has asked itself someday. What are some of the main themes and where do you draw inspiration from?
I get inspiration from history, society and the fucked up planet.
– Some of them even deal with mythology, such as «Deathchant Assyria». As I’m an enthusiastic about anything related to the Assyrian Empire; what could you comment on this song? Both lyric-wise and sound-wise.
Deathchant Assyria is a seven minutes bastard of thrash, death, doom and blackmetal which deals about the rise and fall of the Assyrian Empire. This realm dissapeared under sand and we just knew about it’s former existance from stories told in the bible. When they discovered in the 19th cenurty the Library of Ashurbanipal below the ruins of Nineveh, it was like finding a key to milleniums of cuneiform culture. The Epic of Gilgamesh showed similarities to the story of Noah and it became obvious that some important parts of the bible are based on old mesopotamian myths. This caused trouble as it questioned the authority of the bible.
– On the other hand, the great cover fits perfectly the content on the album. Who’s the artist and how did you work on it? What does it represent?
The cover represents the titel of the album. The artist is Chris of Misanthropic Art. We kow him from our hometown and he did all our desigs and stuff in the last years. We were talking a lot about how the cover of “Hallow the Dead” should look like in the end. It was a long process of working and the final result turned out great!
– I read this album features songs from the early period of the band. How do you think the older tracks differ from the newely written ones?
There’s one track (Realm of Shadows) from the first demo, two songs from ”Exorchrism” and five new/ formerly unknown songs. I think if I would not tell, the people won’t realise which song has 10 years and which 1 year. Or maybe people can hear? I don’t know…
– You have also included certain tunes that were part of some of your demos, but with a new sound and some new details. What changes have you done? Are these three tracks those I said before from your early period or there are some tracks here unreleased until now but that were also older?
We worked out some details like leadguitars. Some were always in our minds but for whatever reasons we didn’t record them before and other things just came to our minds. Steelpanther’s Fist is a relict from 2008. We played it at shows several times but never recorded it before. The other songs which weren’t featured on a demo before were written in 2011-2013.
– And talking about such, do you have written new songs?
Yes there are different ideas in our minds and we already startet rehearsing new stuff. But for the moment nothing to speak about. We’ll continue and in 2015 we will see more clear how the next tunes will turn out.
– All this about «Hallow the Dead» being said; how could you describe it in just 3 words?
Pure fucking Metal
– When you started there wasn’t the big interest for old school Death Metal there is nowadys. Due to this, do you think «Hallow the Dead» will maybe appeal more people (not only Death Metal fans, as I said earlier it has elements from other styles too) than if would have been released back in 2004 for instance?
Well, nowadays there are much more people into this kind of music than in 2004. So counted in numbers we reach more people now than back in that time. But the number of people we attract was never an important thing for us…
– Your first European tour was last year, with OBLITERATION and DEGIAL, two bands that show the potential the today’s scene has everywhere, as they’re from two different Scandinavian countries, and in just a few year both are bands that have gotten a big respect into the underground. Do you think this tour opened new doors for DEATHRONATION?
Well it opened doors as we had the possibility to show many people our music and live-qualities. The basic idea of this tour came from our side and Kill-Town Bookings took over the whole thing and managed a real european tour of three dedicated bands. We filled our part in that package with no label or album in our back. Means, in my opinion we have already kicked in some doors long before playing the first show.
– In fact Germany, apart from being home for superb Thrash Metal (specially) bands back in the 80’s, it now has good newer bands such as GRAVEYARD GHOUL or VENENUM among many others but, how do you see the German Metal scene as an insider?
The german scene became much more vital the last years. When we started in 2004 there was nearly no-one into this kind of sound we played. It was just for own
passion. It took a time to see, that there are more and more people asking for real handmade stuff, being tired of plastic music of the established acts. So right now we have a kind of Death Metal Wave in Germany. This is a great thing, to see more and more bands being active and releasing quality stuff. On the other side, I’m a bit tired of hearing about this “Wave”. For us it’s not too relevant, as basic things didn’t change.
– And finally, what are your near-future plans?
We are looking forward to play a short tour with BURIAL INVOCATION in January 2015. This is great, as we already were supposed to play some gigs with them in 2011. After that we play a number of single gigs and see what the summer will bring.
– That’s all, thank you once more for answering our questions. If you want to add some final words; feel free to do it.
Thanks a lot for this long and interesting interview! See you sooner or later in Spain!
