PREZIR (EN)

1- Hello, thanks for answering to our questions. What are you guys currently up to?
-Greetings. This is Luka Djordjevic (Khazaddum), the vocalist and lyricist for Prezir. Thanks for your interest in our band. We just self released our debut EP titled Contempt digitally on June 1st. Currently we’re in the process of getting physical copies printed, and they should be available via our Bandcamp page shortly. The band is also actively seeking label support. Our debut live show is on July 3rd here in Milwaukee at Frank’s Power Plant. We’re very much looking forward to unleashing this music upon the world in a live setting. Other than that, Prezir is working hard on writing new material. The Ep was just released, but we’ve got a lot more in the works, and the songwriting process with this group of people is very productive and rewarding.

2- First off, could you make some history of the band?
-I’ll give you a bit of background about the band members, and how we coalesced as Prezir. I’ve known Rory Heikkila from (Shroud of Despondency) for some years now and have previously worked with him in our former band (Promethean Parallax), as well as numerous other recordings. I’m a huge fan of his writing style am always up for collaborating with him on whatever project he’s working on. I met Brian Serzynski a couple of years ago when seeing his death metal band (Pigs Blood), a Milwaukee powerhouse, live. Last year we all attended a Destroyer 666 show in Chicago and were collectively blown away by their performance and command of their material. The next day, I read a post on social media the Brian made expressing interest in starting a band in Milwaukee that had influences stemming form Destroyer 666. Knowing Rory stated similar interests in the past, I had the two connect and expressed my interest in collaborating on this project vocally. They got together at the end of 2016 and began writing music. I came into the equation with lyrics and themes at the beginning of 2017. As we established the songs and prepared for recording, we simultaneously started preparing for playing live. After the EP Contempt was recorded, we recruited Tyler Okerzesik (Cholernik, ex-Shroud of Despondency) for live guitar, and Jerry Hauppa (Ara, Northless, Acanthrophis) for live bass. The EP Contempt was recorded in the early part of 2017 and digitlly released June 1st, with physical copies coming shortly.

 
3- How could you describe your sound?
Prezir is a black metal band that captures the musical landscape of the genre defining giants from Scandinavia to Australia, and all the way back to the US. Incorporating elements of both death and thrash metal, the riff reigns supreme here. Propelled by the onslaught of furious percussion and accentuated by vicious screams and growls, the goal is to audibly personify seething contempt while simultaneously exalting triumphant melody.

 
4- What are the band’s main musical influences?
-Prezir is influenced by early Emperor, early Enslaved, Grand Belial’s Key, Arghoslent, Morbid Angel, Deicide, Absu, and Destroyer 666

 
5- How has the feedback for your new album been?
-It’s only been several days since the music has been made public, but so far, so good. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive in the initial stages, and I’m quite excited to see where this band can go from here.

 
6- And are you personally satisfied with the final outcome?
-We are all very satisfied with the EP. We believe that the material speaks for itself. The writing, lyrics, theme, artwork, recording, and production turned out just as we had hoped. Contempt is the embodiment of hatred towards consecrated ideology and the destruction of intellect and humanity that is it’s intrinsic ethos.

7- How could you describe this opus in just 3 words?
-Blasphemy, apostasy, heresy

 
8- How was the production process like for your new release?
– After the writing process was completed, we envisioned doing as much of the recording and production of the EP as possible by ourselves. Drums on the other hand were a different matter all together. For drums we decided to go with Dan Klein (FIN) at his studio, Iron Hand Audio, based in Chicago. We couldn’t have made a better choice! Dan managed to capture the natural feel and sound of Brian’s drumming performances perfectly, and the mixing template he provided us was essential in the overall quality of the drum sound on this record. The guitars and bass were all recorded at our practice space by Rory. I also did vocals at the jam spot. Rory then mixed and mastered the EP himself. The band logo, album artwork, and visual layout was completed through a combined effort of myself and Tyler. Contempt was essentially a DYI endeavor, excluding drum tracking.

 
9- And how does the songwriting process work?
-Rory comes up with the song ideas structurally and writes the riffs. He and Brian then work them into complete musical statements by adding drums and adjusting accordingly. Once the song gets to me, I devise lyrical patterns and themes, then write the lyrics. Once that process has come to fruition, we have a completed Prezir song.

 
10 – Finally, what are you near-future plans?
-In the near future, we are releasing the EP in physical format post-haste. We’re also honing our live set to deliver the ferocity of the release in a live setting. We have several shows booked including our live debut July 3rd with Whore of Bethlehem, Splattered Cadaver, and Towering Abomination at Frank’s power plant in Milwaukee, and a November appearance at Milwaukee Blackened Fest in Cudahy, WI at The Metal Grill in support of Profanatica. All while continuing to write new music and seek label support for both this, and future releases.

 
11- That’s all from our side, thanks again for taking your time to answer our questions. If you now want to add some final words; feel free to do it.
-Thank you for the interview. Prezir is a Serbian word that means contempt. We are thusly named because the goal of this band, and the music that we write is to createacrimonious heavy metal in the vein of our influences, with a mutual disgust for the safety of modern metal. The nature of ideological dogmas and herd like adherence to the fables of superstitious charlatans is anathema to the pursuit of intellect and reason. Bad ideas are best fought with good ideas and truths. Derision of the false is essential to the preservation of philosophy.
https://prezir.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Prezir