CEREKLOTH (Eng.)
– Hello, thanks for your time. What are you currently up to? How is everything going right now with CEREKLOTH?
Hey there, currently just chilling with the family and taking a small break from music related matters. A few months ago we had to remove founding member / guitarist Allan Larsen from the band since he had some serious demons to battle that really started to affect the band. Allan is doing much better and will surely return to Cerekloth in time for our next recording, but for now he is not 100% ready to commit. During his absence we will most likely use a session member for possible gigs. The band is currently working on material for our next release which will most likely be a mini album. We aim to enter the studio by the end of the year. During the album sessions we also recorded a song for a possible upcoming split 7”EP, details are currently being worked on. Most importantly, our debut album “In The Midst Of Life We Are In Death” was just released via Hells Headbangers. The release turned out stunning and has gotten really positive reviews so far.
– First off, as I guess there may be some people who aren’t familiar with you yet; could you please share some history of the band?
Cerekloth was formed in 2008 out of the ashes of the then defunct Church Bizarre. The first recording came in the form of the “Pandemonium Prayers” 7”EP on Blood Harvest (later re-released on CD by Hells Headbangers) after only 3-4 rehearsals. There has been quite a lot of line up changes in the band and we did not manage to get a steady line up until mid 2011when we recorded the ”Halo of Syringes” EP and finally started to perform live. We have until now played around 10 gigs here in Denmark raging from underground shows to huge festivals like the Roskilde Festivals. In the fall of 2012 we finally recorded our debut album “In the Midst Of Life We Are In Death” that was just unleashed by Hells Headbangers on LP /CD.
– And what’s the meaning the band’s name holds?
The band name is a nod to the great black sleep, Cerekloth is the cloth draped around the bodies of the dead. Our ex guitarist came up with the name probably inspired by the name of Repugnant second demo tape “Draped in Cerecloth”. We decided to spell it Cerekloth with a K since it fit the flow of our logo way better. We might have used a different moniker today, but we do feel that we have a name that reeks of obscurity, death and decay.
– You have just released your debut full-length album, «In the Midst of Life We Are in Death» so, what are your expectations on it? And how is its feedback being so far, both from the fans and press?
No idea what to expect , we are just really happy that the album was finally recorded and released since it has been somewhat of a struggle to get it done. So far the feedback has been great , I have read about 30 reviews or so and beside 2 or so they have all been graded 8 – 9,5 / 10 , quite nice for a debut album I must say. When it comes to the fans, it is too early to say as the album has only been out for a few days but people seem to dig the album. At the end of the day, the most important thing is that we are satisfied ourselves, everything else is secondary.
– I’ve read the songwriting took you 3 years, it did just happen like this or did you want to take things easy? And how could you say has the band evolved throughout this gap of time?
That is correct; I would not say that we took things easy at all, there were countless obstacles along the way like line-up problems, mental issues, addictions and overall chaos as well as the fact that we are damn picky with the material and live scattered around the country. We have evolved a great deal I would say , we are not at all the same band as when we formed , a way more individual path has been taken during recent times and I only see us continuing to evolve in the future , we are not interested in stagnation. I am very satisfied that the recording process was so delayed since the result is so much stronger than it would have been a couple of years ago.
– After giving the album some spins I can firmly state is a really heavy, dark and crunchy Death Metal opus, and seems to be specially influenced by old school US DM, anyway I would like you to tell us what have been some of the most influential bands for CEREKLOTH.
I do believe that we have reached a point where we no longer take any conscious inspiration from other bands. Most of our material comes from within and quite a bit of it from personal experience. Everyone in the band listens to a vast myriad of music , but I could mention a few like: (70es) Black Sabbath, Morbid Angel , Immolation, Fields of the Nephilim , The Doors , Dissection and others as being of great importance .
– Getting a bit deeper into this record; what are some of the lyrical themes covered here?
The lyrics are open for interpretation but they are all about death and decay in various shapes and sizes. A lot of them are written from a personal perspective and some deal with hard drug abuse, mental disease and the occult. I do not like to analyze the lyrics to much; everything should be in the eye of the beholder. The lyrics do mean a great deal to us and we work hard on them.
– And what did you want to express with the cover artwork? Who crafted it?
The artwork is a painting that has been hanging on my wall for 5 years. It was painted by the extremely talented tattoo artist Jai Rafael from Australia who is a close personal friend of mine. I always had in mind to use this painting for a release and we decided that it would fit the Cerekloth album perfectly. The image just fits the album title as well as the “Born of the Void” track like a glove. We are very satisfied with the cover.
– The atmosphere on «In the Midst of Life We Are in Death» is just fantastic, and one of biggest trademarks on the album I’d dare say. Do you really put a lot of effort on them or do they just come out naturally?
The darkness comes out very natural but we do work very hard on the material. Our concern is not being the most brutal, old school , kult or whatever bullshit. Our focus is dark atmosphere and solid genuine song writing .
– In fact they have a strong emotion, as the whole music in general, pure aggressiveness and hatred. Do you channel your thoughts and feelings through your music?
Definetly , everything concerning our music and lyrics is genuine and honest. I consider Cerekloth to be a form of art: an outlet of inner darkness.
– The strong atmosphere is an important trademark next to the heaviness (and the old-fashioned kind fo sound) on your music. Was to make CEREKLOTH sound like this the idea since the beginning?
In the very beginning, there was no agenda besides creating dark old school death metal. later on the band bécame an entirely different beast and now we are actually not to concerned about labelling our sound. Cerekloth is without a doubt a death metal band albeit on our own terms and we are not afraid to let other styles blend into out sound. Whatever Works will be utilized.
– All this about «In the Midst of Life We Are in Death» being said; how could you describe it in just 3 words?
Dark , honest , personal.
– You are hailing from Denmark, which has always been a really prolific country when it comes to traditional Heavy Metal (MERCYFUL FATE/KING DIAMOND, PRETTY MAIDS, etc., as main representations so to speak) but, what other Danish bands could you suggest? How’s the extreme Metal scene like over there?
I do not take part in any scene here , most bands here a crap and people are usually image hungry geeks with no other agenda than beer, being über true and kissing ass / mingling with the so called right people. At 36 years of age those are things that I have long left behind. Current good bands are indeed few, but some worth mentioning would be: Altar of Oblivion , Strychnos , Undergang , Ligfaerd, Sulphurous, Nortt and a few others. I guess I should also mention my other bands Church Bizarre and The Vein. From the ancient days, Mercyful fate is by far a superior band.
– And finally; what are your near-future plans?
No big plans as of now , just working on new songs for the next release as well as hopefully playing a few gigs abroad this year.
– That’s all, thank you once more for answering our questions. If you want to add some final words; feel free to do it.
No words of wisdom today, thanx for the support and interview.
THE REAPERS INSTANT IS OUR ETERNITY!!!!
