We've covered Haiduk releases on our pages in the past so, when the opportunity to ask few questions presented itself, I sent few questions to dive deeper into this solo project and find out how challenging all aspects of the music business are for just one person. Luka Milojica - the man behind it all, starting from music to graphics, from promotion to sales and ending with booking and touring doesn't seem to be phased by any obstacles, and on contrary, he's ready to take the world by storm with his own vision on what's traditionally perceived as good music or sound.

Krys

Tell us how it all started? Why did you decide to form a band and what motivates you to keep it going after 10 years of existence?

I was going through a hard time in my life and decided to focus my energy on something I truly believed in which was metal. In 2009 I finally recorded a bunch of songs I'd written over the years which had been collecting dust, and that became the demo 'Plagueswept'. 

The motivation is to keep exploring the darkness and to see what kind of twisted and evil songs can be created. It's an endless, bottomless pit to explore.

Why as a solo artist? With so many bands and musicians coming from Canada I can't believe you couldn't find couple more guys sharing your musical tastes.

Haiduk was meant to be a solo project. I try to create a unique sound by doing every instrument my own particular way. I look at writing music like writing a book. It's your own vision you want to bring to life. When one single vision shapes every nuance of every instrument, it creates something powerful and pure. 

I'm sure you pay attention to reviews and any criticism that comes after release of each album and you must be aware that your riffs are always the strongest point, but with that in mind why not have other musicians contribute drums, bass and maybe some arrangements to take your music to another level?

I'm more interested in making something different and strange than something considered traditionally good by most people. For me, taking music to another level is about trying to create patterns and atmospheres that have never been heard before, whether that's through riffs, arrangements, or the thousand details that go into mapping the drums.

Do you ever let anyone interfere, maybe that's too strong of a word, but have some input into your band/music at all?

Not really. In the past, some of the final steps like mixing and mastering I would do alongside a studio engineer, so their fingerprints would end up on the final product. Even then, I always have the final say. 

Each album displays attention to details, good production, mix, professional layouts and so on... How do you finance all your band activities? 

I try to do everything myself so that I don't have to finance anything. I program the drums, record all the instruments and do the mixing. On 'Exomancer' I did the mastering as well, admittedly poorly. The artwork itself usually costs a bit, but after that, I create all the CD layouts, banners, gifs, etc., myself. I promote online, play shows and sell albums to recoup the cost of CD manufacturing.

I believe all your albums share your fictional/fantasy stories. Even-though they are fictional do you share some of your personal moments there or is it pure fiction? Can you elaborate on the world you created?

The themes are all fantasy based. I've long had plans to write a fantasy book and the setting created for it is the fictional world of Callost. This is a realm of constant warfare, demons and black magic, and was described in the 'Demonicon' CD booklet. 

Your lyrics are always very short and minimalistic, do you treat them as important part of your music or a necessity?

Music is a more effective tool than vocals to let your mind escape. Lyrics are crafted to reinforce the theme of the song, but also to reinforce the music by acting like another instrument.

Do you ever plan on reaching to record labels to release your material and help spreading the Haiduk name?

Not at the moment. Nowadays artists can bypass labels and get their name out there and do virtually everything independently. I thrive on this and use a lot of non-traditional methods of promotion. Labels are suited towards the touring band setup anyway, which I am not.

Without labels or promotional agencies it must be a lot of work, if not close to impossible to get on cross country tours not to mention playing outside your borders. What are your touring plans?

I play shows but there are no plans for a tour. Haiduk is built as a solo project and therefore shows and tours are not my primary way of promotion like it is for bands. It's no longer necessary for artists to take that route. I've met and found thousands of metalheads and websites online, be it fans or industry people, so when I have something new, I can reach a lot of people.

Is it hard being solo on the scene? I'm sure technically playing back other instruments through the PA is not anything new or complicated, but I'm more interested in how challenging is it for you to keep an audience involved and under your fingertips while being all alone?

There are challenges to being solo. Certain doors will not open for you when you represent yourself. It's important to build connections and be persistent.

Keeping the audience engaged comes down to your playing and doing good sound check. If your playing is tight and the track volumes are balanced, the music will do all the work of getting the crowd involved.

What are your aspirations for Haiduk? Do you believe you can live from music in the future or is it just your hobby?

Right now the focus is on promoting 'Exomancer'. Album promo takes many different forms and I still have a lot of work getting this one out there. Whatever comes next, I stay true to myself, true to metal, and forge ahead!

Malice Divine are an up-and-coming force in Canadian black metal right now, with a great album coming out that you can find more info about here. I was able to get in touch with guitarist/vocalist/composer Ric Galvez who was willing to share a few greasy details about the nuts and bolts behind the makings of his self-titled debut. Enjoy!

Nathan

Thanks for your time in answering these questions. To start, tell those who are unfamiliar a bit about Malice Divine.

Malice Divine is my melodic black/death metal solo project, which is about to release its self-titled debut album on February 19th, 2021. I compose all of the music and lyrics and perform vocals, guitars, and bass in the studio.

What bands or musicians would you say are your biggest influences? Give me a top 5.

Dissection, Death, Opeth, Immortal, Skeletonwitch

I first became familiar with your work when I saw you play in Astaroth Incarnate - your promo even mentions this album was composed while you were still with them. What brought you to the decision to part ways and go solo with the material? Was some of this meant for future Astaroth, or was it always meant to be its own thing?

The decision to part ways with Astaroth Incarnate wasn't my choice because I was fired from the band. It was only a matter of time before a split happened because myself and the rest of the band didn't see eye to eye on songwriting, as well as for other reasons. I was also highly considering leaving the band anyways, because what I really wanted to do was my own music, but they beat me to the punch. Every song on the Malice Divine album was meant to be its own thing except for 'In Time', which was a song that I originally wrote for Astaroth Incarnate. Back then it had a different title, as well as a different set of lyrics that were written by the vocalist.

One thing that keeps me coming back to the Malice Divine album is the attention to detail in the songwriting. I also noticed that you have a formal education in music. What kind of effect does your schooling have on how you compose songs?

Well, the most notable way in which my schooling as a music major has affected how I composed songs, is the usage of classical guitar in my music. I spent quite a bit of my time in university taking private classical guitar lessons and ensembles, which has inspired me to incorporate that into my music whenever it called for. There's also some music theory concepts that I learned from my time as a music major that has found its way into my compositions.

The lyrics seem to deal with a lot of psychological and philosophical concepts. Tell us more about what inspired you to write about these topics.

I've always been interested in subjects such as psychology, philosophy, spirituality, etc., and I was inspired to write about these topics particularly as a means of self-reflection and introspection. Lyric writing gives me the opportunity to look inside myself and to express things that normally would be difficult to express otherwise.

You recruited Dylan Gowan for drum duties. How did you come in contact with him and what made him the ideal man for the job?

Back in November 2019, I put up an ad on my Instagram and Facebook pages about looking for a drummer for a new project I was working on, and Dylan was one of the people who reached out to me. I worked with Dylan briefly once before when he filled in on drums for a show with my previous band back in 2018. I was impressed by how fast he learned the songs and how tight our set was overall despite the fact that we only had one full band rehearsal. Given that experience, as well as being familiar with his work in Vesperia and Iomair; I knew that he would be the ideal man for the position. His professionalism, friendliness, and incredibly powerful and tight drumming made that very apparent.

Did you look for a label or was the plan always to put out this album independently? Given the choice you made, how do you feel the reception has been to Malice Divine so far?

I never looked for a label because it was always my intention to release this album independently. Given that I'm going about the album release independently, I feel that the reception to Malice Divine has been great so far!

It seems like you've been keeping busy during the pandemic with everything you've been doing to put together this album. Any advice or words of wisdom you'd give your fellow musicians on how to stay productive through times of lockdown and isolation?

My advice to my fellow musicians on how to stay productive through times of lockdown and isolation would be to focus on what excites you the most and to pursue that. For me, that was working on this album and getting it ready for release. With that being said, it's also important to take care of your physical health and mental health, which I know can be a difficult thing to do during the pandemic, but self-care is absolutely crucial for productivity. Work hard, but also make sure to take the time to take care of yourself in whatever ways you need too!

What do you think the future holds for Malice Divine? Will you be writing more material for the project? Do you have plans to play live (once the pandemic ceases, of course)?

There are definitely a lot of plans for the future for Malice Divine! I already am working on more material right now. I already have plenty of song ideas on the go for the 2nd album. And yes, I am planning to play live once the pandemic ceases. When the time is right, I'll put a live lineup together. Until then, I am going to keep working on new songs, as well as promoting the debut album as much as I can.

Will you be doing a physical release on CD/vinyl or selling merch to support the album? If so, where could one go to buy it?

There will be physical CD's as well as merch (t-shirts & hoodies) for the album. To buy merch you can to the Malice Divine Facebook page at www.facebook.com/malicedivineband or Bandcamp at malicedivine.bandcamp.com

The last words are yours. Anything you'd like to mention about Malice divine that I didn't touch on?

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who checked out my music and supported me in any way! It's very much appreciated.

Newly formed Brazilian metal band Pombajira featuring members of Grave Desecrator and Power From Hell, is set to release their self-titled debut album through Helldprod Records, November 29th, 2019. Self-branded as "Heavy Rock Inferno", you will have quite the experience with Pombajira, that musically encompasses a decent variety of styles, whilst conveying their message. MetalBite was given the opportunity to interview founder and front-man behind the entity, Hellson Röcha.

Alex

Why was Pombajira created?

Sincerely, I don't know exactly why, but probably the importance of a combination of aspects which embraced my personality lately. I was just interested to explore others textures, sonority and purposes. So, fortunately I had a great combination with the two other guys (Blizzard – guitars and T. Splatter – drums), and then the things started to take a good form. The wish to get back to our earliest musical influences from 70's Rock 'n' Roll, a little bit of psychedelic solos and references, Venom, Sabbath, Hellhammer, Pentagram etc... all are cornerstones which supported this creation.

How would you describe the Brazilian doom metal scene is it healthy?

Well, naturally Brazil is a huge country in all meanings, being in positive or negative ways. So, of course we do have a considerable amount of bands into any style here. To be sincere, I never pay attention in an unique or particular scene. But I can say, yeah, I've noticed very cool bands working fine with doom metal as well. Some of them have been taking attention outside Brazil, and that's something really cool!

What is the meaning behind the name Pombajira?

Pombajira (or more well known as Pomba Gira) is a mysterious female entity present in different views into afro-brazilian cults, such as Umbanda, Candomblé or Quimbanda. I must tell you that I do not own a leading erudition regarding those cults, and actually, it was never my goal. I can just express that since my childhood, I felt attracted to the occult that pervade the essence of all the entities which are in league with those cults. I feel Pombajira representing and embodying a marginalized essence which disturbs and defy the moralist shackles of our society, a rebellion and timeless spiritual conception.

Brazil has been a hotbed for many occult tales, experiences and activities; how has this shaped Pombajira's music?

We are a country rooted in misinformations that are part of a perverse structure that we have. Most of what you might have heard about us is probably a product with ordinary references. We have different cultures and traditions here, and all of them bring their own interpretations of spiritual and supernatural. I prefer to stimulate and flirt with the mystery and maybe let people have their own visions, since I use my perspectives collaborating with the foundation of these occult aspects you mentioned. I have no problems to express sometimes in a superstitious manner, as well as sometimes with a more deeply understanding. Most brazilians derived from catholical/protestant christian family heritages without even a decent insight about these dominating religions, and it leads them to an obscurantism that stimulate their fear and stupidity. Be sure that the band name "Pombajira" has caused oddness and reverences in the same time, and I think it's great! And then it comes with the asking for our experiences on this camp, as if our art must be essentially legitimated for the others. But of course that I had experienced, since my younger ages, something that may call attention for its enigmatic and obscure reasons. My mother was a follower and practicing of Candomblé, and I had direct contact with this religion back then (it doesn't mean that I follow or followed it). I saw things, I felt things which were not easy to explain, and I wrote about it in some of the lyrics.

Do you only 'flirt' with spiritual energies or do you take Afro-Brazilian spirituality seriously?

As I aforementioned, Pombajira was created to express my personal views, and it should stick to as for spiritual or material concept. I was never a disciplined person, so I was never bent to carry out something "religious" or ceremonial in my life, even that I was ever in deep interest with the occult. So as I chose music as a tool, I do not play or create anything which I can't have a serious and engaged devoted perform. We want to express us in a lawless and chaotic direction that will converge to a solid result. 

What is the meaning behind the artwork that would strike most as being minimalist?

I could have commissioned to great artists in the underground to draw or paint something very complex and attractive for a cover art. But, you don't know, but I like to draw as well, and then I had the idea to have it intentionally basic, direct and straight to the minds! That symbol on cover has connection with what we are dealing with, the skull (life and death), the colors (blood and darkness), the divine trident up and the down part which represents the earth. I love minimalistic arts, as long as it has some feeling and purpose. I can't say that we'll represent us on this way forever, but as we sound as dirty and basic possible, maybe this kind of artwork suits better with our atmosphere and essence as a band, at least for now.

What would you say Pombajira offers in contrast to many other doom metal bands?

I don't think that we're only too close to doom metal as you mentioned, but of course it's a part of the cake. We've been too much unleashing our heavy/rock 'n' roll formulas and even crudest old fashioned black metal (Venom, early Bathory etc...), that I can't see only doom metal to categorize us. But no problem if so. I let these contrast to be compared and stimulated for those who listen to the songs and have their very own interpretation or interest. Anyway, I must clear up that we do not consider ourselves as a black metal band though. But people can judge it fairly. We do not care, even that it's exciting…

I have heard your debut full-length and I think it's a dirty and direct spear of doom metal; however did you plan to have deeper layers of sound by incorporating other instruments like keyboards?

Well, we've created something in a very primitive concept, where the loudest possible forms of heavy and rock could be perceived at a first sight. Along with dissonances, noisy and bluesy solos etc. Actually I don't see any connection of Pombajira with the additions of keyboards for a while. But we think that some percussions or something similar would sound quite interesting without losing the essence of the band, but it's something very expensive and would take a lot of hard work for a very small band as us. Let's see what future tells…

'The Lost Exit of Darkness' is a favorite off the record; would you care to expand on the message of this song? Or would you rather the listener assemble their own interpretation?

'The Lost Exit...' was composed by the guitarist Blizzard and I agree that's an amazing song! I could never imagine me as a vocalist, I never even tried in my life, and I've experienced a happy surprise about me with this song specially. I did the lyrics, and it fits with the song and its doomed march. I would say that's a song about choices, cause and effect. Obviously I can't explain in details something which has been created uncontrolled, like a spontaneous poetry. I tried to expose the sensation of being supposed in a crossroad, where your acts, choices and philosophies may affect you, and if there's actually a right and correct way to go along.

The album has a very garage metal feeling to it, something I often associate with Venom recordings; was this raw bare-bones sound on your debut record intentionally produced in honoring old bands you cite as influences?

According to our main influences, of course that we would never want something flawless and clean, in the worst meaning of these words. But the idea of simply honoring bands sounds a little bit poor in my opinion. Although we're pretty much crazy with this Venom recording for example, I hope that we have been creating something that won't stand us as a trend. We "pledge allegiance" to stay at the rawest side of what heavy metal and rock stands for!

Please tell us about what caused you to cut off your old drummer, thus replacing that person with T. Splatter? 

T.Splatter was the greatest choice to date. Great maniacal friend! About the previous drummer?? Sorry, I won't waste time with him, as we've already wasted 1 year of hard work, time and money… Going for the next question…

Did you try bringing along any embers from Grave Desecrator for the ride?

Oh no! We're in constant contact, but GD and Pombajira have very different plans and conjectures.

Did recording the material for your debut prove to be a challenge in any way/s?

Yes, at least for myself. I feel Pombajira closer to me than Grave Desecrator was. I mean, I'm very proud of my long time with GD, but this band had not exactly representing what I have in mind lately. Not to blame the guys, we're very friends, but it's a matter of personal things. I needed to form Pombajira in order to externalize a lot of ideas I was keeping inside my cage. And fortunately, I have the company of very talented guys (at least for me), which I could never expect to play with, even that we know each other since a long time. Life's crazy!

You mention rebellion as an influence behind Pombajira's music; could you elaborate on that?

Pombajira is a synthesis of transgression and chocking values for hypocrite moralist flocks into a fanatical society, as the one we have been living in Brazil for example nowadays. It represents the lustful and uncontrolled abundance of feelings. Spiritually, it's basically a female entity living in another vibrational "world" track, very close to our reality, able to feel our fearful conditions and the terror that we face and oppress us all. This essence absolutely fits with what I and others, who have been awaken from a world of fraudulent freedom, thinks on this exact turbulent period of time, being in a metaphorical, political or immaterial mode of expression. 

I hear a lot of potential to take Pombajira into new directions, specifically within the song 'Queen of the Night' through its horror-punk vibe; will there be more of this aspect in future releases?

Yeah, this song is very essence of rock 'n' roll, or maybe punk as you said. And that's why we brand us as Heavy Rock Inferno! We didn't promised anything different than this, despite our doomed essence. We tend to play to what sounds good into our references.

How did you attract the attention of Helldprod records?

Helldprod released some stuffs of Grave Desecrator back then. So, they were one of the labels that I got in touch to have a European release. Most of the labels even didn't answered our requests, others weren't interested, others praised, but their agendas are filled out. So, Helldprod showed interest and then we've been working fine.

What's being done to combat musical piracy (specifically metal) in Brazil?  Are you satisfied with the efforts?

I don't think that piracy is menacing heavy metal in Brazil, at least most of the people who really have some decency in carrying on with this music, keeps on buying original stuffs and so on. Streaming is the new way, people are most interested in having their songs like a file. I can't stand with that, but I need to deal with. That's what we have for today.

Do any of the members practice rituals in honor of the deity?

I think you have it answered in previous questions again, but it's not the main factor in the making of our music wise. I'd say that of course if you're a Brazilian born around the presence of those above mentioned cults, you're supposed to have already taken part of any of the rituals or at least have a idea of what is all about. 

Will Pombajira always be the center focus of the band's musical concepts or will you branch out to cover other deities that may or may not be related to Afro-Brazilian occultism?

No. If you check out the writings of songs like 'The Lost Exit...' or even 'Vital Lucifer', you will dive into other proposals.

Does your knowledge of Afro-Brazilian occultism have anything to do with your upbringing or was it all a sudden interest taken up? 

There're much better persons really involved on it than us. For me, to have a presumptuous position about it would be absolutely stupid. The purpose of the band is not to be a herald of any cult or revelation. We've just follow and found a path to write and compose our music in a closer way to us, if you mean cultural/social/spiritual aspects. In a nutshell, we are just trying to see with our own eyes, instead of eyes which are not ours… 

www.pombajira.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/pombajira