Cadaverine was one of those albums last year that I simply couldn't get enough of. Slow, crushing, evil and putrid. It gave me everything I wanted and while working on this interview I probably listened to it another 20 times. When I had a chance to talk to the guys I didn't hesitate. Here is how it went. (Huge thanks to Arek for the help with the interview \mm/)

Tomek

Greetings, how is Eternal Rot doing right after the release of "Cadaverine"?

Mayer: Hello, Eternal Rot is in form. Rotted and excited about the Cadaverine party and ready for further decay.

Grindak: It's been over a couple of months since the premiere, album (and shirts) have already sold out, we are quite well, and we are slowly creating new petechiae.

"Cadaverine" is 4 songs only, but maybe that's even better, that there's no more (laughs), how and where such rotten and sick sounds develop?

M: In my opinion, it's good that there's not more, this type of music at a slow pace should not wear the listener out. In the case of our demo, all the material was created by us in so-called Tomb of Eternal Rot, which would be my house. I did everything there, including mix and mastering. Grindak did the lyrics, invented the name, etc. In case of Cadeverine, everything was also recorded at my place with the vocals of Grindak, but the mix and master was done in Satanic Audio Studio. New material, which already is in an advanced stage of rotting and started to reek nicely, will be tinkered with in a different way, i.e. we will try to re-amp the guitars, we are interested in the sound of very cult amp Sunn T, a model that I think wrecks the walls.

Eternal Rot is kinda like a new corpse crawling on the surface (laughs), could you introduce the band to us, maybe some memories, anecdotes, etc.?

M: None of the interesting anecdotes come to my mind at the moment. We've known each other with Grindak for many years, we met at concerts in London, where we lived for many years, now we live in two different cities; Grindak in Bedford and I in Watford. We set up our brew drinking meetings halfway up, in St. Albans, where a mini photo session to the Cadaverine took place at the local cemetery.

G: We are just ordinary rot bums enjoying heavy music, we go to work, we have kids, we try to embrace this madness called life and still steal some free time for the band. Mass number of going to concerts together and talks about music brought us a bit closer because we like a lot of the same things. Probably there would be a lot of anecdotes if we could remember them all because the best things usually took place as we were already 'in orbit'. I remember pleasantly our joint trip to Spain for two concerts as part of the Funebrarum and Undergang tour in 2012, I am glad that we returned from it without losing any colleagues nor our health.

I am absolutely sure that I wasn't the only one who's jaw has dropped because of the sound you obtained on the "Cadaverine", congratulations gentlemen! Where did it come from, whose idea and who is responsible for it?

M: Thanks. My home pre-productions of this material were very close to what came out from the studio, the sound of guitars and vocals is 90% of my doing. The sound of the drums has been quite audibly changed in the studio from acoustic to more mechanical, which gave it an industrial atmosphere, we liked the sound and it remained so. We might experiment a bit more with the sound on the new material.

The corpse that emerges from the grave steers my imagination in a certain direction when it comes to lyrics, but just to be sure, I will ask: what are you growling about and who wrote these stories?

Grindak: Rotting zombie is Mark Riddick's idea, but it fits perfectly into the climate that we wanted from the very beginning. The vocals in Eternal Rot are another instrument that is supposed to dig graves and act on the imagination. The lyrics are an addition, but when we have decided that there will be lyrics, it was important to me that they were not just a mixture of words that mean shit, only stories that would fit the music and help in painting the appropriate images in the twisted minds of listeners. There are Lovecraftian climates, there's gore, there's putrefaction, fascination with death, loss of the mind and getting lost in madness - just death metal vibes. I'm not over trying to be original in this topic, but I want it to have hands, legs and even a head with a hole. I am my own biggest critic in this topic, so if I'm happy with them, there is a good chance that they will be satisfying to somebody else too.

Since I'm already on the subject of the cover, I heard that there were some problems with it, but as I see, no harm no foul ... How was this disgust created (laughs)?

Mayer: Exactly as you said, "there is no harm…". Initially, the cover was to be done by Rafał Kruszyk, who was also the author of the cover on our demo, but at some point, he withdrew without informing us. We wrote an email to Marek and after a few days we already had graphics presented. Such a short story with a happy end.

Though you are Polish, now you live in England, why did you decide to entrust your monster to Greg from Godz Ov War, and not to someone from the island?

Mayer: Our place of residence did not matter, GOW releases bands from different parts of the world. If we were a live band, maybe it would be important, because the local label could organize more live shows in the local yard. We just wanted to deal with GOW because it is a solid underground label and we are satisfied with the cooperation.

Grindak: Fortunately, the search for the publisher ended when it started, because Greg was the first and only person we hit.

There are only two of you in the band, but you pulled it off. Even these artificial drums do not interfere with music, they even add to this slightly industrial climate. However, I have heard that there have been some changes, right?

Mayer: Yes, some changes have happened, i.e. there are plans. Radek Pierściński will probably record drums on the new material, we will see how long-distance cooperation will work without rehearsing together.

Was the new Eternal Rot logo the source of these changes? I know that Radek has been fed with the rot from early childhood and nothing dead is alien to him, but what, how and why? Are there any fruits of this cooperation?

Mayer: I met Radek at the Voivod and Necrophagia concert in London, but I knew before that he really liked our demo. A few months later, we asked him if he would like to change our logo and he agreed. During our correspondence, Radek offered that if we needed help with drums, he would be happy to help. The first guitar tracks for the new material are already with Radek, so something is going on.

I know your approach to the theme of touring, but if somewhere, someday the right people would appear, would you give the band a chance to play a gig?

Mayer: The offers have already come to play shows in Belgium and Poland, but we will not change the decision, it is simply impossible so far.

Grindak: I do not see it, at least not now and not in the near future. If we lived closer, had much more time and local people for bass and drums, maybe it would make sense, at this time though, there is nothing to talk about.

Even Brutal or Obscene???

Mayer: Even Kill Town Death Fest (laughs)

Understood, subject closed and let's return to the album; the premiere is behind us, and "Cadaverine" seems to collect only the positive notes. Is this the right time to drink? But seriously, did you expect such reaction?

Mayer: There is always a right time to drink (laughs), we drank to it 2 times already and every time we will meet, we'll be drinking some more, (laughs). We did not expect such reactions, especially me. I am very strict about our recordings and I am constantly looking for a hole in the whole, and probably that's why a five-year hole between the demo and the album was created.

Grindak: The reception knocked us under ground a bit, but we were lying there already, so that's obviously nice. It is good to reach similar maniacs, who know what we mean and feel such playing, it is important.

Maybe a bit too early for such question, but are there any plans for 2019 and a little further future?

Mayer: I already have four skeleton corpses of new pieces so for my part I have to finish playing around with them to the end of July of this year, because later it may be hard since my partner is pregnant and with two small children in Tomb of Eternal Rot it may be unbearable to handle (laughs).

Thanks for your time, I hope our brief chat will spread your rotten plague.

Mayer: We thank you for support. Greetings to all the rotting. Drink the venom of the dead!

Grindak: Sorry for decay, written interviews are probably not our strongest side, to get to know us best, better to fire up the album until the blood flows from the speakers and then crawl under the rug. Cheers!

Here is what Kriss said about their newest EP: "I think 'bout this album as a "path of descent". Dima brilliantly pick every of these songs we've covered, and we put'em in a certain order so it can tell some sort of a story. You can even say it's a concept album. Every track takes you deeper into madness and despair. We wanted it to be a reflection of a present times seen thru our own eyes but woven into those almost 100 years old songs. I guess we've succeeded." After reading such statement and Weird Tales being new to me I wanted to find out more. Dima and Kriss were up for the task so here we go....

Tomek

Thanks for taking time to do the interview. How's it going?

Kriss: Hello There. It's Kriss here, bass and vocals in Weird Tales. Thank you for interviewing us :D We're pretty good as for ongoing circumstances. Dust just started settlin' after release, but it is still too early to revise...

Dima: Hi, Dima is here – guitar and vocal. Thanks for having us.

Weird Tales as a name of the band is a little bit different, how did you come up with it?

Kriss: We wrote a couple of fitting names on the pieces of paper and then drew one which became our band name, and it stood the test of time.

Dima: Yes, I like that version.

So, no long and elaborate backstory (LOL) just trying things out?

Kriss: Who the hell knows? (laughs) Maybe American fantasy magazine, maybe the name of a song by Electric Wizard (which also is named after that magazine), or maybe the author was too much out of his mind. I even think that the band's name inspires us to tell weird stories....

Dima: Actually, yes, I wanted to tell weird stories. I had a lot of crazy shit going on. Who isn't on acid? Transferring this state of the world into the band alongside morbid riffs was the thing for us.

Let's talk about your newest EP, how long did you work on it and how was the whole process?

Dima: I came up with the first song long ago, in the summer of 2019. It had been waiting on the shelf for a while, since we were busy with other things at the time. We were rehearsing with the new drummer, preparing a full newly rearranged concert set, booking a tour and working on new songs for the 2nd LP. A crazy blues cover was interesting but there was no purpose to record it. Until COVID. All plans were ruined, I started listening to blues even more. Then I came up with heavy as reality riffs for the 'Hard Times Killing Floor Blues' song. Looked around and realized - now is the perfect time to create an album with deranged 100-year-old blues classics for this sick world.

How was the recording itself, how satisfied are you with the outcome?

Dima: We recorded it pretty fast. 3 days in the studio. It's a 20-minute EP. We tried to record live and without a metronome for the first time. I had this idea for a while, all our favourite bands from the 70's did it and I actually don't like clicking on computers, technologies and all that modern stuff, especially with rock n roll music that is supposed to be primal. And it was the best decision ever. Really enjoyed the process itself and the results. Now it's the only way to go for me.

How would you introduce new material?

Kriss: Some nastyfied versions of some almost 100-year-old songs... what more could you possibly want?

The title of your EP is well… quite peculiar, care to shed some light on the meaning?

Kriss: It means what it says.... Literally. We want to remind you guys that whatever you hear now is a straight-out descendant of dark gloomy blues that used to haunt the nights. And don't you forget about this....

Blues is a huge part of what Weird Tales brings and understandably main inspiration but what was your frame of mind when composing? What else contributed? Was there anything that surprised even yourself?

Dima: Obviously blues straight from cotton fields what leads us to disappointment, desperation, powerlessness and pain as main inspiration.

Kriss: With our songs there are always surprises and hidden references (it's up to you guys to look for it and I swear there's plenty) and with this album especially we wanted to stay true to the "mood" of the original songs while mangling them almost into state of unrecognizability so it would fit to the "Weird Tales" mold. It's all experimentation.

What do you think about all this categorizing and putting tags on music?

Kriss: I don't mind it if it works for somebody sure... I'm too far gone into "listening to whatever the f**k I want to" to care about tags and stuff.

You ended up with 'doom/stoner' but what would you call it yourself?

Kriss: You mean what tag I would put on our music? I guess ACID-DOOM-METAL fits just fine for what we do...But as I said, I'm not really into tags...

What does acid-doom-metal mean to you?

Kriss: It means that we can do almost anything we want, to put our music in whatever direction we want. If we feel that some unfamiliar with doom genre piece would fit a particular song and make it even weirder and more interesting why not...?

Why did you decide to write music, do you create it for yourself or for others?

Kriss: I guess every human being at some point has an urge to create something which he can call "self-made". If it's just scrambled eggs or a portrait of George W. Bush... What we do comes directly from that urge. And if people like or appreciate it, that makes it even COOLER!

Dima: I always created for myself and for those 2 junkies behind the scene.

What would you like to see or hear from people that listen to Weird Tales?

Kriss: I hope that when they listen to our music, they feel the same as I do when I listen to music. To take me to a band's universe, where they tell their stories.

Dima: I hope our listeners hear something different, something strange but familiar at the same time. And those poor ones who really dig our weird tales got minds penetrated.

When you play, do you play to build or to destroy?

Kriss: I play to keep myself from my destructive nature and creating alongside...

Dima: Play only to destroy, hail only to kill.

Which emotions play the main role when you write?

Dima: My feelings numb, and I feel apathy for everything not music related. And it's a fucking nightmare. Tripping dead.

Kriss: I have a lot of anger which I keep under a ton of indifference. That helps me function as a part of the society I live in. And because of this I lack appreciation and trust.

What would you do without music?

Dima: Last shot is only leaved

Kriss: Without any music? Is there any reason to live?

What about the future? How do you see it for yourself and for the band?

Kriss: I hope I will still be alive (laughs). And for the band? I hope we finally get back on stage and tour even further than we used to. And yes, we're trying to work normally under unfavorable circumstances of the last/present year. We hope to play concerts and actually work on new material for the next album.

Dima: Let us survive this pandemic and we'll see. The gigs returning is the most desired thing here. And we are working on new songs, experimenting with the new sound. We wanna strike even louder with the next LP.

Vinyl, CD and cassettes. What is your opinion about the physical media, which one do you prefer?

Kriss: I like collecting vinyl and CDs, but for example, beach party music from mp3 would do as well... That all depends on the circumstances...

Dima: I'm collecting vinyl because it sounds cool.

Thanks a lot for taking time to answer all the questions, last word is yours.

Kriss: Hang in there guys \m/

Dima: Hope to see you at a gig sometime!

After 9 long years the Norwegian band Nekromantheon has finally managed to record and release their absolutely high-quality follow-up to "Rise, Vulcan Spectre" (review here). I decided to ask bassist/singer Sindre Solem and drummer Christian "Kick" Holm about the album and the result is an interview below.

Michael

Hi, how are you? Thank you for taking the time for this interview.

Thank you! All good here, considering the circumstances.

With "Visions Of Trismegistos" you have your third album at the start. The last album "Rise, Vulcan Spectre" is already 9 years old. What have you done in all this time? Why did it take so long to record a successor?

Sindre: We have been playing live with both Nekromantheon and other projects, written and released albums with other projects and we've had other obligations in life. We also have a somewhat unrealistic ideal of what thrash metal should be, and hence what Nekromantheon should be, so the writing process and elimination process (throwing away riff reprocess) are somewhat of an ordeal. Thrash metal has to be perfectly imperfect, otherwise it will get boring. Quality over quantity though, it takes the time it takes.

Musically you have only changed something in nuances at most and I think that you have incorporated more classic Slayer riffs and have a little more dramaturgy in the songs.... would you agree?

Sindre: Depends what you mean by classic Slayer riffs, as we have moved much further away from the "worship/heavily influenced" than we were before. But it's a more worked through and dynamic record, and in my opinion darker and more sinister strain of thrash metal.

What would you consider as your biggest musical influences? And what are the most important albums for you that influenced you?

Sindre: On this record we've been trying to focus inwards, as we have the inspiration such in our spine, but we are and have been inspired a lot by early Slayer, Destruction, Possessed, Sadus, Voivod, Dark Angel etc, but also more underground stuff like the Poison demo, Vader demos, Pentagram from Chile, Fantom Warrior demo etc. etc. Some of the most important albums for us are: Slayer "Hell Awaits", Dark Angel "Darkness Descends", Destruction "Infernal Overkill", Possessed "Beyond The Gates".

You have always thematized ancient Greece and its mythology. Where does the interest in that come from?

Kick: I've been fascinated by mythology all my life and have recently started studying intellectual history and philosophy at the university in order to delve deeper into these subjects. Mythology has always been a major motive in any artform, probably because it provides a universe of symbols and metaphors that can be grasped intuitively. The choice of using Greek mythology in Nekromantheon stems from a desire to distance ourselves from the overuse of Norse mythology in the black metal scene. We wanted to use mythology in our lyrics but didn't want to jump on the Viking-bandwagon. The ancient Greek mythology is just as dark and evil, probably even more so.

Are you also interested in Greek philosophy or is it primarily about ancient mythology?

Kick: I'm very interested in philosophy in general, and philosophy of mind in particular. The ancient Greeks had some fascinating ideas about the workings of the mind, especially the neo-platonic thinkers like Plotinus, Iamblichus, and Hermes Trismegistos. Even though I don't subscribe to the substance dualism of Plato and his followers, I think there is a deeper way of reading these works that can produce insight even in a purely secular worldview.

This time Trismegistos, who represents a fusion of the Greek god Hermes with the ancient Egyptian god Thoth, had to serve for your album title. Can you go a little bit more into detail about the title?

Kick: For us, Trismegistos serves as a personification of a forgotten, neo-platonic tradition of mysticism, secret knowledge, and deification. These are the things that the church fears the most because they can dispel its illusion of power. Bringing attention to such practices is an attack on the church's hegemony, and many heretics have been burned for things like this throughout the ages. And of course, heresy and thrash metal are a great combination. But the main purpose of the lyrics is to add a sinister aura to the music and produce images in the mind of the listener.

What is the main topic of the album? Is there a concept behind it? When I have a look at the lyrics, let's say for example at 'Faustian Rites', the lyrics are quite difficult to understand if you don't have a certain background about ancient gods and mythology.

Kick: Many of the songs are about the traditions mentioned above, so I guess you could say that's the main topic of this album, but each song approaches the subject from a different perspective. I realize some of the songs have many obscure references which may be hard to grasp the meaning of, but I try not to be too explicit about what I'm trying to express, in order to allow the listener some room for imagination and anagogic interpretation. The lyrics don't make a lot of sense if taken literally. We use mythology as a foundation for symbolism and metaphors, which I suppose is the way it has always been intended. Explaining every thought in utter detail would be like turning on the lights while watching a horror movie – it removes the mystery and obscurity. Besides, the hermetic tradition which influences this album is not based on syllogisms and analytic logic, it's all about symbolism and imagery. In the words of the Three Initiates: "The lips of wisdom are closed, except to the ears of Understanding."

Two of your band members are also active in Obliteration. Is there any news from there regarding a new album?

Sindre: No, not really. The pandemic has left Obliteration in a difficult rehearsal state, so things are moving slow. We have some material, but focus shifted in order to finalize the Nekromantheon record, so it's been quite silent in the Obli camp. More will come surely; we have a lot of shows/festival gigs that were put on hold / postponed etc. that we hope will be back when things open up again..

According to Metal Archives you are part of the Kolbotn Thrashers Union, which also includes Condor and Infernö, who I absolutely adore. Do you have any info about the status of the bands?

Sindre: Great bands but to my knowledge they are both on hold / broken up I'm afraid.

Do we have to wait 9 years again until you release a new album?

Sindre: Maybe! Hehe, it is too early to tell but we have been on a good round writing some new material lately and have new ideas, so let's hope we'll be a bit faster next time around.

The last words are yours!!!

Thrash till death! And support your local record store!