VICTIMS OF A LEFT HAND PATH:- BASTARD PRIEST INTERVIEW WITH MATT MENDOZA

 Bastard Priest who hail from the Stockholm area of Sweden are a band that I have been following very closely and keenly for a few years now ever since hearing tracks from their "Merciless Insane Death" demo via Myspace, I was eagerly anticipating the 2nd full length album by Swedish death metaller's Bastard Priest after being blown away by the bands debut album "Under The Hammer Of Destruction" which was unleashed upon the masses in early 2010.

I was lucky enough to score an advance preview of the new album "Ghouls Of The Endless Night" in it's entirity thanks to Roy over at Pulverised Records who are putting out the CD version of this album (the vinyl version has just been released by Swedish label Blood Harvest) which features 8 ripping and devastating tracks and more of the same raw punked up death metal mayhem but with more slower darkly melodic parts thrown in which creates a great diverse listening experience from track to track, there is still plenty of full on heads down skulldozing aggression (see the song "Fucking Slaughter" for a prime example which is just fierce, like a short sharp shock, it kicks in, assaults your senses and before you know it has finished and crushed your ears like an aural bulldozer) and the emphasis is still very much on the uptempo scale of things and this album is what could overall be best described as Anti-Cimex having a fist fight with Nihilist and early Entombed in a graveyard on a cold fullmoon night with Death Strike, old Master and Autopsy watching on. That sounds like a dark and ugly scenario dosn't it...well Bastard Priest's music is suitabally dark and ugly.


This band get straight to the point with their music and don't fuck around, there are memorable riffs, vocal lines and hooks aplenty on this album that will embed themselves into your head like an axe blow to the skull from the opener "Pestilent Force" to the closing track this album just oozes death metal perfection to my ears and is like a musical adrenalin shot of old school nastiness which in this current musical climate is most definetly needed..

This album is definetly at the top of my favourites for 2011, no doubt about that. Great earthy organic sounding production aswell courtesy of ex-Dismember drummer Fred Estby.

The band is a 2 piece consisting of Matt Mendoza on drums/vokills and also Inventor on guitars/bass, I sent a bunch of questions to one of the duo, namely Matt and this is what he had to say about the bands influences, his thoughts on the current death metal scene amongst other things.

Hails Matt! Please give the readers a very quick background history on the band and who does what?

Matt: Hello Kat! Bastard Priest has been around since 2002/2003 but can only be considered active since 2007 when we did our first recording. The band consists of me, Matt Mendoza, on drums, vocals and occasional guitar lickin and Inventor on guitars and bass and occasional barking.

Your bio states that you set out to "create some filthy ripping death metal heavily influenced by hardcore punk roots", I would definetly say you have succeeded in creating a such a sound perfectly, someone described you as being like a cross between classic Nihilist/Entombed meets Anti Cimex...what do you think about that? 

Matt: Well thanks for that I guess - I can appreciate blazing fingers down the neck of an Ibanez and well educated drummers straight out of drumming high school but that’s nothing I want to do. When I do music it comes out hard and angry with no frills!

What bands would you personally say fuel and shape the punked up death metal beast that is Bastard Priest?
Matt: All the good bands - especially Bathory, Crow, Nihilist and the unreleased 1985 LP by Master. 

I first came across you guys before myspace started to suck, can't remember how I first came across you guys, it might have been via Fenriz's blog or maybes it was even before then but when I first heard the demo version of the song "Under The Hammer Of Destruction" I was totally blown away! What are your thoughts on that demo looking back now?

Matt: To be honest I don’t think much have changed since then - I think that demo still stands for what where doing now and there hasn’t been much progression... in a good way. The actual recording of the demo was a lucky shot cos we had no clue whatsoever at what we where doing - things just came out that way and that was very inspiring for future of the band.

The demo tracks appeared on your debut album along with a bunch of new songs, the album is perfect in every way to my ears, from the production to the songwriting, it seems to have really propelled Bastard Priest onto another level and there was quite a buzz surrounding that album, what are your thoughts on that album now?
Matt: Once it was out I’m felt quite satisfied with it. The album got overall good criticism also so people seed to be pretty into it. It was only a year ago that UTHOD was released so you’d have to ask me again in a couple of years I guess.

How would you describe your debut album in your own words to someone reading this who has never heard it but is curious to hear it? How do you feel about the response you got to that album?
Matt: Never mind, the first demo was better.

How did you initially hook up with Pulverised Records? The label seems to have done a great job getting it out into shops, I have seen it in a local store in Newcastle, England so their distribution network must be very good, I guess you must be very happy with the work they did for that release as you stuck with them for a second album!. 

Matt: Actually the deal with Pulverised goes thought Blood Harvest Records. Blood Harvest has an agreement with Pulverised for the CD release.  But anyway - we’re really satisfied with Pulverised and the work and distribution they put into the release of Under the Hammer of Destruction. They did a superb job at getting it out there both to record shops/dealers and for magazines/people to review - so it’s easy for us to say that we’re more than happy to be working with Roy & Calvin with this release again! 

You are also working with the Swedish label Blood Harvest who are taking care of your vinyl releases if I am not mistaken? How is your relationship with them, you happy with their work so far?

Matt: Yeah that’s right. Rodrigo and I go back a long time and he’s a good friend of both me and Inventor. Hes a good chap and super easy to work with, that’s why we do things with him - he just get ‘em done without any hassle. 

Speaking of the 2nd full length album, it is titled "Ghouls of the Endless Night", I must say having heard the whole album it is a total ripper of an album, from start to finish...all killer and definetly no filler to my ears, there is a great mix of tempos, from the fast paced punked up d beating aggression of "Fucking Slaughter" to the songs which have some slower morbid doomy moments in them...what did you personally want to achieve with this album songwriting wise and would you say you succeeded in your vision? What are your thoughts on this album, happy with how it turned out? Any fave songs in particular?
Matt: I wanted to base it on the original Bastard Priest formula - with some really fast songs, some songs leaning more towards hardcore punk and some slow more melodic stuff with cheesy guitar leads. On top of that I wanted to extend that formula and perhaps work a little more on the structures of the songs and try new stuff - I felt we did some of that but perhaps we didn’t do it to the extent I wanted. I don’t know why but sometime things just turns out one way or the other. I know for a fact that I’m always a little to hard on myself with what I create.
I’m really happy we decided to work with Fred Estby for the mixing part of the album - he really brought a different edge to the material and managed to fork out a totally different sound from what I expected. He’s such a genuine guy that’s really awesome at what he’s doing and so easy to get along with. 

The album is coming out on vinyl via Blood Harvest and CD via Pulverised...how can people get hold of these releases?

Matt: Well the CD is probably gonna be all over the place but if you wanna order it from Pulverised check their homepage at http://www.pulverised.net/ 
The LP is available from Blood Harvest at http://www.bloodharvest.se or your local underground death dealer!

Describe Bastard Priest anno 2011 in 5 words only...no cheating just 5 words!

Matt: GHOULS OF THE ENDLESS NIGHT!

You are only a 2 piece band, you don't play live shows, do you think you will ever expand to a live line up? Would you like to take Bastard Priest onto the stage and tour to support an album? I guess there must be quite a few people out there who would love to see you guys play these songs live! Or do you think playing live can be a pain in the arse too much at times and so therefore prefer not to have to deal with the shit that comes with gigs?

Matt: We’ve decided not to do live shows right now cos it would be to much of a hassle to get everything together and rehearse and stuff. That’s how it is right now - you’ll never know what happens in the future. I know Maim have played “Under the Hammer of Destruction” live a couple of times - check them out if you wanna hear our songs, or at least one of them, live.

Do you think if more people got involved in the band it could complicate things and spoil  the way you work and how things come together? Do you think it will just remain yourself and Inventor for a long while to come?

Matt: Don’t know - I mean me and Inventor we have our own way of working out things and our own language when it comes to music. Right now I’m just happy we’re a two piece cos it’s really easy in pretty much every aspect I think. It’s a lot less compromising, the decision process is short and so on.

I love the artwork for the new album, it looks kinda horror punk-ish, very striking cover anyway, who designed it?

Matt: Our friend Robert did the artwork. He’s a really talented tattoo artist and great at drawing. He got his own special style that I think is really cool! I’m more than satisfied with what he did for us this time! We decided we wanted it to have a lot of color cos too many other records are to black or grey or whatever.

There seems to be a very strong old school death metal scene happening thesedays, with plenty of bands returning to the roots of the scene for inspiration, there seems to be like an everflowing stream( pardon the pun) of great new generation death metal bands with the old school vibe and attitude coming out of Sweden and definetly plenty of Autopsy and old Swedeath worship happening, what are your thoughts about this revival of sorts? Who are some of your fave newer death metal bands out there? What do you think makes Bastard Priest stand out from other bands?

Matt: I think it’s great - more good music for everybody! I have no problem there being hundreds of death meal bands out there doing their thing, if it’s good - it’s good. I just like the general idea of people being creative and doing stuff - no matter if it’s death metal or space music to be honest. If the passion is there and the heart is there (and is in the right place) it’s almost certain to have something honest and special about it. 
About people playing “old school” death metal - I don’t really think “modern” death metal has progressed that much over the last 10-15 years or so - most of the big bands have become stale long ago are just repeating themselves. I mean - they sound “modern” cos the have this modern production and by today's studio standards a “good sound”. But these bands have had this sound for 15 years now and it’s not going anywhere right? I don’t like their sound - I have nothing against them as bands, they can do whatever they want - but I wouldn’t say the new Vader is that modern - they’ve done the same album since the late 90ties (perhaps even before that - I don’t know)...
People pay to much attention to this production-stuff - It’s just music the way I want it to sound and that’s that. My fave bands are Maim, Morbus Chron, Miasmal, Entrapment, Invidious, Antichrist, Nekromantheon and Obliteration.

What about your local scene, any bands locally you would like to tell the readers about from any music style that you personally like a lot?

Matt: A couple of weeks ago I went to see this band called “Gösta Berglings Saga” - it’s some sort of prog-rock I guess but it’s really good - highly recommended. I don’t know if they’re from Stockholm but Sweden’s so small anyway... it’s from Sweden. Other than that I think people should check out Infernöh from Malmö, good hardcore. Nitad from Stockholm has recently turned more towards some sort of darker and more introvert style that fits them really good - check that out. 
Don’t know if Totalitär is still around but it’s probably the best Swedish hardcore band that ever existed.

On the first album you did an awesome cover song of the old Uppsala  käng crust punk band Bombanfall "En Hälsning Från Helvetet" what do this band mean to you? why this song? I personally think their EP is one of the best and most intense punk recordings to ever come out of Sweden...too damn short though, I always find myself listening to it a few times in a row whenever I listen to it!

Matt: I got the Bombanfall EP from this guy in Linköping more than ten years ago. He was selling off his whole record collection cos he was getting more into cooking and other random hippie stuff. Anyhow - I hadn’t heard the band before but got totally knocked down! It’s as much death metal as hardcore can get I think - Bombanfall and Svart Parad plays this perfect blend of hardcore with death metal influences. Punk EPs are short - cos punk songs are short - that’s why they do EPs I guess - haha!

Have you done any other covers or do you plan to record any more?

Matt: Yeah we’ve discussed some options for covers - I won’t tell you now thought, that would ruin the surprise wouldn’t it?

What is your opinion on the current crust/ d beat punk scene in general? There seems to be quite a few more bands around thesedays mixing in strong old death metal and such influences with crust-d beat punk than there was some years ago...and the lines between metal and punk seem to have got very blurred in places...which I think is a cool thing how about you?
Matt: I think that’s cool - I haven’t got that much insight in whats going on within the crust or d-beat scene to be honest. I found some recent bands that I really like though - like Krömosom, Teargas, Giftgasattack. 
My all time faves of the newer bands playing heavy hardcore is Martyrdöd and World Burns to Death - they always rule - especially Martyrdöd!

Lyrically what topics do you touch upon with the new album? It all seems very sacrilegous, unholy and gruesome! Who mainly writes the lyrics? Where do you draw inspiration from?

Matt: Well it turned more against those kind of topics this time - I think I felt the songs were more dark and mysterious (yeah that’s pretty pretentious I know). We both write the lyrics and this time a friend of ours, who shall remain nameless, helped us out with some of them.

What are your plans for the year 2012 now that the new album is about to drop like a bomb on the scene? Have you already started writing new material or is it too early to start thinking about that?

Matt: Right now I don’t have any plans for the future - we’ve just released this album and that has to sink in  before I can go on and do new things with Bastard Priest. I have ideas and riffs for more stuff - I always have new riffs - but it’s gonna take a while I think.

What exactly is a bastard priest?! Who came up with the band name and did you call yourselves anything else before deciding on this name long term?

Matt: The band name comes from some discussion me and Inventor had about how many bands there are out there with the word bastard in them (this was in 2001/2002 I think). We were just joking around and came up with Bastard Priest - it’s just a name, nothing to pay any special attention to.

Have you guys been in any other bands that you would like to tell the readers about before Bastard Priest or do you currently have any other musical projects?

Matt: No.

The last words are yours Matt, please plug any merch or website address's thanks for answering my questions! Skål
Matt: Anything you wanna buy with Bastard Priest is and will be available from Blood Harvest & Pulverised. Thanks for the interview Kat! Cheers!

BASTARD PRIEST are also one of my featured bands on the Terrorizer magazine website this week. Check out http://www.truecultheavymetal.com and you will find my feature on there.

UNDEAD CREEP INTERVIEW WITH DAVID LUCIDO

In recent years a virulent plague of old school dirty death metal has sweeped across the metal scene once again with Autopsy and ancient Swedeath worship happening aplenty in all dark cobweb filled corners of the globe and in countries that were not so well known for producing much noteworthy death metal in the past such as Italy...well that country has now been put firmly on the death metal map and that is because this weeks band of the week Undead Creep, from Palermo have been creating quite a buzz for themselves in underground death metal circles with the release of their debut full length album "The Ever Burning Torch" which was unleashed recently by the prolific underground American, Colorado based death metal label Dark Descent who have also recently brought out excellent releases in hte past few months by Miasmal, Gravehill and Corpsessed and is a label definetly at the forefront of the current underground old school death metal scene along with the Detest, Me Saco Un Ojo and Blood Harvest labels.

The bands debut album is a fierce 10 track affair (with the Demo 2010 tagged onto the end as a bonus featuring 4 non album tracks) which comes bursting out of the speakers with a song ("Immolated for Reincarnation" that wouldn't have been out of place on Dismember's debut album "Like An Ever Flowing Stream", this song also comes complete with a great eerie style keyboard swathed part, reminding me of the middle section of "Left Hand Path", the bands unashamed and blatant old school Stockholm-Swedeath worship continues throughout the album and they also throw in plenty of nifty Autopsy worship and some morbid slow doomed passages which is always a pleasure for my ears to listen to in these days of over technical and overpolished metal. 


The band state in their bio that they formed because they were pushed by the urge to bring back the spirit of old school death metal the way it was meant to be and they have most definetly succeeded in doing what they set out to create as this album just reeks of the old school sound and vibe...coming across pretty much like the deformed bastard ovechild of early Dismember and Autopsy and I really can't recommend "The Ever-Burning Torch" enough to those out there who are seeking good old filthy putrid death metal/who is a fan of old school death metal, these guys can also write a great catchy tune and riff, something I always think is VERY important in such music, vocally Sandro sounds like a mixture of Chris Riefert and Matti Kärki , his lungs relentlessly spitting forth gruesome growls and lyrics, I sent some questions to drummer David Lucido and dared to delve deeper into the dark stinking underworld where the undead creep lurks in the shadows....

Hails please give a quick background history about the band and who does what?

Undead creep was born in 2009 from an idea of mine and it's meant to be a side project of Haemophagus (main band of Giorgio and me). it's a tribute to old school Swedish death metal. Daniel Ekeroth’s book gave me a strong input and also gave me the opportunity to know lots of underground bands. the original line up was with me on drums, Giorgio on guitar and later Maso (bass) and Sandro (vocals) joined the band.

You have recently had your awesome debut album "The Ever Burning Torch" unleashed by Dark Descent on CD, please tell the readers a lil about this album? Are there plans for it to be released on vinyl? Are you pleased with how this recording came out?

Yes, we’re lucky to have our debut album released by a label like Dark Descent Records, I think it’s the best deal we could eventually find for a band like ours. “The Ever-Burning Torch” can be described as a blast from the past, just nine tracks of putrid old school death metal mainly inspired by bands like early Entombed/Nihilist, Dismember, Grave, Unleashed, Autopsy, early Death, God Macabre, Crematory and many others. The album has been released on vinyl as well by Iconoclast Records, an Italian label officially distributed by Agipunk, 500 copies with a limited edition of 100 black splattered red ones for all the maniac collectors. Yeah, we’re very satisfied about this recording, done in few hours in a small studio in Palermo; we like how it sounds, we didn’t use any editing or triggers on the drums, no effect on the vocals except some delays so you can listen exactly what we have truly played and what we can play on the stage.

How did you hook up with Dark Descent?

I’ve known Matt from Dark Descent thanks to Dave from Unconsecrated who runs also a label, Dark Blasphemies Records. Dave and Matt proposed us a co-production for the release of our debut album after they got our demo, but some months after Dave cancelled the deal due to budget problems, so we remained with Dark Descent Records only.

Your music is very old school Swedish sounding with some obvious Autopsy influence, what bands would you say fuel and shape the sound of Undead Creep?

Yeah, Autopsy and the whole Swedeath style are the main influence, but we also took inspiration from old bands like Celtic Frost, Incantation, Winter, Asphyx or to stay in a Swedish context, Expulsion, Runemagick… so you can understand we also appreciate doom/death style, something that you can clearly hear in some songs of the album

You released a demo before this, is it still available? 

The demo is not available neither on tape nor on cd-r, but all of its songs have been included in the “The Ever-Burning Torch” CD version as bonus tracks, so you can get everything we've ever done.

What would an Undead Creep look like in your imagination?

The slow gait of a stinky living dead… we’re obsessed by this stuff.

Lyrically what themes do you write about? You have  very cool morbid songtitles! I guess stinking ancient cemetaries, old Italian horror/zombie movies are part of lyrical inspiration?

Yeah, macabre and horrorific themes inspired by horror/zombie movies or books are what we think about when writing lyrics to our songs, but we also take some hints both from scary and terrifying events of real life and from spooky visions carried out by our minds. Anyway I’m not the songwriter so I can’t give a detailed description of this process.

Describe Undead Creep in 5 words

Distortion Pedal BOSS Heavy Metal.

Do you play many gigs? Any plans to play outside of Italy/ What can people expect from an Undead Creep live show?

no actually we only played 3 gigs in sicily, but we're in a stalemate right now because some of us moved to northern Italy and we're also doing some line-up changes. We’ll give some news about this situation soon. Anyway our show is just a raw ears massacre, no frills just pure death metal in your ass!!

Please tell us about your local underground scene and Italian scene in general, what bands could you recommend to the readers? Any other old school Italian death metal bands?

To talk about a local scene here in Palermo is quite impossible, there are some good bands but we live in a very hick context, people are often narrow minded towards the underground movements, that’s why I feel better when I travel out of here and that's why I moved to Bologna last spring. The Italian scene is not that bad in general, I can surely recommend some very good old school bands like Eroded, Voids Of Vomit, Profanal, Bunker 66, Noia, Barbarian, Blood Of Seklusion, In League With Satan, Necro, and some others, but the main problem is the lack of a d.i.y. spirit in the scene with some exceptions, something that could balance the crookedness and the incompetence of some booking agencies…

whats your opinion on the current worldwide death metal underground/scene? The old school style seems to have became more popular again in recent years after going back into the shadows of the underground, why do you think this is?

I think that the current death metal underground is wonderful, there are a lot a new bands who play death metal the way it was meant to be, and also old bands who reformed or just musicians from the past who come back with new project in this vein. Of course, I’m sure that all this is not comparable to the genuine truthfulness of those bands who created this style between the end of the 80’s and the beginning of the 90’s, but, if we accept that this a revival animated by a true passion, it’s ok for me. I sometimes listen to some bands who are not particularly original, with riffs and arrangements totally or nearly ripped off from old ones. However this is inevitable if you want to reproduce that typical style, and we can probably be included in this kind, hahaha.

Some of you guys play in another band Haemophagus, whats up with this band, I understand you just did a split with the might Bonesaw? What other bands are members currently involved with?

Yes, Giorgio and I are also the founding members of Haemophagus, which is , as I said before, our main band and we’ve been pretty active lately, we just did an European tour with Canadian grinders Mesrine which started off at the Obscene Extreme Festival. And yes, we did a split with the mighty Bonesaw, with whom we’ll play the Bloodshed Festival in October. I love their stuff, they are totally Autopsy worshippers but they have also a personal sound, so I’m very satisfied with this split. The CD was released on May and it’s going to be released on vinyl as well soon, again under Aphelions Productions.

what are you plans for rest of 2011 and into 2012? 

We have to consolidate the line-up now, so we have no plans for the immediate future, but we’ll surely set up some gigs to promote the album by the end of the year and in the next one. Later we’ll think about doing some new stuff, but we have no rush for this.

The last words are yours David! Thanks for the interview!

Ok, thank you so much for this interview and thanks to the people who’ll read my shit here. Support our labels, Dark Descent Records and Iconoclast Records, and stay tuned with us on myspace (dead?), facebook and all those bullshits on the web.

http://www.reverbnation.com/undeadcreep http://www.myspace.com/undeadcreep Undead Creep are also a recent band of the week of mine on the Terrorizer Magazine website http://truecultheavymetal.com/blog1.php/2011/09/12/kat-s-band-of-the-day-undead-creep.

EXHUMATIONS FROM THE CRYPT:- FUNEBRARUM (USA) INCLUDES SMALL INTERVIEW WITH DARYL KAHAN

This feature was originally posted up on the Terrorizer Magazine website as one of my band of the week blogs in Feburary this year but has been exhumed for your reading pleasure here!

This band have already been in existence for just over a decade, forming in 1999 and unleashing two demos in quick succession upon the unsuspecting underground masses; 'Triumphant Ascent' in 1999 and 'Tombs Of Sleeping Darkness' in 2000. They have continued to gain momentum with each release and have established themselves as one of the leading American underground, old school, death metal bands.

To the uninitiated out there Funebrarum, from New Jersey, play a style of death metal that is deeply indebted to early Swedish, Finnish and European death metal, taking a lot of influence from such bands as early Grave, Abhorrence (pre Amorphis), God Macabre, Crematory, Nihilist, early Entombed, Carnage etc... and there are also similarities to fellow American masters of death such as Incantation and Disciples Of Mockery, especially vocally and riff-wise in places and also Funebrarum have the same ability to create a similar vibe of impending doom just as those bands do, so yeah you get the general idea of what this band is all about!

The band followed up the two demos with their debut full-length offering 'Beneath The Columns Of Abandoned Gods', which sounds like it was recorded in a musty old crypt deep below the dark earth of an abandoned graveyard, lots of reverb laden murky guitar (provided by Nick Orlando, also of cult doom/death band Evoken), rumbling bass (which burrows its way through the grimy guitar murk), very organic sounding drumming (just the way it should be!) and powerful deep guttural growled vokills, courtesy of frontman Daryl Kahan (who is also known for his work with bands such as the Incantation affiliated Disma, NYHC legends Citizens Arrest, USBM band Abazagorath and Taste Of Fear among others).

This album is just a killer piece of crushing rabid morbid as fuck death metal, which definitely brings to mind Incantation in places, as well as having the strong Scandinavian/European Death metal influence.

It's hard to pick out faves on this album but 'Miasma Of Pestilence' stands out for me because of the awesome song-title. But each track is a solid slab of darkness, death, and doom! The album was initially released by long-running American underground death metal Necroharmonic Productions and then re-released by Nuclear War Now! Productions on regular and die hard vinyl. The re-release features tracks from the 'Dormant Hallucination' EP originally released on Midnight Records, featuring cover artwork by none other than legendary death metal artist Dan Seagrave.

When I listen to Funebrarum I just think of darkened old stinking crypts, corpses, overgrown desolate graveyards, which stink of rotting earth and death, creepy old morgues swathed in darkness... the kinda things death metal should evoke, just pure Morbid thoughts! This is gruesome brutality of the most highest calibre.

There was quite a lengthy gap between the first album being released and the follow-up full-length 'The Sleep Of Morbid Dreams' being unleashed via German label Cyclone Empire, this album follows in the same vein as the debut, but they found their feet even more so with this album and started to develop their own style more alongside the already very familiar influence of the old school late '80s/early '90s death metal gods that they worship at the altar of. This recording is a deadly solid slab of death metal, less cavernous and more-in-your-face sounding than its predecessor and is perfect to my ears in every way, from the powerful full production via the killer morbid lyrics and the killer vokills and songs/riffs on offer, 'Grave Reaper' being a particular stand-out for me. This album drags you onto a musical journey through filthy dirty murky hellish soundscapes, and if there was a smell given off by albums when you played them then this album would have the stench of damp graveyard soil drifting out of your stereo speakers!! A monolithic slab of pure morbidness and brutality.

In-between the full length albums, the band also joined forces with reanimated Swedish old school death metallers Interment and the end result was the killer 'Conjuration Of The Sepulchral' split, which saw Funebrarum contribute two cover versions, 'Caught In A Vortex' by cult Finnish band Abhorrence and an absolute RAGING cover of 'Into The Grave' by Grave (which got glowing praise by Jorgen Sandstrom in the comments section of the YouTube video; “couldn't have done a better job myself”, he said!!).

On the other side of the pond Funebrarum, along with bands such as Divine Eve, Incantation, Fatalist, Funerus, Disma, Gravehill etc are leading the charge against the over polished/produced trigger happy tech-deathcore stuff with 3,2848 riffs per song that is being passed off as death metal these days, which in my opinion lacks substance (yes I admit, I have a profound hatred of such music) and these bands are playing death metal the old school way, armed with monstrous riffs, substance and old school attitude aplenty and continuing the fine tradition and the grim aesthetics of earlier death metal bands.

Funebrarum mix up the best elements of old Swedish and Finnish death metal with some Incantation-style American brutality, if that sounds like a great mixture to you then do not hesitate to check these guys out as well as the other death metal beast Disma, where Daryl plays guitar and ex-Incantation growler Craig Pillard takes over main vocal duties, an album is due out later this year via Necroharmonic. Both bands should have unsuspecting fans of old school death metal foaming at the mouth with excitement upon first listen.

In addition to my own words about the band I also recently sent vocalist Daryl some questions and here's what he had to say in reply about the origins of the band, what bands have a profound influence on their music and what to expect from both Funebrarum and Disma in the coming year:

Can you give me a little background info on the band, why you decided to play such a style of death metal, what bands inspired you to form an old school sounding death metal band of your own after being involved with the HC scene mostly for such a long time. Were you heavily into death metal back in the original Citizens Arrest days or was it something you developed a passion for at a later time?

Daryl: "Nick Orlando, Dave Wagner and I all grew up following the evolutions of the underground since the mid-'80s. I discovered punk in 1982 and was lucky to grow up in an area where many older punks, skins and metalheads congregated. I was also heavily into zines and tape trading during this time, which also helped to expose me to many forms of underground music. Each member brings their own musical tastes and experiences to the table which is a great thing.
“Nick Orlando and I met in 1994/95 through our bands Abazagorath and Evoken. Evoken keyboardist, Dario Derna also sang in my band, Abazagorath so we all became good friends. Nick and I discovered our common interest in the old raw death metal demos, specifically the down-tuned bands of the late '80s / early '90s. It was mentioned several times over the years that he and I should form a band and we eventually did. We came up with the name in a pub over many drinks and Funebrarum was born. Shortly after (de)composing our first few songs we recorded them on 4-track with Dario Derna on Drums.
“This recording was released as the 'Triumphant Ascent' demo, which was circulated in limited numbers - 50 copies max. Shortly after the demo recording David Wagner (bassist for Abazagorath) joined Funebrarum on bass along with drummer, Brian Jimenez. With this line-up, the band recorded a second demo a year later which became 'Beneath The Columns Of Abandoned Gods', released by Necroharmonic Productions in 2002. To our surprise the album received an excellent response worldwide.
“A year later we recorded a 7" EP entitled 'Dormant Halluncination' with friend / session drummer, Justin De Torre. This recording was released on Midnight Records and quickly sold out. The band took a break for a few years until 2005 when drummer, Shawn Eldridge joined the band. A second guitarist, Matt Medieros also joined creating the line-up, which recorded the 'Sleep Of Morbid Dreams' album in 2005, released by the German label, Cyclone Empire in 2007.
“The band is currently working on new material for their third album which will be released by Cyclone Empire. Some bands that inspired us: Slayer, Necrovore, Insanity, Death, Possessed, Napalm Death, Autopsy, Both Thrower, Carnage, Crematory, Nihilist, Funebre, Demigod, Macabre End, the list goes on forever.”

You are also in Disma, what is this band currently up to??
Daryl: "We have recorded an EP called 'The Manifestation', which is due out on Necroharmonic Productions. It will be released in April 2011. We also recorded the track 'Of A Past Forlorn' for a split 7" EP with our friends Winterwolf (Finland). This release will be coming out on the Czech label, Doomentia Records. This is coming soon! In the end of February we will enter Sound Spa studios to record our debut album (no title yet) . He have written some great new material for the album and are all looking forward to it. We are also playing at Killtown Deathfest in Denmark in September."

What is currently in the pipeline for Funebrarum, what can we expect from you guys this year?
Daryl: "Funebrarum are preparing for our performance at Maryland Death Fest in Baltimore in May. We also have new material in the works and it's our heaviest and most devastating to date."

You designed the bands logo and some artwork if I am right?
Daryl: "Yes I did. I enjoy drawing and painting and have created our logos as well as both of our album covers. It is something I plan to do more of when time allows.”

Support!!!

www.myspace.com/funebrarum

IRON LAMB INTERVIEW WITH JOHAN WALLIN AUGUST 2011

Iron Lamb are a mean punked rock up rock 'n' roll machine from Stockholm, Sweden featuring various ex members of Repugnant aswell as current members of bands such as General Surgery, Tyrant, Usurpress, Dismember, Martyrdod etc..  the bands current line up is Johan Wallin on guitar, Jens Bäckelin (guitar), Thomas Daun (Drums), Daniel Ekeroth (Bass) and Grga (vocals). The band say they formed to play "filthy and hard rock  'n' roll" and that is exactly what these Swedes deliver on their awesome debut album "The Original Sin" that has just recently been unleashed by Pulverised Records in Singapore. Iron Lamb are like the aural equivalent of your bad ass, tattooed, loud, raucous, boozed up neighbour playing their music on full volume late into the night and the album rocks, rolls and swaggers it's way through 10 powerful catchy tracks which will sink their hooks into you!. I sent some questions to guitarist Johan and here is what he had to say :-

Hails please give me quick background history on the band and who plays what?
I (Johan, guitars) started Iron Lamb with Grga (vocals) and Thomas (drums) a couple of years ago, after talking about doing something more rock/punk orientated for a few years before that. At that time it fitted our schedule so we decided to go to the rehearsal space and jam a little and see how it felt. When we decided this was working out, we forced Daniel (bass) to join the band, partly cause he was the only one we could think of who had played both metal and punk before, and who came more from a genuine hard rock background than anything else, but also cause we knew he was equally demented as us, and able to fit in with our strange ways. All of us has known eachother for over a decade and we already played together in several different bands so we knew we all worked good together. This spring we also got another guitarist, Jens, in the band. Jens is a great guy and has played in a lot of good bands previously, and it works out great, and now we can play all the dual guitar stuff on the album live also.

your bio states you formed to play "filthy and hard rock n roll", I would definetly say you have achieved that exact description with your music, I am reminded a lot of the dirtier days of The Hellacopters, Turbonegro, Gluecifer aswell as Motorhead and Poison Idea...what bands would you personally say fuel and shape the sound of Iron Lamb? 
I am also reminded abit of Zeke at times when listening to your music, would you consider them an influence?

I don´t want to point out any specific influences, but all the classic rock, hard rock and punk rock stuff we grew up with influences us in some way of course. But rather the 70´s and 80s stuff than some of the 90´s and 2000´s stuff you mention, I would definitely not say that the scandinavian "action rock" stuff is an influence at all, but maybe we share some influences with those bands, from the older stuff... Zeke are an ok band, but nothing that I would really consider an influence, definitely not..

You have your debut full length album  "The Original Sin" coming out via Pulverised Records, please tell the readers in your own words what they can expect from this album? Are you pleased with how it came out? How did you hook up with that label?

You can expect a classic sounding punky rock album with quality songs that will hold up against time, lyrics that are 100% honest and 0% image or fake. Also a production that truly reflects what we sound like, live and/or in the rehearsalroom. What you hear is what you get, no bullshit. 

Yes, we are pleased with how it came out, especially the vinyl version (Highroller Records) since we haven´t even seen the cd version yet. Obviously this is our first fullength, and hopefully everything will be even better next time, but considering the circumstances, we are happy with the end result. But I really can´t wait to record again, with our new guitarist, and especially Grga being back in Sweden, will have him much more involved in the songwriting process since he was living in Norway when we wrote and record alot of the songs on the album. We contaced Pulverised about doing a 7" or 12" or something, I don´t remember, and they offered us doing a fullength instead. Highroller later contacted us about doing a vinyl release for them, and in the end they ended up licensing the vinyl version of the album from Pulverised.

You already have a few releases under your belt, are these still available and if so where can people pick them up at/via?

I don´t know about the Motorbreath split and the peskycostal preaching 7", but we have a few copies of the first 7" ep left, so contact us if you´re interested in that. Check out Soulseller Records and Highroller records for the other ep´s, they might still have some.. 

In 5 words describe Iron Lamb?!
Pissing, laughing, taking *****. Actually that´s just 4 words, but that´s enough! Thanks to Rip it Up (France) for describing us so well!!

I know you guys are active on the gig front, do you have much planned for the rest of this year? Do you plan to tour outside of Sweden to support the album? Can we expect some gigs in the UK at some point?

We do have some stuff planned, but not too much. We have a few gigs in Sweden planned the coming months (Gothenburg, Uppsala, Sthlm, Sundsvall), and in late october/november we are planning a 10 date european tour, probably through Italy, Austria, Germany and maybe Czech and Slovenia. Should be great fun!! We don´t have anything in the UK planned, but if you know of any good promotors, feel free to hook us up, would be happy to down a few pints over there of course..

You are all involved in other bands, some of which are very well known and actively gigging etc..do you find it hard to juggle all different members and bands schedules and activities? Where do you hope to take things with Iron Lamb, is it just more of a laid back fun side project for some members or do you all treat it as seriously as your other bands?

Most of our other bands are not so active right now actually. Dismember is on ice, Tyrant is more or less on ice, General Surgery and Martyrdöd are working on new albums and not playing much live right now, so it´s not too bad. I guess we just prioritise whatever is going in at the moment, but basically, Iron Lamb is no 1 now.

In recent times there has been another explosion of great bands coming out of the Stockholm area and east coast region playing all different styles, from black, and old school death, doom and 80s heavy metal to crust punk bands and bands such as yourselves. Why do you think the scene is so vibrant in your region? What local bands would you recommend to the readers to check out?

Stockholm has always been very active when it comes to bands forming, but maybe some of the bands that are formed more recently plays stuff we like better? Sthlm is just a big (in swedish measures) city, and has alot of musicians and productive people. Sweden has a long tradition of supporting musicians with all kinds of cultural subventions, providing rehearsal spaces and music lessons cheap etc. It´s not anything specific for metal or punk music, it´s the same with all styles, Sweden just have a very rich and proud musical tradition, especially in comparison to our country´s size.

I like alot of swedish bands from many different genres, too many to mention really..But some of the ones I appreciate who released records more recently would be Stench (killer death metal with a wicked and original twist), Obnoxious Youth (Motörcore), Dr Living Dead (thrash metal) and Beast (rock n core). 

Sweden and Scandinavia has always had a great scene for punk rock 'n' roll bands from the more well known ones like The Hellacopters and Gluecifer to bands such as Puffball, The Deadbeats, The Burnouts, The Peepshows, The Robots etc... why do you think this music style has exploded and became so popular in your country? Are there any other current bands playing in the same style as Iron Lamb that you could recommend?!

Like I said previously, I´m not sure any specific genre is over representated here, Sweden just has a a very rich musical heritage. Obviously, when one or a couple of bands from a specific genre gets popular, that generates alot of copycats and wannabees, which probably explains the "action rock" wave of the mid/late 90´s, but that goes for all genres.. Honestly I don´t think there are any other bands that play in the same style as Iron Lamb really, since we are more influenced by the classic rock and punk artists and albums than any current ongoing underground trend. If you listen to "The Original Sin", it´s a pretty wide album that covers alot of musical range, I can´t think of any other band that would have put as different songs as Rotten Wood, The Original Sin, Iron Lamb and Dubious Preacher on the same album. Or am I just tunnelseeing since it´s my own band? Maybe, I don´t know. Some of our songs have an almost commercial approach, and some are very rough and dirty. This is not anything we think about when we write the songs, we just try to make each song as good as possible, and since we listen to stuff that is very classic and easy listening, as well as super obscure elitist stuff, that probably reflects in our music as well. Our goal was to not be narrow from the beginning so we wouldn´t end up painting ourselves into a corner after a while.
However, there are obviously great bands playing rock music with a punky approach, as Beast for example, or punk music with a rock approach as Motörbreath. 

How did the name Iron Lamb come about?!
Well, that´s a long story, that I´d rather keep to myself. But I can say as much as that for me the meaning of the name just grows stronger and stronger for every day, and it´s a big part of our concept, both lyrically and musically. The way I see it you can look upon a band name in a couple of different ways. You can see it as just a name, nothing important, something to describe the members and distinguish the band from others. Or you can look upon it as a part of a concept, in a bigger picture. For most people listening, you don´t study a band so hard that you can (or want to) fully grasp their concept, so often this is something that only the members themselves appreciate, and maybe the odd fan. In the light of this, I don´t feel comfortable trying to explain the band name since I know that most people reading this won´t (fully) understand what I mean, they will just see it as a quote in an interview, and that will just make us look pretentious. So people can interpret it as they wish, as just a silly band name when all the good ones were taken, or as something else. 

The press release states that Erik Danielsson of Watain fame did the cover art and layout for the album, who did that come about? Is he a fan of your music?

No that is not correct, I don´t know why Pulverised wrote that in their press release.. He did help with some technical stuff concerning putting the layout together, and he contributed with the font that is largely used throughout the layout, but Grga did almost all of the creative designing. However, we couldn´t have done it without Erik, so his help and good judgement is highly appreciated, but to say that he did the cover art is just not true. We are friends since the late 90´s and he did do the cover art and layout for our first 7" ep, designed our logo and has done t-shirt motives for us as well, so it was a natural choice to ask him to help out with putting the record layout together for this one as well. Honestly I don´t know if he´s a fan of our music, but I do think that he respect our integrity and support what we are doing.

I know you covered a Motorhead song on your debut album, do you have any other covers in your aural artillery that you play live or plan to record?

Yes, we have previously recorded "Fuck off, we murder" by GG Allin (released on the Motorbreath split) and "You won´t change me" by Black Sabbath (not released anywhere yet), and we have played "No Rules", also by Gg Allin at most of our live shows. We have also plans on recording more covers, and probably playing other ones live as well, but exactly which ones we will have to let the future tell. 

lyrically where do you draw inspiration from?

The lyrics are inspired by daily life, and the impressions we get from our current world state. I try to keep them as simple and straight forward as possible, and they are 100% honest and no cliche rock n roll crap about fast cars and loose women. They deal with the frustration you come across from waking up in the morning and experiencing the world, the sheep mentality of most human beings, their shallow shepherds and the dubious preachers, the darker passages of the human mind.

Whats your favourite things about being involved in a band and playing music in general?

To create something, and to do it together with people I respect and appreciate. Those two things together (usually) leads to having a good time. I enjoy playing live, the uncharging power of performance, and to see the audience go nuts in front of you, and I like to travel along the world and seeing different places. 

Any advice for those reading this interview who are thinking of starting a band of their own?

Do it for yourself and not for anyone else. Don´t set out to follow an ongoing trend or to fit in, everything is constantly changing anyway so no use trying to keep up.

What are your plans for the rest of 2011 and also into 2012?
We have  a few Sweden gigs booked this autumn and a small european tour in october/november, other than that we´re working on new songs for an upcoming 7" record and possibly a split 10" as well.

Where can people pick up the album and also merch? The last words are yours, thanks for answering my questions!
CD www.pulverised.net
LP www.hrrecords.de (they also have one t-shirt design). 
For other merchandise, contact us through ironlamb@hotmail.com and see what we might currently stock. Also check out www.reverbnation.com/ironlamb and www.myspace.com/ironlambofficial for more info, songs etc.
Thanks for the interview and support Kat, take it sleazy! Rock and/or roll!!

/Johan

Iron Lamb are also my band of the week this week on the Terrorizer Magazine website, link here:-
http://truecultheavymetal.com/blog1.php/2011/08/31/band-of-the-day-iron-lamb