AZARATH - God-crushing Hammer

While Behemoth took its compulsory year-long break due to the band leader's illness, the unstoppable drummer of the Polish blackened squadron, Zbigniew “Inferno” Prominski, used the opportunity to complete the fifth Azarath full-length. The group, which delivers raw, vulgar and violent death metal, produced their strongest offering to date. "Blasphemers' Maledictions", released by the Witching Hour in June 2011, is a furious leviathan packed with outrageous tempos, an annihilating wall of brutal riffage and church-burning profanity. Inferno, much respected for his über-human drumming skills, spoke to We Wither about the new line-up, underground ideals and his hometown.

You started as a really deep underground band and made it to the death metal premier league. How much has changed since 2001’s “Demon Seed” album?
Our approach, values or ideas didn’t change even a bit. I’m glad to say that they are getting stronger and stronger all the time. We have progressed musically and you can clearly see that when you look at Azarath today. There is a new line-up, a new label and finally a new record, which raise a lot of sometimes radical reactions and emotions. They are right and if you also add our satisfaction to the scheme, then everything seems to be going in a good direction.

“Blasphemers’ Maledictions” is a big leap forward even in comparison with the great sound of your earlier albums “Diabolic Impious Evil” and “Praise the Beast”. How was this possible?
There are a few elements that are important in that context. One is the opportunity to work with some new people. Witching Hour gave us a chance to choose the studio to work at with no exact time limit. Second is Necrosodom, who puked out all the lyrics and some guitars too. Third is a cooperation with the great graphic artist Zbigniew Bielak, who did the cover art. Having the time off with Behemoth, I fully undertook the whole process of production of “Blasphemers’ Maledictions”.

Do you think Azarath contribute a lot of new elements to the genre or are you rather a homage to your death metal masters?
If you do your thing honestly with authenticity and total sacrifice, it automatically becomes an original and contributing act. We never wanted to stand out because of originality. The genre’s parameters are pretty much defined and leaning out of them would be out of order and a desecration. I don’t mean limiting ourselves or anything like that. Simply there are things Azarath will never do and I assure you we will never compromise. We stay loyal and faithful to the ideals of true death metal.

The new guitar player and vocalist Necrosodom and the bassist P. joined the band recently. Did they creatively contribute to writing “Blasphemers’ Maledictions”?
We wrote the whole album with the other guitarist Bart. Necrosodom is responsible for lyrics and vocal arrangements. He’s a wild animal in both the studio and on the stage and absolutely lived up to the task. His creativity and passion were very inspiring. I can’t imagine anyone else in the band instead of him. P. joined us while we were recording and his stage debut took place on September’s tour with Bulldozer, Witchmaster and Deus Mortem.

fot. by Aga Krysiuk

In spite of being involved in a lot of other bands, you have managed to produce five regular records in ten years. Is writing for Azarath that easy for you?
We write and record when we feel like it but once we decided to treat this band seriously we wanted to offer new material in regular spaces of time.

What was the impulse to form Azarath, what did it look like in the beginning?
The main motive for starting Azarath was my short break from Behemoth. I met Bruno, who I previously knew from another band – Delerium – we played with in the 90’s. Then we brought in Dlugi who played guitar in Cenotaph. We started practising the discipline of music and alcohol. Eventually Bart of Damnation joined too and that was the moment we actually became a regularly functioning band.

In September 2011 you played a nine-date tour in Poland with Bulldozer, Witchmaster and your new black metal project with Necrosodom called Deus Mortem, where you actually play guitar. In the previous years because of your commitments to Behemoth Azarath was usually performing with ex-Lost Soul drummer Adam Sierzega.
We have changed about three-quarters of the old live set. We mainly focused on songs from “Blasphemers’ Maledictions” and “Diabolic Impious Evil”. We had a new stage design and our shows were filled with brutality and mysticism.

fot. by Aga Krysiuk

Does Azarath give you more artistic satisfaction than Behemoth?
Yes, it does and I don’t think that’s anything shocking or difficult to understand.

Do Behemoth fans talk to you about Azarath when you meet them on foreign tours? Are they aware of Azarath at all?
We will very soon have an opportunity to properly introduce ourselves to a foreign audience because in December we are playing the Hatefest tour with Triptykon, Marduk and Kataklysm and within almost three weeks we will visit Germany, Austria, France, Belgium, and Holland.

Is drumming for Azarath and Behemoth different in any aspect?
The emotions and fatigue are pretty much the same. It’s tough at times but adrenaline helps me to get through the set with no problem. When I perform with Azarath, I’m sometimes pissed off with myself because I have written such sick and breakneck drum parts. On the other hand when I listen to our records I’m really proud and satisfied because I know that’s how it should sound.

In “Terrorizer’s Readers’ Poll of 2009” you were voted the drummer of the year. Does that mean your work on “Evangelion” is your top effort to date?
I don’t believe so. I think what I did on “The Apostasy” was way more difficult and demanding. I wouldn’t be able to entirely repeat those tracks at the moment. That session was one of the most murderous and exhausting experiences in my life. Plus I had a spine injury that wasn’t helpful at all.

fot. by Aga Krysiuk

You come from and live in the city of Tczew, which is located in Eastern Pomerania and has 60,000 inhabitants. Is it easier to keep a healthy perspective distance from a so-called career there?

I generally keep a very big distance from everything around and from myself as well. I’m aware of what I do and living in Tczew is no problem for me. Actually, lately I enjoy spending time in the outdoors more and more. I go to the forests of Kashubia whenever I have the chance and time to do so.

1349 – Unholy Radiance

Coming out of the filthiest holes and gutters of Oslo’s burning inferno, 1349 unleashes the new plague. In contrast to the Black Death, which actually spared some survivors in the great epidemic more than six centuries ago, the band doesn’t take prisoners. With drumming maestro Frost of Satyricon nailing the most annihilating blastbeats and vocal leviathan Ravn, the group raises the grand shrine of beastly and volcanic extremity. The furious albums “Hellfire” (2005) and “Revelations of the Black Flame” (2009) established their status, but the band’s fifth full-length “Demonoir” (2010) takes them to another level of abysmal necromancy. Frontman Ravn answers the questions of We Wither.

„Demonoir” was released more than a year ago. Are you satisfied with the feedback from the press and fans? Would you say it’s 1349’s best effort to date? 

I will say without a shadow of doubt that “Demonoir” is our best effort to date. I am especially pleased with the way the energy and feeling from all our previous releases are captured and added up and became this monster of an album. It gives me the feeling of the past and the future meeting and creating a black hole in between them. Feedback from the fans has been fantastic and we still get feedback from people that say they discover new things every time they listen to the album. As an artist you can hardly get a greater compliment than that. Regarding press, the feedback has been positive but I am of course biased and would always expect more. After all, we released the best album in our career so far, so we want only the best for it. Hence we will in most cases want more of everything when it comes to press and the day we are satisfied I think it will be a sign of stagnation. As long as we are hungry for more we will continue to develop and grow as a band.

fot. by Martha Lewicka

You don’t seem to waste time. Since your debut “Liberation” in 2003 you have released four more albums. What makes you write so fast?
I don’t think this is fast at all and wish we could have had more albums out but one needs to tour also and this takes time, plus it gives us a natural break between albums so one can gather new inspiration and get feedback from the fans. After all, it is the fans buying the albums that is the main reason we are able to release new albums, so one needs to let the circle complete before starting a new one. “Liberation” was actually written and recorded in 2001 but to finish it and get signed took a bit of time, so “Beyond the Apocalypse” was already in progress when it first got released.

You worked in the studio with Tom G. Warrior on “Demonoir” and “Revelations of the Black Flame”. He doesn’t produce bands very often, so what happened that you got him to work with you? How is he to work with?
Tom is a close friend of mine and, actually, the same day as I was to ask him if he would consider working with us, he asked to work together, so it was a mutual wish of both of us. Working with Tom is a very creative process. With his background and knowledge you have a huge resources for how to produce a dark and heavy album, and also as a musician he knows when to interfere and when to let the band unfold. He stated from the beginning that he was not there to change the band or its sound. He was there to ensure we kept and developed what we already had established and that we used this to the max to bring the band forward.

fot. by Rob van Wilgen

How do you work in the studio? Do you record hundreds of takes until you find the perfect one or do you rather record quickly and spontaneously?
We do both actually as we believe that our form of music needs room to develop and live on its own. So in a studio situation and the rehearsal leading up to it we always leave some things to develop in the studio. The core is there and is often recorded in a short amount of time. Like we set the schedule for drums to record a song a day, but it always ends up with two to three songs, same goes for guitars and bass. When all this basis is recorded we start to relax more in the studio and the fills and extras start to develop and the album starts to take its form. Several times it is art-by-accidents that leads to the big differences and makes a riff or a song stand out. We have always felt that 1349 is a force on its own and we as musicians are its tools and have learnt to let go and let it guide us. Vocals have always been recorded last and I have always felt that this is the right thing to do, as it lets the album take part in me and my job to lay vocals much easier when it comes to unite the vocal side with the musical side of the album. Finally, it is mixing time and that’s when the mayhem starts. Getting everything together in the right way and, at the same time, creating the final atmosphere of the album is just as rewarding as it is exhausting.

Frost is a permanent member of 1349 but due to his commitments to Satyricon he has at times been substituted by Tony Laureano. How does it work and is anyone able to repeat Frost’s inhuman drumming?
As I mentioned above, 1349 is like a force on its own and this helps a lot when it comes to session members in general. I bet Tony can verify this as well, as he is the one that has been doing the most gigs with us and at one point we had done more shows with him on drums than with Frost. But of course every drummer has his own style and brings different elements into the band. Nobody can replace Frost, but to repeat his drumming is possible. We have had two other session drummers and they both managed to pull off 1349’s music. The difference lies in style and execution. Every drummer likes to add their touch on things as well, but as long as the basis is there I feel this artistic freedom just improves playing in the band. The fact that such extreme music can be performed by different drummers proves my point about 1349 as a force of it own.

“Demonoir” is totally packed with ultra fast and fierce tempos. Are speed and wildness synonyms for black metal?
“Demonoir” has its fair share of this, yes, but also slows down and attacks in different ways also. In order to get the sense of speed one can add a slower part for reference, so people can reflect on the speed and grasp it. I have always stated that black metal is an art form where primal feelings and emotions are best used as inspiration and mindset. Today’s society, heavily infused by religions, rejects this natural primal side and uses this to separate humans and animals. Therefore, all primal instincts are used as an inspiration in our black art.

A few years ago, you made an intense and raw video clip for “Sculptor of Flesh” from the “Hellfire” album. Do you have plans or ideas for a video for a track from “Demonoir”?
Yes, there are plans and actually work in progress. It has been in the planning for a while but we needed to find the right people to work with and now that we have done that we hope to see at least one video out soon.

fot. by Martha Lewicka

Poland is a very conservative country with statistically 90% of the population declared Catholic. When Gorgoroth recorded a live DVD in Poland, the media were going out of their minds. When cinema shows a movie critical of the church, people start protesting. At the moment, Nergal of Behemoth is public enemy number one. How does the Norwegian media and public react to the open anti-christianity and nihilism of bands like 1349?
Normally not much. Most Norwegians are not fanatic when it comes to religion and we are mostly spared from the big fanatic demonstrations and such narrow-minded behaviour. Things have changed in regards to black metal in Norway and more and more people start to respect it for its global influence and skilled musicians.

Oslo has a lot of great metal bands. Do bands hang out with each other or is it every man for himself?

I don’t know if there are a lot of great metal bands in Oslo, as I don’t pay much attention to the metal music. 1349 was formed because I disliked the direction black metal was heading in and after that I stopped paying attention to new acts. If they are good enough, they will come to my attention. Everybody was hanging out at the Elm Street in the ‘90s but this faded away with the new millennium and what is going on today is not of big interest to me. Sometimes it is better to let the past become just that.

Have you seen Nicolas Winding Refn’s 2009 film “Valhalla Rising” with Mads Mikkelsen? I’m very curious about your thoughts on it?
I do know of Mads Mikkelsen and have also briefly encountered him on a couple of occasions but this particular movie with him I have yet to see.

MORNE – Untold Weight of Grief

The Boston-based quintet has been feeding the audience with the riff-ridden force of anguish and depression since 2005. Their debut “Untold Wait” and the follow-up “Asylum”, that hit the streets in May 2011, offer vast landscapes of sonic, crusty post-metal hardcore introduced in lengthy monuments of an overwhelming isolation. Morne’s veteran guitarist Jeff Hayward, whose legacy with Massachusetts sludge doom legends Grief and such records as “Come to Grief” or “…And Man Will Become the Hunted” speaks for itself, spoke to We Wither about his present and previous band.

You went for a month-long tour in Europe in June and July 2011, which included more than ten countries. How satisfied are you with it? Did it make you stronger as a band?
I do believe the tour was successful. We played thirty something shows and only a few were lousy. Got to see many friends along the way and make many more. Plus with the second record just being released we felt it was important to hit the road. Also I do think it made us stronger as a band. It was the first tour with this line up and I think it's important for bands to tour and come together. Five weeks is a long time and obviously there are stressful moments but you work together to get through them. At the end of the day we all had a great time.

Your success is a style that combines different heavy sub-genres but it’s actually quite hard to label. How would you define your sound and aspects that make Morne what it is?
Not exactly sure how to label our band. We're just trying to write music with feeling. It's more than just down tuning and playing loud. We try to create music that is heavy but also has emotion. I believe we're heading in the right direction as far as where we want to be but not quite there yet.

Is there anything that Morne stands for, a theme or a thought that you would like to be its keynote?
As far as what we stand for, not really sure. Maybe Milosz has some thoughts about that, the band was his idea before I even knew him. I guess I would like the band to be known for creating heavy powerful music.

fot. by Slawek Rzewuski, e-rzewuski.pl

There are long instrumental passages in your music since Morne is based on the guitar force in the first place. Would you consider doing a full instrumental record?
Doing an all instrumental record… not sure. It's nothing we've ever discussed. I could see us possibly writing an instrumental song but probably not an entire album.

Are you devoting 100% of your time and efforts to Morne at the moment? Does it allow you to be a full-time musician without a contract with a major label?
Musically I dedicate myself to Morne 100%, but not 100% of my time. I work a full-time job putting in about fifty hours a week. As much as I love the band I certainly cannot make a living and support myself from it. Maybe someday but I'm not holding my breath.

How much did Morne grow from what you were doing with Grief? Do you think both bands have something in common?
I think the stuff we're writing with Morne is more involved than the Grief material. Especially since the addition of the keyboards, really trying to create atmosphere. The Grief material was more primitive, a little more straight forward. The bands are a little similar as far as both being heavy and slow but Morne will never be as slow as Grief.

You played with Grief in the nineties and recorded five studio albums that earned you a lot of respect in the scene. Was shutting the band down and establishing Morne like going back to basics? Was it the same sort of challenge with Morne as you had with Grief back in the day?
When I joined Morne they were already a band. They had already recorded and released the demo on CD which had created a little buzz about them. Morne has achieved popularity much easier than Grief did, we really struggled back in those early years.

Grief released splits with such cool bands as Corrupted, 13, Soilent Green, 16 and Dystopia. Did you get to know them and tour with them first and then decide to do something together or did it happen the other way around?
All of those bands with the exception of Corrupted we knew personally, I never had the opportunity to meet those guys. The 13 and Dystopia splits seemed fitting to do. We all knew each other and played similar music. The 16 split came about because both bands were on the same label. The Soilent Green one, don't remember how that one came about. Back in the early years we played many gigs with 13 in NYC. Played also with Dystopia when we toured the west coast and also played with them here on the east coast when they were touring. We did two tours with 16, one on the east coast and one on the west coast. Back in 1995 while on tour here with Extreme Noise Terror we hooked up with Soilent Green for about a week. Had some great times playing with these bands and made some great friends also.

How did it work in the early nineties when you started? Did anyone understand what you were doing? What bands in Boston were you hanging around with?
Back in the early 90's people in Boston didn't get what we were doing. There were some but for the most part we would play shows and nobody would show up. I think part of it might have had to do with the fact that four of the five original members were also in Disrupt. Maybe people were expecting one thing and got the complete opposite. Or Boston back then was a very hardcore city as far as music goes and we went a different direction.

Boston is quite well-known for its hardcore scene and such bands as Slapshot, Gang Green, Blood for Blood or SS Decontrol. Did Grief ever play for hardcore crowds?
No, back in the day we never really played for hardcore crowds. Also never played with any of those bands you mentioned. After the first few years we stopped playing Boston entirely. We were not well received here back then, we had more success playing out of state.

What records, events or experiences influenced the heavily slowed-down style that you created with the early Grief albums? Which extreme doom metal bands did you know in 1992-93?
We all listened to different types of music. Before Grief we all played in either a punk or metal band. I think that after Disrupt broke up we were looking to do something completely different from what we were all doing at the time. Just wanted to play slower, heavier music. Back then I personally was influenced by bands such as Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus, EyeHateGod, Sleep, Buzzov-en and 13. There are probably more but those were my favourites.

What do you consider a highlight in Grief’s history?
A highlight in Grief's history, that's a tough one. There were many highlights over the eighteen years the band existed. To pick just one is difficult. Let me put it another way, being a part of Grief is the highlight of my music career. We had our share of good and bad times but it's nice to know that after so many years people still appreciate the band and the music we created. I spent half of my life dedicated to Grief and I'm very proud of that.

A commonly cited reason for Grief’s break-up was “the hostile environment for doom metal bands”. Do you think you were ahead of your time?
Well that quote didn't come from my mouth. But in a way it rings true to a certain extent. I wouldn't say ahead of our time, there were doomy bands around back then. I just think doom metal in general really caught on and started getting very popular in the later part of the 90's. For me personally a big part of the band ending was the continuous line-up changes. It seemed every couple of years we had a different line-up. After a while it just starts to wear you down. It was like two steps forward one step back, over and over again. When it was all said and done at the end of 2008 I was the only original member left from when we started back in 1991. At some point you have to call it's quits and move on and it just felt like the right time for me.