SEPULCHER - Interview at Inferno festival

In my series of interviews conducted at this year’s Inferno Festival I wanted to include an up-and-coming underground band because my heart is always with the underground. And besides, I really like the Old School Death/Thrash/Heavy style that is coming out of Norway. Out of the bands available I chose Sepulcher. I find their sound heartfelt, true to the beloved roots we all cherish. and raw!

They come from a small town on the Western coast of Norway called Fusa. This interview deals with particulars about the emerging scene they come from; a conversation about their sound, recording, and producing; and it also deals with how they try to stay as faithful as possible to the sound that characterizes them.

Introduce your band — how long have you been playing?
Andreas: We are Sepulcher from Fusa in western Norway. We play thrash, death, and well. we actually mix a lot of genres. We have been a band since 2008. It’s very punk, thrashy, and Death Metal. We started out as band called Cockroach Agenda and then we had that name for some years, but we decided to change the name to Sepulcher.

Andreas: We put everything from Death, Thrash, and Punks, actually Doom too, and kind of make it our own.

Can you give our readers an overview of the underground scene in the western coast of Norway?

So what about Black Metal?
D: We don’t know. We never followed it that much. But there must be some really good bands in Bergen that we don’t know about because we are in the Death/Thrash scene. Maybe there are some really good Black Metal bands in Norway…

You got Whoredom Rife as well…
A: But One Tail, One Head is no more

There are not many. Bergen has the reputation for being the metal capital of Norway, but it’s really Oslo. Oslo has all the good bone-crushing bands, all the interesting stuff is happening on the eastern part of Norway now. In fact Bergen is nothing without Fusa. They are all like winter Black Metal. They sing about how cold it is and weather stuff. Even the new ones, they sing about how cold it is outside. Meanwhile we in Fusa are all about Death!

The Black Metal bands are a bit like Christmas Eve. I mean we know it’s cold outside, but do you have the riffs? So what we are trying is to bring back are the riffs. I don’t know if we have achieved it yet, but at least that’s our goal. It’s all about the riffs for us and we are just trying to find those riffs.

SEPULCHER live@by:Larm Black
Photo by Stom D-LivePhotography

You have played some shows already here in Oslo? How has that experience been and what were your expectations when it comes to the Inferno show?

I like the old school sound you guys have. It has become a Norwegian style now but it is not necessarily easy to compose and be original, so have you given that dilemma a thought? How to be old school and create a sound that is your own?

You are like in the three bands Inculter, Reptilian, and Sepulcher. Where do you draw the lines between the bands when it comes to composing?

What do you do to preserve the old school sound when you are recording and playing live?

A: We are doing it ourselves. But we have tried going to a studio with a producer and all, but we hated it. It was a crisis. So after that, even though we didn’t know much, we started doing it ourselves. We want to preserve the rawness because for us it’s the most important. We record live always. No one would click track or anything. We rehearse a lot and then play it live. That’s maybe the best for us because you can feel the tension in the room.
D: Yeah because when we record an album, it will often be a lot better live. Because when we are recording we are just going to catch the feel. It’s not going to be perfect and we don’t want it to be perfect. It has to be a good representation of what we are trying to be at that moment. So when we record the album we are kind of perfecting it live.
A: We don’t want it to be perfect; we don’t want to sound like those bands on Nuclear Blast because every band is the same there. We record the album in the basement with crappy equipment, and this is what you get. You don’t really think about it. It’s metal, it’s dirty, and it feels right.
D: Of course our guitarist, Cato, he is pretty dedicated and he has been the sound guy in the recording sessions. It has been really fun to work with him because he has experience in the studio and the skills. So we combine that with our music. So it’s a special situation, but we do want every album to be better and try to improve and learn.
A: You learn, you know. The first album we ever recorded was made in a garage. The sound was leaking everywhere. My guitar sound was in his drum’s mics. All the Inculter, Sepulcher, and Reptilian first albums were recorded by us, and you learn and get better for every new album.
D: It’s mainly us band members who are involved in the recording process. Except for the mastering, and in one occasion the Reptilian album was mixed by another person. Because if you are playing in the band and you are also the producer then you really want it to fit your sound and you really want it to be your own, as good as possible.

Abyssal Horror artwork

Your single “Abyssal Horror” premiered with Decibel Magazine. That’s really cool for any underground band, how did it come to happen?

Are you working on any new material?

What are your ambitions when it comes to the future for your bands?

How does it feel to be a part of Inferno?

Anything else you would like to add?

SEPULCHER: https://www.facebook.com/sepulcherband/

INCULTER: https://www.facebook.com/Inculter/

REPTILIAN: https://www.facebook.com/Reptilian-169241706524398/

Andre artikler: