miércoles, 21 de diciembre de 2011

Vulcano - Interview



Greetings Zhema, how are things in the Sao Paulo area?

Very Well! We are doing a tour to promote our new album “Five Skulls ..."

Truly I was very surprised with the new album “Five Skulls And One Chalice” What can you tell us about the album? Does the title have any special meaning?

This album could be the follow up to “Tales…” Although it has a slightly different sound I think it keeps the same rawness that characterizes VULCANO. The title makes reference to an ancient symbol used in Black Magic in which a skull is placed in every corner and a chalice in the middle. 

I have liked the album a lot. But to be honest the opening track “Messenger from Hell” is a bit weak, especially when you compare it to the rest of the album. What do you think about this?

I don’t believe this music is that different from the rest. I believe is on the same style as the others.

Fortunately for me, after the second track the album is a total blast of death/thrash. Now that you have been writing songs for such a long time, do you believe there must be some sort of balance between originality / own style and certain “rules” (it sounds a bit ridiculous) in extreme metal?

I believe that when you write a song, you have to be careful that it doesn’t sound like any other band’s song, that way you can get close to originality. There are no rules for writing a metal song.

In this album I found some similarities with “Eyes of Horror” era Possessed, are you a Possessed fan?

Yes, I like Possessed but if there is any similarity it is just mere coincidence, nothing else.

Another thing that surprised me was the change of Vocalist, what lead to Angel’s departure? Did he leave on friendly terms? Where does the new vocalist, Luis Carlos, come from?

Angel hadn’t been able to play live for some time because of other priorities. It was very difficult for him to record the vocals in the new album and then he said he could not keep up with Vulcano, and then he regretted it but there was no way back. Luiz Carlos was in Vulcano between 1996 and 1998, he recorded two bonus tracks on the LIVE CD and he also sings on the song "Steed of Steel" in the new album.

I think other news is Vulcano’s participation in the DVD documentary “Brazil Heavy Metal”. What can you tell us about this documentary and Vulcano’s new song?

This documentary is on post production at this time and Vulcano wrote a new song called “Hexagrama” with the new singer, Luiz Carlos.

There are many things on Vulcano’s past that still remain in “the dark” for me. How old were you when you started Vulcano? If I remember well you had played before in bands like Astaroth and Satanic, what type of bands were those?

I was almost 20 years old and before Vulcano I played in a band called “Astaroth” but I never played in “Satanic”. “Astaroth” had a Black Sabbath kind of style and “Satanic” had a theatrical rock style like Alice Cooper in the 70s. They were our friends but no Vulcano members have belonged to “Satanic”

How was the metal scene in your city back then? Do you remember any bands that have been forgotten and deserved a better luck?

I live in Santos, a coastal city near Sao Paulo. The scene was bigger in Sao Paulo. There were a few shows but the crowd was massive. I remember well bands like Mistic Death, Alta Tensão and Santuario.

Do you have any opinions about the fact (At least I see it that way) that Vulcano was the first extreme metal band in Latin America?

VULCANO started playing extreme Metal in 1983, after the single “Om Pusnhe Namah” and I dodn’t know of any other band playing this type of music.
 
Talking about the “Brazilian Sound” of which Vulcano could be considered as its creator, where did all that aggressiveness and rawness come from? Not having the resources for better instruments or better places to rehearse and record your music had in influence in that sound?

That’s right! I didn’t have good instruments because importations were prohibited, not even amps. What we had was just bad quality equipment. A recording studio was very expensive. You would have to sell a car to record an album.

How much did you know about bands like Venom or Slayer when you started Vulcano? Did you get any influences from HC/Punk bands back then?

I listened to Slayer and Venom for the first time in 1984 and yes, of course, it influenced me a lot!
 
I am a little confused with your first recordings, for starters with “Om Pushne Namah”… Can you tell us a bit more about that strange name? Was this one a demo tape or a single on vinyl? 

"Om Pushne Namah " is on vinyl “only”. The name comes from Sanskrit and is the mantra of the Sun 6. Later after, we recorded a demo called “Devil on my Roof” which was released with a bonus track in the Swedish version of the “Anthropophagy” album.

About “Devil in my Roof”, do you remember how many copies were distributed or sold? Did anyone tell you at one point that it was too noisy or extreme?

The goal with the demo - tape "Devil on my Roof" was to get a record label interested in Vulcano, I went to many record labels and they said the songs were too extreme, they were looking for “Hard Rock” bands at the time.

Then came the recording of the album “LIVE”, whose idea was it to record and release it? Do you have any special memories from that show? Don’t you think it is a bit strange for a debut album to be a live one?

The reason for the live recording was that show promoters in Sao Paulo didn’t want to work with us, the band was too extreme and therefore show promoters didn’t allow Vulcano to play shows in Sao Paulo, so I went to another city and recorded the live album, then the band followers in Sao Paulo could listen to Vulcano live.

I have always wondered who wrote the song “Witches Sabbath”, is it some sort of cover/version from another band?

It is not a cover; it is Vulcano’s original music. We never recorded a cover.

The album “Live” was the first contact with Brazilian metal for many. How many editions of that album do you kown? Do you know the CD bootleg that was released in Peru?

The album “Live” has three different editions, the “Lunario Perpetuo” one, an independent one and the “Cogumelo” one, “no more”. I didn’t know if a bootleg version.

”Bloody Vengeance” was released in 1986. Now, with “Live” Vulcano had a name already in the Brazilian scene, would you have liked a better production for “Bloody…” or is that rawness part of Vulcano’s identity?

I would have like for “Bloody Vengeance” to have a better production but we didn’t have the money to do it. It was recorded in two days with no quality equipment. The industry didn’t pay attention to us because our music was too extreme and we were relegated by the industry.

Since the early days, Vulcano’s lyrics had dealt mostly with the obscure, witches, obscurantism, what were your personal beliefs back then? Those first primitive lyrics were written with the intention of creating an impact or were real beliefs?

The first album has a few songs based on obscure y mysterious topics, but there are other more related to other things like on "guerreiros de satã", for example. I belong to an “Ordo” and the songs I write are consequent with those principles…

Did you have any sort of promotional tour for “Bloody Vengeance” back then? Do you remember any remarkable review (good or bad) from Europe or the USA?

Yes, we did a long tour and we reached to thousands of fans in Brazil. We have received very good reviews from magazines here in Brazil and also in USA and Europe. I remember “Metal Hammer”, “Total Thrash”, “Violent Noise” and many more.

Today you are past your 50s and in part you have a personal life foreign to metal, how does it work? Do you have a family? Do you enjoy any type of Brazilian music?

I have a wife and two grown up kids. I am an engineer in a steel mill and I dedicate my free time to Death/Thrash/Black metal. I write the songs for Vulcano, record albums, I play live, etc. I like Brazilian hard rock bands like "Baranga", "Velhas Virgens" Patrulla do Espaço", etc. These bands sing in Portuguese in a style similar to AC / DC, Motorhead, Zztop. I don’t like Samba or Funk Carioca.

Let’s get back to the history of Vulcano. On “Anthropophagy” made a change to become more aggressive and technical, less primitive. What led to that change?

By early 1987 the line up changed, Soto Jr., Flavio and Laudir Piloni left the band, then that’s why a change in style took place.

Back then and specially with that album; do you think that a better production would have translated in better results? Have you ever thought about re recording that album?

Once again we didn’t have a good production, the reason for that was always the same: lack of money. We recorded that album in 24 hours and that is not enough to record a good album. I don’t think about re recording it, there are no possibilities of re recording a Vulcano album.

I almost forgot something. On “Bloody Vengeance” you have the glorious song “Death Metal”. Where did the name come from? What was your reaction when you found out that both Possessed and Onslaught had songs with the same name?

The term that defined extreme music as “Death Metal” existed already so we wrote a song in which the lyrincs talked about it.

Some years back I Hate Records re released “Anthropophagy” and was sort of a comeback for Vulcano; do you see it that way? Also, when you released the split with Nifelheim, did you anything about this Swedish band?

I knew Peter (from I Hate) through João (of Cogumelo).The idea of releasing “Anthropophagy” and the Split came from Peter. I don’t know the people in Nifelheim.

Another question from the past. What happened first, the release of “Anthropophagy” or your trip to Chile? Were you the first extreme band to go and play in another country? Do you remember anything from the other bands in that show like “Retrosatan” or “Massacre”?

I am not sure if Vulcano was the first band to play out of the country. I do remember well the bands on that show. And it was the first time Chile welcomed a metal band from another country. That day people were insane, it was madness and I thought it was very dangerous because Chile was under the Military Dictatorship of Pinochet.

Life has a lot of unforeseen events and it makes it somehow interesting. 20 years later you repeated that trip top lay in Chile again, I heard it was a great show but the attendance wasn’t great. What impressions do you have after meeting old Vulcano fans who are around their 40s and much younger fans? Could you get to know something about the Chilean scene? I believe they have a great scene today, what do you think?

When we went back to Chile 20 years later the scene was bigger and there were many more bands than back in 1987. I had the opportunity to meet many bands. I wanted to go back to Gimnasio Manuel Plaza, that’s where we played our first show back in 87 but it no longer exists. The attendance was way lower than in 87 but those who got to see Vulcano liked it a lot. It was very exciting going back to Chile. It was also very thrilling to play in Antofagasta. I remember a small scene in 87 and after 20 years I can attest that they have a big scene today.

Now that we are talking about metal in our countries, did you ever listen to old Colombian bands like Parabellum, Reencarnacion, Nemesis, Astaroth…?

Unfortunately I haven’t listened to them. The influx of the Colombian metal scene is very weak here in Brazil.

Continuing with Vulcano, you released two albums later: “Who Are The True” and “Retrace”. Do you believe those two albums never reached the level of the first two? Why are those two albums so unknown in your discography?

I think they are unknown because they don’t surpass the previous ones.

Around those years (88-90) Sepultura started consodilating themselves worldwide. Do you believe that Sepultura’s success eclipsed other Brazilian bands who were indeed better and more interesting at the time?

Sure!!!!!

You decided to end Vulcano in 1988. What was the main reason for this? Was it motivated by the fact that the album “Who Are The True” didn’t get a good response?

The Brazilian metal scene back then was full of “posers” and “fake metallers” and we were entering College. That’s why I wrote the album “Who Are The True” which contains lyrics that talk about that ridiculous scene. It is an ironic album.

Later you had reunions in 1990, 1993, 1996, and I believe more than 3 up to 2001. What were those reunions so sporadic? Wasn’t there enough motivation to establish the band full time again?
Sure, yes. 

Can you clear up the date and cause of death of Soto Junior? Were you still in touch with him when he died?

Yes, we had played a show on 01/11/2001 and he died a little but later than a month after that. He died of a heart attack on 23/12/2001.

The incredible album “Tales From The Black Book” was released in 2004 and for me that is the best “comeback” album from bands that have come back to life. How was the writing and recording process for this album?

I had written 14 songs in 2001 for the new Vulcano album but I discarded it, I didn’t like it. A few months later I started writing new songs and soon after “Tales…” was ready, I believe it was a moment of great inspiration.

After all the years you have been in the scene, how is your relationship with Cogumelo nowadays? What would be your final conclusion if you could do a balance on your relationship with record labels you have worked with?

I’ve never had any problems with the record labels i had worked with. Nowadays, we are very happy with Cogumelo.

Do you believe that in the end all the sub culture of Underground Metal ends up being absorbed by society’s mainstream trends?

I don’t think so; I believe the underground culture and especially metal music become bigger. Look, by 1992 there were just a few people who liked Metal, today it is 100 times that!

Talking a bit about your views on life, do you think we are doomed to repeating historical mistakes? I believe a great part of our history is about humans killing and fucking humans. Do you believe those behaviors are innate to the human being? Is violence necessary for some cultures?

Yes, there is no solution to that problem. We are animals of humanity and animals kill each other

Do you see any ridiculous behaviors in the so called “scene” of underground Metal?

I have seen some strange attitudes but it is surely from people for whom Metal doesn’t flow through their veins. Some “posers”.

Having a song with lyrics in Portuguese (in the case of the new album, that would be Legioes Satanicas) is already a trademark for Vulcano

Vulcano only has seven songs in Potuguese, no more. Portuguese is not a good language to sing Heavy Metal.

Talking about languages, why did you decide to answer this interview in Spanish?

Because I believe that is a great opportunity to learn a bit about your language. I had to look up the dictionary many many times. Now that we are talking about languages, I believe that after English, Spanish is best suited for Metal. Metal music sung in Spanish has a beautiful sound.

An irrelevant question now. Are you fan of a soccer team in the Sao Paulo area? Do you think the Brazilian team will win the world cup in South Africa this year?

I am fan of Santos FC, the soccer team from y city. I don’t think Brazil will be champions, I believe Spain has better chances.

Well Zhema, thank you for your time, any last words? What’s for Vulcano in the future?

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to answer this interview and I want to say that Vulcano are working on a new album already and we will be on tour in Europe in October. Greetings to all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Printed version in BELLS OF ACHERON ISSUE 0 

RESEÑAS (REVIEWS SECTION, COMING SOON IN ENGLISH IN OUR PRINTED VERSION: BELLS OF ACHERON I "Chronicles for the genocide in all of us")

COMMUNION “communion”  MCD 2010 PROSELYTISM www.proselytism.net P.O. BOX 80 / Suc Tobalda  Providencia/Santiago  CHILE

23 minutos de OSCURIDAD, es lo único que se me ocurre ante este magnifico MCD (El formato ideal?) estas 5 canciones de communion se desarrollan con elementos muy tradicionales; partes clásicas de speed/thrash, oscuras y profundas melodías, black metal de la Europa oriental, ciertos aires al primer samael y el bathory del under the sign…  y cierto salvajismo sudamericano;  cual es el punto? Que supieron hacerlo bajo su propia óptica y sobre todo de una manera muy personal y con una devoción casi religiosa;  asi que esta es otra prueba que para el black metal y el metal extremo en general no hay que seguir una formula establecida, ni aparentar o tener una imagen “extrema”;  lo que se trata es de expresar ciertos sentimientos y emociones del lado oscuro y ritual del alma;  y en este caso communion lo hace de una forma magistral. Abono el interesante concepto lirico y CRUEL, que esta presente en las 5 canciones.  Tambien fue clave el poderoso y buen sonido logrado en el estudio DM6. RECOMENDADO. Interesados en Colombia contactarse; nos quedan pocas copias de la versión “normal” que incluye afiche, insert especial con letras traducidas y una compilación en cd-r del sello PROSELYTISM.

SEPULCHRAL THRONE “The sepulchral darkness returns”  MCD 2011 PROSELYTISM
Casi todas las bandas que escucho de Paraguay tienen algo especial y S.T. no son la excepción. Esta es una grabación del 2009, que se pensó como un demo debut; en vista del buen resultado logrado en estudio este sello chileno decide editarlo como MCD; aquí tenemos 5 canciones mas intro de metal sur americano agresivo y maldito;  Imaginense el “laws of the scourge” de sarcófago, pero con una atmosfera mas oscura y mórbida. Las canciones estan bien construidas y las estructuras se basan en cambios fuertes dinámicos y algunos riff memorables (de esos que se pueden quedar por días en la cabeza). El sonido esta muy bien logrado y se grabo totalmente en Paraguay. Para redondear S.T. tiene cierto misterio y misticismo bastante especial…
 
GOREGAST “Desechos humanos” CD 2011 FDA REKOTZ  fda-rekotz.com  www.goregast.de
 
Curioso que estos alemanes que no conocía ya estén por su tercer álbum y mas curioso que todos sus álbumes tengan títulos en español… Bien luego de una entrada bien pesada se desencadena una avalancha de death/grind pesado y tradicional. 9 canciones con un sonido potente y bien logrado,  describir la música en este álbum de goregast es sencillo, además lo he tocado muchas veces;  asi que pues tomen las bases del grind mas puro (terroirzer demos era) y agreguen el poder de los primeros años del death metal sueco de Estocolmo (nihilist, carnage y demás) usualmente las canciones van a velocidades rápidas pero también podemos encontrar muy buenos medios tiempos; como en “corta la coleta” (si aparte del titulo del álbum hay varias canciones en español) Bien solo me queda por decir que es un buen álbum y que a los ingredientes mencionados han agregado personalidad y estilo propio.

ENTRAILS “The tomb awaits” CD 2011 FDA REKOTZ 
Death metal sueco de Estocolmo del mas tradicional, luego de un corto y buen intro acústico nos entregan 11 canciones, no esperen nada nuevo ni intentos de originalidad o algún sonido novedoso; esto es de la escuela del primer entombed; grave o necrophobic.  Es cierto que no han inventado nada nuevo y siguen una especie de libreto del subgénero;  pero como fanático de las bandas que menciono yo he disfrutado del álbum un montón… es incluso mejor que su primer álbum, en este se oyen mas pesados, cosa que en parte se le debe al magnífico trabajo hecho por Dan Swano (Dan su ano, ja ja ja) en la mezcla y masterizacion del disco.  Ademas aca encontramos unas melodías acordes al genero mucho mas intersantes y profundas, generando una atmosfera de muerte fría pero épica en algunos momentos;  a lo que si no pueden acertar es a las jodidas portadas,  en esta ocasión y luego de la desastroza portada del álbum anterior han elegido una ilustración muy similar a la de un álbum MUY conocido… en fin es un buen álbum el cd incluye sticker y acaba de editarse en vinilo interesados en Colombia tenemos unas pocas copias disponibles…


MORBID ANGEL “Illud divinum Insanus” CD 2011  www.season-of-mist.com
Pues no se cual es toda la negatividad y mala onda con este álbum,  si ya habían sacado 3 discos muy aburridos,  mas de 10 años de aburrimiento y pues D. Vincent regreso…y bien por los shows en vivo para ver sus canciones clásicas;  pero  al señor  Vincent  hace rato que le dejo de gustar el death metal, y pues es libre de hacer lo que le de la gana,  lo que si es cierto es que este álbum es bien pobre y más aburrido que sus últimos 3 discos, el tipo nuevo en la batería pues toca muy bien pero tiene una apariencia de marica única;  y ningún hombre heterosexual quiere parecer gay …. Y no tengo nada en contra de las opciones sexuales de las personas;  es más ni siquiera se porque termine comentando este disco,  que se jodan y ya….

sábado, 17 de diciembre de 2011

Communion - Interview



Greetings DeathMessiah, how are thing in Chile nowadays? How have things been after the earthquake?

A V E !
This is Frater Deathmessiah tonight. Chile has been always an extreme place to live.
After the earthquake my life is still dark and monotonous and full of repeatitions and tormentum insomniae.

Well. COMMUNION is a young band, but you guys have a background from previous bands, could you tell us something about that and about the bands you were a part of before COMMUNION?

Hellavenger and me created the band and blessed it with its name. We can’t play anything else than BLACK METAL.

After we created the band we asked our comrade Butcher of Christ from the Occult Death Metal UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN to play drums.

Hellavenger used to play in a project (maybe 10 years back) and never recorded oficially. It was called SATAN’S WRATH (R.I.P.). We will re-make his songs and will record this year a 7” entitled “SATAN’S WRATH”.

I was the creator of CHAINSAW (R.I.P.) in 1998 ab. We will re-record “The Announcement” again. It will be part of the COMMUNION’s discography.

We will do all this because we do COMMUNION with our past. We even used several riffs created between 1998-1999 ab and 2005 ab for our “new” Mini Album which it has been released 1 month before.

By the way, latest news from UNAUSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN is that PROSELYTISM will release a split CD between them and AFTER DEATH (Occult Metal Master’s band Mike Browning founder of MORBID ANGEL and NOCTURNUS, who also was member of INCUBUS and ACHERON) in few months more. It will be a milestone of the Underground Occult Black Death Metal.

It has been a while since your “DEMO I”  was released. Do you believe the goal of getting the band’s name out there has been achieved?

We released it in 2008 AB. Yes we did our goal. We got in contact with several Satanists, Occultist, Rebellious Souls, Perverse Witches, Deathrashers, etc. and made a wide way for COMMUNION’s word. We have spread over than 2.000 copies of the demo in the World’s Undeground Metal scene where Darkness prevails!! We got and still get several interviews, letters and emails. We have been featured in several fanzines, most of them chosen our demo as one of the Darkest Highlights of the year 2009 AB. Even NWN! Prod. Sold 50 copies in 2 days... And we are featured now in your macabre fanzine aswell!

Right now you should be releasing a new Mini LP “WORSHIP FIRE” (PLEASE CONFIRM THE NAME). What can you tell us about it? What has changed from the demo?

No, you got it wrong. Our mini album is homonimous, so it is called “COMMUNION”. It is a macabre operetta. The lyrics work  through characters, some of them are "Blessed Death", "Priests", "Impiety", "A Voice from The Dark", etc.. Our music is more technical, faster and darker than “DEMO I”. Even more aggressive aswell.

All opinions I heard from die hard Evil Metal collectors and Devilworshippers label this stuff as a progression onwards total woe. I am sending you a copy of this Mini Album so please write something about it!

“FIRE WORSHIP” is a song included in this Mini Album. Fire represents the ancestral choice to defy and attack the establishment.

I have a fascination for some MLPs, for me they have something special and right out my head I can think of names like “Expurse of Sodomy”, “Haunting The Chapel”, “Resurrection”... Do you also have this fascination for this format? Can you mention other memorable MLPs?

Yes, personally I got this same fascination. I would recommed “Guerra Total” by BLASFEMIA (Colombia), “Sacrilegio” and “Mutación por Radiación” by PARABELLUM (Colombia), “Apocalyptic Raids” by HELLHAMMER (Switzerland), “In the sign of Evil” by SODOM (Germany), “Sentence of Death” by DESTRUCTION (Germany), “Bstial Devastation” by SEPULTURA (Brazil),, “Armed and Dangerous” by RAZOR (Canada), “Genocido” by GENOCIDO (Brazil), “Incantation” by GROTESQUE (Sweden), “Terror Kingdom” by TORTURE (U.S.A.), “Eyes of Horor” by POSSESSED (U.S.A.), and many more.

Mini Albums are meant to create a concept behind them and develope into memorable songs, and in most of the cases above is pure majestic music.


I could listen to an advance of the MLP and I was surprised by the incredible sound production. What can you tell us about the recording process? What do you has contributed to get that so robust and heavy recording?

We are serious. We know what we want but we are still learning how to get things the way we MUST. This time we rehearsed a little bit more the tracks and did better performance while recording but still isn’t perfect arggghhhh.

We used good instruments, good amps, good mics and a good drum kit to record the Black Metal Music of this Mini Album. We used the best Santiago’s underground extreme Metal studio aswell. It is called DM6 owned by a cool guy who played drums in several, being the best bands: TOTTEN KORPS, ATOMIC AGGRESSOR and HADES ARCHER.

We used another studio for recording the sepulchral voice called ETAGORD. Torrid, the maniac owner, uses more cheap mics and he has a lot of personal experience recording voices, he knows what I am looking for.

Pablo Clares and myself worked a lot in the Mix and Mastering at DM6 which gave to this Mini Album the real atmosphere we were looking for.

Is this in part a response to that trend of sounding “raw and bestial” (In many cases just an excuse for bad sound)?

No, we are not a response to any fucking Undeground Sub-trend. We are raw and bestial without being retard like many and the next albums will prove how destructive and fast we can become and still being dark and defying.

Communion is a name that represents a mystical meaning and a religious one as well. I know your lyrics deal with some religious topics; can you tell us more about it?

The word "communion" makes reference to the unity between beliefs and spirit or things; a circumstance of having something in common.

Our lyrics make reference/sense to the concept we are working in each audio release. And sometimes the concept / lyrics could be chained from one audio release to another. 

In the "Demo I" we wrote 2 songs; they are something like our "manifesto", our fight till death. We will only find peace when we become one with the Godz of War...

The Mini Album is such a 5 tracks Operetta. It deals with cryptic knowledge based upon our beliefs, religion, pre-hispaniard myths and beliefs of SouthAmerica, Heraclito, Lucifer, old lyrics by other intelligent bands, Nietzche, Baphomet, The beast in Man, Hatred, Politic, etc. They work through characters and some of them are "Blessed death", "Priests", "Impiety", "A voice from the Dark", etc.

Usually, most of the bands that deal with obscure topics or Satanism are always inverting or defaming Judeo-Christian symbology, but looking back at history, no one has given more oppression and “evil” to mankind than the Catholic Church itself, so if it is about worshiping evil, don’t you think that the fact of how harmful have religions been should be exalted? What do you think about this?

The LORD works in mysterious ways you know...

If you analize in deep the Power Game, only the Intelligence Department of an Empire could create a character like "CHRIST" to keep the control of an Empire. I mean, in this big chess game we are involved, "Christ" is cancer and medicine at the same time to turn the disposable pieces into doped / drunk controllable and weakened subhumans.

When Christianity is involved in the Power you shall only expect psychotic persecutions and the death of many scum; so be aware.

Avoid becoming ignorant, it can turn you into a coward.

I know you are very into what could be called the “dark side of life”. Do you think Satan exists, with the horns, tail and all that?

Men have been bred to worship the Gods. The degeneration of this fundamental need / truth led men into a state of total decay and emptiness. This leads people to ask such things like this question.

There’re no human words to describe divine matters.

Several influences can be perceived from COMMUNION’s music, but still you have managed to develop an identity of your own. ¿How do you achieve that?

Having self identity is the trademark of an iron will, which makes difference between an entire man and a fucking sheep of the human herd, a sheep-man who will surrender in front of any fustration in life.

You get your identity by playing several roles while growing (from the womb to your grave), specially in sports and studies aswell in your relationship with the sorrounding enviroment. It is all about discipline and achieve goals.

And for COMMUNION’s music; we only have one goal: Worship the Gods.

And as for discipline, well Hellavenger and me  are very involved in the Black Metal lifestyle and we are trying to avoid as many distraction in our life as possible, we don’t want to waste anymore time. We are in the golden years.

Myself has no bigger interest in life than the Dark path connected with this music.

Maybe that’s why we sound 100% Dark and Evil and 100% Metal.

¿How important is for you that a Metal musician should have knowledge of the history if the music he is playing?

It is said that “a nation which doesn’t learn from their history are condemened to repeat their errors”. Besides that sentence which is aplicable to the subject you  are asking for, I would like to say that I won’t respect any Metal musician who doesn’t respect Metal music.

Every Metal musician should be a die hard collector of Music because he is obsessed and want to have a wider view. He is a superhuman able to experience life in its totality with straight forward attitude.  He is able to bring something that lacks in the music field he is involved; if not that way is quite possible this "Metal musician" could be just another brainless trendy poser who disrespects something greater than him.

To cut it short: “If you don’t have something to die for; then you have nothing to live for”

Let’s talk about your label “PROSELYTISM”, honestly most of your releases are really impressive, not just with the quality of the music but the presentation as well. What motivated these kind of releases? Did you feel disappointed as a fan when buying a CD and the presentation was not good enough?

The visual quality of a big sized format is very important to let the gospels work in the people’s soul.

As a Destructive Metal label and a real Black Metal band we must pervert the people’s soul to let them find the path to utter condemnation through obsession. We must show how is the real straight forward attitude of a Real Devoted Priesthood. Our releases should always be an example of that. 

The Real Dark Arts aren’t for cheap formats. My obsessions motivate me.

Soon you will have out a series of releases that in my opinion will place Proselytism as one of the most important labels in the world. Could you tell us more about future releases?


First I woud like to introduce all the readers our:

NEW RELEASES FROM DECEMBER 2010-JANUARY 2011 AB

DIABOLICAL MESSIAH (Chile) – “Satan Tottendemon Victory!!!” – Debut Album 2010 (Giant Digipack CD + Poster)

9 track debut album. A powerful, merciless, brutal, evil death metal fight, the way it was meant to be! After 10 years of existence they are back with one of the most destructive albums ever recorded in chile. This album follows the tradition of the old chilean death metal, which meant to be one of the most cruel ever played in this fucking plastic planet... And still does!

Imagine A Mixture Between The Fast/Evil Passages Of Early INCANTATION, Early IMMOLATION,  ABOMINATOR, Early KRISIUN, Early MORBID ANGEL, Early TOTTEN KORPS, Early ATOMIC AGGRESSOR and the sharpen guitars of the old almighty SLAYER even! The front cover follows the real Southamerican Metal tradition with an unholy blasphemous painting without any fucking virtual FX for trendy subhumans!

TOTTEN KORPS (Chile)  - “Our Almighty Lords” Mini Album 1993 / “For The Infernal Insurrection” Demo 1992  + Bonus Tracks 2010 (Giant Digipack CD + Poster)

12 tracks, almost 60 minutes of the most obscure evil Death Metal ever recorded in the chilean golden Death Metal era (late ‘80s / early ‘90s). The music is taken directly from the ADAT tapes and mastered in the DM6 studios (FORCE OF DARKNESS, UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN, ATOMIC AGRESSOR, COMMUNION, etc.).
TOTTEN KORPS was known for being the most hellish and brutal band spawned back in the days. They became an influential force in the development of the undeground extreme chilean Metal scene. If you have already heard TOTTEN KORPS’ demo material you won’t ever imagine how clean and dark sounds now their “For The Infernal Insurrection” (demo II – 1992). This release comes with old pictures taken in the infamous cemetaries of Santiago when “Our Almighty Lords” was being created and recorded. This is a piece of history and a farewell to Gerardo Valenzuela (vocals – R.I.P.) who was a very controversial individual to say the least. This release crushes any previous release and re-release of these recordings.Ultra Extreme Metal for fans of the very old days of NECROVORE, ABHORER, SUFFOCATION, INCANTATION, ATOMIC AGRESSOR, ROTTING CHRIST, UNLEASHED, SARCOFAGO, BLAPSHEMY, HELLWITCH, SADISTIC INTENT, etc..

SEPULCHRAL THRONE (Paraguay) - “The Sepulchral Darkness Returns” Demo 1 -  2010 Ab (Regular Version CD)

THINK OF SARCÓFAGO “LAWS OF SCOURGE”, EKRON CULT “QUEEN OF THE LUXURY”, VIOLENT ATTACK “THE FINAL MASSACRE”. THINK OF FORGOTTEN GRAVES...THAT’S THE SEPULCHRAL THRONE’S DEMO 2009 NOW PRESSED ON COMPACT DISC... THE SOUNDTRACK OF A CEMETERY DESECRATION!

COMMUNION (Chile) “Communion” - Mini Album 2010 (Regular Version CD)
COMMUNION (Chile) “Communion” - Mini Album 2010 (Giant Digipack CD + Poster)

.*. EACH GIANT DIGIPACK COMES WITH A POSTER 33 X 33 CM (12,6” X 12,6”) .*. 


FORTHCOMING RELEASES:

THRASH FORWARD (Usa) “Thrash Forward Alliance, Demo 1990” (Giant Digipack Cd + Poster)

UNHOLY ARCHANGEL (Greece) “Obsessed By War” + Bonus Track  (Giant Digipack Cd + Poster)

TYPHON (Colombia) “Unholy Trilogy” 1996 Album + “Demo”  Double Cd (Giant Digipack Cd + Poster + Booklet)

FUNERAL NATION (Usa) “Box Set” (Audio Cds Containing The Whole Discography And Unreleased Tracks + Live Dvd + Interview + T-Shirt + Posters)

AFTER DEATH / UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN (USA/CHILE) “Split” (Giant Digipack Double  Cd +2 Posters)

ATOMICIDE (Chile) “Spreading The Cult Of Death” Debut Album (Giant Digipack Cd + Poster)

DEMONIC RAGE (Chile) “Venomous Wine From Putrid Bodies” Debut Album (Giant Digipack Cd + Poster)

APOSTASY (Chile) “Sunset Of The End”  Debut Album 1991 + “Fraud In The Name Of God”  Demo 1989 Cd (Giant Digipack Cd + Poster)



How did the deal to re release the mighty Funeral Nation (for me one the most underrated bands in history) come to fruition?

I got the contact thanks to the band TERROR THRONE since 1-2 years back. I sent some of my releases to FUNERAL NATION and told them my intentions, they agreed and now we have a deal. For me it is the greatest deal of PROSELYTISM so far, I mean FUNERAL NATION are musically the Black Metal perfection, I worship all their stuff and they are one of the most important bands in my collection!! They took the early Black Metal (infuenced by VENOM and SLAYER) to the perfection of BLACK DEATH THRASH METAL. I think "After The Battle" debut album should have been the step that SLAYER should have took instead of releasing "Divine Intervention". This release will contain every FUNERA NATION song written since the demo days. It will be a boxset maybe 3 audio CDs + 1 DVD. I have been working on this for several months and I am still deciding if I make 4 audio CDs instead 3.

Curiously, you will also release Typhon’s album. The importance Bullmetal had for the Colombian scene in undeniable but contrary to the case of Funeral Nation I believe Typhon was quite an overrated band. What do you think about this?

I think in the contrary; it was totally under-rated band. TYPHON made music which was untrendy, catchy, magickal and RAWER than most of the bands back in those days, even their style was quite original, for me it is a mixture between early Black Metal (VENOM SLAYER, DESTRUCTION, BATHORY), the second wave (SARCOFAGO) and the 3rd wave led by MAYHEM. Add to this “where they came from” (for many of us Colombia was a Country of Terror for many years) and their background, specially for Montoya’s importance and saga. All this makes “Unholy Trilogy” debut album from early 1996 ab a release of enough charm to be listed in the ranks of the Greatest Black Metal albums ever recorded in South America.

We have been listening this album since it was released , I mean many of us Black Metal Worshippers in Chile think it is a masterpiece.

Maybe you know them since a lot of time due the fact you are a dedicated Colombian Metalhead, and contemporany to their music, but for most of people this band is unknown and it deserves a majestic exhumation, and we will do it the best way we can.

Releasing several recordings at the same time involves a great financial effort and no one wants to waste money. Is Chile some sort of island not affected by the worldwide complaints of crisis in the recording industry?

People who fears wasting money in their projects  is people whom have no dreams, is people who don’t take risks in life, is the average human.

To be sincere I think PROSELYTISM can work in Chile because Metal is huge here and our fanatism is even more huge, so we are surrounded by true fanatics who are open to listen untrendy stuff and dark stuff.

Talking about the economy in Chile, well I think average people should own a lot of money due our country is not a wasteland, but our “democracy” is a transvesti “plutocracy”, so we have to be happy seeing how rich are some few.

This will change only when people turn off the TV, start to have voyages inside and outside the country and realize how big is our country, and realize how oppressed and enslaved they live. People live like rats without a fucking hole.


I have always wondered about how in some of the designs for PROSELYTISM you can see the words Devotion, Suppression and Restrictions. Could you please tell us more about the meaning of these words in your context?

Those 3 words are written outside a triangle. A trinagle is indeformable, so is REAL Devotion. Through Restrictions you make Supressions which lead to utter Devotion. Let’s say it is an act of Discipline. Discipline must not be imposed but accepted. Martial Arts are a good school for this and for living life with honor.

Nowadays, we can find so many incredible bands, do you see this as a second “golden” age of Chilean metal?

I don’t see a second golden age in Chile because we are not in the peak yet!! But sure we are waking up through some amazing releases. Personally I see a light which is turning into a fire through several bands playing obscure Metal music.

Your stand, dreams, your mind are due to the ignition of your soul. So I have taken in account this to preserve this fire since long before, my dream to keep the Black Metal Flame burning higher than anything else here in Chile is becoming each day more into reality.

There’s no limits besides the ignition of your soul. So we warned of The Return.

How do you see today the world of printed magazines/fanzines? Will we ever see a second issue of PROSELYTISM fanzine?

Printed fanzines are the law in Metal, they spread the world of ideas and you can develope skills as designer aswell. They are the reason why Metal will never die!! Printed media lasts longer than a fucking website. We have a politic with PROSELYTISM: we don’t send promo stuff to websites!!!

Yes, I will try to do a second issue. Maybe in few time more it will be really needed to set the standards of true Black Metal again writing about it.

Well, this is it for now, what’s in the future for Communion? Is there a debut album in the works? Will there be any surprises with the label? Any final words?

The future of COMMUNION and PROSELYTISM is becoming more and more serious. We want to bring NEBIROS to play a couple of gigs in Chile (Winter 2011 ab), and in return we want to play live in your country, which was cradle of the Darkest Metal music in the past. Colombian Dark souls should wake up from the sleep and look back into the primeval secrets!!!



Communion is a name that represents a mystical meaning and a religious one as well. I know your lyrics deal with some religious topics; can you tell us more about it?

The word "communion" makes reference to the unity between beliefs and spirit or things; a circumstance of having something in common.

Our lyrics make reference/sense to the concept we are working in each audio release. And sometimes the concept / lyrics could be chained from one audio release to another. 

In the "Demo I" we wrote 2 songs; they are something like our "manifesto", our fight till death. We will only find peace when we become one with the Godz of War...

The Mini Album is such a 5 tracks Operetta. It deals with cryptic knowledge based upon our beliefs, religion, pre-hispaniard myths and beliefs of SouthAmerica, Heraclito, Lucifer, old lyrics by other intelligent bands, Nietzche, Baphomet, The beast in Man, Hatred, Politic, etc. They work through characters and some of them are "Blessed death", "Priests", "Impiety", "A voice from the Dark", etc.



MCD DISPONIBLE EN COLOMBIA + AFICHE + INSERT CON LETRAS TRADUCIDAS POCAS COPIAS. traumarkhan@hotmail.com


Printed version in BELLS OF ACHERON ISSUE 0