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!
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
Printed version in BELLS OF ACHERON ISSUE 0
