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INDEX
INTERVIEWS
GUESTBOOK
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FRENCH
DEATH METAL
1. Hello, for those who didn't follow the history of Death metal in the North of France, CRITIC was born from the ashes of BYATIS around 2004 or 2005 (If I'm not wrong). Can you briefly introduce the band? Can you tell us more about the reasons for the split of Byatis and the change of moniker? (Should the two bands be seen as totally different incarnations, or is there some kind of continuity? )
Hello Gab!
You are right, CRITIC was created at this time, following the BYATIS
adventure. Because of the departure of Flavien (Lead guitars and
vocals) we had two choices: Going on with this project, or moving
on. The lovecraftian and mythological universe of BYATIS was both
based on the lyrics of Marc and the compositions of Flavien. Since
we were conscious the style of compositions and what would come
out would necessarily be different, it seemed obvious the best choice
was to start on new foundations.
So BYATIS and CRITIC are two
different entities, even if one can find similarities due to the
presence of Vincent (Behind the drums) and to the vocals of Philippe.
CRITIC was also born from a desire to keep on playing music
together. Maxime, who was a roadie for BYATIS, joined the band very
quickly. The remaining of the lineup took more time to be defined,
with the arrival or Erwin (Bass guitar), and more recently Nicolas
(Guitar).
2. On the labels' advertisements and distro lists, one can regularly read "For fans of", so we will follow this scheme here: In your opinion the Death metal of CRITIC could please the fans of which bigger bands? To find potential listeners, would you rather search in the brutal death or old school death metal scenes? (I find your music is located in the middle of both genres...)
It's always
a hard question to answer, because the feels vary from a person
to another when it's about to compare of categorize bands, it's
even harder since it's our own music.
We are clearly in the Death
metal branch, the additional qualifiers (brutal, technical, melodic,
old school, ...) are present, but perhaps not strongly enough to
be precisely categorized in a genre or another, the first feedbacks
on "Eveil De L’Esprit" tend to confirm that.
3. Your first CD entitled "Eveil De L'Esprit" was recently released, can you write an introduction? Who is it destined to?
“Eveil De L’Esprit” is a seven songs Ep. the CD begins with an introduction, followed by six compositions of intense Death metal, with varied atmospheres and conscious lyrics. And we hope it will please the great majority.
4. This recording was self-released, was it a choice or a matter of facts? How deep did you explore the "Do it yourself" concept? From the compositions to the final product, are you responsible from most stages of the elaboration process? (Pre-production, recording, mastering, visuals, manufacturing ... Tell us more).
To self-release
the MCD in an almost complete manner was a conscious choice. We
wanted to be able to appreciate and master each stages of the creation.
So the recording was done in our "home studio". We were
also very present during the mixing and mastering phases, we wanted
to entrust to professionals (Noord Production and Kevoork Mastering).
Concerning
the artwork, the illustration was created by Ed Hooijmans, and the
remaining was completed by Philippe.
All the following steps,
such as manufacturing, distribution or promotion are managed by
ourselves, with the precious help of Marie (The band's production
manager), so we can remain totally independent on this project.
5. Does the title of the CD "Eveil De L'Esprit" ("Awakening of the Spirit" in English) refer to a poltergeist, as a ghost would wake up in the middle of the night to snap the doors of an haunted house, or should one be more serious and think about the awakening of the critical mind, as you would refer to the ability to think for yourself?
It's you to see! :-)
6. I
saw CRITIC live in Lille about 10 years ago, time flies fast! I
feel your current style is a bit less old school and gives a more
brutal impression... Listening to your MCD, I wonder if this
impression of brutality might not be due to the quite thick production,
to the "big sound" effect one doesn't always find live...
Do you confirm a somewhat more brutal evolution of your compositions?
Or perhaps my remembrances of the gig in Lille are slowly entering
in a state of decrepitude, and are distorted by the space time continuum
and the liquefaction of my musical tastes? :-)
Oh yes, the
time flies fast, too fast! Concerning the big sound, so many parameters
can change the final impression: The room, the hardware, the sound
man... We also didn't have a bass player when you saw us live at
this time, this might change your feelings.
Anyway, we didn't
aim to be more brutal, we always composed in a same manner. Concerning
the production of the Ep, we wanted to be as close to our conception
of the band as possible, and to respect the presence and the understanding
of each instruments, without artifices.
7. Who composes the most in the band? Very often the musicians contribute to the arrangements, but one of them brings more riffs ideas than others... Is this the case with the band? Are the musicians of CRITIC perfectionists?
Philippe writes the lyrics, composes the riffs, and Vincent writes the drum patterns. The arrangements are the result of the work and feelings of each musician, vocals included, for example I can quote Erwin's bass lines or the leads Nicolas brought during the recording of the Ep. Perfectionists? Let's say we pay attention to details.
8. Expect for the vocals in french, do you think one could hear you're a french band somewhere? This said, does "French death metal" still mean something at the level of the style in 2019? With globalization, accelerated communication at every levels, the genres tend to melt together and the regional touches tend to smoothen (I remember the beginnings 00's, the french death metal bands were quite close to old school brutal death metal, you could find a "retro but brutal" touch in quite many french bands...)
Our origins
are most probably present in our music even if it's not volunteer.
You can often find particularities in the music according to its
country of origin: Peoples still talk about Swedish, German, American,
Japanese or Russian metal... So why not a french sound? But we didn't
aim to play french death metal. This said what could be the french
touch?
Globalization leads to an open-mindedness, a musical diversification,
but the creative approach remains to each band.
Standardization
perhaps also comes from the means of production and broadcasting
(Mass distribution, streaming platforms...).
9. How
would you describe CRITIC to someone who wouldn't be used to the
brutality of metal, neither to the "guitar and rebellion"
side of the rock culture? (Yes, it exists, I knew a trainee from
Senegal who was discovering Europe, for him rock music didn't exist
before arriving in France, and he seemed to be quite confused with
the "extremity" of Metallica...). Which meaning would
you give to the music of CRITIC so that he could understand your
approach?
In our eyes, rock is the best way to convey the feelings of frustration, anger etc... And with Death metal we found a way to express our feelings the best possible way, as well as our rage and desire to reject some drifts of society.
10. As well
as in rock music, I don't find new bands in Metal to become really
big, that last in time, that become musical highlights to the point
of turning into references... The current economic situation and
the evolution of the standard listener's relation with music won't
help... For the big bands, there remain old ones such as Cannibal
Corpse or Morbid Angel, but you must be quite motivated to follow
each of their releases and listen repeatedly...
In your opinion,
is underground condemned to suffer a frequent renewal of quite ephemeral
bands, or do you believe we could see the emergence of new references
that could last long enough to stand the test of time for decades?
According to us, when a band becomes a reference, it's not a part of the underground anymore and so this scene will renew itself automatically. But some bands will keep on standing out from the crowd, get more "success" and become new references..
11. Which bands appear the most often in your playlists? Are you rather into the old bands/ the classic records, or the newer releases?
We are five individuals so the question is very wide, even if we have some tastes in common. We are more than never true to our roots, but we still enjoy so much the discovering of new things, records that speak to us in a different way.
12. What are you future projects? This is a promotional space with product placement, so you can use it :-) Feel free to conclude.
We are focused
on the promotion and communication concerning the Ep, it's still
available for sell on Bandcamp. This task takes an enormous amount
of time and we also prepare ourselves to the forthcoming live appearances.
We are also thinking about future merchandising, and the idea of
a video clip sounds interesting, but this remains in reflection
for now.
Web
pages:
https://www.facebook.com/critic.deathmetal/
https://critic.bandcamp.com/
