DEGIAL - Death metal from Sweden

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INDEX INTERVIEWS GUESTBOOK
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-RESURRECTING YOUR INNER DEATH-

S. Underground salutations! Before all, a little introduction to DEGIAL might be necessary for those who didn't cross your musical paths. When was the band formed, what are the important points of your biography and what are your aims?

Megiddo: Greetings. Degial was reformed out of Degial of Embos in 2006 with H. taking care of the vocals and with a new bassplayer.
If you ask me I think the most important point is when we realized the important point of spiritual and occult and the fact that we all are on the same level on that basis in this band. The creation process of the music got much deeper and serious. Just compare the demotape to EP. You can hear the difference.
The aim is to grow in a spiritual way as individuals and as a group and then reflect and evolve that knowledge in the music to take it to a newer level and release the chaos. We will achieve things no one ever have seen or heard before.

A. What are the last news from the DEGIAL camp one would need to know to be decently updated? Your myspace page wasn't built around a vomitive maelstrom of informations and it's not so easy to find news on the Internet... I wonder if you don't prefer to keep it occult and quite discreet, as an overdose of exposure might kill the obscure underground aura?

Megiddo: I don´t really see any point in giving out to unnecessary information. The things that you find on the myspace is the only things we have any interest of sharing.

T. Before shortening the name to DEGIAL, the band was previously called DEGIAL OF EMBOS and released 3 demos between 2004 and 2005. I'm surprised about the fact I never heard about your band in these years, I was deep into the underground searching for obscure death metal bands, especially in Sweden... Were these recording meant to be confidential as you weren't too proud of it? Or maybe you were a bit too young and didn't know about the deep underground?

Megiddo: Thats completely wrong. The band never shortened the name to Degial. Degial of Embos disbanded, so H, R, and E formed Degial. They are two different bands. The only connection between them are the three members and that both bandnames contains the name "Degial". And since I never played in Degial of Embos i´m the last one in the band to ask that question. But I can give you my point of it: I don't think there were too many tapes printed up on those releases, and the 3rd demo never got printed at all. So I guess its only friends of the band who really got copies.

A. What are the musical differences between these DEGIAL OF EMBOS recordings and what you're doing under the new name? I didn't hear them, but the moniker lets me imagine it would be something slower, more doomy, with darkened atmospheres...

Megiddo: Well.. I´ve only heard them 2 times each i think. But its a major difference.
Degial of embos reminded me very much of Beneath The Remains with Sepultura musically. And the lyrical theme.. Well.. As far as i remember it was with war theme? Correct me if i´m wrong, but I never have got any interest of digging any deeper in the buried material. That´s not what i´m looking for at the moment.

N. The "Awakening from darkness" demo from 2006 was short indeed, it contained only 2 songs and some kind of an instrumental outro... Was it volunteer as you kept the best of the best, or were these the only finished new songs? I think it might have been released in a little rush as a birth statement, to show the underground the new face of the band... Was there an initial release on CDr (Or something) before the ZOMBIE RITUAL tape?

Megiddo: As you already know I wasn´t in the band at that time. But I understand why people release demos in that length. Why make it longer when you already have made the point you wanted to make, why say the same thing 2 times in a row? I just don´t see any point in doing that, that´s just stupid.
People who listened to it and liked it was still hungry for more. You shouldn't be bored by a recording.

AT THE GATES OF DARKNESS IT AWAITS

L. I didn't find this demo to sound that Swedish, at least it doesn't sound so much like the ENTOMBED/ DISMEMBER/ GRAVE/ CARNAGE quartet in my hears as I could point as much influences emerging from old American Death metal (The good old POSSESSED) ... And maybe other Swedish influences that would come from the very first incarnations of the genre (So, pre-ENTOMBED or something) or from the more "modern" ways of the morbid (REPUGNANT, probably from the "Hecatomb" era). What would you say about these feelings of mine? Correct or misviewing? Do you voluntary sound not too Swedish to try and be more personal, or you don't pay too much attention to these matters and follow your inner urges and waves of darkness?

Megiddo: The old swedish classic Death elite sure means a lot for us, we liked them lot in the early teenage years and still do.
But the atmosphere we want to create with our music and lyrics wouldn't "fit" so good with the typical swedish sound, If you understand what i mean? The darkness we have in us reflects on our music, thats the most important for us. We don´t want to be a copy of a band, we want to be unique in every way. But of course you can hear some pure musical influences as well, if anyone would say that we aren´t influenced by for example Morbid Angel, I think they might consider going to an ear doctor.

A. I noticed a change on the visual point of view, your new logo is more necro and bones appetizing, while your photographs look more evil and full of blood... Will the music follow this evolution as it would be rawer and more necro? How would you compare the new songs as opposed to those of the first DEGIAL demo?

Megiddo: As i told you earlier, this is as well a part of the evolution part. The way our spiritualistic views will evolve you will be able to reflect on everything with the band, and in this point you can actually see the rawness of Chaos grow. This is only the beginning.

U. A few years are now gone since you released the 2006 demo tape, so I think you might have composed quite a lot of songs... How much finished tracks do you currently have in stock? On the Blood harvest page is announced an Ep, can you tell us more about it? Are you still planning to release it on B.H, or will you choose another label if you receive a better offer?

Megiddo: Well, the question is outdated I guess, but we recently released the "Death and Darkness Buries All!" EP. 3 songs of pure fucking armageddon. Buy it, or don't.. your loss...

G. Tell us about the subjects your lyrics deal with. Why didn't you choose Swedish as a language, maybe because it might be hard to make it sound right in swensk or because you want foreign listeners to understand your message? I know some old Swedish death fanatics would love to hear a band of this kind sing in Swedish, I'm sure it would sound even more cult and necro in their hears ahah... But would it be something right to do?

Megiddo: I don't see any point at all to sing in swedish, we want to deliver our chaotic message to everyone out there. That would be like playing guitar with one arm or singing without a throat, no point at all.

H. DEGIAL is a part of the Uppsala Death metal "circle" that also counts GRAVELESS and INVIDIOUS. Each of the 3 bands share some musicians, so I could ask if some of these are more important than others (That could be some sub project), or should each one be seen as a separate entity of the same importance? What do this "circle" mean on a concrete point of view, is this more than sharing rehearsal places and running a bar where bands could play?

Megiddo: All of the 3 bands are equal. In the end, all of us want the same things. So we are supporting all of the band as a unit. We all want to spread death. Some of us are more active than some other, but that doesn’t matter.

- DEATH HYPNOTICISM VIBRATIOS -

S. Did you play a lot of gigs and how does it generally occur? Did you already make a concert with DEGIAL, GRAVELESS and INVIDIOUS, and isn't it a bit hard or too intense for some of the musicians who might have to play 3 sets at the following? (I'm especially thinking about drummers...)

Megiddo: We don't have any plans in making a Metal of Death concert with all of the 3 bands. And no, we have no interest at all in releasing a Metal of Death compilation with the 3 bands. When we want to do it, we will do it our way.

A. The not always so precise Metal-archive says 3 members of DEGIAL are a part of "Hverg". Is it true? According to the name, I would imagine some black or pagan metal, or eventually dark ambient... Can you give us more infos about it?

Megiddo: Fuck Metal-archives, almost every info about the members are wrong. So if someone who is able to change the info, the logo and all that stuff is reading this. Do it.
Well Hverg.. that was H., R. and E.´s black metal band they had with Johannes, a bassplayer who played with the band for a couple of months. They only had the band for 1 year i think. Never released anything.

S. It seems many of the younger Swedish Death metal bands were strongly influenced by REPUGNANT, apparently their quite few years of existence were important to relaunch the life of putrid Death metal in Sweden... Some bands such as KAAMOS, DELVE/ VERMINOUS and few others might also have helped... Do you think REPUGNANT were really so important, of they were only one the morbid factors that helped, and maybe things could have happened without them? What do you think could have happened if they didn't split up and released their album before, kept on playing gigs and recording music... Do you think they could have became much bigger on an international basis?

Megiddo: Well, the reason why Repugnant split up were because that Soulseller took so fucking long time in releasing the album, so the members got tired in waiting for it, so they split up before it got released. But the album was a huge success in Sweden when it got released. Repugnant where quite un-famous in Sweden before that, well « Hecatomb » was well received in the underground movement.
But of course they are very important for the Death Metal scene, I mean in the middle of all Black metal shit that the record companies just puked out they showed everyone you still can make morbid death metal. Same about Kaamos. I got huge respect for both bands. Especially for Kaamos, since i find their lyrics more interesting. And don´t get me wrong, I like Black Metal, but serious? There is 1 good black metal band in 10.000.

W. The current Swedish Death metal scene is much more active than 5 years ago, there are many younger outfits entering the sarcastic picture and older bands reforming, a few labels sharing the morbid cake and releasing most of the body parts as some kind of obscure "monopoly". Do you think there's currently some kind of trend in Sweden, or is it rather the announcement of a real morbid awakening? Do you see this quite massive increase of morbidity from an all bright eye, or are there also drawbacks? Which bands from the younger ones could reveal more demented talent and become much important in the forthcoming years?

Megiddo: Well, whatever happens in anything, you will always have people that ride the waves. I don't give a fuck about them, cause in the long turn it´s the people who really was into it who will survive. We are the wolves, they are the prey.
I don't check up so many new bands actually, but some good new bands are In Solitude, Waster, Gravehammer, Veternus, Morbid Insulter etc etc. I don't care that some of those don't even play death metal, but i don't like categorize music, the most important is what they want and what they stand for.

E. If Death metal would stand for 3 virtues, which ones would it be?

Megiddo: Death, Darkness and Chaos.

R. I have seen from time to time black metal labels promoting their releases as "Metal of death", which sounds a little strange in my hears... Do you think black metal could decently be called "Metal of death" or should this morbid way of invoking the iron be kept for real ancient Death metal?

Megiddo: That depends, but i don't see "Metal of Death" as an "Death Metal thing", I think that the reason people labels their music as metal of death is that they express their death worship with their music. But on the other hand i think that there is like 1% of all bands that really mean it. But fuck the others, I have more important things to do than getting angry in imbeciles.

O. In the current wordily situation, do you think it would rather be the hell or heaven to be overcrowded? Would DEGIAL rather help to open the gates of hell and ease its weight by letting the ugly invade the earth, or make an inquisitorial visit in heaven to free some space for your close friends?

Megiddo: Open the gates of hell and release chaos.

T. This interview has reached the last flagstones of the graven path, tell us morbid readers about your forthcoming projects and feel free to conclude in metallic avulsion! Death metal eternal!

Megiddo: We want out and spread the words of death on the roads.
Check the myspace for news.
and last: We are death! FUKK YOU!

WEB PAGE: http://www.myspace.com/degialdeathmetal

AGONIZE THE GRAVE CONFINEMENT