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INDEX
INTERVIEWS
GUESTBOOK
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DESECRATOR: FRENCH GRINDCORE!
1. Hello! Introduce DESECRATOR! When was the band formed? How many stuffs did you release (or not)? How many former members are still in the band? How many are still alive?
Hello to you. Desecrator is an history that dates back to 93/95, when Cédric wanted to play violent and brutal music. One can say it’s really his project at the basis, and he was leading the thing for quite some years… Then, to sum it up, the band had two main epochs: the first one from 1996 to 1999, the second one from 2000 until now, there was two line-ups and two different musical styles.
I joined the band in 1997. It would be impossible to set a list of all the musicians who were a part of the band during the very chaotic beginnings, but the main ones were Tristan (guitars), who later joined S.C.D, Thomas who also played in Petrified, P-Y, he was the drummer of this band when he joined us, and he finally focused on his third band: Slavery… Cedric and I are the two remaining members from this first epoch.
Then we had
the opportunity to meat Sylvain (drums) and Ben (guitars) with whom
we kept on playing, with new and better basis.
Unfortunately,
concerning releases, there are only old ones for now (the
1st demo « Post-natal degeneration », a split with Unholy graven
a split with CSSO é Infected pussy, a split with Morgue, Visceral
strangulation and Atavism).
In 2001 we recorded few tracks for
a 4-ways split that wasn’t finally released… but the ghost might
unleash it from the capharnaum one of these days…
2. Your newest demo was recorded live, but the production is aggressive, compressed, and better than the one of many grind demos! In what kind of conditions was it recorded? Was it live in the studio?
Exactly, on an aesthetic point of view we enjoy this compressed approach that underlines the raw side of the music. It was recorded live in a rehearsal studio, with a good sound-setting, only the vocal parts were recorded on other tracks. The result is far from what I really want for the band, but it’s very efficient and sufficient for its purpose, that’s to say some promotion in zines, and mostly labels… or just for those who wanted something new. The 9 tracks were recorded in an afternoon, in one, two or 3 takes, depending in the song.
3. If one pays attention to this live demo, he’ll notice the band is really tight! The songs are structured an efficient way! Does it take a lot of time to have the songs tight and all musicians synchronized? How many times do you rehearse each weak? I suppose you do not smoke or drink that much in your rehearsal room…
To play tight and compose songs that really please us is very important for us, it needs quite a lot of work despite of the short length of the songs, so we can’t be as productive as we’d like to. We’re not the kind of band who composes a song per rehearsal session, and it can be felt at the level of releases: nothing new was recorded since a quite long time, but we have prepared a very rich and tight set-list.
At the level of rehearsals, we tend to motivate ourselves… The room we were using last year was crushed, and we had to deal with a not so satisfying arrangement.We currently rehearse two times per weak, it seems to be a minimum not too stagnate too much, but too rehearse in good conditions is always quite hard when you don’t have your own room.
4. Concerning the kinds of music DESECRATOR plays, I detected some old school grind, some death grind, and some more or less modern HxCx parts! Tell us more about your influences (and especially the Core ones, since I don’t know very much about it). Do you consider DESECRATOR as a Grind band, with the « G » letter written big size?
It’s hard to
say, our influences are quite varied and the evolution of a song
varies a lot depending on our moods, if I listen to a lot of brutal
stuffs at the time I would tend to compose something fast as fuck,
but the following song will surely be something more structured
and longer to build.
Then, concerning the pure influences, I
don’t know, we are taken in a given dynamic and we try to push that
in the best evolution possible. But if you want some names, let’s
say those who influenced the most my vision of music are: Brutal
truth, Carcass or Suffocation for the big ones, but it won’t be
much clearer. Recently speaking, it would rather be bands such as
Orchid, Botch, Mörser… But even if some bands please all the guys
in DESECRATOR, those I quoted remain my personal tastes, and I won’t
speak much for the others… Our music is rather the result of a whole
dynamic, we melt together all we want to take from our guts at a
given moment, and it keeps on evolving.
5. Since I downloaded your promo through Soulseek, I don’t have the lyrics, neither the song- titles. What do your lyrics deal with? Do you enjoy bands with poo-poo shit-shit lyrics (No name for this time, anyway everybody knows who we’re talking about!), or those who do not have lyrics… or is music the most important thing in your opinion?
The music is
the most important in my opinion. I enjoy a lot the bands who achieve
to stick a concept from the beginning to the end, including in the
lyrics, but it’s not that much our case.
In Grindcore, you’ll
find an enormous amount of bands using political lyrics, some will
vomit about gore etc…But in DESECRATOR, the vocals has always been
more or less considered as a full instrument. We give more importance
to the efficiency of vocals than its meaning, that’s not to say
we are completely apolitical, or anti-gore/ anti-fun, but we were
never been in the case of using a very clear message in our lyrics,
might it be political or funny. I think the message of Grindcore
is very clear and efficient, through the attitude and acts of a
band, it can be as speaking as lyrics…
The titles of our song
rather sum up things from the daily lives, the news that particularly
interested us, some private stories, everything only has to fit
the right way at the right moment, so a song can remain anonymous
for quite some time.
6. DESECRATOR and SUBLIME CADAVERIC DECOMPOSITION began to promote themselves in the French underground around 97-98. While the two bands had a quite equal potential, SCD have grown a lot while you remained very underground! It’s quite surprising! You certainly had to deal with numerous problems… Why weren’t you more supported in your opinion? Tell us more about it!
What could
I say, expect the only thing to do would have been to move our ass
after some time! SCD had a good opportunity to record, and tour
much more, thanx to Bones brigade. In our case, we remained quite
amorphous, and a few time after the band dislocated. But we have
shared quite a lot of deliriums with SCD, at the time when the Grind
scene from Paris was less than emerging, and I also do not regret
the new start of the band with a new approach (far more free, and
with a good spirit).
It converged with the discovering of the
real underground and DIY French scene, something we only saw from
the window, we get into that when we discovered this universe being
far more rich and alive than the few clichés I could have heard
in the past.
5 years ago, we found a squat of stoned guys, almost
by hazard. We began to rehearse, to play live, and it was the beginning
of a quite fantastic adventure. Then we were involved in the life
of the squat of the 13th Parisian suburb, big place of the grind,
punk, HC alternatives and other big stoned crazy deliriums, for
2 years. Then the one of « La cerise », a small house of love where
we were able to keep on rehearsing and share all what we could,
until the come back of unavoidable bulldozers.
As a paradox,
even if we almost didn’t record anything during this epoch, it was
the most rich and intense months I lived until now, for the gigs,
personal meetings and growth of the band.
7. I feel like you have an aggression, a cold and destructive energy near of the second SANITYS DAWN album (« Mangled in the meatgrinder »), even if you aren’t gore. What’s your opinion, with an internal point of view ?
Sanitys Dawn isn’t really a band that kicks our ass, so I don’t know them enough, apart from the few times I saw them live… But it’s true it’s an energetic band, and the energy is the thing we try to inject the most in our playing.
8. I think one could also compare your last demo with the NYCTOPHOBIC recordings released before their first album (when they had the guts!). What’s your opinion about it?
Haha, it’s a bit the same answer man. We had the opportunity to play with them in 1999 at the FGPGF 2 in Paris (w/ SCD, Nyctophobic, Dead Infection) but I must say this band isn’t a part of my music collection.
9. Some of your riffs have a quite Japanese sounding side in the grind delirium, it could remind a bit of S.O.B… Do you think it’s correct, or should I stop full-filling my stomach with craps full of genetically modified bullshits and devouring malignant molecules? Ah Ah!
Stop the dragibus my friend, this said, thanx for the comparison with this kind of cult band.
10. Quite a lot of current bands are said to play grind (or the labels use this beautiful sticker to sell a bit more), but their music is based on death/ brutal death guitars with blasts and screams.. But the primal GRIND riffs, with big chords aren’t there! What do you think of it? Quote few current bands that play real Grind in your eyes!
There are still an enormous amount of bands playing grindcore nowadays, and they’re more and more numerous hopefully! In France, there are always BLOCKHEADS who of course are never fed up, as well as bands like ELYSIUM, GEORGE BITCH JR, D.H.I.B.A.C who shred everything. Needless to speak about the remaining of Europe, there are many bands everywhere, and there are still old pillars such as DEAD INFECTION who have still recorded a lobotomizing album. Some current bands like SAYYADINA, CYNESS, LOOKING FOR AN ANSWER really made me trip… or also GRIDE, YACOPSAE etc… The German and Czech scenes are particularly in a good health concerning brutal musics.
11. I know you’re currently searching for a label to release an album! Tell us more about the content of this forthcoming release! (Amount of tracks, total length…). What kind of production do you want: a rather high pitched and aggressive guitar sound or an heavier one with a good corrosive edge? Will there be few surprises, or will the album be total blast from A to Y?
All say for now that’s is certain: We have about 20 tracks to record and we’d like the production to be good enough to show the brutality we want, yet without sounding strange. But we aren’t certain about the studio, neither of the recording schedule, so I prefer not to say more about it. The content will surely be mostly based on violent blast beats, but we will surely achieve to include few surprises.
12. What do you think about the current French underground? What are your fave French underground bands and which demos kicked your ass in 2005?
The French scene seems to get rid off its complexes, and we can see the emerging of a good and quality brutal scene, with bands that begin to tour quite well. But personally, the French bands that kick my ass are the ones quoted previously, as well as bands like Morgue, Carmina or submerge. The pure grindcore scene remains quite timid, but there are forthcoming bands, and we should follow them!
13. Do you think putrefaction fits the best to Grindcore or Death metal?
I think you’ll easily find putrid and rancid bands in both styles. (I didn’t understand your question very well, am I’m right?)
14. Apart from Grind, what kinds of music do you listen to? I think you’re into emo/ screamo… Do you think it can be felt in your compositions?
We all listen
to a lot of various things. In fact some bands of the very wide
punk-hxc-screamo scene, but also some hiphop, sludge, postrock,
métal, tech-electro, noise… As well as certainly a lot of other
things… Music is something too orgasmic too focus to few bands,
each discovering can be a new drug, so we do not limit ourselves
concerning music.
So it has certainly an impact in our compositions,
but it’s surely not direct. It’s rather the will to move on other
things and not to stagnate that I can feel this side.
15. Do you like Black metal? Glam? FM Hard rock? If the answer is « no », tell us why!
I think you might find a DVD with every Guns’n roses clips at Cedric’s house, he has feelings for this. I think I was born a bit too late to be fully interested in this aspect of Rock’n roll, or maybe we miss something essential…
16. This interview is almost finished! Tell us more about your future projects: releases, gigs… It’s you to conclude! Thanx for the answers.
Thanx for the
interest.
Our main current project is to find peoples interested
to collaborate with DESECRATOR and to release a good album. We also
have planned the release of a 4 way split with DISASTER, ELYSIUM
and SICKBAG, to be listened soon.
We’re also
preparing a little journey in eastern countries, for this summer.
It will be the Play Fast of Don’t Play fest. Our baptism for Eastern
Europe.
Hope to see you soon during a gig, thanx and see ya…
!
Website: http://desecrator.13.free.fr
Email: yehla@caramail.com
