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INDEX
INTERVIEWS
GUESTBOOK
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[DEATH
METAL] [BRUTAL DEATH] [TECHNICAL DEATH]
1. Hello!
PESTIFER has currently released only one demo, since I imagine not
too many peoples heard about your band expect in Belgium and France,
a little introduction with a summary of your history would be a
good thing.
Hello ! Yes in fact our « career » is very local for now, all the more this given demo was released four years ago already, so it had the time to be forgotten. To be short, my brother who plays bass and myself we met the guitarist, Antoine, about six years ago. We soon composed quite a lot of songs, played some gigs in the area of Liege and recorded three songs. Then, singer problem, rehearsal room problem, motivation problem… We finally took over things as we recruited a new vocalist and a second guitarist two years ago. Since then, we recorded a self-produced album, whose last details are in the process of being set.
2. So in 2006 you released a demo evolving in a cross between technical death, brutal death and sometimes more melodic influences, something between DEATH, PSYCROPTIC with few touches of ATHEIST… Do these musical quotes fit in as influences ? Were the feedbacks satisfying ? How many copies were circulating ?
Indeed, Death and Atheist are a part of our influences, in fact peoples are often making the link with these bands. I agree, but I think it’s more a global wave, a given idea of death metal that makes us sound in the same kind of metal. But if you takes things point by point, I feel it’s quite strongly different. Otherwise, the feedbacks were good as a whole. Each one his tastes… Anyway we were never said it was shit. I have no quantity to tell you, because we didn’t count too much, we sent some, gave some… All I can say is it didn’t cross a million.
3. I listened to your new songs on myspace, and one can say the level has progressed ! It’s more efficient, the style seems to be more brutal and a bit more tortured, yet always with a melodic touch from here and there… How long have you been working on these tracks ? You would say the style evolves in which way, maybe something more « futuristic » or « lunar » ? Have you got a precise path in mind, a clear goal, or is inspiration present when it agrees to ?
Thanks. The
ten songs of the album originate from different epochs ; Two tracks
of the demo were re-recorded, but the compositions really come from
the whole life of the band.
It’s certain the newer ones, such
as those on the myspace page, tend to be more accomplished and are
probably closer to what we’ll do next… I’d rather choose lunar than
futuristic, even if it’s difficult to describe your own music. We
lack of a global vision since we see the songs evolve, built riff
per riff, we see every attempts and mistakes. I could say if we
don’t have a precise idea of what we want, we are certain of what
we do not want! Nothing like core, or Goteborg, neither a lot of
other stuffs… But all in all we don’t shake our heads much, as long
as it sounds good.
4. I find cool your production still sounds quite natural, and not too worked and manipulated as it’s often the case… What’s your opinion about hyper plasticized records ? Maybe it didn’t fit your needs, or it would eventually be because of a lack of funds ? (In this case, my question is kinda biting its tail Argh… So well, keep on lacking of funds because I find the atmosphere much more present without the plastic matters !)
It’s certain
plasticized productions are shirt as far as we’re concerned.
It’s
much cooler when you can hear human being are playing. In our case
it was a conscious decision to try and get something natural, because
it’s what we like, and it’s what fits the best to Pestifer. I won’t
hide it obviously was easier with this state of mind, since anyway
we didn’t have the funds to buy a super production…
5. Where did you record these new songs ? How long did it take and was it an easy task ?
By luck we
learnt about the existence of a new studio 200 meter close to our
rehearsal place : Mammouth Production. Since nobody was free during
the week, we recorded on weekends, approximately from beginning
September to mid October. The mix, little add-ons, leads and all
the shit took a few more week ends in November. The mastering took
place at the end of December.
This way of doing things that was
due to circumstances helped us in a way, because after eight hours
playing your songs again and again, instrument after instrument,
it can become ball breaking after a while, and you could be tempted
to rush to finish sooner… Each time we had a week to think about
something else, and so I think we were able to remain fresh and
focused for longer moments…
6. Did you find a label for your forthcoming album, or will it be self-produced ? The process of conception of the final « product » has reached which level ? Is everything ready, or should the listeners wait a bit more ?
We will release it ourselves, and then search for a label or distributor, but with a finished product. We’ll sell a part of the CDs during gigs or through orders. We have almost finished, only the covers have to be printed, and then we’ll spend a do-it-yourself afternoon putting it in cases… We already received the CDs from the factory, but we had to wait for the artwork. Our innumerable fans shouldn’t be afraid, the wait won’t be long anymore… Your life will finally find a meaning.
7. When you play your songs, which color do you see (At the level of the atmosphere) ? It’s rather in the maroon shades, a bit à la DEATH, or do I interpret ?
Yes we could say you are right, at least the cover is in fact in the maroon shades. Now I don’t find the color to be the same than Death if you think about the last album, it’s really too « heroic » for my taste. We try to darken the thing a bit, to find melodic things without being too colored (If you see what I mean). One thing is certain : No trace of blue in our songs ! Some grey, some brown and some red according to me.
8. Could one say the color emanating from your music has changed a bit between the demo and the album ? Or my feeling would be influenced by the new production (And also maybe by the listening on myspace, it’s not the same that comfortably sat in a couch with good Hi-fi system speakers…)
Hard to say. As I told previously, two of the songs from the demo will appear on the album, enriched by a second guitar and new lyrics… And I find they fit well the global mood. Now it’s clear the hotter and more full production changes a bit the perspective… And the sound escaping the computer is ways more shitty than on a good old CD.
9. Tell us about PESTIFER’s gigs ! Is the atmosphere cool ? How many songs do you generally play ? Are there covers ? It’s not too stressing to have a quite technical set to play without mistakes ? (You have tips to avoid too much of stress, and also too much of zen attitude ?)
Hum, it’s so old that I almost forgot. Generally speaking the average length of a set is 45 minutes, in our case it equals to eight to ten songs. We are not particularly stressed, but I should say we never played in front of 50000 persons, until now the crowds were ok to deal with. We occurred to create some nice vibes around here, when the guys are drunk enough to let it flow, but not too much at a point they don’t care about the concert anymore… Now as well as every bands, it’s clear we occur to play in front of crossed arms statues, who remain cold in front of our band’s genius, but as a whole they clap their hands politely between songs… Anyway the best gigs occur when we all have the feeling, it can be felt on stage, and in the crowd, and everyone is happy.
10. I have the feeling the music of Chuck Shuldiner was very important for you ! It seems past musicians will rework the second album of CONTROL DENIED to finish it… How do you see it ? There’s a given level of quality to reach…
Death is clearly
a part of our cult bands since a long time… But once again, when
I listen to our CD I don’t really hear the resemblance. Well, now
it’s true Pestifer is much more a part of this school than the Cannibal
corpse one !
I wasn’t aware for Control Denied, but personally
speaking I’m not too interested. I’m not a fan of this kind of music,
and even for Death I don’t like too much the last one. I prefer
the « Spiritual » and « Human » epoch.
11. In the Death metal scene there’s currently a very old school revival whose goal is to come back at the very beginning of the style, in a sometimes very simple, primary, and morbid way close to the end of the 80’s… It’s not particularly close to your style. What your opinion about it ? Are you interested as a listener, or would you see it as an unnatural regression of the style ? Some kind of serpent who bites his tail ?
I can understand this way, because -according to- me it was better before. Now if it’s to do exactly the same thing, it doesn’t have a lot of meaning. The originals will always be better. In fact I think our music itself is nostalgic of these good old bands, even if we don’t have the primary morbid side, as you said. The thing is, I understand the new technical/ brutal Death tendencies can be unbearable for the fans of the first wave. I have the feeling what was once good lost itself in the way, and the new wave is wrong somewhere. Of course it’s a matter of tastes. To sum it up, I understand but I am not interested.
12. Your band name sounds a bit sarcastic and vicious. Maybe you were playing a quite different style at the time of the choice ? Or the one who came with the idea was under the influence of special substances ? ;-)
To speak the truth, this name exists since 1998, in a distant time when the first incarnation of the band had tried to emerge, before we focused on something else. When we met Antoine, it was clear for my brother and I that we should keep this name, because the basis of Pestifer already existed, even if we didn’t succeed in doing something concrete before. The guy who found the name is a friend who handled the guitar for some time then. We were writing anything coming through our heads on a piece of paper, without thinking too much, to find a moniker. Pestifer appeared between Flute-fuck and Caca boudin. We said ourselves « Cool, it’s perfect! », and you’ve got the whole story. The guy who found the name isn’t interested in metal at all in fact. I think it perfectly fits our music since it sounds a bit like the first bands we liked, so it’s not too modern !
13. Belgium is currently more or less chopped in half, on one hand there’s the Flemish peoples who don’t want to hear of, neither hear speaking French (In some towns, it’s even forbidden ! I also read some towns refused to sell a house to French speaking peoples !), and on the other hand there are those who speak French… What do you think of this situation. It’s just a matter of politics and administration, or the inhabitants also feel concerned ?
Totally, it’s
about the politics. But they break so much our balls everyday on
Tv news with community problems, systematically giving voice to
extremists of all kinds, always underlining the last vicious maneuverings,
that we have the feeling it’s going to be civil war.
But I myself
wonder how many Belgians really want to split the country. Hard
to say. Speaking of myself, I feel Belgian, not Walloon at all.
It’s a silly situation, but since there’s a different government
for every area, each wants to keep the benefits and isn’t ready
for any concession.
I don’t know every politicians in this country,
but the more media ones really look like a bunch of incompetent
ones. Our prime minister just resigned for the hundredth time.
14. In the north of France, Belgians are often associated with fries, some even use these cooked potatoes to make a bit fun of yourselves… To see the things under another angle, can you tell us some jokes and crusty anecdotes about French peoples ? Don’t hesitate to send the frying, anyway we eat a lot of fries ;-)
Hum, dangerous
subject. You ask me to insult the readers who had the courage to
read until there ? I don’t have much evil to say since 100% of the
French peoples I personally know are good guys. Now, it’s sure too
much of chauvinism and this patronizing side towards « Our
Belgian friends » can awake some distrust at first approach.
But I can understand you often mock us, because it’s true desperate
social cases are numerous here.
Then, no problem with the fact
of being associated with fries, it’s so good !
15. What are the future projects of PESTIFER ? Is there available merchandising ? Have you got a message for the readers ? You can conclude, the interview is finished.
So thanks for
the questions. Our future projects are to finally release this album
we’re preparing since months… We will slowly think about merchandising,
because… Well shit!
I also want to invite peoples from the North
of France to come to the Metal Mean, an excellent little festival
taking place close to our area. We will play there in august with
Mayhem, Rotting Christ and others…Rustic atmosphere, nice weather
guaranteed, beer at will, and Pestifer live. What else do you want
? The message I would like to express is : Love each others, and
love Pestifer. Buy our CD, and make us rich and famous.
See you as
the Méan ! Thanks.
Web page: http://www.myspace.com/pestiferbe
