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INDEX                           INTERVIEWS                     GUESTBOOK
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1. If I asked you to introduce Skelethal in 3 words, which would you choose?

Death, Beyond, Purple.

2. Are the members of the band subject to severe dietary deficiencies, or even anorexia? If this is not the case, why did you choose the Skelethal moniker?

No anorexia neither deficiencies, in fact we wanted a name composed of an only word, it's hard to find nowadays. I found the "Skeletal" word while reading the lyrics of a band whose name I forgot, and Jon had the idea of adding "H" to make a word play. Indeed it can sound like "Skeletal till death", we put a parallel with the fact certain things can gnaw yourself to death.

3. You appear in the middle of an old school death fashion, while dozens (Or even hundreds) of other bands are equally influenced by Entombed, Nihilist and the Swedish scene of the time. In your opinion what could kinda make Skelethal stand out from the lot? What would you tell a death metal fan to motivate him to throw an ear on your music?

Perhaps the fact we do everything ourselves (Compositions, recordings, artworks...). We do everything in a sincere manner and without compromise to please someone. We do not try to be innovative, but only to play what we like, might it please peoples or not. I wouldn't say anything to a Death metal fan, I would let him listen to the music and make his own opinion.
 

4. Skelethal was basically a sub-project of two Infinite Translation members. Is this still the case, or the release of two recordings on vinyl has lead yourselves to become some kind of "Real band", with more musicians in the lineup, more rehearsals, more constraints (But also more groupies lined up at the door of the "dressing-room"... This said I have a bit of problems to locate the "dressing-rooms" in the bars of the area huhu)

Yes, basically it was a parallel project but it quickly became very serious. With the split up of Infinite Translation there's no more hesitation concerning the priority.

5. At the level of your influences we already spoke about Nihilist, Entombed and the Swedish scene, but there surely should be more... Maybe pre-death metal from the 80's such as Poison, Insanity or Necrophagia (This one is almost pure death), and a little Finnish touch. Can you develop the subject a bit?

Actually we are nevertheless strongly influenced by Thrash metal in its entirety. Speaking for myself, I also listen to a lot of Grind, Crust and Hardcore Punk, the English scene of the 80's is a big influence (ENT, Doom, Heresy, Ripcord, Napalm Death, Sacrilege). In the Death metal genre, our big influences apart from the Swedish scene are: Autopsy, Bolt Thrower, Morbid Angel, Pestilence.

6. Generally, when the bones of the cadaver come to light, this means the flesh was completely eaten by worms or the process of putrefaction was completed. So in your skeleton-like case, do you think one could still talk about "Putrid death metal"? Perhaps the words "Post putrid" or "Fleshless death metal" would suit better?

Yes this could be a new concept héhé, anyway we do not really try to put a sticker on our style, my lyrics deal more often with the afterlife than putrefaction.

7. Listening back to the first ENTOMBED, the first (And 2nd) GRAVE albums, we can feel the drums were a bit manipulated in the studio, not to the point of ending up with "tic tic" triggers, but the sound was more powerful and "tight" than a natural drum-kit...
This said, on your recordings there doesn't seem to be any alteration at this level, and the playing is even a bit rough by moments. You absolutely do not want to sound a "modern" manner? You want the content to seem like it wasn't recorded after 1989? Or the bank account was too overdrawn to allow yourselves any alteration?

We found the production that suits ourselves the best with our quite lean means, our recording hardware is quite simple. I answer positively, we wish to sound like the albums we love the most and those were generally recorded before 1990.

8. Turning the letters of your band name inside out, I found the word "LAHTELEKS" that keeps a little taste of a Latvian origin, and that could suit the music of a black metal band with pagan or folk influences... Are you interested in the east countries? Would you like to travel, or even move there? Otherwise, in which other country would you like to move, at least in a temporary manner?

I'm not interested more than that in the culture of east countries. We were lucky to play in Czech Republic and Slovakia recently, we visited Prague (A very beautiful town).
If I could choose where to move, I think it would be England.  

9. If Skelethal was an animal, which would you choose? (Prehistoric choice possible... But no invertebrate: Skeletal without bones, no messing please...)

I never thought about it ahah, I would say a little monkey, the same than in Indiana Jones 1.

10. If the band was a natural disaster (Floods, avalanche, tornado, collapse of underground quarries etc) which would you choose?

An earthquake.

11. Which records are the most played on your turn-table these days? In which color do you see the future of the band? I let you conclude a putrid manner.

Currently the Anti-cimex discography is played quite a lot. Concerning the future we would like to record an album, and keep on playing gigs everywhere possible. Thank you for the interview!  
Gui Haunting and Skelethal

Web links:
http://www.skelethal.com
http://skelethal.bandcamp.com
 

 
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