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INDEX
INTERVIEWS
GUESTBOOK
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DEATH
METAL/ BRUTAL DEATH FROM FRANCE
1.
Hello, what's up with SMASHED? I think you've played a few shows
recently?
Adri: Hey, yeah in fact we played in July in Tarbes with our friends from Zöldïer Noïz and recently in Toulouse with our buddies from Upper Decker and Voorhees.
Seb: Hey there! For gigs it happens in periods, and this month has been pretty busy!
2. The band is from the South of France, not far from Tarbes. You play death metal... But is it more DEATH METAL, BRUTAL DEATH, or TECHNICAL DEATH... Or a bit of the three? Rather old school, modern, or more moderate for this question?
Seb: I would say we play a kind of Death metal that’s rather old school. Actually, we didn’t really think about which category suits us. We almost all grew up in the 90’s with pretty direct and explosive stuffs blasting our hears. We're huge fans of Slayer, Cannibal Corpse, and the likes; We let ourselves be guided by what had amazed us at the time.
Adri: Yes, we all live around Tarbes except for Julius, who plays bass and is from Perpignan. I would say we do a bit of the three in our own way, with an old-school side for the instruments and a slightly more modern style for the vocals.
3. Your album entitled "Spreading Death" was released almost four years ago on the French label CABALE prod. Are you still happy with the result? I have the impression you spent some time writing the songs and working on the production, so I imagine it wasn't just an ejaculation to be quickly done on the corner of the table? Are you kind of guys who like to make the pleasure last? :)
Seb: Yes, it was the culmination of a long and arduous work process. First the recording was delayed several times due to the health situation at the time. But it's true we're not the kind of guys to rush things and just churn out riffs to record them quickly. We like to take our time and be sure of the quality we offer. Sometimes some might say we're too much, but that's how we work. And to get back to the origins of the band, we formed with the sole ambition of composing and playing riffs that we enjoyed and that we felt were no longer very fashionable. The rest, concerts and recordings, came as opportunities that we seized later; there was no plan initially, just pure enjoyment.
4. One thing I find well made in the album is that you managed to bring out the "burning" side, a kind of hot energy that was more common in the albums from the 90s/ 2000s, without really sounding live because the production is quite powerful and a bit tighter or more modern in some ways... So, can you tell us more about how and where the album was recorded? Was it a live take (All the musicians at the same time) that was edited later, or did you record your parts one after the other? Which software did the studio guy use, if you don't mind me asking?
Seb: Ah, thanks
for your feedback. This period, as I mentioned earlier, was pivotal
for us. The recording took place over several months, interspersed
with periods of lockdown (Yes, what a beautiful time that was!!!),
with Stéphane Elkine, who has already worked on many productions
in our region. The drums were recorded in just two days due to these
events, and then we all recorded our parts separately. Despite this,
we all tried to maintain a certain freshness in the takes, but it
was a quite frustrating time, and this album really served as an
outlet. That's perhaps why you have this “In your face” impression.
Then
we also like quite straight stuffs, it's true there's less material
of this kind these days. Concerning the software, it was Cubase.
5. Listening to your tracks, I can feel you’re into death metal with a rather brutal tendency, with a couple more old school influences, but I also hear more technical touches here and there… So what were the bands and albums that have the most influenced you in your death metal evolution, and for the band’s compositions? I would say the early Cannibal Corpse albums, but also Sinister, Suffocation, maybe Severe Torture, Necrophagist, Soils of Fate, but I'm less sure about those last ones...
Seb: For me, I'm a kind of the 90’s you were right, the albums that came out from the Floridian scene like Vile, Bleeding or Tomb by Cannibal, Monstrosity's Millennium (a true bedside album), Deicide's Legion, the early Morbid Angel albums, and also Sinister's Hate, and many more, definitely left a lasting impression on me. My colleagues are also in that vein, with some more or less thrash-oriented variations for some, perhaps it can be felt sometimes. We could spend hours discussing and dissecting the death metal of that era. It was a real discovery and a new musical age where each release practically charted a new path
6. Concerning the Cannibal Corpse influence, the listening rather reminds me the band of the 90’s, at the time of "The bleeding" or "Tomb of the mutilated"… I find their albums were more impactful and dynamic back then... Do you share this feeling or have you been swallowing every canniballistic delivery since the 2000s?
Seb: That's not wrong, they're also among my favorites along with Vile, even though there have been Gallery or Bloodthirst in the late '90s and early 2000s that were unstoppable with absolutely scorching riffs. I admit that everything that came out after Torture didn't really make the same impression on me, but after a career like that, it's difficult (Even impossible) to criticize them; they remain and will remain one of the greatest death metal bands.
7. Why do I see so many tentacles on the album cover? Are you adepts of Cthulhu? Or was it meant to symbolize a form of nature's revenge on the human beings who take too much space on Earth?
Seb: The cover art was created by Slo, who notably worked on the Metal Maniac comics, and dates back to well before the album. We had a split project in mind but it unfortunately never materialized. The initial idea for this artwork was to depict an abomination that fed on everything it destroyed in its path.
Adri: I own a statuette of the great Cthulhu on my desk, so for my part I am a follower of this deity, and for the lyrics of the song “Spreading death” I was inspired by a Lovecraft novel which fit rather well with the cover, so much that it gave its name to the album.
8. Are you happy with the work of CABALE Prod for the CD release? How did you get in touch with them? What else can you say to attract the readers' attention on this French label, which now has five albums (and a few other prods) under its belt?
Seb: With the guys of Cabale prod it’s a long story, we've known each other for a long time, and they were initially very motivated to reissue the first EP initially, then when we evoked the album there was no question about it. Arch, the boss, immediately had a ton of excellent ideas, and they did an incredible job on every level, producing a truly classy, generous, and high-quality deluxe edition. They are truly passionate in every sense of the word, metal fans for decades like us, and on top of that they're very good guys, which made communication very natural.
9. How did the death metal fans in the south of France live through this year's heatwave, and how did you manage to survive it? I remember I travelled to Auch in the south of France, in the middle of summer years ago, and it already felt quite like a furnace, but we weren’t in a heatwave… So I can't even imagine what it's like when the thermostat is stuck at forty!
Seb: This summer has been particularly harsh at this level; we only played once in July, and I won't hide that it was intense. But I have quite a few memories of concerts at 50°C where you could see the stars a little. Unfortunately, we'll have to get used to these kinds of conditions... I have a thought to all those who went through challenging times in the middle of these devastating fires.
10. If SMASHED were a bag of chips, would you choose the barbecue flavor? Grilled steak? Roast chicken one? Or would a simple, natural taste one do the job? Are you also brutal at the level of food, eating, or does your more extreme side only comes out in the music? (Okay, one could find more extreme food examples than chips, sorry for the average one haha)
Seb: So you see, it's one thing we all agree on: Chips should be natural. The BBQ flavor all happens on the coals (laughs)!!!! No, really, we live our lives like we play; we're first and foremost bon vivants and we love getting together to share the pleasure of a good, hearty meal, all naturally, we don't mess around with that!!
11. You're located near Tarbes, which is really in the South of France... For you is that more an advantage or an inconvenience for the band? Is it cool for gigs to be not so far from Spain and Toulouse, or does it make things more complicated? And is the local scene cool in terms of bands, associations, and concerts?
Seb: We're lucky to be not too far from Toulouse and Bordeaux either, which has allowed us to play quite a lot of really cool concerts through some very effective associations. But overall, and I think this is a general trend, it's getting harder and harder to find venues that host metal concerts for local bands, even though a small but effective resistance is organizing. Regarding the Tarbes metal scene, we're not as numerous as we used to, but I think there are some very high-quality bands. Just look at the latest releases from Iron Slaught, Zöldïer Noïz, Deadly Whispers, Cirrhose Atak, or Asile Obscene, just to name a few, but I'm forgetting some… And when you think about Hypokras or Hantaoma, you can say metal has deep roots here.
12. Did you start working on new tracks? If so do they evolve in a style to be close or a bit different from the album? Can we expect more brutality? More old school?
Seb: We have some new riffs that work, something to build pretty good songs, it promises to be brutal again (laughs). Believe me, we're not about to give up the death metal we love so much. But like I said earlier, we're the kind of peoples who like to take our time.
Web
pages:
https://www.facebook.com/smasheddeathmetal
https://smashedofficial.bandcamp.com
