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INDEX
INTERVIEWS
GUESTBOOK
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OLD
SCHOOL DEATH, WITH A TECHNICAL TOUCH
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INTERVIEW MAY 2021
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1. Hello, what's up? What has happened in the world of SUPPRESSION the last year? Despite of the whole covid mess and almost zero gigs, some bands were able to move on, compose or record new songs... What about you?
Covid has hit us hard, we have suffered a lot of delays as a result of this, mainly the release of our first LP was delayed, however we have advanced within what we can, currently we only have to mix and master it. Quarantines and curfews make everything more difficult and slower than normal, which keeps us quite upset. On the other hand, we have been able to advance new compositions for the second album, which causes us more anxiety because we cannot rehearse regularly, we simply want to release our first album and start working on the second one.
2. To describe your music in few words, do you think the following sentence would fit? "90's Death metal with an old school technical approach and a thrashing side". Or perhaps you have a better scriptured offer?
Yes, that´s
what we want to demonstrate, but the word technique does not represent
much to us, we would not frame our music as "technique",
more than anything we are people who enjoy studying the instrument,
and we like to explore different possibilities and sounds, and all
that you hear and you will hear in our music is the result of that,
a constant discovery of our instrument.
We are constantly trying
to get away a bit from that thrashing side that the media has classified
on our first EP, however we think it is just death metal.
3. From what I gathered, your last "official" recording entitled "Repugnant Remains" got good response from the fans and underground medias... Are you satisfied with it? Do you think it reached the right audience?
We are satisfied,
although we do not think much about our past productions (Of this
or other bands in which we have participated), we usually have our
heads in future productions.
We also think that our music is
becoming little by little more integrated into the death metal audience,
which is what we are currently looking for.
4. This recording was released on tape, vinyl and CD, basically every possible formats. Was it your goal to have it released in all decent formats, and did you work on this, or perhaps you simply received offers from labels? Are you personally particularly fond of tapes or vinyls for example, or is a format good for you as long as the music can be played on your Hifi system? :)
The labels
that released Tape and Cd formats approached us when they
heard the band live, but to release the vinyl version, we have approached
Unspeakable Ax records, since we had worked with them before. To
be very honest, we are not great collectors of music in physical
format, but of course we like the physical format. We like the concept
and the idea that when you buy a vinyl, cd or tape, you are not
only acquiring the music, but also an artistic sample of palpable
value, something tangible and of course limited.
5. I listened to your newer recording, the "Misunderstanding Reality" promo 2020, and even though it's called a promo/ demo it's very well produced, it almost sounds like an album... Is this track taken from the forthcoming release? Or is it perhaps a pre-production demo, and then you're perfectionists?
Yes, it is indeed a song that will appear on our next album, we recorded this "promo" more than anything to keep the band active and to test our new drummer. We recorded it as a preview of what our album will be, but it is not a track taken from this album, since it has been recorded in a totally different studio. Therefore, yes, we are perfectionists, we try to improve in each production, and even if that production is only a “demo” or “promo” we wanted to do our best with the few resources we had.
6. I have the feeling this new track sounds more death metallic compared to the previous Ep, and perhaps you sound a bit closer to early GORGUTS (First album). Maybe it's due to the heavier production, the disgusted vocals, or perhaps you had more deathmetallic blood flowing in your veins the last months? Ahah
Death metal blood was what started the band, as well as the desire to differentiate ourselves from what we had been doing on a daily basis as musicians. For us, our first Ep is simply death metal (old school), and yes indeed, Gorguts has been a great influence and we have learned a lot listening to his records; We admire Luc's work, he is a great influence for us, but obviously not the only one.
7. I have to say the bass lines of your bassist are very very cool, and remind the best years of Steve Di Giorgio in SADUS or DEATH... Do you think distinct bass-lines are something missing in many new death metal bands?
Yes, our bassist
has always been influenced by Steve's interesting way of playing,
not only in the bands you named, but in the others were he has left
his mark such as Autopsy, Geoda or his Dark hall project that is
more focused on jazz. Obviously he's a big shot at what he does.
Well, each bass player has the opportunity to demonstrate, interpret
what they want and decorate the music in the way they deem appropriate,
however it is always nice to hear well-executed bass playing and
to remind us that the bass shouldn’t be only a companion of guitars.
Bass
is definitely not the most developed instrument in the style, we
believe that a good bass player can make a big difference in a band.
8. Do
you prefer old GORGUTS (The first albums) or the later more brutal
and tortured ones? Their later releases aren't really destined to
the same peoples I believe…
Uff, it’s a big question. We believe that like everything in life, evolution is one of the predominant principles, and Gorguts has known how to deal with this principle very well. Their latest productions are much more worked musically, you can hear the work and the musical knowledge they have acquired over time. The interesting thing is that they have managed to maintain that death metal essence that they had in their first albums, the truth is that we enjoy both the first and the last productions; Obviously we must contextualize ourselves in the time it was conceived and therefore understand these as such. In that way, they are definitely all works worthy of admiration.
9. Speaking about blasting death metal, do you prefer old CRYPTOPSY (The first two albums are very great) or old SUFFOCATION? Both bands are/ were very good, but in a different style... Since your music has some brutal moments, it could be nice to know what you enjoy in the genre.
Just like you said... The first 2 albums of Cryptopsy are definitely very brutal, all those blasts at impressive speeds are really insane. They inspire our way of doing death metal, but basically it's just the first two. With Suffocation the story is different, each album has that death metal season worthy of admiration. However they are not the only "blasting" bands that we usually listen to.
10. What do you aim to suppress? Don't tell me “Suppression” is only a cool name without meaning, I imagine you could live very well without corruption, diseases and more…
Honestly the name started only as Something cool hahah. Sorry to disappoint you, we were much younger when the name was chosen, and the band was dead, until we left other projects to dedicate ourselves to it. But we have been fortunate that this name fits perfectly with the lyrics we want to express in this present. That has nothing to do with a repression at the level of the state or external agents, but it’s related to self-sabotage and the null capacity for introspection we currently have as human beings: We repress a lot of emotions and we are not able to understand the mental structures we have created from our birth to the present.
11. Is the goal of SUPPRESSION to be a professional band, to record in better studios, to play shows in Usa and Europe regularly? Or you "only" want to remain an underground band playing and composing music during weekends? (No problem with the second choice)
It is a complex
question to answer... Because we are aspiring to go as far as we
can with the band, that means recording in better studios, playing
shows around the world, above we said we are perfectionists, we
want to be better with every new production. The second option also
works, if we do not manage to go as far as our hopes, music will
continue to be the main axis in our lives, we will continue producing,
composing and playing the best we can.
So of course, we want
to move suppression to a more professional level, the ideal would
be to be able to tour a few times a year, we also want to try to
make our live-shows known to other cultures. It is a lot of work
in addition to the sacrifice that everyone isn’t willing to give,
it is easy to go out and play the weekend in a nearby neighborhood,
we believe that the real work takes place outside the national borders.
12. What are the daily life jobs of the musicians from Suppression? Is it possible to make a living from music in Chile? In France/ Europe there are peoples organizing shows, there are the sound technicians... These jobs are a bit "unsure" on the long term, but some peoples are able to live from their passion (More or less)... Is the music scene in Chile developed enough for this?
Well, in Suppression,
we find ourselves a bit in the Chilean problem: Professionals with
degrees have to exercise other types of Jobs: There is an overload
of workers and a very little labor market, a lot of competition,
over-demand, over labor exploitation… Which has made us abandon
our professions and try to survive in the way that keeps us happy.
Here in Chile, it is difficult to survive purely from music and
if we take it to the style we do it’s even more complicated, because
many of the gigs the bands play are unpaid.
The Chilean scene
doesn’t develop at all like the European one, Pablo and Daniel have
had experiences playing in Europe, and it is another world… Starting
with the treatment of musicians, there are certain countries in
which certain basic needs are covered, which leaves room For culture
and entertainment, we had the experience of touring Europe and we
were struck by that many times. The shows were full on weekdays
(Monday to Friday), here in Chile everyone is very tired and stressed
to go and see a show in the middle of the week. Therefore living
from touring and metal is practically impossible
13. Since a couple of years, the European metallers can experience an invasion of Chilean bands! It seems there are always new and good sounding death metal, thrash or black metal bands coming from Chile... If you pay attention to the underground side of metal, you can really be impressed... Do you think it's a new phenomenon? From an insider's point of view, would you say the quality and quantity of Chilean bands has improved the last years, or perhaps they are now better promoted abroad and have more opportunities?
We do not believe
it is a new phenomenon, the Chilean underground has always had very
good bands. Something that can help a lot is globalization: The
internet and medias allow the bands to record and share their music,
in the same way it is much easier to reach foreign labels which
are interested in their music.
Another noteworthy point is that
in ancient times (80’s and 90’s), here in Chile, the person who
had an instrument was generally someone from a somewhat well-off
social class, only a small group of peoples could access instruments
to make music. Nowadays that has changed, there is a wide variety
of products that can be purchased, for all budgets. It obviously
makes more people interested in playing music, and so the number
of bands in general increases.
14. What did the musicians of the band enjoy listening the last weeks/ months? It can be about albums, Eps, demos, new or older stuffs, metal or not... As long as it was played quite "regularly" :)
We will answer for the peoples who are writing this interview.
Daniel: These last few weeks I have really enjoyed listening to “Deloused at the comatorium” from the Mars Volta, I have been surprised by the music and by the lyrics, especially by the story behind the lyrics, and I have also been listening to the latest Gorguts productions a lot, “Colored Sands” and “Pleiades' Dust”, I think Luc Lemay is an interesting person. I have also been finding out and listening to Madrigals by Carlo Gesualdo, due to the history of his, his music is very revolutionary for his time, even according to the beauty canons of our times.
Pablo: Well, lately I have found myself listening to a bunch of varied music, starting with SARKASM and its “Inner flame” demo, it has me very stuck with its similarity to the first Gorguts. Then PURULENCE and specifically the “Inverted decay” demo which was commanded by Steve Hurdle, as well as NEGATIVE and the extraordinary form of expression of the above named. I personally consider myself a huge fan of Gorguts and their album “OBSCURA”, definitely a turning point in death metal. I also find myself listening to some AGHORA.
15. What should the listeners expect from SUPPRESSION in the future? Tells us about your next projects! (And perhaps upcoming merchandising). BANG THIS HEAD THAT NEVER BANGS!
We are currently finishing our album, which will be released by Unspeakable Ax records and Dark Descent records, we have signed a contract with them, and there is less and less to be completed, so it will be available in 2021.The mixing and mastering process will be done by Colin Marston, who is the one who produced the last Gorguts album. For now that's the closest we can announce, then we hope to be able to work on our second album as soon as possible, and we also hope that the damn covid is over, so that we can travel to other lands and show our music. Thank you very much for the interview
Web
pages:
https://suppressiondeathmetal.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/Suppression.Death.Metal
