Interview with death thrash metal band from Canada - DETHEROUS.
Translated Duzl, thank you!
Questions prepared Jakub Asphyx.
Ave DETHEROUS! I have never found any interview with you in Czech language. I will ask you first to introduce the band to the readers who do not know you yet. You can start from the beginning and take us throw the whole history of DETHEROUS.
We are Detherous, thrashing death from Calgary, Alberta. Canada
Loosely formed in 2014 but not established until 2016. Over the span of the last 6 years we have put out a demo, an EP, our first full length album Hacked To Death, and now our latest work, Unrelenting Malevolence.
This year, you have just released the new album „Unrelenting Malevolence“. Again, it's a dark, harsh and honest death thrash metal. Did you access to the recording process differently than last time or did you choose verified practices?
For the approach to recording the album we went pretty close to how we recorded Hacked To Death, same studio, same engineer, the biggest difference from this album to our last is that Damon recorded all the guitars and bass, minus a few solos.
The new album seems to me more complicated, perhaps initially less accessible, at the same time incredibly dark and evil. Was it intentional? How did the album originate and how did you compose the music?
It felt like it was intentional for sure, the goal was to see how we could improve on the sound and make it faster, meaner, heavier, and have more intricate and thought out parts. This album was written a lot differently compared to our previous stuff, since it was during the pandemic, Dimitri(drums) and myself had to send ideas through emails and piece it together. So i would write it all at home and send it to him and he would place drums or give ideas about lengths of sections or just different ideas of what we would do. The way we usually write is at the rehearsal space together.
I have a „Unrelenting Malevolence“ in my MP3 player and I have to say that this album literally engulfed me. These are not just great ideas but also sound is simply devastating. I'm sitting in the tram, and suddenly I find myself shaking my legs. I have a feeling to start moshing. If I weren’t so old, I would probably start to. Where did you record and who is signed under mastering?
We went to our great friend again Devin Schum at Black Page Studios here in Calgary Alberta. He is great! Always kills it for us, gives us a very nice sounding recording but it still has DIY grit in it. Devin has also recorded/mixed/mastered Hacked to Death for us as well, and our split we put out with Stench Of Death in 2020.
Who is the author of lyrics on „Unrelenting Malevolence“? What are they talking about? Where do you get inspiration for themes?
Damon writes all the lyrics. The lyrical themes are all just horror movie and gore based, like Encased In Gore for example is about a killer who leaves horrific crime scenes without leaving a trace of who they are or any evidence to even begin finding out who it might be. We love the horror aspect of death metal, the macabre lyrics and making our own horror stories, and to fit with the intensity of the music there is usually a million words per song haha
Who is signed under the cover of „Unrelenting Malevolence“? I like his work very much. How did you choose the motif for cover?
Karl Dahmer (Dahmer Art) did the artwork again! We got him to do Hacked To Death from 2019 as well. We just love his style so much, he knows what we want whenever we come to him and he just kills it everytime. We actually got 2 other artworks from him as well for some upcoming merch for Interminable Mutilation and Gruesome Tools Of Torture and they look brutal!.
When we look back at the beginning ... What was the first impulse to found the band? And why the death and thrash metal? It's not the typical styles which can would give you great "glory".
Looking back to the beginning of the band was a lot different then it is now for sure, when we first started out we played more in the league of Metallica, Iron Maiden, Anthrax, more general thrash. But as time went on and musical taste expanded we wanted to be more aggressive, more ruthless and more relentless. And yeah there isn't the biggest market for death thrash but we do it because we love to, we love to tour, the people who like or music and support us, and that's what it's all about.
You come from Canada and play extreme death thrash metal. Our readers would be interested to know how the death thrash metal scene works in Canada. To be honest, I've been hearing nothing but great stuff from you guys lately. Does that mean that the scene is very strong in your country at the moment? What about the gigs, how many people are coming?
The scene in Canada especially since the end of the pandemic has been crazy! We did a month long tour back in July and every show was well attended, it was nice to see so many people down to support what we are doing. When it comes to death thrash in Canada there aren't to many bands playing the style, off the top of my head there is
Raider, Invicta, Concrete Funeral, Snakepit.
From your music is possible to feel that you are influenced by American death thrash metal school and as well by the old European bands. How do you feel about it as a fan? Do you prefer the original death metal of the 1990s or do you get inspiration as well from the new albums? If yes so I am wondering which bands had the greatest impact on DETHEROUS.
When it comes to influence we are all over the place, our biggest influences would be Demolition Hammer, Morbid Saint, Malevolent Creation, Slayer, Sepultura, Kreator, Pestilence, etc. And for more new bands that we are influenced by, bands like Skeletal Remains, Creeping Death, and Power Trip.
We love a lot of different eras of death metal and thrash so we just try to blend the best of it all up and make something good.
What about you and concerts in general? Are you a band that goes for concerts anytime you can or you are picky about where you will play? Do you have a dream, maybe a group you would like to go with for a tour or festival, a city where you would like to perform?
For shows and concerts we will play anywhere and everywhere that people want to see us, we want to travel as far as we can to play this music for everyone who wants to hear it. We'd love to tour with Skeletal Remains or Demolition Hammer if ever given the chance! We'd love to go to Europe and America very soon, just trying to get that all planned out and all the visa requirements met.
We are slowly approaching the end of the interview so I would like to ask one more philosophical question. How would you define the death and thrash metal style? What represents this music for you and why did you choose exactly this genre?
The way that we define death thrash would be how relentless, aggressive, and brutal it is, bands like Demolition Hammer, Morbid Saint, and Malevolent Creation had that perfect death thrash sound down, it's fast, heavy, just a wall of aggressive noise. Vocals play a key part in that too!
What DETHEROUS is planning for the next few months?
For the next few months are plan is to just work on promoting the new album as much as we can and get some tours planned out! Trying to do as much as we possibly can next year to keep DETHEROUS busy!
I'm going to listen again your new album „Unrelenting Malevolence“. I have to say that for me personally, this is basically a perfect death thrash metal work. Totally inferno. I wish big success to your record and to get this album to as many people as is possible. This album deserves it. I wish you all the best in your personal life. Whatever you do and the last words are yours. If you want to tell something to fans, labels, promoters, you have space here..... Thank you for the interview and I am looking forward to seeing you live!
Thank you for the kind words and the interview! For our closing words we'd like to say a massive thank you to Redefining Darkness Records for all the help, all the people who support us and who have supported us over the years, and anyone who has helped us or given us a platform to speak or promote our music, thank you.
You can find our brand new album Unrelenting Malevolence streaming on Spotify, Bandcamp, Youtube, and anywhere you can stream music.
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