translated by Duzl, thank you!
Interview with old school death metal band CARDIAC ARREST - answer Adam Scott.
Ave CARDIAC ARREST! In the
spring of 2015 I finally had the opportunity to see you live in Prague. You
were touring with NOMINON and to be honest, your set totally kicked ass.
It was old school death metal exactly to my taste! Do you still remember
how your European tour take place and what memories did you have of it? How did
you like in Prague?
A: Much thanks on that
Jakub!!! Yea the European Tour w/ Nominon was great, we got along very well
with those guys. (Almost too well, haha!!!) Prague was definitely a
favorite as far as I'm concerned on the tour, lots of killer maniacs who
enjoyed as well as a great show all around!!!
You brought to Prague the
album „And death shall set you free“ (2014) which completely engulfed me at the
time of its creation. Even today I still play it again and again and again….
How did you create this album? I wonder how you composed it, and who is the
main author behind the music and who wrote the lyrics?
A: We wrote it pretty
much like we do everything we've ever created, alot of times we have some riffs
we feel it out. Hopefully a finished song will come about it. Usually that's
the case, plus it depends on the mood we are looking for too. I do bring alot
to the table music and lyrics wise. Tom (Guitar/Vox) may bring a couple riffs
in here and there. But anything we do work on is exactly a group effort.
There's no dictatorship in the creative process.
„And death shall set
you Free“ (2014) adorn a great cover. Autor of this cover is a man named
Putrid (Matthew Carr). Why did you choose him? If my memory serves correctly he
also drew the cover art for AUTOPSY,CRYPTICUS,CYANIDE and many others. How did
you find him? Did you sent to him your record for inspiration?
A: We've been friends
with Putrid for a long time. I met him over a decade ago, he showed my some of
his artwork, sometime shortly after he did a shirt design for us. We dug it
enough to ask if he wanted to do the cover for Morgue Mutilations (debut album,
2006), we've used Putrid for all of our full lengths. His style has definitely
grown throughout the years but the gruesomeness has always remained in tact!!!
Usually we always have a concept in mind and has a gets a good idea what to
do.
Next thing that I really
like on your last album is the sound. It´s well shaped, moldy and probably
recorded somewhere in the catacombs. Where have you recorded and how? I
am a fan of „old“ records and its a reason why Im interested in how you created
this particular sound. Today is the age of digitization, when albums are cleaned
and dehumanized. You are going against the stream of time.
A: We recorded this
album along with a couple of 7" EP's at our practice spot. Nick (drums)
has the studio gear and the knowledge with recording, and helps to have a
decent ear for such endeavors. HAHA!!! But anytime we do any recording we make
it as organic sounding as possible. When you hear us live that what we try to
capture when you hear it on CD or Vinyl. I know exactly what you mean. Nothing
beats the classic records. There was just a magic with those. Not many
recordings in this day in age can come close.
Let´s be honest that death
metal has, had and will always have only a small percentage of listeners. For
most people death metal is too extreme. Here in Czech Republic we still meet the
same person in the gigs and sometimes gigs are quite a „familly affair“. We are
a small country with limited potencial fans so I wonder how is it with you
guys? You come from Chicago and America is generaly much greater.
A: If you are playing
death metal for money and fame, etc, I would suggest looking elsewhere for
that. Yea it's pretty much how it is in alot of places when you go to a show in
Chicago, usually a lot of the same people will come out. One thing is for sure
about our area if you like metal, chances are you'll have something to do on a
friday or saturday night per se. Then again that's usually the thought that
major markets are always gonna be huge. There's alot of hit or misses too. Much
like if you were to go somewhere smaller. But don't count them out
either.
Did you notice during your
European tour any differences between fans here in the old continent and in
America? Where do you like it best and where did you have the most successful
fanbase? Have you ever been to a country where you dont want to go back?
A: Well, turn out was
was pretty much what I would expect. But interacting with fans and such they're
more into it for sure, that and the club owners/promoters where extremely great
too. Not that we don't get taken care of here in the states but it was
interesting to see for our first time over in Europe. We had a couple of lame
turnouts but every show was something special and something that is all but
forgotten, as I said before Prague was a highlight, not to neglect any other towns
either. That and ending the tour at the Neurotic Death Fest was just
simply mind blowing!!!! I can't really say there isn't a place I don't want to
go back to yet. We would like to go back to Canada, but I know the border can
be a bit of a hassle. Especially hearing some horror stories from other bands
too.
The death metal scene in
Chicago was very strong once. Today you can only hear about MASTER who live
with us in Czech Republic and also BROKEN HOPE which was reborn recently,and
apart from that its nothing else. Seems to me that maybe bands from Florida
have come to life“ again and started recording great albums. Can you name me
such bands from Chicago, which you would like to recomend?
A: Chicago's always
been up and down with it's metal scene. Of course Speckmann is always going to
be highly regarded for Master and Deathstrike. I can really go all over the
board with bands from here. I band that I wish NEVER broke up is Scepter. They
were just too fucking cool. Also Cianide is still alive and kicking. Another
legend of the past that people should never neglect is Devastation. Some of the
bands that are coming around here that are of recommendation are Deathcult,
Imperial Savagery, Sons of Famine, and They Die Screaming.
You founded the band in the
year 1997 and you are the only sole survivor from that era. Think back for us a
little bit and please and let us know what was the impulse when you started
playing death metal? How did you get together? How were the first songs
created? Please tell us about the old times and about everything that has
happened with CARDIAC ARREST.
A: I was about fifteen years
old when me and a good friend at the time who played bass (later on drums) gave
the whole band thing a try with this. We usually practiced in my dad's basement
after school. Alot of the stuff we listened to was predominantly the albums
from the early nineties. The old Hypocrisy stuff was always highly regarded and
stuff that influenced us. It is still apart of me to this day. We just
wanted to play some heavy as fuck Death Metal!!!!!
If we look at the history it
is quite interesting to see that the first full lenght album was released in
2006. This was a long nine years after the formation of the band. Why? Until
then you had released only two EPs and one demo. Is it possible to get these
records somewhere? Alternatively do you think about their re-releases?
A: Yea it took quite a
bit of time. Mainly due to not being able to get a solid lineup of guys, alot
of people we tried just didn't get what we were about or were just total
burnouts, it wasn't until a number of years until we got a serious lineup
somewhat. Some of those early recordings like "Heart Stopping Death
Rot" (MCD 2004) or the Beast Among Many 7" EP (Famine Records 2005)
might be available on discogs or ebay. There are intentions of putting these
out in the future. Might take a little time, but it sure is glad to know some
people ask.
Recently I was sitting in a
pub with my friend who missed out on buying your t-shirt in Prague. I was
looking on the internet and there werent lot of options really. Do you have any
official website or page of the label where we can get sorted with the new
merchandise?
A: Yea we don't have an
official website, just facebook as well as a big cartel page www.cardiacarrestdeathmetal.bigcartel.com
there's some merch on there, if you don't see anything there. Feel free to ask
us at the facebook page or email us.
You are a witness to a lot
of death metal. What do you think about downloading music from the internet?
Has it affected somehow a band such as CARDIAC ARREST? Has it reduced the
number of CD sales.,etc? What do you think about digital music sales?
A: Well to be blunt about
the whole downloading thing, I am not in any way for it. Especially when it's
on some torrent page (illegally). Total thievery, I feel bad for the younger
generation to be honest with all that stuff. I guess it all depends on how its
set up too. Because I hate it when I see that when it costs a band money to
make and bands and labels lose out. One thing that does help is when we play
shows people do buy CDs/vinyl/merch/etc so that's something I hope never goes
away.
Which albums got your
attention the last time?
A: As of lately in the
last year. One that's remained in my stereo is the new Offal, called
Horrorfiend. This band seriously rules. Almost as if Autopsy Impetigo and
Pungent Stench had a threesome. HAHA!!!!! Also that debut album from Cut Up
"Forensic Nightmares" I thought was fucking ferocious. Hell anything
with Vomitory (RIP) attached to it is a win in my book. Also the new Ectovoid
album was pretty great too. Also not in the death metal territory I would say
the Motorhead and new Iron Maiden were also in constant rotation too. Never go
wrong with the classics.
Do you know of or are you
listening to any bands from the Czech Republic?
A: I wish I could I knew
more than I do. I have the first Pandemia album "Spreading The
Message". I thought that was cool. Wouldn't mind checking them out more. I
am well aware of Fleshless as well. I would say Master but they don't quite
fully count (they were ours first. HAHA!!!)
What has CARDIAC ARREST
planned in the coming months? Can we look forward to see you at some concert in
our country?
A: Well we don't have much
planned on the live front, we are playing a show in Indianapolis, IN in march
with Faithxtractor. Aside from that we are predominantly working on new
material. We have a couple of split 7" EPs lined up. One with SURGIKILL
and one with COFFINS. Not to mention we are also writing for album number six.
Hopefully to be out this year. I will also say this. We are definitely wanting
to comeback to Europe!! Hopefully this year maybe next, but needless to say it
will happen, mark my words!!!!
Thank you for the interview
and wish you the most records sales and crowds of devoted fans and tons of good
ideas.
A: Thanks a ton Jakub!!!!
The support is greatly appreciated. Thanks to all who read this. ROT FOREVER!!!!
