Answered Dave Gregor.
Translated by Markéta, thank you!
Recenze/review - MORTA SKULD - Wounds Deeper Than Time (2017)
Ave MORTA SKULD! I have been listening to your new album “Wounds Deeper then Time” for a while now and I still discover some new parts of darkness in it. I have to admit that I expected a good craft from you, but I did not expect that you will totally kill me. This album is great. How are fans´ reactions and reviews?
Thanks
for the words and yes this album has been doing well and from what i
hear the fans dig it and the reviewers are liking it as well. Personally I would say it
could be “In Judgment”. Yes we have been playing them out for
some time now and we they are going over great in our set. And most
reviewers are into Hating Life but we did do lyric video for In
Judgement.
How
did you compose the material for “Wounds Deeper then Time”? How
MORTA SKULD compose?
A few
songs we written with the Serving Two Masters line up and then the
rest were written by this current line up.
Who
is the author of your lyrics and where do you find inspiration for
them?
I (Dave
Gregor) write the lyrics and come up with concepts, but if one of the
guys has a line i'm always open to it.
Who
is the author of the cover for “Wounds Deeper then Time”? I
really like this artist´s work. How did you chose the motive for the
cover?
My good
friend Pat Kachellek does our artwork and him and I went back forth
with lyrics and songs and he would ask me about themes and one day
came up with the awesome cover.
The
sound of this album is great. It is dark, cold and sharp at the same
time. What studio did you chose for recording? Were you able to have
any comments as a band about the final product and mastering?
We went
to Mercenary studios with Scott Creekmore and yes we always make sure
we have a say so in the way things sound and or are done in the
studio, we are very hands on.
You
started your band in 1990. That is a long time for a band. We can
almost say that you are a legend now. How were your beginnings? How
was the band found and what was the first impulse for creating a
death metal band? Why this music style?
I agree
been long time and road for sure. I started playing guitar later then
most and i didnt want to really take my time and i just jumped into
playing and started writing my own songs. But at first i had no
direction and then heard death metal and that changed my life, you
could be good but not have to be a shredder and at the time i didnt
play very well but could speed pick fast and had very heavy chord
progressions and it just fit with how i was at the time.It was just a
music with no rules and i could create anything i wanted and just ran
with it.
You
stopped your music between 1998-2012. Why?
My
drummer at the time went out on tour and didnt complete it and we had
to come home and lost everything due to Kent and his choice to not
tour. And not to mention most drummers werent doing double bass
anymore and we couldnt find the rest of the line up so we broke the
band up.
You
are like veterans now. When you compare your beginnings and today, do
you thing the time has changed? I mean the attitude of fans, labels,
promoters, organizers, and so on? I often hear people saying “it is
not the same as it used to be”.
It's not
the same by any means, back then you had record budgets and you
actually got royalty checks and were treated alot better then today.
Peaceville has been good to us and treat us well so no issues there
just the venues have closed and fewer places to play and or no one
wants to pay the bands anymore for the art and music we create. And
just all around things have become harder for the artist to thrive
and live off the music, people stealing music and it dont have the
appeal like it used to with some, and fewer people at shows so it has
just changed alot and is tough to be in this business these days.
I
try to find some of your old interviews and I even found some printed
magazines. But there is no information about the author of your logo.
Chad
Hensel formaly of DR Shrinker did our logo many years ago and still
use same one til this day.
Nowadays,
many people download music online and they only use its digital form.
How do you feel about this issue as a musician?
It has
it good points and bad, from a sales stand point it can be bad if it
illegally taken which is hard to stop these days, but then you have
fans that may check you out as they run into a youtube of the album,
so it can be used for good but most exploite it and use it the wrong
context.
Are
there any albums which have caught your attention recently?
The new
Kreator and Immolation are both kick ass, the new Obituary is awesome
as well. And oh yeah the Memoriam is sick as hell too.
Do
you know and listen any Czech bands?
I'm
sorry but i dont.
What
are MORTA SKULD´s plans for the next few months?
We have
a couple of festivals coming up one being the KY death fest and then
in Oct CA deeath fest as well, trying to get on the road a bit and
writing some songs for next album.
Thank
you so much for the interview and I wish you a lot of sold out
albums, hundreds of crazy fans and tons of great ideas.
No thank
you my pleasure and thank you to the fans and yourself for all you
guys do and help keep death metal alive. Cheers.
