Interview - INHUMAN - Death metal from Costa Rica! ~ DEADLY STORM zine

Interview with death metal band from Costa Rica - INHUMAN.

Answered guitarist Jonathan Sanchez, thank you!

Translated Petra, thank you!

Question prepared Jakub Asphyx.

Recenze/review - INHUMAN - Unseen Dead (2020):

https://deadly-storm.blogspot.com/2020/04/recenzereview-inhuman-unseen-dead-2020.html

Ave INHUMAN! 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 INHUMAN.

- Hi, im Jonathan Sanchez Inhuman guitarist, Inhuman is a Death Metal Band from Costa Rica in Central America, the band start december 2011, I already have several songs written and i start looking for musicians to start this new project, i found Drummer Freddy Sanchez who later on recommend Sergio Munoz for vocals, and after that bass player Carlos Venegas join to the band(he also letter on join Corse Garden) , we start recording a our first album Course of Human Destruction in 2012, the album was release April 2013, then we did a short tour in Costa Rica, Panama and NIcaragua, after the tour drummer Freddy Sanchez was replace by Eduardo Chaves, we start working on our second album Conquerors of the New World and we start recording it in 2014, the album was relased in August 2015, then we did another tour in Costa Rica and Nicaragua that ended on March 2016, after the tour the idea was to start our third album, at this point I have all the songs written(this will become Unseen Dead LP), but unfortunately Eduardo Chaves past away in a car accident, and we took a few months to recover, during this time we relase a cover EP called EP_01 as a trio, I program all the drums on this EP. Later on we found drummer David Salazar, then Carlos left the band and was replace by Kevin Moran, in mid 2017 we start recording what will become Unseen Dead, there where a lot of delay during the recording of the album, the album was ready on January 2019, but after that drummer David Salazar left the band and was replace by Juriel Barquero, in mid 2019 also Sergio Munoz(he past away last december) also left the band and was replace by Gabriel Martinez(who also had a band with Eduardo Chaves), then Grimm Distribution and us decide to release the album in 2020, we did a small tour for the first time in Mexico this year, and now we are working on our 4th album.

This year, you have just released the new album „Unseen Dead“. Again, it's a dark, harsh and honest death metal. Did you access to the recording process differently than last time or did you choose verified practices?

- This time I record the album in my home bedroom studio that I call humbly Inhuman Studio‘s, the process was different the drums were recorded with Edrums, David played all the parts, the guitars were reamp with a Kemper and also the Bass. The Vocal also were recored at home in a small room(my closet) that i have for vocals. So yes the procces was very different, the first two albums were recorded in a real studio using real amps and Drums..

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 was not intentional, I just made songs on guitar them every body add their parts. I just sit and make riffs then i join the riffs and a new song is born, so i think is just pure inspiration, but with nothing in mind only weed, people tag us as Technical Death Metal, but i just thing is Death Metal, i don’t do riffs thinking if is technical, dark or evil.

I have a „Unseen Dead“ 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?

- Great, you should start moshing haha is never too late haha, I record the album at home in my bedroom Studio(Inhuman Studio’s), I’m responsable for the production, recording and mix of the album, the master was done by Esteban from cisma records, he is also from Costa Rica.

Who is the author of lyrics on „Unseen Dead“? What are they talking about? Where do you get inspiration for themes?

- The author of the lyrics is Sergio Munoz, all the lyrics are related to death, he got inspired by all the events that happend to us years before, the lyric of the song Unseen Dead is dedicated to our late drummer and bro Eduardo Chaves, the Song Last Prophet i think is the only one that reference religion, but all the other are related to death.

Who is signed under the cover of „Unseen Dead“? I like his work very much. How did you choose the motif for cover?

- The Artist for the cover is J.L Rey from Phlegeton Art Studio, he also is the singer from Spain band Wormed, hes been working with us since the beggining, he made all the covers from our LPs.

To be honest we let him to get inspire we only told him the idea and he later on came with cover. He is very good and we like his art and approch.

When we look back at the beginning ... What was the first impulse to found the band? And why the brutal technical death metal? It's not the typical style which can would give you great "glory".

- Well the impulse was to record and make music, I was before in several bands and it was difficult to do this because the bands that i was part nobody took it seriusly, they had the same songs for years and no intention to record, so that why inhuman start, and now we have 3 LPs and 1 EP.

I never write songs thinking if they are too brutal or technical, i just made the riffs then every body make their parts, so i guess the brutal technical death Metal is with not intencions, is only the final product after everybody brough their inspirations to the songs. We are not looking for glory, we just want to make music and play it live.

You come from Costa Rica and you play extreme death metal. Our readers would certainly wonder how the death metal scene works in Costa Rica. To tell you the truth, so lately I hear only the great bands from there (I love CORPSE GARDEN!). Does this mean that the scene there is so strong at the moment? What about concerts, how many people coming to them?

- Musically the scene is strong, there are a lot of great bands and musicians young and old, but concert are different, sometimes there are 20 people other times 100 people, this is a very small country so it change it from concert to concert. But i think we are in moment where there is a lot of bands recording and releasing great albums that are not only death metal.

I have to ask. You live in Costa Rica, which is considered a strongly Catholic country. You play death metal. Do you have any problems with it? Do you get space in TV or in newspapers? How is life in your country affected by Christianity?

- We don’t have problems with that here, those problems were in the 90s when the Costa Rica metal scene start it, now nobody care, it is very easy to get a space on TV and Newspaper, but who still watch TV or Newspaper?, with social media and you tube there is no more need of that.

From your music is possible to feel that you are influenced by American death 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 INHUMAN.

- Yes of course,i was influence by early American and European Death Metal, thrash metal, etc. I grow up with that, When i write music I just let my influence to pop up, I don’t fight with it i just let it flow, and i like it, i think is very honest, then all the other band member have different inspiration, there are young guys(24, 26, 30) in the band i am the oldest(35), so i let them to do whatever they want musically. So i guess everything is a mash up of influences.

Personaly the greatest impact are Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Death, Carcass, Hypocrisy, Vader, Napalm Death, etc..

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?

- We love to play live so we play everywhere that have the minimun conditions, we plays small bars, big clubs it doesn’t matter. For me the idea of having a band is to make music, record it and play it live, this is a small country and there are not a lot of places for extreme music, so we play everywhere that we can.

Personally it will be cool to play in different countrys, it always good to gig in new places. We recently came from Mexico and it was a good experience, we will like in the future to visit South America, USA, Canada and Europe.

I'm going to listen again your new album „Unseen Dead“. I have to say that for me personally, this is basically a perfect death 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!

- Thanks for the interview, Im really glad that you like the album, i hope one day we have the oportunity to go to Czech Republic and the rest of Europe. Thanks Again.

Recenze/review - INHUMAN - Unseen Dead (2020):

https://deadly-storm.blogspot.com/2020/04/recenzereview-inhuman-unseen-dead-2020.html

https://grimmdistribution.bandcamp.com/album/054gd-inhuman-unseen-dead-2020
https://www.facebook.com/Inhuman.MetalBand
https://open.spotify.com/album/4VkiDMT6DeeQlHQIjCraww
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3s31sqa9x67YvWzDPvrHbw
http://satanath.com/distro