Interview - BURIAL REMIANS - To Me death metal is the ultimate form of music. ~ DEADLY STORM zine

Interview with death metal band from Netherlands - BURIAL REMAINS.

Translated Petra, thank you!

Questions prepared Jakub Asphyx.

Recenze/review - BURIAL REMAINS - Spawn of Chaos (2020):

https://www.deadlystormzine.com/2020/09/recenzereview-burial-remains-spawn-of.html

Ave BURIAL REMAINS! This year I was really looking forward to your concert at the SYMBOLIC FESTIVAL. I wanted to invite you for a beer, to thank you for your music and to chat with you. But the coronavirus came. Concerts are limited as well as traveling. How has the current situation affected you? In our country, almost everything is closed again. How does it look in the Netherlands?

We were really looking forward to play the Symbolic Festival and meet some friends and drink some pivo! Unfortunately because of the virus lots of shows were didn’t take place or were rescheduled. As we really like to play some gigs this really sucks and it’s also hard to promote a new album when you can’t go out and play some shows. After a partial lock down we were going to a more normal situation slowly, but in the last couple of days everything seems to be going down a path that only can end in a new lockdown eventually.

Do you know what is interesting? When I write reviews, I don't drink at all, I have to have a clear head. But when I heard your new record "Spawn of Chaos", I had to open my beer. The album took me back into the 1990s on a timeline. It sounds great! And it is nice to drink during listening! How did the new album come about? How did the writing process and creation of the new material take place?

That’s good to hear, since everything is better with beer. But it’s great that you feel like you are taken back to the early 90’s, since that is the music that drives us. The early albums from Dismember, Entombed, Benediction, Bolt Thrower really influence us. The new album came rather easy and we wrote quite some songs. We usually just sit together and write riffs and collect them and see which ones are the best to use in songs. We’re not busy with creating original sounding songs, but just good old school death metal that moves us. It has to have this energy and an old school feeling. It must be fun to play the songs!

Only a year passed between the new record and previous "Trinity of Deception", but there were a lot of changes in BURIAL REMAINS headquarter. The line-up changed, in addition, my favorite singer Sven left due to illness. How hard was it for Wim de Vries to pick up the microphone? If I'm not mistaken, does he play guitar in the great band GRIM FATE?

I have to say that Trinity Of Deception was finished for quite some time before it was released, so we were already working on new stuff when it was released. The lineup changes weren’t a surprise to us, since we just didnt have a bassplayer to play live and we knew that Sven was only there for the first album and that he wanted to focus on Fleshcrawl, so no drama or anything. His illness came later, but is really fucked up and we wish him the best in recovering. Getting another vocalist is something we talked about, but since the vibe in the band was good as it was I decided to do it myself next to playing guitar. I havent done much vocals in the last years, so it is kinda hard to get into it, but I guess it works out. For the live shows we have a new guitarist on board, since I like to be able to move and go crazy on stage. I’m also still in Grim Fate, as is Philippus and we’re not planning to quit on that soon ;-)

You stayed devoted to Jonny Petersson and his studio again. I admit that your sound is just great. Cold, dirty, but readable. I consider Jonny to be one of the best contemporary death metal sound engineers. How did you get together and why him? Did any of his work inspire you?

We worked with Jonny Pettersson on the previous album and we were happy with the result, so it made sense to work with him again. We met him at some shows over the last couple of years and drank some beers, which only makes it more fun to work together. I really like some of his bands, especially Just Before Dawn and Gods Forsaken but the man is doing so many projects that I cant keep up with all of his work.

The greenish cover art is this time the work of John Quevedo Janssen. I really like his work, but I couldn't find anything about the author anywhere. Could you introduce him to us? How did you choose the cover for the new record? Is John also the author of the motifs for your T-shirts? I ordered it in black and white and it's really great!

We were looking for an artist for the artwork of the new album and I came across the Nocturnal Hollow album, which is really great by the way. But The artwork grabbed my attention and thats how we found John Quevedo Janssens. We looked on his Facebook and the more of his work we saw, the more we liked what he did. We already had a concept in mind and gave that to him and he really made it look great. For the shirts and the first album we used the also amazing Raul Fuentes. Glad you like the shirt and thanks for ordering.

Let's analyze the lyrics on the new album. What are they talking about? And how did they originate? Who is their author and where did he get his inspiration from?

The lyrics are about occult stuff most of the time. Lots of Crowley, but also Lovecraft inspires us as well as lots of occult books. I think the lyrics really have to go hand in hand with the music, and this fits us best. Most of the guys in the band work on the lyrics, some more than others, which is great. It also gives you more visions and influences to work with.

I've been a fan of metal for over 30 years. I've been throughy all the styles, but I still enjoy death metal the most. Probably because of the darkness. In the last interview, you replied that without death metal, your life would be boring. I'm sure you're also a music fan like me. Which kind of music do BURIAL REMAINS listen to? Do you have any tips for good bands in the Netherland? Are some new metal bands worth noting?

I guess between the band members we listen to all styles of metal, from old heavy metal to grindcore. But for me personally I really like other styles, but death metal is what gives me energy and inspires me. Since the early 90’s this music totally grabbed me and has done so ever since. Besides the more known bands in the Netherlands, people should definitely check out Graceless. That band is so fucking massive and brutal. Also bands like Mouflon, Anarchos and an old band like Burial, who is now back, really deserves your attention.

"Spawn of Chaos" was released on CD and LP. However, digital downloading is very popular today. There are listeners who must have something physical in hand, others swear to mp3s. You can get basically everything on the internet. Where do you think this situation will develop? What do you think about music downloading and in what format do you listen to music most often?

I hope that at least in the metalscene we totally forget about digital crap like spotify and stuff like that. I use it to check out bands, but when I like something I want to own a physical copy either on CD or an LP. Hold it in your hands and go through the booklet, look at the artwork. The whole experience is part of listening to music in my opinion. It may sound nice that you have your whole collection in your pocket on your phone, but in the end it’s nothing. I prefer a nice piece of vinyl both soundwise and for experiencing the whole package.

What do you do now when concerts are banned because of coronavirus? Personally, I really miss live performances. I like club events where bands and fans are close to each other. Do you already have something planned? What about a tour when this damn flu ends?

Yeah we do lots of stuff to promote our record. Of course we did some episodes of Chaos TV and we’re planning to do more and we already played a show in front of only 60 people who were all sitting on a chair. It’s not an ideal situation, but we have to deal with it and want to play. As with the small video items, you have to be creative and find new ways to get to the listeners. it’s a really fucked up time we’re in and I hope this will change soon. But otherwise the music business together is creative enough to find new ways to get out there I guess.

As I said, when I listen to BURIAL REMAINS, I have to drink beer. I still have some Pilsen ones here, nicely chilled. At such moments, one philosophizes a little. How would you actually describe death metal and what does it mean to you? Why did you actually choose this style? What was the first impulse that you started playing it?

It’s easier to describe how I feel when I drink beer I guess, but you already took the easy part. To Me death metal is the ultimate form of music. The brutality, aggression, the dark atmosphere really appeals to me. I like doom, thrash, heavy metal, but there’s nothing better than some fucking old school death metal. We never chose this style of music, it was just obvious that when we would do a band it would be death metal in some way or another. It’s all about the power, the pounding riffs, the brutality. It’s the same when you play as when you listen to it.

I can't handle more beers or questions. I would like to thank you very much for the interview. And you know what, I can still handle one beer. I'm going to turn on "Spawn of Chaos" again. I turn off the computer and add volume. You really succeeded on that record. Thanks so much for it! Good luck and I hope to see you somewhere soon! Cheers!

I hope we can meet next year at some show and drink some of the great Czech beers. Thanks you for the interview and the kind words. Really appreciated. Drink beer and worship satan!

about BURIAL REMAINS on DEADLY STORM ZINE:

Recenze/review - BURIAL REMAINS - Spawn of Chaos (2020):

https://www.deadlystormzine.com/2020/09/recenzereview-burial-remains-spawn-of.html

Recenze/review - BURIAL REMAINS - Trinity of Deception (2019)

Interview - BURIAL REMAINS - We don’t take energy from our fans, they need their own to headbang!

Rozhovor - BURIAL REMAINS - Nebereme energii od našich fanoušků, potřebují svou vlastní na headbanging!

https://rawskullrecordz.bandcamp.com/album/spawn-of-chaos
https://www.facebook.com/burialremains/
https://www.instagram.com/burialremainsofficial/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6b0zNT5qow21jaARtONixY
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbJAHHgVymAg5Fg033bZV-g/
http://www.rawskullrecordz.com/