Interview with death metal band from France - IRON FLESH.
Answered Julien, thank you!
Translated Duzl, thank you!
Questions prepared Jakub Asphyx.
Ave IRON FLESH! I haven’t found any interview in the Czech language with you, yet. So please, first introduce the band to our readers who don’t know you. You could start from the early beginnings and describe the whole IRON FLESH history.
Hi, Julien from Iron Flesh, i have started the band in 2017 as a solo project.
It’ s still the case but about 6 months after writing the first couple of songs for the 1st EP «Worship the necrogod» some friend of mine told me to find people to play with live .
So a asked some friend of mine to join me to play live, that was the best idea for the band .
A few months later, Me, Seb Sylver and Guilhem were ragging on stage !
In 2018 we released a second EP « Scourge of Demonic incantations» and played even more live .
2019 we released the first album «Forged faith Bleeding» on Epictural production .
That was the year were we played the most live !
Early 2020 started pretty well for us with a lot of project, then lock down happened so the new album was postponed...
We released a live performance recorded in 2019 for free, « A Necro dead one»
I couldn’ t think of not releasing something for the fans ...
November 2020 still under covid and lockdown but we decided to release the new album anyway .
«Summoning the Putrid» was released on Greatdane Records on november 27
We cannot play it live for the moment but we are preparing some surprises don’ t worry .
It’ s our best effort so far, the first couple of reviews are great and i am proud of those 2 last years of hard work .
2020 is coming to an end very soon, i am already projected into 2021 and even further .
I’m just listening to your new record „Summoning the Putrid“ and I feel like as if I am closed in some tomb together with ENTOMBED, NIHILIST, ENTRAILS, SORCERY, DISMEMBER. The record has a great dark sound. Where did you record it and how satisfied you are with it? Did you have the "last word" concerning the resulting sound?
I have recorded all parts at «Secret place studio» with David Thiers ( sound guy of Gorod and many other studio and live experiences )
Seb recorded the bass as on the first album, and i got sylver as guest for a solo, Dagoth from otargos did some vocals and alex from agressor did also a solo for me .
I am totally satisfied with the result, the recording was pretty fast but for the mix we took literally months to make it grow slowly on us and being 100% satisfied .
David is one of those wizard guys in the studio that can make tricky things to make you sound awesome .
He is really easy to work with .
That collaboration was the best so far and i hope to record again with him .
He is the perfect fit for the band !
How was the new material for album „Summoning the Putrid“ created? How exactly IRON FLESH writes the music?
This is really simple, I write all the music and lyrics in the band .
I am those kind of guy that can stay in his cave during days or even weeks to werite music .
It’ s a strange feeling, i always write music in the afternoon and when night is coming .
Then i don’ t i don’ t have any specific method, i jam, write riffs and try to find good structures and catchy riffs . Then i put drums, bass and leads .
I don’ t have any limits i just try to write music with differents influences/tempos and moods, so you generally have 4 or 5 different type of songs into an Iron Flesh album .
For the lyrics this time i was really influenced by Mark Riddick and Romero filmography .
Riddick is an illustrator that i dream to work with, his work is full of details and inspires me a lot when it comes to lyrics, it often describe a scene, so with imagination you can link different ideas and subjects together .
I still have my main themes around, Hp lovecraft stories, endoctrination, sorcery, demons and human race .
I try to melt all those subject and keep a red line to follow during all the album.
„Summoning the Putrid“ has dark cover art. Who is an author? I really like his work. How did you actually choose the idea of the cover and what exactly illustrates?
The author is Skadvaldu, he is an amazing artist, i have heard of him on facebook and instagram, those medias are a great source if you look for someone to make album art .
We talked a bit on facebook, i send him preproduction work with lyrics, explained him the main «concept», he really enjoyed it .
When i work with an artist i give him full possibilities, just the themes, i don’ t want to be too directive, generally it kills inspiration .
He started sending me a few sketches and in a few weeks the art work was more or less done .
I wanted the artwork to illustrate at least all the subjects/ideas i was speaking about in the lyrics .
But then it was up to him to express his art and feelings, and we have an extremely good feedback on his work !
Then Ars goetia design add some colours to the artwork .
It’ s always good to let people do the job they are good at, you cannot control everything all the time .
They feel more united with the band like members, they are in the same boat.
Could you reveal us who is an author of the lyrics and what is their background? Where did you take inspiration for certain topics?
I write all the lyrics, i am inspired by Hp lovecraft, sci fi movies, religion, history, everyday life, it’s definitly a source of inspiration .
I am not praying god or satan but if you one or an other you have to admit that they both can exist, Are we alone in the galaxy ? Who was on earth before us, what does the future will bring us ? is there life after death ?
Many questions that can activate your imagination and inspires you for lyrics .
You play music as old as death metal itself. How do you perceive new directions in the death metal? I mean mixing with death core or technical death metal? Do you have any favourite bands in “modern metal”?
I don’ t think death metal is really changing, i mean technical is coming but more and more old school bands are also coming out .
It’ s a matter of taste and mood .
Streaming is killing CD but vynils and tapes are coming back, you have to adapt yourself .
Then if you don’ t like a band just dont buy or listen to them, there are enough bands on earth to satisfy everyone .
I am not into that core/tech death scene but i do give a listen to some albums and big names cause i think you can find something you like in everyband, in terms of cutlure and just being open minded .
I really dig Spawn of possession, Archspire, Whitechapel, and more .
They have personnality, they bring something to the table.
What about IRON FLESH and concerts? Do you play a lot? Are you going on tour or you are choosing only bigger festivals? And what about touring over Europe?
I am glad you think we are somekind of «big» band but we consider ourselve pretty small, perhaps with a «pro» approach but that’ s all .
We still play in local/small venues and even if most of us have already toured or played big festival it makes no difference for us .
I have decided to start again from scratch i accept to be considered as opener, music and energy on stage will speak for us !
We have played more than 30 shows already, a few little festival, with this covid times everything is fucked up but i hope in the future that we will have some opportunities to show on big stages what we have in our guts .
Touring Europe would be a great experience, something like a DIY tour with 10 gigs in different countries
This is the kind of things i would like to share with my buddies, on and back stage .
Can you recommend some new albums, which impressed you at the latest time?
Benighted - Obscene Repressed
Skelethal - Unveiling the Threshold
Bütcher - 666 goat carry my chariot
Lik - Misanthropic Breed
Do you know and listen to some metal bands from the Czech Republic?
I really enjoy PANDEMIA music and saw them a long time ago in France
Hypnos, Krabathor but like most people i stick to my idols and i am not curious enough .
Thanks to this question i went on google and checked a few more bands and realize that the scene there is bigger that i thought .
After the interview if you have a few Gems to share with me i am open to discover new evil bands coming from Czech Republic .
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 metal style? What represents this music for you and why did you choose exactly this genre?
I have discovered metal with Dismember and Cannibal Corpse on the «Master of brutality 2» tape at the age of 8 or so .
I enjoyed more the artwork than the music at the time but i think it kind of make me remember the old time when i was living in my parents house enjoying brutal music without having to care about how to pay the bills, food .
I discovered music with vinyls first and tapes cuase it was cheap as fuck and my father let me buy some of them everytime we went out .
I still have them, bought a few Maiden, Metallica, ACDC.
The melodies, voices, chorus, agressive and catchy songs .
The fell in love with the all package and different subgenres .
It’ s all those influences you find in Iron Flesh music now .
I would define death metal as a way to express all the faces and feeling of your own self.
As a song writer, your music is kind of a mirror of your emotions, and when you know really well ther person you can read between the lines and understand that the apparent simplicity of the music is not exactly that simple .
What IRON FLESH is planning for the next few months?
Promoting as much as possible «Summoning the Putrid» trying to play live as soon as possible.
We have a promotional video clip we want to record, a live video, working on live stuff, rehearsing, writing new songs, the agenda is already full of exciting things to do !
Thank you for the interview and I wish you a lot of sold CDs, hundreds of crazy fans and tons of great ideas.
Thanks for the interview, we will make our best to give you the best you can expect !
Will be my pleasure to see all of you on stage !
Stay necro
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