Interview with death metal band from France - CREEPING FEAR.
Translated Duzl, thank you!
Ave CREEPING FEAR! Greetings to the French underworld. I hope you are doing well. I'm just listening to your new album „Hategod Triumph“ and I feel like I'm in an old cemetery. It is excellent in one word! How did the album come about and where did you want to move on in comparison to the equally good previous album „Onward to Apocalypse“?
- Hi ! Doing great! I’m glad you enjoyed it. This new album really came naturally after the previous one. But, we wanted to push things even further, for us this album had the be darker and more extreme in the writing and of course in the sound.
You released a new record in the strange times. No one could have known that Covid 19 would hit the world. Has the current situation affected releasing process in any way?
- I definitely agree with you, what a strange time to release new music.. We waited 4 months the album was due end of December 2020 but we pushed it to end of March. Unfortunately, the situation has not changed at all. I hope we will be able to defend this album on stage soon.
Let's go straight to the new record „Hategod Triumph“. It is decorated with great cover art by Paolo Girardi. I immediately had to order a T-shirt, I was so interested in the motif. I perceive it as an apocalypse, an underground storm. How did you get together with Paolo and why did you choose his work? And how does the motif relate to music?
- We just made a sketch of what was for us the representation of this album. Then it was quite simple we contacted Paolo, he was interested and then worked hard on what is now the cover of the Album. Believe me he perfectly translated our idea and made it look insanely good. The artwork represents the atmosphere of the music and the ideas behind the lyric of that brutal evil force taking over all existences.
The honest old school death metal you play must have a dark and raw sound. If I'm not mistaken, your new record was mixed by Frédéric Gervais (Mastering Dan Swano). Why did you choose this studio? And where did you physically record the new songs? Somewhere at your home in France?
- Yes you are right the sound itself is a very important part of what death metal is. We decided to work with him after listening to the amazing work he did on previous albums he worked on. After a couple phone calls, we were sure he was the right person to help us find and adjust the sound of this album. He did a tremendous work. Yes it was at his studio, the Henosis Studio in the suburbs of Paris!
What are the lyrics on the new album about? I don't have an original CD yet, but I assume you stick to traditional death metal topics. Or am I wrong? Where do you get inspiration for lyrics and who is their author?
- I guess you are right we made the lyrics in the traditional death metal topics. Some are related to real life event like terrorism some other are based on a reality that doesn’t exist at the moment. But believe me gore, death and evil are the heart of our writing.
In recent years, a lot of great death metal bands have been coming to reviews from France. Randomly, for example, my very favorite NECROWRETCH, SKELETHAL. How does your scene work? Do people go to concerts a lot? Do they support groups?
- You are right a lot of very good bands released death metal album those past years in France. I think the scene is reacting very well and people are supporting them. Concerts are full and the local French scene definitely supports these bands!! And this is great !
The world is currently being destroyed by a coronavirus, but we hope that it will soon pass. Aren't you going on tour when the borders reopen? You will have a new record released, so it would be desirable. How are you actually doing with the concerts? Do you play often? Do you rather enjoy clubs or big stages?
- Of course, we could love to get on the road to defend this album on stage!! That would be the perfect scenario. Unfortunately, things are not moving very fast and I think we will be stuck in this situation for many months. As soon as we have the opportunity to play we will jump on it! We love small and underground club this is where things get the most brutal.
The last time we made an interview, we talked about which bands influenced you. But do you also like some current ones? Would you recommend us, for example, some bands from your surroundings? I like the French underground very much, but I certainly don't know all the bands.
- Yes of course band like Towering or Kaabahl released super good death metal albums! On the other side we have great black metal bands like Griffon or Moonreich that definitely deserve recognition!!!
You play old, dusty, dark death metal. How are the new songs created? I mean the process itself, the formation of riffs. Do you meet classically somewhere in the rehearsal room or do you already use only modern technology?
- Most of the time Clément and Gabriel jam together put out some riffs and we build the songs during rehearsals! Yes during the righting process, we had our own rehearsal room to jam. Of course, some of the work is done at home but the magic happens when we are all together playing for real.
I have been listening to death metal since its beginnings in the eighties and nineties, and I have always been most fascinated by darkness, pressure, energy. How do you perceive this style as a musician and what does it mean for you? Is it a lifestyle for you or just a hobby? And when did you get into death metal and what was the first impulse for you to start playing it?
- Death metal represent what we look for in the music, the extreme sound and riffs, the energy the atmosphere, it has everything. We spend so much time playing, going to concerts, listening to everything we can, it is definitely a lifestyle. If you are not really into it, you don’t do this kind of music. For me (Clément) the first time I knew I wanted to do that was when I saw Suffocation live so much brutality this is all I wanted.
Thank you so much for the interview. I'm really looking forward to inserting the original CD „Hategod Triumph“ into the player and adding volume. I wish your album a lot of success and I wish you to be satisfied in your personal lives as well. Pure CREEPING FEAR death metal forever!
- Thank you so much for your time and to all the maniacs following us, this album is for you guys.
about CREEPING FEAR on DEADLY STORM ZINE:
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