Interview with death grind metal band from Germany - VOMIT SPELL.
Answered MB, PS, JL, thank you!
Translated Duzl, thank you!
Questions prepared Jakub Asphyx.
Recenze/review - VOMIT SPELL - Vomit Spell (2021):
Ave VOMIT SPELL! 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 VOMIT SPELL history.
MB: The band started when guitarist MB and drummer JL came into contact back in 2016 and discussed playing together. From the onset the idea was to play some sort of Grindcore / Death Metal. It was first more or less a sort of project band but over time the remaining band members were added and Vomit Spell became a full band around 2018 with steady rehearsals. In late 2019 we started recording our demo and one year later our album which just came out.
I’m just listening to your new record „Vomit Spell“ and I feel like as if I am closed in some tomb together with REPULSION, TERRORIZER, NAPALM DEATH, NASUM. The record has a great sound. Where did you record it and how satisfied are you with it? Did you have the "last word" concerning the resulting sound?
MB: Thanks for the nice words. We have recorded everything ourselves and then sent the files to Japan to get it mixed by Koichi Hara. The result is absolutely great. Of course we had the “final word” on the sound but it was just minor adjustments after he had sent us his first mixes. Koichi pretty much had free hand to shape the sound his way.
How was the new material for album ”Vomit Spell” created? How exactly does VOMIT SPELL write the music?
MB: As with most bands it starts with some guitar riffs and a loose structure for a song, then it’s arranged during rehearsal. Vocals/lyrics are added after the song is written.
“Vomit Spell” has dark and morbid cover art. Who is the author? I really like his work. How did you actually choose the idea of the cover and what exactly does it illustrate?
PS: The artwork was drawn by Necrofrost. It depicts a seance of vomiting ghouls who are about to summon the unspeakable. We think it perfectly fits our music. The layout for the CD version was done by SNDNBCK who did a really great job, too.
Could you reveal to us who is the author of the lyrics and what is their background? Where did you take inspiration for certain topics?
PS: I wrote all the lyrics for the demo and the current album. Except “Leah Sublime” which uses excerpts from the eponymous poem originally written by Aleister Crowley. While the lyrics on the demo dealt with personal stuff mostly, the lyrics on the album are more straightforward. For example, “Spiritual Enslavement” deals, as the title already suggests, with the topic of abuse and oppression in the name of religion. “Necrotronic” on the other hand explores the idea of “recycling” the deceased as a primary resource for futuristic warfare. Imagine the Universal Soldier movies, but directed by Bruno Mattei! The original working title for “Axiom of Annihilation” was “Pile of Dead Nazis,” but that was changed later on due to the nature of the lyrics which are about how to deal with all sorts of human scum.
The new album was released by F.D.A. Records. This label has a very good name in the underground scene and does a very good job. However, didn't you want to release a record on some bigger label? Did you ask some other label? How you are actually satisfied with F.D.A. Records?
PS: When Rico, the owner of F.D.A. records, approached us and asked if we would be interested in re-releasing our demo on CD and a subsequent album on his label, we agreed. So far, we are really glad to work with F.D.A. but also with Eric from Life After Death who will release our album on tape and vinyl. We did get asked by other labels, too, but we had a deal signed already at that time.
You play typical, classical death grind. You have never changed direction, you are let's say “orthodox.“ Personally, this is one reason why I like your music so much. But, didn’t you think about trying to play something different, somehow to make the VOMIT SPELL sound more unusual?
JL: Actually, I would not describe our sound as “orthodox” as we do not abide by any stylistic rules for that matter. If you listen closely to our album, you will discover references to classic grindcore and death metal elements here and there. We try to incorporate both the old school and the new, but in a unique way. Our members listen to a lot of different kinds of heavy music, mostly death metal, crust punk, grindcore, black metal - you name it. All these different types of music have a certain influence on our sound, of course, and we like it that way.
When I look through your albums, you really made a long journey. It is obvious that you as a band are still working on yourself. How often do you rehearsal together? Are you a "hard-working" band, which practices regularly or are you more „punk“ in the rehearsal task?
MB: We rehearse every two weeks since we live further apart from each other. If we lived closer to another, we’d likely rehearse every week but all in all this works for us.
In the case of your band, it is very good to see your development, each album is better, and you also become better and better musicians, gradually. Do you have some goal, which you would like to achieve? Some want to release an album with a large label; others want to play on one stage with some famous band. What about you?
MB: Mainly keep writing good songs and get them out there. Also playing some shows of course. We don’t really have huge ambitions for extensive touring as our job/life commitments don’t allow for something like this.
Can you recommend some new albums, which impressed you at the latest time?
PS: I have to admit that I barely keep up with recent releases as there is too much being released anyways. The latest EP by INCARCERATION caught my attention, though. Pretty rough production and hard hitting songs. I am looking forward to new stuff from FEACES CHRIST.
MB: last releases by Altarage, Portal, Death Toll 80k and Jalang deserve a mention.
JL: Antediluvian - The Divine Punishment, Këkht Aräkh - Pale Swordsman, Nordgeist - Frostwinter
Do you know and listen to some metal bands from the Czech Republic?
PS: Krabathor!
JL: Root and Master’s Hammer come to mind.
MB: I’ve played in CZ many times with my old band Nyctophobic, so we have shared the stage with bands like Malignant Tumour (during their Grindcore era), Gride, Fleshless, Ingrowing and many others. More current bands I’ve checked out are Mörkhimmel, Fear of Extinction, Morbider, Brutally Deceased.
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 grind metal style? What represents this music for you and why did you choose exactly this genre?
MB: We try to cover all ground within the Death Metal and Grindcore sound as you can hear on the album. I’ve played Death/Grind in my old band Nyctophobic and just wanted to play this kind of music again after the Nyctophobic had split up. Since I am also playing in the Crust/D-Beat band Hellknife, the Crust/Punk part is covered there and Vomit Spell turned out to have a more Death Metal oriented sound with some hints to Grindcore and occasionally Black Metal. From onset the aim was to create good songs and not try to be too limited to one style, so what you’re hearing on the album pretty much sums up “our” sound.
What VOMIT SPELL is planning for the next few months?
We are currently rehearsing a lot and preparing for upcoming shows. At the same time we are already working on new material.
Thank you for the interview and I wish you a lot of sold CDs, hundreds of crazy fans and tons of great ideas.
Thank you for your support!
about VOMIT SPELL on DEADLY STORM ZINE:
Recenze/review - VOMIT SPELL - Vomit Spell (2021):
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