Interview with brutal death metal band CUTTERRED FLESH from Czech republic.
Answered Jirka Krš, thank you!
Questions prepared Jakub Asphyx.
Recenze/review - CUTTERRED FLESH - Sharing is Caring (2021):
Ave CUTTERRED FLESH! Greetings to my favorite pathologists! I hope you're doing well. It should be, because since the end of last year you have released the album "Sharing is Caring". How do you feel about it in hindsight? Personally, I'm literally thrilled. It's been a long time since I've heard brutal death metal that I've enjoyed so much. What kind of feedback have you gotten from the fans?
Hey. Hey. Thanks a lot for the compliments and for your interest in our work. I'm still in the same boat as you. We did record the album a while ago and it took a bit longer to come out thanks to covid, but I'm still spinning it and most importantly we still enjoy playing it live 😊 Thanks to this, we can see that even the fans like it enough. The limited-edition was sold out immediately and now we're waiting for the LP version to arrive.
CUTTERRED FLESH has been through a lot since their last album "Code: Violence" (2018). First of all, your longtime drummer Frčoun left, and most importantly you have a new vocalist Jirka Krše, who also sings in my favorite PANDEMIA. How did the changes happen and how did you get together with the new members?
As for me (Jirka), it happened quite unexpectedly. If you remember a bit about the tour in Russia that we did with CF, I was originally supposed to go on this tour with my band Štáb ZS-CO. Unfortunately, the guitarist totally blew it. Well, and since I spent a lot of time around that tour, trying to make it happen, I thought it was a shame to cancel it. Well, CF just came out with a new record. Vitali is playing with me in Pandemic so we were chatting and I got the idea that they would do the tour and since Vitali plays and sings I would help him out and I would sing on the tour so I wouldn't just be dragging boxes 😊. We had about a month so I was over-scheduled and the tour turned out great. Basically, at the end, we said we could keep it going and I became a permanent member of the band. As for Frčoun, he left of his own accord. He needed some time and some respite after years of music. Leaving was totally fine and the replacement was the current drummer Frantisek, whom we all knew from the band I Warned You, in which he also played with Vitali. Since then, there has been another change on bass guitar, with Tomas replacing Zdenda. Zdenda had other bands and since CF started to play a lot of gigs both here and outside, it was time-consuming and he decided to leave the band. Tomas was also playing with Vitali for some time, so he approached him and that was it.
Your band played classic brutal death metal until the last album. But on last year's record, you went in a slightly different direction. Although the traditional elements of the style are the basis, there are a lot of darker and more melodic passages added. You're even progressive in some moments. I like this development a lot, but I wonder how you arrived at it? How did the new album "Sharing is Caring" come about?
It certainly wasn't anything planned. It's just a normal development. We've all moved on since the last record. And I'm sure the partial lineup change has played a part. I'm curious about the next album myself because the songs we've almost finished are very interesting. The creation of the songs is more or less a collective work. Someone brings an idea, it's drilled in rehearsal, then it's finalized, everyone learns it, and then I catch up on the lyrics a few days before the show 😊 😊 😊
But the evolution has not only occurred in music as such but also in sound. I admit that the name Kristian Kohlmannslehner doesn't mean much to me. I know that he was at the birth of some of the ABORTED records, but otherwise, he is an unknown name to me. How did you guys get together in the first place? And what was the brief, I assume you wanted as much darkness and rawness as possible.
Kristian "Kohl" was recommended by Vitali. He knew his work and his work with Sinister, Benighted, Aborted, etc. is awesome! And it was definitely a step in the right direction. We are very excited about the new sound. We would love to produce another record with him again. The brief was to make it complex. Not only as a sound engineer but also as a producer. We were in his studio in Germany for almost 2 weeks and it was an amazing experience. We gave him a lot of freedom, which I think was the right thing to do. When you tie an artist down too much, it's not good. Usually, the good ones won't even let you 😊
I admit I have the original CD and shirt in the post office somewhere. I really like the theme of the album. How hard was it to get to Par Olofsson? I think he's one of the most talented artists doing metal covers. Did you choose from ready-made artwork or is the cover painted to order?
You're absolutely right about Parem. He's one of the most talented painters. He was a joy to work with. He has his limits that he doesn't go beyond, he's preparing the cover of our new album and we were very close to his limit there, but I'm glad we got back together. Anyway, he's quite busy, so we worked everything out well in advance and that's what made it happen. It's a nice motive and we're getting a lot of positive feedback. He did the cover right according to our idea. First, we sketched out the idea, he did some sketches, then he did some more sketches, then he did some more sketches, and then it was finalized to this form. Just a great job.
I'm not exactly the target audience for music videos, but I have to say that I've been thinking a lot about the video for "Good boy". Well done! Who directed the video and where did you get the inspiration for the lyrics? If I'm not mistaken, Von Young from LIVIDITY sings in the song?
Thanks a lot. The clip is by Radim Věžník. The text is actually about the fact that the monster can be in everyone. Even in a spoiled little boy. Excessive upbringing can be as bad as no upbringing at all. And yes, you're right, Von Young guested on this track. We met him at a couple of shows and then approached him for this collaboration. He did a great job.
Anyway, you've moved on textually. Generally, I feel like lyrics are pretty neglected in brutal death metal, but I think a singer always has to believe in what he sings. Jirka Krš wrote them for the new album? What are they about and how were they written?
Yes, I wrote the lyrics. Which I always do, except for the song The Mystery Of The Black Hen, which is straight out of an old incantation. It was an experiment, but I like it. Lyrically it's very diverse. It's not a concept album. It's trying to shock a little bit. To show that the world isn't just black and white and that what's terrible for someone is a normal part of life for someone else. Maybe someone will think about it and start looking at things a little differently. Or not 😊
Last time I saw you in Prague with SINISTER. It was powerful! What I like about you guys is that you like to tour a lot. It's just a pleasure to see you on stage somewhere. But you all have jobs, families, and other commitments. Is it hard to get dates together? Do you have any choice in where you play? What do live shows mean to you?
Sinister was a joy. Right now we are going to 6 shows in the UK. We are going together with Monument of Misanthropy and Visions of Disfigurement. It's gonna be a blast 😊 We're really enjoying the shows. I think that's what keeps us all going! The opportunity to be there with the fans. Covid was terrible in that regard too. We're managing to juggle it all. It's very much about priorities. You don't turn down a gig if you're having a party. There's gotta be a reason. Otherwise, as far as the selection thing, we try to play where they want us, but it's true that we've started filtering out events like "birthday party" or the awesome "speech at the club and no sound guy will be needed" because of time. Of course, we are glad about that too, but as you wrote, we have families and we don't want to leave them for a party anymore. We always try to plan a tour and then, like every band, bigger fests. Playing live is an inseparable part of the band and all of us.
I've had the feeling for the last few years that there's nothing but bitching everywhere. I don't know if it's social media or the fans getting older. You know, gay beer, the grass used to be greener, women had bigger boobs and stuff. I'm more interested in what you see as positive about today? I mean, even in relation to concerts, fans, promoters. Show us that even brutal death metal can look at the world with enthusiasm.
So I'm more or less an optimist, but what to say to the eternal complainers? It's no use dwelling on the past. Do you want to get better? Then do something. Complaining on FB or over a beer isn't gonna solve your problem. I don't want to get into the whole social networking etc. thing, check out the movie "Social Dilemma", it gave me goosebumps considering I have 2 little girls. I think there are a lot of options nowadays that there weren't before. We are more in the world, musicians are getting better and better. I used to listen to songs on cassette tapes as a kid, nowadays you click and you have tabs and tutorials for just about everything. It's also easy to reach thousands of people. Share your music with the world. That's totally cool. We have a publisher in India and he sells our records all over the world. I never dreamed of that years ago. Everything has its pros and cons. You have to accept it and deal with it. Just take it easy 😊
I read somewhere that you're going to do some shows in the UK. What else is new with CUTTERRED FLESH? What can we fans look forward to? Is there anything you want to tell people? Here's your space.
Yeah, we are leaving on Tuesday 😊 We are really looking forward to the tour. It will be 6 shows, but the UK is new to us. Plus we'll be doing about 6 more shows with Monument of Misanthropy in the fall in Europe as well. And that's what every musician looks forward to for years. Message to the people? Enjoy the music, and go to events, especially local ones. New bands and new talents are born thanks to this scene. We can't do it without you.
I'm really looking forward to finally having all the post offices in the world deliver my CD and t-shirt to my home. Thank you so much for the interview and I hope to see you at a concert somewhere soon! May you and your band do well and may strength follow you in your personal lives!
I thank you so much for the opportunity to write a few lines here. I'm glad you remembered us and it's always good to see you at an event. Good luck. And we'll definitely see you and have a beer!
Take care.
Jirka
Recenze/review - CUTTERRED FLESH - Sharing is Caring (2021):
about CUTTERRED FLESH on DEADLY STORM ZINE:
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