Interview with death metal band from Spain - APPARITION.
Answered Eduardo (bass, vocals) and Iván (guitars), thank you!
APPARITION - Fear the Apparition (2024):
Ave APPARITION! Greetings to the Spanish underground. I hope everything is fine with you. It should be because this year you have released a first long-play full-length album in your band's career. I have to admit it has literally blown my mind. It is dark, energic and as if it cuts by the sharp edge of the knife. I can hear from the record you did a really good job and you added a big portion of the talent, too. How do you perceive the new album in comparison to the previous demo? Where did you want to move and in what are these two records different?
Eduardo: The demo includes the first three songs we ever wrote for Apparition. Two of them were also re-recorded for the album. I don’t think there’s a big change stylewise, we try to have some variety within the songs,but the songs of the demo and the rest of the songs of the album were basically written during the same timespan. The main difference is the production, as the demo was mostly self-recorded while the album has a 100% professional recording.
Iván: Hello, first of all thanks for your interest in the band, we’re glad to read you liked the album.
Like Edu said, the main difference between the demo and the full-length is the sound, since when we recorded the demo these eight songs were already written and six of them had already been properly rehearsed at our rehearsal place (at least on a basic structure level, new arrangements and details were added later).
The idea of recording that first demo was to create a presentation for the band and show the people what we were working on, that’s why we always had in mind to re-record a couple of songs with a better production since the demo was self-recorded (except for the drums) and, well, even if we didn’t have much experience on that field, the result wasn’t bad at all.
„Fear the Apparition Apparition“ includes all attributes of good death. For me personally, it represents the record, which I really like to listen to. How did you produce it? How look the writing process of new material in the case of APPARITION?
Eduardo: The writing process is quite simple, Iván writes all the riffs and structures at home and creates some drum patterns. Then we rehearse them together, do some minor changes if necessary, and once the final song structure is clear I think about the vocal lines and write the lyrics.
I found out that Javi Feléz is the recording engineer. I have to confirm that the sound literally kills. It keeps making me turn up the volume on the hi-fi tower. You have given you a sound that is harsh, raw and at the same time dark and animalistic. How did you find working with him and why him? What studio did you record in and how did everything go?
Eduardo: Yes, Javi was the main responsible for the sound and production of the album. We initially recorded the drums here in Zaragoza at Producciones Sin/Con Pasiones, with Juan Miguel Sánchez behind the desk. Those raw recordings were sent to Javi to be cleaned and edited and then we used them to record all guitars, bass and vocals at our rehearsal place. Guitars and bass were reamped by Javi Félez at Moontower Studios in Terrassa and all the mixing and mastering was done there as well.
Iván: All three members of Apparition had already worked with Javi Félez with different bands or projects so he was our first option since the beginning to record an album. I totally agree with you, he achieved a crushing sound. Javi is a very good engineer and it’s very easy to work with him.
An integral part and a kind of extra bonus for fans today is the CD. You have released it on F.D.A. Records and it comes with a mysterious cover. It was written by Markus Vesper How did you choose the theme and how does it relate to the music on the release?
Eduardo: We knew Markus Vesper for his great work with Denial of God and Manilla Road among many others and he visually represented that old horror vibe we were looking for. We gave him some rough indications and he did a great job. It’s not related to one particular song but since different Apparition songs are inspired by ghost stories and haunted houses, it could be related to songs such as “A Haunting Reflection” or “Apparition”.
I have been wandering the underground for over thirty years and I still go to Spain for music with certainty. I think we have a similar nature and taste when it comes to metal. I like your bands a lot and I monitor your scene carefully. Maybe I envy you a little, because we only have a few death metal bands that are worth it. How do you explain that death metal are doing so well in your country? How do you perceive your scene, fans, labels?
Eduardo: There are many cool death metal bands, for sure! Oniricous (new album kills), Necrophiliac, Purulent Remains, Sanctuarium, Leprophiliac, Orthodoxy, Intolerance, Devotion… I don’t think the scene is that big, but there’s been some younger people joining in for the last 5 years or so, which is a good thing. There are some great labels too (Memento Mori, Black Seed, Down With The Most High, and many more) but they are mostly run by the usual suspects who have been involved in the underground for decades, I don’t see younger people getting that involved on that, I guess it’s seen like an unrewarding task compared to being in a band. Same could be said for gig promoting, but I do see some new people here and there trying to arrange shows in their cities and that’s a cool thing. It’s not easy to have gigs in Spain since distances are really big compared to other countries and we are kind of isolated from the rest of Europe, but there are some individuals, associations and fanclubs taking the risk so hats off to them.
You play death metal influenced by, among other things, the old school. Today, the band can't avoid comparisons, but I would like to know how the idea to start APPARITION was born, who was and is your metal idol? Where do you want to move your band? Are you attracted to large foreign festivals, for example, are you willing to go on tour with a more famous band?
Eduardo: Apparition was born as a bunch of old friends aiming to play the music they love. I don’t think we will ever tour with a famous band, or even tour at all due to job obligations, but spare shows here and there and of course foreign festivals are always welcome (we have just been announced at Tones of Decay in Prague next September!). We are currently working on that to promote the new album.
Iván: If you take a look at the credits of the Fear The Apparition booklet you can read a big part of our influences that in one way or another served as a starting point and motivation to create and play our sound and style. It’s not that much about individual idols, but more about worshiping particular releases of the most ancient, savage and diabolical death and thrash metal.
When I started my blog six years ago, I had a vision that I would try to support bands that are not so much popular, or they are lost in underground. To let the world knows about them. I think I'm doing quite well, at least according to the responses. How do you approach the promotion of your music? Do you rely upon the label or do you send the CDs for various reviews by yourself? For example, I buy albums that I really enjoy. What about you? Are you also fans who often support your colleagues? Do you go to concerts?
Eduardo: Promotion is mostly run by the labels and their PR agencies, but we also do our part and try to spread the word by contacting the underground media and spreading thousands of printed flyers the old brutal way. We are avid listeners of new and old bands and have lots of music in all physical formats. We also go to plenty of concerts locally, nationally and abroad. It’s the only way!
On the one hand, today the new band has a lot of opportunities to make themselves more known, but on the other hand, there are a huge number of groups and the fans are getting lost in this big metal sea. A lot of people just download mp3s from the internet and instead of to visit the concert they prefer to spit poisonous saliva on Facebook. How do modern technologies affect you as APPARITION? What do you think about downloading music, google metalists, streaming music, etc.?
Eduardo: There’s definitely a saturation of bands nowadays. We don’t really overthink about that and try to do our thing. Modern technologies are fine if you use them properly, social media is a good way to get the people to know about any upcoming shows, releases or any band news really fast. We are on Spotify, YouTube or Bandcamp if people want to listen to our music that way, it’s alright, I’m more of a traditional listener of physical albums but such are the times.
Iván: For Apparition our priority is and shall forever be physical format over digital, but it’s 2024 and things have changed. We are aware of that so we also have to adapt to new technologies. I recently had to buy a new car and now I’ve to use Spotify while driving since the new car has no CD player hahaha! At home I always listen to vinyl (for the most part), CDs and tapes.
I like to ask the musicians what death metal means to them. How would they define it, whether it is more the philosophy and lifestyle thing for them or "just" relaxation? What does it mean for you? How do you perceive and experience it?
Eduardo: We try to avoid the spirit's collapse as bands used to do. We never relax!
Finally, a classic but important question. What is APPARITION planning in the upcoming months? Where can we see you at the stage?
Eduardo: We are playing on March 9th in Murcia (w/ Cancer, Orthodoxy, Sanctuarium, Evilact) and April 13th in Madrid at the Extreme Metal Record Fair (w/ Oniricous, Necrophiliac, Omission). We should also be playing on at least a couple of foreign festivals this summer / autumn, including Tones of Decay in Prague as answered in a previous question, and another one to be confirmed. More dates should be announced soon!
Iván: Besides trying to promote the new album and playing it live as much as we can, we will also combine it with rehearsing new songs.
Thank you so much for the interview. I wish a lot of success to the new album and let the number of your fans expand as much as possible. I will look forward to seeing you somewhere live again. I wish you a lot of success both musically and personally. I'm going to push „Fear the Apparition Apparition“ into my head again!
Eduardo: Play it loud! Thanks a lot for the interview Jakub, see you at Tones of Decay this year!
Iván: By the time you read this, the European edition of our album will be available on both vinyl and CD. Don’t stop fearing the Apparition! Arghhhhhh! Cheers!
APPARITION - Fear the Apparition (2024):
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