Interview with death metal band from Canada - IMMORTAL FORCE.
Answered Blackouto Culto (guitars, vocals), thank you!
Recenze/review - IMMORTAL FORCE - Mystic Seance Unrealities (2024):
Ave IMMORTAL FORCE! Welcome to the Canadian underground. Before we check out your album, I have to thank you. I first heard the new album "Mystic Seance Unrealities" one Friday when I was walking home from work totally pissed off. You know, everything was coming at me. People around me seemed dumb and stupid. I had this urge to put my speakers up against them and turn your music up. You've made a record that breaks bones! How and where did you want to go from the previous demo "Into the Necrosphere"? I find the new one more raw, wilder.
First off, I should introduce myself. I’m Dragos aka Blackouto Culto, guitarist and second vocalist for Immortal Force. And thanks, that's a compliment! You should have frisbee'd “Mystic Seance Unrealities” CDs towards their eyeballs. “Into the Necrosphere” was a beginning with no known course or direction. When I wrote it, the songs were all over the place. Once I started writing more and jamming the songs with our drummer Depresor, I realized that thrashing death metal was the way we wanted to go, so the songs naturally became grittier and more evil.
Not to forget, could you please introduce us your band? Honest fans of death metal and grind and thrash probably know you, but for the rest. Please take us through the history of IMMORTAL FORCE? How did you guys get together and why this particular style of music? As musicians you have quite a bit of history already.
We’ve all been in various bands for two decades, and all of us have been into death metal since the beginning. Immortal Force was a band name I had always wanted to use, ever since I first heard Brazilian band Mutilator’s debut, one of the best and most intense deathrash albums in history. After too many drinks one night back in early 2019, while I was still living in Calgary, I wrote a bunch of dirty riffs and put them together in my mind. I took the songs to Depresor, with whom I was in a speed metal band at the time, and together we crushed out a menacing, lo-fi demo that we later titled “Into the Necrosphere”, which sounds like it would have been released by some obscure band in 1985. The songs that you hear on that demo were jammed out maybe twice before we pressed “record” - they are truly in their most raw form. Depresor is a hell of a drummer and instantly nailed the style I was going for. We rounded out the line-up with Lawless on vocals and The Notorious P.I.G. (as he was then known; he has undergone name changes since) on bass, both good friends who brought their own style to Immortal Force. We put out the demo on my label Nightstrike Records and the rest is history!
Let's get to the new stuff. Probably everyone who discovers some new music, even I put a lot on the cover, they say the cover sells. For the new release "Mystic Seance Unrealities" it was created by Paolo Girardi... Why him and what exactly is the theme supposed to represent? How did you and Paolo get together?
When we were brainstorming ideas for the cover art, we wanted someone that has a big imagination when it comes to science fiction, but also someone highly talented that can create something unique and otherworldly. He was the obvious choice, as he has done incredible work for many great bands over the years. I reached out to him and we had a great connection from the very beginning. I'd consider him a friend, even though we've never met in person. The man takes his art seriously, it's a true passion for him, and I feel the same way about the music I write. I shared some ideas with him about what we wanted for the art, but the credit goes entirely to him for having created one of my favourite paintings. Art is subjective and can change as a person’s mind changes, but for me, the cover art for “Mystic Seance Unrealities” represents the idea that one day in the not-so-distant future, we may not control our own actions and thoughts, as we would have already been infiltrated by a lifeform far outside the reach of our own comprehension.
As I mentioned before, the songs literally crush my bones. The sound contributes a lot to that. It's dirty, raw, like a bulldozer in a cemetery. Tell us, where did you record, who is signed for mastering and mixing? I always think of the old CARCASS, AUTOPSY, MORTICIAN when I listen to it. Did you want to sound "similar"?
Those bands are huge influences on me, on all of us, no doubt. I've never set out to copy any style or band. Ideas that come to me often come from feelings and emotions. For example, I could write an entire black metal album in my head by just sitting alone in a dark forest, letting what I'm feeling dictate how the riffs will sound. That's what I love about music; it's the ability to put my anger, my depression, my excitement, my shame, my confusion, and more, into audio form. It just so happens that the songs that came out of these sessions sounded as they do. I go through waves of writing, where I won't write anything for months or years. The feeling needs to be there. So, to answer your question, we didn't want these songs to sound similar, we just set out to create something that we would enjoy listening to ourselves. As for the recording, mixing, and mastering, everything has always been done by our drummer Depresor, who kills it every single time! “Mystic Seance Unrealities” was recorded in 2021 but carefully mixed and mastered over the last few years to create what you hear today. I think I speak for the whole band when I say that we always choose quality over quantity.
What are the lyrics on "Mystic Seance Unrealities" about? Is it death grind classics - graves, bones, skulls, graveyards? Or are you trying to convey something, a message? Who is the author?
We all write lyrics! Lyrical themes range from horror to sci-fi to absolute nonsense. There’s no central lyrical theme to the band, and we don't take the lyrics too seriously. Don't get me wrong, this is definitely not a joke band or a parody band or any bullshit like that (I generally dislike anything of the sort) but I find bands that take themselves way too seriously all the time are a bit of a joke themselves. Unless you're writing cold, depressive, isolating black metal and the year is 1994, I think there’s wiggle room for a bit of nonsense.
My favourite question, and I think the readers' too. How does IMMORTAL FORCE create new songs? Please let us have a look into your kitchen. Who is the author of the basic themes? Is everything created in the rehearsal room? I would be interested in the actual process of composing new songs.
Usually I write the riffs and put together the songs in my mind, then bring them to our drummer Depresor. He then adds the drums and we go from there. Our bassist Piskū Iqhor Goreman has also written a few songs, like “The Visitor” and “Open-Casket Gangbang” on the new album. Although I'm a guitarist first and foremost, I've played drums, bass and done vocals in bands before, so when I write riffs, I'm writing them with the intent of writing a full song the way it makes sense in my head. Oftentimes I already know what kind of drum beat would work perfectly with a riff, so I suggest it to Depresor and he fuses that idea with his own style and it always ends up crushing! Our bassist also brings in his own style and riffs over mine, so the bass always rounds everything out perfectly but stands out on its own. To finish things off, out vocalist Lawless comes in and lays down the main vocal lines. On “Mystic Seance Unrealities”, we all threw vocal tracks on the recordings, and even had a few guest vocalists.
I'm a bit puzzled by one thing. You're from Canada and I follow your scene quite closely. Most of the young underground death metal bands play very dark, cold and at the same time their music has a certain progressiveness and technique. For me that's the hallmark of Canadian bands (at least that's how I perceive it). But you guys are completely different! Raw, raw, uncompromising. Do you feel the music differently? Did you have other role models?
We just play what we like, man! We've never tried to sound a certain way or made music for a certain demographic. I don't pay too much attention to what other bands are doing, especially modern bands. Most of the music I listen to was recorded before 1996.
Everybody started somehow, learning, discovering. IMMORTAL FORCE is a band of experienced musicians. But what were your beginnings like? What was your first impulse to pick up an instrument, what kind of bands did you listen to when you were young?
I can't speak for the whole band here, but for me personally, I was gifted an acoustic guitar when I was about ten years old. I fucked around on it for a few years until I got better and learned electric guitar, and by that point my musical tastes had changed completely. In early high school I mostly listened to shit, but as I got into my later teen years, my friend Melissa at the time showed me the band Disgorge, the US one. I had never heard anything like it, it was insanely brutal. I discovered so many bands after that just doing research online and going to record stores picking up random finds. By 19, I was spending my entire paycheck on booze and records. I learned bass, and later, drums at a novice level, but never studied those instruments too closely.
You released your new album on the excellent Horror Pain Gore Death Productions. Great choice! The new release is out as a CD and digitally. But what about vinyl, cassette, you're not going to? What's your relationship with music media? Are you a collector? Do you support bands?
I agree, Horror Pain Gore Death rules! Mike is a stand-up guy, based on the interactions we've had. I've always been a big fan of physical format media. I have a nice tape collection and a small, but solid vinyl collection. We are definitely interested in releasing the album on vinyl and tape as well, so if any labels out there are reading this and dig our sound, email immortalforceband@gmail.com - let's make it happen!
I'm always interested in what the underground is like in the country the band is from. How is Canada and death metal? Do people go to a lot of shows? Do they buy records, merchandise? How's the Vancouver show going, for example, which you think is a very good show?
I don't go out to shows as much as I used to, but we definitely have a way smaller scene here compared to the US. A festival like Maryland Death Fest would be financially ruined on its first year here in Canada, there just isn't the same draw due to the smaller population and fewer amenities and event venues. But obviously Canada has some sick bands, going as far back as the early Blasphemy days. Black and death metal are doing well out here, probably better than in most other countries.
What about you and the gigs? How important are they for you? Are you more into big festivals or small clubs? What about some touring, will there be any? Maybe Obscene Extreme would be the perfect festival for you!
We'd love to play Obscene Extreme! Set it up for us and we’re there! Touring is harder for us compared to most other bands because we all live in different provinces, so taking three weeks off work to rehearse for a week and then go on the road is unlikely right now, as we all have jobs as well as other hobbies and interests. But we hope to make it happen eventually. We're more interested in playing a great festival with like-minded bands rather than local bars. We've all made our bones in the local scenes for many years.
Finally, I'll allow myself one slightly philosophical question. What does music mean to you? How would you define death metal, grindcore. Is it rest, relaxation or lifestyle for you?
To me personally, music is freedom. I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for the music this life has given me. I might not even be alive today if it wasn't for the ability to play music and jam with my friends. Death metal is no different. I grew up on it in my teenage years. I remember when my buddy picked up Entombed’s “Left Hand Path” on CD when we were still in high school. Man, we listened to that album so many fucking times. It's still to this day my favourite death metal album. Call it nostalgia, or maybe it's actually just the best death metal album ever. Haters keep hating. Music will never be a business for me, or something to monetize. If I'm ever fortunate enough to make money off my music, I'll probably just use that money to make more music. It eases my mind and relieves stress and frustration. It pumps me up and at the same time relaxes me. It's the soundtrack to life itself.
Please tell us what IMMORTAL FORCE is planning in the next few months? Give a little hint to the fans.
We will keep pushing out “Mystic Seance Unrealities” everywhere, plus a second video is in the works, to be released April-ish. Fingers crossed for vinyl and tape formats later in 2025. We already have more material recorded for an EP in the near future, which I've been told sounds killer!
Thank you very much for the interview. When I get pissed off at work again or when I watch the news and need to clear my head, I know what I'll be listening to - of course, "Mystic Seance Unrealities"! It's a great album, thanks so much for it too! Keep up the good work!
Hell yeah! Thanks for having us here!
Recenze/review - IMMORTAL FORCE - Mystic Seance Unrealities (2024):
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