A few questions - interview with death thrash metal band from Canada - MORTAL RITES.
Answered Christopher Payeur (guitars, vocals), thank you!
Ave, can you introduce your band to our readers? – When was it founded and what style of music do you play etc.?
Hey, I’m Chris, our band is called Mortal Rites and we’re from the province of Quebec in Canada. The band was founded around the end of 2022, early 2023 and we play death metal with some thrash influences at times. We have released a new EP called ‘’Death In Heaven, Life In Hell’’ about two weeks ago, and we’re excited for people to hear it! As far as musical style goes, I would say we’re definitely closer to more old school death metal bands since we still play in a fairly high tuning (guitar term, usually reminiscent of older bands) and have a lot of thrash-influenced fast parts. I always say that early Death Metal is basically just faster and more aggressive Thrash Metal.
Where and under what conditions were you recording the new album? Who was in charge of sound, production and mastering?
Mortal Rites is a completely DIY operation, meaning that we have recorded the EP ourselves with the equipment we had at our disposal. I was in charge of engineering, mixing, mastering and overall production. Drums and vocals were recorded in our rehearsal spaces, and stringed instruments were recorded in my apartment. This EP was the first time that I put ‘’real effort’’ into trying to make a decent sounding production (with all real instruments, too) and I’m happy with the results given the circumstances. There’s always room for improvement and I look forward to recording with the band again to further improve my skills as an engineer.
How many copies were released and which medium was used for this new edition (CD, digital, vinyl, cassette)?
300 physical copies were made (CD) through Iron, Blood & Death Corp, which is the label who’s releasing the EP in physical format and they can be purchased through their Bandcamp page. The digital format of the EP can also be found on the label’s Bandcamp page as well as ours.
Who is the author of the lyrics and how were they created and about what do the lyrics deal with?
Jean-Philippe (rhythm guitar) wrote the lyrics on all the songs on the EP. You could interpret the lyrics in different ways, as there are a few metaphors that were used. At first glance, it seems like the lyrics are about the downfall of a kingdom after a long-fought battle but it’s also a way of speaking about more personal things for us like sickness, social movements and how things are not always the way they seem to be. All things that are up close and personal to us, written in a way that fits our music. At heart, we’re all nerds, so anything that’s either medieval or space/fantasy related was always cool to us.
Who created the logo of the band, and who took care of the graphics and the website? What about you and social networks? Do you consider these things important?
Jean-Philippe (rhythm guitar) made all of the different pieces of artwork himself. Like mentioned previously, Mortal Rites tries to do everything 100% ourselves, and visuals are obviously a big part of it. Everything from the EP’s artwork, to merch designs and different banners and images for social media platforms were done by him, with cues from the rest of the band too. Similarly to the previous question, we’re all pretty nerdy in Mortal Rites, so you can see those themes in the visuals of the band like the cover arts for our demo and EP or our merch designs.
Which label did you choose for releasing your album and why this label? Are you satisfied by how your label represents you and takés care about you?
Iron, Blood & Death Corp, out of Mexico, is releasing the EP in CD format (and has the digital format on their bandcamp website). We wanted to go with a label that released material from bands that we could see ourselves play with and Antonio was friendly right from the beginning. For such a small release as our EP is, we’re happy with how things are going with IBDC. Antonio has helped us with promoting our music, and we’re seeing decent traffic on streaming platforms and IBDC’s YouTube page.
Which bands do you idolise and where do you get your inspiration?
‘’Idolise’’ is a pretty strong word. Up until this EP, our music was written in a certain way and that has since changed for many reasons. A strong influence on Mortal Rites is definitely Morbid Angel, though depending on when you would ask, it’s not always the same albums that would be influential. When our band started, Altars Of Madness would probably have been the strongest influence, but the initial goal was always to get closer to Domination, which is pretty much a perfect album. Moving forward, we’re taking inspiration from bands and albums that are slightly heavier and more intense. The last two Cannibal Corpse albums and most of Hate Eternal’s discography are now key influences to Mortal Rites.
Did you send your record to some Labels - which are the labels? How was the response?
We have sent the record to a few labels, but EP’s are usually not super popular with labels because of a few factors, especially if said label releases material on vinyl. We have received good comments on the material itself, and some great pieces of advice from some labels going forward, which are always appreciated.
How many gigs have you played? Which type of gigs do you prefer, whether it's (clubs or festivals) and which of your performances would you consider as the best?
We only played a handful of gigs in 2024 because we were focused on finishing the writing and recording of our EP, and they were all in clubs. One of the very cool gigs that we’ve done this year was supporting 200 Stab Wounds during one of their latest tours when they stopped in our area. We’re definitely looking forward to playing more and in more places in 2025.
What about your plans for the future? What do you want to achieve with the band?
One of the main plans is to gig more, and in more places. We all have very busy schedules, but we’re trying to make more time available for gigs. Writing and recording new material is always in the plans as well, especially since the musical direction of the band is perfectly clear and established now. We’ll probably tease some new material at some point during 2025 that showcases what our true sound is, and that’s something to look forward to, for sure!
How and where can your fans contact you? Can you provide some contact information?
We’re on the main social media platforms (Instagram and Facebook), as well as on most streaming platforms. Instagram is usually the main page we use for contacts. Everything can be found here: https://linktr.ee/mortalritesdm and you can also find our latest release at https://ironbloodanddeath.bandcamp.com/album/death-in-heaven-life-in-hell
Thanx for the interview.
Thank you!!!
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