Interview with death metal band from Chile - DIABOLICAL MESSIAH.
Answered Caesar, thank you!
Translated Duzl, thank you!
Questions prepared Jakub Asphyx.
Recenze/review - DIABOLICAL MESSIAH - Satanic Alpha-Omega (2023):
Ave DIABOLICAL MESSIAH! Greetings to the Chilean underground! I admit that I was really looking forward to the new album "Satanic Alpha-Omega". I discovered your band in 2017, when you released the album "Demonic Weapons Against the Sacred". I have been following you since then and I must say that this year's album is really great. It seems faster, more bestial. Was that the purpose? Where did you want to move from the last recording?
A: Greetings Jackub Asphyx and Deadly Storm zine. It's been a long time since the release of “Demonic Weapons Against The Sacred” and of course there are many changes. In my opinion, they start with the sound. I don't know if Satanic Alpha-Omega is faster than the previous albums, but I’m 100% satisfied with the sound we achieved. We could achieved the weight in the music I was looking for beyond the speed in the music performance. Of course, speed is very important and essential in our songs, something that we have already defined. We needed to define the weight in the music.
We started with a question about the new album, but I'd like to ask you to introduce your band. I know the members are Erodes and Caesar, but you've been joined by Mario Vera on drums. Is he a permanent member of the band? Or what's it like? Could you please take us through the history of DIABOLICAL MESSIAH?
A: We are Diabolical Messiah, a band formed in 1999. At the beginning we were only Erodes and I. It was a time of creation of ideas while we were looking for a drummer. We recorded two different songs with two different drummers (one each). Those were promotional songs that helped us to introduce the band and our style, Death Metal. After that, we met Pilatvs and he played drums with us for about 15 years. We also had a session guitar player named Carcelero, who after a few years became our official guitar player. So, the line-up for the recording of our first demo "Diabolical Attack" was: Caesar: Vocals, Bass and Guitar; Erodes: Guitar; Carcelero: Guitar; Pilatvs: Drums. After this we recorded the albums "Satan Tottendemon Victory!!!"; "Demonic Weapons Against The Sacred"; and the last album "Satanic Alpha-Omega" (2023). Our last drummer, Mario Vera, played in other bands too, so for that reason we parted ways.
The artwork for the new album "Satanic Alpha-Omega" was created by Jorge Soto from Chile. If I'm not mistaken, someone else did the cover for the last album? Or am I wrong? Why Jorge? How did you two get together? Personally, I really like his dark covers.
A: JxBarker (Jorge Soto) is an artist who uses different techniques to make cover arts. Some time ago he came to live in the same area where I live, so I decided to talk to him because of the recommendations I had heard. As we lived quite close, we were able to work closely looking at all the details of the cover art. For this album (Satanic Alpha-Omega) I wanted to make a cover different from the other albums, a cover not so direct but more conceptual, without falling into the extreme of the metaphor. Something conceptual that can be read easily and I'm sure we achieve that. Only JxBarker worked in the cover art, even the photo was modified by him. I’m very happy because I interpret it as the beginning and the end of the images shown there, order and chaos, life and death.
Your music is demonic, dark, ritual. You play death metal, but you will also find pieces of black metal in it. Where do you get inspiration from? And how do you create new songs for DIABOLICAL MESSIAH? How is the process of creating a new song?
A: I don't intend to be influenced by the Black Metal style, but I listen to it a lot. Bands such as Immortal, Dark Throne, Mayhem, Inquisition, etc... are bands of my taste and maybe that taste is reflected in some riffs, but as I said before, I don't try to make a Death-Black mix. Our thing is Death Metal.
Who took care of the sound? Where did you record the album and who is responsible for mixing and mastering? Did you change the approach, the process in any way compared to the last record? I feel like the new one is more dark, more crazy, more massive.
A: This album have been much more elaborated than the two previous ones and any other recording we have ever done. Satanic Alpha-Omega was recorded at "Estudios del Sur", a professional studio where you have everything you need to make a record. The person in charge of the recording was Ignacio Portales. I thank him very much for his knowledge, experience and the great patience he had to work with. The recordings were made in two 8-hour days, enough time to even add some more ideas. Sincerely, working at “Estudios del Sur” has been so far the best experience I've had when it comes to recording. The mixing was done by Erik Brisso at Equinox Media, a studio in our city that have very good reviews for its very good equipment. Despite the problems with time, I was very satisfied with the final mix. Mastering was done by Dan at Resonance Sound Studio. Dan asked me for references to have a clear idea of the sound I was looking for and the result was a very heavy and massive sound. Unlike the second album "Demonic Weapons Against the Sacred", "Satanic Alpha-Omega" was a recording, mixing and mastering process that involved different sound engineers with different points of view, experiences, and equipment, resulting in a collaborative rather than a one-person mix.. For the same reason I hope to repeat this formula in some future work.
The chapter itself is the lyrics. I must admit that I am very pleasantly surprised. Satanism, war, death! Well done! What sources did you draw inspiration from? And who is the author?
A: The topics you mention have always been a big influence in our band, I would need to add one more, anti-Christianity. I think these topics are the main ideology of the Death Metal style, and I'm convinced that I don't need more inspiration than our reality to offend and defy the imposed christian society and religious system in general.
What about you and concerts? Do you prefer small clubs or big stages at festivals? Can you think of a particularly successful concert, event or tour? What do live performances mean to you?
A: We don't have a favorite kind of gig. We have played in small venues with a small audience and larger venues with tons of metalheads. Since our music has a good promotion and there are also people who know our band in foreign countries we like to play outside our country. Successful? I don't really know, I like touring with the band. We haven't done it for a long time and the simple fact of playing abroad is an excellent motivation and goal to achieve. Europe would be again an excellent goal.
The Chilean extreme metal scene has always been interesting to me. I know a lot of great bands from you. I would love to visit your beautiful country. I watch documentaries at least. Here in the Czech Republic we are mostly atheists, maybe because of the socialism we experienced. How do you feel about faith? And how are your views imprinted in the music of DIABOLICAL MESSIAH? How does Christianity influence life in your country?
A: In my country fucking church and fucking religion has been a shitty piece of shit. They used to get into everything, in any political issue needed to be discussed, they were giving their opinion and advice. Our political leaders looked like (until recently) a parade of pussies taking the opinion of religious people at state planning tables. Nowadays, religious influence in the social, economic and political issues of our country is not relevant. People are realizing how rotten this garbage called religion is. Nowadays, many rotten politicians go to these sects to collect votes for future elections. A big surprise for me is many extreme metalheads have ideals that use politics and Christianity as a base.
What about the Chilean underground? With DIABOLICAL MESSIAH, do you get space in the media, magazines, concerts? And what about the fans? Do they support you, buy merchandise, go to concerts? You are a big country, do you have in France some area where it "lives the most" ?
A: The Chilean underground scene is very active. After the COVID-19 restrictions, it has returned heavily. Our band is supported by the scene in general, either in the media or live shows. Regarding the sale of musical material this is relative as the market is not as wide as one would like to be. Santiago, the capital of Chile, is the place where most of the shows and festivals take place because it’s the most populated city of mu country.
I'm always interested in how musicians perceive the style of music they play. What does death metal mean to you? How do you "feel" it? Like a lifestyle, expressing bad and ugly things through music? What do you really want to express with your music?
A: I don't know if it's a lifestyle, but for sure it’s something important in my life because I don't find an explanation to continue working and cultivating a musical style that generates economic losses and non-economic personal achievements (to at least self-manage the band). We are not a bunch of bootlickers asking to be part of some important show or festival. Yes, I can say it is already part of my life, because as I explained before because it produces a personal satisfaction to see reflected and captured on CD, 12", or tape everything I learned in terms of performance.
Thank you so much for the interview. I appreciate your words and look forward to going home when I will play "Satanic Alpha-Omega" again. You really succeeded with the new album. I wish you the biggest sales, sold-out concerts and good luck in private lives.
A: Thanks so much Jackub Asphyx and Deadly Storm zine for the interest and support. I hope our third album "Satanic Alpha-Omega" will be played a lot in your country and in Europe in general and deathbangers like it. I’m looking forward to having the chance to travel with Diabolical Messiah again in those lands soon. Cheers!!!
Recenze/review - DIABOLICAL MESSIAH - Satanic Alpha-Omega (2023):
about DIABOLICAL MESSIAH on DEADLY STORM ZINE:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1kXibFwxq0omtcF0ASDyhT
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