Interview with death doom metal band MORBID STENCH.
Answered Morbid and The Master Butcher, thank you!
Translated Duzl, thank you!
Recenze/review - MORBID STENCH - The Rotting Ways of Doom (2022):
Ave MORBID STENCH! Greetings to the underground. I hope everything is fine with you. It should be because this year you have released a second 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 one? Where did you want to move and in what are these two records different?
[Morbid] Hello Jakub, first of all thanks for your words and interest on having us interviewed. I think musically this album has more guitar progressions that in a way makes it more complex to hear and play but we managed to handle those progressions within the doom/death genre bounderies we wanted to keep so there was an evolution in comparisson to the first album, in this one we have solidified the difficult path to set our out style right from the depths of central america. The music for this album was written in less than 2 months during the big lock down so i think the energies were smoothly drained into the guitar chords, all was very natural and quick.
„The Rotting Ways of Doom“ includes all attributes of good death and doom metal. 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 MORBID STENCH?
[Morbid] The album was recorded in central america, guitars, bass and drums in my studio „Víspera del Demonio“ in San Salvador, El Salvador and the vocals were recorded in San José, Costa Rica. Then, the album was mixed and mastered in sweden. Regarding writing new material it will for sure happen, there is a lot of inspiration and a lot of ideas already on the table. The writing process never stops, we constantly are exchanging thoughts with The Master Butcher so ti really never stops. Regarding sitting down to record the time will come when we feel is the proper moment, i think we agree on giving some air to the releases to get exposed properly by the labels involved and allow them to recover their investments.
Who's signed for the sound and mix? I have to confirm that they literally kill. It keeps making me turn up the volume on the hi-fi tower. You've got a sound that's harsh, raw and dark and animalistic at the same time. How did you achieve it? What studio did you record in and how did it all work?
[Morbid] Thanks for the words, as said above all chords and drums were recorded by me on my „Víspera del Demonio“ studio in San Salvador El Salvador with studio gear i have been gathering for more than 20 years with a lot of test and error. These instruments were recorded at night since the studio is located between some business places so we need to wait for the night so the building is alone and we can start chasing the devil tunes haha. I recorded the guitars and bass really quick after that we went to compose in the act the drums and recorded them, usually i already have a brief drum structure when composing the music but we also improvise during the recording process and get into that cycle until we like how it sounds, the process of recording drums is kind of smooth too and took more time.
An important part and a kind of extra bonus for fans today is the physical CD. You released the new album at CD in El Conjuro Records, and it has a corpsy cover art. Who is the author? How did you choose the motif and how does it relate to the music at the record?
Master Butcher – Hi Jakub, hope all is doing well in your place, about the cover, it corresponds to images of preserved jeweled skeletons originally found 1578 at a hidden roman catacomb and accidentally discovered by vineyard workers. The catholic authorities claimed that these corresponded to early christian martyrs and in general terms, the decorations they show, served to portrait the abundance after living under the precetps of christianity. In regards to the cover, the character’s name is Saint Maximus – also known as Maximus The Martyr. When deciding how to approach the cover we wanted someting to reflect what the album is, a mixture of grotesque/bizarre elements but embeded in a certain way that turn into something able to capture the viewer/listener attention from the first moment. Also I must say that we try to stay away from the current trend which in case of Doom Death seem to be related with the same type of covers, same type of sound productions...you know. At the end we want to follow our path for each choice we make for Morbid Stench.
I have been wandering the underground for over thirty years and I still go to Costarica 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?
Master Butcher – Well, thanks for such concpets...really appreciate it. Yes, during recent years there have been several bands doing good music here...Bloodsoaked Necrovoid, Astriferous, Crypt Monarch, Umbra Concientia, Advent of Bedlam, Culto Necgro. However, there is also some hidden stuff in other Central American countries like Tanatos Mundi in Honduras, Fleshtorture from Nicaragua, Sorrwostorm from Panama. The thing with Central America is that, probably due to geographic location, it does not get the same attention as bands in Mexico or South America. Central America is in certain way overlooked. Now let me tell you, Central America is an isthmus, a small portion of land in between two much larger territories (Notrh and South America) with that said, we as Central Americans, receive lots of influeces from the north and the south and probably that makes that our bands are developing certain style and that’s what makes the band stand out.
You play doom 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 MORBID STENCH 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?
[Morbid] I remember it was around 2014 when i wanted to be part of another band on which i could focused only on the music since on other bands i mainly compose music and lyrics i wanted to change that scenario to explore also the interactions on composing music with other persons that share the same passion for death and doom metal golden years, the 90s. Purulent was already on the ride since i knew him from Conceived By Hate and local scend but it was by trades that i got to meet The Master Butcher and we started first with some colaborations on vocals for other band called DISORDER and after that we agreed to joing forces, and that was the last piece of the puzzle. Personally i do not have metal idols but i really appreciate a lot what King Fowley have donde for the USA underground death metal scene, how passionate he is for the music and how has always been pushing forward no matter what to keep his bands alive and producing new music, i am totally inspired by persons with that energy drive. Regarding steps forward i know the other guys agree, our vision is to continue making music with passion and honesty, enjoy the process and keep pushing our bounderies to promote us and our scenes. Having all of us living in different countries make it challenging to think about playing live but for sure that will happen at some point in the future, that is something i look forward.
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?
The Master Butcher – You have definetely done a good job man, no doubt on that. In my case, and I think also in other member’s case, we belong to a generarion where we just don’t feel good with digital stuff ...specially when it comes to buy music. So yes, we support local and abroad colleagues...but not because they are friends...no...we support’em because we like the music. There seems to be this idea of supporting everything and I just don’t get it...not all you hear or find is well done, so it is non real to pretend to support everything.
On the one hand, today the new bands 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 MORBID STENCH? What do you think about downloading music, google metalists, streaming music, etc.?
[Morbid] In my opinion there is always good and bad things about technology but i try to focuse on the advantages and for me the biggest advantage is that now we can easily communicate with many people in the world to spread the music, we can do that quickly and cheap, something that definately was harder back in the day. Also i think that one thing that helps on not getting lost in that big sea of metal bands you said is to try to make honest music, with passion and not fashion...at a certain point that pays off.
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?
The Master Butcher – In my personal case, it means alot...I mean, it has been part of my life since highschool in 1986 (when the Master of Puppets was relased), I started doing vocals in november 1992 with my first band Pseudostratiffied Epithelium and that was 30 years ago.
So as you can see, when you have spent more than half your life in something, is becasue that thing is an integral part for your personal balance. Now, I don’t know if you have seen this...but in some cases I have dectected some metal heads with certain arrogant attitides, like if being into metal would make them special or superior to the rest...that’s ridiculuous. That’s more frequent in so called old school tue kult krieg folks.
Finally, a classic but important question. What is MORBID STENCH planning in the upcoming months? Where can we see you at the stage and when will you visit the Europe?
The Master Butcher – Well, we are waiting for the several versions of the album to get released, this has been a major achievement for us, you know, having the album released by different labels in different regions, is not easy. In the mean time we are talking and setting general ideas for the next album because we think you start working on an album much ealier than having the music ready...the vision from an artistic musical perspective is what we first consider and that we are up to now with our next album without forgetting with Morbid Stech we pursue to mature and develop...to enrich it but without adding unnecessary stuff because that would make superficial the whole thing...and not...we’re not here for that.
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 „The Rotting Ways of Doom“ into my head again!
[Morbid] Thanks so much to you Jakub for taking the time on making this interview and making the efforts to spread our rotten music all over there, for sure we will have to meet in person some day and drink some Zubrowka Bison Grass Vodka!!!! Count with us on anything! Regards from Hell Salvador!
The Master Butcher – Thanks man, really appreciate your support and the interesting questions, infernal hails to all your readers from the Central American swamps.
Recenze/review - MORBID STENCH - The Rotting Ways of Doom (2022):
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