DEATHEVOCATION interview 2007

Sick of Gothenburp cheesy death (?) metal, looking for something able to blow the brain out of your skull with putrid and rancid sounds of death, here is DEATHEVOCATION from Sweden who released a demo some months ago of pure Swedish death metal with thrash and old school influences. I always wonder how such young lads can play good old death metal without falling in melodeath or US brutal stuff, but owning their proper morbid sound! The best is to ask Arvid about it!

1-Greetings Arvid, how are you doing man? In 1988 was recorded the “Dismembered” demo by the almighty DISMEMBER featuring a track named “Deathevocation”… You obviously took your moniker from this demo, right? Have you listened to their last album “The god that never was?
Hi man! I’m fine thanks, how are you? Yeah, we got our name from the DISMEMBER song, which is a band that we are heavily influenced by. I have heard some songs of their new album, and it’s ok. It’s not like in the good old days, but it works.

2-OK now it’s time to introduce your band DEATHEVOCATION. Tell us how everything happened and how would you describe DEATHEVOCATION style and sound? Even if you are old school oriented, it seems that you also have more actual influences.
All of us (except for Andreas), which I have known for I don’t know how long, went to the same school, who happened to like the same sort of music. We started the band in 2003.
I would describe our music as fast, thrashing old school death metal, influenced by mostly old Swedish bands like DISMEMBER, ENTOMBED, UNLEASHED and so on, but also American bands such as SLAYER, MORBID ANGEL and NILE.

3-There is a US band called DEATHEVOKATION playing pure old school death metal in the 90’s vein which is going to release an album soon on Spanish label X-treem Music. Do you know and like their stuff? It seems that a kind of old school death metal and retro thrash revival occurred actually. Do you think people are tired of extreme brutal death? Can we consider that labels also are responsible regarding this new wave with bands such as BLOODBATH, CHAOSBREED, GOD AMONG INSECTS and DEATH BREATH? What do you think of those bands?
Yeah, I have heard DEATHEVOKATION, and they are cool! I like their music.
I have noticed some sort of revival for old school death metal too, and I know that at least I am really fucking tired of extreme brutal “death metal”.
It is partly thanks to the labels that we can see this new wave of death metal, but I also think that death metal have come to a point where it has got to go back to the basics.

4-You have recently released your first demo “Combatzone” which is more or less some efficient old school death/thrash metal influenced, according to your biography, by DISMEMBER, ENTOMBED, SLAYER, MORBID ANGEL… Your music is mostly played on heavy rhythms and tempos; will this particularity remain on the next stuff?
Yeah, our next demo will be based on the same concept, although we have developed, both as musicians and as a band, and we know what we did wrong with “Combatzone”.
On the next demo, you will probably hear more of our fast tracks.

5-Can you talk about the recording of this demo? How does your unreleased tracks sound like compared to those on “Combatzone”? What’s the next step for DEATHEVOCATION (gigs, releases…) Would you be interested by releasing a 7 EP or a split for example?
As I said, the next demo will be based on the same concept, but we will stick more to our fast tracks, and also then we have developed our heavy parts, although we will probably have some “slower” and heavier songs on the next demo too, such as “The Sun”.
The next step for the band is probably to create, rehearse and record the next demo, which should probably be out sometime in the summer of 2007.

6-Andreas’ vocals are very low and remind me those from VOMITORY. How does he use to work his voice? What sort of abuses to maintain it? Alcohol and pots?
Yeah, Andreas is a great singer, and well, of course he drinks from time to time (I mean, who doesn’t?), but what he does most is practice. That’s the only way to keep your voice in shape, and that’s also how he got to where he is today, practice!

7-The last song of “Combatzone” named “the sun” is a great song gathering influences such as GOD MACABRE and BLACK SABBATH. I mean I feel a kind of funeral vibe in that song I can’t explain. Please help me to cure this feeling, ah, ah! Are you also influenced by Finnish death metal with stuff like DEMIGOD, FUNEBRE, CONVULSE and so on?
Hehe, thanks! I’m glad to hear that you like it! It’s one of my/our favorites too!
I have heard those bands, and they are good, but I don’t think that they have influenced us that much.

8-Let’s talk about your place, Stockholm, how is life out there and how is DEATHEVOCATION perceived among the other bands? How is your local scene? Do you think DEATHEVOCATION is well armed to crush the heavy/death melodic trend?
Stockholm is a great town, with a bunch of good bands, such as KAAMOS and INSISION, and also a couple of underground bands, which we know a few of. What I miss the most is more gigs, both underground and with more settled bands.
Hahaha, and yeah, DEATHEVOCATION are armed to the teeth to crush those bands!

9-Even if Sweden owns lot of melodic death bands, there is also an important amount of bands dedicated to pure extreme metal like AXIS POWER, FLESH, MAZE OF TORMENTS, SPAWN OF POSSESSION, GENERAL SURGERY, INSISION, DEVIANT, and dozens others… How can you explain there are so many bands in Sweden? Do you think you have more exposure than in eastern countries or Latinos countries?
Well, Sweden has always been a country that puts lots of effort in to give young people opportunities of things to do, and music has always been something that has been popular to do. So politicians have fixed studios and rehearsal rooms in almost every city that there are young people living in, and almost everyone is able to take instrument lessons in different music schools that are spread over the country. Many people are able to play and get better all the time actually. Music is a very popular thing in Sweden, since we have many metalheads and great metal bands here, metal music is always growing around here.

10-Do you know some recent promising thrash metal acts like CORRUPT and OPPRESSION? Does Johannes Törnquist have any familial links with Joachim Törnquist from OPPRESSION? I guess Törnquist is a rather widespread name?
No, I don’t think that they are related in any way. And yeah, it’s a quite common name!

11-How many gigs have you played with DEATHEVOCATION? Which bands do you share stages with? Usually, how are the reactions during your gigs? Fans got crazy and killed each others or did they throw you empty bottles of beer? What were the worst shit happening at your gigs?
Well, we have missed a bassplayer for a long time, so there hasn’t been that many gigs, only in the absolute beginning of the band, and well, they weren’t that wild, to be honest, hahaha!

12-Arvid, I know that you are a voracious zines collector. What are your favourites? Are there any sick & disgusting fanzines in Sweden that you could recommend? According to you what are the fanzines’ characteristics that webzines didn’t have? Do you appreciate some webzines with their beautiful shining adverts, sterile forums and fast food reviews? Seriously, are there some worthy ones?
I love fanzines, and some of my favorites that I can recomend are “The maniac postman zine” from Spain, “Deadly illness zine” and “Shrunken & mumified” from Hungary, “Macabre Pest” from Chile and of course “Putrefactive effect zine”. You’re doing a great job, man! A great recent zine from Sweden is “Death Execution”!
Well, I don’t really see the point of just having a website, and who reads them anyway? Actually there are some good webzines so I shouldn’t diss all of them, Nihilistic H for an example. That’s a great site, and Gab sure does a good job, keeping the underground alive!

13-On the back cover of your demo, we can see one of you wearing a DEVOURMENT T-shirt, right? Do you like US brutal death? What’s attracting you in this style? Do you like Swedish bands playing US alike death metal like SOILS OF FATE, AEON or IMMERSED IN BLOOD? Are you into other musical styles like thrash, doom, black, heavy, rock non-metal stuff…?
Yeah, that’s Andreas wearing a DEVOURMENT shirt! He loves that kind of music, but to be honest, I can’t stand it, and neither can Johannes or Jacob.
He sings in some other bands as well, which aren’t that bad, but it ain’t my kind of music!
Well, I love thrash and heavy metal. Some black are good to and of course I like rock!
And for non-metal music... well a good song is a good song of course, but it’s mainly not my kind of music.

14-Here is the putrefactive question, the question that is asked to all bands featuring my pages and that may bore everybody…except me! What are you fucking listening to while answering my questions? Any good shit we shall rush into?
I have been listening to some MORBID, some MAYHEM and NILE – “Annihilation of the Wicked”, which I would say is the best metal cd of 2005. A must have!

15-Again, to a musical point of view what would be ideal for you to listen to (album/song):
While having some beers? Probably some heavy metal or rock or something. (Or maybe just THE KRISTET UTSEENDE – Bärs som Bärs)
While driving drunk and crushing some religious assholes? Hahaha, well I’m not old enough to drive yet, but if I did, it would probably be DEICIDE – Bible Basher.
For funerals? IMPERIET – Märk hur vår skugga. Hahaha, a swedish song. It’s great!
For grave desecration? MORBID – Disgusting Semla hahaha!
To wake up the dead? CANNIBAL CORPSE – Living Dissection / MORTICIAN – Zombie Apocalypse

16-No more stupid questions Arvid, I will let you close this chat. If you have anything to add. Good luck with DEATHEVOCATION, bye dude!
Thanks for the interview man! And to everybody else, buy our demo (5€/5$/20SEK), drink beer and listen to death metal!
Support the underground!

Contact :
www.myspace.com/deathevocation
deathevocation_sthlm@hotmail.com

Deathevocation
c/o Arvid Staaf
Ringvägen 10
S-117 26 Stockholm
SWEDEN