Hailing from Belgium, this young band creates some worthy technical yet brutal death metal with a certain sense of musical mastery. PESTIFER follows the path once used by masters like ATHEIST with a more brutal approach.
Here’s a stoning chat with Phil & Antoine. Stay high!
-Hey Phil, what’s up in Liège, any interesting gig you’ve been lately? What kind of beers will you drink to answer this boozing interview? Ah! Ah!
Phil: Hi Jim. We played very recently in Liège with 2 local bands and HOMESTELL a band from your country. Very cool gig, like the other ones we’ve played until now.But it was the last show with our singer, Morty, who’s no more in the band. Right now I smoke some weed, but I don’t drink beer! ;)
-OK, let’s try to be more serious. Can you briefly do an introduction into the PESTIFER realm of pestilence? In fact, do you take your band name from EXMORTEM “Pestilence Empire” 3rd track?
Phil: PESTIFER is a long time project which became more serious from the day we met Antoine, our guitarist, about 2 years ago. The name of the band doesn’t come from EXMORTEM. Actually I didn’t know this band and it’s a previous member of PESTIFER who found the name. He wasn’t listening to metal at all and it was long time before “Pestilence Empire”! We thought it was just a cool name.
-You have just recorded a 3 track promo at Ubik studios in Brussels. Well, the result is pretty good: old school brutal and technical death metal from which putrid emanations of DEATH, GORGUTS, PESTILENCE, ATHEIST can be felt plus some today more extreme shit like, I would say, PSYCROPTIC. I think you share some similarities with them. Do you agree with this? Are you satisfied by this demo 2006?
Phil: Thanks for your comments about our music. DEATH, ATHEIST and PESTILENCE are of course in our influences, but I don’t know PSYCROPTIC. I’ll listen to that band!
About the demo, we are satisfied, even if it there are few points we would change today.
Antoine : Yeah, About the demo, it was simply a way for us to see how the music we play sounds like. We had 2 days to record, so I think the result is not so bad but we need to work again!!! We also made it to get some external reactions, to find some gigs…
-Talking about ATHEIST, have you listened to GNOSTIC with the ex-drummer of ATHEIST which is a really good technical death metal band? How do you consider the technical aspect in extreme metal? Do you think it’s essential and helps being original at all cost? Do you like stuff like THEORY IN PRACTICE or MARTYR (from Canada)?
Phil: I heared GNOSTIC one time, it was pretty cool, but I didn’t like the voice, which is an essential point to me. I think technique is one of the aspects I like in extreme metal, but it’s not the only way to be original. It’s hard in 2006 to make things which were not made yet in Death metal. I don’t ask to a band to be technical for I like it, I just ask him to be good. I really enjoy bands like AUTOPSY or BOLT THROWER! THEORY IN PRACTICE is a very good band, but too much technique can be boring.
-All the guys in PESTIFER show some real musicianship. What is your musical background? The bass playing reminds me of Steve Di Georgio with some slide parts. What are the musical influences of PESTIFER? Are some of these influences out of the metal sphere, like jazz, blues, progressive rock or whatever?
Phil: My brother and I have played together in differents bands since about 8 years and we learned basements of music during childhood. Adrien like Di Giorgio as you can hear but other musicians out of metal too, like Jaco Pastorius.
Antoine: I always have been in music environment. Some of my family members are musicians. I learn music since I was 5 years old and my first band experiment goes back to about 10 years ago. Like everybody, I‘ve played in some local bands and had some impromptu jams. I enjoy listening to all kind of music (sure there are some exceptions!!!),
It goes from DEATH to Wes Montgomery, some classical, some fusion, old rock, funk, Indian music, etc… Each can bring something!!
-Your band logo remind me a lot of NOCTURNUS one. This band had a certain impact in the techno-death scene with the use of keyboards. Is it an influence? How do you see the band’s evolution all along their career? What do you think of keyboards use in bands like NECROPHAGIA and in metal more generally?
Phil: Yeah! The logo wasn’t supposed to look like the NOCTURNUS’ one, but I agree with you! I really love this band which is one of my favourite since many years. Except for their last album. The Key and Thresholds (and also Possess the Priest, their two tracks recording before the first split) are a good example that keyboards can be excellent.
As I said before, there is no rules for how to play good music. It can be good with or without keyboards, with or without technique,... or bad for the same reasons.
-PESTIFER’s music possesses a lot of diversity: fast parts, technical breaks, vocals from screams to deeper ones, slower parts like in the third track “solstitium”… (The best from the demo according to me). How a song is taking shape in PESTIFER? Do you plan a song will have a better impact or it does come naturally?
Antoine: in fact some of the songs were brought by the twins, another part came from me and the rest result from common work. In every case, everybody add his personal touch. We take time to discuss, and try to consider everyone’s opinion and ideas. With time, we work back on certain old songs; we change some parts or bring some riff or note that’s fit better. Its give to the music something “organic” (I don’t know if it’s the good word?) something “that evolve”. We appreciate it!
Anyway, we can never say if a song will sound better or not! It’s up to the feeling of the moment!!
-In your bio you declare to have written dozen tracks. How do those songs sound like compared to this demo? Do you intend to release a full album after this demo? What is the next step for PESTIFER?
Phil: We choose these tree songs because we thought they were a good example of what PESTIFER is. Actually we try to make various things; some of our songs can sound different of the demo. But we assert ourselves some limit has not to exceed.
Antoine : Next step is firstly to find a new singer or at least find a solution for sing. After we’ll work on some new stuff and maybe we’ll go back in studio…
-To be honest, I know very few bands from Belgium except well known act such as ABORTED, ENTHRONED, LENG’ TCHE… Don’t you think ABORTED musical orientation turns to joke (brutal death to some kind of crappy deathcore)? Can you give us underground bands that are worthy to be heard? Do you know death metal acts like EMETH, COALITION, HEADMEAT, PEK and RESUSCITATION?
Phil: I don’t like Deathcore in general!! ;) I don’t know very well ABORTED’s albums but I enjoy the way their career goes bigger. It gives hope to belgian metal scene.
For the bands from our area, I play in INNERFIRE, which is very different of PESTIFER. I really like EMPTINESS too.
Here’s a stoning chat with Phil & Antoine. Stay high!
-Hey Phil, what’s up in Liège, any interesting gig you’ve been lately? What kind of beers will you drink to answer this boozing interview? Ah! Ah!
Phil: Hi Jim. We played very recently in Liège with 2 local bands and HOMESTELL a band from your country. Very cool gig, like the other ones we’ve played until now.But it was the last show with our singer, Morty, who’s no more in the band. Right now I smoke some weed, but I don’t drink beer! ;)
-OK, let’s try to be more serious. Can you briefly do an introduction into the PESTIFER realm of pestilence? In fact, do you take your band name from EXMORTEM “Pestilence Empire” 3rd track?
Phil: PESTIFER is a long time project which became more serious from the day we met Antoine, our guitarist, about 2 years ago. The name of the band doesn’t come from EXMORTEM. Actually I didn’t know this band and it’s a previous member of PESTIFER who found the name. He wasn’t listening to metal at all and it was long time before “Pestilence Empire”! We thought it was just a cool name.
-You have just recorded a 3 track promo at Ubik studios in Brussels. Well, the result is pretty good: old school brutal and technical death metal from which putrid emanations of DEATH, GORGUTS, PESTILENCE, ATHEIST can be felt plus some today more extreme shit like, I would say, PSYCROPTIC. I think you share some similarities with them. Do you agree with this? Are you satisfied by this demo 2006?
Phil: Thanks for your comments about our music. DEATH, ATHEIST and PESTILENCE are of course in our influences, but I don’t know PSYCROPTIC. I’ll listen to that band!
About the demo, we are satisfied, even if it there are few points we would change today.
Antoine : Yeah, About the demo, it was simply a way for us to see how the music we play sounds like. We had 2 days to record, so I think the result is not so bad but we need to work again!!! We also made it to get some external reactions, to find some gigs…
-Talking about ATHEIST, have you listened to GNOSTIC with the ex-drummer of ATHEIST which is a really good technical death metal band? How do you consider the technical aspect in extreme metal? Do you think it’s essential and helps being original at all cost? Do you like stuff like THEORY IN PRACTICE or MARTYR (from Canada)?
Phil: I heared GNOSTIC one time, it was pretty cool, but I didn’t like the voice, which is an essential point to me. I think technique is one of the aspects I like in extreme metal, but it’s not the only way to be original. It’s hard in 2006 to make things which were not made yet in Death metal. I don’t ask to a band to be technical for I like it, I just ask him to be good. I really enjoy bands like AUTOPSY or BOLT THROWER! THEORY IN PRACTICE is a very good band, but too much technique can be boring.
-All the guys in PESTIFER show some real musicianship. What is your musical background? The bass playing reminds me of Steve Di Georgio with some slide parts. What are the musical influences of PESTIFER? Are some of these influences out of the metal sphere, like jazz, blues, progressive rock or whatever?
Phil: My brother and I have played together in differents bands since about 8 years and we learned basements of music during childhood. Adrien like Di Giorgio as you can hear but other musicians out of metal too, like Jaco Pastorius.
Antoine: I always have been in music environment. Some of my family members are musicians. I learn music since I was 5 years old and my first band experiment goes back to about 10 years ago. Like everybody, I‘ve played in some local bands and had some impromptu jams. I enjoy listening to all kind of music (sure there are some exceptions!!!),
It goes from DEATH to Wes Montgomery, some classical, some fusion, old rock, funk, Indian music, etc… Each can bring something!!
-Your band logo remind me a lot of NOCTURNUS one. This band had a certain impact in the techno-death scene with the use of keyboards. Is it an influence? How do you see the band’s evolution all along their career? What do you think of keyboards use in bands like NECROPHAGIA and in metal more generally?
Phil: Yeah! The logo wasn’t supposed to look like the NOCTURNUS’ one, but I agree with you! I really love this band which is one of my favourite since many years. Except for their last album. The Key and Thresholds (and also Possess the Priest, their two tracks recording before the first split) are a good example that keyboards can be excellent.
As I said before, there is no rules for how to play good music. It can be good with or without keyboards, with or without technique,... or bad for the same reasons.
-PESTIFER’s music possesses a lot of diversity: fast parts, technical breaks, vocals from screams to deeper ones, slower parts like in the third track “solstitium”… (The best from the demo according to me). How a song is taking shape in PESTIFER? Do you plan a song will have a better impact or it does come naturally?
Antoine: in fact some of the songs were brought by the twins, another part came from me and the rest result from common work. In every case, everybody add his personal touch. We take time to discuss, and try to consider everyone’s opinion and ideas. With time, we work back on certain old songs; we change some parts or bring some riff or note that’s fit better. Its give to the music something “organic” (I don’t know if it’s the good word?) something “that evolve”. We appreciate it!
Anyway, we can never say if a song will sound better or not! It’s up to the feeling of the moment!!
-In your bio you declare to have written dozen tracks. How do those songs sound like compared to this demo? Do you intend to release a full album after this demo? What is the next step for PESTIFER?
Phil: We choose these tree songs because we thought they were a good example of what PESTIFER is. Actually we try to make various things; some of our songs can sound different of the demo. But we assert ourselves some limit has not to exceed.
Antoine : Next step is firstly to find a new singer or at least find a solution for sing. After we’ll work on some new stuff and maybe we’ll go back in studio…
-To be honest, I know very few bands from Belgium except well known act such as ABORTED, ENTHRONED, LENG’ TCHE… Don’t you think ABORTED musical orientation turns to joke (brutal death to some kind of crappy deathcore)? Can you give us underground bands that are worthy to be heard? Do you know death metal acts like EMETH, COALITION, HEADMEAT, PEK and RESUSCITATION?
Phil: I don’t like Deathcore in general!! ;) I don’t know very well ABORTED’s albums but I enjoy the way their career goes bigger. It gives hope to belgian metal scene.
For the bands from our area, I play in INNERFIRE, which is very different of PESTIFER. I really like EMPTINESS too.
Antoine: It’s a matter of taste!!! Some are pretty cool, some less…for example I enjoy to listen to ABORTED or IN QUEST as I enjoy the old ones like CHANNEL ZERO!!! If you want some cool band from our area you can listen to (our mate from) NEVERLIGHT HORIZON, CATARRHAL, BURSTING, …they explore metal in a brutal way but they are pretty cool!!!
-Since the beginning of PESTIFER, how many gigs were performed and how many beers were drunk? Which bands do you share the stages with? Do you have any particular shit that happened during a gig?
Antoine: I think we only performed about 12 gigs…The most with local Band such as NOKTURNAL, BURSTING, NEVERLIGHT, CATARRHAL, COVERHATE, NARTHEX, COALITION… and in the south part of Belgium . We’ve also played with PITBULLS IN THE NURSERY (these guys are pretty cool!!!), ARKANGEL, HYBRID VISCERY, GORYPTIC(Fr),…first gig was in early 2006! Beers are part of our live and habits so I guess we’ve drank too many of them and in the same time not enough!!! Hahaha!!
-Are you in contact with your French neighbours? Do you know some bands, labels, distros, festivals…? Do you like French beer (foreigners usually say it tastes like piss ah! ah!)?
Phil: We know few band from your country, we played this Saturday with HOMESTELL. We really appreciate PITBULLS IN THE NURSERY. And as I am concerned, I like TALES OF BLOOD, for their music and because the guys are really cool. But about beer... we have hundreds of different delicious beers here! Chimay, Leffe, Duvel, Judas, Chouffe, Rochefort, Bush, Lucifer, Gulden Draak, and many many more; why would we taste a french beer?? Hellgium is the country of beer, I think you’re better in wine ;)
Antoine: yeah PITN kick ass!!! I had some great nights with these guys!! I also had contact with OUTCAST cool band too…FATAL came two times about 3 years ago, very good too!!! In Liège , everybody knows everybody (almost) on the underground scene so we have sure some friends in many bands!!! For beers you can come to visit us, and we’ll make you taste!!!
-You titles tracks are quite weird and obscure and also your demo cover. Are in you into esoteric or occult themes? Do you have an interest in Lovecraft mythology? Are there any other writings/books which are source of lyrics inspiration?
Phil: We can’t say. Our singer is no more in the band, and the lyrics were his job.
Antoine: We haven’t ever seen all the Lyrics. But indeed Morty liked these kinds of stuffs. And for the future we decided to be more involve in the writing.
-Phil, you did the cover and lay-out of the demo. Is graphic creation your full-time job or is it just a hobby? Do you work for other bands or in website creation? Do you like the job of guys like Jon Zig or Chris moyen? What are your favourite metal artworks?
Phil: I “study” graphic creation at high scool, but I don’t really like that. I just like sometimes make some “artworks”. I never work on websites, actually I failed at my web design final exam :D
My favourites works are the ones of Dan Seagrave or Wes Benscoter. They realised artworks for some of the best death metal albums.
-Before closing this chat, tell me what’s playing while molesting your computer answering those questions? What are the recent albums you got? Anything to recommend or we should avoid?
Phil: “Passage” of SAMAEL. I don’t have recent albums. It doesn’t interest me to have heaps of albums only I do not listen. I prefer to deepen each album that I like. This is why I always turn with the same ones for years.
Antoine: For me; NEVERMORE (dead heart in a dead world), MASTODON (Blood Mountain), Charlie Parker. Last cool stuffs I bought and which I listen to a lot these days are GORDIAN KNOT - “Emergent” (very nice), LINEAR SPHERE – “Reality Dysfunction” and FREAK KITCHEN- “Move” (With Mattias Eklundh) for exemple!!
-OK Phil, I am now getting a beer, end this intie as you wish. Good and pestilential luck to you and the PESTIFER dudes, final words are yours. Cheerz!!
Phil: Thanks you for the support, and thanks to the ones who’re still reading this interview! Check our myspace page: www.myspace.com/pestiferbe
Cheers!
-Since the beginning of PESTIFER, how many gigs were performed and how many beers were drunk? Which bands do you share the stages with? Do you have any particular shit that happened during a gig?
Antoine: I think we only performed about 12 gigs…The most with local Band such as NOKTURNAL, BURSTING, NEVERLIGHT, CATARRHAL, COVERHATE, NARTHEX, COALITION… and in the south part of Belgium . We’ve also played with PITBULLS IN THE NURSERY (these guys are pretty cool!!!), ARKANGEL, HYBRID VISCERY, GORYPTIC(Fr),…first gig was in early 2006! Beers are part of our live and habits so I guess we’ve drank too many of them and in the same time not enough!!! Hahaha!!
-Are you in contact with your French neighbours? Do you know some bands, labels, distros, festivals…? Do you like French beer (foreigners usually say it tastes like piss ah! ah!)?
Phil: We know few band from your country, we played this Saturday with HOMESTELL. We really appreciate PITBULLS IN THE NURSERY. And as I am concerned, I like TALES OF BLOOD, for their music and because the guys are really cool. But about beer... we have hundreds of different delicious beers here! Chimay, Leffe, Duvel, Judas, Chouffe, Rochefort, Bush, Lucifer, Gulden Draak, and many many more; why would we taste a french beer?? Hellgium is the country of beer, I think you’re better in wine ;)
Antoine: yeah PITN kick ass!!! I had some great nights with these guys!! I also had contact with OUTCAST cool band too…FATAL came two times about 3 years ago, very good too!!! In Liège , everybody knows everybody (almost) on the underground scene so we have sure some friends in many bands!!! For beers you can come to visit us, and we’ll make you taste!!!
-You titles tracks are quite weird and obscure and also your demo cover. Are in you into esoteric or occult themes? Do you have an interest in Lovecraft mythology? Are there any other writings/books which are source of lyrics inspiration?
Phil: We can’t say. Our singer is no more in the band, and the lyrics were his job.
Antoine: We haven’t ever seen all the Lyrics. But indeed Morty liked these kinds of stuffs. And for the future we decided to be more involve in the writing.
-Phil, you did the cover and lay-out of the demo. Is graphic creation your full-time job or is it just a hobby? Do you work for other bands or in website creation? Do you like the job of guys like Jon Zig or Chris moyen? What are your favourite metal artworks?
Phil: I “study” graphic creation at high scool, but I don’t really like that. I just like sometimes make some “artworks”. I never work on websites, actually I failed at my web design final exam :D
My favourites works are the ones of Dan Seagrave or Wes Benscoter. They realised artworks for some of the best death metal albums.
-Before closing this chat, tell me what’s playing while molesting your computer answering those questions? What are the recent albums you got? Anything to recommend or we should avoid?
Phil: “Passage” of SAMAEL. I don’t have recent albums. It doesn’t interest me to have heaps of albums only I do not listen. I prefer to deepen each album that I like. This is why I always turn with the same ones for years.
Antoine: For me; NEVERMORE (dead heart in a dead world), MASTODON (Blood Mountain), Charlie Parker. Last cool stuffs I bought and which I listen to a lot these days are GORDIAN KNOT - “Emergent” (very nice), LINEAR SPHERE – “Reality Dysfunction” and FREAK KITCHEN- “Move” (With Mattias Eklundh) for exemple!!
-OK Phil, I am now getting a beer, end this intie as you wish. Good and pestilential luck to you and the PESTIFER dudes, final words are yours. Cheerz!!
Phil: Thanks you for the support, and thanks to the ones who’re still reading this interview! Check our myspace page: www.myspace.com/pestiferbe
Cheers!
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