CEREBRAL EFFUSION interview 2008

If you're tired of the actual US brutal death scene, let's go into the European ground of sonic violence and more precisely into Spain. Very confidential, this scene nevertheless got some killer brutal acts like CEREBRAL EFFUSION who really impress me with their second album “Smashed and splattered organs”. Not just a flood of blast-beats, the band is able to create really obscene and captivating songs.

1- Brutal greetings Pe! First of all, thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Let the killing begins. What’s the situation about CEREBRAL EFFUSION more than 2 years after your second release “Smashed and splattered organs”? You played many gigs in the last months but what about some new material? Your first MCD stuff is re-released as a split CD with OFFALMINCER from Russia, right?
Hi Jim. You are right. It passes 2 years since last cd but we are working hard for recording new one the next year. We have 5 new songs and they are long….new songs are around 4/5 minutes and we try to twist riffs…..I know that we are composing slowly but I hope the result will be there next year. When we compose 2/3 songs more………..it will be recorded….
About Mcd re-released what to say. We signed a deal to the Russian promoter and we decided to edit again Mcd for spreading in Russia…..It sounded cool and we decided to do it.

2-How happened the fact CEREBRAL EFFUSION released a split with Russian OFFALMINCER? You toured Russia as well with ANAL NOSOROG. Wasn’t it hard to tour in this country? How was the response? At least you weren’t out of vodka, ahah!
Ha ha ha ha ha….of course we drank Vodka…….. we toured with ANAL NOSOROG band and we drank “firewater” together.. It was crazy. Russian Tour was really hard coz we have to spend a lot of time travelling. We went to Russia in winter so it was too cool. Anyway when we arrived to cities people was waiting for us and they tried to spend cool time with us. Russian people treating us nice and response was really cool. In one fest 1000 person appeared, others 400 and in some cities 100/150…It was really crazy……We seems like rockstars……….fucking shit.

3-Your first album “Violence in motion” was released through Unmatched Brutality Records in 2003.In 2005 you decided to release your 2nd album through Goregiastic Records. Are you satisfied with the work of UBR concerning your first CD? Why did you choose to work with Goregiastic back then? Will you keep working with them?
We are very glad UB job. They made a good job with our CD but when we recorded 2nd album we spoke to UB and we didn’t agree so we decided to sing to GR. Maybe in the future we can work together….I don’t know what happen in the future……

4-Let’s go back to the beginnings of CEREBRAL EFFUSION in 1997. Why did you choose to create a brutal death metal band at that time when black metal was at its peak? What motivates you to start a band and which bands were you listening to at that period?
Really I wasn’t a CE member…I enter in the band in 2001. When CE started there were many Brutal bands here in Bask Country so we decided to go on to the project. We love brutal music so we make what we like……….that is the main reason to play brutal musick……WE LOVE IT.

5-How did the scene look like in Spain in the mid 90’s? Bands like AVULSED, REINCARNATION, NECROPHILIAC and FERMENTO were still around. You can be considered as a second wave of Spanish death metal with brutal influences from the US like IMPURE, WORMED, SCENT OF DEATH or BRAINWASH. How do you see the Spanish scene evolution?
I decided some time ago not to speak about fucking Spanish scene……….IT SUCKS!!!! I want only to say that there are cool and fucking shit bands like everywhere.

6-I have read some rude reviews about CEREBRAL EFFUSION arguing you were just a CANNIBAL CORPSE clone or shits like that. Maybe one can see some similarities with their “Tomb of the mutilated” era but today the band has evolved a bit. Can you understand such comments? You’re more into the US brutal death vein I think. What do you think about the actual brutal death scene?
I think the same to you…..A lot of people say that we are like CANNIBAL CORPSE….I don’t think so. I think we play brutal death US style and not fucking CC style. I think these guys don’t listen CDs well……they hear one song and tell silly thing…….People who made a zine should to hear cds slowly and try to introduce in the band member skins……….There are too much criticians………Anyway It only a guy opinion…we don’t bother that.

7-You played some gigs in UK recently with SEPTYCAL GORGE from Italia. How was the English response towards these brutal assaults? Which bands got your attention out there?
Play in UK was really cool for us. We met some fucking guys from brutal bands like TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE, CREPITATION, INGESTED and of course SEPTYCAL GORGE. They are really cool guys, we spent fucking nice time there and they supported us for making gigs......I liked a lot SEPTYCAL GORGE...they made really cool shows in UK.

8-You’re very active concerning the live situation, which countries have you been visiting? It seems that playing in CEREBRAL EFFUSION is more than a simple involvement for the members? How do you manage to have a regular job and tour the Europe regularly?
Good question…ha ha ha ha……We all are workers. We use to be on holidays when we arrange some foreign gigs. We have to negotiate our holidays with our bosses, even fight for getting it. Till now we all get it, we played in some fucking cool places like Portugal, Germany, UK, Russia and Spain …
Yeahhh, playing in a band is very hard……Each member knows his task in CEREBRAL EFFUSION and we have to do it.

9-About foreign countries, did you play in France and have you any contacts here? Which bands do you know eventually?
I think that we didn’t play there in France but it is true that we have some contacts there. We kept in touch to some French guys and maybe we will play there soon.

10-Extreme music has now become a small market, beside others softer styles of metal, and more and more old acts came back to life with more or less success. Which comments can you make about some comebacks like SINISTER, ASPHYX, ATHEIST, ANGEL CORPSE and more recently CARCASS? Some of them did a decent resurrection like SINISTER. Don’t you think some people may push them to reform for obvious money matters?
Maybe they wanted to play again and they did it. I don’t mind that shits….I don’t like to tell shits about other bands……..All bands suck my dick. I only hear musick.

11-Always about the death metal evolution, some recent bands like VISCERAL BLEEDING, NECROPHAGIST or BENEATH THE MASSACRE, those bands managed to reach a higher step in speed and technicality. Do you think it’s still possible to go further in terms of supersonic violence? Not everyone can digest half an hour of intense blast-beats or guitar shredding demonstration, and some bands forget to just write good and catchy songs. What’s your view on this?
What to say…..I like “high speed and technically bands” and “heavy and slamming bands”. Not all….. I think that they are different styles. I thing that slow riffs are more violent than fast riffs but they could be mixed and became in a fucking purulent atmosphere. I really prefer deeper styles.

12- You also own a small distro list of brutal stuff with very low prices. Do you have regular buyers? Do you think such low prices can prevent people to download bands’ stuff? What are the latest releases you buy/trade?
We haven’t a small distro. We have some CDs for selling in our gigs. We have low prices because we don’t live of music, we enjoy with music.
I bought a lot of stuff in California Deathfest, fucking cool CDs, T-shirts and hooddies…..Really cool stuff. I could to say a very long list ha ha ha ha……

13-In your last mail you told me that you had to fly to California to see the best fest ever. What was it? Which bands were playing there? Was there a good audience? How successful is brutal death metal out there?
It was really cool for us although there weren’t a lot of people there. I thing that it is the same shit everywhere….everybody is supporter but finally there are really few supporters. Played cool bands in CDF but ……I can’t understand……Anyway we spent cool time there with cool guys from different bands.

14-I am out of questions, so we’ll end it here. Just tell me what you were listening to while answering those questions? Thanks for your time Pe, final words are yours. Cheers!
Thanx for you bro. I had to made intie in two times, coz my English is fucking shit and we sent a lot of time writing ha ha ha ha so now I am not listening anything but I was listening CONDEMNED, DEFEATED SANITY and ABYSMAL TORMENT last days.
Thanx for then interview again and I wish the best for your cool work.
FUCK YOU ALL!!!!!!!

http://www.myspace.com/cerebraleffusion

ABOMINAT interview 2008

After the interview with DISKORD in the previous issue I decided to continue my investigation on the frozen ground of Norway searching for more death metal. Today let me introduce you to ABOMINAT, a band spawned by the early days of SUFFOCATION, whose EP « Storms of calamity » released by No Posers Please! is just staggering! Fans of « Effigy of the forgotten », beware!

-Hi there Lian, hope everything is ok now? I think it would be very useful to introduce ABOMINAT to our readers. Tell us everything about the band until this day, please.
Hi there Jim! Everything is ok up here! Ok, let’s just go straight at it: We are a death metal band hailing from Norway. We started out in...uhm..I dont remember...let’s just say 2002/2003 sometime! In the beginning it was just me and Ola (drummer), and we started jamming some random metal stuff. After a while we found out that death metal was the deal! We made a few songs and recorded a homemade demo (mandatory!) called "Deadworld". Øyvind spawned out of pure darkness and cold void, and joined in as second guitarist. We made some new stuff, and Øyvind summoned forth Erik to do session vocals for the "Storms of Calamity" EP, and he decided to be a permanent member after that. After lot of headbanging, beer drinking, some live shows and a couple of new tracks recorded, we (or at least I am) here to answer your questions. Fire at will, Jim!

-In 2006, you have released a 7"EP through No Posers Please, titled "Storms of calamity". The stuff played is brutal death metal in the vein of US gods SUFFOCATION, more precisely the "Effigy of the forgotten" era, right? Why such an infatuation for their way of playing death metal?
When we made the songs for that EP, we were very inspired by Suffocation, yes. Cannot deny that! heh! We really like that kind of style, because it’s so fucking intense! So many riffs, without being too technical, and without getting boring! That’s the essence of it, I guess. I mean, both "Effigy..." and "Pierced From Within" are fucking epitomes of greatness! Never a bad or fill in riff from beginning to end...can anyone NOT like that? One can only dream of creating something even close to that.

-SUFFOCATION is still a huge influence in the today brutal death metal scene. Are you interested by bands like DEFEATED SANITY, INVERACITY or SEVERED SAVIOR that are obviously disciples of SUFFOCATION but bringing the style on a higher step? Do you feel concerned by such bands?
Those bands mentioned are really good, no doubt about that, but Severed Savior and Defeated Sanity takes the whole thing a bit too far, in MY opinion. It gets kinda "too brutal", if you know what I mean? Inveracity has kept more of the simplicity, which I enjoy. I’m not sure what you mean by "concerned", but I guess I`m not hehe!

-What do you think of SUFFOCATION's actual musical orientation? "Souls to deny" is quite melodic but quite good and the self tilted album is more brutal. What's your all time favourite? Have you seen them on tour recently?
In my humble opinion, "Souls To Deny" and "Suffocation" are quite boring. I have given both the albums many chances, but they just don’t make me cum! Suffo would have been better off without those albums. My all time fave is no doubt "Effigy of the Forgotten"! What a classic! Non-stop intensity, and all that skank-beat! Gotta love it! That’s what I miss in the new releases, that good old feeling. It’s just not there.

-As mentioned above you release "Storms of calamity" in the 7"EP format. Why did you decide to release it as such? What do you find attractive in the vinyl format despite the fact it's less used today?
We didn’t have any plans at all when we recorded the EP. We were just gonna release it as a CDR demo...but then Hansj Jørgen of No Posers Please! appeared out of nowhere! He expressed his interest in our material, and explained that he was interested in releasing it as a 7". That was such a great deal, and we are ever thankful for that! I don’t know how to explain what’s so great about vinyl...its just the feeling..you know? Hehe, I guess you do. I get this good feeling when I play a vinyl. It actually makes the album better than if it had been on a CD! As I said; it’s hard to explain.

-In 2004 was released a demo called "Deadworld". How this was sounding back then? Were you knowing what ABOMINAT was going to play or were you searching for your identity?
I guess we were searching for our identity (we still are though). We had so many influences, and we wanted to play like them all! And we really sucked at playing our instruments back then, so we were very limited in our writing process, but fuck, its both cool and somewhat embarrassing to listen to it nowadays haha! It has some cool riffs though!

-In the previous issue of Putrefactive Effect, I had a chat with Hans of DISKORD and we were talking about the Norwegian metal scene, that is what mostly black metal oriented, but that there was an ever-growing death metal one with DISKORD, ABOMINAT or OBLITERATION. Can you talk a bit about your local underground or bands from Norway that must be checked? How can you explain the fact that death metal is at the second plan or less popular?
I really don’t know that much about the metal underground here in Norway, but at least I try to keep up on the death metal growth. Still there aren’t many death metal bands in Norway, but it up and coming for sure! Except for the bands you mentioned, I must mention Grotesque Hysterectomy and Execration! Great bands! Execration plays some really dark and fucking great death metal! As for Grotesque Hysterectomy I can say that I heard some new stuff they have recorded, and fuck yes! Can’t wait to hear more of it! I can also mention Lobotomized, which is Autopsy/Abscess/punk/white trash deluxe, and Hideous Deformity who plays a more modern and tech style of death metal. I might have forgotten some bands now, but what the hell hehe!

-In Norway, music is widely a cultural movement and bands can get financial help from government as well as bands into metal like ENSLAVED that got rewarded at some musical Awards? Don't you find this strange that extreme music got such exposition?
Actually no, I don’t. The bands which receive awards and stuff like that, are big and have huge fan bases. It’s just like any other non-metal band getting an award. But if bands like Abominat was nominated for such thing, I would have found it strange heh.

-Music is something that everyone got to study at school, right? So does it mean that everyone has access to music to a certain extent? Is music seen as a competition between bands: I mean when ABOMINAT plays a gig some guys come to the show not to listen, see or bang their head, but to see if you are not more skilled than them? Do you see what I mean?
Everyone has access to music to a certain extent, yes. But not everyone is good at it, decides to do anything about it, or actually like it at all. Luckily! Can you imagine all the crap? I sure can’t haha. It’s always gonna be some "competitive" persons or bands out there, but we are not that at all! We seriously don’t give a fuck if someone is more skilled than us. Who cares? It’s all about writing and playing the music you like!

-Let's go back to ABOMINAT. What's the band status today? You've been into some line-up changes in the past, so now do you have a steady line-up?
I believe our current line-up is steady. At least I hope so, because it works out really great as it is, and it would seriously suck major cock to find any replacement members! But if someone decides to move on and do something else, no one can stop them from doing that. But as I said, I really think its steady as fuck as it is now!

-And what about some new material? Are you going to release a full length album or something else? Will it always be in the "Storms of calamity" vein?
I don’t know if you have heard our new tracks? If you haven’t, go check on our myspace page! I guess we will stay in the vein of the new tracks (kind of more intense than Storms of Calamity), but we will try to add some new elements, to spice it up a bit! We will keep having many different riffs in each song, and maybe add some more "evil" (in lack of better words) elements, but without loosing any intensity. It will be fast and intense, but that doesn’t mean it has to be blasting/grinding all the way! A lot of bands really doesn’t understand that.

-I have noticed that ABOMINAT drummer doesn't use triggered drums. Was this something clear at the beginning or that wasn't an option? What do you think of the use of triggered drums today? Some guys can now reach inhuman speed or can sound like machines and I think that in a long term everything will unfortunately sound the same.
Triggering isn’t an option. The drums loose a lot of feeling if they are triggered. Sounds so sterile! I guess you can mix and trix and do magic so that triggered drums doesn’t sound sterile and boring too, but what’s the point in triggering then? Anyway, we really don’t think much about it, because it isn’t an option. I don’t give a fuck about how fast a drummer can play. Only geeks do that.

-OK here are some short questions:

-What are your 5 favourite albums?

Oh shit...hmmm...ok Ill try:

Suffocation - Effigy of The Forgotten
Repugnant - Epitome of Darkness
Demolition Hammer - Epidemic of Violence
Morbid angel - Altars of Madness
Autopsy - Severed Survival

...but seriously man, haha, those are just from the top of my head, there are so many albums that deserves to be on that list just as much!

-If death metal was a beer?

Then I would have been an alcoholic hehe!

-The most underrated band ever?

Uhm...that’s a tough one! I’ll go for DR.SHRINKER. Fucking classic!! But I don’t think they are very underrated, just kind of unknown. Yeye, whatever. If you haven’t heard them, check them out!

-If you were able to kill someone and be sure to not get caught, who will be executed?

Hehe! So many...so many! Just one?? Ok...hmmm..lets go for a random one on my list and say: Paris Hilton.

-Do you know the Finnish band TORTURE KILLER which is a death metal act heavily influenced by SIX FEET UNDER. On their 2nd album, Chris Barns did the vocals. Could you imagine ABOMINAT doing the same but with Frank Mullen on vocals, what would be your reaction if he would call you tomorrow to sing on your new stuff?
Haha, I can imagine that, but that would have been a bit too much over the top! If he called me tomorrow I would have said "Hell no man! Stick to your own band!" heh.

-Hey Lian, I stop now wasting your time with my stupid questions. Thanks a lot for your answers. Keep it brutal with ABOMINAT! Final words are yours.
Hey Jim! It’s about time I stop wasting the time of your readers with my stupid answers! Thanks a lot for your questions! Keep it brutal with Putrefactive Effect! Final words were mine!

http://www.myspace.com/abominat

AFTERLIFE Productions / DEADHEAD Zine interview 2007

DEADHEAD FANZINE / AFTERLIFE Productions

This is the 1st intie planned for the third issue of Putrefactive Effect and it was done maybe a year ago. Looking back to my questions, I find them lacking of deepness but as you can read, Wan is a talkative guy and a totally dedicated underground maniac! So dear Putrefactive readers, here’s a lesson in Metal by Afterlife Productions owner from Mal(HELL)sia.

1-Infernal greetings to you Wan Syamsul! How are you, dweller of the hellish Malaysia? I reached you the old way by snail mail to have a chat about your activities so let’s start! How was procreated Afterlife Productions, can you give a brief overview of your label history?
Hello Jim at Putrefactive Effect zine! Thanks for your cool letter and interview. I’m doing fine over here, hope things are the same on the French soil… My small underground label Afterlife Productions actually started in the year 2002 and my first release is SABBAT “Bloody Countess” tape. My intention to create a label is to support the underground scene with high spirit like it was meant to be in the glorious 80’s great scene! I am also the editor of Deadhead Fanzine before I already start this label. So, behind each gap to release a new issue I can release any Metal bands that I like. Besides that, receiving mails constantly from all over the world is kinda cool thing!!! Deadhead Fanzine is very thick and totally die-hard basement publication, so it took like 1-2 years to release each issue. With this label I can fill the gap and keep on busy with the contacts from the underground which is great to me!! I’m happy that people who used to read my fanzine before also become a supporter to my label. They sense my high spirit to support the underground scene! It’s only for passion and interest!!!... Frankly speaking, the idea to make this label already came across in my mind since the year 2000. To make things clear, I once asked Gezol (SABBAT frontman) that I wanna join their 7’’ Harmageddon series (to release a Malay Harmageddon 7’’) but at that time Gezol were too busy with SABBAT schedules (new recording and tours), so they can’t afford to do it for me, and my label’s plan was to keep on hold. Around the year 2001 after some discussion with Gezol (keep in touch with him), he finally gave a precious opportunity to me to release their deleted “Bloody Countess” release, it’s actually an old SABBAT demo (really rare), which is actually been released in vinyl format in the 90’s by American label Holycaust Recs. limited to 100 copies only, and long-time sold out because of that small quantity! I must say not so many Metalheads got hold of that rare item! So, Gezol (vocalist of SABBAT) proposed me to re-release it with permission from Holycaust Recs. I am also contact that label to get green light from them! This “Bloody Countess” re-release under my label is also a special one because it’s the first time it got pressed on a professional cassette format (but the front cover still remain the same to protect the originality of it), and old live tracks were added as bonus! This “Bloody Countess” tape that I released has sold out within 1 year. But these days I got back my first intention of my label that’s to release SABBAT 7’’ vinyl. I am happy because it’s a long wait for me. I will release a Malay Demonslaught 7’’ this year (their Harmageddon series have ended, but continue with Demonslaught series). Watch out for it!

2-How do you become a metalhead? What were the first releases that turn you on? Do you (or did you) play in a band? Wasn’t it too hard listening to metal in your country? I used to believe that the religion of Malaysia is mostly muslim?
It was long, long time ago actually. Let’s go into the time capsule and see what happens… I think it was the year 1986 or 1987 that I first got listen to Metal. I’m still schooling back then. Everything was so cool and happening that time because around my area (I lived in my hometown in the southern of my country back then) no one listened to heavy music except Rock and Ballad bands that sing love songs! Their image is sissy and their music is sucks!!! That’s the reason a Metaller like me hates Glam Rockers a lot!!! I never attracted with those stuffs, so I picked up bands with evil and nasty tape covers like IRON MAIDEN, METALLICA, SLAYER, KREATOR, VENOM, etc… in the records shop. In the late 80’s I don’t see any CDs at shops, so when I say records shop, it’s a real meaning of it (records = vinyl) so, no CDs selling… I was a kinda a rebellious kid who always hot about Metal, so with my collected pocket money (save each month) I bought a lot of cassettes by mentioned bands. And that time of course school kids don’t have much money to buy vinyls. So, I only can afford to buy cassettes. That’s why until today I still feel that cassette has a magic touch and the sound is totally great, the second after vinyl sound quality of course. Cassettes are very nostalgic thing to me! During my high school days (in early 90’s) I started to buy a lot of goodies like t-shirts, magazines, posters, videos, etc. and I started to know the other Metalheads at school after noticed their drawings on bags and perhaps school books! We share all our cassettes after school! And I am the one who mostly bring new band to give my friends a listen and day dream that one day we could all meet our Metal gods, haha!! And whenever there was a school holiday, I travelled to Kuala Lumpur (our capital city) because over there I could buy a lot of stuffs and merchandise. From this you can understand how important Metal music in my life as I grew up my childhood years with it… I don’t play in any band because I don’t know how to handle music instrument (however I am trying to learn to play guitar now, hehe). So I only can become a faithful Metalhead with my label and fanzine with me as devotion to the underground Metal scene! Yes you’re correct the biggest religion in Malaysia is Islam. We have two other big races in this country that are Chinese and Indian because they came to my country eons ago as merchants, for example Chinese came to Malaysia to bring silks, jewelry, poultry, etc. and Indian came here with spices, sari, jewelry, etc. So, that’s how it all started!

3-Here are some of your productions in tape only: SABBAT, NEGATOR, METAL INQUISITOR and GOAT PENIS. Can you comment each production and what we can expect from each of them? You seem to be a die hard fan of the tape format. Never been interested in other format like LP, EP or CD? What are your next releases?
Great Jim, you seem to follow all the releases of my label. I am really glad about this! Let me give the details one by one. The first band release under my label like I told you earlier is SABBAT. Well, as everybody knows SABBAT is an old black metal legend from Japan and perhaps the oldest underground band ever existing from the Rising Sun country! Gezol is 40 years old this year but his spirit is still diehard and maniac!!! At the moment SABBAT got 2 cassette releases under my label that are “Bloody Countess” (sold out) – released in December 2002 and “Sabbatical Rites” – released in February 2004… METAL INQUISITOR is well-known band from the infamous Hellbangers Moselfranken Fanclub in Germany. People who long for Heavy Metal must know this band!!! This is the second band that I release their stuff under the banner of Afterlife Productions. Their “Commencement” cassette (sold out) got unleashed in August 2003… The third band that’s NEGATRON is Philippines’s best hope for Thrash Metal, they were called EFFLUVIUM before. As you notice their band name it’s clear that they honoured the Canadian space-Thrashers VOIVOD!! Their riffs are always headbanging, haunting and full of variation and it’s an 80’s feeling!!! I released their “Thermal Shock” cassette in January 2005… Then come to the fourth release of my label, GOATPENIS is a barbarian Black Metal band from Brazil! The recent band that I release their material at the moment I answer this interview. They’re still obscure and totally underground band! Not many posers know about this band if you compare to those bigger bands, but in real thing GOATPENIS are already formed since the late 80’s, but they never become big or went commercial! I help them to release their old material onto a cassette entitled “Atomic Rituals” which was out in July 2005. I promote all my releases through flyers, just like the ancient underground way! All the deals with bands for every release is totally underground which means I don’t send them contract to sign! It’s more like a friend deal, but with each other’s trust… Yes, I am a diehard cassette collector and I have thousands of them in my house. Hehe. That’s the reason I like to release cassette, but in very good condition and professional format (to honor the bands and underground)! My label’s releases are not only in cassette format but soon I will release 7” vinyl too. I answered already in previous question I think… Metalheads out there please contact me for my releases because some of them will gonna be out-of-print soon and I am surely not gonna to re-press it as it’s a limited edition release!!! Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever. Each cassette cost only 5 dollar/euro, except SABBAT cassette (lengthy tape) that’s 6 dollar/euro. All prices are airmail postage included…

4-Your productions (limited to 500 copies each!) offer good quality pro tapes with nice packaging with fully informative booklets. Are you alone investing in those productions and do you earn money by running your label?
This label is run by myself alone. The financial cost, inlay design, arrangement and distribution are handled by myself! I only need help from my friend to transfer my design to the computer because I am not a computer expert and only know to use it a little. He is some sort like a computer designer of my label! But, you can see that every design, words, arrangement in the booklet is directly came from my brain, so you can feel the underground touch and totally non-commercial style on it!!! And I will always do that for my label…Honestly, I don’t earn money from my releases, only a little because these days I often do trades, trades and trades. The little money I got will be kept for the next releases (that later on I have to add it with my own money to the cost). I have a steady job for a long time, so this can support the financial side of my label. I don’t do this label for profit nor for name! Here nobody knows that I am running a label because I have to keep it low-profile, just for underground only, so only a handful of underground Metalheads know about its existence!!!

5-How is Afterlife productions perceived in Malaysia and more widely in the world? What are the most serious contacts you have (labels, distros & zines)? Where does your stuff sell/ get traded mostly?
The response in Malaysia is just fair to me. It’s really different from 2-3 years ago when many people still have faith in underground stuffs. These days many local Metalheads don’t buy stuffs through mailorders, only they buy at shops (or Internet) because most people don’t have interest anymore to write letters like we do. For the worldwide response it’s ok for me. It’s cool to receive contacts, trades, orders and friendship from all over the world. I am exactly happy for that! The only un-cool thing is the expensive stamps I have to pay for postage because they always kill! (I can but agree! Argh!!! – Jim) Imagine I have to pay around US$150 each month for all the packages I send to overseas. That’s a big amount of money for a small label like me, hahaha!!! But I used to be normal of that situation for years now. Things are out of hands sometime especially if I got so many letters and packages. That’s the reason I took some time to reply because it’s too hectic! I only can settle everything at night (I only sleep a little) or in the weekends because I have full-time job daily in the weekdays… I don’t have any other serious labels who cooperate with me because I still think that every label do their part with me especially the trades and wholesales. I must say that I am much familiar with underground labels and distro from Europe as they’re very fast and reliable.

6-How a band can get your favours and being released by Afterlife Productions? Checking your whole releases we can see black/thrash, thrash, heavy or black metal. Hey man, what about death metal?
Any bands can be my favors if I like them. I don’t care what style except those commercial music I dislike a lot such as Nu Metal, Rap, Gothic, Mtv shit, melodic and so on!!! I am mostly deal with underground bands because it’s easy to work with them and very supportive! Death Metal also in the genre I like most (I worshipped POSSESSED, DEATH, SLAUGHTER, MASSACRE, etc) and sure soon there will be a good Death Metal band release their material through Afterlife Productions. Time will tell…

7-I am fucking fed up by your postal services! I used to trade tapes with Rosmalie from API fanzine but my latest packages never reached him; and sending registered stuff in Malaysia is awfully expensive and takes time to arrive! Can you give me an explanation about this? Metalheads used to work at postal services and stole all the shit they can, ah, ah!?
Actually I have experienced this fucked up problem since the 90’s. So, I am quite immune of it! It’s sometime depending on luck, because I did receive a package with inverted cross drawing but it never inspected by local customs. Can you believe that? Haha it’s real! I never feared my stuffs got stolen because I have faith that tells to not worry about this shit! Sure I have lost many packages that contain rare stuffs and precious items that I trade or order myself! But, I still keep on doing mails every month!!! From my experiences, I don’t have any problem to send out the mails to overseas (because my mails will be checked by foreign customs in the country I sent it), but the trouble is happened when people overseas send their mails to Malaysia. It will go through our local custom check and if they suspect something like drugs, pornography, violence music like Metal, they will hold your packages! They send a warning letter to the recipient (like me) stating that this item got hold in the custom office!!! I f that ever happen I cannot take it from them because they (customs) will ask me so many things (like I’m smuggling drugs!!!) and at the end I will gonna be fined for the stuffs! It’s ridiculous because we have to pay for example US$50 fine, for the stuff that merely cost US$15. So, what the heck I have to go through this shit? That’s the reason I never claimed any stuff at custom office because I gonna get more trouble… Well, the cost for registered letter to overseas from here also expensive too, very much higher than 2 years ago since the petrol price has increased lately and it did effected the whole system in Malaysia too, including the post and living cost! My advice for foreigners to send packages to my country is please packing your mail in very official look, clarify it as “gift” with low cost amount, and don’t ever write any Satanic/Evil symbols on the envelop!!! Our local customs are not open-minded enough! Funny thing is, every year I did receive some porno mags/pictures, hemp leaf, Satanic band/zine front cover from my friend overseas… So, it’s clear that it depends on luck actually. Or maybe the gods of Metal help me. Hahaha… I could tell you that postal services in South America is much more nightmare and risky, especially Colombia, Peru, Chile and Brazil! If you always deal with Metalheads from mentioned countries you will know what I mean!

8-How was the life after the Tsunami? It reaches Indonesia, Philippines and also Malaysia. Does it have an incidence around you and your activities? It focuses media for months on this part of the earth. What’s your view on this? Don’t you feel medias only seek for sensational shit and don’t really care about the disaster effect?
Actually the death waves Tsunami didn’t hit my area (fortunately I live at the center of mainland) only affected some near-beach parts in the northern Malaysia (the nearest one to Aceh). People described it as the sign of Doom’s Day to come because that tragedy caused millions of damage and death! Yes, the newspapers and magazines took advantage to sell their stories and sometime “rumors” about this tragedy. It happened here daily on that time. Luckily I don’t have friends who got hit by the Tsunami waves, but some weeks ago the earthquake in Yogjakarta, Indonesia caused my friend’s house a misfortune!!! Unlike Indonesia and Japan in Asia, our country is not standing on the earthquake ring, so we are basically on a safe side, hahaha!!!

9-Do you also know Ultra Hingax Productions from Kuala Lumpur? I know they released some NECROTIC CHAOS stuff. You surely know this black/death horde. Can you give us an overview of the bands which really worth to be mentioned. Let’s talk about SILENT DEATH (great death metal!), ATHORTOGH, MANTAK, HERRIOT, MANDATORY…
Yes, I know the owner of UHP since we’re both based on the same city (Kuala Lumpur), this guy is very veteran in our underground scene. He released a zine called Krenmaut Fanzine many years ago. His work for the label is different from mine because all his releases are distributed nationwide by big distributors, so anyone can buy UHP releases in local record shops…SILENT DEATH is old Death Metal band with Thrash oriented! Back in the late 80’s they were called BACTERIA. Their first stuff “Before The Sunrise” is totally classic! I think they’re no more these days. Some members of this band continued their musical battle with another band called BREAK THE SILENCE, but sadly this band is also no more too! I don’t know what caused them, but mainly from what I see is the line-up problem, drugs problem, and family problem, hahaha. ATHORTOGH is sleeping band because I don’t see them perform or release anything (shitty and lazy attitude), but they never officially said they have defunct their band. MANTAK is a new hope for Malaysia, but this band is from East Malaysia (an island called Borneo, famous of “Orang Utan” monkey), so their belief, culture, dialect is somewhat different from the mainland where I live now. MANTAK got an offer from Drakkar to release their new album, but previously Legion Of Death already released their 7”EP. Their music is totally different now from what they played in their demo days. HERRIOT is an IN FLAMES clone band, and because of this I think they’re no more. Their line-up is not into underground scene, and can be described as trendy Metalhead these days! MANDATORY also share the same recognition like HERRIOT. Basically I don’t care about them anymore!!! You must check out more promising bands from Malaysia like ANTACID (great thrashing band!!!), ENVENOM (Blasphemy-worship band!!), DEMONICAL CRISIS ASSEMBLY (really War METAL band!!!) and few others. Our scene is small these days so if you ask any underground Metalheads in Malaysia they should know these bands… And I have to add if anyone wants to know what band that started and brought Metal music to my country it’s certainly 5-piece band called BLACKFIRE!!! If they ever released an album back then, sure it stands with the same cult status like many Thrash Metal gods nowadays since BLACK FIRE’s birth was in 1982 and played sort of VENOM, BLACK SABBATH and Heavy Metal oriented music! In 1988 they made a controversy that shocked the whole Malaysians, by drinking blood during performance on stage in front of thousands fan in National Stadium! This story was so hot in newspapers back then and they’ve been called as Evil band!!! But anyway that blood is actually fake one! After BLACK FIRE, our scene started to have many bands with this kind of extreme Metal like PUNISHER, SLAP DEATH, NEMESIS, SIL-KHANNAZ (they got their name from one BLACKFIRE song), RATOR, PICAGARI (Malaysian SODOM!), SUFFERCATION, SILENT DEATH, SAXO, etc. But most of these names only active gigging (except few of them), and no official release ever came out, until the year 1989our first local band to release a demo is RATOR with their “Evil Symphony” demo!!! It has been said that even Holocausto of BEHERIT also mentioned RATOR as one of their inspiration in some interviews back in the day. How great is that, huh? Unfortunately RATOR didn’t manage to release any album and finally broke up in 1993… Anyway, to tell you a surprising new, after more than 20 years, BLACK FIRE recently released their first album on 06/06/06 entilted “Lahirnya Dari Api” (a birth from fire) released under Nebiula Productions (SIL-KHANNAZ own label) but only with 2 original members remained as line-up, the rest are new guys! This release is truly important for all Malaysian Metalheads, as our forefathers have released an album finally!!! It’s certainly a fucking long wait for all of us!!!

10-What’s your opinion on still playing acts like KREATOR, DESTRUCTION, SLAYER and their latest releases? Some deceptions? Some great gigs? Are you more into US Thrash Metal (bay area) or do you bang your skull on European one?
Honestly I don’t buy the new albums from bands you mentioned. It’s enough for me because their music has changed, and it’s not my cup of tea anymore!!! I dislike the shitty re-union by old bands especially if their attitude, look, music style are changed! Let’s their cult status is kept well, not ruin it by releasing new Gay album with decent “digital” sound productions… I don’t feel the same excitement when the time I first heard outstanding releases like “Pleasure To Kill”, “Sentence Of Death” and “Hell Awaits” many many years ago! Nothing can beat those albums’ sheer power!!! Yes I am only talking about what I find it interesting and can make my head banging and my hands do air-guitar whenever I hear music. I am very skeptic that those old men will ever release good album again like in the 80’s!!! Yes, I saw KREATOR last year (September 2005) when they played in my city. But I only can enjoy their old tracks, but when they played tracks from “Renewal” album up to the latest one, I am absolutely don’t know the lyrics. Call me old-schooler because I am definitively worshipping the glorious albums released in the 80’s!!! Actually I’m into everything that’s hard and heavy… Yes, I do like the 80’s Bay Area Thrash scene in Frisco and USA in general (old METALLICA, SADUS, MEGADETH, EXODUS, VIO-LENCE, HIRAX, SLAYER, etc), well since you talk about the Bay Area scene, most of the bands got stucked with a typical sound that originally formulated by METALLICA, MEGADETH and EXODUS, only POSSESSED that I think sounds different from those Frisco bands. Also the violent 80’s German Thrash scene that gave big impact to me (KREATOR, SODOM, LIVING DEATH, DESTRUCTION, ASSASSIN, DARKNESS, POISON, etc). And the 80’s South American brutal Thrash scene (SEPULTURA, PENTAGRAM, VULCANO, HADEZ, SARCOFAGO, CHAKAL, etc)… If you ask me about European bands sure I know many big names but I’m much into the obscure 80’s Thrash/Heavy Metal scene from the East Europe (former communist countries) with bands like MERCILESS DEATH, KAT, SLAUGHTER (Poland), POKOLGEP, OSSIAN, MOBY DICK, PANDORA’S BOX (Hungary), METALLA KORROZIA, ARIJA (Russia)…

11-How do you see the evolution of metal (since you started listen to it) until these days with nu-metal crap, hyper technical brutal death, modern thrash, melodic goth/gay metal… What does Malaysian youth listen today? Which trends would you like to see disappearing?
Honestly I would like to see all the trends disappear from this rotten planet earth. So, only real Metal can survive and people will be more “educated” when it comes to underground music! No mtv shit!!! Yes, Metal has evaluated so many times, there are many sub-genres these days (all of them are mixed with 2-3 different styles), and I don’t know what style of Metal will appear next!!! I don’t know what’s up with the mind of today’s youth in my country because I never cared about them! But I think any popular music in mtv and channel V is what popular for teenagers. Also the mp3, ipod, cell phone ring tones, etc are the latest world’s trend. So, I just don’t give a damn.

12-What do you know from our fucking country (zines, bands, radioshows, labels…)? I am sure you know some really underground stuff & that you are looking for some. Do you trade with some people from France? What releases are you eager to trade with?
About France I only know the beautiful chicks, castles and ruins, fine wine, Paris tower, and classic village sceneries… Hahaha I’m just kidding Jim. From the past I know about what lies beyond the earth of French underground scene, with the infamous MUTILATEDAGGRESSOR, LOUDBLASY, MERCYLESS, CATACOMB, MORSURE, VULCAIN, Enfer Mag, D.O.D Fanzine, Decibel Storms Mag, Thrash Recs, Adipocere Recs, Holy Recs, Osmose Prods, Listenable Recs, Haute Tension Radio Show, The Satanic Black Legion, etc. These days your scene is cool with Drakkar Recs, Legion Of Death Recs, Skullfucked Prods, Nihilistic Holocaust, Mutilating Process Fanzine, DEEP VEIN (good band indeed, ahaha!!!- Jim), BLOODY SIGN, MANSLAUGHTER, etc. I am from time to time getting orders and mails from France and I do trade with them too. If people have LP’s from old French bands, no matter Heavy, Thrash or Death Metal please contact me. We could trade each other LP’s as I can offer some old Malaysian Heavy/Rock LP’s. I’m interested to buy also depending on the prices offered…

13-It’s over for now Mr Syamsul, keep spreading real metal and best luck for the future. If there is anything I forget to ask you, I let you conclude. Hellish regards!
Thanks Jim for the opportunity to appear in your Putrefactive Effect zine! I wish your zine will stay long in the underground scene, to support the music that we all worship!!! And call me Wan next time ok? People who are interested to contact me please do so. Beside my label and fanzine, I’m also run a small distro service, so you can ask our distro list for free! Through this distro I can help many bands to sell their stuffs here in Malaysia and Asia, so let’s get in touch for a deal! Good luck for your band DEEP VEIN also!!!

Wan Syamsul
10 Lorong Lang Tompok
Taman Sri Bintang Kepong
52100 KUALA LUMPUR
MALAYSIA

SEVERANCE interview 2007

“Suffering in Humanity” came out in late 2006 and I rush to get it as I enjoy their previous release which was a cool Texas death metal release! This new one is absolutely better despite the line-up changes, with no exaggeration I can say it’s their darker and most brutal effort. I sent a bunch of questions to drummer Jaime Perez, being a founding member, who didn’t take months to answer so sit back, grab some beers (eventually buy the album, ahahah!) and enjoy!


-Hello Jaime, how are you in those days? Are you ready to answer my putrefactive questions about SEVERANCE and everything linked with the band?
* I am doing pretty well, thank you, and yes, I am ready for this interview. Let the inquiry begin.

-So everything started in 1989 when you decided to form an extreme metal band with the Sariñana brothers and the Gutierrez brothers, two pairs of brothers it’s quite unusual! How do you meet each others? From what came your interest for metal music at that time?
* Actually the Sariñana members were an uncle and nephew relation, and the Gutierrez were brothers. We were all pretty much acquaintances or friends of one another, and everything just resulted from that. There was only a hand full of “metalheads” in our area at the time, so it was pretty easy finding each other. All of us just liked the extreme side of music because it was the form of entertainment that got our attention. Everything else was pretty weak and boring.

-In 1990 you recorded the “Procreation” rehearsal demo which seemed to sell/trade quite well in the underground. One year after, you got the opportunity to re-record these tracks with two new songs which became “Afterbirth infamy”. How did this material sound compared to your actual death metal? During this period, what were the bands you were in contact with?
*Wow!!! You know your Severance history!!!!! I think the sound was a little cleaner than we would have liked to be, but it was not a disappointment by any means. We were in contact with hundreds of bands back then like: Anialator (TX), Devastation (TX), Necrovore, Immolation, Nasty Savage, Ripping Corpse, Leige Lord, Phantasm, Cross Fade (NY), Seraphim, Bathym, Num Skull, Morgue, Rotting Corpse, and many others who don’t exist anymore. The list is endless.

-In the early 90’s black metal arouse in Europe as a so called response to the death metal trend which was supposed to be saturated and then would have fade away. It never really happened except in the media maybe. What is your opinion about black metal about that period? I think it was only a European event at the beginning.
*Anytime something branches out from something else, it is a good sign of being influential to others, so I never saw black metal as a bad thing or as being detrimental. It did get a lot of publicity, probably because it was visually and lyrically very different, but I never really got taken in by it. I didn’t dislike it; it just didn’t grab my attention like death or thrash metal. I did like a few of the pioneers of it like Bathory, even though some may not consider this black metal, it did have that particular sound/style.

-This better recording catch the attention of Spanish label Drowned Productions (pre-Repulse Records) who offered you to release a 7 EP. This led to “Abysmal Ascent” EP which sold 2000 copies before being sold out. Did everything go right with Drowned Productions? What were the other releases of that label so far?
*Aside from the label going bankrupt, everything went well with Drowned. We got all that was promised to us from the contracts and, if they sold out of the release, they were obviously doing their part to distribute the release. That label did several 7” EPs. The only ones I can remember are ours and Imprecation (TX).

-In 1996 after multiple line-up changes, SEVERANCE managed to release a self financed album “Salvation denied”. The MCD is sold out and do you intend to re-release it with for example the “Procreation” and the “Afterbirth infamy” demos? I t could be a nice idea to hear how SEVERANCE sounded like in the early 90’s.
*The official “Salvation Denied” release only had 576 pressed. We sold out of those pretty quickly. The U.S. version of our “What Lies Ahead…” CD ended up with “Salvation Denied” as bonus tracks. We did this because we realized the EP was pressed in such limited quantities. We are planning to release a historical Severance release that will cover some of the material we’ve done in the past releases. It will be titled “Progression Towards Purgatory” and will be released by Burning Dogma Records. This will be done in about another year. We plan to include select tracks from each of our releases as well as a new, previously unreleased song titled “Internal Inferno”.

-Hard times with relentless line-up changes but you finally released your first full length through Repulse Records named “What lies ahead…” in 2001. Did you ever think a second giving up with SEVERANCE? How do you come through all these shits over the years keeping such a dedication? Many bands would have split up and then reformed some years after because it’s easier to play extreme music today. What happened to SEVERANCE between 1996 and 2001?
*I never once thought of letting Severance dwindle to nothingness. Even though it wasn’t easy, the search for the right members continued between 1996 and 2001. We kept writing material and doing shows locally. Having a line-up change really sucks because you have to put things on hold until the new member catches up on learning the material. As soon as that would happen, then somebody else would decide to quit or just lose interest in the music, so it was really difficult for us to progress.

-Your first album also was reissued in 2005 or 2006, not sure about the year, through Sevared Records & Burning Dogma. How came the idea about this reissue? As bonus is added your “Abysmal Ascent” EP and a cover song of CANNIBAL CORPSE “She was asking for it”. What do you think of the band today? Many people criticize the fact they fell in a kind of routine and that they release tasteless albums.
*We weren’t really happy with the way the original version of “What Lies Ahead…” was distributed. We didn’t know how many were pressed, who received it, or any numbers on sales. We didn’t even get out share of copies, so we decided to re-release this to get it in the hands of as many as possible. Burning Dogma and Sevared Records took the initiative and made it possible. As far as Cannibal Corpse goes, I still think they are a great band. I also understand why people may feel that they are in a routine and may be disappointed with their more recent material. When “Tomb of the Mutilated” came out, there weren’t many bands doing this. Now, there are hundreds doing the Cannibal style. The more we hear it, the more tasteless it seems to become, not because it is not interesting, but because we have become over-exposed and tired of the same thing. It isn’t Cannibals fault. They obviously influenced thousands of others out there to do the same thing as them. This may sound ironic, but this may be a rare example where influencing others was hurtful/detrimental. I don’t think I could ever say that Cannibal Corpse as tasteless or bland as what Metallica have become. I think most of us can be grateful for that.

-Finally what is the most important overall is that you release your new album in 2006 “Suffering in humanity” through Goregiastic Records. Without any doubt I can say it’s your most accomplished work. It sounds fucking brutal and I like the dark vibe all along the CD and the addition of acoustic parts gave some relief to it. Are you satisfied by this new album?
*We are very satisfied with every aspect of the album: the production, the layout, the mastering, the flow of the music, etc., etc. Goregiastic exceeded our expectations in this aspect.

-On your last album there is a media track showing a clip with the track “Consumed” made in a cool way with live actions, pictures and covers of your releases. We can witness that you play on big stages but also in smaller places with mostly satisfying audience. Do you take any opportunities of playing a gig? What was the craziest shit that happened at your gigs?
*Yes, exactly. We have done some big venues, but also some very small venues. We try to do any gig that we feel will benefit getting our music and name exposed. Of course, we don’t want to over do it and play so much that people stop showing up to our shows. One of the craziest things that ever happened was at a local show. It was outdoors, and there was no stage. Some drunk guy got in his car and started going in circles at a very fast and unsafe pace. He eventually lost control of the car and ended up driving into the area where the bands were performing. Nobody was hurt because this happened between bands. It was pretty crazy to see 200 people trying to avoid getting hit by this car. Nobody knew where to run and where to hide!!! I wish somebody had recorded that!!! It would have definitely been on the media clip!!

-SEVERANCE is a Texas based band which is a scene where dwells many famous brutal acts like PROPHECY, VIRAL LOAD, SINTURY(RIP), INFERNAL DOMINION (RIP), DEVOURMENT, etc… How is the scene actually as I guess it evolved a lot from the 90’s up to nowadays? Are there any new bands that caught your attention lately?
*Yes, our scene is very prolific and has evolved immensely in the passed years. A couple of bands that I’m sure will get the attention of many are Sarcolytic from Austin, Uncleansed from Houston, and Reign of Terror and Bowels Out from El Paso.

-You also covered PENTAGRAM “Fatal predictions”. Why do you choose that particular band? What can you say about this unrecognized band?
*We chose this band because they were highly influential to Severance. There was also a bit of confusion with their name because there is a doom band from Chicago with the same name. We were hoping we could shed some light on the lesser known band from Chile. Also, we realized that only the “old school” metal heads knew who this band was, so we went ahead and asked for permission and did a version of the song to expose the “new school” metal heads to the way things were in the early ‘80s. Because they are from Chile, we share ethnic similarities and are part of the same blood. We thought it would be pretty neat to do this. We would like to do the same thing on our next full-length release with another influential, Latin-oriented band, but for now, I will leave that as a surprise because we haven’t asked them yet.

-Do you have any contact with France with bands, zines or traders? What do you know from my country? Has SEVERANCE ever played in Europe before?
* Yes, France has always been good and loyal to Severance. We used to be in contact with Nicolas Foubert of Bones Brigade, Laurent Merle of Peardrop ‘zine/Listenable Records, and several others I can’t remember. We have never played Europe. Hopefully someday before I die, somebody will set us up in your country.

-Recently SEVERANCE featured an article in local Newspaper “The Monitor” (www.themonitor.com). How comes such an unusual appearance? Does the guy use to love death metal, ahah? I read it and was surprised about its positive tone. We may think it could cause you some troubles from religious group or other kinds of fuckers like them.
*This is the second time we have done an interview with our local newspaper. The first time was about 5 years ago. Many people are always uncertain of our activity/status as a band because we don’t perform very frequently in our area, so we felt it would help clarify many things by doing this interview. I don’t foresee any problems materializing because of the interview.

-“Suffering in humanity” is in a lyrical point of view an album more into human thoughts and mind that the usual blood and guts themes. It is a way to take distance with others bands? In “the monitor” you stated that this album has a very humanistic approach. Is it an optimistic approach? Do you think human is still able to save itself from the surrounding mediocrity?
*You are exactly right. Our lyrics are more human-based than anything else. I happen to write all the lyrics, and I am a humanist; so these are the topics I rather write about and feel comfortable writing about. If this distances us from other bands, that would be great also. I have to admit that I often take a pessimistic approach. I feel that seeing humanity solely as positive is unrealistic and chimerical. Nothing is unflawed, including humanity. So I take a negative/pessimistic approach in order to appreciate the positive/optimistic side of life. You can’t have the good without the bad. As far as humanity being able to save itself from the surrounding mediocrity, I feel that if we created it (which we did), we can destroy it. Hopefully we can begin destroying some of the things we created many years ago so we can begin progressing at a greater rate than we are now.

-In this article you point an interesting argument concerning death metal as a non-mainstream musical genre (which obviously is not or at least must not!), but to be honest when I look around at the metal scene today, it unfortunately becomes more and more mainstream and into business shit. Do you agree with this? I often read bullshit on forums where stupid cunts told that “this album” killed because it was recorded there by “famous producer”! Fuck man, I listen to a band because the music kills and not from where it’s labelled or whatever! What’s your view on this? Am I an old killjoy, ah!ah!
*Wherever there is money-making opportunity, there will always be somebody trying to manipulate and capitalize on it. So in a way, it does become mainstream to an extent, but not entirely. Napalm Death will never outsell Britney Spears. When that day comes, then this music is mainstream and commercial. I agree with you on your “famous producer” opinion. It does make a difference who produces or records an album, but if the music sucks, no one can make it a killer album unless the music itself kills.

-I will stop complaining and come back to the music; what is the recent stuff you’ve been into? Are there any new discoveries that are worth to be mentioned here?
*I’ve been listening to the new Suffocation, the new Skinless, and the new Celtic Frost.

-Jaime, I think I covered almost everything about SEVERANCE so if you have something to add, last words are yours. Thanks for you cooperation. Keep on playing metal of death! Stay brutal!
* Thank you so much Jim for the opportunity to be featured in your ‘zine. Anybody interested in keeping up with the band can do so by checking out our websites at http://www.severancemetal.com/ and www.myspace.com/severancemetal. The websites are updated frequently, and all the latest happenings can be found there. Thanks again!!! Stay true!!!