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!!!