YOGTH SOTHOTH interview 2009

Let's open the gates to another dimension! Those who hails the Outer God, « The all-in-one and one-in-all », found another manifestation in Colombia. YOGTH SOTHOTH is a death metal band gathering old school influences and more brutal ones to create a balance of efficiency, heaviness with a particular dark aura. Their first invocation « Abominations of the Nebulah Mortiis » definitively shall unleash unholy forces to cleanse the emo/deathcore trend from the underground!

Deathly greetings Carlos! Thank you to give some time to talk about YOGTH SOTHOTH and your first release « Abominations of the Nebulah Mortiis ». How is the global feedback about the album? You got a deal with Butchered Records (in cooperation with Sevared Records for distribution). How did this deal happen? Butchered Records deals mostly with obscure death metal so I guess you owned the perfect criterias, right?
Hey friends, greetings from Medellin (Colombia), we have feel that many people (reviews, interviews and metal maniacs) in a lot of far countries enjoy our music and its gratifically to us, our band can be listened by many people, especially in countries where we never thought we could become known, we are very satisfied with what happened so far.
We invited several labels to listen some promo material. Butchered was the first interested and they agreed with Sevared in order to make the cd among the 2 labels. These two labels got a lot of international coverage, we are very satisfied with what happened so far. Butchered Recs have a lot of bands more inclinated to the dark lirics and very dense death metal feeling, its perfect to my band interest.

YOGTH SOTHOTH was spawned after the split of PLANTA CADAVER which is your previous band in a more brutal death metal way. The band has reformed if I'm right. Are you still part of it and what is the actuality of PLANTA CADAVER? Their only album « Ultimo acto » was released in 2000, is it still possible to find it?
PC band is actually recording a new album, in this band still play Victor (Bass) and Mauro (drums) (both in YS band), I left this band in 2002 when we decided to stop… I don´t know if the first album of PC band still available.

Let's go back to YOGTH SOTHOTH. The band's style is a kind of old school brutal death metal mixed with US brutal death and some occult and obscure atmospheres. The band's way of composing is rather focusing on creating brutal but also heavy tunes, I mean you don't always play with ultra fast tempos all the time. Was it a conscious aim or does it come naturally? What are the musical inspirations of the band?
The idea of composition in our band is mixing fast rhythms with slow parts, and mixing also speed songs with slow and dense songs. We try not to become monotonous for that listens to us. Our musical inspirations come from the old school death and black metal bands like Samael, Death, Rotting Christ, Root, The Chasm, Incantation, Necromantia, Entombed, Dismember, Acheron, Mortuary Drape, Bolthrower and lots more…

You started the band in at the end of 2003. At that time there was no drummer and you use drum programming on early tracks until you find a suitable drummer. Would you have continued the band even without a drummer? What do you think of death metal bands using drum programming like VIRAL LOAD (although they now have a drummer) or PUTRID PILE. Would drum programming ever replace the human feeling one day, in your opinion?
Yes bro, years ago we used drum programm to do our music (like an experiment), but i think that human drummer is needed to input feeling to our music.. Viral Load and Putrid pile are excellent bands and i am a fan of this bands… these feature in some bands is characteristic like Mortician.

The band name comes from the Lovecraftian myth, except that you write it YOGTH SOTHOTH instead of Yog Sothoth. I know there are several ways to wrote this name, why did you use this particular one? Which are your favourites Lovecraft's writngs?
Ha ha ha the band name was choiced in a way to be diferent to some bands existing before to us that had similar names but they wrote like the original. Tales like : Call of Cthulhu, The Dunwich Horror, Fungy From Yuggoth... long list!

The Lovecraftian myth is/was used by many bands such as MORBID ANGEL, SANCTIFIER or NECROCCULTUS. Don't you think that it's an overused theme that could quickly end up exhausted in terms of inspiration? Will it always be the main subject in YOGTH SOTHOTH, a bit like NILE with the Egyptian concept?
Yeah man it is a theme in that we are thinking about, lyrics can be used similar terms to referred but in our next CD people will can see the lyrical work focused to the smell of old spirit in our style but different to our debut CD. Our band is principally a tribute to the immortal ancient ones and his legends like necronomicon book and other books of black magic, Summerian and Greek mythologies ..
Our inspiration become by different sources, the idea is to make this in our own style music and to satisfice to us.

Have you ever watch movies based on Lovecraft's books? I saw one « Necronomicon » which basically was a compilation of short movies a bit in the vein of « Tales from the crypt »; and a movie called « Dagon » which was more or less ok, but to be honest, I don't think that Lovecraft's work can be decently represented in any movie due to the particular insane and dark mood of the books. What's your point of view about it?
I am in totally agree with you, many times films fail to reflect the horror and dark feeling of the books… is best left to the imagination fly with these legends, it is a purpose that music and literature can achieve.

Now let's talk about the colombian musical underground movement. From what I know, Colombia is mainly known thanks to brutal death metal bands like INTERNAL SUFFERING, GORETRADE, ANCIENT NECROPSY or CARNAL. According to you what's the reason for such an infatuation for death metal in Colombia, instead of black metal for example?
Underground metal scene in Colombia have any genres (heavy, speed, thrash, black, doom, and death metal), in some countries our bands are knowed in a underground level. Bands on which you speak have had good distribution in different countries and with major labels. But this does not mean that all the metal made in Colombia is only focus on the brutal death metal, in my country there is much variety in the metal scene is a long way since leading the early 80's. In all genres there are bands committed to real and serious metal and bands that only play certain types of fashion. In my country you can find all that, everyone chooses what he likes. Time reveals the false ones.
Each country owns some pioneer bands, so please can you name some unavoidable bands from your country into death, black, thrash, etc.... Who are the most famous bands out there?
Classic metal bands of the 80's in my country:
Parabellum, Reencarnacion, Agressor, Masacre, Profanacion, Herpes, Nebiros, Kraken, Blasfemia, Carbure .

90´s & 2000 age : Neurosis, Agony, Inquisition, Typhon, Antagon, Internal Suffering, Twilight Glimmer, Soulless, Purulent , Belial, Athanator, Gaias Pendulum, Eternal, Infernal, Metal King, Planta Cadaver, Cromlech, Cancerbero, Killcrops , Witchtrap, Luciferian and many more bands…

The most famous bands in here : Masacre, Parabellum, Reencarnacion, Kraken, Neurosis, Purulent, Internal Suffering, Inquisition, Typhon, Occultus, Infernal, Revenge, Witchtrap, Nightmare, Dirges, Gaias Pendulum, Thy Antychrist, Horncrowned, Dominion… and lots more

Death metal is an uncommon musical style for common people so I guess it's the same thing in your homeland. How do people react when they listen to your music? What are the difficulties to create a band in Colombia? Can you easily find places to rehearse and to play gigs? I watch some video extracts of your gigs and the people seemed totally frenzied. Do you have a loyal fanbase? How is usually the public at gigs?
The common people in any country does not have a musical affinity and not ready to hear guttural voices or batteries fast, just to scare the sound.
In our city (Medellin), there are many professional places to practice with excellent sound, the shows are arranged in Metalbars, large places such as theaters open air or covered or places such as underground basements of some friends. Our band from the beginning until now has won many fans, the most recent ones have been due to our debut CD and the fact that there is a foreign label interested in our music.
The people are very active and energetic when a band is good, the scene supports local bands that represent the real sound of metal music, the real metal scene reject bands that want to introduce fashion and trends. People in here are very orthodox in metal scene.

What is the actual state of Colombian underground? Which bands would you recommend to our readers hungry for death metal? Do you have labels or zines spreading any metal sickness?
Colombian underground metal scene is active from early 80´s to current days.
Serious Death metal bands (no trends) like : Mortem, King, Twiligth Glimmer, Etnocidio, Masacre, Planta Cadaver, Vitam Et Mortem, Cromlech, Soulless, Belial, Aorta, Calvario, Internal Suffering, Martir, Empalator, long list…
Labels like : Hateworks, Mutilated , Goregiastic, Brutalized, Sylphorium, is a big list.

A new trend is born actually, some guys plays a crossover style mixing hadrcore, death metal and any stupid modern elements. They dress like emokids and claim playing death metal! Does this kind of shit come to your country? For you does death metal shall evolve in any way (technical, symphonical, mixed with black metal, etc...)?
Yeah man, in here you can see this shit too, but they are only fashions but don´t have any feeling for the true death metal.
Death metal is a genre which can be powered with many musical ideas raw or processed ... The word « evolve » does not feel right, it sounds as if it were to change the essence of the genre, it is the error committed by many bands who try to evolve and get lost in the way.
Metal is a lifestyle and attitude, fashions do not fit here.

In the CD booklet of « Abominations... », there is an interesting quotation: « Support music, not rumors ». Those words were firstly told by Chuck Schuldiner. What meaning they have for you? Carlos, as a guitar player, I guess Chuck's music had an impact on you, right? What are your favourite tunes of DEATH? Do you also enjoy what he played in CONTROL DENIED?
Just write the sentence based on the words of Chuck, in our scene are also generated comments of envy against our band (by a few idiots who just simply malicious comments), as a band we are much more than those bastards and their words. The quote invites people to believe in their own tastes and criteria.
I am fan of old Death music, and grow up listening to his music, which I appreciate and respect too. Songs from “Scream bloody gore”, “Leprosy”, “Spiritual healing”, “Human” and “Individual thought pattern” albums are majestic pieces for real metal maniacs. Control denied is an excellent band but something different than Death.

I noticed that you didn't incorporate guitar solos in your music. Is it something you don't feel the use? I think it could create interesting atmospheres adding solos and guitar leads.
For the old songs I did not require the use of leading or guitar solos, the new songs that will be part of our new set list will have some very interesting changes in the composition (all in the way of bestial death metal).

« Abominations of the Nebulah Mortiis » was released in 2008 (recorded end 2007), so do you have new songs in the work? With which bands did you share the stage with? Did you play outside Colombia and is there an American or European tour planned?
We are working in new material, tittle songs like Descending to Absu, Hades wrapped in clouds, Triumph of the ancient ones, Cryptic winds will have in our next CD.
Bands like : Twilight Glimmer, Luciferian, Spiritual invader, Carnal, Planta Cadaver, Etnocidio, Rainfall, King, Mortem, Askariz, Lost In darkness, inbreeding sick, Masturbation, Blaze inside, Mindly rotten, Ominous, Corpse decay, Sadistic mutilation, Fermented fetus, Sourpus, Goresophia, Gore obscenity, Whorecorpse, Runner hell, Remembrance of pain, At infinitum, Bless the silence, The mirror, Los restos, Horde Thor.
We never have be played out of our country, and currently do not have any plans to tour outside of our country.

Carlos, thanks for your answers, I'll let you summon the final invocation. « Ia, Ia, Yog Sothoth, All-in-one and One-in-all of limitless and self! »
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR INTEREST IN OUR BAND AND MAKE THIS MAGAZINE SUPPORTS TRUE UNDERGROUND. GREETINGS TO ALL THE READERS.

METAL ´TILL DEATH.
http://www.myspace.com/yogthsothoth