Abyssus – Interview –
Interview
Hello. Since your band is underground in the initial meaning of the word, an introduction to you music would be necessary ?
We have been active since 2011 and we have released several splits and E.P.s, and of course our debut album “Into the Abyss”. We have also made a bunch of live concerts around Greece and have been the opening act for bands such as Possessed, Suicidal Angels and more.
You play Death metal, ok, but could you explain us a little what kind of livid atrocities one could expect from your records ? Which kinds of Death Metal are you the closer to, which era of morbidity awakes the most tender feelings in your ogrish heart, do you really sound Greek or would rather be closer to the sounds of another country ?
We are an old school Death Metal band. Our basic influences are bands that were active and released their albums in the 1988-1995 period, from the U.S., Britainand North Europe. Death, Obituary, Bolt thrower, Entombed, Benediction, and more classic bands like Slayer, Venom, Possessed. The list is endless. We are metal maniacs, die-hard fans, and we are going where our heart and soul want us to be. Supporting the underground, playing our music with passion and love, living for Heavy Metal, morbidity and darkness.
Which feelings would characterize the most your music ? Would you rather point hatred , anger, frenzy to play fast… Or another one?
As I mentioned before, we are doing all those things just to find an exit of our daily misery and to express our passion for metal. Nothing really happens on purpose. We are fans and we are making music we ourselves want to hear. Death metal is synonymous with anger, fury and repugnance and as far as I comprehend it, such feelings are elements of Abyssus music.
Concerning your rehearsals, could we say it’s something like rehears “hards” as it takes effort to play everything tight and fast, or rather rehears “slugs” as your state of mind is closer to the “Free flowing… Fuck you!” way of defenestrating things ? Does it need a specific amount of alcohol, smoke, stench or negative energy ?
Actually, the band, and of course the rehearsals, are a shelter for us and an escape, at the same time. We stop thinking about our jobs, bills, problems at the house and all that stuff. Of course alcohol or some weed helps the whole situation and makes the metal party greater, but we produce the same music while being totally “clean” as well! Is the heart that speaks and not the substances.
Do you make a difference between Death Metal and morbid Thrash ? Don’t you sometimes feel some new ” old school ” Death metal bands lack of balls, heaviness and low frequencies ? What could we do to solve this viscous problem and show them there are more intense and orgasmic ways to play Death Metal ? Would it be enough to help them find the best old bands and lead them to realize the inner qualities of the best records ? In your country, are there currently bands to be worthy of the morbid quote or that could become so ?
Thrash and true Death Metal are very common genres and many bands, classic and great bands, are among those. Think of bands such as Master, Demolition Hammer, Dark Angel and many more. But does it really matter which metal genre a band serves? It’s all about heavy metal. Be focused on the aim, play with passion and don’t care which genre will be there for your music to be categorized in. Play metal music for metalheads, nothing more, nothing less. I think that many bands of our day try to play specific things just to be one with the trend that is the bad thing. Is good for everyone to search in the heavy metal legacy and see where everything begun and the whole Metal evolution, but no one is sentenced to do so if they don’t want to. Everyone is free to think, play and hear what fits best for them but must be ready to also receive the criticism . In our country, there are several bands which must be mentioned for playing good morbid music such as: Awe, Released Anger, Soulskinner, Malicious Silence, Vultur, Rapture, Convixion, Carnal Garden and many more.
I was surprised to hear your EP “ Obscure ” contains again some old school Death Metal songs,… Was it a nostalgic feeling ? You wanted something simpler and straight to the point again?
Sometimes, good music is killing through simplicity. It’s straight to the point and expresses feelings at once. We are not a progressive band and, for sure, we are not virtuoso instrument players. Maybe this recordings was someway easy listening, but maybe a next one would be more experimental.
With your first album ” Into the Abyss ” the music of Abyssus became more technical, it was clearly Old Death ! It didn’t only adapt to the current laws of the style, it was a couple of years ahead of the deathmetallic evolution: Superfast, blasting, technical, with strange unexpected breaks…Were you only into Death Metal at this time, or were you already opened to other genres ?
Thanks so much for your words, they are a really compliment. Well, for sure the music is old school death metal but maybe this time the band was more mature. We wanted to create a dark atmosphere and I think we did it right. ” Into the Abyss ” is an old school death metal album despite the fact that it may sometimes flirt with Thrash, Doom or Punk / Crust, and I believe the fans of the genre will love it.
Do you still play some of the old Death Metal tracks live ? Or perhaps it doesn’t fit with the style of later albums in the context ?
We are old school Metal soldiers and we are gonna be that way till the day our last breath will escape our miserable bodies.
Feel free to conclude this interview. Thanks for the answers !
Check out our music, maybe you will find something interesting in there. Support the underground and your local scenes. Thanks for the interview, it was an honor.
Interviewer : Speedskullcrusher
