'86-In-'08 monkeybeat deathpunk...
Nihilistic Webzine Interview 2010...
1. BASTARD PRIEST appeared from nowhere in 2008 with the release of the first demo "Merciless insane death". I never ever heard about your band's name before, and even though Metal-archive states it was created in 2001, it seems nothing was recorded or promoted before...tell us more about the past, what happened before the release of this first demo...when was the band really created? Was BASTARD PRIEST the first name? Did you record other demos? Well, this could be seen as a long introduction ;-)
M: Well me and Inventor started talking about doing this band in 2001 or 2002. We wanted to play really hard and merciless heavy music but we didn't get around actually doing anything until 2007. I guess it depends on what you mean by "creating" a band - ideas, band name and stuff like that 2001, songs in 2007. Bastard Priest was the first name - we never thought that much about it but I guess it's kinda silly, on the other hand it sort of stands out among all the tombalizer/engraved/disnihilist-names...don't pay much attention to our name, it's the music that counts. We did a rehearsal recording in '07 that never got released - songs from that recording was on our homepage a while under the name "demo 2007" but it was never a released product of any kind.
2. This is a quite usual question, but it's not bad to ask so: How would you call your music? Is "Death metal" enough, or you have a personal way of introducing it to metal-heads? How do you generally try to "sell" your music to turn on someone's curiosity? (Maybe you ask them to read the title of your demo? Ahah)
M: It got bits and pieces of everything in it both music wise and lyrics wise but I'm not gonna be a pretentious artfag and say things that labels don't fit us and stuff like that...yeah it sounds pretty death metal right? I don't generally sell my music - things get around and people hear our stuff, if they like it -fine, if not - also fine. Perhaps someone hears Entombed, other people hear Nausea, Master, Discharge, Iggy - I don't care...it's not that important.
3. Did you already play gigs? Should BASTARD PRIEST be considered as a "real" band who regularly rehearses and plays gigs, or rather some kind of studio rehearsal / project that allows you to compose good music? Or you don't give a fuck about such kind of criterias and only wish to vomit pure fucking Death until the infernal puke is strangulating your throat from the inside?
M: No, we've never done any live shows. Right now there's no time or other band members to make live appearances possible. Bastard Priest is a two man studio project I guess, but I mean we got the songs and we would be able to play them live but for reasons that I previously stated it's not possible right now.
4. "Inventor" and "Matt Mendoza" seems to be quite obscure monikers, I never heard about them before... Are you a part of other bands/ project, or is BASTARD PRIEST the only one, or only important one (maybe)? Wasn't Mendoza some conqueror from the Spanish history?
M: No, we're only in Bastard Priest...Mendoza is a homage to Mark "The Animal" Mendoza of Twisted Sister.
5. Many bands try to play old styled Death metal and sometimes claim it's Swedish death, but sometimes they fail...sometimes because they forget the old crust/HC influence that was quite important in the music of bands like ENTOMBED (Early) or CARNAGE for example...you didn't and include quite a lot of crust and D-beats energy in the rhythms, sometimes so much that I occur to forget I'm listening to Death metal and would feel in the middle of a Crustcore LP! Ah Ah. So, don't you have some kind of quite strong roots in the HC scene? You might even have spent most of your 'Ugly music" early days in this part of extreme music scene, and turnt to the side of Death few years ago? Do you think a band can play real Swedish Death metal without these Dbeat influences? (Is it really only about the necro or obscurity, or maybe the Swedish trademark also involves some primary punch and impact targeted energies to be totally emulated?)
M: Yeah we're both raised in the Hardcorepunk scene more than the metal scene...but both of us have always attended all kinds of gigs and listened to all kinds of music. I started listening to death metal in 91 or 92 and I've never stopped really - sometimes I listen to it more, sometime less, but brutal music and fast music I've been listening to my whole life. About the punk and rock influences of "Swedish Death Metal" - I really don't know what real Swedish Death Metal is to be honest...it seems that everything and nothing is swedeath right now. I guess when people played their stuff back in the day they just were influences from everything between Autopsy and Sonic Youth...and they all strived for progression and that made the music quite special. I think that the rock n roll groove (not to be mistaken with groovy metal or any kind of rap or stuff like that) was the most important thing that I wanted to base Bastard Priest music on - you know, it has to have a certain vibe to it that make you really want you to bang your head. Punk music and hardcore got that on it's own and that stuff just came along naturally when creating the music...Cos basically we're doing hardcorepunk songs but it's death metal - it's short and really simple.
6. Sometimes your music is fucking raw and primal...It sounds like a melting of early MASTER and some SLAUGHTER (Can)! You could cover the "Incinerator" song of the latter, it wouldn't sound misplaced, and you could move more ass during gigs ahah (Maybe you know this song, at least from the NAPALM DEATH covers MCD). Hmmm, would you like to quote more influences?
M: Make way for the Incinerator! Yeah, we drew alot of influence from the Master unreleased 1985 LP, Possessed, Slaughter, Death Strike...all these early death metal bands. We listen to all the crucial stuff of course (Bathory, Venom, Celtic Frost, Possessed and so on) but also to some really hard hitting hardcorebands such as Crow, Death Side, Lip Cream, Anti Cimex, Shitlickers, Discharge, Disorder and Chaos UK. But we ripped stuff from Rolling Stones, Youth of Today, Slayer and Accept.
7. The Swedish Death metal guitar sound is great, really overdriven and ugly as a moribund fuck! How did you achieve to get this kind of production: What kind of amp/ guitar or effect pedal did you use? Where was the demo recorded and what kinds of incantations did you spell during the work to evoke the spirit of Tomas Skogsberg in this quite efficient manner?
M: Marshall Amps, just some guitar and Boss pedals...that's all you need! Recording can be heaven but most of the time it's just pure pain cos we're not really professionals...usually the turnout is pretty far from what we aimed for but I guess we had some lucky shots when we recorded.
8. According to the song titles, I guess your lyrics are about Death and brutality... Tell us about it.
M: It's the usual stuff - war, pain, gore, zombies...you know.
9. Did you have experiences with priests in your young years, or is it only a cool moniker?
M: No, one of my best friends dad is a priest - he's cool thought, albeit a bit grumpy.
10. Are you satisfied with the work of BLOOD HARVEST? How did you get in touch with him, and what was his offer? Do you know how many copies of the demo were sold at the end?
M: Yeah, Mr.R of Blood Harvest is by far the easiest guy to work with out there - I have no criticism what so ever. I think he sold 300 copies of the demo.
11. Are there already new songs in the work, or is it generally quite slow on a matter of composition? According to the quite fresh nature of your music, I'd say it didn't take too long to write these songs and you were lead by the enthusiasm in a few months (weeks?) duration...How does it work to write these songs and what is the "click" to turn the feeling on? Are you generally bestially motivated by some daily-life events, Tv-news, killer albums, alcohol, drugs, sex, or something else? I guess Inventor writes most of the music...
M: Right now I'm actually working on some new songs...nothing is done yet thought so we'll see what that turns out to be. Both me and Inventor writes the music - it's a ongoing process that involves both me and him and everything is done by both Inventor and me. As for the motivation it's 100% musical influences that gets me going...I don't watch TV and feel the urge to do death metal so to say.
12. If there are new songs, how do they sound and what should the listener expect? Are there strong differences compared to the first demo, as you might include new influences, or is it globally the same style? Have you got an idea of who will and how it will be released?
M: Just the same stuff, I don't think it changed that much...the influences are pretty much the same and the style also. Since nothing new is recorded right now I don't have anything about how and when it's gonna be released.
13. How many times did you read the killer "Swedish Death metal" book written by Daniel Ekeroth? Was it a great source of new old bands to hunt for, and did you make some great discoverings thanks to his encyclopedia side? Did it in a way change your vision of the old scene?
M: Well I read it once...It's a cool book, no doubt about it. As for the source of new band I find the internet to be outstanding...I mean there's homepages and blogs that's 100% dedicated to old metal demos and stuff like that - everything's there, you just have to look for it. As for the old scene - I don't know if I've given it that much thought, perhaps with age and time it has become a lot less "glamorous" - I think I thought that I was more big business when I was a kid.
14. If you could have played in one of the greater old Swedish death metal bands, would you have chosen ENTOMBED/ NIHILIST, GRAVE, DISMEMBER, CARNAGE or another one? And if you couldn't choose ENTOMBED, which other outfit would you choose? (Héhé)
M: I don't know - that kind of a weird question...I don't know...G-Anx perhaps.
15. Since you're from Sweden, you might have experienced nice things such as being surrounded by some kind of myths and stories about early Death metal, some kind of Swedish collective subconscious that have probably developed and kept spreading stories and myths concerning the Death metal past...How was it to hear such kind of stories when you were younger? And how did you see these bands like ENTOMBED, GRAVE or maybe DISMEMBER invade your country with their killer sounds? I think such kind of collective subconscious phenomenon might greatly influence a crowd of individuals to play music later on...
M: Well in the early 90ties it was all about these black metal dudes that kept running around killing each other and being really dangerous...I think most of the rumors was about them. As for Death Metal rumors I can't remember anything. Also when I was a kid the music seemed really technical and hard to play...shit was superfast and impossible to play almost. I still think some of the entombed riffs are impossible to grasp and their song structures are fucking ridiculous...I always loved (and always will) Nickes drumming.
16. What does Death metal mean for you?
M: Good music.
17. Do you like paper fanzines? What were you last great obscure readings and are there some names you'd like to advice to the readers? I know there are many paper fanzines in Poland...But what about Sweden? Is there also some revival concerning this way of spreading the morbidity?
M: No not that much to be honest...I get zines when dudes like you interview us and I read them but that's it. Before the Internet I read alot more zines.
18. The new wave of Swedish old school Death metal becomes stronger...At least it hasn't been that strong since years...Do you think something special could happen again, and your country might take over the world again by force with so many killer music...And should we, the listener, prepare for a new Swedish invasion from the depths of mystery?
M: Hehe, jeez, I don't know - we got some really awesome band already I we've had some the last 10 years also I think...Kaamos, Repugnant, Verminous...nowadays I think Morbus Chron, Maim and Tormented are really good.
19. What are the future plans of BASTARD PRIEST? You can tell us about the merchandising and other things...Thanx for the answers. Nauseous cheers from the grave (Ah!)
M: Make more songs and record some stuff later this spring. We got an LP at the mastering-studio right now so we're waiting for that to be done and come out. After that we'll see what happens. Thanks for the interview man! Rock Hard! -- Matt Mendoza.
