BEHIND THE VEIL.COM
Death Heaven has introduced as a while ago their demo that bears the title "Techno Decomposition Wolrd" that presents a gathering of fine technical brutal death metal compositions with lots of variations, depth and complexity. The guys surely have a future in the scene, so give them a try to prove to you their abilities!
1.FIRST OF ALL CONGRATULATIONS FOR "TECHNO
DECOMPOSITION WORLD"! IT'S AN EXCELLENT DEMO! HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT IT? ARE
YOU CONTENT?
Thanx a lot Christine! Yes, we are pretty satisfied with our demo. We think that there are some really nice songs in it and also the quality sound is appreciable, considering that we haven't recorded it in a professional studio. It has been receiving positive responses from Italian and international webzines and this is the most important thing for us. But we have no intention to stop: we are already working on new songs, that should be more and more aggressive and technical.
2.PLEASE SINCE THIS IS THE FIRST INTERVIEW WE
DO, PRESENT THE BAND TO THE READERS BY STATING YOUR MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS
TILL NOW. WHAT'S THE CURRENT LINE UP?
Well, Death Heaven saw the light in early 2003. In
those months me (bass) and Andrea (guitar) had been playing togheter in a
thrash metal band. When we met Matteo (guitar) and Baital (drums) our music
became harder and harder and we started to play more death metal. At the
time we hadn't got a singer, so Andrea tried to sing too. We wrote some
tracks and recorded them, but we didn't like the final result, because it
wasn't professional enough, so it hadn't been kicked around. In June 2003 we
started to play live. Six months later we played with Coram Lethe, a great
Italian band, and during spring the recording sessions of "Techno
Decomposition World" begun. Due to some problems, the release date skipped
until 12th of February 2005. That evening we played with Horrid, another
well known Italian death metal band. At the moment we are working on new
material. Our line-up is the same as when we started to play togheter.
3.BY THE WAY WHY DID YOU NAME YOUR BAND DEATH HEAVEN? WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?
Andrea proposed us this moniker and we agreed. He liked the paradox of a heaven made of death. In my opinion it's not so original, since there are a lot of bands with "death" or "heaven" words in their moniker, but I think it sounds quite good anyway.
4.YOU PLAY TECHNICAL DEATH WITH SOME SLIGHT THRASH METAL EDGES. I READ IN YOUR BIO THAT WHEN YOU FIRST FORMED THE BAND YOU PLAYED THRASH METAL. SO WHAT MADE YOU CHANGE MUSICAL DIRECTION? PLEASE MENTION SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS.
When we started, Andrea and Matteo, the main composers, were very inspired by thrash metal. But their musical preferences were changing and now they're really into death metal. As we get better with our instruments, we feel that our music should be more technical and aggressive. Now our style is developed and our new songs are more complex and unconventional. Anyway, we have a lot of influences, since we listen to a lot of bands and different music styles. I like both black and death metal. My favourite bands are Mysticum, Taake, Mayhem, Behemoth, Impaled Nazarene, Disgorge (MEX), Thorns etc. Also I like avantgarde black metal (D?dheimsgard, Aborym, Blacklodge, With Hate I Burn...), EBM and extreme thrash metal (Audiopain and Amok rules!). Matteo listens almost to everything, from brutal and technical death metal (Hate Eternal, Morbid Angel, Death (RIP), Cryptopsy and Cynic) to AC/DC, Steve Vai, Strapping Young Lad, Dissection, jazz and instrumental music etc. Baital is a blackster and he really likes Taake, Darkthrone, Carpathian Forest, Craft and so on. Andrea prefers technical death metal (Nile, Cannibal Corpse, Carcass, Kronos etc), some powerful swedish death metal combos (from Dismember to Crimson Moonlight) and thrash metal bands like Nevermore. In "Techno Decomposition World" you can recognize a lot of different influences, from Slayer to Death for example, but I think that our music is still quite personal, because we combine them without copying unashamedly.
5.IF YOU HAD TO WRITE A REVIEW OF "TECHNO DECOMPOSITION WORLD", WHAT WOULD YOU SAY BEING AS OBJECTIVE AS POSSIBLE?
Nice question, I must admit. Honestly I think that "Techno Decomposition World" is an interesting release. It's not perfect, of course. We could describe our music like death metal, but it has some other influences (from thrash to black metal, as I said before). In general our songs are based on powerful and solid riffs, but there are killer grind parts, fucking aggressive vocals and a lot of nice solos too. The melodic component is still present and there are also some acoustic inserts, like in "The Cannibal Of Milwaukee", "Shadows In Darkness" and "Sunday Of War". Our songs are usually quite long, so there are a lot of changes and variations in their structure. It makes 'em more interesting and various, but maybe we have exceeded a couple of times, since we consider some tracks too long. I think the recording is pretty appreciable, in spite of drums are not the top. But keep in mind that we haven't recorded it in a professional studio! There are some little executive mistakes here and there too... Also the cover artwork could be better, in my opinion.
6.TELL US A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE LYRICAL CONTENT OF "TECHNO DECOMPOSITION WORLD". WHICH ARE YOUR SOURCES OF INSPIRATION?
Lyrics in "Techno Decomposition World" were written by three members out of four, so the themes we dealt with were numerous. We hadn't got an out and out identity when we started to write lyrics for the first songs. Now things are changed. Only me and Andrea are writing lyrics for the new materials. At the moment I find inspiration from every day life. I don't like the actual society and I try to criticize the aspects that I can't accept. Anyway our lyrics are not political and it will stay the same in the future. A different talk counts for "Sacrifical Ritual Of Ugarit's Deads", one of the newest songs. The atmosphere was so obscure and evocative that we automatically decided to made a lyric that could follow the feelings of the music faithfully. It deals with a Sumerian legend.
7.I THINK THE COVER ARTWORK IS VERY ELOQUENT. SHOWING A MICROCHIP OR A MOTHERBOARD (DUNNO EXACTLY WHAT IT IS) AND AN EARTH DECOMPOSING. HOWEVER, IS THERE SOMETHING IN SPECIFIC YOU WANT TO "SAY" WITH THIS COVER? WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR IT?
Matteo did the cover artwork. It represents the problems concerned with the abuse of technology. It's natural that humanity progresses, but it can be dangerous if we become too dependent on technology.
8.I HAVE SURFED YOUR SITE AND IT'S EXTREMELY BEAUTIFUL AND VERY FUNCTIONAL! HOWEVER, IT'S IN ITALIAN ONLY. WHY? WON'T YOU INCLUDE AN ENGLISH VERSION IN THE FUTURE? I SEE THAT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SITE IS YOUR DRUMMER. HAS HE STUDIED COMPUTING OR WEB DESIGNING?
Thanx! Baital did our website. He hasn't studied computing, it's only one of his hobbies. However there are some problems here and there, but he is going to prepare a new Flash version, with an English translation too.
9.HAVE YOU PLAYED ANY LIVE SHOWS? DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR LIVES IN THE FUTURE?
Yes, we have played some live shows, not many. We really like to play live and in general the responses are quite good. Our songs, expecially the newest ones, have a great impact on stage. At the moment we haven't got any gig confirmed, but I hope to play somewhere this summer.
10.HAVE YOU SENT THE DEMO TO ANY LABELS? WHICH WERE THE REACTIONS SO FAR? DID YOU HAVE ANY PROPOSALS?
Yes, some weeks ago we sent our demo to some labels, but they haven't contacted us yet. We are still waiting and maybe we'll try to send some other copies to other labels.
11.WHAT KIND OF FEEDBACK HAVE YOU RECEIVED FROM THE FANS AND MAGAZINES? WHAT WAS THE MOST FLATTERING AND WHAT THE WORST COMMENT YOU RECEIVED?
Until now "Techno Decomposition World" has been receiving only good responses (look at our website at "Press" section to read some reviews). Many people underlined our personal way to make music and we really appreciate it. Someone found some tracks too long and we also received some criticisms for the quality sound that should be better. Now we are waiting for other reviews, but most of the webzines and magazines are very busy. We hope that they're on-line as soon as possible.
12.NOW, WHAT'S THE BEST AND WHAT'S THE WORST PART IN YOUR MUSIC, ACCORDING TO YOU? WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU NEED FURTHER IMPROVEMENT?
Our music is emotive, groovy and personal. Each song is different from the others and everyone has something special. We always try to do something new, this is our way to work. On the other hand, sometimes we are too prolix, I think. The new songs are a little bit shorter. If you like "Techno Decomposition World", surely you'll like them too!!
13.IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD IT BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
It's difficult to say. Our music is raging, aggressive, but it's a controlled rage. It symbolizes our scorn against some of the aspects of life, but it's also fascinating, to some degree. A painting? Maybe the ruins of a city in a futuristic context.
14.IF YOU COULD INVITE FAMOUS MUSICIANS TO PARTICIPATE IN YOUR DEMO, WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?
Ummm, I've never thought about. We all like Trey Azaghtoth's unique style, so I think he should be the candidate number one. But actually Devin Townsend seems to be our favourite musician. He is totally crazy and his voice unmistakable. Matteo and Andrea have just seen Strapping Young Lad in concert here in Italy and they were really striked from their show.
15.THANK YOU! IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO MENTION?
Thanx for your support. Visit our website, download mp3s and make up your mind about our music! Don't forget to sign the guestbook. And, if you want, you could buy our demo ordering it directly from us (price is 4,5 EUROS including shipping costs to everywhere) or from the following mailorders: Nihilistic Holocaust (http://site.voila.fr/NIHILISTIC/) and Misanthropic Propaganda (http://www.chaosempire.ru). Within a while you may also find some copies at SPK Records (www.skprecords.com), Hirax Records (http://www.lunaticgods.sk/merchandise.htm), MetalRulez Prod. (http://www.metalrulez.prv.pl/) and Bloodbath Records (http://fly.to/bloodbath). Long life to Behind The Veil 'zine!!! Stay brutal!!!