Metal Shock Finland (World Assault )

BLOOD MORTIZED was founded in Stockholm, Sweden in late 2007. The music is heavily influenced by old school death metal from the the early 90‘s, mainly from the golden “Studio Sunlight era“. I had a pleasant chat with Mattias Borgh, the band’s drummer, please join our conversation…

Hej Mattias, välkommen till “Metal Shock”! hur mår du?

Tjenare! Jodå, jag mår helt OK, trött eftersom jag var ute och och firade en kompis igår, man börjar bli gammal nu haha!

In your biography there’s written: “Old style dirty-rotten-unpolished Swedish Death Metal the way it was truly meant!” … so, describe us the sound of Blood Mortized…

The sound we have I would describe as honest and real. When I record drums in Underworld Recording I don´t do any editing at all. What you hear is what I played, if I make mistakes I record until I am satisfied. That also goes for the rest of the instruments. We have a more old school aproach towards recording and playing music. We grew up recording on tape machines, with slim to none option of editing, for example moving drum beats around and copy paste parts to make a song. The dirty sound comes from the small imperfections on the recordings. I am a human being and I prefer my drum parts to sound human. I have a lot of problems with the modern productions where every beat is 100% tight on the beat and these sampled triggered drums are digusting, blergh! So for us Blood Mortized is Old style dirty-rotten-unpolished Swedish Death Metal the way it was truly meant! Simple as that! Ughhh! Haha!

The band was formed in late 2007, and you got in a couple of months later. Tell me about these first months of Blood Mortized… what was the initial push to form the band?

When I joined, the band had already a contract with Vrykoblast Productions and most of the album was already recorded (but with programmed drums) I had a few days to record my drum parts really fast. Normally you would start with the drums but this first record kind of happaned backwards haha… Benny and Parkkila started the band and Anders joined after a while. They made some demos, got a contract and I joined just in time for the debut CD. Vrykoblast did release the album, but they did a really bad job with the album. No promotion, it was not even a properly registered release. We have now demanded, and receieved, the rights for the album back from Vrykoblast so it might get released again. What happened with Vrykoblast was that they just stopped answering on our e-mails, we did not hear anything what so ever from them. Anyway the initial push was to write and record music which we grew up doing, old style döds metall från Sverige haha!

Please, present us your band mates…

The band now consists of Mattias Parkkila on vocals, he has been growling in a bunch of bands/projects in the early 90´s, he has the biggest beard in the band that´s why he is called Skägget (The beard). Anders Biazzi on guitar, he also played in a bunch of bands in the 90´s and released some albums with a now quite big band who only sing about Vikings haha. Oh, his last name IS Biazzi now, not Hansson, he got married and changed his last name. We also have a new member, Gustav Myrin  on guitar  who is an old friend of Anders, they used to play in a band very, very, long time ago (they are so old that they need wheelchairs to get to the rehearsals haha). He has released albums with a band that played more straight a head rock and roll. Then there´s me on drums, I also play in a bunch of other bands and different styles of music.

Can you name the bands that have influenced you the most?

Well, all of us really like the old albums which we still listen to…. None mentioned, none forgotten, boring eh?

Talking about your songwriting process, how you’re organized in the band?

Some times I go to Anders and we sit in his project studio and write songs. We just sit and try out different parts and record them and program drum beats so we can hear the basic structure of the song. That saves a lot of time, so when we record or rehearse everything is already finished in terms of song structure and so forth. With other songs Anders has written and recorded a whole song, but then I start to complain haha. We do a lot, a lot of arranging and I just keep on whining until the songs is as good as it can get. We really aim to write SONGS and that is really important for us. Parkkila writes some of the lyrics and I write some. Parkkila records vocals on the pre-production recordings that Anders has made. We send a lot of songs back and forth via internet. For the upcoming album Gustav has also been writing some stuff together with Anders.

In 2009 you released your self-titled debut album via Vrykoblast Productions. What was the response of your audience and the album reviewers?

A bit mixed. Most of the reviewers really liked it and some really disliked it haha. What I can say is that the upcoming album will blow the debut into a very deep dark forest haha. But we are quite pleased with the response over all on the debut…

Then in 2010 you became a trio… can you tell us about these lineup changes?

Benny who was one of two guitar players, left because he did not have the time that the band now demands. He helps us out now and then with photography and stuff around the band though. Really great guy and all of us are good friends, so no hard feelings at all. He and Parkkila has a bunch of projects together and they will record more stuff during the year. We recorded the Bestial EP as a trio but for the upcoming album The Key To A Black Heart we have Gustav on guitar. Works great! He is a very quick learner which really helps. Now we only need a permanent bass player and then we will start doing live gigs…

Last year you recorded, as a trio, the “Bestial” EP which was recorded, mixed, mastered and produced by you, Mattias, at Underworld Recording, Sweden. What are the main differences, concerning your debut album?

Well, the songs for starters are much, much better. The production is much better and really fits the sound of the band (if you ask me at least…) The debut album was more diverse, a bit of trash o bit of death a bit of this and a bit of that. The new Bestial EP gives you a good pointer on how the next album will sound. So far we have recieved really good reviews on the EP and that please us a lot! It was released on a limited cassette edition by Nocturnal Blood Records. In June/July Chaos Records will release it on both CD and vinyl, including a bonus track! Be sure to pick up the EP!

However, you’ve said that soon you’ll announce the new second guitarist and bass player… any updates that you want to share with us?

Like I said, Gustav Myrin is now a permanent member so we now have a second guitar player. The bass player is still missing, we did have one but because of family matters it did not work out. So the search goes on!

Now you’re working for your second album, entitled ”The Key To A Black Heart”, how it’s proceeding in the studio?

All good so far! We are doing some small final adjustments to some songs and we just finished writing some new songs. The actual recording will start in a week or two. We will keep you updated and post some ”making of the album studio reports”. So keep the eyes open!

What we can expect to hear on this new album, sound-wise?

Sond-wise it will be a lot like the Bestial EP. Most likely a bit fatter sound, but very much in the same style as the EP. We like that old crushing sound, clean but not so polished, dirty is good, you know!

Can you reveal us more about the topics you’re going to deal with?

Well, since we are a death metal band the lyrical topics will focus on, surprise surprise, death and the fall of mankind, the madness of people and what happens when people cross some borders which should not be crossed.

Have you set already the release date? and how are you going to support the album? gigs, tour plans?

The album will be released in late fall/early winter 2011. We have just signed a deal with FDA Rekotz from Germany and we are sure they will do a great job with the new album. It will be out on a limited Digipak version and a normal Jewel case CD version. Chaos Records who are releasing our Bestial EP will do a massive vinyl release of the upcoming album including a bonus track! We are VERY excited working with FDA Rekotz and Chaos Records. These people are in business because they love this kind of music, just like it should be! There are no plans for concerts right now, still need to solve the bass player thing before hitting the road. But we will for sure play live to support the album, so hopefully soon!

Talking about the roles of the labels in music business… how do you see they’ll change in next years? And how do you see the swedish metal scenes and venues?

Well, the buisness has changed so much it´s insane. There are no budgets for recording any more, sadly. We pay everything from our own pockets. That is difficult, I mean my studio has a rent to be paid every month. Then there is all the studio equipment. That is expensive. But with all the downloading and ”generation for free” that´s the ugly truth. People should buy the albums and that will give the labels an honest chance to support the bands. If a band has a decent budget the albums will sound better, so it is really a win win situation. Support the musicians by buying the albums! There are more and more small venues here, and more chances to do live concerts. Festivals around the world, which is great!

If not talking now about the release and tours, Mattias, what other plans do you have for this and next year? I mean you’re playing also with other bands…

Arcana will release a new album and we will do some concerts. Next year will be more busy. We just finished recording a sister release for Le Serpent Rouge. A new full legth CD is in the works. Then there is Crypt of Kereros of course. We will re-release World of Myths via Pulverised Records soon, then there is the EP with two new songs coming out on Temple of Darkness records. We will do a new full length CD also for Pulverised Records, still writing material for it though.

And now the last question… what are your greetings to your fans and to our readers?

Be sure to get the Bestial EP when it is released, if you like your death metal the old way you will not be dissapointed! Stay tuned for studio updates on the new album ”The Key To A Black Heart” and we will take you along the ride!

Thanks Mattias for this chat! All the best and see on the road! \m/

Thanks Tarja for the interest and stay BESTIAL!

Interview by Tarja Virmakari – Photos by Benny Moberg

BLOOD MORTIZED “Bestial” trailer

Blood Mortized -The Key To a Black Heart Teaser