The learning process of Carnal Redemption
So what’s up guys? Took something like a whole life for this first full length of yours but you finally made it! What were the obstacles you had to overcome in order to complete "Utter Depression"?
Well, a lot of setbacks actually. We released "Cerebral Chaos" in 2005 and for the next five years it was difficult even to rehearse because of our job schedules. Jim came aboard in 2010 and brought a lot of enthusiasm back to the band. We started working on new songs and finally recorded "Utter Depression".
So what’s the feedback so far? Better or worse than you expected?
It was a long time since our last release and to tell you the truth we didn’t know what to expect. Those mini “comebacks” have always been surprising to us but we have received very positive comments so far.
Almost 9 years since "Cerebral Chaos" EP excluding your promo of 2011. How do you see the band’s evolution from then till now? From the way you deal with music, and your expectations of it, till the way you compose. What’s different now?
There’s a whole new approach to our music nowadays because of the setbacks we had. It’s a learning process and you grow out of it. We celebrate every single rehearsal and all the good times we have together because we learned the hard way that you can’t take them for granted. Whatever comes out of it, we’ll take it, the thing is that we kept playing music. As for the composing part there are a lot of differences as well. Our songs are shorter, faster and more technical. Back in the day, we used to experiment a lot with the structures and the arrangements of the songs, but it didn’t work that well on stage.
Despite the hold up on your studio duty, it appears that you never stopped the live work. You would say that Carnal is a live or studio band?
Definitely a live band, but we really enjoy the pre-productions and the recordings because it’s something that we missed all these years.
I saw many tracks from the album uploaded so that brings the next question. What’s your opinion on downloading? I mean two guys show up and the first one says that he bought your stuff and vomited while the other says he downloaded everything and totally liked it. Who gets the punch?
The first guy will probably get a chewing gum or some toothpaste. No one has to be punched, it depends on how you see things. "Utter Depression" is a self financed release, and we want people to have a “test drive” before thinking of buying it. There are also people that don’t have money to purchase records, so why not? The whole thing with the internet is out of control anyway. A lot of websites were streaming our songs before we did.
Your lyrical inspiration is obviously society and the problem it endures, and that is obvious through your titles and your cover artwork. What is your opinion on death metal lyrics? You think of them as just something for the vocalist to play with, or do you believe that lyrics are equally important to a song as music?
Lyrics are important! The music is top priority but if you have good lyrics with strong concepts, then you have a better package. Life itself is far more brutal than blastbeats.
Give us a bit of technical info on "Utter Depression". Where was it recorded and what was the procedure? Any hardships?
We modified a small place for the recordings. We had a small budget so we bought some additional microphones and did the whole process ourselves.I think that we made the most of our equipment. We wanted the mix to sound “organic” and tried to avoid a loud mastering, so that the instruments would “breathe” in the mix.
What would you list as the number one nightmare when it comes for a band in Greece to release an album? What is the worst pain in the ass? From recording to distribution. What bothered you the most?
It’s a lot easier these days with the internet, and the knowledge that is provided by it. You can produce and promote your music easily but, of course, you get what you pay for. A good studio with experienced engineers is always the best solution. We had problems with the printing factory, and we still have issues. Nothing works right in this country, so we were totally unprotected. Like I said before, it’s a learning process.
So what is the situation with the death metal scene in Greece? How do you see the scene evolving through time?
It’s better than ever. Greek bands are top level bands in my opinion and deserve a lot of respect because of the things that they have to go through in this shithole to finally achieve some things.
So what can the future hold for Carnal Redemption? What are the promotion plans for "Utter Depression", and when can we expect something new from you guys?
We’ll try to do as many shows as possible and we already started writing new songs, so we’ll see. If you are a member of this band, you know that everything can change from one day to another.
That was all from me man. Thank you for your time. Close this shit any way you want!
First of all thanks and tons of respect for this interview. We are really happy that we finally made this release. Check it out!!!