Interview with vocalist and guitarist René Blahusiak
Slovak death metallers Dementor are one of the best bands of the genre. They have released their two most recent albums; 2004's God Defamer and 2001's Enslave the Weak, on Osmose Productions. Their third albums in the nineties; The Art of
Blasphemy, Kill the Thought on Christ, and The Church Dies, established Dementor as one of the best unknown death metal bands. We sent some questions over to mainman Rene Blahusiak for more information.
Dementor have been around for a long time now; do you feel that you will be gaining many new fans with God Defamer?
Yeah, we have been around for a really long time but I think it is not the main condition for gaining fans. I mean, some bands can be around twenty or thirty years long and nobody knows them. The main point is the quality of music you produce and also your active approach to the promotion. At last but not least the support of your label is undoubtedly important. As for Dementor in the past we had tried to produce good quality music but did not have appropriate labels. Later on we got on Osmose what meant a big contribution of fans for us because of the enhanced promotion we got. Unfortunately our previous album Enslave the Weak had not had good production and the label did just a standard promotion for us. The situation got improved with God Defamer because this album fulfills most of the above mentioned aspects. Therefore I am pretty sure we still are about to gather some totally new fans who have just now the first chance to meet music of Dementor. I feel the effort of Osmose to promote our music is much stronger than ever before.
Why are many Slovak bands usually overlooked and poorly promoted?
Most of them are just lucky they found labels which are able to edit their records. No matter if the label is good or not. The luckiest bands also can get the studio work paid and that is almost all of benefits they can get. In fact there are not so many of good death metal bands in Slovakia but I really like and respect some of them. These would deserve some more attention and support. Maybe they should be more aggressive in searching for labels. If they stay on a local labels nothing will change for them and their names remain known just on a local level. I would like to mention/ recommend these: Pathology Stench, Depresy, Erytrosy, Protest.
I really enjoy all five of your albums; I like that each is different than the other and that you are not afraid to incorporate some creative ideas and even riffs that are unpredictable; do you think it's more important to develop your own style or try to follow the conventions of standard death metal?
I am really glad to hear about somebody who likes our complete discography with no exceptions. For us the main point is always the music and its sound. After we recorded our album The Church Dies we moved from one studio to another. This was maybe a natural reason of the sound change. For God Defamer we used another studio and another change came. However this change is most positive one and the reason is we finally worked with an appropriate producer. Maybe our sound on each album is different because previously we associated with a fucking poor producer. I mean, we
always wanted to have brutal death metal sound but the man did not
understand what this means and how to get it. We would better prefer
having the same but brilliant death metal sound than obtaining some
difference between albums. We are dedicated to death metal and will
always stick on this style. This does not mean we are afraid to
experiment. There are many ways how to make the final production more attractive. You can either implement some external sounds or use some vocal effects. These can really do a massive work. For the next album we will try to follow God Defamer productions but also find some refreshing ideas in our sick minds.
I see you toured with my friends in Suffocation; how was that experience? How did you get along with Insision and Disgorge as well?
If you say you're friends in Suffocation you actually know how great these guys are. They had never let us felt we are support and they are headliners. We are quite experienced band but we still had a lot to learn from them. They all are really friendly and cool. There was a lot of fun on the tour and we never forget these moments. Insision and Disgorge are great as well. I mean the number of our friends has just decreased on the tour. Hope to tour with them once again.
How frustrating was it dealing with artwork problems and the delays which ensued?
Sometimes it was driving me crazy while handling with the final layout. We did not have the artwork prepared in advance and the more it was frustrating for us while watching the album edition date is getting postponed and having no chance to change it. First off we chose a wrong author for the cover. Fortunately Osmose decided not to accept the final layout he offered and allowed us to chose an alternative author. Then we hooked on Graal who was also busy at the moment. We had to wait until he finishes some open work and makes himself free for us. Later on he did not show himself too flexible and it was making me enormously nervous. Finally he came up with an amazing concept and I just let the bad emotions leave. This cover is the best we ever had. It splendidly fits with the music.
Your lyrics and album titles have always been strongly anti-Christian; why do you feel so strongly against this religion? What aspect of the religion makes you most angry?
Yes, I really feel strongly against christianity. In fact I reject all kinds of religions because I find them rather dangerous than useful. Writing about christianity seems to be more natural than about islam as we live in a fucking christian country. However this is not just problem of Slovakia. These criminals try to rule whole world and seemingly they are succeeding. The thing I hate most about christianity is its hypocrisy and greed. They do not do what they want people to do. I think christianity is nothing more than a collection of moral rules and its mighty tool is bible with all the crazy stories about warriors, saints and another ridiculous stuff.
What do you think separates Dementor from other death metal bands?
Hard question. As you might understand from my previous answers we do not try to be original or find something innovative. The main point is to bring people solid albums and leave something remarkable behind us. I do not feel any separating elements. I would say we are a usual amateur band with all the problems and pleasures it just can have.
Through your many years together, what were some of the big obstacles you had to overcome?
All the personal changes. On the one hand I always tried to rid off
people who were not dedicated enough without being afraid about their
replacements. On the other hand it meant a big obstacle to find a solid replacement. The main shit always was the lose of talented drummers. If such a thing happened in Dementor it always meant a big hit a potential danger of splitting up. You know, you do not meet a good, talented and personally straight drummers walking around. You must search for them, ask them and many times be hardly convincing them to join the band. A natural consequence of this is all the Dementor members live in a distant towns (considering the area of our small state).
Would you have done anything differently if you could start your career over again?
Yes, I think there would be things to change or do different way. If I had the knowledge and experiences I picked up over the years I would really know how to lead the band. Sometimes it is not only about the managing skills of the band leader but also about the luck.
When do you start writing and recording for a new album? Do you have any ideas on what you'd like to do next?
First off I am waiting for the deal from Osmose. We wished to lengthen our co-operation after our contract expired after God Defamer. Osmose are interested in us and promised to send a draft. I hope it is just a question of paper work and time. Actually we already started to write new songs. We have some raw ideas but no finished song yet. About recording we will start only after the half of the album is prepared. My wish is to have the new album out in spring 2005.
Final comments?
Thank you Brett for this pleasant interview. I enjoyed my time. Hope God Defamer will get to all U.S. death metal maniacs soon and they will like it. Keep the blasphemy.
Discography:
2004... God Defamer (Osmose)
2001... Enslave The Weak (Osmose)
1999... The Art OF Blasphemy (Qabalah)
1997... Kill The Thought On Christ (Immortal Souls)
1994... The Church Dies (Immortal Souls)
Current line-up:
Rene Blahusiak... vocals and guitars
Rasto Schmogner... guitars
Marian Sopko... bass
Rasto Petrovic... drums
| TTM reviews of albums by Dementor: | |
| 2004 - 'God Defamer' |
