Lehavoth
Wywiad przeprowadził Tomasz Osuch
Do you know these extreme guys from Israel?! Seems like no introduction is needed cause Lehavoth's vocalist Molech told me almost everything important in this matter. If you haven't listen to their music yet, you should face their "Hatred Shaped Man" which is one of the best debut album this year. Killer album, killer band! And it's not only my opinion. Have a nice reading! :-)
Hello Molech! Lehavoth's debut album entitled "Hatred Shaped Man" has been available for a few months. You did a really cool album and it seems that people appreciate it so far! I mean you should be really satisfied when the reaction of maniacs is very positive, am I right?
"Well, first of all Hello. And yes, up until now the reaction to the album was really a pleasant surprise. It feels really nice to know that people appreciate what we try to do."
Ok, but let's start from the beginning! This is your first time in Masterful Maga'zine and not everyone knows Lehavoth very well. You started 8 years ago as a black metal band; recorded one demo tape and shortly later split up. Why did you break up then?
"We actually didn't think about it as a breaking up. Pixel and I were both in the army and we just waited to finish with that so we can keep on with the band. We tried to keep on doing the band during the army but a combination of ill motivated band members and us being away from home for long periods of time surely didn't help."
Is it true that at that time you were one of the first Israeli black metal bands? How was the metal scene in Israel back then?
"The band did start up as one of the first black metal acts in Israel. But at that time the scene here was really lame because there were no actual bands doing gigs. There were no real places to do proper gigs and shit like that. The last few years though were really good for the whole scene."
You came back to life three years ago with new lineup and a slight change in music you play. It is more brutal, and nowadays we can sincerely say that you play grinding death music. How did this happen?
"Me and Pixel (guitar) just 'woke up' one day and decided that this is not what we wanna do with our music. So we parted with the other members then, and went on looking for other people to play with. Death metal was an obvious choice for us because this was the music we both loved best and that was the soundtrack of us growing up. So we just said 'fuck everything, we are just gonna play the music we really love'."
Graphic artwork of "Hatred Shaped Man" is very interesting. Evolution of technology, gene's mutations.... How should we interpret this cover artwork and photos inside the booklet?
"Thanx for the compliments. Our guitarist Nir G. is the artist behind them. I think the good thing about the cover is that everyone could grasp a whole different concept of the album. We never asked Nir about what stand behind his graphics. Personally, I think that the cover really connects to the lyrics, and draws a same picture of the world: dark, painful, twisted."
There are very depressing photos of deformed, dead children's bodies. Don't you think that this is inhumane?
"Well yeah I think it's inhuman but that's the whole point in showing that images. It all depends on the context.The album is filled with criticism about the world around us. And the cover is a part of it."
Why did you decide to entitle album "Hatred Shaped Man"? Who is this guy?
"Hatred shaped man is partly me. It didn't actually started by doing an 'opus' of some sort. It just that all those little stories really fitted to this image that just popped in my head. 'HSM' is actually just a normal guy that hates everything around him. He just woke up one day and realized the world is a pile of shit. And from there on he deals with every aspect of his life."
There is one more, final question connected with previous questions. What do you think the future of the humankind is going to be like ?
"I think we will eventually destroy ourselves."
I agree with you. The most popular Israeli band Salem writes lyrics about the still unfinished conflict in your country. What with Lehavoth? It seems it's not that easy to understand the lyrics on the album just like that and it is necessary to spend more time on reading them. Can you tell about lyrical side of the album?
"Unlike us Salem touch the Israeli/Arab conflict directly. We have five different opinions in the band about that situation so we made a conscious decision not to write about that. As I was saying before, 'HSM' is just a normal guy that deals with different aspects of his life. He deals with subjects like love, god, commercial society around him and the unfaithfulness of friends."
"Hatred Shaped Man" was recorded at Soundlab Studio, the property of Mieszko from Nasum. The albums produced by him always sound great. Yours as well! A few words about recordings please... by the way, did Mieszko enjoy your music?
"We spent a couple of weeks in the studio. That was our first time in a 'real' studio as a band. That was a real learning experience for us. It was the first time we traveled together as a band and lived together. Sweden itself was cool. Everyone had been really cool with us. I really don't know If he loved our music or not."
Lehavoth's debut album was released one year after recording session. You signed with Dutch Fadeless Records. How did it happen that you signed a deal with Wilko's label?
"I think it started when Wilko heard some stuff about and we got in contact with him and sent him some stuff of ours. He liked it and once he offered us the private jets we wanted and Ferraris, we had no option but say yes."
Yeah! You were recently in Europe and visited CCR Studio in Belgium. You recorded 6 new tracks with guest appearance of Svencho (Aborted/Leng Tch'e) in one of them. This song called "Challenger" is available to download from your website. Can you give more details about new songs?
"The new songs are another step in the band's evolution. I believe it's the best stuff we ever did. Those songs were intended to go on the second LP in the beginning, but then we decided to do some splits first. We were living in Belgium at that time and Sven and the guys from Welkin really recommended CCR as a place to record in. The whole recording was done in 4 days and I believe that's the best studio experience we ever had until now. I think those songs really show the new musical direction of the band."
These new songs will not be released on the new full length album. You said about split cds.... A few words about it please.
"The first split with those songs is gonna be with Welkin which are really good friends of ours.
That one is going out on the Spew Records. I don't have a date yet. Probably the beginning of 2004. We are still checking around for a second split 7" or CD."
About split cds for a moment... Is "The sick the dead the rotten" available on Italian The Spew Records now? Which songs, what can we find on this split cd Lehavoth w/ Suture and Leukorrhea?
"We haven't got the cds yet so I don't know the other's contribution. We have four songs there which we recorded in Israel at a friend's house. I'm happy with those songs. All of them are heavy and intense enough with a good lyrical side to them."
I heard that you are planning to enter the studio and record new material for next album in spring 2004. How can you describe the successor of "Hatred Shaped Man"? What can we expect from it? What would be the best recommendation?
"The new album is gonna be miles away from the first album. We are taking our own musical path right now and working hard to find our own sound. The music now has more groove into it and now has more different influences in it. Just check out the new song we have on the web - "Challenger". Lyrically the new songs take a more personal and blunt path. The vocals are more powerful now and with more varieties. In general the 'into your face' attitude still reigns supreme ;) but in a new and improved way..."
Originally you planned the recording session of the new album for this year, but you will be touring through Europe in winter. Was it a reason that you pushed the recordings for next year? Can you give more info about planning tour? Venues, dates, supports....
"The tour is planned for the winter and it suppose to be with Aborted and Koldborn from Denmark. Nothing is secured at this point so I've got no more info to give on that subject."
Lehavoth was announced for Operating Europe Tour with bands like Impaled, Aborted and Pyaemia... but it was cancelled... You played on Fuck The Commerce... What are your impressions from this event?
"Operating Europe never took place. Instead we did Fuck The Commerce fest and moved to Belgium for a while. Fuck The Commerce was great though."
What kind of relations are between Lehavoth and Leng Tch'e? Is it true that your drummer Nir Doli joined to Leng Tch'e as a second guitar player?
"Leng Tch'e are good friends of ours. They are a part of the crew we had in Belgium, which also includes our brothers from Welkin, In Quest, Demonizer and of course Aborted. After a while in Belgium Nir joined Leng Tch'e and even did some gigs with them and I think he also wrote some stuff for them. I don't know what's up with that though cause Nir is in Israel now."
Let's go back to your local scene. Israeli metal scene is getting stronger and more and more popular. Lots of bands are known in the world and some of them are very active. You have bands like Salem, Orphaned Land, Eternal Gray, Lehavoth, Nail Within, Arallu, and Sleepless. How can you explain this evolution of Israeli metal music?
"The last few years have been good with us, suddenly metal is popular again, crowd is coming up, there are few stable older bands that can draw crowd to the clubs, the press is also interested, its almost as if being metal is cool again. I think that the fact that Israeli bands can get themselves into the European scene as active members encourages the youngsters here to form their own bands. Other upcoming bands are: Whorecore, Sewaged, Hand Made God and Vultures. All those names are definitely worth checking out."
These were all my questions, thanx for the interview!
Well Tomasz, thanks for the interview! Check out our new and improved site: www.lehavoth.com
