Deeds Of Flesh
Wywiad przeprowadził Wouter Roemers
American death metal merchants Deeds Of Flesh (vocalist/guitarist Erik Lindmark, bassist/vocalist Jacoby Kingston and drummer Mike Hamilton) recently released "Crown Of Souls" - their 6th album - through their Unique Leader imprint. As we are used from Deeds Of Flesh by now the album is another rock solid entry in their no-frills discography of utterly relentless death metal. Alike to their music, the band is rather concise and to-the-point in their answers. We talked to frontman Erik Lindmark, resulting in this compact interview.
Hi guys! Thanks for taking the time to talk to us. How us everything in the Deeds camp as of late? Any noteworthy developments we should be aware of?
We are just working hard on the next release. We have 3 songs already finished and the fourth one started. We are also waiting to find out our touring schedule for "Crown Of Souls" in Spring/Summer 2006.
Recently "Crown Of Souls" was released through your Unique Leader label imprint. How would you describe the reactions of international metal press the album has received until now?
It's been consistently good for reviews, which we are very appreciative of. Of course, there are those out there that hate us, haha. You'll always have that, but for the most part everything has been positive.
A video was shot for the title-track of the latest album. Was this the first video you did with Deeds Of Flesh in its +10 year career? Can we expect more videos in the future?
We actually filmed a video back in 2000 for ‘Indigenous to the Appaling (Mutinous Human)' off of "Path Of the Weakening" which was never released. Another one for ‘Cleansed By Fire' [from 2001's "Mark Of the Legion", ed] which was never released. We will probably do something with them in the future.
Over the last decade Deeds Of Flesh have established themselves as one of the leading bands in the underground death metal movement. Do you feel that you have opened many doors for the bands that followed in your footsteps?
We just like to play music. It is hard work for any band to get recognized and takes a lot of hard work. Deeds is fortunate to be among the ones that are recognized.
As every band in the scene Deeds Of Flesh has gotten its fair share of line-up alterations. Is it hard to keep finding motivated people that share the band's ambition? I reckon not everybody is up to the task, since Deeds' music is quite technically demanding.
Our line-up now is definitely the final line-up. We all get along really good, on and off the road and have the same goals in music. Writing music comes natural for us together. All of us put suggestions on each instrument.
Deeds Of Flesh are a very consistent unit, musically, despite the line-up changes. Over the years the sound has gotten slightly re-fined and undergone some additional fine-tuning. My biggest gripe with the record was that it offered little new compared to the earlier albums.
Well, we feel that we always should stick our style and that is the music we love to play. Technical over-the-top extreme metal. We do try and add new elements.
You have been releasing albums back-to-back about every two years. Is it difficult to keep the ideas fresh and creative flow strong - even after all these years?
Not at all! There's plenty of room for new riffs and ideas.
Another thing that struck me is the lyrical change the band seemingly has gone through. Instead of the standard gore that was present on "Trading Pieces" over the course of the last few albums the lyrics used the gore factor more as a metaphor for the ills of society and state of humanity than simply for gore for gore's sake. Would you agree?
A bit, yes. We always had our lyrical content deal with factual events.
Your most recent release to date is the "live in Montreal" DVD. Can you tell us what we can expect from that?
There's a live show from the "Reduced To Ashes" tour with Mortal Decay in Montreal, Canada. It's killer footage, up-close and personal. You can see everything. There's also a video for ‘Crown Of Souls' on the DVD.
Over the years you have toured all over the globe with all the greats of the genre, including Cannibal Corpse, Hate Eternal, Prejudice, Severe Torture, Psycroptic, Dying Fetus, etc. Any particular tour you have fond memories of and why?
Hate Eternal, Fetus and Deeds was a killer time! All bands have been friends for a while and it was just insane fun.
Unique Leader is the label that you guys run. This label has grown exponentially over the last years, bringing many quality acts to the forefront of the extreme international death metal scene. Is it hard to combine both the band and the label? I can imagine both bring their share of workload to the table.
No problem, when on tour we have people who work for us. Otherwise, I love working with music as a full-time job.
In the past there have been talks about a Unique Leader DVD, compiling all the promotional videos from the bands on the label's roster. Did that plan got postponed or just scrapped all together?
Just took too long, unfortunately.
Alright. This concludes the interview. End the interview as you feel fit…
Thanks for the support. Support the underground - it all starts there.
Site: www.deedsofflesh.net
