Prejudice
Wywiad przeprowadził Wouter Roemers
While they aren't as known as their country mates Aborted or Leng Tch'e, Belgian technical death metal formation Prejudice is without a single doubt the most hard-working band in the local underground. After years of producing high quality technical brutal death metal, touring Europe relentlessly, yet still struggling to find a decent record deal and some name recognition - they recently inked a recording deal with Greek label Sleaszy Rider Records. With a new split album behind their belt and another European tour with Hate Eternal in the pipeline, we talked to drummer Frank, resulting in the following conversation.
Hi guys! Thanks for taking the time answer this interview. Last time you were featured with an interview was in 2004. How's everything with the band as of late?
Hi Wouter, first of all thanks for this interview and the true support towards Prejudice over the years!! Everything has been silent on the outside but very busy inside the band: preparing our new bassist Greco, writing new material, recordings for the 3-way split cd and promoting us by many labels what resulted in our new record deal.
Spanish independent label Grotesque Productions put out a 3 way split with "Grotesque First Action" - featuring you and two rather obscure gore/grind acts. How did this album come to be?
We thank this split in a way to our friends from Rottenness. They came with the question if we were interested in doing a split with them and Grotesque was very interested in releasing this. After negotiations they also asked Carnal Decay. Rottenness had problems with the recordings through mother nature and that's why it took so long and they looked for replacement. We expect the CDs this week. So far Juan from Grotesque did a killer promotion for an underground label, there are even shirts printed from the split, support this label!
Recently you inked a deal with Greek label Sleaszy Rider Records. After years of independently releasing albums and persistent label problems, can you tell us how did the deal got closed?
After we recorded the 3 songs for the split, we decided to use these recordings for promo in a way to search for a label. First we send out mails to the labels followed by sending out the promo kits. We got a direct mail from Sleaszy Rider saying he has seen us in Greece on the Hate Eternal tour and didn't even needed to receive the promo first, he wanted to sign us right away. After short negotiations he agreed on the terms and we, from our side, as well. Now we are on Sleaszy Rider Records.
Sleaszy Rider Records will soon re-issue your former 3 full lengths. Why exactly was a remix "Dominion Of Chaos" necessary, that album sounded quite impressive on its own?
"Dominion Of Chaos" will only be remastered, "Reality" will be remixed and remastered. The 3 re-issues will be in the first 300 copies in a very limited edition. More details about this will follow soon.
Your sound and style have changed quite a bit from "Broken Promises" and on. Is it just natural progression or have there been external factors interfering?
Well, we have always been a progressive band, I think. It is just a "Prejudice" factor. We never want to make 2 same albums and still want to be unique. I think that is the quality of Prejudice.
"Dominion Of Chaos" was a far cry from the standard Belgian underground release. Everything from the lay-out, design to the US oriented songs and the cutting edge production, it all screamed international appeal.
Thx!!
Which leads to the inevitable question. "Dominion Of Chaos" opened up a lot of doors for the band, as far as I could see. How would you describe the new material at this point?
The good point is, we still sound as Prejudice and that's the main point we want to keep doing. The new material is a mix between "Dominion Of Chaos" and "Reality" in my opinion with a modern Prejudice finish. What that includes? Try to keep your patience until the new album comes out ;o)
Belgium still isn't exactly the hotbed for extreme metal. Only a handful of bands hold some kind of international significance. Has the Belgian underground scene bettered a lot over the last years, in your opinion?
Belgium always had good bands but never the motivation or intention to go international. The scene has become better. We all still have to work to support all bands, that's how the scene will survive!
More and more Belgian extreme metal bands are getting international attention in the last years. Somehow Prejudice has always remained out of the limelight. You guys certainly have been building a solid foundation for something that could make a considerable impact. Why is that exactly?
Simple, we keep doing our thing and yes it is also the main factor we stayed out of the limelight. We choose to keep doing our own thing and not move from our course, other bands do. We also always had bad luck with signing to a label which means we never had any distribution. We hope with Sleaszy Rider this all will end and starts a new level for Prejudice.
Originally, you were scheduled to tour Europe with Belgian old school death metal formation Suhrim. Did organisational trouble result in the trek getting scrapped?
Yeah, that's the main reason the tour was not arranged, because the organizer of the tour fucked up. Now we were out of time to book the shows, we got offered to go on tour with the Hate Eternal package in that period, so we took the offer.
All through April and May you'll be touring Europe with Hate Eternal, Belphegor and Psycroptic. I guess you're thrilled to be able to perform some new material to audiences that never heard you before.
We were always a touring band, in this way we always promoted Prejudice and it also succeeded into a label contract. People who know us, know they can expect some serious brutal shit on stage. We are for sure thrilled to go on tour again!
In the past you already toured Europe with Hate Eternal. Do keep in touch with bands you have shared the road with?
From time to time this happens, yes. If not, it's always good to see those people again.
On this tour Prejudice is once again the unfortunate opener on the package. Is it hard keeping the motivation up being the opener of a package - I mean, most average concert-goers don't care a lot about the first band on the bill.
This is the way you need to prove yourself and make it a killer show, so people do remind you. This is probably the last tour we open, because other times it was always difficult without having a label.
So how do the merchandise sales fare on a bill like that? Are you able to pick up a lot of new fans, despite the fact that Hate Eternal is headlining?
Every tour we collect new fans and old fans that return to the shows. That is a big support and motivation for us. Merchandise sales are never disappointing, but it will improve more with the official distribution.
Are there any plans to return to Poland somewhere in the near future?
We will not quit before we toured the whole world. Poland, for sure, we will drop by again soon
For some years there have been talks of Prejudice planning to invade the US market. Belgian extreme metal is obviously on the rise on that continent, Aborted and Leng Tch'e are regulars there by now. Can you give us an update on that matter, will Sleaszy Rider Records push the upcoming full length a lot there, you think?
For the US I have no idea when we will go there, but I am sure we will. On the right time and moment, we will cross the ocean to hit the States.
Thanks a lot for your time. If you have anything else to add, here's the place...
Thx to all people who have supported us in the past 10 years. Keep your eyes and ears open for the new stuff that's coming up. See you on tour, Prejudice thanks you all!!!!
Booking: www.blackboxbookings.com
Site: www.prejudice.be
