Fifth circle Registered the : 2014-01-04
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Death Metal. Bestiality Business. Interview 2022
• • All questions are answered by Andrey - backing vocalist, guitarist.
Greetings, Andrey, how are you doing, how is your mood in mid-February?
Hello. I‘m fine, as is the famous good spirits. Both in mid-February or early March - always cool.
I can't help but start with this topic. How satisfied is the band with the new Alien Revenge album, did everything manage to be done as planned?
The album fully met the expectations our fans and ours. The people were looking forward to it for 5 years and cut off all our phones at the end of the 2021 - when, they say, will it be released. After listening to the final mix, we ourselves shed bloody tears from the realization of justified hopes.
And this is the first question. How did you start the band, was it hard to do in 2011? Who played in the first line-up? Were they experienced people or beginners?
By the time, Bestiality Business was created to realize the music that can be heard on the debut album, I had been playing in various thrash and punk bands for ten years in a provincial town in the Chelyabinsk region. So creating a group was not difficult. Besides, BB (Bestiality Business) was the second attempt to launch a project in Ufa. I don't remember the name of the first group, for the life of me. It was more difficult to find people who are truly dedicated to the cause of heavy metal. In the first line-up of the band, Seryoga, my best friend, played drums. We've been playing together for 6 years before. I don't remember the rest members. Maybe they didn’t exist, and we composed the first material together with Seryoga.
The album Rise of the Beast 2016. How does it seem to you after so many years, was it difficult to record it or, on the contrary, easy, who wrote the lyrics, and who ruled the music? And more importantly, who played on the album?
The line-up is simple, so I'll start with it. My friend Seryoga (now the drummer of Ossuary Anex) was responsible for the drums, the cool bassist Sergey (he is a veteran of the Ufa metal scene and did some unreal things on bass-guitar) recorded the bass. The vocals were from Rinat (also had a dozen death and grind projects behind a tattooed back). I was on the rhythm, and Arthur Soltik cut up the solo parts. I must add that Rinat and Soltik remained in the line-up, and on Alien Revenge their contribution to the spirit of the album can hardly be overestimated.
I wrote the lyrics and the entire music, all the solo and the second guitar part were on Soltik, the nuances of the drums were on Seryoga, the bassist himself wrote the bass part completely. Democracy, no tyranny. In terms of recording and alignment, of course, it was more difficult than with the second release. The first recording of a full-length album, however, and we worked through the material themselves for the first time. The album seems generally interesting musically. He has not lost his freshness of ideas over the years. Turn it on at any moment and it’s cool. As for arrangements and mixing, of course, it would be possible to indulge in leisure. But it will definitely not come to leisure in the near future.
What studio was the CD created in? I see you managed to interest Soundage Productions to release a CD, by the way – SAPCD 333 is CD number. How did the contact take place? All over the internet? Are you satisfied with the result of working with this label? Who drew the cover for you, it's cool, by the way...
All guitars, solos and bass were recorded at home. I thought to buy the recording equipment beforehand (thanks to Varvar from Neron Kaisar). The drums was recorded somewhere in an underground rock studio, and the vocals were recorded in the studio by Sasha Sosnovsky. I leveled everything myself on willpower, and then they gave it to Sergey Lazar from Arkona for mixing and mastering. When the meat was cooked, I contacted SoundAge by the Internet and considered their proposal for a release. In general, there was no point in expecting something supernatural (as well as natural) from Russian labels, and we released on SoundAge for fifty CD-copies. Cover was drawn by Tarsus for currency. We threw the sketch on him ourselves, and the final work is really cool. For its time.
Five years between albums is a long time, but I think it's necessary for the team to look around, tour, write new material, but I think that's how it really was? Tell me, please, what happened in your group during this time? Did you tour a lot?
Around this time, we had a tour of the Russian Federation and several trips to a couple of cities. This is not counting point trips back and forth within a radius of up to 1000 kilometers. All this time we were creating new material. The oldest song from the second release is five years old. Which one, I won't say.) During this time, bass guitarist Rakoth firmly established himself in the group and the drummer Blasthate (currently a member of Neron Kaisar) joined in. We drank a little, we ate a lot of shish kebab, we rehearsed and recorded a new material. It's been five long years...
Well, now about Alien Revenge. How long has it actually been writing material for this album? Who participated in its creation? Who wrote the lyrics, who wrote the music? What studio did you write in?
The material of the second album in the final recording began to appear 2 years before the release to one degree or another. Rinat and I created the lyrics, Soltik and I wrote the guitar parts, and Artem Blasthate did all the drum arrangements. Then, guitars and bass were recorded, as usual, in the warmth of the house, drums and vocals at the Blasthate studio. Artem and me aligned everithig. These time things got more fun. Our experience in recording and Artem's skill in equalizing the parties increased. We literally listened to the almost finished result during the recording process, and made the best decisions for arranging compositions on live rehearsals. When everything was ready, it was sent to Saturos Studio for mixing/mastering. Egor, of course, did a great job. You hear the result. We plan to work with him again.
How did you come up with this cover image? How long did they argue? I know there is such a topic among the death/grind musicians. And you still kept within the bounds of decency, by the way). And your cover looks good among others, it attracts attention). That's good too. Who is the author of the drawing?
The idea of ??the cover belongs to the collective mind of Bestiality Business. As such, there were no argues in the process of drawing the initial sketch. Strictly all threw new and new fun details. Seven artists flatly refused to paint the cover for any money. As a result, Artem Blasthate, our drummer, remembered that he graduated as an artist and undertook to make a cover. In the end, it turned out perfectly and in full accordance with the needs of the group. There was no need to break the boundaries of decency, since it was not part of the plans to pretend to draw a shock content. Of course, the moment of attracting attention was taken into account and predicted in advance. Thanks to Artem and his versatile talent.
In general, do you plan to release Alien Revenge on physical media?
Printing discs is not a tricky thing. The question is - why? We have been published on digital distro and received 150 distribution sites all over the planet Earth in streaming services and online stores. Discs are nowadays nothing more than souvenirs, which are collected by a minority of potential listeners. Yeah, it's cool to have a CD (probably). Perhaps in the future we will print discs. But now it is digital distribution with copyright preservation that is interesting.
By the way, some of your musicians play in other bands, doesn't that prevent them from playing in your band?
Almost everyone has already played enough in other bands and, when invited to BB, made an unambiguous choice in the direction of this gang. Except Artem. He is also a member of the black metal legion Neron Kaisar. But there is also a cool profile and we are only glad that the drummer plays in two diverse and professional directions. Yes, it happens when both gangs are at the same fest, he has to bust his back twice as much on rehearsals. But the result is excellent regardless of the load.
At what level was your touring activity in the 20th, 21st year? Have you managed to play already in 2022? Did the people go crazy a lot? And yet, do you allow yourself to drink a little alcohol before the performance or what? Or not at all?
There were no concerts during this period. We did not go anywhere and did not play in our city. Completely closed on the recording and design of the second album. Perhaps it's for the best, finished sooner. Before a fest, we don't drink at all. We strive to give jazz from the stage to the hall on pure adrenaline, and then booze and have fun like a beast.
Now Ufa. Are there many metalheads in the city, where do they gather? Is there a place to play concerts? How often do other bands come to you, at what concert were you the last one besides your own?
In Ufa, the same trend as in Mother Russia in the whole - you won’t meet a living person in a leather jacket or merch on the street. Apparently, they stick out on YouTube and other streamings from home. On the fests people stuffed well. Especially if gangs come from other cities or countries. On such days, the brightest, beloved by everyone, take place, as in the good old days.
What guitar do you play now, how do you like it in concerts and on recordings? What are your future plans with the instrument?
I have a Jackson SLSMG Soloist. I write and play on it, there are no complaints. I upgraded it with a radio system and I don’t know grief. I use the x3 Live processor to record raw guitar parts and demos. I also play it live. In reserve there is SansAmp gt2. My favorite strings are S.I.T, sometimes I take GSH. Other brands I don't like or haven't used it yet.
What musicians have influenced you? Your idols, so to speak, in metal are -
The first album was influenced by Deicide, Death, Fleshcrawl and in general Children of Bodom. The word "idol" is not in my vocabulary at all. Idols are still people, but as people, I, unfortunately, do not know the guys. Yes, if it had happened like that, then it wouldn’t have come to worship, I am not such a person. To learn something useful and after the concert to have a mug of alcohol - just give it.
Are you a concert or studio person? Where are you most comfortable?
And there, and there is a passion. Bestiality Business music is fascinating both in the studio, and at rehearsals, and at a concert. By all means we strive to keep this intensity at the proper level, otherwise why would anyone need it at all. Moreover, we encourage democracy in arrangements quite strongly and on Alien Revenge I write all five musicians as the authors of all compositions. And there was no thought of pulling the blanket over to my side, even in those cases where most of the source material was written by me. No problem, people do so much from themselves that they put some of their rotten souls into each track.
How often do you listen to non-metal music? What do you like from music besides metal? Can a metal musician NOT listen to non-metal music? Maybe should listen to the old and new metal bands and that's enough?
Except for rock, rap and other alternative metal in its purest form, it takes ten percent of the mass of music content passed through my organism. The word “love” is also unlikely to fit here, but guys like Downset, the first and second albums, punks like Rancid and Booze & Glory, Sector Gaza sometimes, non-Russian gangsta rap rare, and Nagano - the album where the song is about the army, it is some kind of punk in essence. About not listening to metal as a metal musician. I had one such friend. He was called - Miachik, loved to play thrash metal in the late 90s. I haven't heard from him in twenty-five years since then. Just do not listen to metal and compose at the same time - the question is rather a matter of principle. And the shock will be even stronger when such a person finds out that, according to the theory of probability, one-on-one grabbed someone else's riff for his "unique, new" composition, ha-ha. Snatch popular riffs consciously, and people will reach out to you! I'm kidding.
Now I'm asking the musicians. Could you go 24 hours without music? What would you like to do during the day?
I can easily live without music for 24 hours. It's like with a hookah or with a gangbang – you missed a day and it seems tastier. And what would I do – it's quite the opposite here. Just a total job or other nonsense that brings money, when there is no car under the ass or home sound. Sometimes it forces you not to listen to anything for a long time. I don’t have headphones on the street, I couldn't find the sound for myself and gave up on them in the end.
Well, thanks for the answers and for your time. What advice would you give to new Russian teams? You are already veterans, I can say...
You need to define clearly for yourself the concept and goal towards which you are going to move. The most important thing in this case is to DO, and not just suck on an abstract oblong object and cherish a dream in an inflamed brain in the company of the same dreamers. It is also important to rally into one powerful intellectual and professional fist only true adherents of your image of the band and music. It may take several years, but what is a decade in one successful project?
