Infernal zine was a Finnish fanzine written in Finnish, but here’s a translated interview for you.
WHERE DID YOU GET THE IDEA TO PLAY DEATH METAL? WHAT'S GOING ON WITH IT? WHY, FOR EXAMPLE, NOT PLAY MELODIOUS PUNK OR OTHER FUN? AND ISN'T HC A HARD WORD?
- Jarno A. and I have been listening to that dm music for years, so we decided to start trying ourselves in the spring and winter of XXV A.S., but due to the lack of members, when Reina and Jukka were looking for a group at the same time, we went and played with them in May of XXVI A.S. And what's fascinating about it is the speed and aggressiveness. But it doesn't really hit the spot anymore. Melodic punk and hc aren't played because it's total wimpy shit from Jesus' anal.
THE FIRST DEMO MUSIC IS AGGRESSIVE. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF IT? HAVE YOU GOT ANY GOOD FEEDBACK?
- Well, for me it doesn't give me anything anymore when it's not dark enough and it lacks an intro and stuff like that. The feedback has been good, but of course not everyone likes it.
HAVE RECORD COMPANIES TAKE NOTE OF YOUR PRODUCT?
- Yes, some better and some worse. And that's not all.
I THINK THE COVERS OF THE DEMO COULD BE CLEARER. WHO DID THE COVERS?
Yeah, the covers of the demo are pretty crap (no offense Tane), but isn't the content the most important thing? The covers were drawn by that SENTENCED in bassist Taneli Jarva.
BLACK METAL INTERESTS YOU A LOT, AFTER THE DAY OF DARKNESS GIVEAWAY THERE WERE THREE BLACK METAL BANDS. BOTH OF YOUR NAMES ARE BELIAL AND YOUR LYRICS TALK ABOUT WITCHES AND BLACK FAIRS. WHY DO YOU CALL YOURSELF A DEATH METAL BAND, WOULDN'T BLACK METAL BE BETTER.
- Well, first of all, the lyrics don't talk about fucking witches, because "Ritual" lyrics were never used and will never be used. But the lyrics do talk about living on the left-hand path. On the other hand, we could use black metal as a style, but let's just settle for satanic death metal. Black metal is more interesting today than before and there's not much else to listen to these days.
TALKING ABOUT DAY OF DARKNESS, WHEN IS THE NEXT ONE? YOU SAID IN SYPHILIKS THAT DAY OF DARKNESS WILL RETURN.
- The next Day of darkness will probably be at the end of September and probably with the following bands: ROTTIN CHRIST (Greece), BEHERIT, DEMIGOD, IMPALED NAZARENE and BELIAL. But nothing is certain yet. Time shall tell.
YOU'RE A TAPETRADER, DO YOU OWN A LOT OF DEMOS OR MUSIC IN GENERAL?
- After all, there have been a lot of demos accumulated over the years. There are about 1300 + LPs of demos, remixes, live and EP tapes. But nowadays, when that's no longer interesting, those tapes don't accumulate as quickly, but they accumulate anyway.
NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT THE DOMESTIC SCENE. YOU CAN FIND MANY GOOD BANDS AND MAGAZINES HERE, ACCORDING TO EVERYONE. THE FIRST TWO I THINK ARE XYSMA AND ISTEN. WHO ARE THE RISING STARS?
- If you ask me that, maybe they are IMPALED NAZARENE, BEHERIT (Hardly rising now. Ed.), BLACK CRUCIFIXION and DEMIGOD. Those other bands don't really excite me, at least from what I've heard.
YOUR GOAL HAS BEEN AN LP. IS THAT GOAL STILL VALID, BUT HAVE THE GOALS GONE UP?
- Don't exaggerate, the goal is still to get an LP out someday.
YOU CAN ADVERTISE ALL BELIAL PRODUCTS IN THE END. USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO YOUR ADVANTAGE.
- People, order the demo while there's still some left. There's nothing else to sell.
BELIAL
c/o Jarno Anttila
Salotie 10
90630 Oulu
The picture is probably old, because according to the latest sources they've also started wearing masks. I wonder if this could be called a Black metal band at this point.
Pictured:
Jani/Basso
Jarno A/guitar
Reina/runnut
Jukka/guitar
Jarno K/vocals