PM: Congratulations, I really enjoyed the MCD, how did the band get together?

Rober: Thanks mate. OK, let’s start with the usual boring question... I’ll try to sum it up as much as possible: the band got started back around 2002 as a simple side project band formed at first by me and Phlegeton only. On those very first days under the name of Berenice Bleeding our sound was more into a grim and raw black/death metal style. We never recorded the songs for our first promo at the end, mainly due to our duties with our respective bands, Machetazo and Wormed, so finally the band was buried and putted on hold indefinitely. Some years later, after some booze and pot, we talked about the band and decided to unbury Berenice and reform, but in a more putrid crust death metal way. I talked to long time friend Rogga for the vocal duties and he said “Fuck Yeah!!”. We changed the band’s name to Banished From Inferno, got a deal with Ibex Moon Records, released a MCD and that’s all for the time being.

PM: What made you decide on the musical style laid down?

R: Nothing special. We just wanted to play some old school, crust blackened death metal crap; some catchy & hellish stuff for banging heads and drinking. We all come from classic metal and extreme music, so forming a Britpop style band definitely would not be a good idea, ha! Anyway, it’s pretty obvious that we are not inventors of anything new, and who cares?? We don’t.

PM: Were the tracks all written previously, or were they developed during the recording?

R: All the tracks were de-composed some time before entering the studio, as usual. The track ‘Stench of Evil thru the mist’ is by far the oldest one featured on this debut MCD. It was written some years ago, and it’s possibly my favourite one of the MCD. Also, the band’s name was taken from the lyrics of this song.

PM: The liner notes state “recorded sometime, somewhere.” Can you be more specific?

R: Hard to explain… it was due to the huge distances and occupations with our other bands that the MCD was done in many different recording sessions and locations, so the whole process took very long. Drums were recorded at Mantis Studio in Madrid, then I did guitars and bass later at Treboada Studio in A Coruña, located at the northwest coast of Spain, and finally vocals were done in Sweden. After that, all the arrangements and mixing was done at Treboada Studio back again, and then Rogga sent the stuff to Dan Swanö to be mastered at Unisound. So it was much easier for us simply write down something like “somewhere and sometime” on the liner notes than all this crazy boring shit…

PM: Did you record as a band in the studio or separate?

R: As mentioned before, we did it all separately. We were unable to get together for the recording sessions of the MCD. Maybe next time…

PM: Did you have input into Dan Swano’s mastering?

R: Dan did an awesome job on the mastering. This is raw and crusty death metal, you know, so in fact we didn’t need a superb mastering work, but Dan brought the whole mix to the highest level, and the result was a thick and hellish sound; raw and grim but also clear. Rogga and Dan were friends for a long time, they used to play together in some studio band like Demiurg, Ribspreader and in Edge of Sanity’s ‘Crimson II’ album.

PM: Some aspects of the music involve strong influences, have the originators heard your MCD yet – particularly the guys from ‘Celtic Frost’?

R: No idea; I don’t give a shit about this. Yeah, you can be sure Celtic Frost and Hellhammer are among the strongest influences in the Banished From Inferno sound, I think it’s quite obvious in some passages on the MCD as well as the ‘Into the Crypts of Rays’ cover version featured. But I don’t know what Tom G. Warrior would think about us... who the fuck knows, and who fucking cares? Maybe he’d love BFI to death, maybe he would detest us ‘til puke, maybe he’s a nerd or maybe he’s coolest guy in the metal world, I don’t know and I don’t mind a fuck, believe me.

PM: Your MCD was released on Ibex Moon Records, how did the deal come about with that label and John?

R: I’ve known John and Jill for years. I’ve always been a huge fan of Funerus and Incantation, and from the beginning, Ibex Moon Records was a must for all of us, so we sent them our promo. Being totally honest, we received a good bunch of offers, some of them really cool, but finally John came to us with an offer than we simply could not reject, so we went ahead with Ibex Moon, and we are proud of it!

PM: Is there a greater musical vision to come from ‘Banished From Inferno’?

R: Absolutely YES. In fact, we are working right now on the tracks and lyrics for our full-length album, to be released again through Ibex Moon Records. About our timeline, we expect to enter studio by the end of summer, we want to get all the stuff recorded and ready to be sent to Dan Swanö in autumn. This time Swanö will do the whole mixing and mastering. As I mentioned already, the whole process of making an album is very slow for us. That’s the real handicap of playing in a band that works “in the distance”, you know... so we have to be really patient on this, but it is not a huge problem for us.

PM: Will there be any form of touring in support of the MCD?

R: I’m afraid not. It’s quite impossible to get on the road for now with only 23 minutes long MCD released. We haven’t enough stuff for a gig at this moment, not even for playing as opening band. So we have to wait until the full album is out at least. I’m pretty sure this will happen next year to support our forthcoming full length. Can’t wait to get on the road!

PM: If touring was an option, which would be your ideal band(s) to tour with, whether they are active or split up?

R: Bananarama, Spandau Ballet, any emo-metalcore band... nah, I don’t know. Of course touring with Incantation, Funerus, Fatalist, Rape Pillage & Burn or any other label mates would be really awesome for Banished From Inferno. We’ll see what happens next year... Apart from the Ibex Moon roster which is a priority for us, I would love to get on tour with bands like Dead Congregation, Funebrarum, Kaamos, Nunslaughter, Eroded, Teitanblood, Coffins, Interment, Gravehill, Demonical... and many, many more.

PM: Do you intend to continue with your other bands/projects as well as ‘Banished from Inferno’? There appears to be a constant stream of material released by your other bands. R: We all are sporadically occupied with our own bands and studio projects. Rogga is often busy with Paganizer, Ribspreader, 11th Hour, Demiurg, Those Who Bring the Torture, Revolting, Bone Gnawer, Sinner’s Burn... and possibly one thousand bands and studio projects. Even I’ve never listened many of them yet, no doubt he’s crazy as fuck...

Phlegeton plays drums in the raw black metal band Godüs and the grindcore act Unsane Crisis, and he’s also the vocalist in Human Mincer and his long time band Wormed. About me, besides Banished From Inferno I only play in my full time band Machetazo. I never liked being involved in a lot of bands or side-projects. That’s not for me, but to each his own. I’m always busy enough with Machetazo; touring, recording, going to rehearse, drinking, making shit... I’ll be touring Europe with them in June: Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, Austria, Czech Republic and more... apart from some European fests in Poland, Germany, Portugal... and the Obscene Extreme Fest in July. Also, we’ve got some new recording planned for the end of present year, it will be a mini album with a bunch of cover songs, all them featuring old time friends of the band on the vocal duties.

PM: For perspective fans, could you describe ‘Banished From Inferno’ in one sentence?

R: We are the nauseous dregs from hell… and we fuckin’ like it!

Thank you for your time. Congratulations once again on a superb release.

R: Thanks a lot Paul for this nice interview, take it easy. Cheers, grime & fire!

For more on the band check out http://www.banishedfrominferno.com
http://www.myspace.com/banishedfrominferno
http://www.ibexmoonrecords.com
http://www.myspace.com/ibexmoonrecords

Interviewed by Paul Maddison

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