MetalDays fest - July 24, 2015

Interviewer: Bimit Verma Published: July 28, 2015 Interviewed:  Sahil "Demon Stealer " Makhija of Demonic Resurrection on July 19th, 2015 Members:  Demonstealer - Vocals/Guitars Mephisto - Keyboards Nishith Hedge - Lead Guitars Ashwin Shriyan - Bass Viru - Drums Location: Mumbai, India Label Candlelight Records

Demonic Stealer: Thank you for the kind words but I haven’t led anything to be very honest, I just did what I had to do to be able to play the music I love. When it comes to recognition I feel too many metal heads care about what everyone else thinks of metal when frankly to me that just is so not what metal is about. So me personally I don’t care if it’s ‘recognized’ because I’m not even sure what it means? You know does it mean that iTunes recognizes it and has a ‘metal’ category? Does it mean that mainstream musicians approve this genre? So in that respect I have nothing to really say. I will say that everyone who is involved in Indie music or non Bollywood knows that India has a thriving metal scene and a lot of popular musicians from Bollywood like Vishal Dadlani, Raghu Dixit etc all give the scene a thumbs up. Are they going to jump in and start playing metal? Fuck no :P  

DS: The question should be, where did we not face a problem? We did everything ourselves right from making our music to record it to releasing it. We organized our own shows we did our own PR and we managed ourselves. We had problems with band members coming and going, we had issues with band members who parents didn’t want us to play, we had problems with neighbors for being too loud. It’s all part and parcel of being in a band and today we’ve come up stronger than ever from these experiences.

DS: I call us Demonic Metal because it means we have no boundaries that define us and we can play whatever we want without being ‘labeled’ or ‘boxed’. However to make it easier for people to understand I call us Symphonic Death Metal. 

DS: To one day have a proper touring network and enough fans who support the music and buy it. 

DS: Our three releases ‘A Darkness Descends’, ‘Beyond The Darkness’ and ‘The Return To Darkness’ are a trilogy where the story continues from one release to the next. The latest album was a story as well. If you read the lyrics and listen from the first track to the last, you’ll be able to follow the stories. 

DS: My friends and family have always supported what I do, it may not be music they enjoy personally but they support it. When someone says ‘Metal sucks’ I generally don’t give a shit :P There are enough metal heads dissing other forms of music so this is probably just all part of the big circle. I prefer to just do my own thing and focus on what is important. 

DS: The worst show would have probably been our 2nd gig where we played as a 3 piece band with 2 guitarists, no bass and a drummer and I sang all out of tune and I hit all the wrong patches on my processor and hit all the wrong notes in the solos. There are too many good shows honestly to say one was the best, some of the most memorable were ‘Great Indian Rock Festival’ in 2005 and Inferno Metal Festival in Norway in 2010. 

DS: I grew up listening to music from the 60s and 70s and a lot of pop music from the 80s and 90s as well so all that sure has inspired and influenced me in some way. There is no particular band or singer that inspired me but all that music is the non-metal stuff I would enjoy listening to. Everything from Bon Jovi to Duran Duran to Depeche Mode and 90s techno! 

DS: Maybe check out Strapping Young Lad – City (the album), Old Man’s Child – The Pagan Prosperity (the album) and from newer bands check out the latest from George Kollias, Amogh Symphony, Albatross, Skyharbor , Bhayanak Maut, Zygnema and Arcturus. 

MMK: Anything else you'd like to add? DS: Thanks for supporting us! Cheers & Stay Demonic!  Website Facebook Reverbnation Merchandise

Interviewer: Ingrid Newton Interviewee: Matt McGachy Band members:  Flo Mounier: Drums/Vocals Chris Donaldson: Guitar Matt McGachy: Lead Vocals Olivier Pinard: Bass Guitar Links to Cryptopsy: Official Bandcamp You.Tube channel Indiegogo campaign Facebook

I believe that we are in a time where everybody is in a band! In Montreal there are so many bands which are touring the world right now it is simply amazing, to name a few we have Beyond Creation, Erimha, Blackguard, The Agonist, Obey the Brave, Kataklysm, Beneath the Massacre, Voivod, Gorguts, Despised Icon, Ion Dissonance and so many more.
We are lucky with the Internet that people from the states and the rest of the world have an easier time getting their hands on some Canadian content.

This summer we will be in Europe and we have the chance to play Gothoom Fest, Wacken, Brutal Assault and Iperfest. We are really excited to be back in Europe with some new material!

Cryptopsy will never repeat TUK, we will stick to our roots and keep innovating ourselves within that context.
That being said we all have projects outside the band. Flo is in a bunch of different types of bands such as a rap metal band called Digital Doomsday and a melodic band called Temple of Thieves. I have a rock band called The Era Of and I am currently working on a new melodic project with my friend Konrad Rossa (ex-Decapitated).
Oli has a really interesting new project that he will be releasing soon.

MMK – Thanks for answering our questions. What message to you have for the fans? Anything you want to add? Support The Book of Suffering!