here is an interview i did with a new black/dark metal band from
israel.the bands sound is defintly in the black metal realm but as you
will read shay and the band wish to be diverse and give each song it's
own idenity. as on the split cd with natures elements. the first track
is 12 min. and the second is more old-school/straight forward in
approach. defintly a band fans of the newer generation of black metalers
will want to hear. keep watch as the band is preparing it's debut
full-length.
regards and have a great 2011 everyone!!!
patrick and winter torment web-zine
http://www.myspace.com/winter_torment
http://www.friendburst.com/wintertorment
interview with shay guitarist for undivine essence done by patrick
1.hails shay! how is 2011 starting out for you my friend? please tell the readers a little about yourself.
Shay:
Hi there Patrick, I’m doing quire good these days thanks for asking.
What can I say about myself? I’m 30 years old (!!), I’ve been into
(real) metal for about 16 years now, and playing guitar for about 15
years (no coincidence). I’m currently studying for my M.A. degree on
Sociology and Anthropology in Tel Aviv university. Spending most of my
free time with my stoner friends or just inhaling darkened arts, staring
at the carpet and creating some stuff of my own.
2.when
did you first discover metal? who were some of the first bands you
listened to? who are some of your "current" favorite bands?
Shay:
Well, I guess I can say that my journey into this world started at the
age of 15 or so, when a friend of mine gave me a tape of megadeth’s Rust
In Peace. Also some videos I saw on headbangers ball sure gave me a
direction (celtic frost and some black metal bands). If I’ll try to
describe my “metal road” it’ll be something like this: Guns n’ Roses à
Nirvana à Alice in chains à Megadeth à Slayer à Morbid Angel à Emperor à
BATHORY. And from here all barriers were broken (everything from Black
Sabbath through Ved Buens Ende up to Bestial Warlust , that is), but
still in the bottom line, I’m a black metal addict. And I really feel
comfortable with this genre as a song writer as well, since it allows me
to combine a wide range of other styles and influences, may it be death
thrash, doom or basic rock n’ roll. These days I listen a lot to The
Meads of Asphodel, Lyrinx, Orcivus, Lifelover, Terrorama, De Silence et
d’Ombre, Lost Life, Perversor, Hell Darkness and many more. I must note
that beside all this guitar driven horror mentioned above I’m actually a
very open minded person about music. My second favorite genre after all
this rock and metal is dark 80’s.. bands like Joy Division or Minimal
Compact can easily reach destructive melodies that are bound to fuck up
your day.
3.when did you guys form undivine essence
meet? what is the current line-up of the band? for the readers who have
never heard undivine essence how would you describe the music?
Shay:
The concept of Undivine Essence was born on 2008, by me and mike which I
knew a couple of years prior to that. As for today the lineup consists
of me, Shay – guitars, Mike – Vocals, Alex – drums and Ronnie on bass
guitar. The music we create is compiled of a lot of influences, but
still sticks to the basic black metal codes. I guess that you can say
that the idea is to give each song a distinct identity by infusing black
metal with death thrash, doom or whatever. So, like on the split with
NE, one song can be an 11 minute midpaced doom black epic, and the other
song is 4 minute black n’ roll thrashy piece. On the forthcoming debut
album we get even more diverse and moreover, the album features 3
different drummers, which differentiates the songs even more.. Sometime I
think about this as post black metal. Our soundman calls it “60’s black
metal”…
4.you recently sent me a copy of the undivine
essence/nature's elements split cd. how long did it take you guys to
write the two songs for the split? are you happy with how everything
turned out?
Shay: Actually, our 2 tracks that are
featured on the split are some of our oldest material. I can easily say
that I’ve worked on “crimson sky” for a couple of years, but it all
finally came together when mike came up with the lyrics. Quite similar
story with the second track- “new shape”. I must say that I’m (well,
actually all of us are) very pleased with how the split with Nature’s
Elements came out – musically and about the product itself.
5.how has response been from the press and fans?
Shay:
We had some very positive reviews from webzines and magazines round the
world. Also the fans I talk to are usually enthused about our sound and
approach to black metal. Ironically, most of the people really like the
track “crimson sky”, which was quite a surprise for me considering its
length.
6.i believe you told me a few weeks back the
band is currently working on new music for undivine essence's debut
full-length.how are things coming for the debut? how many songs do you
all plan to have on the debut release? has a release date been set? will
it be self-released or have you all searched for a label to help?
Shay:
Yeah, as for today we are 90% done with the recording. I just have to
add some more solos, and then we want to record an acoustic outro song
and that’s it. We plan to have 8 tracks on the new album. The 2 tracks
that appeared on the split, but remixed completely + 6 new songs. All
that’ll spread on 50 minutes or so. The title for the album will be
“drought upon consecrated soil”, we got the artwork in process, and I
hope it’ll all be done in the following months. We are not looking for a
label yet. We’ll finish recording the album independently, and proceed
according to the reactions to follow.
7.how would you say
the new songs are different than those on the split cd? when the band
begins work on a new song how long does it usually take to complete? do
all the members work on the music or does only 1-2 members handle
everything?
Shay: Well, as I mentioned above, the 6 new
tracks on the album will differ from the tracks on the split because on
this album we really try to give each song an individual identity and
build on that. You’ll get all the things we like in music: songs that
are at times more based on heavy metal or some thrashed black metal,
some songs feature more oldschool death metal elements (mainly vocals
and some riffs), sometimes sections can be slow or psychedelic sometimes
very fast brutal and raw, sometimes constructed and epic.. and we’ll
even do an acoustic song. But, all that done using the tools of the
black metal genre. Also, the lineup differ from song to song. On some
songs I play guitar and bass, and on some Ronnie played bass, also we
used 3 different drummers and that’s noticeable but gives an interesting
diversity.
So far I have written all the music for UE, and also
some of the lyrics. For future songs I guess that me and mike will
continue to be the main lyric contributors, although now that we are 4
people band the whole working process will have to readjust – actually
I’m looking forward to that.
8.the band comes out of
israel's black metal underground. i know a few bands from your country.
but not many so i was curious what is your opinion of israel's metal
scene?
Shay: The Israeli metal scene is actually very
much alive. It’s not a very big scene like Germany or whatever, but
still we got our fare share of various bands, local shows and shows from
abroad. We even hosted the Ozzfest a couple of months ago here. And it
seems more and more bands add us to their European regular tours.
On
a more personal note I can say that most of the metal-heads here like
modern death metal, symphonic black, or shit-core of some sorts, and for
people who enjoy the more underground metal sound there is not very
much to look for. But still some bands like Tangorodrim / Hell Darkness,
Tsorer, Infernal Nature, Animus, and Mucous Scrotum, still produce good
ol’ anti-human black metal.
9.all-time favorite israel black/dark metal bands? are their any new bands you feel the readers should watch out for?
Shay:
Hmmm.. you can’t really talk about the Israeli scene without mentioning
SALEM, a great band that is considered the originator of the Israeli
extreme scene way back in ‘86. The material up to “Kaddish” (including)
is mandatory, for every collector. After that they went more modern
sound, which is still cool, but it’s not the classics. Tangorodrim is
also a wonderful band from Israel that plays a type of black metal in
the vein of nowadays Darkthrone. Very good stuff, check ‘em out, for
some drunk and rusty black n’ roll. The follow up project Hell Darkness
also kicks ass. I know that Orphaned Land are doing pretty good these
days but It’s not my taste. The ex-Israeli band Melechesh plays that
style properly.
10. Are there many places
for black/dark metal bands to play concerts in israel or do you and the
band prefer to work in the studio only?
Shay: Yeah, in
central Israel there are a lot of clubs where you can arrange for metal
shows, it’s a matter of budget really. It wasn’t a matter of choice for
us if to become a studio project or a complete band. We were acting as a
studio project only because we had no permanent drummer and bassist.
Now that has changed and we’re getting ready to do a live show sometime
soon.
Alex: well, been denied our basic rights as
particles of sub existence. And it's all nothing but a huge mess. Cross
eyed loveable drift sightings are nothing to seek for. We pay extra to
the sound guy from the studio, coz we don't want him to tell the
authorities about our dark sounding experience, because the peripheral
people don't lie about their curses.
11.do you
or any of the other members of undivine essence play in side-bands or
projects? if yes please tell us a little about them.
Shay:
yeah, Mike and Alex are also members of the band Nature’s Elements.
Ronnie, our bassist was active in various bands in the past, and as for
me, I was always too busy forging and forming my own band so I never had
other bands.
Alex: yes we're into jam sessions and
sometimes the amphetamine dreamboat annie collides itself to oblivion
and creates a myspace.com/earthworm, and we took part in the
"naturenoise society" it means we meet in the forest down to Jerusalem
and playing among the trees with fucked up bands like a "Zeevim
Arazthanim" and “Mataim Hameshim ve 6 K". We never recorded that stuff
coz its illegal in the state of IsraHell.
12.you
play guitars for the band. at what age did you start playing guitars?
are you self-taught or have you had lessons before?
Shay:
I got my first guitar at age 16. Actually that was my dad’s old
electric guitar, an authentic piece from the 60’s (till this day I have
no idea what kind of guitar it is!).. It was so heavy my leg would hurt
for days after playing on it… Anyways, I did take some lessons but that
didn’t last much (he wanted to play Beatles, I wanted to play Slayer),
and as soon as I was skilled enough to read notes and tablatures I
quitted the lessons and went on studying the songs I love, using
tablatures I found on the net, or just figuring them out myself.
13.who are some of your influences/favorite guitarist? do you play any other instruments?
Shay:
My “guitar heroes” are, of course Quorthon, Tony Iommi, Ivar Bjorenson,
Trey Azagthoth, Sakis (of Rotting Christ), Nocturno Culto and P.K of
Abigor. About other instruments, I try to play the keys sometimes but I
still need to practice a lot.
14.well my friend thank you for taking the time to fill out this interview. do you have any final comments for the readers?
Shay:
Some people want to change their lives, some want to end them.. guess
this kind of feeling is once in a lifetime. Now it’s you who is lost,
towards the inside.. dwell.
to contact undivine essence check out bands "official" myspace here.
http://www.myspace.com/undivineessence
