Interview with Wim guitarist of Grim Fate done by Patrick
1.Hello Wim how are things going in The Netherlands this week? Could you please introduce yourself to the readers?
Hi, we are Grim Fate from the Netherlands and we enjoy ourselves with creating death metal with a doomy edge to it. We had some new items this week. First we heard that after some delays our mcd finally seems to be ready to be released by Chaos Records. And we just finished the recordings of a new track last night. We’re planning to have it released on a split 7”, but no futher news on that yet. Hopefully we can give more information about that later this year.
2.When did you first start listening to metal music and who were some of the first bands you listened to?
I started listening to metal somewhere in the late eighties I guess. The first bands I got to learn were Iron Maiden and Metallica and right after that Slayer, Death and Obituary. From that moment on I was totally into death metal and which is relevant today.
3.Wim you handle the guitars for the band. When did you become interested in playing guitar? Are you self taught or did you take lessons when first starting out?
From the first moment I was aware of music, I was alway intrigued by the guitarist of the band. To me music was always more about guitars than vocals. I never had any lessons, just trying out to get some nasty tones out of the guitar that made any sense. I am lightyears away from the talent some of my early guitar heroes have, but hey I’m enjoying myself and the nasty tones seem to appeal to some people at least.
4.Grim Fate was formed in 2017. What gave you all the idea to start this band? Who would you say are Grim Fate's biggest influences?
Grim Fate was started when my other band Burial Remains had some delays with recording. I always wanted to do some slower doomy death metal and I knew Pier is also in that kind of stuff and asked him if he wanted to the vocals. He never was in a band before, but wanted to give it a go and took care of the bass as well. His vocal performance is one of the best in this style of music, so we are really happy with that. I can't deny we are influenced by bands like Incantation, old Amorphis, Demigod and the likes, but it’s not that we want to copy that sound. We just play death metal and slow it down a bit.
5.What is the current line up of Grim Fate?
It’s still Pier and me, but we added Philippus - who helped us out on the mcd- as a permanent member. And I think that is how we want to keep it for now. We get along great and make some crushing death metal.
6.Emerging From The Crypt is the bands debut EP which will be released through Chaos Rec. When did you first come in contact with the label?
After we recorded Emerging From The Crypt we reached out to some labels. A bunch of them were interested and Chaos was totally into it and we went with them.
7.How long did it take to write the music for the debut EP?
Well this is the funny part. After Pier and I decided to do this we shared some ideas, but no real songs were written. Until the moment we got together and really started writing songs and in a matter of 6 weeks we had not just written 4 songs, but also recorded them. It was a really spontaneous way of working that I’ve never done before, but it worked out really well.
8.Who usually takes care of writing the lyrics for the band and what are some subjects you all wrote about on Emerging From The Crypt?
Pier does most of the lyrics and it's pretty much about the dark side of live. It death and decay all the way for us. The songs usually arise from some nasty riffs created by me. Together with Philippus we take an open approach and let the atmosphere of the song breath. The rest of the riffs will follow, and together with Pier we check if the balance is in order.
9.Besides the debut EP does the band have any other merchandise currently available for the readers to buy? If so, what is available and where can the readers buy it?
Currently the EP is on tape and this month it will be available on CD. Shirts are coming also, more information about will be released in June. Keep an eye on our facebook for news on that.
10.What does underground metal mean to you?
Me and Pier are following the underground scene for so many years now. It has been a been an interesting journey and still is. Every week I l'm suprised that I find new releases or even old releases that I haven't heard from earlier. The only way to keep this scene together is if we support each other.
11.Grim Fate origin is The Netherlands death metal scene. What is your opinion of the metal scene in The Netherlands?
It’s really funny that The Netherlands is such a small country and has som many great bands like Pestilence, Asphyx, Sinister, Polluted Inheritance, Sempiternal Deathreign and so on. And it’s cool to see most of these bands are still active.
12.Who are your all-time favorite bands coming from The Netherlands and are their any new bands you feel the readers should check out soon?
Pestilence, Asphyx, Deadhead, Creepmime and Poluted Inheritance are among my favourite bands from the Netherlands. When it comes to new bands people should definately check out Graceless, Incinerator and Rotten Casket.
13.Have you all started working on new music for the next EP or would you like to record a full length?
As I said earlier, a split we be part of our discography and we're pretty certain that a full length will be the next step. We keep busy writing new stuff all the time, so we hope to have a new releases done soon.
14.Besides Grim Fate do you or any of the members currently work in any other bands or projects?If yes please tell the readers a little about them?
We keep on writing with Grim Fate although we have to give other bands like Burial Remains and Boal the attention they deserve. Burial Remains is more old school Death metal and Boal takes a broader approach with more dark, brutal and atmosphere elements. Philippus also has Dimaeon as an other active band. That's more in the progmetal corner, they are also releasing a full length at the end of this year. And he is doing 7ft Beyond Belief, which is more in the vein of bands like Rotten Sound. I might end up doing some vocals on that release also.
15.When you need to take a break from writing music or band business what do you like to do in your free time?
Drink beer and worship Satan.
16.Thank you Wim for taking the time to fill this interview out do you have any final words for the readers?
Support the scene anyway you can! If you like dark doomy Death metal maybe you can give Grim Fate a try. Thanks for reading anyway.
Band Contacts
https://www.facebook.com/grimfatedeathmetal/
https://grimfate.bandcamp.com/
Label Contacts
https://www.chaos-records.com/
https://www.facebook.com/chaosrecords
https://chaos-records.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/ChaosRecs
