1. Hello! How are things going in Russia these days? Please introduce yourself to the readers.
Roman: Hey there, Roman here. It’s nice to have a chance to be interviewed regarding our new upcoming album.
Such a weird start of the year, isn’t it? Despite the fact that there are not so many victims and people got sick in Russia yet compared to some European countries, the situation is getting worse and quarantine mode is getting stronger day by day. A lot of people are closed-down without any income or financial help. Who knows how long it is going to last. We are very lucky to get finished with the album recording and preparing all the stuff in time right before all this shit began.
2. When did you first discover death metal music and who were the first bands you listened to? Who are the current bands that have caught your attention?
Dym: It was some mid 90-s when me and Roman lived in one room like all twins in childhood. That time we were head over heels in metal music. We started playing in our first band and over time began searching for more and more extreme bands. Then we quickly plunged into the genre and got a lot of death metal records from different parts of the world. Trust me, in Russian provinces it was not easy to do that no-internet times. Basically, the Florida scene got the most recognition and involvement. I think those names don't need to be introduced. There were also the Dutch, English and Swedish bands of course. So that was the main inspection and school. Then we kinda got out from death metal for about more than ten years and went more into black metal before getting back again and creating Pyre. I think the impetus for this was the arrival of the Swedish dinosaurs dismember in St Pete with the album 'The god that never was in 2006 I guess, then their 2008 album, and then the revival of the genre also by some swedish "new wave of old school dm" bands such as Tormented, Bombs of Hades, Death Breath, Bastard Priest and so on. BTW as for Florida I personally see no more any new really good bands.
3. Pyre was started in 2011. When did you first get the idea to start this band? What is the current line up of the band?
Roman:
The idea to start a new band first came to me somewhen in 2010 I think. By that time our old BM band Drama had split-up and another band Ulvdalir where we’d been involved in and recorded some EPs and a full-length album were about to break due to some personal things in the line-up. So it was just about time to create something new. At first I offered Fred who was a live-guitarist in Ulvdalir to join the new band. Then I offered Dym to try his hand at another role other than drums - his main instrument, and he took an ambitious decision to handle vocals and bass for the first time, so both have joined the band. After a few months we found a drummer Kannib and started preparing the first songs.
The current line-up is pretty much the same but without Kannib Maledik and more multifunctional. So it is:
Dym Nox - vocals, bass, drums
Roman Rotten - guitars, bass, backing vocals
Fred Obsinner - guitars, backing vocals
4. Who would you say are Pyre's biggest influences? Have they remained the same over the years? For the readers who have never heard the band, how would you best describe the band’s musical style?
Dym: As for influence I think I've written about it before. And they really still are. Before we started creating the first riffs we knew how we should sound. We choose a Swedish-like buzzsaw raw guitar sound which wasn’t used by any band in Russia before. In the whole conception there also was mixing it with the sound and style of some dirty Florida's bands like Autopsy. Sometimes we are
compared to classic swe-death metal bands because of the sound, but that is not
exactly true. We get an inspiration from a lot of different bands and even genres all
over the world’s scene. But we still wish to remain sounding raw, alive and underground. No fucking triggers and plastics. So the true independent creativity is what you get from Pyre.
5. Chained To Ossuaries is the band's second full-length being released through Memento Mori when did you and the band first come in contact with this great label?
Roman: The first time Memento Mori’s chief Raul emailed us back in 2014 regarding releasing Human Hecatomb on CD. Last year (in May I believe) he contacted us and offered a deal for releasing our next full-length. Then we were on some hold and, involving in side projects and having incomplete line-up, we were not in a hurry to make a decision. But Raul was resolute and gave an impression of a man full of enthusiasm and having an interest in us. It’s pushed us forward to make a deal with Memento Mori and start working hard on new songs.
6. How long did it take the band to write the music on the new release? Does the whole band take part in the writing process, or does one member usually write everything?
Roman: Since we had a volatile line-up regarding drummer for a few years, all the time we had to return for the rehearsing from one live set to another in a random interval, so we couldn't sink fully into the composing process. A lot of stuff has been accumulated in raw form over two or even three years, so only past fall by staying as three-piece we managed to concentrate entirely on the arranging of the new songs and mostly and thankfully it happened because of the push by Raùl and Memento Mori. All that our lazy butts were needed was a deadline, haha.
How does this usually work - I compose and record the most part of riffs, bundles, melodies on my iPhone and then as we gather together we all work on co-composing and arranging until the stuff becomes a ready song, that’s it.
7. Who usually handles writing the lyrics for the music, and what are some topics written about on the newest release?
Roman: Lyrics usually were written by me or partly with our friend in death metal Paul Vakhlakov (Chamber of Torture, Infiltration) depending on the release. The new album lyrics are shared between me, Paul again and Artemi Nemerowski (Teitanfyre). The topics are the same old ones: death, bones, the afterlife, the religious shit a bit, a plague literally and figuratively, which turned actual and real nowadays, and other dark, unknown and disgusting aspects surrounding us.
8. Are the bands past releases still available for the readers to purchase or are they sold out? Besides physical releases, does the band have any other merchandise currently available? If yes, what is available and where can the readers purchase it?
Roman: Some releases are still available, some sold out. One can check it using the internet. Anyways we occasionally try to re-release old records in different formats to keep them available so follow us and stay tuned.
9. What have been some of Pyre's most memorable shows over the years? Who are some bands you have had the opportunity to share the stage with?
Roman: We toured Europe not so much, but we always remember Romanian Old Grave festival, Dutch Graveland festival, always having fun playing in Finland and Helsinki Death Fest among them! So there were a number of great bands we had a pleasure to gig with: Angelcorpse, Dead Congregation, Pentacle, Terrorizer, Belphegor, Interment, Krypts, Obliteration, Turbocharged, and many others. Had a lot of fun playing with Nominon and a great shows with such a big names as Nile, Watain, Entombed AD here in St. Petersburg and many others again.
10. What does Underground Metal mean to you and how do you feel the Underground Metal scene has changed over the years?
Roman: Underground means loyalty to me. Loyalty to the metal scene and desire to support it. The devil inside you. The desire to make art even for free. If it brings you money, that's perfect but money should be only a secondary thing in art. Honestly, it feels like a younger generation is getting more and more out of the Metal underground year after year. Here in Russia, fewer people want to play metal, real metal. It seems everyone wants only music for money even without proper playing skills. And it's sad.
11. Pyre comes out of Russia's death metal scene. What is your opinion of the scene in Russia over the years?
Dym: Well, you know, Russia's death metal and the whole metal scene can be separated by three periods. Soviet/early post-soviet period is late 80-s and first half of 90-s, the strongest old school time with titans like Aria, Master, Korrozia Metalla, Kruiz, Div, Aspid, Graveside, Shah, Hellraiser and many more. The second period is the weakest time for extreme metal in Russia, like revival, after the collapse of the USSR, everything was in decline. And the 3-d one is coming from 2005-2010, the scene is growing up, gets stronger, more and more good bands appear. And now we can see a lot of great world-class bands on the scene.
12. Who are your all-time favorite bands coming out of Russia, and are there any new bands you could recommend to the readers?
Dym: All-time bands, I think I named them before. But you can always find many more others if you will. As for new names you can check Grond, Wombripper, Cist, Ulvdalir, Grave Disgrace, Drama, Blazing Rust, Iskra, Todestriebe, Sandarmoh, Teitanfyre, Mental Slavery, Tanator, Internal Damage, Pseudogod and many more.
13. Besides working in Pyre, do you or any of the members currently work with any other bands or solo projects? If yes, please tell the readers a little about them.
Roman: Me and Dym have a second full-time band Blazing Rust - it is a comeback of traditional heavy metal. The sophomore full-length will kick some asses later this year, all is ready and to be released by German’s Pure Steel Records. Also Dym has just recorded drums for Iskra first EP - new black metal band from St. Petersburg.
Dym: That's for the current ones, but a lot of bands and projects are left in the past.
14. When you need to take a break from working on new music or band business, what do you like to do in your free time?
Roman: No fucking breaks! But when they come, it is quality time with families, friends, the gym possibly, some traveling is always great. We all love nature, so in the warm season, we often go outside of the city and spend time in the woods with BBQ and stuff like that.
Dym: BBQ and some pyres in the forest, oh yeah!
15. Thank you for taking the time to fill this interview out. Do you have any final comments for the readers?
Dym: For all the maniacs all over the globe, be safe in these crazy times, support bands and labels to keep the scene alive 'till death do us part! Check out our new album and huge thanks to all of you who support us, buying our records both through labels and on our official bandcamp page, you rule! And thank you guys for the interview! See ya in the pit!
Band Contacts
https://pyredeathmetal.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pyredeathmetal/
Label Contacts
http://www.memento-mori.es/
https://www.facebook.com/memento.mori.label/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChHTHjKUxwoMu9UqrABF7WA
