Hails and Greetings! What’s the latest from the Decapitated camp?
Hi! We did a Europe tour with 3 polish bands – Dies Irae, Crionics and Hate, and now we are going to do the new songs and record them in July or next month.

Could you give us some info about how you guys started off?
We always attended the same music school. There I met, Liten who had the same passion for heavy music and we did our first rehearsal then. My brother Vogg used to play the guitar, me the drums and Sauron decided to be a vocalist. After couple of months Martin joined and we are still playing!!

Having heard all your albums, I find that you guys have incorporated various elements of Death metal in your music, something that makes you sound quite unique. Do you pay a lot of attention to the technical aspects of death metal? How would you classify your music in your own words??
My brother and me were always listening the same music; especially US thrash metal bands and death metal. Those are our roots. This is the base of what we play now days, and hence people relate to it accordingly.

Hailing from Poland, that has produced greats like Vader etc, did you idolize any if these bands when you started?
Vader has always been the big inspiration for all of us. We have learnt lot from them on tours that we did together in Europe and Poland. This band showed us the inner facts of Death Metal.

From the time you guys started out in 1996, how has the journey been? Have you guys got appreciation for your music, and are there any “long term” goals that the band wants to achieve?
When we started play in’96 none of us knew what would happen in the future. Appreciation? Well, it was good sometimes but after some tours it was bad at school!! Hehe!!!. Some teachers thought that we are stars and don’t want to study! Some people were cool like our friends who always supported us in bad situations. As of now, we are enjoying what we are doing!.

You guys got signed by a big label (Earache). How did that affect the band in terms of making your music accessible to more people without compromising on brutality?
Earache did the good work for us in UK, US. We could play in a couple of European tours, and we also played in the US. People know about us so that helped us a lot. It’s a good feeling when you are in label that has supported many of the good old death metal bends such as Morbid Angel. Deicide etc

You guys started off very young, especially considering the genre of music that you play. Were you guys always into extreme music right from the start?
No, I started with Queen, Guns’ and Roses, and after that Metallica. Then we started listening to Death metal. My cousin was a big metal head so I borrowed a lot of good tapes from him. That was my and my brother’s education as far as metal is concerned!! Hehe!!

What are your favorite bands, both contemporary and old that have strongly influenced you?
Metallica, Morbid Angel, Death, Vader. Kat (polish old band), Acid Drinkers, Kreator, Testament, Sacred Reich, Over Kill, Morgoth, Unleashed and many many more.

Are any of the band members engaged in side projects? If so, what kind of stuff do they play?
Vogg and Martin used to play earlier in a band called Lux Occulta. It was a mix of Black/ Doom melodic occult metal but now they don’t. Sauron sings in Anal Stench (Grind Core). I was playing in a few bands as a session drummer, it was only a rock band Hahah!.It was funny.

Are you full time musicians or do you have your own professional commitments? Is it hard to make money out of playing extreme music?
I cut bread in the factory, the rest of the guys are still studying, but we practice whenever we have free time. Not together but single. I’m fucking finished off. Works at night. After that- drumming that’s all. I’ll tell you what’s up after a year ok?

As far as your lyrics go, who does all the writing? Where do you draw inspiration for the same?
Sauron does all the lyrics. You have to ask him about that. It’s about life and about his feelings connected with life. It’s his point of view. He’s negating all sick situations and relations between people.

Apart from playing death metal, what other genres do you keep track of? Do you guys follow black metal with any sort of interest?
I listen to some classical music, like Beethoven, Chopin, and of course radio hit’s!! and also Lauryn Hill

Has Decapitated toured outside Europe? If not, do you plan to do that in the future?
We did US tour with Incantation and will play there again with Vader in November. After that South America, Canada, Japan invited us but we had to cancel those, Australia the same. Hope to play in India soon.

Are you working on your next album? When we can expect your next release?
Yes, we are in doing some new riffs. New album will be recorded in Hertz Studio (the same place that was on 2 last albums) in August.

Have you heard any bands from India, and do you have any idea about the small underground scene that we have here?
Sorry I haven heard any Indian bands but we are really interested to play there and make good contact with the crowd. I know that some day it will happen. A lot of people write to us and say: “You are the best metal band, come to India one day”

Thanks a lot for taking time out for this interview guys!! Any words for all the extreme metallers, especially in India?
As I said, we will meet you soon. Will play for you in 3 years, maybe sooner. Keep metal alive. Cheers!!!

Official Homepage : www.decapitated.net

Interview By : Saion Chatterjee (saionc@gmail.com)