Psygnosis is a relatively new and not very well known band and that's a shame 'cause those French youngsters have already a lot to offer. I'm not going to repeat myself cause you can read my review of their latest album "Human Be[ing]" here but if you're open-minded and willing to discover a band that joggles different genres, mixes in electronics, samples or even creates music around movie scenes and does it extremely well - do yourself a favor and go through their catalog. I can promise, you won't be disappointed. Rémi - main songwriter sheds some light on what makes this band tick.

Chris

What happened after Sublimation that Human Be[ing] turned out way more aggressive than last EP?

What Happened? Live performance happened! Well not really, I think we can take "Anti-Sublime" as reference. "Sublimation" didn't really add more but one true new song, The Judgement, which is the most violent song that we have ever written. You say more aggressive? I don't totally think so. We've always had violent parts throughout our songs. At least I don't feel more pissed off than two years ago.

Is Euphorya still alive or all ideas are now go to Psygnosis and that's why new album is more aggressive?

Euphorya is dead. That's for sure, but I don't think of Psygnosis as sequel of Euphorya. I started another project called Absolu and it can be considered as the little brother of Euphorya.  Psygnosis and Euphorya have never been addressed the same way. Euphorya is way darker. It was more attracted to the darkness, on the other hand Psygnosis is more attracted to the light!

Are you guys involved with other projects and if so, is Psygnosis your priority?

Yohan sings and plays guitar in other deathcore band called Behind The Curse, and Anthony similarly plays in other band of punk/rock (weak & fat USA), with friends from Fire Wizzard and Nightmare. On my side - I have many small solo projects that I do for fun, if you're curious to hear that, here is the link: http://mkekchoz.bandcamp.com. But Psygnosis is main priority to all of us, this project is way more important to us than our own professional careers.

As I mentioned your records are quite different from each other, when you write do you have a concept of the whole album?

Yes and no. We don't ask ourselves how it should be done? We start composing 3 or 4 song and then we start to ask questions. What is missing here to make from this recording an album that I really want to listen to? From there we start to find a way to guide the next songs into to their structure and ambience. We also try to find the order for the final playlist. There is no concept, but there is a will of making an album that is coherent and accessible.

You use lots of spoken passages, is cinematography one of your inspirations? Do you write songs around those scenes or is it the other way around?

For "Anti-Sublime" it's true, the samples had a strong influence over the composition. For example, in Phrase 2.11, everything is articulated around the sample from Pulp Fiction. Today it is way less than it was before. Even though when you add a sample to a song it strongly influences the rest of it.  The cinema is an influence without being one. I watch a lot of films. That necessarily has to have consequences over what I do, but it is not tough or on purpose. If the cinema influences the music of Psygnosis beyond the samples, than that comes from unconsciousness.

Was everything on "Human Be[ing]" composed by you or now other members have a part in the process?

I composed the majority of the album, but we've made many arrangements together. Jérémy writes his bass parts. Yohan writes the singed parts and Anthony brings his touch to the guitars. I always create a main idea of the song, but the advice from other members also has an impact on the song. And Raphaël Verguin composes his cello parts in which he intervenes.

How important is lyrical side of Psygnosis? Some of them seem to be very personal…

Yohan speaks of things that can touch us all. The lyrics of "Human Be[ing]" are all articulated around the concept of exceeding yourself, to improve, to become a better human being, to become someone. Those are the personal themes that speak to each one of us. We think like that every day. For ourselves and for Psygnosis, we want to improve without rest and become better persons.  

It looks like Psygnosis use music styles without any barriers, but is there anything that you wouldn't try with this band?

Well, there are certain things that we don't want to do. To write music without barriers doesn't mean to try everything just for the performance of it. We want, before anything, to make music that we like regardless the style or genre.  And it's especially about that, the goal is not to do the most atypical or more experimental music. I definitely don't want to do that. I just want to make a music that I would love to listen to, and I listen to a lot of different things. If I had to make the music that I want to make while staying within the alignments of each genre, I would take part in 15 different groups. I'd rather have one single group where I can play everything that I want, without having to tell me: "No, that won't stick", or "it's not supposed to be like that".

Composing 10 minutes songs is not an easy task, how do you go about the composing process? Some of them go through many emotions so I can't imagine writing them in one sitting.

It's very weird. But something it's very difficult for me to make short songs.  I very often have a feeling of underachievement when I finish at 4 or 5 minutes. It's like if I couldn't take the song farther away. That it could be better crafted and richer. So sometimes I can finish a song in a single journey. Other times the composition spreads trough many years. Like "Lost in Oblivion" which suffered many changes. There is no formula for me.

With such overflow of music ideas, your inspirations must come from multiple sources and definitely not all metal related. Can you share some of your biggest influences?

Very difficult to hide it, I'm a big fan of bands like Hypn5e, Gojira, Deftones and Meshuggah, as well of artists like Aphex Twin or Autechre for the electronic fringe.  Right now I'm diving into the music of Hecq and Access to Arasaka, and it will definitely have an impact on what I'm working on right now. The ambient parts are very influenced by the trance from the 98's to 2002's. Like the sort of things that would come out from Bonzai Records, for example. The melodies of Push and Body-Shock continue to have a lot of impact over those that I developed. My desire of creating loops comes equally from this whole scene (like in FIIIX 2.0 or the end of Resurrection).

If you could do a perfect live show, what visuals would you use to complement your music?

We have a lot of ideas for developing our visual aspect on stage. I'd rather keep the surprise for the future, but we are not inspired at all from what is being done in the metal scene. We are rather drawn by the electronic scene, where they really don't have any limits at the visual level and lighting. Very innovative things. Do not expect something traditional.

Why is it that your material is only distributed digitally? I'm sure many fans would like to have a hard copy?

That's not true. Our album "Anti-Sublime" and "Human Be[ing]" are both available in CD digipack version! "Sublimation" has been edited to USB Key format, limited to 100 copies. We have just a few left. The only exception was our first EP "Phrases", but we don't think it's necessary to print it. We prefer to look forward rather than getting out old stuff, maybe in the future if there is a demand and we can afford it, but it's definitely out of the question right now. Don't count on that at the moment.

You also produce, record and self-release your music. Is this your choice or you haven't found a record label that will meet your demands?

We have been very selective in our search for a record label. We've tried more than ten times and any attempt or exchange was successful. It is not that bad after all. We have a total freedom towards our way of making music and sharing it. We were just blocked with the promotion, because we were unable to do it ourselves since we all have lives that are very tuck. That's why we collaborate with Dooweet Promotions, who are doing an excellent job for us! But nothing is permanent and we don't know of what tomorrow is made of.

Neter comes from Spain and they bring some high quality, traditionally brutal and (at moments) technical death metal with them. With three albums under their belts and newest being only months old, there were questions needing answers. Andrés Rosales (bass) was nice enough to answer all of them so sit comfortably, click on the 'play' button and get to reading.

Tomek

Spain was always a place where I wanted to visit and explore. Tell me about the area you live in. What kind of places would you recommend to visit?

We live in the south of Spain, in a city called Seville. It is the fourth most populated city in Spain, and one of the most visited by tourists. Fortunately, we live in a very beautiful city with famous places like La Giralda, El Real Alcázar and Plaza de España. Walking through the streets of El barrio de Santa Cruz or on the banks of the Guadalquivir River and tasting our varied and rich gastronomy is delightful. There are plenty of things to do here, but we also recommend a trip to Granada to visit La Alhambra. You will love this city. We strongly recommend visiting Seville because you would really enjoy your time here, but I have to suggest avoiding coming in summer. Spring is an ideal time to visit the city, but in summer the temperatures are extremely high, and it is unbearable to go outside.

What kind of scene do you have over there, is there a lot happening?

Some years ago we had a good scene, but nowadays we sadly have to say that the scene is getting smaller and smaller. Young people don't seem to be interested in metal music, and the attendance to concerts is decreasing. We do not know if this is something that is happening throughout the country, but in this situation we have been forced to seek our audience outside of Spain, and we have found great support in countries like The United States, where fans continue to support the bands buying music in digital format.

Let's talk about your newest album, was it a blast working on it, how was the whole process?

We enjoyed the process but it was very tough too. We forced ourselves to complete the whole process in less than two years, because we wanted to take advantage of the success of Idols, and we needed to work very hard to achieve it. We don't make a living with our music and we have jobs, so the time we can dedicate to Neter is limited. But despite the difficulties, we got the right the songs on time, and we are very happy with the result.

Did you find yourselves employing anything from the first and second record onto the new one?

We don't usually recycle anything from previous albums. When we started to write Inferus, we didn't have anything written yet, so we started from scratch. We see an album as an independent ensemble with its own entity, and recovering old discarded songs can affect negatively the result.

Was there anything that influenced you differently while composing; were there any non metal influences that surprised even yourself?

We listen to a lot of music of many different styles, but our main influences come from extreme metal groups. We are not afraid of including new aspects in our music, and we like to try new formulas, but Inferus is more like an evolution from Idols. We wanted to add some groove and more variety but keeping the same essence. We had a very clear concept in our minds, and we wanted to add more personality to the new songs, but we have avoided big changes in our style.

Which song gave you the most trouble and why?

Without a doubt, the song that has given us more headaches has been 'Atlantis of the Sands'. We didn't finish writing this song until day before entering the studio, and even after finishing the recording, we considered removing it from the set list. Finally, we didn't eliminate it, but we decided to cut a part of the song, and paradoxically at the end it was one of our favorites - as it is for many fans.

Which one was a breeze to finish and record, why do you think that was?

Unfortunately, no song has been easy to write or record. Technically, some have been more difficult than others, but all of them have at least one detail that has been a challenge for us. 'Blazing Fallout' is a slower song, and it has probably been the easiest one to record, but it also has a quick passage with difficult wrist movements. Whether in a technical or a compositional level, in every song we always try to step out of our comfort zone because it is the best way to evolve as musicians.

What do you consider the most important element in creating your music, is everything buttoned up when you go in the studio or there is still room for a little improvisation?

We have sometimes made little changes during the recording of an album, but we prefer to prepare everything as much as possible. Before entering the studio, we always record a homemade demo of the entire album because it allows us to make a good review of each song. Spending time in a studio is very expensive, and there time to record is very limited, so we must be as prepared as we can. Anyway, even if we had limitless access to the studio, it would make no sense for us to improvise. The way we write music is not compatible with that. We like to write concept albums and giving every song a meaning and it is not possible to do so improvising in the studio.

How did you make your decision when choosing album cover, tell us about the process?

We worked with many concepts throughout the album, and we considered different options, but finally we wanted something related to the temple of Göbekli Tepe. We knew the theme we wanted for the cover, but it wasn't an idea that we had developed too much, so we left that job to the designer. We called the same artist who made the cover of Idols, and he sent us different sketches using a very similar style of drawing and colors to Idols. It made sense for us because we wanted to reflect the relation of Inferus with the last album, so we decided to work with him again.

Whose work do we see on the album cover, how does it correspond to the lyrics and music?

All the artwork from Inferus has been made by Daví Orellana. Daví has worked with us many times in the past, and we are very close to him. We love to work with him because of the quality of his work, and because he usually adds a meaning to every detail of his drawings. Everything on the cover is there for a reason, and that reason is something related to the lyrics, and that’s why we are so happy with the result. We talk about different civilizations in the lyrics, but the temple of Göbekli Tepe is the most representative symbol, so that had to be the chosen one for the cover.

I don't own the album so can you tell me about the words a bit, what are they about, what topics or themes can we expect to find on Inferus?

Inferus is like a journey through history in which we talk about how different cultures have faced their own disappearance and, in other words, their own death. Many primitive religions worshiped death like a god, and we have referred to death the same way in our lyrics. So, it would be as if that deification of death was behind the end of civilizations, and mankind venerates it because they fear it. We prefer not to express these ideas explicitly, so that’s why we use metaphors and symbolism to tell these stories.

In your opinion, which song from the new album is the best representation of it?

We had a long debate to choose the song that best represents the album, and we didn't know which one to send for the promotion. 'Primordial Entity' is a very powerful song and it has a very recognizable guitar riff, but it is too different from the rest of the album. 'The Pillars of Heracles' and 'Rebirth Of The Overthrown' are killer songs, and we could choose any of them as the single of Inferus, but finally we decided that 'Faceless' is the most representative because of the lyrics and the potency it transmits.

Which one seems to work out best in the 'live' setting?

In the shows we are playing the album almost completely, and they are all working quite well. 'Triumphant March' is still the most claimed by the people, but songs like 'Faceless' or 'The Pillars of Heracles' are standing out above the rest.

New album has been out for few months now. Response has been good from what I see. How does it feel to know you did well, what is the best thing and the funniest you've heard about the album so far?

We are very happy with the feedback we are receiving from the fans and the media. Sales are going better than expected, and we are reaching a lot of people thanks to the good promotion of our labels. It is comforting to see that we are doing things well, and that we are on the right track. We still have a lot to learn and improve, and we have great aspirations, but we are enjoying the process which in the end is what matters most. It's very easy to choose the best and the funniest thing we have heard about Inferus. We have read in some reviews of the album that we are probably the best Spanish metal band, and although it is a very daring consideration, it is one of the best compliments we could receive right now. And the funniest things we have read are the references to the phallic form of the pillars of the cover. It seems that many people have a slightly perverse mind, and can’t avoid making the comparison.

Thank you for finding time to this interview, good luck with everything. Last words belong to you.

Thank you very much for your support, and thanks for making us this interview. We also want to thank our fans for the support we are receiving, and we can't wait to see you at the shows.