Influenced by? Or having an influence on.... Let's see.

Kwiecio


You're from USA, but I hear "swedish" inspirations in your music. Is this correct and if so, could you explain why that is? Which bands from that region are the most interesting for you?

It is true. Some of the music we have written so far does have some Swedish death influence to it. I think this is mainly due to the fact that Mike Low, our original second lead guitarist, and I were very much into that style when we were writing our first demos and debut record, Our Cursed Rapture. We were really into bands like In Flames, Soilwork, and of course... At The Gates!

Your vocal is quite similar to the Cradle Of Filth singer. Is that a petty matter for you or are you proud of this comparison?

Our Cursed Rapture's vocals were performed by both myself and Justin Corser. To be honest... during the time that I was learning to write lyrics and vocal patterns, Cradle Of Filth was an absolute obsession for me. This time period was also around the time that I was writing OCR, so the end result was an album with quite a few "Cradle-isms" - at least when it comes to the vocals. I am actually pretty proud of the almost 100% replica of Dani Filth that Justin Corser and I pulled off on that album because it was pretty meticulous to record and pretty difficult overall. So all-in-all, yes, I am proud of this comparison when applied to Our Cursed Rapture, but I must stress that we are going to strive for the development of our own style on future releases.

Your music shows that you're very good, technical musicians... How long do all of you practice and play music instruments?

We usually play at least an hour a day if we are busy with work and such, but if we are free from our enslavement, we usually dedicate several hours to either writing or developing new guitar skills. We also tend to practice as a band at least once a week.

"Our Cursed Rapture" is your last album. How do you evaluate this album and how have the general reactions to the CD been so far?

It has been pretty good. It was released in 2009, but we still see people buying it online and at shows. I'm not sure about stores... but who actually buys records from stores?

You're signed to Sumerian Records. How did you end up with them?

We played a show with The Faceless in our hometown of Nashville, Tennessee in March of 2008. Mike Keene, guitarist of The Faceless, noticed our performance and approached us about signing with Sumerian. At the time, Mike was acting as somewhat of a scout for the label, and he was our connection with them [Sumerian] initially. After that, we went through the lengthy process of sending them demos, getting a contract, negotiating that contract, and finally... by the fall of that year we were signed to Sumerian Records. However, nothing started happening for us until mid-late 2009. I think we were actually announced in 2009, although we had actually been technically signed for almost a year at that point.

Do you take care of things like t-shirt designs, booking shows and that sort of things yourselves or is it something that the label handles?

We have a booking agent who books our tours, but we generally take care of our art. Sumerian has an inhouse graphic art designer who takes care of the presentation of certain pieces of art (for CD's and things like that). We also have a budget for designs for t-shirts, so we usually get artists to design shirts with a certain theme to them.


You've gone on tours with famous metal bands like The Faceless, Dying Fetus, Goatwhore, Burning The Masses... Which guys were the best comrades in touring and why?

We have had a blast with all of the bands we have had the privilege and honor to share the stage while on tour... but I must say going on tour with the legends Dying Fetus and Pestilence were the highest of all honors bestowed upon us!

What is the craziest shit you've experienced while on tour?

Hmmmmm... our van breaking down at a coke dealer's house who was also the promoter for a show we played would probably top the list. We stayed there for like three days. He continuously provided beer and food while he dealt coke to people of the higher echelons of his city (such as judges, city councilmen, etc.). We even spent Easter Day with him and his family.

Your lyrics seems to be inspired by ancient mythology. Why did you choose this topic and how strong do ancient stories inspire you? Are you studying history or is it a passion of yours?

I studied Anthropology and Archaeology during my time at unversity, so I guess you could say that this greatly influenced the lyrics found within OCR. I've always been into ancient history and mythology though. Even as a child I was into Egyptology. So... I guess you could say that I've always had a mind for these things because of curiosity.

I see that your lyrics are connected with occultism/luciferianism(?), establishing the fascination with the "dark side power". Are you into this things? How important are your lyrics for you?

My beliefs are ever evolving, so I couldn't honestly say that I believe in these things at face value. However, I believe there are many truths found within the occult if you search deep enough.

Did religion have any impact on you growing up?

I grew up in a Christian home; although I can't say I ever believed. I always questioned the message of "the gospel."

Your all time favorite death metal album?

Can I only pick one? Haha

As it is today, what would you say are some of the biggest problems with the metal scene today?

In the United States? The problem is a lack of unity. The scene is completely fractured. People only go out to the shows that their clique fits into. Trends are another thing. Your real metal fan doesn't care about this, but there are a lot of people out there who don't really care about metal but rather only what is popular. That's why metalcore got so popular in the early 00's and deathcore later in the late 00's up to the present. They are trend oriented, and therefore, they sell the most. Because they sell more, the labels give them more attention, and the vicious cycle continues on and on - all in the name of cash.

When you're not touring and playing music what do you do for a living?

We work day jobs. Our current vocalist, Adrian Perez, works as a photographer; both Jack and I work at America's organic supermarket, Whole Foods; James does construction and fabrication work; and Elijah is the Assistant Manager of local a restaurant.

What do you have planned for the band next?

We plan to be the progenators of a new subgenre of metal - that of technical black metal. We are releasing a new album that will feature close to an hour of music sometime later this year, but first we are going to go on THE SHRED TILL YOU'RE DEAD TOUR featuring ENFOLD DARKNESS, ABIOTIC, VALE OF PNATH, and AFTER THE SPIRE. Go to our Facebook for more information.

Anything you'd like to add to conclude this interview?

To get a preview of our new style, check out our new song, "Lairs of the Ascended Masters", which is streaming on the Sumerian Records YouTube Channel. If you like what you hear, please leave a comment, and share it with your friends! AVE SATANAS!

If you like speed, thrash and heavy metal, Aggressive Perfector has a horror themed bundle of all three ghouls set to emerge from the grave November 22nd, 2019 through Dying Victims Productions. 8 songs drenched in 80s horror and occult themes meet the ears of the listeners, while paying tribute to some of the era's idols, Motorhead, Slayer and Venom just to name a few. Fast and aggressive songs loaded with catchy licks and a punk metal edge, "Havoc at the Midnight Hour" is Aggressive Perfector's ringing of the underground chapel bells.

Alex

How did Aggressive Perfector come to be?

It was a meeting of minds between myself and Tim around 2013, with the addition of Mike, it became Aggressive Perfector with the mission to create a vicious hybrid of heavy metal sickness, and punk fury.

How do you see yourselves fairing in this modern heavy metal age?

I think pretty good, we just do what we do, which is to write killer heavy metal songs, and to put on a savage life show.

I get the impression as a group you had fun creating  "Havoc at the Midnight Hour" (which I'm having a blast listening to) because it shows through the music; how would you describe the experience working on the record?

It was tough, as we are maniacs with the songwriting, and we want it to be the best it can be, we actually recorded the album once, and scrapped it, and did it again.

Were there any challenges encountered during the recording sessions?

Yea, the fact we recorded the album prior in Sweden, and were not happy with our performance, I think guitars and vocal lacked, the songs not fast enough, and lyrics not quite done. We beat ourselves down from time to time [laughs], but we treated it as a learning curve, and came out vicious for the next attempt.

I love the early 80's sound you were able to capture with the new record, who handled the production and did you have specific sound that you went after or was it a product of experimentation?

It was engineered/ produced by a friend called Joe Clayton, and recorded in Cheetham Hill, Manchester right behind Stangeways prison, we had a good idea of what we wanted, but in the studio, magical moments and ideas can change the course of the sound and project, so I'd say quite a bit of experimentation went on, especially with some of the keyboards. The band was at the helm for the whole mix too; we wanted to get it right.

I hear some Thin Lizzy, Venom and Motorhead in your music, particularly in the guitar tone and a few patterns, also the obvious Slayer ('Into the Nightmare' and that opening scream on 'Vengeful One') I see their music has had a great impact on yourselves as musicians. What other bands would you cite as direct influences?

As for other bands, Paradise Lost, Black Hole - the Italian doom band who created the masterpiece "Land of Mystery". Soundgarden, Carnivore, I could go on and on. Also being huge horror and sci-fi movie fans. A lot of killer soundtracks from the 70s and 80s inspire us too, the synths and keys play a big part throughout the album.

Even punk metal can be detected on the album, I'm guessing a bit of each individual's character/influences translated to the music?

So, we are massive metal fans and you're bang on about all those bands mentioned but we are not just confined to the 80s. In fact I'm no fan of hair metal, there was a lot of garbage actually from the 80s that makes me want to vomit [laughs].

The guitar leads and solos are fantastic on "Havoc at the Midnight Hour", who wrote those licks and which parts took the most takes to record and are most challenging to play live?

Leads are split between myself and Tim our drummer, as he plays guitar too, I'd say because we'd practiced them solidly beforehand, we had it nailed in time for the studio, no messing around.

What are some of the inspirations behind the music's lyrical content and awesome artwork?

So, horror movies of the 60s, 70s and 80s, play a huge part in the lyrics from good old Hammer Horror right through to the Italian masters of violence and sleaze such as Umberto Lenzi, Dario Argento, and Mario Bava etc.

I should also mention John Carpenter too. I read a lot too and I love the words of Lovecraft and William Blake, amongst many.

But some of the lyrics are born out of the surroundings and society around me in Manchester, the grime and misery you see amongst some people, the landscapes and old buildings and mills. In a rapidly changing city becoming gentrified in parts, and becoming more desolate in others. Certain songs like 'Vengeful One', 'Turbo Evil' and the 'Devil's Bastard', portrait an outcast on the edge, non compliant and out of control.

As for the artwork, we had this idea in mind to represents the title and lyrics and be a total tribute to horrors past masters, Velio Josto exceeded our expectations. Truly pleased with it.

Last word is yours. Is there anything your fans need to know and we forgot to ask?

I think we've covered it pretty well, but I would like to add, we will becoming to the mainland of Europe a few times in 2020 so keep an eye out for the blood stained steel.