Mithridatic name has not hit the front pages of music magazines yet, but its 12 years of activity, and above all the musical fruit of it, whose taste and quality encourages a more frequent collaboration with their work it is just a matter of time. Darkness and energy dripping from their songs will satisfy many death and black metal fans, therefore right after listening to their new album "Tetanos Mystique" I couldn't stop myself from introducing this five crazy Frenchmen to all of you people. If you haven't absorbed the madness of Mithridatic sounds yet, read this interview.

Arek

Greetings! What happened in the history of Mithridatic since it's divided into two periods until 2011 and from 2013?

Guitou: Hi! In our first period we struggled a bit to make a record with a great production, but we did many shows in our city and nearby. Nonetheless our efforts never allowed us to leave the country, so we had a break due to different ways of life for some and laziness on my part… then we got in touch with Kevin, which was not easy, but he came to Lyon to rehearse few times and to Saint Etienne to be closer to our roots. We had to learn a new confidence to rebirth more powerful materials and we did ''The Hunt Is On'' that introduced the new line-up and put Mithridatic on the tracks for new brutal shit… In 2016 we unleashed "Miserable Miracle" with a lot of shows and a tour through Europe with Melechesh and Nile. We realized that Mithridatic was back stronger than ever and, with a good feeling between the members, we could achieve some goals! In September to December 2018 we re-started the writing and recording process to take our music to the next level of brutality, so one year later here is "Tetanos Mystique" available 2019 Friday September 13th, I got superstitions haha…

Which one of you is fascinated by ancient times? Did the whole activity of the Mithratic dynasty weigh in on the choice of the name or just their wars?

Guitou: Even if the Mithridatic wars are quite interesting to study, none of us are fascinated by ancient times. We're not an historical themes band. We used Mithridatic as a tool to describe the perpetual intoxication we need to struggle in this poisoned world, 'til the end… living our lives with the capacity to overcome all kind of threat or menace with our power and our resilience.

Ok, let's talk about music, Mithridatic style is described as blackened death metal. Do you, as creators, feel bothered by such pigeonholing of bands?

Kevin: Of course, to put music in a specific category is tricky and this process has inherent limitations. Is that category of music prior to the music itself? Such a statement is silly, because the music exists before we call it "something". A creation is needed before we can use a frame to talk about it. So we need this frame to understand music and talk about it, but this is nothing more than a tool. We make the music we want to make, I think it is fair to call it blackened death metal, this is not a misleading statement, but of course, it doesn't summarize everything we try to do, I hope!

"Tétanos Mystique" sounds cleaner and more death metal than your debut. How do you judge the implementation from the perspective of time, are you satisfied?

Kevin: Well I definitely agree with you. When we were making this album, we didn't choose to make it more Death Metal, with a bit less atmosphere. After "Miserable Miracle", we were happy with the result, except for one thing: some guitar solos had been missing, especially compared to our demo, which included 'Hunting Fever' and 'Broken Glass Rain'. Lot of lead guitars, but not so many guitar solos. So for "Tetanos Mystique", the only rule we gave ourselves was to include more guitar solos. Does this imply a more death metal album with less atmosphere? Maybe… Anyway it happened. It took me some time to compare "Tetanos Mystique" and "Miserable Miracle", and I guess when we were making the album, nobody was aware that is was going to be more brutal and death metal. We were even afraid that it was not going to be brutal enough! I'm glad this album is a bit different than "Miserable Miracle", both musically and production-wise. To me, it still sounds like us, but just a different version of us.

According to the note sent by Xenokorp, the title of your second album was taken from the book of French writer Roger-Gilbert-Lecomte "Tétanos Mystique", and that the album is based on the books of another writer Louis-Ferdinand Celine, as well as Charles Bukowski. Will you tell us more about them?

Guitou: That's right, I've been seduced and shocked by Roger Gilbert-Lecomte and this title "Tetanos Mystique", it sounded great, but I've never succeed to have access to the original text. Disappointed, I've read back his masterpiece "la vie, l'amour, la mort, le vide et le vent", a book of poems. I also used his "correspondences" with the brotherhood of "le grand jeu", that describes his run after drugs and boundless worlds. The fact that he wrote his first poetic work called "Le Tétanos Mystique" and that he died of a crisis of that same disease…THIS is fascinating for me.

Michel Bernanos and it's amazing "La montagne morte de la vie (eng: The other side of the mountain)" inspired me too to describe strange worlds, the feeling of being abandoned in an unknown and hostile cosmos…great author by the way!

Then in the background I focus on the pessimism and sarcasm, I already worked on "Miserable Miracle" with these authors and Louis-Ferdinand Céline and Charles Bukowski that really help me to make a kind of frame and an end-time message.

For me the title of the album resumes the feeling that the lord's rope is slowly clutching your throat and the devil's claws are tearing holes in your legs.

Why, after the release of the concert CD - Live At Le Fil St-Etienne December MMXV in 2017, only a year later you decided to release another concert album?

Kevin: Well, the first one we released was not really an album, just some songs from a show, that we decided to offer to anyone that would purchase "Miserable Miracle" on our bandcamp. We had the opportunity to record a show, last minute, and these songs are extracted from that. Things were a bit different for the complete live album. This time, we arranged, with the venue, the recording session, so everything was planned. We wanted to have something better than the first time, because we were excited by the result of the first try, even if it was not very well prepared. The goal was also to have a full video of the show. This is why this complete live show is available also on Youtube.

For a metal band with 12 years in existence you have a fairly stable lineup. How did you manage to last together such a long time?

Guitou: Everyday life difficulties and struggles unit us in a certain way, we really need to express these feelings in an extreme measure. 

Kevin: Also, we don't put too much pressure on ourselves. In some bands, line up changes all the time because they are asking each other very difficult stuff to do, and sometime, you make a lot of effort for a very small result… So at some point you are just done. We just want to play all together, and we try to deliver to an audience when we are ready. I guess we just like to play together, and together we also achieve something that is beyond what we could do by our own individualities.

It's was Kevin who replaced Simon on the drums quite early, but he's a very busy guy, do you have any problems with planning tours and shows?

Guitou: Kevin has priorities that we all accept in the way that he still has pleasure to play with us! He is really involved in Mithridatic project and gives a good dynamic work that fits with the rest of musicians. We like the job and the character.

After the debut album "Miserable Miracle" you caught the wind in your sails, was it good reviews, or was it the excess of black energy that is buzzing in your veins?

Kevin: That was a surprising debut album for us, with a good opportunity to tour with Nile and Melechesh. We really don't know what happened with that album to be honest, it created some buzz, and we were very pleased of course! 

I really like both of your albums for the hooks and loads of energy. I regret that I have not been able to see you live yet, only Kevin when he played with Benighted. Do you have any plans for tours after the release of the second album?

Kevin: We have some gigs planned for this album in december. We are in Lille (Fr) the 17th, in Geleen (NL) the 18th, next day we should be in Belgium, and then we will be in Paris the 20th, and in Lyon the 21st. As Guitou mentioned it before, I have a complex schedule, and to be honest, this is also why we don't tour so much. I would love to tour more with Mithridatic, but that is very tricky. None of us is really good at booking shows too haha! But I hope we will play nearby very soon so you can come to the show!

France has a fairly complex metal scene; do you sometimes find yourselves on the other side of the stage despite your musical involvement?

Guitou: Yes, you're right French scene is a quite complex thing… I try to assist at the maximum amount of shows I can, including festivals, but money is the war nerve… so I'm used to go to concerts in Saint-Etienne which has many punks shows that I enjoy to go for many years now. I support the local extreme scene here a lot, no bullshit we got the monsters Benighted that I've seen more than 10 times on stage, there is also the grind duet of Waefuck in the region that tours through the whole world and gives brutal as shit sets! they're such nice guys!

And touring with Mithridatic gave me the opportunity to discover a lot of bands, so I've been really impressed by Ad Patres too, by their devotion to death-metal and the really brutal atmosphere they give at their shows… Svart Crpwn has a particular intensity on stage too, and Kevin played with them for a long time… but there so many that I've not seen yet or to see a second time, bands like Disowning, Iron Flesh, Gronibard, and so many others… so many motherfuckers to be impressed by!

Thanks for the interview and hope to see you 'live' sometime.

Guitou: don't worry you will! Thanks for the support.

Polish band Chainsword is a pretty hot contender for the Bolt Thrower successor throne. Recently they released their debut album "Blightmarch" and attracted a lot of attention (the review here). I asked the guys a few questions about the history of the band, influences and also private things and Mr. Brummbär (Voc.) and Sarin Spreizer (Git.) were kind enough to answer my questions very quickly. Have fun!

Michael

Hello everybody, how are you?

Sarin Spreizer: I'm great thanks for asking.
Herr Brummbär: All good.

You are still a fairly new band; can you introduce yourselves to our readers?

Sarin Spreizer: Chainsword is an old school death metal band from Warsaw, Poland. Our brains are soaked in war stories, Warhammer 40k and buzzing guitar riffs. I'm Nerv or Sarin if called by my Chainsword name. I play the guitars and try to manage egos. Joined the band when it was quite well formed musically.

Herr Brummbär: Riff worship all the way. I'm the band's voice and main lyricist, on board nearly since the beginning.

Your debut album "Blightmarch" has impressed me quite a bit. I've read only positive feedback about it so far and also in my circle of friends the corresponding people found the album pretty cool. Did you expect such a good response?

Sarin Spreizer: We knew that the music was good enough to release it! There are so many great bands competing for everyone's attention that we just didn't know if it would cut through. We are very satisfied with the response so far and mobilized to do more. These weeks are really intense with all that positive social buzz that's happening.

Herr Brummbär: Exactly, we like the stuff, find it entertaining, but never would I even think about so much praise. It's quite overwhelming. Still, let's not hyperbolize. We're no Metallica, I know how many albums were sold, how many people stream Blightmarch, yet, the moment we realized where those people are, it just struck us: "shit, the stuff's all around the world…".

You make no secret of your influences. This is primarily Bolt Thrower. Do you want to become their legitimate successor band?

Sarin Spreizer: Forces within battle hard to form our unique style. This album is exactly what it is supposed to be. Rough, straight praise to the sounds of our mentors that inspired us to bash guitars and turn the gain to max. We want to keep it simple and pass the energy that fuels us to our listeners. Bolt Thrower made us do it.

Herr Brummbär: I have just one thing I think is mandatory for us - all has to be primitive and carry a punch. The rest is the effect of a melting pot of ideas. Some of us treat Bolt Thrower as religion, others would rather thrash it up a notch, etc. We don't really want to be heirs to any big metal band. We'd rather do our stuff and claw our way up. As for comparisons - they're inevitable.

What other influences do you have?

Sarin Spreizer: In the metal genre I love Slayer and Entombed, the polish band Abused Majesty. Besides that, Raketkanon, Rishloo and many more that caught my attention over the years. This answer for every musician could be endless talking and bringing up all the bands that made us.

Herr Brummbär: I've been feeding mostly on speed/black/thrash bands over the past couple years. Apart from that, I go with everything that currently suits the mood.

Lyrically you walk between fantasy and the topic of World War II. Why didn't you treat one continuous theme, that would have been much more conclusive?

Sarin Spreizer: That's what everyone expects! So just no. Accept things the way they were made.

Herr Brummbär: It's everything that keeps us rolling. We wanted to keep the lyrical side of the album open, with just one thing in common for all the songs - war. We'd much rather release an album that is complete music-wise, rather than waste time on a bigger concept behind the record. The latter would be, at this point, a bit forced, as we had different priorities.

Can you tell us a little bit about the lyrics and the process of creating them?

Herr Brummbär: I wrote most of them. Herr Feldgrau and Wutender Ente added their stuff as well. As for me, I listen to the new riffs till' something clicks in my head. I'm really into the history of the XX century, so there's plenty to choose from. Thanks to the guys, I also dove deep into the WH40K lore and found a ton of awesome stuff I'd like to yell about there.

Speaking of lyrics, what is 'Daemonculaba'?

Herr Brummbär: It's the most vile, disgusting and revolting thing in the WH40K universe. Too keep things short: imagine a planet turned into an industrial chaos warrior's factory. Add the fact, that they are being born from disfigured living women in great halls. Oh, and they do it on a pile. And the children are sometimes born without skin. Or with their organs outside the body. Or absolutely mutilated. And they all go to the pile. Seriously, read about that shit. It's the definition of "something metal".

You have made the recordings in two different places. What is the reason?

Sarin Spreizer: The year was messy, and our recording process was messy as a result. First we weren't fully ready to record guitars on the drum day then came the pandemic so it's kind of slowed down our progress.

Herr Brummbär: On the upside, two places meant it would be much easier to find time and space to further the works on the album. It worked for me, when I decided to stop the recording on one day, just cause the performance wasn't up to par, and was able to easily finish everything the very next day without interrupting anything, nor anyone.

How did the recording process go?

Sarin Spreizer: Like stepping on a cute little kitten with a disease that could lead to extinction of man. It had to be done.

Herr Brummbär: I gave myself two days to work on all the vocals. It actually took two and a half, like I said a minute before. We learned a lot working on this album. Most importantly, we now know how every one of us works and what needs to be done to improve their performance and speed up the work in general.

Who actually had the idea for the cover? I think the pentagram as a bra is pretty funny. What was there first? The five breasts or the bra?

Herr Brummbär: I know a guy I used to work with - Wilson Arietta. He's an old-school metal maniac from Argentina and a very talented painter and visual artist at the same time. I knew he would be perfect to prepare the artwork for us. His works are dark, violent, disturbing and, at the same time, full of detail and violently primitive. I introduced him to the band and then he and Herr Feldgrau had a brainstorm over the concept. Then Wilson came up with this quantitated monstrosity.

I know from some bands that they use the whole pandemic as an opportunity to write and record a lot of songs. What about you guys? Are you guys on it again?

Sarin Spreizer: We have many ideas stored in our phones and drives but we usually finalize the song at the rehearsal so we will gradually show up with new material. We are definitely pumped and ready to go. So, fasten up.

Herr Brummbär: We just finished working on the album, so there was not much time to fully switch our minds on a new track, but alas! We already have two new songs ready. As for now, we focus on promoting the album, try to play some pandemic gigs online etc. There's still plenty to be done with Blightmarch.

Are there any further plans, any split CDs, EPs, merchandise or tour plans when the whole thing gets back to normal (so around 2049...)?

Sarin Spreizer: We have a split forming and watching closely the situation on the touring front. But the truth to be told is that this can be another pathetic year gig wise. We will focus on bringing more of our music to light in any way possible.

Herr Brummbär: We have plenty of ideas in store, but it would be unwise to unravel it all here. We'll surprise you guys.

When you think of the death metal scene in Poland, Vader, Hate or Behemoth immediately come to mind. But there are a lot of other cool bands in your country. Which ones are you in contact with or can you recommend them?

Sarin Spreizer: Well some of us have other projects going on like Virulent Scourge, Lunacy and others. We look forward to our online stream gig with Panzerfaust. Besides that, definitely worth checking out are bands like Martyrdoom, KOIOS or Coffinwood.

Herr Brummbär: Definitely check out Azarath, Damnation, Revelation of Doom, Deep Desolation, Deception.

To come back to Bolt Thrower - what is your all-time favorite Bolt Thrower album? And which is the weakest?

Sarin Spreizer: For me "Those Once Loyal" was an instant drug and there is no sense in focusing on or picking the weakest. Someone could choose to spend that time to take heroin, drink or be just useless. Instead chose to record music. I admire that. You be the judge.

Herr Brummbär: "War Master" if a piece of beauty. I admire the sound of "Those Once Loyal".

Why did you use such strange pseudonyms that don't really make sense in German?

Sarin Spreizer: If I recall it right, the moment I joined the band, guys wanted me to pick something in pseudo-german warish theme just to dive into the zone where tanks, guns and dismembered flesh was my new reality. It worked a little but at that time I was like "I'm here to play the guitar and record music". Pick something. Do not care. Were those names made to make sense. No. So they don't.

Herr Brummbär: Check out Anima Damnata if you want to find some entertaining pseudonyms. Ours don't make much sense, don't need to.

Another topic - I know that two of your band had Corona - what do you think about all these deniers and belittlers?

Sarin Spreizer: Herr Feldgrau and I got infected. We were in masks when talking and keeping our distance, but the thing is really contagious. We had a chance to freeze the spread a year ago but that attitude everyone's an expert has led us to this day. We can only hope that the vaccines will be enough to normalize the situation. Every sick person raises the probability of creating a mutation that will be more deadly and of making the current vaccines obsolete. The media are too to blame. For so long fear was their weapon… to be continued on an endless internet rant.
Take precautions. Don't spread it. Soon enough someone you know will be sick. Let's hope he or she will not die.

Herr Brummbär: Everybody, stay safe and keep an eye on yourselves. The quicker this mess ends, the sooner the music industry will come back with full force.

Finally, do you have some words for our readers?

Sarin Spreizer: Congratulations you made it to the end. It was longer than 280 characters. Listen to Blightmarch till' the last song. You seem like just the human being for the job.

Herr Brummbär: Have you tried turning it off and on again?

Thank you very much for the interview.

If you are interested, the band will play live on the 23rd of March (7 PM CET) on the internet. Here's the link to it: https://www.songkick.com/live-stream-concerts/39781063-chainsword