INTERVIEW WITH GERHALT FROM MERIDIAN 9 MAGAZINE (USA)

First of all, could you share with us why you formed a Metal band and how the process went for you? Was it particularly difficult for you to recruit members or were people lining up for a spot in your band?

When I formed VEDONIST along with my brother, Schröder, we were still teenagers who wanted to taste the rock’n’roll rebel, get drunk on tours and meet loads of new friends. I remember that we actually couldn’t even play back then, but the passion and faith in metal music was all we needed. The beginnings weren’t easy, but after a year we recorded our first demo and that’s how our history starts. When it comes to other members of VEDONIST we had always some problems with the line-up and nothing changed here – I would be really surprised if we manage to record two materials in a raw with the same musicians. There are always people who want to play with us, but actually we are pretty demanding and if you can’t give us 100% of your potential and commitment then VEDONIST is not a band for you.

Being based out of Poland, one of Europe’s more religiously conservative countries as I understand it, have you ever run into problems with the Christian community? Have you experienced any prejudice because of the type of music you play?

Well, if you’re living in a country where over 90% of the population are declared Catholics and you play metal then sooner or later you’ll have some problems. I remember our tour with HATE when one of our concerts was banned by the major as he didn’t want the hordes of satanic bastards in his city. Or our tour with ARATHYR when we had to sign contracts before a gig that we won’t jump out with any of the ‘praise the Satan’ manifests. The funniest thing is that we have never had anything in common with the satanic movement among Polish bands, but just were in a wrong place in a wrong time. Shit happens, but generally we can’t complain – they don’t burn metalheads for heresy here (ha ha).

How about your local Metal scene; is it a reasonably healthy one? Are regular gigs easy to come by or is it more of a challenge to set up a concert?

Poland isn’t a big country, but we have a strong death metal scene here and loads of bands and musicians know each other. If you need some names of valuable bands then VADER, BEHEMOTH, unforgettable DECAPITATED or HATE are just the top of an iceberg. It’s also not the Belarus where preparing a gig which won’t be canceled is already an achievement – we have a lot of big and underground concerts here and with VEDONIST we managed to play six tours in a relatively short period of time.

Now, your first album took 4 months and 200+ hours in the studio to complete! Was the recording process on “The World of Reversed Decalogue” a smoother one or did you still have some hurdles to clear?

There was a great difference between those two sessions as this time we had a comfort of recording in Sophiria Studio which belongs to my brother, Schröder. No time pressure, no technical and interpersonal problems, no dependence on someone else were just some of the advantages. We knew exactly what we want to achieve and we took time to do this. There were no obstacles like with recording “Awaking To Immortality”, but anyway it took us half a year to make us fully satisfied with the recording process. It wasn’t easy, but definitely worth it.

Has Sophiria Studio been a lucrative endeavor for Schröder? I..e. does the studio produce enough money that he can make a living off of it, or must he still works independent jobs as well?

Schröder is the only member of VEDONIST who makes a living off of music. Sophiria Studio produces pretty good money, but he also got a booking agency called Sophiria Management and he goes on tours with HATE as their sound engineer. He is just a very talented young guy whose skills and connections are invaluable for our band.

How is it working so closely with your brother? Does sibling revelry ever enter into the song writing process? How about fist fights during rehearsals or while recording; any more of those (ha ha)?

In general, we’re trying to be a good team as VEDONIST depends on our cooperation. There’s basically no rivalry as we split our functions wisely and we don’t stand on each other’s way – I’m responsible for composing, writing lyrics and promotion while he prepares concerts and produces our albums. I’d lie if I said that everything is perfect, we still quarrel sometimes badly, but times when we were fist fighting are gone. Well, almost gone – I’ve just recall one evening after whole-day-recording when we had such a misunderstanding that two guys from our band couldn’t separate us. There was blood, black eye and a lot of fun again (ha ha).

So many Death Metal bands give little thought to image, preferring to pose for band photos in just their street cloths. I notice from your various photo sessions that you have donned military looking uniforms and chose to pose in the ruins of an old factory or some such. How important is it for your band to portray an image along with your music? Do you think image, in general, is necessary to successfully spread ones music?

Poland is a conservative country not only when it comes to religion, but also music. There are a lot of people who hear you the way they see you and for whom band’s image is extremely important. We concentrate mostly on our music, but when one of the underground clothes companies proposed to prepare stage uniforms for us we went for it. I’m glad we did and we’re already thinking of new clothes for the next album’s photo session. But is it really necessary? I don’t think so – music always goes first for me.

I have read that not only do the band members enjoy a variety of different musical styles, but you also have incorporated some of these into your works as well. Have you received any criticism or complements for incorporating acoustic moments and the like into a Technical Death Metal sound? (Personally, I applaud you for doing so.)

It’s true that we listen to different styles from acoustic, jazz, rock to extreme metal and that definitely has an influence on our tunes. For our debut album we composed an acoustic song and received a lot of positive opinions about that idea – I’m sure that those who listen to technical metal are open to different musical experiments and from our point of view it’s a pleasure to play for such people.

Why did you choose to sign with an American label for this latest release and do you still have a contract with your former label Trinity Rex Hong Kong? Will the CDs produced here in the USA be the only pressing of “The World of Reversed Decalogue” or do you have contracts with other label(s) as well?

We had a few contract proposals from all over the world, but decided to sign only with Rob and his METALBOLIC RECORDS as he seems to truly believe in metal and VEDONIST. Besides that we think that the American market is the one we fit in and there are a lot of people who like the kind of music we play. When it comes to TRHK it is unfortunately close to going bankrupt so we made a decision to get out of that ‘sinking ship’ and look for the new label. It was a good move for us and we’re very happy to work with MR now – we hope it’s gonna be a successful cooperation for the both sides.

Did you work with Piwkowski (The man who mastered your last album as well as Polish Trash legends Vader) on this, your latest work? What was the post production experience like and is the final cut close what you had intended? In other words, are you satisfied?

This time we decided to work with Szymon Czech from Studio X. He is a talented guy who really feels metal music and I have to say that the final effect of the post production is exactly what we’ve expected.

You have said that you prefer to write lyrics about moral, religious and social problems as opposed to Satan, murder and rape like so many other Death Metal outfits. What possessed you to create a concept album about the Nazi run death camps in Poland?

The immediate inspiration for me to write lyrics about life and death in German concentration camps in Poland was the figure of my grandfather, Tadeusz Swiatkowski, who was imprisoned in three of them and was able to survive. (Hails to your Grandfather. This is one of the most amazing things I have ever heard. – ed) I dedicated this album to him and to all those who experienced the hell of concentration camps. I really think that we all should remember the Holocaust and I wanted to express it with my lyrics – it was one of the greatest tragedies in human race history and we have to make sure it will never happen again. To prepare myself for writing this concept album for 1,5 year I was reading only literature connected with camps, watching documentary movies and hundreds of depressing photos. I had to focus fully on this difficult subject, it was tough to go through it and make it happen – I just hope my lyrics will bring a moment of reflection to all of those who’ll reach for our new album.

I’ve read that you spend some of your summers here in the USA and was just curios as to where in the US you have been and what your impressions of our country were? (Be BRUTAL!) What do you spend your time doing here in the USA and does your brother ever come along?

Maybe I’ll surprise you, but I really liked the times in your country and actually don’t have to be brutal. As every country USA and its society got advantages and disadvantages, but wherever I go I try to find and remember only innovative solutions, valuable structures, positive behaviors, attitudes or technical and intellectual achievements and learn how to improve things back in Poland. I didn’t travel much there as I was only in New York, Vermont, New Jersey and Pennsylvania where I worked at the camp for rich, spoiled kids and where I was in charge of the foreign staff, but it was kind of experience for me. Unfortunately, I’ve just got my master’s degree in banking and finance which means that it’s high time to focus on my job, family, all that ‘adult stuff’ and that I won’t be able to spend summertimes in your country anymore. I’ll definitely try to come back to US one day and finally travel a lot to have a full view, but we’ll see what my life brings. Maybe touring there with VEDONIST? I wouldn’t mind (haha).

Thank you very much for taking the time to go over these paltry little questions! Any final words or hails?

Thx a lot for this interview, Owen, and keep in touch! To all those of Meridian 9 readers who are open-minded and like intelligent metal: just get “The World Of Reversed Decalogue” and enjoy the Polish way of technical death! Cheers!