CHESTCRUSH is a solo project from Scotland playing a dark and nasty fusion of Black, Death and Grindcore. The band had just recently released their debut album called "Vdelygmia" (read review here) and are ready to take the underground by storm. I got in touch with its creator and mastermind, Evangelos, to gather some info regarding its vile creation.
Hails.
How's everything going in Edinburgh? For those unfamiliar with
Chestcrush, can you please give us an introduction and tell us what
the band is all about? Also some info about the line-up would be
helpful.
Evangelos: Hello. First of all, thank you for the awesome review on the album and for this in-depth interview. Edinburgh is beautiful as always but a little warmer than usual at this time of the year, but we had a fair amount of cold and snow this winter so I shouldn’t complain.
Chestcrush is my extreme metal solo project. It combines my musical creativity and my need to get some things off my chest. It’s not exactly a one-man band but I write all the music and lyrics and I track the guitars and bass as well. Thomas Blanc (vocals), Krzysztof Klingbein (drums) and Ben Jones (mixing and mastering) helped me to bring this beast to life.
Can you give us some details about the recording and writing process of the new album "Vdelygmia"? Were there any obstacles that you had to confront in regards to the creation of your new opus? Are you satisfied with the outcome?
Evangelos: This album took much longer than I expected and one of the reasons for this is that I didn’t have the time to sit down and track the guitars and bass. At some point I got infected with Covid-19 and I was isolated for 2 weeks, so I took the opportunity to record everything, and I tried to finish as soon as possible just in case I die. I didn’t (die). The other reason is that I wanted to mix it myself like I did for the Demo, but it was very challenging for me to mix real drums opposed to the drum sampler that I used for the Demo, so after weeks of mixing I got burned out and I decided to work with a pro. It took me some time but I found the right guy (Ben Jones). It took me a while to find the right drummer as well, I tried to work with 3 other drummers before Krzysztof, but it didn’t work for different reasons for each drummer. Thankfully with Krzysztof everything went perfect.
The writing process is a combination of improvisation, experimenting and editing until it sounds right. The songs usually are double the length of what they end up being. I just want them to be straight to the point and not repetitive. There is so much stuff I left out that I think I could make another album just with the leftovers of this one.
The
outcome is good enough but it’s not 100% what I wanted it to be,
there are always some minor things that I want to change that
possibly no-one else would notice other than me.
Musically, what’s some of your biggest influences and do you think that it’s noticeable in your sound? What kind of atmosphere are you going for?
Evangelos: I don’t know man, I like so many different things, and influences are kind of subconscious, it doesn’t have to be my favourite band, it may be a random song that I listened to the other day that I didn’t even like. Also, if a riff I wrote sounds very familiar I just don’t use it, or I change it until it becomes something else. I really like it though when people compare Chestcrush with bands that I don’t even know or with genres that I might not be so familiar with. But if I have to name some bands that I think have influenced me I would say Slayer, Morbid Angel, and early Black Metal in general. Not very original on that.
As far as the music writing is concerned I wasn’t going for a certain atmosphere. I just keep the riffs I like the most and turn them into songs, but it seems there is a consistent atmosphere in all of the songs/releases. I was surprised to see some of the first reviews talking about a “horror atmosphere” or even “horror movie atmosphere” because I’m a huge horror fan but I wasn’t trying to make a horror atmosphere, it just happened naturally, my ear “clicks” on dark and ominous sounds. But as for the general aesthetics like artwork and sound production, I was going for a mix of Black metal and Grindcore. I wanted it to feel raw, bleak, very aggressive and real. It’s not a coincidence that the cover artist and the sound engineer mostly work with grindcore /power violence/Crust bands.
How
would you describe your sound to those who haven’t heard it before?
Do you think a band’s true depth can go unnoticed when the music is
mislabelled?
Evangelos: Every review I had in the past mentioned the same 4 genres, Death, Black, Grind and Sludge. So I go with that.
It depends who’s listening and how much he cares about labels. I don’t really care, there are so many subgenres, sometimes I don’t even get the difference, but some people do, a little too much. I guess when something is labelled as “A” it creates some expectations, and if you go in and you listen to “B” you might get disappointed, or you might get pleasantly surprised, so I don’t know, as I said it depends on the person and the moment.
What prompted the name Chestcrush?
Evangelos: Chestcrush isn’t very original but it’s very appropriate for this project for two reasons. The first is because of the lyrics, as I said earlier, I want to get some things out of my chest, I write about things that suffocate me and infuriate me. Some are about my own personal demons that caused me a constant crushing feeling on my chest. The second one is that I literally had my sternum cut open wide because of a heart surgery I went through, and I’ll always have a nasty scar and a life lasting medication treatment to remind me of human fragility. So, for these reasons I found the name Chestcrush very fitting to the occasion.
What inspired the title "Vdelygmia" and what does it mean? Furthermore, where do you draw inspiration from for your lyrics?
Evangelos: Vdelygmia was one of my potential band names. I don’t remember exactly how I came up with this word but it was on my notes. I keep notes on lyrics, titles etc. like I do with riffs and song ideas. At first I was thinking of not naming the album but I don’t know what happened and I changed my mind. Vdelygmia is a Greek word and it means “filth”, “abomination”, “repulsion” “disgust” etc. and it’s used to express hatred of a person or an action through a litany of invective criticisms. It is very suited to the lyrics. I draw inspiration from two things so far. I used to struggle with some mental issues (PTSD, phobias, severe panic attacks, night terrors etc.) and I use this sometimes for inspiration. The Demo (all lyrics and cover) was about this thing only, as a matter of fact the lyrics of all the songs on the Demo is actually one long song. The other thing that inspires me is my hatred towards certain manifestations of human depravity. I channel all this soul-crushing toxic energy towards this musical project as a kind of self-therapy I guess. It’s not as pleasant as when I grab my guitar and start playing riffs, but it ends up being the same, leaving lots of things out and polishing the edges afterwards.
What can you tell us about the artwork for "Vdelygmia"? What does it depict?
Evangelos: At first I tried to make the cover art myself like I did for the Demo. I finished a design but it just wasn’t good enough, it didn’t feel right for the album and it was the best I could do at the time. So I started looking for artists that could visualise the sound of the album. I was looking for someone that makes black and white images using digital collage, or mixed media, I didn’t want illustrations, I wanted an image that would feel real, bleak and hopeless. After browsing for endless hours I discovered two amazing artists on Instagram, CVSPE and PLA.G.U.E, with the latter one making the front cover art. I sent him some of the songs and lyrics and explained to him some of the backstory and told him to do his thing. He worked on a couple of ideas and the final result is this cover.
What
can you tell us about the metal scene in Scotland? Are there any
bands from there that you feel are worthy of support?
Evangelos: Unfortunately I can’t say much about the scene here. Nothing much (metal wise) happens in Edinburgh. Glasgow is the place for gigs usually. Some good Scottish bands that I discovered are Coffin Mulch, Hellripper, Grat Strigoi, Atragon, Cerebral Bore and Ageless Summoning.
Are you inspired by any films? What are some of your favourites?
Evangelos: I’m a big horror/violent/bleak drama/or just plain weird movie fan. I don’t think I’m inspired by any movies. Some of my favourites, old and new, are:
Golden Glove, I Stand Alone, Singapore Sling, The Thing, Naked Lunch, From Beyond, The Beyond, Hellraiser 2, TCM 2 (1986), Inside, Possessor, Father’s Day, The Taint, Adam Chaplin, Soul Kicking, Night Of Something Strange, Brawl In Cell Block 99, Gutter Balls, Baise Moi, The Strange colour of Your Body’s Tears, Brain Dead, Green Room, Snow Town, Calvaire, Evil Dead, VFW, I could go on forever.
What’s some new bands that you are currently listening to? What’s the last album you bought?
Evangelos: There are so many good releases that keep popping up that it’s hard to follow! Last album I bought was Gulch’s “Impenetrable Cerebral Fortress” on vinyl. It’s a fucking great album, powerful, nasty and short. Some “new” bands that I’m currently listening to are:
Caustic Wound, Black Curse, Body Void, Vermin Womb, Vitriol, Knoll, Cult Leader, Amnutseba, Journey Into Darkness, Death.Void.Terror, Graveolence, Gulch and Hyperdontia.
Being initially from Greece, what is your opinion on the Greek metal
scene and what's some of your favourite bands from there?
Evangelos: The Greek metal scene is huge for Greece’s population, loads of metalheads and loads of bands/musicians but for some reason very few bands make a breakthrough, even for underground standards. Some of my favourites are Flames, Thou Art Lord, Homo Iratus and Dead Congregation.
Give us a list of 10 albums you can’t live without.
Evangelos: I
‘m not good with lists, I find it very difficult to narrow down my
favourites. I’ll mention 10 of my 100 favourite albums that just
came to my mind right now.
Slayer – South of Heaven
Morbid Angel – Covenant
The Exploited – The Massacre
Venom – The Singles 80-86
Impaled Nazarene – Latex Cult
Black Sabbath – Paranoid
Burzum – Hvis Lyset Tar Oss
Deicide – Once Upon the Cross
And a couple of non-metal albums..
Madrugada – Industrial Silence
Tom Waits – Bone Machine
The Cramps – …Off the Bone
Your thoughts on the following:
Drugs: Not all drugs are the same. Enjoy responsibly.
Crust
punk: When reality hits you hard.
Christianity: Another depraved authoritarianism organisation that somehow
survived after all these crimes against humanity and even though it’s
so fucking absurd and illogical, especially for today’s standards,
still manages to brainwash the large majority of people and take
advantage of them for its own benefit.
Black
Sabbath: I love early Black Sabbath. It’s probably the
first metal band that I’ve ever listened to. What can I say that hasn’t already been said?
Existence: Great movie, Cronenberg is one of my favourite directors. Oh wait,
you meant Existence, not Existenz…
What’s
the songs “Different Shepherd Same Sheep” and “Let Them Crawl”
about?
How come you’re asking me about these two songs?
I think “Different Shepherd...” is self-explanatory. It’s about this mental state that some people are in that they need to belong to a group, to have a label to identify themselves, and they build their whole personality and life around this, around a manifesto, or a leader, and they become “blind followers”. Colour blind actually, because everything is black or white for them, and it’s either you’re with them or against them, there is no other option or point of view, and even if they see something wrong with it they will turn a blind eye because they don’t want to ruin the illusion.
I’m not talking about the kind of person who is passionately dedicated to a cause because he is aware, self-realized and knows what he’s doing. I’m talking about the kind of people whose fanaticism over a certain subject was just a matter of circumstances and coincidence and not research, they could have been on the “opposite side” just as easily. Their need to follow and to belong is more important than who, or what they follow, or worship. And if this doesn’t work for some reason, they will find someone else to follow and another label to stick on their forehead and identify themselves as this or that.
“Let Them Crawl” was originally called “Kneelers” and it’s not very different. It’s about another kind of followers, the humble servants who will excessively kiss the ass of their master and delude themselves that they’re in the same class, secretly wanting to stab them in the back, take their place, and be ten times worse.
What’s some of your hobbies and interests outside of playing music?
Evangelos: Illustration and graphic design even though I gave up on it recently due to lack of time. Also reading books has become difficult lately as well. I love movies as I said earlier. Rarely I’ll read a comic, last one that I enjoyed was “Crossed”. I also play some video games, mostly horror.
Lastly, what’s next for Chestcrush and how can people interested in your music get in touch? Thanks for your time!!!
Evangelos: Next for Chestcrush is promoting this album and writing new music. I’m thinking of making a single if the new album takes too long but it’s really too soon to tell. I already have some ideas but it’s a slow process.
People can get in touch via Bandcamp (chestcrush.bandcamp.com), Facebook (facebook.com/chestcrushband), or Instagram (instagram.com/chestcrush/).
I really appreciate your support. Cheers!