METAL NIGHTMARE: BLOOD MORTIZED INTERVIEW 2009

It's no real secret that old school death metal is starting to make a bit of a comeback right now. It's not on the same scale as the thrash revival, but it does have a more diverse set of sounds associated with it. It's not all that surprising that many of these bands are hailing from Sweden either. What might come as a surprise is that amongst the bands made of younger people, such as TRIBULATION or VANHELGD, there's also a handful of bands with members who were around for the original onslaught of death metal in the early 1990s. BLOOD MORTIZED is one of these, and their debut album knocked me on my ass. Obviously, I got in touch with them right away for an interview, and here's... well, actually, here's the whole band! First, a quick introduction... Mattias Parkkila [vocals], Benny Moberg [guitars], Anders Hansson (Biazzi) [guitars] and Mattias Borgh [drums].

photos by Jens Lind

What's the meaning of the band name? I haven't exactly found "mortized" in a dictionary, although I did find "mortised" and "amortized." So unless you mean "Blood Groove" or "Blood Liquidation," I'm at a loss.

Borgh: Blood Mortized stands for death metal the old way! No deeper meaning than that!Oh yeah, before reading any further: Anders Hansson recently got married and therefore changed his last name to Biazzi...

Moberg: Don't even try to analyze that. [laughs]

Biazzi: Mortized???

Is it BLOOD-MORTIZED or BLOOD MORTIZED? I've seen it both ways and I'd like to get that cleared up instead of seeing another DARKTHRONE/DARK THRONE or ANGEL CORPSE/ANGELCORPSE situation.

Moberg: BLOOD MORTIZED it is!

How did this "meeting of the minds" happen, and how long before you had some songs written?

Parkkila: It all started out when me and Benny, after a few beers, started to discuss music. We both played together in MALFEITOR back in the days, and both of us thought it would be a funny thing to do something dirty old shit again, like in the old days. We did that, and we thought it was awesome. So we continued to write songs and our old friend Anders Hansson liked it as well and asked if he could join us.

Biazzi: Like Parkkila said it was like traveling back in time when I heard what the guys had done. I asked if i could join the gang, at that time I had not played for eleven years and I was anxious to start playing some Death Metal again.

Borgh: I joined the band last, it happened by chance since I did not know any of the other guys. For me it was a great chance to play the music I grew up with once again. It was also a great opportunity to record the drum parts in my own studio and also to mix and master the album. BLOOD MORTIZED for me is a sort of a time machine that lets me travel back to the glory days of Death Metal.

You and me both! You guys went for the "classic" Stockholm sound-- and possibly came up with the definitive version. Was this the plan, or did it happen by accident?

Moberg: That was the actual plan, we definitely wanted that old school "Sunlight sound" and a non polished demo type of style, without any re-takes or a lot of overdubs.

Biazzi: Benny is the master of sound!! Benny has managed to come up with this great guitar sound which is damn near the Sunlight stuff! That was the first thing I noticed when I started playing with the guys. It's very easy to make music with that sound I think, it sounds so damn good!

Borgh: The people of today are so used to these perfect albums. Even though we all know that real drums sound quite dirty and a bit uneven here and there the fans of today really demand that a producer use triggers/samples for all the drums. If you ask me it sounds very dull, lifeless and boring. I recorded the drums in a few days, had no time to practice at all so the drum parts are a bit sloppy and quite dirty. If you ask me it served the music well and it sounds real.

How did the deal with new label Vrykoblast happen? Were other labels interested as well? I remember the band Vrykolakas....

Parkkila: Yes there were a few labels interested but we stuck to Vrykoblast Productions because Andy was really into our music and came with a great contract, as we thought at that time.

Moberg: We just wanted to release our furious work onto the market, Vrykoblast Productions were quick to invite us without any unnecessary demands.

Biazzi: I was pretty shocked when labels started to contact us. Did not think that you could get a contract after only four months of playing together. Then things started to get really fun! Blessed be Myspace!

Borgh: When I joined the band had already penned the contract with Vrykoblast Productions. It was exactly the same when I joined CRYPT OF KERBEROS, they had already signed a deal. All bands just want to use me. [laughs]. We are currently looking for a label that wants to work with us on our next release.

I hate to bring up a question about influences, but does anything from non-metal influences come up in the way you write or structure your songs? Just curious, as Mattias B. is in ARCANA, which of course is not metal.

Moberg: My writing is influenced by everything from classic 60-70's rock and progressive to more extreme death/black metal. On this album, my writing structure was more focused on a conventional disposition with distinct chorus parts, more like basic songwriting than old school death metal. This might attract fans from even outside the old school scene.

Parkkila: My influences comes from all kind of music, from early 60´s to the latest, no idea to drop names.

Biazzi: My influences comes from Death Metal from the 90's and later, OK we have a lot of old school styled tunes in our music , but I think we also have a kind of newer things there as well: Rotten Death Metal in a new suit!

Borgh: For this album I tried to make drum parts that reminded me of my old heroes. There are some parts sounding a bit like BATHORY, some Nicke Andersson early ENTOMBED and so on. I have no clue if other people can hear that, but that was what I intended anyway. I play all kinds of music, if I like it I play it, quite simple if you ask me....

How has the reaction been so far? The review on Metal Archives that I saw must have been written by an idiot.

Parkkila: Yeah that guy did not understand anything about the album. [laughs] But the reactions so far have been better than what we thought. We didn't expect that so many people still were into that old school sound.

Borgh: The review on Metal Archives was lifted from Global Domination. The guy who wrote the review has of course the right to say/think what ever he thinks. If you ask me he misunderstood the whole concept with the album. One example is the intro for the first song. It is not supposed to be scary, it is supposed to sound like a typical intro for a demo did back in the days. I could go on, but why waste time with it? Some people seem to really get what we are trying to do and love the album while others complain about the production. When you let media review your CD you should be aware that they might hate your work, and they are perfectly entitled to have any opinion, that's life....

Biazzi: Yeah that guy was only fat! [laughs] The reactions so far has been mainly good that's why we are still playing , had it been only bad I would not have been siting here....

Is the demo still available?

Moberg: No, there are no more demos left. But if the price is right… we could easily make a few copies.

Is most of the interest in the band from the new generation or old farts like us who were around in the old days?

Borgh: Old farts like us! [laughs] Some younger guys and girls like it, but then of course they also like the old stuff that the old farts like us like. [laughs]

Parkkila: We've actually got a lot of different ages of the fans, strange.... [laughs]

Biazzi: I know one fat fart that did NOT like it. [laughs]

Things have changed since your older bands were around. Do you find you like the way things are now with the internet, or do you miss the more "personal" way you used to communicate with people by writing letters and tape trading?

Borgh: The internet is a golden thing and it is a disgusting thing. It makes people aware of much more music but it also makes people lazy and cheap. Back in the days you would listen A LOT to a demo or album--vinyl, kids!-- and you knew the lyrics, where it was recorded, who produced it, made the cover and such. We old farts also PAID for the demos and the albums, which made it possible for a band to at least get a budget for recording their next album. Now a days a typical teen has around 5000000000000 songs in very bad MP3 format that plays randomly on his PC with crap sound. Most people have no deeper knowledge about what they listen to. Good or bad? If you ask me, that's a bad thing....

Parkkila: Of course I miss the old thing with, changing demos, flyers and so on. But that is history now, you have got to be in harmony with the time.

Biazzi: Parkkila took the words right out of my mouth.

What are your thoughts on this old school revival that seems to be going on right now?

Borgh: I think it has to do with that a lot of people our age have kids that are now a few years old. Dad then has some more time and he wants to play some cool music again. I really think it is that simple. For me, who doesn't have kids, it's just about playing music which I really like to play. I think no one makes any money on playing what we are playing so it is for sure not about getting rich! [laughs] Parkkila: Yes I agree with Mr Borgh, I have three kids. And now when they are getting a little bit older I've got some more time to spend on music, which is a passion!

Moberg: It's great! But it was not our purpose to follow a "main stream" such as this revival. We like the old style of death metal, and when we finally got our shit together again, there was no question of what we wanted to do. We actually re-used some of our old riffs from the early 90's.

Biazzi: Its cool! But like Benny said we only play the things we are good at, old rotten death metal. This thing to me is like a dream come true! I played in a quite successful band in the end of the 90's, their big break came after I left the band. For me this is like a comeback and a new chance to get my shit out to the metal heads.

Are you doing any small tours?

Borgh: The main goal for BLOOD MORTIZED is to write music, record it and the release it. We did not have any offers or plan to play live. However that might change if offers start to come. Personally I would like to play some gigs here and there with BLOOD MORTIZED, but let's see what the future brings. As of now we are mainly focusing on writing new material and on recording a 7" EP and after that a follow up to the debut album.

Parkkila: We will see, as Borgh says the main goal is to write music that people likes, but if people wants to see us live, and the right offer shows up, FUCK yeah, we are there!!!

Biazzi: Like I said before, this is like a dream come true... Gigs? Fuck yeeeeaaah! You only live once, right?

I understand that EXCRUCIATE and CRYPT OF KERBEROS are back in action too? Will be we hearing new music from them?

Borgh: CRYPT OF KERBEROS are in fact back! We have recorded two new songs for a upcoming 7" EP which will be released by Temple of Darkness Records . The Crypt Records will release a huge box set on vinyl with the whole discography of COK, including the World Of Myths album! The debut will also get a re-release on CD quite soon...

Parkkila: Yes EXCRUCIATE are back, but I only joined them as a session member for a gig at Thunders over Miriquidi festival in Germany, I don't actually know at this point what´s about to happen next, but you will be informed!

What are the plans for BLOOD MORTIZED for the next year?

Borgh: Recording and releasing the 7" EP and working on the next full length album!

Parkkila: Yup, and we are looking for a interested label to release our stuff.

Moberg: Well, we got six months of freezing dark winter ahead of us... that's when I get my inspiration! Write, write, write...

Biazzi:I have plenty of new rotten stuff to be unleashed, so lets go!

Final comments are yours!

Borgh: Thanks for the interest in our little smelly project! Support BLOOD MORTIZED by getting the album from Vrykoblast Productions, it is dirt cheap, and as long as you don't expect the album to be perfectly produced with a sound that makes it fit for playing for your grandma you might like it! [laughs]

Parkkila:Thank you so much for the interest, we are realy deeply touched by your support, it means a lot to us. And we hope we can satisfy your hunger for the old school music even in the future!

Moberg: We are really honored by the response that we have got so far! Next album will be even better. That's for sure! Cheers and Thanks!

Biazzi: Thanks for the interest! If you think the debut album was good, I can only say that the new material is even more rotten and smellier! Cheers!