It is impossible to talk about Serbian metal scene without mentioning a phenomenal
band from Kragujevac - “Deadly Mosh”. Speed and trash metal mixed with a
classical heavy metal sound, with recognizable vocal and lyrical style is
ravaging on our scene for long seven years. All of you speed and trash sound
admirers jump down to your local store for some beer to enjoy our interview
with Priestkiller, the frontman of this band.
1. Greetings Priestkiller!
What’s up with Deadly Mosh these days?
First of all I want to
thank you for your support in the name of entire band.
We have just finished a
series of concerts across the Serbia and we are currently preparing for Exit
Festival. And of course, we are planning
to record a video for one of our songs soon.
2. Your newest album “United
by pain” for EBM Records, came out in December 2014. How satisfied are you with
the album and what were the comments so far?
We had opportunities to
see a few reviews from the foreign magazines and the most of them were more than
positive. What was mostly pointed out as a flaw was the duration of the entire
album. Since out EP “Evil In The Nigh” was, sort of introduction for our album
I think 8 songs were enough because we didn’t want to include some songs just
so we could fill out the blank space. We only included songs we thought they
were good enough. We are pleased with the album, firstly because of the fact
that it was completely different, not just a sequel of our first album and it
brought a new and fresh sound. So, our next task will be not to repeat
ourselves, but to present even more fresh and more different release to our
audience.
3. Unlike your first EP “Fuck
Holy War” you’ve changed your performance a little bit on this one. Comparing
2008 with 2015, has Deadly Mosh changed, and how did it change?
Our sound evolved during
the years, which is normal because we wanted to present something new and
different every time, but in the way that is still thrash metal. We were never
afraid of experimenting and I’m sure we will manage to surprise you with our
future releases, positively, I hope.
4. Anyway this album is really
great in our opinion. The song “Self destruction” simply rocks. How much time
and effort did you have to invest in this album? Where was it recorded and who
produced it?
Back at the time when EP
“Evil In The Night” was recorded we started our cooperation with Ivan Ilić and we wanted to record EP for the start, to
see how it’s going to sound like. The complete mastering was done by Joey
Sturgis which is known by his work with numerous USA bands and we were all more
than pleased with the result. Right after Evil In The Night was finished we
entered the studio in order to record our album United By Pain. I’ve brought
around 30, both finished and unfinished songs and by the October of 2013 we
started recording. The studio is called “Garage Studio” and it is situated in
Kragujevac. Complete production and mastering were done, as I already
mentioned: Ivan Ilić - producer and the owner of the studio.
5. You’ve changed several labels
so far. Your previous album “Hellsound” was published by “Miner Records”. Why
did you decide to change the label and how satisfied are you now with “EBM
Records”?
“Hellsound” and our EP
“Evil In The Night” were both published by Miner Rec. and we stopped our
cooperation with them almost immediately after release because of the quarrels
and misunderstandings we had. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to find a
compromise with Miner Rec. and that’s why our new album was published by EBM
records. We are pleased with the cooperation so far and they really did their
best to promote out album. The only thing that we are unpleased with is our bureaucracy
because of which we still didn’t manage to get our cds which our publisher sent
us, but I hope that will be over soon.
6. Mentioning “Hellsound”, we
had some information that it should come out on vinyl. How true is that?
Yes, that’s true. Our deal
with Miner Rec. was not realized and that’s was also one of the reasons why we
changed our publisher. We sent the complete artwork for the vinyl, but from
some unknown reasons, that didn’t happen. It was my wish to see our first album
on vinyl as well, but unfortunately, it is still available only on CD.
7. You are one of a few metal
bands in Serbia which have their own manager. How necessary and useful is that
for a Serbian metal band?
First of all, Zlatko Obradović is our good friend and we
are glad to have him help us with the band management because he contributed a
lot with his experience and we became far more professional and mature when it
comes to music. He’s a big enthusiast and he became a part of this story as a good
friend of the bend, so he is, kind of, the fifth member of the bend. I don’t
know how much longer he will remain on this position, but I know he will always
be our friend and our biggest fan. And
when it comes to a necessity to have a manager, I don’t think it is necessary because there are numerous bands who function
normally without a manager. But when only Aleksandar Milutinović and I remained
in the band, that kind of help was necessary to us. If it wasn’t for Zlatko, we
may not have recorded our album. He also brought Luka Milosevic and Vojin
Ratković to the bend so all the credits for our recent success goes to him.
8. We can see some true art
pieces on your EPs and albums. Who is in charge of the design and artwork? How
important is the design itself for a band’s opus?
All the credits for our past
artwork go to Stefan Petrović, artworker from Kragujevac and a singer of Black
Crown Empire. It is crucial to stand out with a good artwork as well because
kids these days grow up on the internet
and not on the streets and that’s what lot of the bends don’t understand. They
have everything at the touch of their hands in the mass of these bands and the
artwork is the first thing that caught their attention. I refused to accept it
for a long time because I’m one of those people who think music is the most
important, but unfortunately, today, a lot of attention is directed at the
videos, artwork, merch etc. We didn’t really try that much when it comes to
that and that’s the main reason we didn’t manage to get more audience, but
that’s our primary goal at the moments, so there will be more videos and more
merch in future.
9. Where do you get your
inspiration for music and lyrics?
Mostly I was the author of
the music and lyrics but since Luka Milosević entered the bend, i confided
biggest par of the new songs to him because he is that freshness and new energy
we need on our future releases. When it
comes to our lyrics so far, I found inspiration basically everywhere, starting
from books, comics, movies, things that lay stress on us every day, injustice
that is around us. United By Pain is, somehow, an open call for an revolution.
A call to young people to change things around them to better and not only to
be victims of injustice. That social themes were an important detail in our
lyrics from the start.
10. In your opinion, how do you
evaluate today’s Serbian metal scene, and what does it take to make things
better?
Current bands in Serbia have
great ideas, we are surrounded by amazing albums, but unfortunately, the better
the bends get, the audience is less and less. Our scene doesn’t look for its
backing in the audience, but in musicians who do this because of their love for
music. We all have regular jobs, which do not have anything in common with
music and it’s really hard to coordinate between these two and audience often
doesn’t appreciate it.
11. Thanks a lot Priestkiller
and greetings to the whole Deadly Mosh. Any plans for future?
Thank you for the support
and I’m really glad we had this opportunity to talk about Deadly Mosh. As I
already mentioned, our next goal is to record a video and to present ourselves
in our best light at Exit Festival. Cheers to all metal maniacs!