Interview for  HAUNTED CENOTAPH  (Poland)

1.-Hello ABUK MORBID, How’s all through those far lands of Poland? , as i told you it’s one of the most solid scenes that exist in that side of Europe. What do you think? 

Golem: Hailz! At the moment it doesn’t look that good because of the virus situation, but we all hope that it will change soon. Yes, I think that Poland has strong metal underground. There are many bands which are worth checking out. Also we have many groups which are considered as cult among Polish metalheads and not only. We know many of them personally and are in the friend relationship with many of them. I’d recommend checking out our friends like: “Black Hosts” very good speed/thrash, “Gallower” black/thrash in the vein of early Japanese Sabbat, Sodom and Destruction or if you like classic heavy metal, check out “Roadhog” Those all are the “new bands” created after 2010 and they’re examples of great underground Metal from Poland. There are also many many more but naming all of them would take too much time, however all I can say is that Metal underground in Poland is very strong and I hope it will stay the same or became even stronger.

 2.- I really like the EP“HAUNTED CENOTAPH” That you send me, it’s a DEATH DOOM very intense, but the first theme “AT THE GATES OF R’LYEH “ comes with a few fast part just like the EP and that makes the difference from dense to fast parts, it’s like an extreme change. How many non-sleep nights were the guilty to make this penumbrant and at the same time chaotic sound possible?

Golem: Thanks for the nice words! I do appreciate that! Well, the intro “At the Gates of R’Lyeh” was recorded by our friend Neithan from Antisound Studio where we were recording  the entire EP and the guitars for the upcoming LP. Before entering the studio, it was not planned to do such intro. We thought that the first notes of “Haunted Cenotaph” would act as an intro to the EP but as the recording session continued, we came out with the idea to make a separate sick and morbid track completely different from the ones placed on the EP which in my opinion fits with the entire stuff perfectly and introduces the atmosphere of the “Haunted Cenotaph” EP. Which I think is the main role of the intros on the records in general. The funny thing with the intro is that neither of the band members recorded even a single note in that track. Simply because we couldn’t play on the instruments used there, thus it was all played and performed by Neithan (Infernal Hails!) There were no sleepless nights during the sessions to be honest. It was hard work, we had been recording for 14 hours every day and we had three days to finish all the stuff which may seem like a lot of time but it wasn’t that much, however we successfully managed to finish all.  When it comes to the EP itself, it represents the name we use to call our music “Morbid Doom Metal” which was the idea of Coffin Crawler as we needed a catchy let’s call it “slogan” in order to use it on the CD version of EP. Tracks there are more diversified than on demo “Nightmares from Beyond”. Each track here is different but all of them fit with the rest. The biggest difference is the very fast track “Into the Realm of Thanatos” which was created because we thought that we needed something faster in contrast to the slow and crushing title track and “Rites of the Undead”.  Also I treat that one as a tribute to all the thrash metal classics which I’ve been listening for many years and DO ADORE them. Thrash is my favorite metal genre.

3.-We were talking about another polish bands like KAT, They’re like the pioneers of Metal in Poland such as IMPERATOR. If soon you make a new disc, would you like to make a cover of them? Or maybe make a cover of them and play it in live?

Golem: To be honest, we’ve never thought about covering any Polish bands yet. The reason behind that is that we choose covers very carefully. There are many of them which we would like to play but not many of them fit the music performed by HC, to the very low tuning, vocals, drums and etc. In that case, KAT wouldn’t fit to our style because of the differences in music of both bands. Anyway, we adore KAT we are huge fans of that band. In my opinion they’re the best metal band that has ever existed in Poland. Albums like 666, “Oddech Wymarłych Światów” or “Bastard” are not only among the best albums of Polish metal but also when comparing them to the albums from the other countries. I also managed to play as a support band before KAT a couple of years when I was playing in my previous band “Excidium”. Coming back to the covers,  so far, we’ve done “Reaper” from the Swiss Masters of Metal “Hellhammer” placed on the demo “Nightmares from Beyond” which from the beginning I thought it would fit perfectly, played even slower and with our low tuning and with Coffin Crawler’s vocals . This track became the sure thing at our gigs and to some point, people started to recognize us, as the band that plays “Reaper” live.  We’ve planned one more cover so far but I cannot tell at the moment. You’ll see what we’ve prepared in the future.

4.- few time ago some I received some ZINES and they were all in your language. This made me think that the scene in Poland is very solid and at the same time very closed because the Polish is very hard to understand for the rest of the world and English is the 2nd world’s language. Why you just don’t translate it? Have you thought about that? What’s your opinion about this?

Coffin Crawler: Ugh! That's right, most of the zines from our contry are being released in Polish, the reason why is simple, most of the older metal maniacs either don't speak English well or at all. They're rather targeted towards the local readers. Besides that, Polish is a complex and specific language which makes it possible to convey the context, thoughts and message which may become distorted in translation into English. On the other hand, we used to have or still have a few really cool zines in English (some of them don't exist anymore) One of the biggest, most extensive and mighty zines is Necroscope.  Apart from that most of Oldschool Metal Maniac is being released in English as well as Complete Necro and Ritual Murder Zine.  I'd recommend checking out those names, it's really worth it. Speaking of the language itself, I'm sure it'd  be a linguistic hell for someone from abroad hehe.

5.- I know a lot of the UNDERGROUND METAL scene in Poland and there are Neo-Nazi’s bands, especially of black metal. What can you tell us about it?

Golem: Yes, that’s right. There is a vast amount of Neo-Nazis in black metal, especially in black metal as you’ve mentioned. I have never understood, don’t understand and will never understand why do those people share those idiotic ideas, I don’t understand how they can adore assholes like Hitler and all the rest if Nazis ruined our country and killed so many innocent people. This may be caused by the lack of historical education, stupidity or a need to manifest their identity which I also don’t understand. What is more funny if we can use word “funny” to describe them is that they listen to the bands which are left-wing and present  the same values in their lyrics and Nazi bands, what the fuck? This is very common phenomenon in Poland, they for example listen to Running Wild or Sodom and some Nazi shit at the same time. Which stands for a very strong contradiction, how they can join together two totally different ideologies which are in total opposition to each other? It’s been a mystery to me for many years, and there is still no answer to that. Their favor for those ideas may also come from the historical reasons, because Poland was under a communist authority from 1945 to 1989 and those people want to manifest their hatred towards communism which also doesn’t make sense in my opinion because they run away from one dictatorship into another. When it comes to my own personal ideas I’m totally apolitical. I hate politics in general, the situation in the band is similar, Haunted Cenotaph is totally apolitical and we don’t deal with those topics in our music, and never will.  

6.- Let's get a little out of the musical theme, to the readers of Aquelarre zine that would like to know what’s the current situation in your country in general, tell us something.

Coffin Crawler: At the moment it doesn't go or look good because of the pandemic of that fucking virus. Our government has implemented the state of emergency which in practice means closed pubs, gyms most of the shops, cancelled gigs and other events and also a prohibition of gatherings and closed borders. The situation may become disastrous for  our economy as most of the companies and factories aren't functioning. For about a week people have been staying home and going out only if necessary. Looking at Italy, France, Spain etc it's better to be safe than sorry and take care of yourself before the situation gets very serious. Anyway, apart from the current events it's not bad to live here hehe. Could be better but we can't complain. The thing that pisses me off is the extended influence of Catholic Church on the various aspects of life. The current government is sucking cocks of priests whenever they can. It leads to the ridiculous situations in which metal gigs are being cancelled or blocked or the public money is being spent on religious activity and etc. Generally, Christianity is trying to take control many aspects of life. The thing that is comforting is that more and more people are leaving that shit. The region where we live is a bit backwards in comparing to the other ones, we earn less money, we are far from the capital of Poland and the biggest tours are avoiding our city but at least it is safe, quiet and calm here. Nearby we have mountains, monuments and many interesting places.

7.- what kind of feeling gives you to enter between the chaotic and at the same time appear in the dark passages of desolation, I mean when you write and compose themes. I really like how you and the rest of the band plays. What other sensations can you add to your music?

Golem: I think it comes out naturally. I don’t prepare myself in any way. I just take the guitar and start playing which sometimes gives the beginning of the new track or the entire track. When I have an inspiration the entire track can be ready in a few hours or sometimes even less, but there are some days when I take the guitar and nothing comes to my mind, I cannot play even a single riff which would be worth something. In that case it’s better to leave it for a day or two and then try, instead of forcing yourself to write something. When it comes to the feelings you’ve asked, I like to write riffs when I’m pissed off. In that case it’s like a form of releasing anger through music and I can tell you that at least four tracks had been written in that state of mind. Once I’ve written a track in half an hour, but it was an extreme case. The results of that you’ll hear on the debut album. I always write music sober, I know it doesn’t sound very rock “n” roll but there ain't nothing I can do about it hahaha. Writing sober, helps me keep concentrated on the riff and the track itself, only then I can tell and feel whether the riffs I’ve made are good enough to make it to the album or not. Once I’d tried to play something after smoking some weed and it turned out to be a complete disaster haha.

8.- The cover of the dics are always important to the bands, reflect what the disc is about and once the best of the themes, for you what does it represent?

Golem: I do agree with what you’ve said. They have to represent what the album or the band’s music is about. It is important for them to correlate with the music that the band performs and with the topics that they deal with in their lyrics. For example: most of our lyrics deal with the topics of horror thus the cover of “Nightmares from Beyond” shows a Cthulhu inspired creature from the outer world. The EP “Haunted Cenotaph” has our vision of how that cenotaph would look like and what would be inside of it. We are going to continue that on every new material released by the band and our covers will always correlate with the music recorded on the disc. We pay attention to the cover arts and layout all the time. We just want it to look good and be representative of the band.

9.- If in some moment you’re choose to be opening act of a band….. for Which band would you like to be the opening act?

Golem: That’s a very difficult question but if I had to choose I’d play first of all before Iron Maiden, which are the most important band in my life since the very beginning of my journey in the world of Metal. Then, Motorhead and Black Sabbath. Those three bands are the most important for me and if I only could play before either of those I’d do that without any hesitation. I know that in 2 out of 3 cases here it’s not possible, however we have to have dreams hehe. A small element of either can be seen in our music. From Iron Maiden I took the inspiration to close the album with the longer, expanded and more “epic” song like “Hallowed be thy Name”, “To Tame a Land” or “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”. Of course I don’t want to compare tracks from our materials to those masterpieces, however the idea to close the demo with “Funeral Candles” and EP with “Rites of the Undead” has been inspired by Iron Maiden. More Maiden inspiration will be seen on the next releases. Motorhead can be seen in the general feeling of the tracks and Black Sabbath which is probably the biggest inspiration for us. The band that created Doom Metal and all the kinds of Metal, If you play metal you’re to some point being inspired by Black Sabbath because without them there would be no Metal at all. Tony Iommi is my favorite guitar player and I sometimes try to take something from his style of playing and riffing and apply them to our music. We also add them in the thanklist of each of our materials in order to show an eternal respect for Black Sabbath.

10.- in the beginning when you start with Metal, what things do you remember the most? What’s the thing that made you in into the dark side of this world? 

Golem: I've started listening to Metal at the age of 12. From that time I remember the beginnings. My father showed me Black Sabbath, my uncle Metallica and Slayer and my friends Iron Maiden and then it all continued. I started collecting albums, my first was “Live After Death” which I consider as the best live album ever recorded, then Motorhead and Metallica. I remember hearing those albums for the first time very well and what is important, I still got the same feeling when I listen to them today. The years go by, things change but Metal still remains in my heart and veins and this will never change. Metal ‘til Death!!!

11.- When we were talking the other day and you told me about the change in the alignment of your band, I imagine that is because you’re a new band and you’re trying to find the supremacy. What happened with the other members? Was there a misunderstanding or any dispute with the musicians?

Golem: It wasn’t a dispute but rather the artistic differences between us and the drummer which caused that he is now out of the band. Me and Coffin Crawler wanted to go in a different direction than the drummer so the decision was made and he left Haunted Cenotaph in March 2019. With us, he recorded drums for demo and EP. We wish him well and there is no bad blood between us. With the new drummer, Abyssal Conqueror, I played in our previous two bands Excidium and Necrosadist which means that we’d known each other for many years before he entered the world of Haunted Cenotaph. He joined the band in June 2019 and we already started working on the debut album which took us a few months before it was ready. In January we entered the studio again and within 3 weeks the job was done. The current Haunted Cenotaph’s line-up is stronger than ever. We feel comfortable playing with each other and the old tracks and new tracks sound even better than before. I hope that this will continue.

12.- i feel very curious about the bangers in Poland, i tell you this because here in South America is a chaos of alcohol, lust and downess…… here we have the thought that in Poland the people are colder with their behavior and more respectful. Is that true? Tell us about it and if we can find a lot of metal bars in Poland.

Golem: That’s quite true, that people are colder but it depends whether they are “more respectful”. First of all, Polish bangers if they’re true metal maniacs they are totally dedicated to metal and all the things that are connected to that. In many cases the phrase “Metal ‘til Death” can be easily applied while thinking about the true metal die-hards from Poland  but I think it’s not only how it looks in Poland. Every country has maniacs that would die for metal, hasn’t it? It just depends on a person, what they feel and how deep they’re into metal. The contrast between Polish metalheads and those from different countries like Germany, France, Italy and etc occurs when it comes to violence and aggression at the gigs. Metalheads from the western Europe are much more relaxed and calm during the gigs whereas in Poland, mosh-pit looks a warzone and it’s sometimes dangerous to be inside of it, it’s a place where you can sometimes lose your teeth. Whereas in the Western Europe mosh-pit is much softer and mostly it’s just headbanging and fist-banging. I think that both ways of participating in a concert are good. It just all depends on a person and what they like to do. In Poland such behavior shows the enthusiasm of the people towards the band that is playing and it’s the way of releasing anger and a form of breaking away from reality and everyday problems.  I used to be in a mosh-pit at almost every gig but now I prefer the “western Europe” model let’s say, which means headbanging, fist-banging or shouting the verses and choruses along with the band and this is what I currently do at most of the gigs, however good friendly violent mosh is always fine, and when I can, I do enter that. Honestly I cannot think of any Metal bar in Poland. Either I haven’t been to any of those or they just don’t exist, I’ve no idea. If we go to the bars or pubs downtown, we just go to the regular ones where they play decent music which doesn’t make you wanna puke when you hear it. When it comes to the clubs, I don’t think that there are also “exclusively” metal clubs in which they play only that genre. One day there is something metal and one-day there is some disco shit.

13.- Since your start you have one demo and one EP, are you thinking in making a new thing every year and keep searching for the perfect band? I tell you this because of the change of the musicians in your band.

Golem: As I’ve said, The current Haunted Cenotaph’s line-up is stronger than ever and I think that it couldn’t be better which means that to that point we’ve found the “perfect band” Yes, we want to do something every year, even if not release new stuff, we at least want to record every year. So far we’ve made it with the demo from 2018, EP from 2019 and I hope LP will be also released in 2020. This year we also want to record something more but we don’t know that details yet. The future will show.

14.- what are you listening in this moment while you’re answering this interview?

Golem: While answering this interview I had enough time to listen a few records for a few times. I was listening to Destroyer 666 - Unchain the Wolves mostly, Death-Sound of Perseverance and now I’m listening to the Hardcore Punk classic- GBH- City Baby Attacked by Rats.

15.- well, just to finish we would like to hear your recommendations and greetings for the lectors of AQUELARRE ZINE.

Golem: Thanks a lot for a time in your zine! Greetings from Poland to all the lectors and readers of AQUELARRE! Hailz! Worship Metal, Drink Beer, Smoke Weed and Stay Doomed!

https://hauntedcenotaph.bandcamp.com/