- Hello Dave! First of all I would like to ask what is the definition of Morta Skuld. Could you recall who and how came up with that name?
- A buddy of mine that was in a death metal band came up with and it many meanings but is based off a Norse mythology and that the three fates visit everyone when your are born to decide your fate. - Does your last EP "Serving Two Masters" mark a new era of Morta Skuld? - I want to say yes as it has two new members and they bring that energy with them that has made this a new era for us for sure.
- It sounds quite different from your previous albums, it's more aggressive and modern. Style of singing has slightly changed as well, is it similar now more to the period of your early demos? Was it exactly what you wanted or it was rather a natural evolution of your music?
- I don't think the new EP sounds like old stuff at all, it's a combination of players for years and a natural evolution, but Jason and I were in a newer style NU-Metal band for many years which I think contributed to the way we play now and how we write. And we have always liked to be more polished for death metal and like clean productions, you could say we have a commercial sound for death metal and im fine with that. - The EP was released on Dread Records. Interesting fact is that from 500 copies in total 100 were signed by the band. Are they still available? Was it your idea or does it belong to the label? - We have sold out of the signed copies a few times and there were only 50, and when we ran out we did another 50, so im not sure but the label still may have some left.
- Dread Records is a new and underground label, more specialized on Black Metal. How did it happen that you started working with them?
- Miguel is big fan of death metal and he wanted to do a release with us to be first death record he would put out, he told me he wanted classic old school and wanted to remain true to that form. - On your Facebook page you mentioned something about your upcoming full-length album. Could you share any information about its content? Will it be on Dread Records? - I'm not sure whom it will be on or whom puts it out, nothing really much to say is the fans are always asking for new material and I'm lucky enough to be able to still write and play this form of metal. - When can we expect it? Did you decide already on the album's title? - Not sure on that time line and no title as of yet. - Is Pat Kachellek involved in artwork creation again? - I hope he does as he is close friend and does awesome work - When writing songs for your albums, how much attention do you pay to the lyrics? How important is that for Death Metal? - Since im the vocalist and have to play at the same time I put a lot of work into the lyrics and what is being said, im not a gore and or dark black metal type of guy, I write about what I know and the life I live. I think its huge in death metal as Chuck of Death was my main influence and showed me its about the message, anyone can yell crap into a mic but to get it across to the fans and have them embrace it is key. - Back in 2011, Relapse Records released "Through the Eyes of Death" CD, compilation of your first demos ("Prolong the Agony" and "Gory Departure"). Who's idea was it? And why didn't you stay with Relapse to release the above-mentioned EP? - It was our former manager Eric Grief, and the label really didn't want to do it and didn't support it, they didn't distro it and didn't allow any local stores to order it and if they did they got one copy, so to me what's the point of being on the label at that point, that album will see a re-release on something decent soon. - You also have now an official video, "Prolong the Agony". Why are you the only member from the band who appeared in the video? And who is that creepy guy? Video together with music gave a perfect result! - At the time there was no band just me and we had no plan to be a band, Eric and I were thinking how can we promote this release and what can we do, so we thought how bout a video and that's when we started the process, but again I was only member at that time so we thought lets shoot it with just me. I don't know his name of the creepy guy but the director is Doug Cook and he was amazing and put the video together and made it awesome.
- The last question goes back to the band's early days. Do you remember why you decided to sign the contract with British Deaf Records and not with any American Label? Death Metal in those days was really popular. How do you think, if this would have happened, would Morta Skuld be different today?
- Well at that time DM was huge in Europe and pretty much overseas, in the states not so much, and we had been tape trading a lot and gained their (DEAF) attention and next thing I know im talking to the label at 4 am about a 3 albums deal. We did sign to Grindcore at first but then something happened and the contracts we signed never saw daylight. And no doubt things would be different for us today as the early stuff was more UK sounding and then we started sounding more like a American band then at first. - Thank you for the interview, Dave! A few more words for your fans? - If you don't have EP please go buy a copy and support death metal as without the fans we mean nothing, and also it helps us to forge on and write and record new music, Thank you to the fans for all their support. Cheers. |