Detest from Denmark are one of the longest running still active death metal acts in this country. Back in 1994 Detest released their debut album "Dorval" a hidden underground jewel that contains a brilliant mix of death and doom metal. The band disbanded in 1996 and reunited in 2013 and released a new EP called "A moment of love" in 2019. I spoke with guitarist John, the only remaining founding member.
Hello, how are you? When will you be able to play live again, what is the situation regarding Covid-19 in Denmark in general and in your area in particular?
I am fine and everything is as it should be, we have played two concerts (but it is for an audience that has to sit down). It's a very strange thing, people have to wear masks on their faces when they walk around.
Please introduce the current band members. I think you (John) are the last remaining founding member, aren't you? If you look at the metal archives, there were a lot of line-up changes, what were the
reasons for that ?
Yes, I am the only one left, Simon S. (bass / vocals) Danni H. (drums) and Andreas W. (guitar). All kinds of strange reasons, but as long as Detest is alive, it's fine with me. But it's obviously a bit shitty that a newcomer has to learn it over and over again.
Detest came back in 2019 with a new release, an EP called "A moment of love" (which could be the perfect title for a pop song, but in connection with the artwork the different meaning becomes obvious). What were the reactions to this EP ? Did a lot of people still know "Dorval" or did most of the listeners take notice of Detest for the first time with this EP ?
The reviews here in Denmark there said a few nice words about it, but I don't think there were many who didn't know "Detest" in advance. But then I can see that there are young people who attend our concerts and enjoy them.
As for the new EP, it is more brutal than "Dorval", it is more direct and faster. What do you think when you compare these two records ?
The new record is more modern and not so old-fashioned, but now Lasse L. is no longer in the band. So now it's getting old-school again and we have 10 tracks ready for a new album which will be released in 2021 by Emancipation Productions.
At that time we didn't quite agree on how the music should sound, and then it went wrong. When we said we were getting back together, it was because of some concerts, and then it went a bit like the old days, but I got so much urge to play again, so I continue with Detest . Even though I'm over 50, it's like a 16-year-old is controlling my body.
In terms of band history, what were the best moments for Detest as a band, what were the worst ? Maybe special gigs ? Did Detest play tours before the band split up, for example to promote "Dorval" ? Is it true that at the beginning of the band you won a band contest as a kind of best Danish live act and received a free studio recording ?
The best thing was when we played at the Roskilde festival or the jobs at "Death / Carcass"-gigs in 1993, and the worst was when we split up. We never went on tour and yes, we gained studio time, we recorded "Deathbreed" (demotape) there in 1991.
What can you tell us about Death Metal in Denmark? I think most people will know Illdisposed, Konkhra, but then a lot of people will have reached the end of their knowledge.....Metal in Denmark in general, maybe except for bands such as Artillery, Hatesphere, Mercyful Fate / King Diamond of course, and maybe Volbeat (is it Metal ?), never seemed to be such a big issue in contrast to Sweden, Norway and Finland. What do you think could be the reasons for this?
I don't know why we don't have as many big bands in Denmark as in the other countries, maybe we are unlucky or we are not good enough. (ha ha)
I remember the sampler "Fuck you, we're from Denmark", which featured Danish death metal bands, and Detest opened the first issue of this series. Did this already draw attention to Detest in 1992?
Yes, it helped us a lot, so we got a lot of jobs, but only here in Denmark, and our demo ''Deatbreed'' sold really well.
I think the first time I heard about Detest was a review in the German Rock Hard magazine, where your debut album "Dorval" was very well received. In those pre-internet times the written word in a big magazine had much more weight than today, where everybody can listen to Youtube or Bandcamp if like the stuff, and where countless blogs and magazines exist. Dark Symphonies re-released "Dorval" in 2017 with some bonus material as a 2-CD version again, was there such a great demand for this album ? Did more people recognize the quality of "Dorval" afterwards ? I think "Dorval" has an excellent mix between doomy and regular death metal parts, it's an excellent, not so typical old school death metal record.
I don't know if it existed, but after it was re-released, something more happened here in Denmark with Detest. And maybe there are some out there in this big world who have discovered Detest, I hope, otherwise they hopefully will listen to the new album which will be released next year.
"Dorval" was a kind of concept album as far as comic-based lyrics are concerned, wasn't it?
Yes, that's right, it's about Lailah from Casa. But it was Peter (vocals) who was the man behind it all.
What other bands can you recommend ? I also know personally active and no longer existing bands like Thorium, Dominus, Baest and Koldborn, Grope and Invocator.
I absolutely love Withering Surface, they has just released a new album "Meet Your Maker" and an old heavy metal band called Maltese Falcon, they released an album "Metal Rush" in 1984, furthermore Alkymist, the new band of Peter, which is really good doom metal.
What can you tell us about the Danish scene, where most of the gigs happen etc. ? Copenhagen and Aarhus I think, but are there maybe some hotspots in smaller cities ?
It happens mostly in Copenhagen and Aarhus, but there are also many small places, but I won't call them hotspots.
The last words are yours...
I hope that everyone is doing well in this Covid 19- period and that maybe we will see each other one day. And remember to be careful and show respect to the weak. Listen to a lot of Metal 666% and everything will be as usual. Have a good time with your friends and with what you love.
