Hello, I hope you are well, especially in times of the Corona pandemic. Please introduce the band, when did you form, how did it happen, did you know each other before? What did you release before the debut album? In which bands were you active before ?
Scarabreed: Thank you for your interest in Scarabreed and this interview.
Phillip: I have played with Denial and Amputate so far.
Markus: We have all been active in bands before, with Riccardo and Phillip I played in Amputate.
Riccardo: Also Amputate and Denial.
Thomas: I had played with a few bands and also helped out live a lot. I played with Azrael, Sabaism together with Marco from Damnatory and Chris from Sickening Gore, later with Innocent F.F. and 2Black and now you can see where this has brought me.
What does the name "Scarabreed" stand for?
Thomas: The name is a fantasy word consisting of the scarab and the brood.
Phillip: The name combines the grave, growing doom and being eaten.
You play a mixture of black- and death metal, which is very pleasing. Especially with the faster parts one thinks of bands like Dissection, Sacramentum, Gates of Ishtar or Grafvitnir or many bands that used to be on the legendary Swedish "No Fashion" label. Where do you place yourselves there? What were and are your influences and inspiration?
Riccardo: I'm inspired by the work of bands like Knowhere as the first live inspiration in Switzerland. Otherwise bands like Mgla, Uada, Mork, Darkthrone, Necrophobic, Kampfar etc.
Phillip: Actually, in the beginning we played without any clear ideas and through the first compositions of Riccardo the style emerged. But it was not concrete or conscious at the beginning.
Thomas: I'm inspired by many things, not only music or other bands. When it comes to black metal I prefer the older stuff from bands like Bathory, Venom or Darkthrone. When it comes to death metal, again Deicide, Morbid Angel etc.
Phillip: The bands we had played in have certainly "formed" us. You always take something with you, that's probably part of the further development.
Thomas: Something else, that we sound "Swedish" I have never heard before, but thank you I take that as praise. Perhaps we may also reveal here that we were not quite so strategic and have searched for a certain style or have developed consciously. Almost half of the songs were only finished in the studio. Partially we had never played these songs together before.
Phillip: We worked very intensively in the studio and also tried things out, discarded, or just then kept.
What are the lyrics about? Can you give us more explanations about them?
Phillip: Thomas, please ....
Thomas: Lyrically, Scarabreed is about a story concept, which will also be included on further albums. On the one hand it is about historical events which are reinterpreted for our story. On "Throne of the Dark Ages" the story is mainly set in the French Pyrenees at the time of the Inquisition. In it, the Chaos Lord takes on the role of the discord and strife maker. Scarabreed (beetle army) are, if you will, his helpers for the unpleasant tasks. Basically, the Chaos Lord always wants the disintegration of hope, achievements and life. At the same time, there are always topics in the text which also have a place in today and are current. Emancipation, disease, rebellion, political greed for power.... If then on "Throne of the Dark Ages" a place is destroyed, the journey continues.
How did it look like on the live front so far? On your facebook page I didn't find any hint about previous gigs. Did it simply not come to it so far or do you not want to perform live or has this no priority for you?
Thomas: We would have played live for sure, maybe even released "Throne of the Dark Ages" a little earlier. Now we do what everyone else probably does. We are practicing patience, writing songs and thinking about where the journey of Chaoslord will go next.
How do you, as Swiss citizens, see your own scene? If you think of Switzerland, sure, the first thought is Hellhammer and Celtic Frost, of course also Tryptikon. Then of course Samael and in the past there was Alastis, who had a similar sound to Samael. Otherwise of course Coroner, Messiah and Requiem, and especially Bölzer and Schammasch have caused a lot of furor lately. I can also think of Azrael, Sickening Gore, Damnatory and of course Amon, who attracted a lot of attention just because of their controversial image (at least for that time), but whose blackened death metal hasn't lost any of its class even today. A lot of these bands don't exist anymore. Would you say that there is - at least with many bands and / or in rudiments - something like a "Swiss sound", something, maybe very subtle, which runs like a red thread through Swiss extreme metal / death metal releases ? I once read a report in which a journalist put up the thesis that certain aspects of the mentality of the Swiss like accuracy and precision would be found in many Swiss releases, as a prominent example Coroner. Otherwise, many bands have a tendency to the avant-garde, or rather took newer paths, Babylon Sad were also rather unusual, at least for that time. To what extent does nature and the environment influence the music? Okay, now I've expanded a bit. What do you think about this topic?
Phillip: You have to say that we unite two different generations in Scarabreed. So we know bands from different phases of the scene. On the other hand, Switzerland has several language regions, which doesn't always simplify the exchange. Although we were able to play exchange concerts with Denial in French-speaking Switzerland again and again.
Thomas: From most of the older bands I probably know some of the members either from the concerts we played together back then. Or some of them have remained very good friends until today. I have the impression, in former times the whole thing was a bit more familiar. And the ones from the past are really family today.
Markus: The Swiss scene has influenced me a lot. Many of the bands I mentioned I admire and appreciate very much. Coroner was a very big influence for me.
Can you recommend any other Swiss underground bands that might not be too well known yet? Any insider tips?
Phillip: Amputate
Thomas: Pandemic Death, Algebra, Punish
Another thing about Switzerland: Some Germans who work in Switzerland say that the Swiss are rather reserved and hardly talk about private matters - especially with colleagues - and only about what is necessary. How do you see it, are you rather reserved and reserved or do the Germans simply talk too much? By the way, the journalist of the above mentioned report said that the Swiss scene has received too little attention worldwide, because the Swiss are too modest to present their talents self-confidently. In summary: Accuracy, meticulousness and restraint-that characterizes the Swiss folk soul well?
Phillip: I often have to deal with Germans, especially in my job, but I don't notice that there is any distancing. That is probably a somewhat individual matter.
Riccardo: It depends on how you grew up. My ancestors come from Italy, Switzerland, France and Germany. Growing up in a mixed culture, bilingual, Italian / German. I find it exciting to be able to talk to the Portuguese natural stone supplier about everything possible. I live multiculturally and travel a lot throughout Europe. You won't find the classic Swiss in my case.
Thomas: I also have to deal with Germans, especially in my job, but also in my private life. Well, it's possible that we are a bit more modest here. But if I just go straight to them and tell you that we are the best, biggest, strongest and of course the most beautiful, it probably doesn't make us likeable. Whether the scene finds so generally in the world too little attention ... with bands like Celtic Frost, Coroner, Krokus, Yellow, Messiah, Samael, it has not worked so badly.
The last words belong to you!
Scarabreed: What remains to be said... As already mentioned, we were not idle the last months.
The songs for the next album are already written and partly recorded as demo versions. Currently we are working on the arrangements and lyrics. So if everything goes well we will start the first recordings in autumn. Thank you for your interest. Hope to see you again soon.