With:	Patrick [bass]
Conducted by:	Herzebeth
Published:	11.04.2006
Band profile:	Severe Torture

- Hello I'm Francisco from Metal Storm; First of all, would you please give a brief introduction of what Severe Torture is? Regarding music, ideology, members and any subject you want us to know.

We are a band with a very strong passion for Death Metal. We started the band because all of us were totally in love with Death Metal and everything around it. What can I say about us, just listen to our music and come to our shows, you will understand what I am trying to say.


- Now let me go straight to the point, "Fall of the Despised" shows a huge evolution towards the band's music and overall standards right? How was this album conceived on the topic of songwriting, progression and lyrical content?

When we started writing the new album we were still a four piece. The music was turning out too similar to the previous 2 albums, we didn't want that. So we started looking for someone who could help to get in the direction we wanted to go. We found Marvin, who we met on our tour with Cannibal Corpse when he played guitar for Dew-Scented, and the chemistry was there.

We wanted the album to be more varied than everything we did before and wanted to develop our own identity. So with Marvin we started to write the new album and we had more confidence with taking "risks' and in stead of me writing most of the music Marvin helped me out big time. The album turned out great, the music and the lyrics showed a big step forward for the band.









-The artwork is totally dissimilar to what Severe Torture used to release, tell us about this cover, explain a little bit what this human with nails pierced to his hands is about.

When we finished the record we already had the artwork for the album again created by Joe Malony, but we felt it didn't do justice to the album. We were concerned that people would just is another brutal death metal album. So we wanted something else and having a not so Severe Torture album cover people would needed to give it more attention.

The cover stands for the album title, we don't think to highly about people how can't think for themselves and need something like organized religion who say how they should live their lives. But we are not a band with a mission or so, it's just how we feel, just look at the world today.....


-It's actually odd to hear a song like "Fall of the Despised" played by a Brutal Death Metal band, what are you trying to transmit with the instrumentation and music surrounding this small but effective tenth track? I'm sure it's more than just a closure.

I wanted to have an instrumental intro for the album since a lot of my favourite records have one. But we didn't some cheesy movie sample we wanted something real. So Marvin came up with the music and we recorded it. In the end we felt that the album could better start the old fashion ST way and so we decided to use it as an outro because it was to cool not to use it. So it wasnt written with a deeper meaning however it became a sinister ending of the record.






-In the new album there's a new lyrical structure, more serious I think. Do you miss the gore days where everything was about castration, virginal liquids, carnivorous forces and some feces for Jesus?

Luckily I only have to write music, I am a poor lyric writer. As the music we wanted the lyrics to be better and more mature. Marvin wrote some great lyrics for this record where as on the first records the lyrics were written by Seth.


-I've heard you are banned from playing in Switzerland as your ideology is quite distasteful or some moronic statement. Is that a true fact? And what do you feel about it? If you ask me I think it is great publicity for the band.

It's just something that got out of hand. The promoter of the club was offended by the artwork for Mistanhropic Carnage and felt that he/she had to make an statement. The local government got air of it and prohibited us to play there and would close down the club if we did play. We didn't care to much about the publicity it got us, the label loved it of course.






-Now to a more serious question, next month you'll be playing in the great "Maryland Death Fest" along many other insane and good bands, what are you expecting of this fest as a band and individually?

I think it will be good for our name to play there, we haven't been in the US for 4 years. So this way we get our name out which will help the album sales and raise interest in out upcomming US tour in July/August with DEEDS OF FLESH, VILE and DECREPIT BIRTH. Personally I think it will be a great party.


-You've toured a lot the last couple of years; you've been in many great places indeed. Where did you get the best response from the audience and which country has the best chicks around, the ones who make you say "ooh, I so want her to give me a sponge bath immediately"?

Our best shows include the New England metal and hardcore fest, some of the shows we did with CANNIBAL COPRSE and some of the fest we played. The best chicks, well there aren't many beautiful chicks at the shows we play, I guess we chose the wrong kind of music to play.


If you had the chance to severely torture someone from the current metal scene (including the shitty genres), who would he or she be, how would you inflict pain and why?

Well I don't have anyone paticular, and if I did I wouldn't tell you. But people who talk shit behind their computer or behind your back desirve to be tortured. I hate when people that don't make a difference in life or that probably never will achieve anything in life talk shit. The same goes for musicians.






-Before I go I want to ask something else, you've released a demo, many EP's and a couple of Full Length's if I'm not mistaken, so far which are the songs you love the most from your career? The ones that will stick to you till the day you die and then make you think "Damn, it was so fucking cool to play those songs"

My favourite songs are mostly songs of the new album since they are so cool to play like, Endless Strain of Cadavers, Consuming the Dying, End of christ. The songs from the first 2 albums I like are Mutilation of the Flesh, Caniverous Force, Pray for Nothing, Decomposing Bitch, Feces for jesus.


-Now I go, thank you very much for answering my weird questions and not spiting on my face, can you please write any last words for the people reading this interview?

Come check us out if you wanna see a cool death metal show! And go and get our new album "Fall of the Desiped"

Cheers

Pat