Polish Death metal band, Artyom (guitarist) and Jaro (drums), had time to answer some questions about the band and about the new album released this year.
Hi Artyom and Jaro, how things are going?
Artyom: Hey Carla! Everything’s fine, things are great, a lot of work connected with my bands and with musical industry in general, composing and recording albums, organizing and playing some tours, so keeping the ball rolling.
Jaro: Hello Carla, yep, everything’s pretty cool, getting ready for some Disloyal concerts and tours, promoting “Godless” in all directions.
Tell me about the band, when was it founded?
Artyom: Disloyal was founded in the beginning of 1997 in Ketrzyn – a town in northeastern Poland. The first demo called “Desire” was really well-received by listeners and critics, and despite the periodic line-up changes the band was very active live and in studio, releasing 3 full-length albums in the period from 1999 till 2008. Then starting from 2009 Disloyal took a break due to this time severe line-up changes. Our drummer Jaro was left all alone in the band, so he had to find completely new musicians to form a new line-up and continue playing, not letting Disloyal die. That’s where I entered the band as a guitarist and we started to create an absolutely new musical form of Disloyal, which you can witness now. By 2012 we’ve finally completed the line-up, finished writing material for our 4th release named “Godless” and entered the studio.
The debut album was released in 1999 entitled ”Pessimistic”. Tell me a few words about it.
Jaro: Exactly. Immediately after recording our first demo “Desire,” we decided not to slow down the pace and started writing material for our debut full-length. It didn’t take us a lot of time so in less than a year after recording “Desire” (and it was recorded at the turn of 1997 and 1998) we entered studio Selani again to record “Pessimistic”. It was a really awesome period because we were so excited thinking that we were doing a big step for the band and its future and we were right, because thanks to “Pessimistic” we really entrenched ourselves in the polish death metal scene.
What can you tell me about the releases from 2004 ”The Kingdom Of Plague” and ”Prophecy” from 2008?
Jaro: When it comes to ”The Kingdom Of Plague” and ”Prophecy” the stories of these albums are completely different speaking about recording, line-up, and other changes that occurred in Disloyal. After releasing “Pessimistic” and playing some tours and festivals promoting this album the band had almost broken up. I’ve changed practically the whole line-up. Lukas entered Disloyal as a vocalist and guitarist, Tomasz as a second guitar player and only Macabre, an old friend of mine, stayed as a bassist. This was the team which created “The Kingdom Of Plague”. We recorded a 3-track promo first in Hertz Studio in Bialystok and shortly after that the whole album in the same studio. After some time Lukas has left the band and we decided to continue as a three-piece, with Macabre taking the roles of both vocalist and guitarist. As for the live performances our good friend Artyom from Belarusian band Deathbringer became the new session bass player. So this resulted in a really good friendship between us which later, as you can see, brought about the new face of Disloyal.
“Prophecy” was created and recorded while being a three-piece band: me, Macabre and Tomasz. The album was recorded in my home studio and was released by German label No Colours Records. This CD might sound very raw and is far from perfect production but that was our aim at that time. That was what we wanted. No pressure, complete spontaneity. That’s the story. 🙂
This year you released a new album called ”Godless”. Tell me about it.
Artyom: “Godless” is a completely new chapter in the history of Disloyal. And it’s a very significant chapter for us. And it was quite a big challenge also. The band was silent for several years, you know. And we’ve changed out style of playing and changed our approach to composing music, and I think that we’ve managed to create a definitely more mature album, more versatile. This album really means a lot to us, it’s very personal in all senses. Musically and atmospherically it reflects everything that was happening to us during last couple of years. People will surely feel something intimate while listening to it. And it doesn’t matter that no one knows these personal stories behind the music, but listener always feels the emotions. That’s the most important thing. That’s what helps people to associate music with their own lives, events and emotions afterwards. The sincerity. Now speaking of a technical side, we recorded “Godless” in Monroe Sound Studio, which is situated in Stargard Szczecinski (Poland) under the strict guidance of an awesome sound producer Arkadiusz “Aro” Jablonski. The album was released on June 9th 2015 by Japanese label Ghastly Music (a division of Amputated Vein Records) and is officially distributed by Code7/Plastic Head and MVD Entertainment Group.
Who mainly writes the lyrics?
Artyom: Half of the words in “Godless” were written by Wojciech “Swietobor” Mytnik, with whom the band worked also on “The Kingdom Of Plague” album, but some of the lyrics were authored by other people, like me, Karina Kassem and Jaroslaw “Blackie” Mielczarek, sometimes in co-authorship, sometimes individually.
Are you preparing new materials?
Artyom: Well we’ve just released the new album so at the present moment we’re concentrated on all kinds of promotion and are also getting ready for the tours and concerts, rehearsing a lot. Now it’s the era of “Godless” so we fully dedicate ourselves to it.
What are the band’s influences?
Artyom: The hardest question I guess. Heheh. Well so many different things influence us, first of all our own lives, our feelings and emotions, our personal experiences and daily problems, everything that is happening around us and in the world in general, global problems and so on and so forth. But probably you are more interested in the musical influences. And they are also very different, starting of course from the classical death metal like Morbid Angel, Death, Immolation, Gorguts, Suffocation, and also some more modern bands like Gojira, Meshuggah, Leprous, Mastodon, some prog: Pain Of Salvation, Dream Theater, Fates Warning, Opeth, Tool, and ending with non-metal music, for example Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Elsiane or Lisa Gerrard.
Any shows confirmed for this year?
Artyom: Not yet, but we’re working on it and there are some touring plans for the late autumn, so stay tuned, updates are coming very soon. Be sure to check our official Facebook page for the news.
Do you have a message for the fans?
Artyom: Keep supporting death metal and metal in general, especially underground scene. Keep buying records and going to concerts because only you are keeping metal alive and flowing.
Thank you Artyom and Jaro, cheers!
Disloyal: Thank you Carla, it was a real pleasure talking to you. Cheers!
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