INTERVIEW WITH DEADDY ‘VOCALIST’ OF ASPHYXIATE (BRUTAL DEATH METAL – BEKASI, INDONESIA) ...... (English Version )
Introduction by John Yoedi: Who doesn't know the band from Bekasi called ‘Asphyxiate’? The band was founded in mid 1998 and they have released two full length albums ‘The Process Of Mutilation’ (2003) and ‘Anatomy Of Perfect Bestiality’ (2009). The second album was really kick ass and I bet all deathfreaks will love it and the sound from the second album is really different from the previous album. They’re playing brutal death metal and are inspired by death metal bands from USA especially Disgorge. The sound is very mature, technically skilled, aggressive, full of blast beats and brutal as f***! Two thumbs up for them and salute. The second album was released by two international record labels - Sevared Records (Usa) and Despise The Sun Records (Italy). Wow, that’s really amazing and makes us feel pride in our Indonesian bands.
Well, this time..Deddy ‘vocalist’ gave us the chance to answer some questions from me. Lets check it out ….
JY : Hi Deaddy, How are you ? Thanks first of all for agreeing to this interview with Busuk Webzine. Kieran James (Australia) and I share for this blog. How are things going with you at the moment ?
Deddy : Hi bro, thanks for support us and doing this interview with our band. We just finish recording for Promo album 2012 and will be preparing some show/gig during this year [2011] and next year [2012].
JY : Would you like to tell us a bit…who had the idea to form Asphyxiate ? What is the currenct line up of the band ? And any changed line up before ?
Deddy : Briefly, Asphyxiate formed in mid of 1998 by Dhana (RIP), Josh, Reno and Indra. Then I joined in early 1999.
Past line up :
Dhana - Vocals (1998 ~ 2001)
Heru - Vocals (2001 ~ 2002)
Indra - Bass (1998 ~ 2007)
Reno - Drum (1998 ~ 2011)
Current line up :
Josh - Guitars (1998 ~ present)
Deddy - Guitars (1999 ~ 2003) then switched over to Vocals (2004 ~ present)
Adi - Bass (2007 ~ present)
Yogi - Drum (2011 ~ Present)
JY : How confident are you feeling that this line up is the right one? Can you foresee any more changes in the line up ? And are you sure will be able to be solid for the long term ?
Deaddy : Yes, we feel confident about this line up. We wish we could stay and make more some f***in sick stuff with current line up.
JY : Any particular meaning to you for the band’s name ‘Asphyxiate’? Was it hard to find a band name before ?
Deddy : The meaning of Asphyxiate name is ‘Die shortness because running out of breath’. But I think, Asphyxiate is really f***in' great name for a death metal band.
JY : Let's talk about your second album. Honestly, when the first time I found your Cd ‘Anatomy Of Perfect Bestiality’, I really was proud about the album. I thought, I’ve heard album from Disgorge (Usa) but no hahaha. Well would you like to explain a bit about your last album ? What is the main difference from your previously album ‘The Process Of Mutilation’ ?
Deddy : Yes of course it is very different from the previous album and also there was about 5-6 years gap between the release of ‘The Process Of Mutilation’ and ‘Anatomy Of Perfect Bestiality’. Because our mindset and development factors regarding to our music concept resulted in a major change from year to year. We thought ‘The Process Of Mutilation’ was a spontaneous project and it wasn’t perfect but we were really satisfied with responses we received from around the world and they loved it. We also found great responses for ‘Anatomy Of Perfect Bestiality’ than previously. Hopefully for the next release we can get much good response, because the concept of music already has increasingly changed to follow the changed character of the band itself.
JY : Would you like to tell us a bit about the recording process for the second album ? How long did the process take ? And did everything go to plan ?
Deddy : The recording of ‘Anatomy Of Perfect Bestiality’ album was quite an easy going process and it didn’t take too long, we had recording of instruments in mid of 2008 at Rade Studio Rawamangung – Jakarta. All the recording process we did because the sound engineering was really busy with games in his mobilephone hahaha. Then we took vocals and mixed it at Dialog Studio-Bandung. After travelling much to Bandung, we finished the process of recording the album, We also made a duplicate Cd in a CDR format for share to International, it didn’t take too long Sevared Records showed interest to release our album but about a few days after an agreement with Sevared Records obviously Despise The Sun (Italy) wanted to released our album too and we never sent the Cd to them hahaha. So we made the decision for both the labels/records to release our album and sell it in their respective countries. In mid 2011, we agreed to re-release our album for Ozora Entertainment (Bekasi-Indnesia) and sell it in Indonesia in digipack format with new design / artwork.
JY : Would you say the responses you have had are what you were expecting? Have you ever received ‘bad response’s ?
Deddy : Yea we found a lot of amazing responses on our album so far from people around the world. Besides that, we found some response, and we can't call it as ‘bad response’ but we call it as ‘reviews and suggestions’ because there are some people who prefer to hear our first album, because in our first album we have had full groovy parts, so that’s why people seemed to enjoy it.
JY : How come it has taken so long , there was a 5-6 year gap between the release of ‘The Process Of Mutilation ’ and ‘Anatomy Of Perfect Bestiality’. What did you do during this time?
Deddy : Yea right. Classic problem which usually happens in all bands, usually serious problems with band members and also some of us were busy with daily jobs etc.
JY : How would you describe ‘Asphyxiate’ in musical output ?
Deddy : BRUTAL DEATH F***IN METAL !
JY : ‘Anatomy Of Perfect Bestiality’ album was released by two records/labels in different countries and they are Sevared Records (USA) and Despite The Sun (Italy). I think, that’s f***in awesome. Would you like to tell us a bit about how the deals came about ? And what kind of labels/records would you consider signing with ?
Deddy : The answer is in the questions before. We were really satisfied with their job, Sevared Records is really great and very professional label/record in promoting this stuff. Sevared Records have run out of stock for this album within just 1 year. And as for Despise The Sun Records, they still have some stock for our CD.
JY : What did you guys think guys about the degree of cooperation of both the famous labels? Is it only for the release album? What about shows/tours, do they support it too? Are you really satisfied so far ?
Deddy : Yes only for one album. Yes of course we are really satisfied.
JY : The artwork from second album ‘Anatomy Of Perfect Bestiality’ very perfect and amazing. Who came up with the concept ? Who is the artist ? And did you like it ?
Deddy : The artwork is a collaboration of two very talented local artists. First, we decided to use the basic sketch image by Debronze Art after it was revised several times and finally perfect, we sent the sketch to Bvll Metal Art for colouring also added more effect on space and background, and this is f***in crazy artwork. This is the best artwork we have had.
JY : About lyrics in your album, it seems very impressed about ‘Gore’. Are there any particular films, books, etc. which gave your inspiration in writing lyrics ? And who was responsible for writing lyrics for Asphyxiate album and did all the band members throw ideas in ?
Deddy : I wrote all lyric, by way of adjusting the pattern with an instrument that has matured. The inspirations just came from my mind, and I am not usually reading books or watching movies with gore themes. I prefer to read and watch Epic Asia theme.
JY : As we know, your album is called ‘Anatomy Of Perfect Bestiality’, which is also the title of one of your songs on the album. What made you use this as the name for the album, are there special things ? Would you like to explain it briefly, and what was the meaning of song title ‘340’?
Deddy : Because we didn’t have an idea before for the title of the album, and also we didn’t have much time because the deadline for releasing the album was so tight.
‘340’ is the only song which uses the Indonesian language. 340 is taken from chapter 340 of the penal code which was used for death penalty decisions in cases of serial killing, mutilation, murder etc.
JY : We have listened a lot to and seen the brutal death bands that have been inspired by Disgorge (Usa) such as Human Mastication (Philippine), Putridity, Condemned and so on. What are your opinions about these bands?
Deddy : They are really amazing bands that are able to make the concept of music so terrible and inhumane, they were the inspiration for our band and also they are our friends.
JY : And after Ben Marlin passed away (RIP), they have been inactive for a very long time and some members of the band i.e Ed Talorda (Guitar) and Diego Sanchez and also old member Matty Way (Vocals) have formed a new band called ‘To Violently Vomit’. And they’re also playing songs from Disgorge albums. Besides that, Ricky Myers (Drums) tried to re-awaken Disgorge band and has set up his latest album, and we all know the names of new members who are very familiar for death freaks here.
What did you think about this ? Because some death freaks said ‘To Violently Vomit’ is ‘Disgorge’. And as we know the real Disgorge is back again.
Deddy : Yea, the meaning of ‘To Violently Vomit’ is Disgorge. And it turns out they have fairly elaborate politics. As I know from before, when Ricky Myers wanted to re-form Disgorge he invited Diego Sanchez to join but Diego refused and preferred to play with ‘To Violently Vomit’. Whereas, almost all new material from Disgorge was arranged by Ricky Myers. So I can't foresee Diego without Ricky and Ricky without Diego. What will the concept of music be like? And I am not sure with Eric Lindmark (guitars from Deeds of Flesh) who replaced Diego's position but I believe that he is able to fill it. Only Diego Sanchez and Eric have such crazy ideas as Ricky. But the most important thing now is we have two Disgorge bands.
JY : Besides, Disgorge (Usa), are there any other bands that gave inspiration for Asphyxiate? Or did you have your own characteristic / style for your music ?
Deddy : Yes of course many bands inspired us. Actually we aren’t focused for one band only but we prefer to choose our style. Possibly our style is like the styles of other bands.
JY : What kits/equipments do you use to record and do you use the same amp/guitars etc for live shows ?
Deddy : We don't usually remember about gears/amp studio which we used for recording because it has taken so long, about 4 years, but for personal equipment we use:
Guitars: B.C. Rich Jr. V with Seymour Duncan Blackouts + POD Line6 XT Pro
Bass: Cort 5 String + Hartke VXL
Drums: Sonor Drumm set + Pedal Axis X Series + Zildjian Cymbals
Mic Vocals: Shure KSM 32
Almost all instrument recorded plug-in and for Live/Show we use more equipment and there are some changes to the gear.
JY : When did you start to listening to metal music ? And which bands did you first listen to?
Deddy : Since I was at the 4th grade around the early 90’s. I liked Sepultura, Napalm Death, Obituary and Slayer.
JY : What are your activities besides the band ? And how did you share time between band practice, job, family etc ?
Deddy : We all have jobs here. Yes of course sharing time is our personal problem but we always try to find time for the band schedule and gigs.
JY : How is the metal scene in Bekasi today ? Are there any less well known Bekasi bands that you would recommend ?
Deddy : We really are happy that lots of bands have formed in Bekasi, we recommend VOMIT LARYNX, VISCRAL, INFINITE TORTURE, UNDERWAR, PREMATURE, etc.
JY : Where and what are the best and worst gigs you ever played ?
Deddy : Actually we consider all shows to be great but sometimes there are some things that made us disappointed like bad gears/equipments sound, event/gig mess, also event /gig cancellation due to no time permitting etc.
JY : What is your next planning for Asphyxiate ? Have you already prepared new material for the latest album ? And when can we expect to listen to your third full length album ?
Deddy : Yea we just finishing recording promo 2012 with 3 tracks. And probably early next year [2012] we will be distributing it free.
JY : Give us your ‘Top Ten’ brutal death band albums Cd list for this year ?
Deddy :
1. Putridity - Degenerating Anthropophagical Euphoria
2. Visceral Disgorge - Ingesting Putridity
3. Indecent Excision - Deification Of The Grotesque
4. Gorgasm - Orgy Of Murder
5. Hate Eternal - Phoenix Amongst The Ashes
6. Condemned - Realms Of The Ungodly
7. Carnal Disfigurement - Inhuman Devoured Content From Cranial Cavity
8. Origin - Entity
9. Decaying Purity - The Existence Of Infinite Agony
10. Brutus - Murwgebeukt / Total Loss
JY : Ok Deddy, Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions …sorry for so many questions hahaha. Do you have any last message for Busuk Webzine and for death freaks here ?
Deddy : Thank you very much for the support for Asphyxiate. Hopefully Busuk Webzine will continue to exist and keep consistent in its path.
All hail Indonesian Death f***ing Metal \m/
Band link :
(Interviewed by John Yoedi, December 10, 2011)
(Translated by John Yoedi and Kieran James, February 26,2012)
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