Finally, I just get answer today from Frank Calleja (Vocalist of Beheaded). Its take almost 2 month waiting their answer but its ok I am so happy get it now.
Beheaded was founded in 1991 by Chris Brincat (drummer), Marcel Scalpello (Vocalist) and David Bugeja (Gitarist). Becoming the first Death Metal in Malta. Which the country being considered one of most Catholic in the world. They have performed in Malta, Europe, Usa and Asian. And also have released several albums.
Beheaded signed to Unique Leader Records after they decided to terminate their deal with Mighty Music and look for better conditions with a different label.
Here is complete Discography from them :
Souldead (Demo 1995) Released by Self Released
Perpetual Mockery (Full Length 1998) Released by X-treme Records
Resurgence of Oblivion (Ep 2000) Released by Mighty Records
Recounts Of Disembodiment (Full Length 2002) Released by Mighty Records
Omnious Bloodline (Full Length 2005) Released by Unique Leader Records
And also the current member of Beheaded :
Chris Brincat – drums
David Cachia – bass
Frank Calleja – vocals
Omar Grech – guitars
Robert Agius - guitars
Beheaded is great Death Metal band in the world and lots of people know about this band. And this time Busuk Webzine have spend time to do an interview with Frank Calleja (Vocalist of Beheaded).
So lets check it now ……
John Yoedi : Hi Frank , How are things going for Beheaded camp at the moment ? Thanks for giving me a chance and agreeing for this interview. Kieran James (Australia) and I share this blog.
JY : Firstly, I just want to say many congratulation with your sick last album ‘Omnious Bloodline’ although I know it has been out very long time ago but I still like to hear it here. And I bet you guys must be really pleased and also has received lots of great reviews from fans/media. Have you ever think if ‘Ominous Bloodline’ is greatest album from Beheaded ?
Frank Calleja : It’s difficuilt to say if it’s the best release or not, it is probably the most solid and complete release in terms of song structure and song writing but all the other releases bring out different facets of Beheaded’s music. I do believe however that the best part of Beheaded is in the making
JY : It has been 6-7 years now since Beheaded released last album ‘Ominous Bloodline’, and we never see Beheaded new album until now. And I guess, you have quite a busy touring schedule set out ahead of you, so that’s why you don’t have much time to working new material. Well If you don’t mind, Would you like to tell us… What’s actually happened in your band ?
JY : The band formed in 1991 and there were many problem with your band especially problem with guitars and vocals…. I seen 5 guitars and 5 vocals already changed. Well, I only see 3 original members now :David Cachia (bass,vocals), Omar Grech (guitars) and Chris Brincat (drums). And this time with 2 new member are Robert Agius (guitars) and also you 'Frank Calleja' (vocals). Would you like to tell me about them ? And how confident are you feeling that this new line up is the right one?
Frank Calleja : Coming from a small island like Malta finding members for a death metal band is not easy thing but this line up is by far the best Beheaded has ever had, the new members bring new energy, experience and confidence in the band, the chemistry and vibe is very positive
JY : Well, I know it must be very frustrating trying to get an album together with a new team so often, intentional or not! For instance you have I believe had a different vocalist and guitarist on every album. How do you manage to adapt to things and get the job done?
Frank Calleja : The core of Beheaded’s music is there and obviously new members bring new ideas however Beheaded has always and will always be a death metal band, we stick to that and that gives us direction
JY : Be honest, I really love your band since I’ve found your album ‘Resurgence Of Oblivion’, it has been released from Stillborn Label in Indonesia on cassette. I’ve joined long time ago with this label for distribution your album cassette in Indonesia and it has been great selling. And last time I bought Omnious Bloodline Cd from friend. Damn, your all album is really fuckin great. How would you compare ‘Omnious Bloodline’ to your previous albums ? And will you be improving some for next album ? How do you envisage it developing in the future ?
Frank Calleja : As I hinted before I believe Ominous Bloodline is more complete and solid in comparison to the other releases. The song writing has a sense of complexity and continuity which also comes about with a sense of maturity and experience.
The new album ‘Never To Dawn’ continues where Ominous left off but at the same time we’ve allowed ourselves to delve into other aspects of more classic death metal
JY : Would you say that it is important to you that you develop your own original sound rather than simply jumping on what other bands are doing and following the trends?
Frank Calleja : Following trends is exactly the opposite of what extreme music should stand for or for what any artist with self respect in any genre should stand for. Beheaded is about playing the music which feels right for us to play, even the idea of trying to follow trends is absurd in itself there are so many and ever so changing it would be hard to keep up.
JY : What instruments and equipment do you use in the studio and at home?
Frank Calleja : We’re mostly stacked with Marshall for amplification and Tama for drums
JY : BEHEADED have been playing in many live shows. What can one expect from BEHEADED show ? With the different vocals styles and guitars style I could imagine its not being all that easy to realise it in live surroundings.
Frank Calleja : I think the best thing is to check out a few clips on youtube from live shows and let the viewers be the judge of that
JY : Where and what was the best and worst gig you ever played ? And how do you find the reaction from audiences when you’re playing live ?
Frank Calleja : Every show is a different story, venues are different, sound is different, crowds are different in size and the way they react. It’s hard to tell which was the ‘worse’ gig because bad can be in terms of audience or in terms of performance, we always give our 100% when playing live even if it’s a small crowd.
JY : It’s no secret that the members in the band have broad taste in music. Just to see where you’re coming from, I was wondering if you could list a few albums metals or not, that have made a lengthy impression on you as a person ?
Frank Calleja : I’ll name a few bands instead of albums which have been a huge influence. Suffocation, Immolation, Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Morbid Angel, Disincarnate, Death, Malevolent Creation…the list is endless
JY : Like most death metal albums influences can be quite obvious, but ‘Ominous Bloodline’ is a bit more difficult to pin down. What would you say are the bands main influences, especially the intensely fast riffing and guitar work?
Frank Calleja : Omar Grech was the mind behind most of Ominous Bloodline and I’d definitely mention Malevolent Creation, Monstrosity and early Deicide as some of his top influences but here again it’s an huge list.
JY : The drumming is also insanely fast. How long has Chris Brincat been behind the kit and who does he admire in the extreme drumming world?
Frank Calleja : I’d have to redirect this question to Chris but I’ll tell you that the times I’ve been in his car Nile and Pyeamia where on constant rotation in his cd player, Chris is now a seasoned musician who has been playing drums for over 20 years. His style of drumming is very strong and powerful, sometimes in the rehearsal room it feels like the drumkit is going to devour the entire room
JY : Which album in musical history would you wish was yours and why ?
Frank Calleja : Disincarnate – Dreams of the carrion kind
JY : What do you think of the state of the current metal scene within your genre in the Europe and in USA ? Are there differences that you have seen?
Frank Calleja : Probably the difference is more in the crowd rather then the bands. Nowadays especially with the internet styles and genres have converged you can find bands from the US playing Swedish death metal or a band from Germany dabbing in slam. Genres aren’t so much country specific anymore
JY : Are you involved with a scene in your local scene ? What is the current situation of real Metal in the Maltese ? I am not familiar with bands from your country but I heard Abysmal Torment…they fuckin great band and also Putrified Disfigurement. Are you closer with them ? And are there any lesser know Maltese bands that you would recommend for us ?
Frank Calleja : In a tiny island like Malta unfortunately I would not say that our local scene is doing too great not many bands, not many venues at the moment especially death metal does not have any big number of followers but we’re trying to give that a kick in the balls, which is why from last year we have started organizing the Malta Death Fest. The underground scene has gone through better days and hopefully we can help reinstate that. Those 2 bands are probably the only 2 active death metal bands on the island but Putrefied have now changed their name to Repugnance and Abysmal are doing very well for themselves on the international circuit. I could suggest a band called SLIT which is not a death metal band however it’s more of a sludge/thrash crossover and also includes Omar and Frank from Beheaded.
JY : Many ultra brutal death metal releases only clock around 30 minutes. Do you think it's due to lack of material or is this mainly done because otherwise it would just seem to long and perhaps monotone?
Frank Calleja : Possibly a bit of both
JY : When you look back over the career of BEHEADED to date what have been some of the highpoints and low points? And what hopes or expectations do you have for the years to come?
Frank Calleja : The ‘Recounts of Disembodiment’ era was definitely a high point playing some great festivals and touring the US but also releasing Ominous Bloodline on Unique Leader was statement that the band has made a name for itself in the underground.
We’re all a bit older now so we do not have any expectations of becoming stars or famous or anything, but truly it never was in the band’s intention, our expectation is to take things as they come day by day keep writing and playing extreme music and putting our 100% into it
JY : How important do you think is the internet nowadays to promote an up and coming band, as in your case it has played quite a role. And what are your thought on piracy. Because I seen many ‘free download album bands’ available on blogs site. Maybe if someone to post a few songs (2-3) up to help promote, it that would be cool or check their song by their site such as myspace,facebook or reverbnation. Do download hurt the band or ? Do you see it as a positive or a negative ? Would you like to explain about this ?
Frank Calleja : Internet changed everything and brought about a new reality in music with it’s positive and negative aspect, one of that realities is piracy, free downloading etc There is no ultimate positive or negative balance in this for every good thing there is a bad…there is less money available for bands but at the same time music is more available, it’s up to the bands and artists to be smart and use it for their own interest, it’s useless being nostalgic on go on about how ‘back in the day’ things were better this and better that
JY : You recently signed a deal with Uniqueleader Records, which seems an ideal label for you to have joined really with bands like Deeds Of Flesh,Disgorge,Severed Savior and etc on their roster. I was wondering how did the deal came about ? Will you keep going to ULR for releasing next album ?
Frank Calleja : The band signed to Unique Leader in 2005 so that’s not very recent since Ominous Bloodline has been released on that label too. Our next record will be also released on Unique Leader and it is a great thing for Beheaded to be signed to a label with such a killer roster of bands
JY : Just as a side question, What do you think about Busuk Webzine ?
Frank Calleja : I’ll be honest I have not checked it out yet but that is going to be the next task on my agenda because you’ve asked some very interesting and intelligent questions. (Thanks Frank…..Ed)
JY : Well, Thanks for this interview and all the best with the band! Any final words of wisdom?
Frank Calleja : Thanks a lot for having us, keep supporting extreme music and hopefully we’ll be bringing Beheaded down your neck of the woods too. Hail Death Metal !
(Interviewed by John Yoedi, February 09,2012)
For more information about this killer band please visit here :
Also check this Beheaded video clips :
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