Masada – interview

WE
HAVE THE ETERNITY TO SKEWER YOUR MEAT

1.
Hello Chris, could you make a little introduction to MASADA?

MASADA was
conceived in 2008 by myself, Chris Milewski, with the intention
of not only creating aggressive music, but also something that involved
a sort of uniqueness and actual thought. Shortly after, I was joined
by renowned drummer Craig Smilowski (ex-IMMOLATION, ex-GOREAPHOBIA,
RELLIK,) bassist Matt Dwyer (RELLIK,) and vocalist Cazz “The Black
Lourde of Crucifixion” Grant (CRUCIFIER, ex-GRAND BELIAL’S KEY.)
In November 2010, about 6 years or so after being written, the recording
of 2 tracks finally commenced. After numerous added delays, the
“Suffer Mental Decay” demo EP was finally finished and
released on May 21, 2011… and here we stand.

2. I could
say your music is at the border between quite old school American
Death metal from the mid 90’s and what once was called techno death
(

Techno for technical, not electronic)… Sometimes your demo feels
like some French techno death bands I used to listen around 1994…
How come you play this kind of music in 2011 when everyone wants
to be so retro or so modern/ unlistenable? Maybe you realized being
as old school as possible is not an end?

We don’t intentionally
try to sound “old school” or anything… we just play
what comes natural to us! For instance, when I write the riffs,
I just pick up my guitar and start playing. It’s not on my mind
to sound like anything. Having said that, we just play what we want…
so on the flipside, if MASADA doesn’t please bands or fans of the
modern sound, that’s fine with us!

3. If you
had to pick a couple of bands from the following list, to grossly
define how MASADA sounds, which ones would you choose? (I’m not
necessarily talking about your influences, but those who could sounds
close…) MORTA SKULD, old GOREAPHOBIA, REVENANT, ATHEIST, BRUTALITY,
DEATH (Human/ Individual), early GORGUTS.

From your list,
I’d say MASADA is musically most similar to ATHEIST, DEATH, and
early GORGUTS but noooooowhere near as technical! In some reviews,
we’ve also been compared to PESTILENCE and DEMILICH. Not a band
bunch of bands to be compared to.

4. According
to wikipedia, the word “Massada” has historical roots
and was an Israeli fortress (Dating back to few years before the
birth of Jesus Christ). Did you choose the name for this reason?
Tell us more about the meaning this moniker has taken for you…

Masada was/is
an ancient plateau-top fortress where hundreds of Jewish zealots
committed mass suicide rather than becoming slaves to the Romans.
It can be seen, rather hypocritically, as a great victory of pride…
but we chose the name because it perfectly illustrates how brainwashed
fools, in this case by religion, will ultimately come to an end,
either mentally or physically, as a result of their stupidity.


5. Why was
the first demo so short? Ok it can give a quite good idea of your
genre, but it contains only two songs… There wasn’t more music
to be ready at this time, or you were quite low on recording budget?

I guess there
are a few reasons. One reason the “Suffer Mental Decay”
demo EP is only two tunes is that fact that much of those involved
with MASADA are active in other bands as well as busy with family,
work, and other projects in life… because of this, we really can’t
dedicate as much time as we’d like to practicing and recording.
Another reason is that I swore to myself that I would get those
two songs recorded. As anyone who knows me can attest, I’ve got
a problem of writing a ton of material only to throw it away before
recording. The two demo EP tracks were already quite old when we
recorded them, maybe 6 or so years old, but they were finally recorded.
Now hopefully the newest material won’t take as long!

6. This
first demo was offered for free to download on a couple of music
websites. Would you say you have some trust in the filesharing systems
and thought it would spread the word quite well, or didn’t want
to get involved too soon in the work it takes to recording a demo?
(This said, are you quite satisfied with the way the Internet has
spread your music? How are the feedbacks?)

Ahh, it’s true…
The modern world of technology is upon us so it was decided to offer
the demo EP as a free download. It’s easiest for us and cheapest
for those who want it (it’s free!) In fact, we encourage anyone
and everyone download and share the tunes freely. We create this
music for people to listen to… not to cash in and make money!
Now… I personally prefer something tangible and I’m well aware
that many other people feel the same way. So for that reason, we
do also offer the demo EP on CDr for $5.

7. According
to your biography, the two songs from this demo were written 6 years
before the recording… We could wonder how the newer songs would
sound. Can you describe what we could hear one day? Will there be
little differences, or not?

As of December
2011, there are 3.5 new tunes written. Musically, they are a little
more progressive, but don’t be afraid — any listener would be able
to tell it’s MASADA! I think the comparisons to ATHEIST, GORGUTS,
PESTILENCE, etc. are still very much fitting.

 

8. MASADA
was created by Chris Milewski in 2008, and two of the members (Drummer
and bassist) also seem to be quite busy in the thrash metal band
RELLIK. Would you say MASADA is the band of Craig, who would write
most of the music, while other guys would be sessions musicians…
Or does it happen a different way?

Basically,
I started the idea of MASADA just with a few riffs, maybe 7 or so
years ago but we didn’t get moving as a band until around 2008.
It’s a peculiar beast I suppose… MASADA is my focus, while Craig
and Matt focus on RELLIK and Cazz focuses on CRUCIFIER. I write
all of the material, then when we can find the time, we all get
together to go over it! For instance, right now Cazz has bringing
a new CRUCIFIER lineup up to speed and RELLIK is currently finishing
up recording new material. I’m working on the new MASADA tunes!
Some day, we’ll get them recorded.

9. The not
very precise Metal-archives doesn’t tell much about the past musical
activities of Chris Milewski… Did you play in other metal bands
before, and was something recorded? When did you discover metal,
what led you to this kind of music, and what were your first Death
metal reversed cardiac arrests?

I’ve played
in some other metal bands in the past as well as taken part on some
other recordings, but nothing of great importance. My main focus
now is MASADA and that’s what is important!
As for when
I first discovered metal, I’ll say around 1988 when I was about
6 years old. I’m the youngest in the band, so besides for some bands
like METALLICA, KREATOR, HELLOWEEN, I basically missed the thrash
metal wave and jumped right into the Death Metal scene! I lucked
out because Frank from DETERIORATE used to run a Death Metal section
at the Tower Records store by my house. I would go in there as a
young kid and get IMMOLATION, GORGUTS, ASPHYX, MORPHEUS DESCENDS,
UNLEASHED, PESTILENCE, CIANIDE, etc. tapes and CDs. I still remember
The first CD I ever bought was “In the Eyes of Death”
compliation… the second was IMMOLATION “Dawn of Possession.”
Tower Records carried all the good stuff! Well to me at least…
Grind Core, Red Light, JL America, Nuclear Blast, Century Media,
Peaceville, etc. (yeah, some of those labels were decent back then!)
I remember the store used to carry some good shirts too! Unfortunately,
I was just a kid so they were huge on young me. I ended up looking
like I was wearing a Death Metal dress, hah!

Visual
proof:

I also used
to write to a lot of bands back then and I’d get a lot of flyers
in return… that exposed me to many underground acts. And of course,
I was too young at the time to go to shows, but The Cell Block,
a local venue that hosted many killer shows ,was right down the
road as well. Funny, because Craig, Matt, Cazz… they were playing
shows there! Anyhow, the place burned down… afterwards, I went
in there and found some goodies… I specifically remember finding
a DEMENTED TED sticker of all things. Good memories!

10. A little
question about your lyrics: Does “Toxic unreality” deal
with hallucinogenic drugs or is it about the severe effects of pollution?
Can you tell us more about the subjects of your texts?

I suppose the
title “Toxic Unreality” can apply to hallucinogenic drugs
and pollution, but it’s actually about how the blinded masses of
the world are brainwashed by the media and how their lives are ruled
by the distorted false reality they see on television. The other
track, “Suffer Mental Decay,” deals with a similar theme
— it describes how mankind is blissfully ignorant and blind to
the world around them. Just look around, it’s not too difficult
to see what I mean!

11. How
is the metal scene in Usa? The band is located in Pennsylvania,
would you say there’s something like a cool metal scene (With some
cool Death metal bands we might like to hear about, and hunt, and
listen) or do you regret an epoch of unlight and burning underground
vivacity?

MASADA
is specifically from the Philadelphia area. While a whole slew of
Death Metal bands came from PA, which is quite a large state, the
immediate area around Philly had an great scene in the early 90s.
Many death metal bands (both good and bad) came from the Philly
area… CRUCIFIER, DETERIORATE, CEMETARY EARTH, AFTERBIRTH, NECROTION,
HAZARAX, RELLIK, INSATANITY, MORGATORY, just to name a few… not
to mention some great bands from the immediate area in NJ and DE.
I’d say in the mid to late 90s, it really died down, but it seems
to be picking up steam again. There are a number of bands from the
area today but honestly, I can’t even begin to talk about. It seems
that the new wave of crusty black metal is picking up steam — something
I don’t really follow. A shame… many of the old bands do not exist
anymore, but at least CRUCIFIER and RELLIK are still around and
kicking!

12. Which
records did you listen to the most the last months, or weeks? Do
you search and try many new records, or are you generally bound
to your old albums’ collection?

I’ll admit,
I am rather close-minded when it comes to what I listen to. I am
definitely bound to the old stuff in my collection as far as metal
goes! It’s the stuff I grew up with — nothing really sounds like
that these days. Too bad that I don’t like what has become of death
metal, but I don’t like the modern sound or retro sound. It’s just
not the same! Lately, I’ve been listening (in the car) to MORPHEUS
DESCENDS, SADUS, ASTAROTH, MORGOTH, THERION, etc. but also stuff
like URIAH HEEP, BLACK WIDOW, TYBURN TALL, CANNABIS INDIA, and SALEM
MASS!

13. What
should the listeners who still care about small bands expect from
MASADA in the future? Tell us what we need to know, and feel free
to conclude.

Firstly, I’d
like to say thanks, Gabriel, for the interview and your continued
support! It is greatly
appreciated! To the rest, they can expect new material that’ll hopefully
continue to please their senses, For those interested… you can
get updates, reviews, interviews, photos, etc. on our facebook page
at http://www.facebook.com/masadadasam.
You can download the “Suffer Mental Decay” demo EP for
free at http://masada.bandcamp.com.
Download
it and spread it like the plague!

Η συνέντευξη έγινε από το Metalourgio

ΔΕΙΤΕ ΕΠΙΣΗΣ

Paladine

Συνέντευξη με τους Paladine

Οι Paladine έκαναν αισθητή την παρουσία τους στα metal δρώμενα της χώρας μας με την κυκλοφορία του ντεμπούτου album τους, “Finding Solace”, το 2017. Μετά από σημαντικές αλλαγές στην σύνθεση τους, οι Έλληνες power metallers

2 comments

  1. Say Goodbye To Panic Attack With These Tips

    Did you know that people with higher than normal intelligence are prone to panic attacks? If you experience these attacks, hopefully this knowledge along with the other helpful tips in this article will assist you with finding peace of mind in trying to deal with your situation.
    https://www.acheterviagrafr24.com/

  2. Interview made by NIHILISTIC HOLOCAUST Webzine:
    http://nihilistic.voila.net

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *