Due for release in the near future, from Iron Bonehead Productions, is the debut release from Dublin's upcoming death metal band, Vircolac. This in itself is exciting news, especially if you're familiar with Iron Bonehead's releases thus far, so we can only expect good things when Codex Perfida is released.
Ever the fella's to get the lowdown on new bands, here at the Lair, Trevor Proctor recently interviewed J and D, from the band, about Codex Perfida, gigs and Balkan werewolves. Read, enjoy and order the tape!
Firstly, thank you very much for
agreeing to an interview, it’s greatly appreciated by Jude and me over at The
Lair of Filth.
I’m aware the band was formed towards
the end of 2013 – can you tell us a little about the band and its formation?
D: The band came about as a result of JG
having written and recorded some very rough material himself that he had
originally intended to be done entirely by himself as he's a multi
instrumentalist. After mentioning it to me I told him if he wanted someone to do
vocals on it, I can help. This then expanded into adding NH and KB on drums and
bass respectively and beginning to rehearse. Having tried a few different
things over the years that hadn't worked it was important that the rehearsals
went well and worked out between the respective parties. After a couple it
became apparent that everything was going to gel nicely and so things moved
quite quickly creatively.
Members of Vircolac are already involved in various
projects within the underground scene – could you tell us a little about the
members, their roles within Vircolac and also their other current
bands/projects?
J: Actually it’s only KB who is involved
in another band currently. She holds down the subsonics, NH hammers the kit,
Laoghaire is the voice of the night, and I provide guitars and additional
atmospherics. Other bands we’ve been involved in past or present aren’t
relevant to Vircolac so we see no point in talking about them.
The name Vircolac refers to a werewolf
from the Balkans in Eastern Europe, why was this name selected and what
relevance does it have to your music? Also, what’s the meaning behind “Codex
Perfida,” the title of your demo?
D: JG had read the name in a book and it
was something that stuck in his mind and upon searching online he found that no
other band had used the name in any capacity, which made it even more
appealing. He had decided on it as a name and when we began to work on the
music, lyrics and themes, the name began to make more and more sense. The
symbolism of the werewolf is one of transformation: man into beast or even man
into the unknown. With our music, we wanted to be able to create something that
the listener would feel 'transformed' by. Be that mood, atmosphere or emotion.
The whole point of making and performing music, to my mind, is to evoke some
kind of reaction in someone. This is what the indelible mark of metal has made
on me since I first got into it. For something to reach into you and take your
on a journey in your own mind, that is transformative. So, the band name fits
succinctly with what it is we're trying to do. The real test, obviously, will
be when people hear what we've done and whether they feel that what we are
trying to achieve has been reached in any capacity.
As for the demo title, which means 'book of the
faithless' it was something that JG also came up with and actually makes
perfect sense thematically for the songs on the demo and also reflects the
members' collective 'faithlessness'. It ties in conceptually with what it
is we have done on this recording entirely
Vircolac has been practising and rehearsing for close to
a year now – how does it feel to finally have the demo finished and have you
many other tracks written in preparation for your next release?
J:We’re in writing mode currently – the
bones of one song are complete and there’s a couple more waiting in the wings
to be finished.
D: The sense of achievement is strong but
it's really only the beginning. We've learned a lot, which gives us new focus
for the next steps we aim to make. A JG said, we're already creating new
material, which we hope to record at some point in 2015.
I understand your demo, which features three tracks is
set for a November release via the excellent Iron Bonehead Productions on
cassette – so far no tracks have been released for public listening - what
style of music can we expect to hear and is the band happy with the final
recording?
D: As a band, we are completely satisfied
with what it is we have done. The recording has exceeded our collective expectations
in terms of how we developed the songs in the studio and also the additional
elements we added. If this turned out to be the final thing I ever got to do
creatively, it would be a fantastic eulogy in that regard. I think the
performances of each person on the recording was the best that could have been
obtained. Everyone poured every ounce of themselves into it. As for style,
simply, we're a death metal band. Too much focus these days is on the
adjectives added to 'death metal' to describe a band's sound, which is absurd
and largely irrelevant. A track should be available online shortly so everyone
can make up their mind though the three songs on the demo vary a lot from one
another.
Ola Ersfjord engineered and produced the demo, what’s the
connection with Ola and did he travel from Stockholm specifically to work in
Sun Studios with the band?
J:Ha, no, Ola certainly didn’t
specifically come here to work with us..he was here to record with three other
bands as well. We knew him through working with friends (for example
Malthusian), and we jumped at the opportunity when it arose.
There’s a striking piece of artwork on Vircolac’s
Bandcamp page – will this be the cover of “Codex Perfida” and whose work is it?
J:Yes, that image is the cover artwork.
The art is by Stephen Wilson, a talented artist and interpreter of the
unnameable from the US who’s been a friend for a couple of years. That
particular piece was done long before we saw it and wasn’t done with us in mind
at all, but once we saw it the four of us instantly realised it was a perfect
visual accompaniment for this set of songs. When we approached him about it he
consented very quickly after hearing some rough tracks. Stephen also designed
an amazing logo and two sigils for us – the logo isn’t used on the tape purely
because we didn’t want to to shrink the detail on it, but you’ll see it on
flyers and shirts. The layout for the tape was done by Brianvdp.
Your first live appearance is on the second day of
Redemption Festival in Dublin this November – the bill for that particular day
includes Wizards of Firetop Mountain, Dread Sovereign, Bolzer and The Ruins of
Beverast. Will playing on a bill with so many established bands bring any extra
pressure?
J: No, it won’t. We’ll treat it as we’ll
treat every other performance, regardless of who else is on the bill and give
it our all.
Vircolac’s second gig is scheduled to take place in
Dublin on 14th February next year. As with your live debut it’s a
sterling line-up with Malthusian, Zom, Sheol, and Qrixkuor also playing. Can we
look forward to seeing further live dates and does the band have any short term
plans to play in any other countries?
J: We’ll see what lies ahead once the
demo has had time to sink into the underground, but yes, our aim is to get off
the Island and perform on foreign shores whenever and wherever possible. Owing
to various personal circumstances (we’re all in our 30s and as you can imagine
with age comes various real world responsibilities), long term touring won’t be
an option but that won’t prevent us from pillaging the mainland or further
afield when suitable opportunities arise. There’s nothing concrete as yet if
you’re fishing for specifics.
Aside from the fantastic bands you’re already scheduled
to play alongside which other bands would you most like to share a bill with?
Also, which bands, past and present, have influenced Vircolac and its music the
most?
J: Influences are plentiful given that
we’re a band of four people with four widely ranging sets of tastes (I think
the only bands we’d all be 100% on as influences are probably old Slayer,
Autopsy, Morbid Angel and bands Glen Danzig or Peter Steele have been in).
At the core of our music we’re literally a product of the 90s tape trading
underground however – that’s how Laoghaire and I first met 20 odd years ago now
– so that era in and of itself influences us more than specific bands I think,
but I guess to my mind rather than name individual artists (of which there are
many), I can summarise things by simply saying I reckon the
Peaceville/Deaf records catalogue would have been the ideal home for us had we
existed in 1992. Throw in a little Voivod and and the “Twin Peaks” soundtrack and
that’s about it. I don’t think any current bands musically that are an
influence on a musical level. I think we draw from the source, rather than the
well.
To be honest, horror films have been as much of an
influence as any band I could mention in terms of atmosphere for me personally.
To give you an example, some of the riffs at the start of the song “The Worm
Turns” were written while I was absent mindedly messing around on a guitar
while watching the Dario Argento film “Inferno” at home one night. Make of that
what you will. In fact some of the band watched “The Cabinet of Doctor
Caligari” while I was recording the guitar and piano tracks for the demo.
Sharing a bill? I haven’t thought about that..off the top
of my head ideally I’d love to play with maybe Tribulation, In Solitude, or
Irkallian Oracle, all bands whose live sets whose recently left a mark on me in
terms of elevating the simple act of playing music into something greater,
which I think is something more bands should aspire to do. It’s also a personal
hope that we can maybe share a stage with Slidhr someday too if and when JD
chooses to do so.
To date 2014 has been a quality year with regards to
releases, what have been your favourite albums so far and what other releases
are you most looking forward to in the future?
J: It’s been a phenomenal year for music
of all kinds so a full list would be mountainous:Morbus Chron, Swallowed,
Swans, Drowned, Pharmakon, Thantifaxath, Trepaneringsritualen and Godflesh
spring immediately to mind, and demos by Reverie, Qrixkuor, Athanatos, Obscure
Burial and Kthonik Cerviiks rarely left my tape deck. Obviously I look forward
to the Zom lp and new Malthusian and Slidhr EP’s ; and I have high hopes for
the upcoming Antiversum demo, Infra 7” and albums by Tribulation, Irkallian
Oracle, Rebirth of Nefast and Chthe’ilist next year.
Thank you very, very much for taking the time to answer
these questions and good luck with your preparations for the shows; I’m very
much looking forward to seeing the band on both occasions. I wish you every
success with those and also the release of your demo.
D/J: Thank you, you’re very welcome.
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