Sathamel interview

Sathamel are fast becoming a well loved band here at Musical Chairs. Their debut EP was released this year and the review can be found here. Therefore you can imagine our excitement when they agreed to an interview and we are very proud to deliver it here. Within we discuss the foundation of the band, as well as some of their "rockstar" moments, alongside a confirmation that they are indeed working on new material!

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MC: Firstly, congrats on the EP release. It's a great listen and obviously a milestone for the band. How does it feel to have your music released to the public now?

KVN: Thank you! It means a lot. 

It is a milestone in the sense that some of the songs were already released on our demo, recorded under the previous name. With the name change at the start of 2014 and unfortunately a subsequent line up change, it was almost a rebirth for the band. 

The response has been great and the icing on the cake, as it were, for the last 12 months... the band is stronger than ever - we regret nothing!

MC: How did the band come into being?

KVN: The original concept came about from our guitarist, Baal, and the aforementioned ex-member around 2011 - when it was explained to me the original concept was to focus mainly on demonology and explain the myth behind each being. Examples of this include the songs "Venus, Morning Star" and "Abaddon".

This was originally a 'recording only' concept and not something that was intended to reach a live audience, but since 2013 a full band was formed and here we are!

MC: What would you say are the major influences on your sound, who do you aspire to?

KVN: We have fairly varied influences towards our own personal playing. Majority within the band would be the'resembling artists' I suppose, such as; Behemoth, Hate, Watain, Inquisition, Marduk, Dissection and Belphegor.

We actively in our approach, apart from probably visually, try not to rip off any of these bands however. With that said, our drummer is also massively into power metal and traditional heavy metal, variety isn't something we're afraid of. 

VALDR: If there's any band I want to be like, it is Sathamel - 'cheesy', but fuck it!

MC: What is your dream gig? Who would you like to tour with? Any festivals you’d like to do?

KVN: The bands mentioned above would of course be a dream come true, some obviously cannot happen.

Playing somewhere like Bloodstock also, somewhere we all congregate each year. It would be great to be on the other side of that barrier.

We are also due to support Hecate Enthroned, for our debut show in london April 18th. That is a dream come true, most definitely.

MC: Any personal highlight or interesting studio stories to share from this release?

KVN: The whole experience was great. Our producer and engineer, Sam and Adam, were great guys to work with. We tracked over three days and it did not go without some 'excess'... Sam was celebrating his birthday that weekend and we had arranged to meet in a local pub with some of our friends from Old Corpse Road. After finishing tracking guitars that day I decided to celebrate a lot harder than most - which resulted in much hilarity for the others. I don't remember much at all. Compromising photos of myself appeared on our personal Facebook pages, haha!

VALDR: For me, tracking 5 songs in one day was one hell of a challenge. Don't get me wrong, the drums I recorded are not exactly the most technical, but being a heavy player it was tough to nail each song as best I could, despite only having up to and around 7 hours of recording time.

But I am happy with the end result and just as proud of the rest of the guys for being so pro about it. 

Also, big shout out to Sam and Adam for the motivation throughout my session, was nice to have people present who actually cared about the end product and saw fit to advise me as to what I could do better in certain parts. It definitely paid off!

KRUK: On the last day of recording, when I was recording the vocal aspect of our sound, the building in which the recording was taking process was plagued by witches/negative energy hunters. The owner of the establishment was one of those people, walking around the area designated for recording, playing some tribal drum and whispering some old spells. There were also water rods for dousing etc. Don't know if it was a coincidence that the owner's hobby mixed with our recording or if he actually had called for some 'spiritual help' to help him cleanse the building once he had researched who we are. It was quite frustrating as it cost us precious time, but it sure made a fine story to tell, which brings an evil grin on my face when I think about it.

MC: What is planned for this year now that EP is out?

KVN: We are currently working on new material and still booking shows where we can. We are looking to perform futher afield and have done so already this year. We have a handful of dates about Leeds and beyond confirmed now, all details can be found on our Facebook/Bandcamp/Reverbnation page.

MC: Do you listen to any non-metal music, maybe to unwind?

KVN: Personally, although it is not strictly 'non-metal', I like to unwind to bands such as Alcest and Summoning. Apart from that, film scores (especially The Lord Of The Rings) and acoustic artists such as Andy McKee, Calum Graham and Jon Gomm.  

VALDR: My musical roots are deep in classic rock and heavy metal but I've always embraced the late 90's early 00's pop punk movement and if it wasn't for a certain few bands of that scene I wouldn't be drumming right now! 

Also I'm also a rather large fan of Eminem, although he's one of the very few rap/hip hop artists I enjoy! 

I do indulge in some classical stuff too, but more in the vein of epic movie and video game soundtracks, notably Howard Shore and Jeremy Soule.

MC: Proudest 'Rockstar' moment, or gnarly stage antic?

KVN: Apart from the release of the EP and response? Realising you have made such an impression on someone that they feel the need to slander Sathamel and members by name online. That was the moment I felt I achieved something.

As for gnarly stage antics - we use war paint and blood as a part of our image, when people realise it is at times real blood I suppose their reaction is "Gnarly". 

VALDR:  I've had people shouting 'Sathamel' at me in the street and had some of the younger generation of Metalheads asking for pictures and autographs after shows. I've been told that Sathamel has been held as inspiration for some young aspiring musicians - it really makes you smile!

KRUK: There is a story linked to a band we played with, which we will not mention by name. After one of our shows, ourselves and other band of our friends got into an argument with the management of the venue, which resulted in threats of violence from these 'professionals'.

Some possessions of the establishment were destroyed in rage due to lack of payment. There was even an idea in a certain characters head to burn the place down, needless to say the arson did not happen. But due to the 'mess' we had made we were accused of damages, until it came to light we were actually on the stage when this occurred.

We have also established a reputation of a very messy band. Our paint has become a standard for our shows. We feel that if we stopped doing it, it would feel like we didn't deliver Sathamel to the people watching us, as well as to ourselves. As a result, sometimes we really do leave a bloody mess behind us.

Some venues that we keep returning to have learned to accept it, others respect it and some others hate it and even ban us from coming back. I believe that this kind of reputation is pretty 'rockstar'.

What is metal without at least a small amount of controversy?

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