Atrexial Interview
By Gothik Divaa
In this chapter of “Metalheads Forever” we will be with the Spanish Blackened / Death metal band “Atrexial” talking about their debut album “Souverain”.
Hello guys ! How are you today ? Greetings from Mexico City !
Greetings from Barcelona to you and the audience! Louen here, guitarist and main vocals of Atrexial.
You are a very young band, have been active for around 3 years… – I would like to know how this project was born?
The idea of Atrexial as a live band was born in the middle of 2016. Before that happened, Atrexial was a side project formed by Naga and some other former members who wanted to create a Black Metal band, but after a short time and two songs released, Naga decided to work by himself by converting Atrexial in a one-man-band and finish the writing process. On late 2016 he contacted me and we started working on the lyrics and the concept for the band itself as we know today.
I´m curious about the Spanish scene in terms of blackened and death metal, we know that Spain is characterized by Heavy, Power, Gothic metal … – How it has been for you to explore these musical genres in your country?
The scene in Spain is really limited in matter of support, but it’s a wealthy scene in variety. We have so many good bands but with not so many opportunities. On the last year many bands appeared and the musical and professional level is getting higher. It’s true, maybe the most of the audience and bands stick to Heavy, Thrash, Folk, and other non-extreme genres. In general terms the industry and the audience tend to focus on other kinds of music. It’s been a long ride until the present, we’ve been in other bands and played during years in Spain, so we have explored in many ways the music our metal scene can offer. We just learned what to do and what not to do, as everything in life.
I would like to know what your musical influences …– Which has been the one that has marked the band definitely?
Our main influence is Black Metal of course, there is so much to explore in darkness, we just absorb it, and crystallize after a introspective trip. There are big bands from Poland and Sweden that can be named as some of our main influences but not the only ones. We listen to different kind of styles and that give to us the possibility to explore more. In the end we don’t want to be part of the current wave of Occult Black Metal bands, we aspire to get a wider spectre regarding our musical sources. There are no rules.
In this time … – What has been the most rewarding experience you have had as a band?
Well, we are experienced musicians but we still learn in every process we go through, rehearsals, concerts, trips, contact with agencies, etc… Everything is new and every new experience is being better than the previous ones, so i can’t really tell you one specific moment.
Your debut album “Souverain” was released in April 2017… -Tell us about the creative process?
Naga created all the music writing it in the period when Atrexial was a one-man-band and then I joined him and we started to work on the lyrics. Was pretty easy to work together and pretty fast to record the vocals. Sometimes you have situations where everything goes fluidly and we were on the same page from the very beginning.
6.- Which one is your favorite song and why?
For me personally is “Unmerciful Imperial Majesty”. This song represents all we want to state, the music we want to play and the feelings we want to spread. It’s a proclamation.
On the other hand talking about the art of the album … it reminds me a little bit of what the Polish band “Behemoth”, is doing these days, but tell me – What is the concept and who did it?
It is obvious that Behemoth is one of our influences but we didn’t inspire on
them to choose the artwork for the album. We were thinking of one figure that represent “Souverain”, fears, ambition, horror, loneliness and all the dark side of human nature. We contacted a great Mexican artist called Nestor Avalos. This guy creates incredible designs. We saw the picture and we said: that’s perfect, and we created all the concept around that picture.
And finally … – You have made a tour or gigs with this album? and where?
Just recently your announced the tour with MARDUK and RAGNAROK in May 2018 in Europe, what are your expectations?
We had a two legs tour Spain on 2017 mostly on northern Spain and Madrid for presenting the album, and one important black metal festival here in Barcelona along with international bands and big names in our national scene. Now we will go through some important dates in Europe and we are really excited. It’s a big opportunity to keep growing and gaining some experience by touring with big bands like Marduk and Ragnarok. We expect good acceptance towards the album and the show experience.
I want to say thank you for your time and the interview for “Metalheads Forever Magazine”, have a nice day, Gothik Divaa.
Thank you for the interview!
MHF Magazine/Gothik Divaa
