Goatflesh Interview

 1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

DMN:
Hails! Now the creating process is more difficult, because according to my military-duties – I’m located in another city. And there is a real lack of free time.

But in general – I’m fine, and other members too, as I know.

Devourer of the Sacred Salts:
Previously announced split with Bestial Abyss should be unleashed in coming time via Unpure Records, so we are looking forward to the release!
We changed the approach, added the percussion and also it was a step back to Goatflesh early days when we created straight and primitive material. Having said that I mean that the split Goatflesh/Bestial Abyss and the first tape “…Of Pure rape and blasphemy” have a lot of things in common.



Also we have almost finished the recording of the new split album that is scheduled for spring. I am very proud of this work, especially in the case of the sound we achieved and also the fact that the whole recording went very smoothly, despite the blackouts and other shit. Vocals for one of the songs are recorded by the Alexander, the first Goatflesh singer, which voice can be heard on the “…Of Pure rape and blasphemy” tape.

2.In June you had released your first full length, musically how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

Desecrated Souls’ Redeemer:
On the album we changed the microphones set up and amplifiers settings to achieve true bestial black metal sound. So we re-recorded a few old songs and added a few new ones. We are returning to the roots of the genre and this is a new stage for the band.

DMN:
That was my first studio work with Goatflesh when guys asked me to record some vocals. At that time – everything else was already done before. So I just recorded my vocal parts and wrote lyrics for “Goatlord Revelation”.

But the main idea was experiments with sound, everything was recorded on analog equipment as on the split with Bestial Vomit before, but we tried a different approach with the mastering.

Devourer of the Sacred Salts:
Yes, the most important part of the genre is sound. You can play the most famous riffs by the Black/Death pioneers but there will no impact because of fucked up production. This is the biggest problem of metal music nowadays. Shitty sound engineers guided by youtube tutorials are killing almost every metal record. We had the same problem back in the days when we asked the regular metal guy to one of our demos. Thats why we ended mixing our releases by ourselves, of course we are far from the perfect bestial sound haha, but we are on the right way to hell I guess. 

3.From 2016 to 2022 there was no music being released, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame?

Devourer of the Sacred Salts:
I was concentrated on Grave Circles and Peste Noire releases and we have lost almost all other members. When guys from Bestial Vomit asked me to record drums for them I decided to reanimate the Goatflesh and we recorded our side of split as a duo, with other long live bandmate CKNL. He is still a shadow member of Goatflesh who mixes and masters all releases, but sadly he quit playing guitar. 

4.Someof your lyrics over the years cover satanic and occult themes, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in the dark arts?

DMN:
Occultism, dark arts and reflection of darkness in human nature – was definitely the biggest source of my inspiration for all those years in which I was involved in black/death music.

5.What are some of the other lyrical topics and subjects the band has explored so far with the music?

DMN:
On the full-lenght the lyrics were done by Devourer of the Sacred Salts, so he could explain the sense and meanings better. My lyrics are mostly inspired by occultism, Devil, death-worship and human’s downfall. I need to say - we have a really democratic environment inside the band, so everyone can bring any ideas about music, lyrics, cover art, etc… During discussions about the CD artwork - we have decided that there will be some fragments of song-lyrics, instead full texts.

Devourer of the Sacred Salts:
It depends on the song, so it is hard to explain the whole album in a couple of sentences. As for the lyrical approach I always preferred spitting venom rather than high poetical verses, the music itself brings us to something oppositional, feral, primordial and lyrics should contain this madness as well. 

6.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Goatflesh'?

DMN:
I think nothing fancy - just a symbol of cursed creation and blasphemy. Pretty in style and  traditions of the old scene.

Devourer of the Sacred Salts:
When we started we played some time unnamed, but we looked for smth particular that will precisely determine the music and atmosphere behind. I was inspired by the British industrial project Godflesh, as I remember. 

7.Can you tell us  a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album?

DMN: Our drummer and band-founder - offered this art. So about meaning – better ask him. It’s made by our friend Warhead art, who is well-known in metal underground.

Devourer of the Sacred Salts:
The cover's symbolism reflects the passion of some of our members for mushrooms, Mesoamerican culture and a fierce love for dirty graveyard heavy metal sound.

8.So far the band has not had any live shows, are you open to the idea in the future?

DMN:
In the future, after war – probably. Now it’s unfortunately problematic, especially for me.

Devourer of the Sacred Salts:
Even before we didn't have concerts and the audience here, so it is hard to imagine.
In all of our city's history we haven’t had a single black metal band.  The city has more than 400,000 people but there are very few musicians and not many fans either.  As of now there are a couple of poser metalcore bands but other than that nothing.  In our Post-Soviet world being a metal fan or musician isn’t really trendy.  If you like heavy music, you must be some kind of freak. There aren’t many new people coming to the scene and as folks in the scene get older they leave to dedicate more time to family or work. So the older generation retires and the younger generation isn’t in a hurry to replace the old timers. That translates into lack of resources for even a regular rock/metal scene, nevermind black/death metal.

Desecrated Souls’ Redeemer:
Not only in our city - there are no or very few black/death metal bands in Ukraine. We don’t have the scene here. Maybe after the war we will be able to perform live, but not now

9.In 2023 you had done a split with 'Bestial Vomit', what are your thoughts on the other band that had participated on the recording?

DMN:
Can’t say anything about those guys because I have never met them. About music – good split-mates if we are talking about Ukrainian bands.
Generally we have some black metal bands in Ukraine.. And with some of them - I’m in a good relationship. But as for the old school death/black metal scene -  in Ukraine it’s none…

Devourer of the Sacred Salts:
I don't really think that the Ukrainian black metal scene actually exists.  The Ukrainian stage has its style, but it has very little to do with black metal.  Take any popular Ukrainian project in the scene and compare it to such unholy acts as Clandestine Blaze, Katharsis or Moonblood.  The difference is immense. I would say that the Ukrainian stage is more folk/pagan than black. There are interesting projects like Do Skonu, Shadows Ground, Lutomysl… early Lucifugum which are desecrated and usurpied now.  It is possible that I left someone out, but considering the size of the territory of our country it is only a tiny minority of bands.  

As for Bestial Vomit - I know them personally and we spent a great time together in Chernivtsi city. They had a vintage basement in the old building from the Austro-Hungarian Empire with arches and candle mounts. The more black metal place is hard to find ahah. 

Also they have about 6 unrecorded songs, closer to the Proclamation style as I remember, maybe one day they will face the light. 

10.In the past you have done 'Blasphemophagher'  and 'Morbosidad' covers, what was the decision behind doing your own version of their songs?

DMN:
Blasphemophager was a very cool band with crushing and intensive stuff. So I understood that choice.

Morbosidad is definitely a big name in black/death scene, but I’m personally not a big fan.

Devourer of the Sacred Salts:
Blasphemophager’s music pushed us to start a band back in the days. We were totally killed by their “Atomic Infested Carnage EP” and early splits and I still remember almost every song.
Gasmasks, apocalypse, bestial hordes, blasphemy…  that was the exact images we were into. Morbosidad was also one of the first bands that was easy to find and we decided to learn a cover to train our speed and to gain more experience. Their album “Profana la cruz del nazareno” still rocks!

So-called idols of the genre inspired us to work on the correct sound and to improve ourselves. 

11.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of war and bestial black/death metal?

DMN:
I have no idea.... And even more I don’t give a shit about that. I just play this music because I love it, and I have a strong inner hunger to create that dark stuff. So if somebody likes it, it's great, if somebody is dissappointed – zero fuck given.

Devourer of the Sacred Salts:
Tbh we have zero experience in promotion and also promotion should not be part of underground culture I guess. So our release simply drowned in cyberspace among the other black’n’death releases that are spitting out from demiurge’s ass every hour. So - hard to tell…

12.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?

Desecrated Souls’ Redeemer:
Last year I finished music for Celestial Silence and Devourer of the Sacred Salts helped with recording drums. So it looks like 2025 will be full of releases.

Devourer of the Sacred Salts:
Grave Circles is currently releasing the second full length album. In summer 2024 I recorded drums for Celestial Silence and for one secret finnish band as well. So I'm looking forward to the release. Also I plan to record drums for two Ildjarn style projects, let's see. Generally I am exhausted and have not touched the kit for a while.  

13.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

DMN:
Planning for the future it’s a very brave step In Ukraine now, ha-ha-ha..

But seriously – who knows. Let's see

Devourer of the Sacred Salts:
After the two splits we plan to release a new compilation that will include 5 tracks from the new splits, 3 remastered tracks from split with Bestial Vomit and 3 remastered tracks from demo 2016. You can check the remastered versions on our youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@cofr666

Desecrated Souls’ Redeemer:
I am going to start composing music for the next album. I already have a few ideas but really didn’t start working on them. So let's wait and see what happens next.

14.What are some of the bands or musical styles the band members are listening to nowadays?

DMN:
A lot of genres..But if we are talking about black/death metal, I would call:

Archgoat, Beherit, Teitanblood, Blasphemy, Von, Witchrist, Diocletian, Necroblood,

Void Meditation Cult, Death Worship, Genocide Shrines, Deiphago… This list could be very long..

Devourer of the Sacred Salts:
I really enjoyed the latest Old Wainds and Shadow Ground releases… I rarely listen to music because I am always involved in the process of its creation or job. Lately I listened to Ungod, Sol (Denmark), The Angelic Process, Master's Hammer early tapes.. Katharsis is still one of my favourite bands, Nurse with Wound.
Regarding the black death bands - Black Witchery, Blasphemy, Conqueror.

Desecrated Souls’ Redeemer:
For me there are a lot of bands in different metal subgenres… If we are talking about black/death metal it is Blasphemy, Diocletian and especially Revenge – I think their influences easily could be found in our songs like in Degenerate Indoctrination. 

15.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

DMN: Support real black metal of death and underground! Enjoy good drinks and a good metal sound!

Desecrated Souls’ Redeemer: Stay metal, stay true!
Devourer of the Sacred Salts: Amen