1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the solo project?
Petrale is kind of a supernatural entity that uses my biological functions to realize it’s musical ideas. Petrale itself doesn’t speak, but since I’m it’s earthly wessel, I know a few things of course and can give some answers when Petrale allows me to.
I’m a drummer/vocalist and since i never played guitar or bass, i had to program them on the first 5 albums. On “Vrh” however, Petrale had the idea that i could play them for real because i would have time to learn it due to the pandemic. That was very laborious and painful. Usually one doesn't learn a new instrument in recording a completely written album with it. Less so 2 new instruments. Therefore Petrale realized he owes me. That’s why I’m allowed to give out information since the release of "Vrh".
Petrale's musical goal is to write music that is as dark, disturbing and terrifying as possible and as intersting as possible.
2.A few months back you had released a new album, musically how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
Every Petrale album has a musical concept. For the "Mirabilis Jalapa" album it was the abyss devouring the ruins of a burnt planet (the burning itself was the concept on "All Things Infernal"). So the goal was to write songs that have a “devouring feeling”. That’s why You’ll find a lot of these riffs based on beats with 16th note double bass runs and half note snare accent combined with tremolo picked guitars and slow note changes.
On Vrh the concept is that the same abyss now regurgitates everything and spits it out again. Since that is a rather eruptive process, you’ll find a lot more “unannounced” changes. Like changing into a blast beat in the middle of a slow riff without "preparing" the changeover with a fill in or something.
3.Your lyrics focus mostly on 'Manifestations of the devil in a rural Mediterranean catholic area', can you tell us a little bit more about the songwriting process and your interest in this topic?
The songwriting process goes basically like this: Start with a simple riff. Then grab the devil and start adding it until it spills over. Than add one more time as much. Then try to make the song as interesting as possible. Then check if some devil got lost in the process. If not, the song is finished. If yes reverse the process slowly until the point is reached where all of the devil added is still there and try again.
If one would analize the outcomes of the method described above according to music theory, one could say that Petrale uses a lot of minor and minor add2/add9 chords, that get shifted arround chromatically, then there is quite an ammount of dimished seconds and tritones and some sporadic use of dorian scales. Rhythms are mostly metal stuff (blastbeats, doublebass) but there is also odd meters and syncopation.
For the lyrical themes: Rural Mediterrenean catholic areas should actually be places where there is no devil present. At least the area i grew up is crowded with people, that define themselves as very good catholics. Very good catholics know exactly what comprises a sin and what doesn't, so they should be pretty safe. And if for some reason they commit a sin, they can still go and confess and it will be fine. Means in such an area there simply shouldn't be any souls for the devil to collect. And yet, acoording to those same people, the devil is lurking behind every corner. And to go further: some of them end up accidentally selling their souls to the devil in trying to protect themselves from it. And then there are even those, that use straight up occult methods (curses, hexes) to gain an advantage. That's something Petrale thinks is very fascinating.
The detailed lyrical topics try to fit the musical concept. The vomiting abyss concept of "Vrh" can be associated with with secrets finding their way to the surface. That process can be quite explosive, especially when it's about religious taboos. Therefore most of the lyrics on Vrh describe this process based on stories, that are true or based on rumours. Guess the fact, that i'm from the area and familiar with certain things and like black metal at the same time, made Petrale chose me as his earthly wessel.
4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Petrale'?
Petrale is the name of a patch of forested area in the place i grew up. There were a lot of dark stories about the place back in the day and people tended to avoid going there. Part of the area was the property of a familly, whose members had a reputation of being rather unpleasant people. Since what Petrale does would be percieved as unpleasant at least by most people, the name fits well.
5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
The motto of the album is "The abyss is about to vomit. High ground provides the best view of the spectacle."
Therefore the artwork depicts the top of Malaštica hill, that overlooks the area i grew up. "Vrh" means "top" or "pinnacle" in Croatian. The colors were altered to fit the vomiting abyss concept.
6.With this project you record everything by yourself, do you prefer to work solo?
For this project's songwriting and recording process i really like to work solo. Petrale has a clear artistic vision, so it's much easier and faster to realize it that way. But i like both. I also play in real bands. Having additional musicians would be nice for Petrale live performances. But it's not easy to find three musicians that are 1) good enough, 2) like to play atonal, dissonant stuff, 3) are not a pain to work with, 4) willing to do everything exactly how Petrale demands. People that like to play this kind of music (including myself) are, let's be honest, usually somewhat crazy. But if the crazyness isn't compatible between people, problems arise. It would also be pretty time consuming. I would have to relearn the songs myself. Petrale stuff gets written and recorded at the same time. I don't play the songs anymore after that.
7.So far you have kept a low profile other than a metal archives and bandcamp page, do you feel it is a lot better to release music without people knowing who you are?
Petrale itself doesn't have a need for attention. And i myself always felt, that black metal works best when it's obscure. I'm already an older person, old enough to have witnessed the beginnings of the so called 2nd BM wave. Before the stupid events of 1991-93, the pioneers of the 2nd wave were mostly known for their unique sound. Most people didn't know who those guys were. I liked that. I like to channel all of my dark energy into music instead on wasting it on other things.
I don't know if it's better it's just that i feel comfortable this way. I like more and i'm better at writing new music than at promoting it. Vrh is the first album i actually did some promotion for. Mainly because it's the first one with all real guitars/bass and i felt it's good enough and that there might be more than 20 people out there that like it.
8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
I would like to have a vinyl release of "Vrh". Since that's something i cannot really do myself i sent out a few requests to labels, that release music i like, for a collaboration in that manner. So far i haven't got any answers. I'm planning to do a tape release of "Vrh" with Necroeucharist Productions.
I got a few requests from some labels, but those requests looked like chain letters/scam, so i never answered.
9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal?
The reactions so far are not many of course, but most have been pretty positive.
10.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician during the future?
I'm already full on heading towards the future. Petrale is bombarding me with ideas for the next record. The musical concept is defined and pretty tricky. Which is a good thing. That way i'm forced to learn new stuff and can grow as a musician. When i finish that record, if Petrale continues to come up with stuff, i guess i will start with the next one and so forth. It could be however, that it will take longer to finish albums in the future due to the following reasons:
- I will continue recording real guitars and bass and im still pretty bad at it so it takes time.
- The situation with the pandemic allows my real bands to become more active again.
- Petrale would like me to record real guitar and bass for the first 5 albums too. "From under the Floorboards" i just finished. I will put the new versions on bandcamp in the next few weeks. The original versions will remain available. I'm planning to put them on a digipack CD-r release too.
11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
The biggest influence is "A Blaze in the Northern Sky" by Darkthrone. That album is the benchmark for how i feel black metal should sound. This was the first extreme metal album, that didn't use only powerchords as main harmonic element and brought in stuff, that in metal one would only hear from Voivod back then. That together with the intonation and expression previosly mostly known from Autopsy, sealed the deal for me.
Other important influences are Autopsy, Voivod, Mayhem, Bohren und der Club of Gore, Portal, Detroit Techno and Spicelab.
Nowadays i'm listening to a lot of new metal and jazz stuff i discovered on Bandcamp or stumbled upon on some live shows.
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thank You very much for the interest and support!
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