Interview: Dyvan – Vocals; Kiszka – Bass
Hello mates! How are you? Your started promotion for your new album “ROTend”. How are you satisfied so far with the response?
Dyvan: Hi Aleš and all Rum zine readers! Of course, we are pleased with the reactions that come to us from all over the world! I don’t remember that the album “ROTend” had a worse review than “good”. And most of them are even ultra-positive, if I may say so 😉 For which of course we are very grateful!
How was the recording of the album? What is your message through the title “ROTend”?
Dyvan: I recorded the vocals in a home studio in Rzeszów, I got away very quickly, rounding up we ended up with two days of recording. I knew what and how I wanted to record, so there was no problem that something didn’t go as I wanted it to.
How would you describe the transition in sound on the new album?
Dyvan: The transition you are asking about is natural, because the line-up has changed, and thus the vision of the sound. If we manage to realize our plans to record and release the next album, I am sure that the sound changes will go even further. I am very curious myself what the effect will be, but of course there is a long way to go.
What are the biggest differences between this album and the previous records? I think than new songs very intensive, music face tradicionaly cruel, but so modern. 🙂
Dyvan: I think that the differences between individual EPITOME releases are very large, despite moving in more or less the same musical framework. As I mentioned before, the line-up changed with the creation and release of the last album, but there were also changes before that. And each line-up change had an impact on how each subsequent material sounded, and also had an impact on how much time passed between subsequent releases. Between “ROTend” and “TheoROTical” the gap was quite large – 8 years. However, at the moment I can assure you that we are already putting together ideas for the next album, so if nothing super difficult to skip ahead, the wait for it will be definitely shorter.
I´am fan of old records of EPITOME and new album is very intensive and sentimental experience. You take pride in being kind of a continuous part of polish metal scene?
Dyvan: I think that Kiszka and Misiek can be perceived as continuators of the “Polish Metal Scene”. Both me and Rafał (drummer) are new people in the band so at the moment we are learning to exist in this reality. Of course, we’re not 16, we’ve both recorded something in our lives, and we’re still active in our other bands. So, in principle, we can also feel that way, although none of us, at this moment, have even thought about what we are doing in this context.
DEAD INFECTION, SQUASH BOWELS, REINFECTION and EPITOME! It was one big family? It´s true? What were some of your earliest influences?
Dyvan: I personally am a fan of SQUASH BOWELS, DEAD INFECTION and REINFECTION. We can most identify with REINFECTION as a family, because our guitarist Misiek has been behind the band’s guitar for probably 23 years. 🙂
Do you remember any particular event with these bands? And, what bands in the past were your favorite to play live shows with?
Kiszka: One of the above mentioned is REINFECTION, with whom we played quite a lot of concerts in Europe. With the rest of the bands, we had some single plays. For the most part, I have fond memories of the concerts we played over the years and there are no special bands to single out anyone. All of them influenced the history of the band in some way and the memories will stay forever…
What are some of your thoughts on the evolution of death metal/grindcore scene throughout the years? What are your favourite all times bands and albums?
Dyvan: I’m probably not going to be very original on this topic. This list is mostly genre classics. “Scum”, “FETO” NAPALM DEATH, “Extreme Conditions…” BRUTAL TRUTH, “World Downfall” TERRORIZER, “Reek of Putrefaction” CARCASS, “Surgical Disembowelment” DEAD INFECTION, generally those albums that could fit this definition there is a lot of hooking up. Such a charm of GrindCore that every second album is such a firecracker that it’s hard to choose. 🙂
Many bands like to promote themselves and their music through social media and connect with their fans this way. Is it ideal place for EPITOME too? Or you prefere old underground rules? 🙂
Dyvan: No promotion, neither underground nor mainstream, will help us anymore. 🙂 EPITOME will always be an underground band. Currently, it does not matter whether we use “underground” forms of promotion or those generally available. There are already so many bands in the world that it is extremely hard to break through, even for a band with 30 years of experience. Especially since there was an 8-year hiatus in the business.
What’s your opinion about the nowadays metal bands? What advice would you offer to young musicians?
Dyvan: My opinion is not much different from the opinion of other people that in times when there are so many bands in the world, it is obvious that most probably 50% of the bands that I manage to meet at all do not impress me at all, and the other half of teams is strong, they know what they are doing, they know how to reach people. I am already so far behind in discovering new bands that with each passing year I have a more and more vague idea about metal music… Such a situation would have been unthinkable some 15 years ago, when I was still firmly in the music press (also underground) and on various websites.
You’ve been recording for many years now. Is there something that you still haven’t achieved or done? Does exist some music dreams?
Dyvan: The truth is absolute in this matter. I haven’t achieved anything in music. 🙂 And I don’t have any big dreams in this context. Of course, success is to play good concerts, for which we do not have to pay extra from our own pockets, but there is nothing to cheat – we play because it is our passion. We don’t collect any profits from it, so I can say with a clear conscience that we play for ourselves and those a dozen, maybe a few dozen people who want to come to the concert, buy a CD or a T-shirt, and it’s best to shoot a few breweries together. 🙂
And now concerts of tour… Are there any countries which you would like to tour for the first time?
Dyvan: I think we’ll be happy to play wherever there are people who want to come to our concert, it doesn’t matter if we’ve already been there or not. So if you would like to see EPITOME in your city, hit the local promoters, share info from us, because we are still alive!
Thanks so much for this interview! All the best!
Dyvan: Thank you very much for your time, yours and readers, devoted to reading our scribbles! Hope to see you soon at one of our concerts. If you want to be up to date with the EPITOME band, I invite you to follow our FB page!
ALL