Obtest pour l'album "Gyvybes Medis"

La Lituanie n'a pas passé les demi-finales de l'Eurovision (vous savez, le concours où seuls les chanteurs les plus ridicules accompagnés d'un champion du patin à glace sur une piste de trois mètres de diamètre ont une chance), et ça c'est quand même un réel signe de talent musical. Après l'excellent Gyvybes Medis, il était bien difficile de ne pas demander aux valeureux lituaniens d'Obtest plus de précisions sur la conception de l'album et son avenir. Une interview avec en prime de vraies questions de géopolitique dedans, au cas où quelqu'un d'intelligent nous lirait.

Laba diena Obtest, thank you for accepting this interview ! Unfortunately, you're not really known here in France, so could you please introduce your band to our readers ?

-The band OBTEST formed in the end of 1992. The first rehearsal tape was recorded in summer of 1994. It was raw and furious black metal tunes. In 1995 we recorded two demo tapes "Oldness Comming" and "Pries Audra". The last one was distributed well onto underground world all around the planet. The next step was "Tukstantmetis" album, which was released on April 23rd of 1997 as a tape-album. The MC album was released in Lithuania and distributed locally. The first 7"EP "997" was put out by German Miriquidi Productions (Hail!) in 1998. After the realization of EP Miriquidi agreed to put out CD version of "Tukstantmetis" album, so it was distributed worldwide from 1999. In the year 2000 OBTEST played a tour in Germany as a support band for Eminenz. One more 7" EP "Prisiek" was released in Germany in 2001. In the end of the year OBTEST signed to Ledo Takas and recorded second full-length album "Auka Seniems Dievams". The album was released as LP/CD and distributed worldwide. In autumn of 2002 OBTEST toured in Europe with Skyforger, Sear Bliss, Grief of Emerald. In 2003 "Dvylika JuodVarniu" 7"EP was put out by Ledo Takas Records, in memory of Lord Ominous (Anubi). In the fall of 2005 the third album "Is Kartos I Karta" (From generation to generation) was released. The promotional concerts began in winter, OBTEST played in Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, Germany, Czech, Ireland, Portugal. In January of 2007 two gigs happened in U.S., one of them at the “Heathen Crusade” festival. The latest, fourth album “Gyvybes Medis” was recorded in April of 2007 in Poland. Due to the mixing and mastering works and negotiations between record labels and the band, this album realization date moved to April of this year, 2008.


How would you describe Obtest's music ? What bands influenced you ?

We play pagan metal. Pagan means that our lyrics and spirit is bound to the old culture and traditions, metal means that we transform our feelings and musical experience into metal sounding tunes. Influence comes from different sources, it may be music, literature, personal experience and art in general. Once fascinated by heavy metal and black metal, now inspiration comes from rock, pure folk, experimental, industrial, medieval, even pop music. Some bands should be mentioned here: FESTER, DARK THRONE, DEAD CAN DANCE, EKOVA, LOVE, THIN LIZZY, KREATOR, ENSLAVED, TORMENTOR, CRUACHAN, DEATH, EINSTURZENDE NEUBAUTEN, TRANSILVANIANS, MARY BOINE, JAN GARBAREK, GR.OB., A-HA, ILGI, PARADISE LOST, and so on.


Now let's talk about “Gyvybes Medis”, your brand new album. “Is Kartos I Karta” was released in 2005, while many songs of Gyvybes Medis were written between 2002 and 2006. How do you compose them, do you already have songs for your next album ?

There are always some sketches and demo songs in different forms. You play and rewind all unreleased material, and from time to time you get new ideas and could use it for a new song. The heritage is so big, I think in our entire future releases there will be something from the old times.
The problem is to write lyrics, it doesn't come out as fast as the music. So we could release instrumental album every year, he he… It's too early to talk about the next album, but there are already a couple of tracks, even ten years old, so the work is in progress.


Could you tell us more about the lyrics, the Lithuanian legends and the “Tree of Life” ?

Tree of the world, axis mundi, is the topic of the album. The opener “Apeigos / Rites" is about the offering. If you want to take and share something, you have to give, it may be in other time and space, it doesn't matter – it will find its way. Nothing comes from nowhere, nothing disappears, that's the universal law. This moment when the drops of mead fall down the beard you feel the connection with the whole, and a total “discharge”. The title song “Gyvybes medis / Tree of life” and “Sakalo vaikai / Children of the hawk” are based on ancient folk song, where the whole model of the Baltic world is represented. The young riders come to an old tree, and they are asked to stop for a while, and to listen to the kankles (ancient string instrument) playing under the roots of the tree. In old times kankles was made when someone's parents were passing away. You had to cut the fir tree in a burial place, and make the instrument out of it. Playing this instrument was very personal, one had to play it alone. This was some kind of relation with the dead relative. The next thing tree asks is to hear the bees humming in the branches. Branches are represented as our world of mortals, full of life and death, full of eventual changes. It's kind of education on topic how the circle of life turns around. The last request of the tree is to look upon the children of the Hawk. The nest is on the top of the tree, the Hawk is an intermediary between mortals and those of the divine origin. The possibility to see the hawk so close is when he is still young and is in the nest.


It seems like Obtest is more and more changing into a heavy/thrash metal band, while black metal influences have now disappeared. What are your feelings about your musical evolution ?

The thrash you just mentioned was always in our tunes, I think, more or less, starting with the debut album. The disappearing of black metal influence is obvious, but it is in our roots, we could not deny it. Musical evolution is a natural thing, because there is no sense to release similar album after album, except when caring about one point – commercial suck-cess, what is a great test for an artist. Music is a matter without limits, and you should always improve it, till the moment you have said everything you wanted, and proudly split up.


Why was this album recorded at the Hertz Studio ? This is a strange choice, since it is known for its polish death metal sound !

It was an experiment for us. All we wanted was a good quality record, since almost all of our previous recordings were done at home studios.


Could you tell us more about your new deal with French label Osmose Records ?
We signed a deal with Osmose Productions for two or three albums, and it's an honour to deal with the cult label, which work/ed with such artists like ENSLAVED, IMPALED NAZARENE, ROTTING CHRIST, IMMORTAL, MASTER'S HAMMER.


As a consequence, will you play some French dates to promote this album ?

I hope so much, that we play in France couple of concerts this fall, actually we have never played in France before and it would be a great opportunity.


How are the critics towards Gyvybes Medis so far? If you didn't know (but I don't think so), they are really positive in France as far as I know.

We get some reviews, and it's nice that most of them are very positive, anyway it's important for us to get as much critics, both good and negative. It's nice to hear that France accepts our latest album, so it would be a big pleasure to play there live, I hope.


Except Obtest, most French metalheads don't know any other Lithuanian metal band. So how is the metal scene in Lithuania ?

Lithuanian metal scene is small and insignificant, but has some exceptions. Non existing bands like ANUBI, GHOSTORM, POCCOLUS played their important role in Lithuanian and worldwide underground. These days we have some local acts like ARGHARUS, SOUL STEALER, ANDAJA, NAHASH (old black metal legend), RUINATION, ZALVARINIS, LUCTUS.


What do you think about the folk metal scene in general ? We have a French band called Hantaoma, which lyrics are written in their regional language (in the south of France, near Spain) and the music is quite similar to yours. Do you know them?

I never listen to the music as the scenes, styles or genres. I think that folk metal scene has some root bands and a big army of clones, as any other music wave, and it's only my opinion, because there are lots of different tastes, and every band, even most shitty one has its crowd. I have listened to Hantaoma's album “Malombra”, just because you mentioned them. It's quite catchy here and there, and what I like most is that they sing in their native language.


Did you watch Eurovision ? You said to Metallian magazine that you knew the Lithuanian singer so what do you think about his performance and the whole competition ?

I've seen first semi-final of Eurovision and I think among lots of circus Jeronimas Milius made his best, but this is not a competition for such genres anyway. This is the crappy show for poppy tits and crying sweet boys, but Lithuanian crowd decided to send him there, and he did his best, I think.


How is it to live in Lithuania since the end of the Eastern bloc ? I read that Lithuania has the highest rate of suicide in the world ! How do you explain that ?

Lithuania appears in a very bad geopolitical place, so the state always suffered from the foreign armies marching across and so on. After the fall of the soviet times, it's like 17 years passed, and the changes are great both social, economical and cultural. Anyway society is too oldschool and too exhausted to change so fast. I think we still had no real “revolution” here, and it would fit here no doubt!


What do you think about the recent coming into the European Union, did life change for people ?

Yeah, life has changed greatly. And it's a test not only for us, but for the rest of Europe as well. For people like us it's much better, but for older people it's not so good, lots of them are depressed. Could you imagine one person living in the same place, who was born in Poland, raised children and had a family in Soviet Lithuania, and now is counting his last days in re-established free Lithuania. It's confusing.


Thanks for the answers, I let you conclude!

Thanx for the interview, hope to see you in France one day! Merci!