Forgotten Tomb pour l'album "Love's Burial Ground"

Well, first of all, I have to say that I haven’t listened yet to the new album (Love’s Burial Ground), so what can you tell me about this record?

The album is the first one with a complete line-up, I am playing rythm guitars and vocals, and we have a lead guitarist and a drummer, I play bass too on this album but now we have an official bass player since a few months. By the way, the new album is more or less in the vein of the past two ones, I mean you can hear both influences of Songs To Leave and Springtime Depression, but we added new elements to the new album as we always do with every album. So I think these songs are more structured, there are always very long songs but they are more structured compared to the past. I think this is the best thing because there is realy negative adds on the new song. All I know is that this is our most negative album until now.

Since Songs To leave, Forgotten Tomb has evoled from a one-man band to a complete band. For the new album, did the new members had something to say, or are you still the only master on board?

Well, I’ve wrote most of the material, but our guitar player wrote two songs by himself completely, I just added few thingsin the end. So yes, I think the new members had their space into the band for the new recording. I mean, I always add the last words on the songs, but the new members added their influence on the new album in some way, especially with the kind of playing for the drums for example. I think there was a good idea to have these guys in the band because we have the same way of seeing music, so there were no problems between us because when we wrote songs, everyone knows this is the way it has to be...

It comes naturaly...

Yes, because... we know our own style while playing, so there are no problems with different tastes or so because we all want to play in that way in the band, so in the end the songs come out really naturaly.

How was the recording of Love’s Burial Ground?

We recorded it in 9 nights, we have been realy fast in recording, but we are usualy really fast in recording because we rehearse a lot, so when we go to the studio we already know perfectly the song and we don’t have time to waste with stupid things. So the recording has been really fast, but I think it turned out really good actually. It has been strangely relaxing, I mean strange because all the past Forgotten Tomb recording have been really stressing for several reasons, so this time It was easyer, maybe because we recorded it really near to the place where we live. You are able to come home after the recording, there wasn’t any problems, and the final result is very good.


Your first MCD, Obscura Arcana Mortis was a really hateful black metal, filled with bestiallity... how can you explain the musical evolution between this record and Songs To Leave?

Basically, I still like a lot the first MCD, in fact it will be re-release on Eerie Art Records soon in vinyl and Cd with complete new artwork and it will be re-mastered. You can see I don’t deny my roots, I’m not like several people denying their beginnings, I still like a lot this MCD. I simply felt the need to play something more personnal, to play something more intimistic to express inner feelings and dark emotions. It cames natural to play that way. Actually it was the first MCD which was different from the usual Forgotten Tomb style... the way that I choosed for the Songs To leave album is the Forgotten Tomb style.

Why did you quit Selbsmord Services for Adipocere? What has changed for Forgotten Tomb since that moment?

There has been some misunderstandings between me and the guys at Selbsmord Services, several problems growing every day both on attitude and financial stuffs. I mean I was not satisfied with their way of working, plus some other misunderstandings regarding some personnal topics. All I know is that it has been better to change for Adipocere Records because they are interested in releasing our albums, they like our music and we can say everything we want on our albums. Selbsmord was more a “propaganda base”, every band was supposed to think in the way of the label. We had several points in common but I’m not used to follow, I’m used to lead.I always wanted to do something more personnal with my personnal ideas. I by the way, Selbsmord doesn’t exist anymore, so I think it was good to change for Adipocere *laughs*

How do you see the italian metal scene? Do you feel close to it?

Not at all, I have only a few friends in bands that I respect like Spite Extreme Wing, but mainly I completely hate the italian scene, it’s full of idiots trying to throw shit on the band everyday, I have to fight everyday with people, because they all feeled with envy ans stuff like this as they see Forgotten Tomb becomming bigger and bigger. It is realy stressing to deal this times with the italian black metal scene because the people are not interessted in supporting italian bands, they always look at bands comming from outside, because they think, I don’t know, they are the most “true” ones compared to the italian bands, this is a really stupid attitude. Most of them try to sound like scandinavian bands and don’t devellop an italian personnality. So I prefer to be in contact only with a few people.

What do you know in the french metal scene? What are your favorite bands?

I think there are many interessting bands in the french scene nowadays. I like Crystalium for example, Nehemah are very good or also Malleus Maleficarum. I really like some old bands such as Mütiilation, Belketre, the Black Legions stuffs. There are good bands nowadays in France.

How did you come to metal, and expecially extreme metal?

I started listening to death metal around 1994, and I’ve always been relieded to death metal but then I felt that black metal was really closer to my vision of life. I was really in the old Mayhem and Burzum in the beginning, now I listen to a lot of underground struffs since many years. Nowadays, I’m still interested in underground black metal but I don’t feel really part of it. I like to listen some bands, but I don’t really like the attitude of all the newcommers that are infesting the whole scene, I prefer to take some distance from that. I think something changed when Internet became something big, and people just writing shit on forums and all these stuffs. I think the original underground essence of black metal was lost. Now everyone is able to come to a forum and write shit about every bands, and you think you can do that because no one will ever see you etc. I hate this kind of attitude because I like people to speak in front of me.

About the “suicibal black metal” scene... do you consider yourself as a part of it? Do you feel close for example to bands like Mütiilation, Abbysic Hate or even Xasthur?

Yes, I like many bands in the so called “suicidal black metal” scene. Actually we started it in a way with Shining, of course I feel part of it but I think many people are misunderstanding the original concept of this kind of black metal. Of course I feel close to these bands but it seems to become another trend in a way, you see, we started it and a lot of people is following but I don’t think they have the right feelings to do that. It’s not a simple way of playing black metal, you really have to feel it otherwise it will look fake and it makes no sense.

Do you find a kind of inpiration in the other scenes than black and dark metal, like ambiant, doom etc. ?

I don’t find the inspiration, but I like them. I’m a lot into doom, dark metal but I don’t consider it to be influences, I created my own style, so we prefer to be an influence to other bands, not to be influenced by other bands *laughs*
I only take my inspiration from Negativity and from my personnal experiences.

I’ve read an old interview where you talked about “youth perversion” Do you realy beleive in it? Why?

Ah yes, actually, I hate youth. I mean, for instance, our fourth album will be completely based on the concept of the destruction of youth. Most of the current young people are completely worthless, without any aim in life, any ideal, they just follow what other people say and they try to appear “cool” and all this shit. I really hate young people, so I think if we can arrass this kind of people, if we can inspire them towards self-destruction as they are easy to manipulate this is great... this is the reason why we play actually. There are some Forgotten Tomb fans that are very young at this time, and I don’t think they can really understand what I’m saying about. I don’t care about people at all, I think some people listening to us should die *laughs* I have no interest in saving people, this is not the concept of the band. I think we will always increase this manupulating process, our real interest is to destroy as much young people as possible. If we can influence people and lead them towards Negativity and bad things in life, this is what we want to do... not only in our music, bat also in our everyday life.

What is your opinion about:

- Depression

I’ve been into real depression for several years due to bad experiences. Now I can finnaly see things from a different point of view because I’ve reached a moment in my life when things were so bad that I was going to choose or to kill myself or to survive. After around one month of self-destruction I finnaly experienced Negativity and the reason to worship it. First of all... I can’t kill myself because I live mainly to destroy other people so killing myself would be something really stupid and weak thing. The hate towards other people keeps me alive. I don’t feel as depressed nowadays, I already passed through a lot of negative things, so I can see them from a different point of view. I just live my everyday life and try to enjoy the good things that happen in my existence, but I always know that Negativity is upon me. I mean, Negativity decides for me, I’m not the one chosing things. I can only live my everyday life but I know one day or another Negativity will destroy all the remaining good things in my life. I don’t want to change this, I chosed a path and when you follow this way you can’t go back, so you have to be ready to every negative things in your existence and glorify it to reach an higher perception of life.

- Suicide

I’ve been near to it several times but now I see it as something stupid for me, it makes no sense. I can be alive if I can arrass other people, I don’t want to give this satisfaction to other people. It’s not something I’m interested in at the moment, but I want to promote it mainly to other people, I think there are a lot of people who deserves to kill themselves.

- Self-injury

This is something I was into in the past, but I don’t regret anything, because it was useful sometime ago to get rid of an inner pain. But now I doesn’t help me anymore, I crossed some boundaries, sometime ago I was unable to relate with suffering and self-injury was a way to get rid of bad emotions. Now I don’t want to get rid of bad emotions, I live with bad emotions, I live with Negativity itself. Everything is so negative in my life that some cuttings doesn’t help me anymore.

- Drugs

Actually I hate drugs of any kind. They are useful to kill other people, I have no problems if you use heroïn or stuff like that because you’ll surely die *laughts*. I’m not for drugs on myself, I don’t have problems with drugs for other people because they are useful to kill as many people as possible. It’s something stupid for me, I don’t like to lose control on things and to feel addicted. I don’t use drugs of any kind, just some beers actually.

- Downloading

I downloaded some music at times for the simple reason that I’ve seen many people downloading Forgotten Tomb stuffs so I don’t know why I shouln’t do that *laughts*.
But it’s not good at all because I’ve seen thoursands people downloading our albums, not fifty or a hundred of people, but thoursands. It’s a bif problem for sellings and so, expecialy for underground bands. If people start to download music and don’t buy your albums, your activity will be killed sooner or later because both the label and the band won’t have any money to record another album. Above all, I want people to buy Forgotten Tomb albums not all for my financial interest, but because we usually try to have a good packaging and we want people to read the lyrics, they are important, as much as the music. You can’t have a complete vision of the Forgotten Tomb concept with only some mp3’s.

Personnaly I download a lot, but for myself it’s just a way to discover bands and if I like it I will buy it.

Yes I download some stuffs and if I like the album, I usually buy it. I always prefer to buy the original CD, I really feel disturbed while I’m listening to a copied CD, it’s not like having the original fucking CD in your hand so you can look at the booklet etc.

I think it’s over, thank you for this interview.

Thank you too.





Merci à Adipocère et Hammer Of Gones pour avoir rendu cet entretien possible.