Interview: Affliction Gate (France)

Today we have this Interview with this Obscure Deathmetallers from France... Affliction Gate!

1.- Hails guys! First of all, could you tell us your names and positions and how did you form the band?
- AG was born by the gathering of JP (drums), Herostratos (vocals) and me, Grief, (guitar) in Spring 2006. We are 3 long times friends and Metalheads so, we just thought it was finally time to start a band together with the aim to play traditional Death Metal as it used to be in its glorious era back in late 80’s and early 90’s. A couple of friends complete the line up as session members for lead guitar and bass duties.

2.- What bands inspired you to create Affliction Gate with this amazing and real Death Metal style?
- I can mention names as BENEDICTION, MASSACRE, GRAVE, UNLEASHED, ASPHYX, BOLT THROWER, MORGOTH, MANTAS / DEATH etc... Those are the most obvious influences. To pay homage to the early cult stuffs of those bands is what we are all about. We don’t care if we are not original : anyway, we all know that all the essential riffs and releases of the genre have been already done between 1987 and 1993. We just want to contribute to keep the ancient flame alive !

3.- How much time did you take to have ready the first Affliction Gate EP songs and recording? Do you have other recordings before this EP?
- Well, in spite of the fact that the band was formed in 2006 we could only record our first EP in August 2008. Due to other personal priorities, AFFLICTION GATE was quite dormant for 2 years. Anyway, that’s old story and our band is 100% active now. We recorded “severance...” during various sessions in August. It was home made recording with limited equipment but I think the result is really decent. The songs which appear on this EP were already composed and structured since 2006. Same for those on the album except “the worst is yet to come” which was composed in 2009. “Severance...” is the very first recording and release of AG, actually.

4.- The past year released your debut album "Aeon of Nox (From Darkness Comes Liberation)" with who worked for this album, and how was the contact with Vincent Crowley from the mighty "Acheron"?
- Actually, I was already yet briefly in touch with Vincent back in the early 2000’s. Then, when the EP was out I got in touch with him again through Myspace and we traded some stuffs. When working on the intro of this song in rehearsal, we thought about adding a guest for the narration part. So, the name of Vincent came to our minds as we knew his voice could fit fucking well ! I wrote him to propose this idea and he answered that he was ok to do it. Some weeks later we received the Wave files through Internet Then, we thought it would be great if he could do more vocals and backing vocals on some parts of the song which he agreed again. It was very easy and great to deal with him and we are extremely honoured to have his voice on the album.



5.- What can you say about this song "Cattle Burner"?
- Lyrics deal with a battle against conformity put in an apocalyptical warfare’s context and including some philosophical hints refering to Nietzsche’s work.

6.- You played with "Arghoslent" right? How are these guys? They are seriously criticized about their radical ideas... so, i´m just curious.
- Yes, we shared the bill with ARGHOSLENT and they are cool guys. As far as we are concerned, we have no interest at all in political issues, be it from the left winged or right winged side. So, radical opinions or not, we don’t care about this matter, anyway. On another hand, for our very first gig, we shared the bill with the French band IBOGAINE who stands for the complete ideological opposite since they are a part of the “Metalheads against Racism” campaign. As you can figure out by yourself, we believe that freedom of speech is primordial especially in Art where no limit should be imposed as we consider that bands have the right to express what they want.

7.- How was the contact to sign with Metal Inquisition Records and how is your relation with them?
- While looking for a deal for the debut album, I got in touch with several labels and METAL INQUISITION is the one who made us the most honorable and concrete offer. A more oriented Death Metal label is what we needed so, to sign with this label suit us well. We have excellent relations with Steffen / MI and he is doing some really cool job for us at the moment.

8.- Talking about French scene, how is it in these days? In the past you had many great bands like Massacra, Crusher, Agressor, Loudblast, Mercyless, Supuration, Mutilated, Dagon, ADX... Now i don´t really know a good number of great bands from France, almost all the bands plays Brutal Ultra Technical stuff, what dou you think about this?
- Traditional Death Metal as we play is truly a minority here. Good old school sounding bands that need to be mentioned are BLOODY SIGN, NECROWRETCH, ZOLDIER NOIZ (thrash / death), BRUTAL REBIRTH, THE SEVEN GATES, NECROS, RITUALIZATION, RESISTANCE (heavy / thrash). To keep it short : Death Metal needs atmosphere, soul / feeling and hooks, not all this empty constant blast beating & musical masturbation ! All these kinds of stuffs are really annoying and uninteresting, if you ask me.




9.- How is a gig of Affliction Gate?
- We only played 3 gigs so far. The last one with ARGHOSLENT being almost one year ago now but new gigs will happen on May. We rather chose to concentrate on the album recording and release last year, actually. To get back to your question, we simply try to offer a pure Death Metal ceremony & a travel back into time to the crowd !

10.- For you what is the meaning of Affliction Gate, why did you choose this name for the band?
- This is a quite conceptual and philosophical name. AFFLICTION GATE means a path of no return & of severance to reach strength and freedom through despair and death. It’s Herostratos who came up with this name being the perfect symbol of our dark perspectives.

11.- How can we stay underground with fashions which kill genres like Thrash Metal, Death Metal and Black Metal?
- The best is to ignore all these trends. At a time where you can find eveyrthing on Internet (even the most Underground stuffs), I think to be Underground is much more a state of mind which rather means integrity, dedication, passion and sincerity above all. As long as you do no compromise, stay true to yourselves and to what you stand for, that’s the only thing that matters. All the fucking silly trends of the world will never reach us, anyway. I am a Metal fan since the late 80’s so I saw lots of trends come and go but I will always stick to traditional stuffs, be it in Hard, Heavy, Speed / Thrash, Death or Black Metal genres. Some can call me a regressive and nostalgic guy but I take it as a compliment for sure ! (laughs)

12.- Could you describe in 5 words the sound of Affliction Gate?
- Total old school DM worship & tribute!



13.- Could you recommend us some great French Metal Bands?
- I guess you mainly mentionned them in your question 8. Just add NO RETURN “contamination rises” as well as CATACOMB demos and you have all the essential stuffs that France can propose in Death Metal.

14.- Plans for this 2010?
- To prepare the upcoming gigs in late May, including a participation to the Festung Open Air in Bitterfeld, Germany. Of course, we are also working on new material and we will probably record a DEATH / MASSACRE cover “corpsegrinder” as bonus track for the limited LP version of “aeon of nox...” to be out this year. Recently, we also thought about filming a video clip for the song “knights of scorn” maybe.

15.- For last anything to add or ask?
- Thank you very much for the support and long live to OBLITERACION ! Cheers to all Mexican and South American old school Death Metal maniacs!!!

You can check this guys on:
www.myspace.com/afflictiongate