Interview

Dehuman Digs Up The "Graveyard Of Eden"

After unearthing the "Black Throne Of All Creation," the death metal explorers from Dehuman have now discovered the "Graveyard of Eden" (reviewed here), with the discovery set to be shared with the rest of the metal world in March.

Today we provided a sneak peek with an exclusive full album stream (still available right here). Along with that stream, Dehuman drummer Laye Louhenapessy and bassist / vocalist Andrea Vissol shared an extensive look at the album's creation and what the band hoped to achieve with this sophomore full-length release.

Andrea had this to say: "What 'Graveyard of Eden' is aiming for is to contrast with today's ultra compressed and generic material that our generation seem to have fallen into. Pure aggressive music, that shoots for creating the new, while not forgetting the old."

Read the the full interview below to find out how Dehuman's sound has evolved in recent years and get an inside view of the new album's major themes.

xFiruath: When the Dehuman guys take off their heavy metal superhero costumes, what do you do for a living in your day to day jobs?

L.L. : I’m a sound engineer at the Blackout Studio based in Brussels. Rafael works in the audio/visual production and Mathias is a live sound engineer. On the other end, Andrea is finishing is studies in political and administrative sciences and working on a booking agency.

xFiruath: What's been happening with Dehuman in-between the release of "Black Throne Of All Creation" and now, and when did you guys start writing new material for "Graveyard of Eden?"

L.L. : after the release of BTOAC, our first album, we have been focused on playing our material live. We had a few tours to promote our music and improve our live set show after show. We began working on “Graveyard of Eden” directly after the release of BTOAC, indeed we prefer to compose an album on a extended time lapse, then we can work song by song to deliver what we expect from a death metal song.

A.V.: BTOAC was released in May 2012 and until December 2013 we were active promoting it. We played a lot of tours on our own or with Agathocles and Master, which always have given us a strong support. We had the chance to play all around Europe with these guys from the United Kingdom to Turkey. We also played some festivals and local shows with bands such as Possessed, Aborted, Belphegor, Enthroned, Death to all, Macabre, Asphyx, etc. In 2014 we mainly concentrated on the album and played a few selected shows and festivals.

xFiruath: For fans of the previous album, how has the sound of Dehuman changed on this new album and how has it stayed the same?

L.L.: I will say that “Graveyard” is way more aggressive , intense and mature. We totally had control on how we wanted to sound. The fans of “Black Throne” will not be lost with this , we kept our old school vibe but on amphetamines! We got more professional in our musical approach. We kept the best in our different compositions. Our breaks and transitions are of better quality, we also decided to add more guitar solos in our music. I think we a have made an important step in our interpretation of death metal.

A.V.: What “Graveyard of Eden” is aiming for is to contrast with today's ultra compressed and generic material that our generation seem to have fallen into. Pure aggressive music, that shoots for creating the new, while not forgetting the old. Our aim is to deliver solid brutality, freshened by more melodic intervals. Adding anything to the genre that is 30 years old is not something we have the pretention to achieve, however presenting something different then BTOAC was definitely our main objective. I also like to believe this album is unique in its own way, and is a result of freedom and dedication.

xFiruath: Fill me in on the particulars of the “Graveyard of Eden” recording and mixing process.

A.V.: The production has been handled by our long time friend Phorgath of Enthroned, as a matter of fact all tracks were recorded in his studio, the Blackout Studio in Brussels home of Lvcifyre, Necrowretch, Emptiness, and Enthroned just to name a few. The mix and master were done by Francis Kastes of the Paris based Studio St Marthe itself home of Arkhon Infaustus, Kickback, Svart Crown, and more. The songs on this album were written and arranged in little over a year, the recording took about 2 weeks and a half, the mixing and mastering a week.

L.L.: I would say that we’re “at home” at the Blackout Studio, so we always take a lot of pleasure and time to record. And every extreme musician should one day work with J. Bézier alias Phorgath , he really take you where you want to go with you music and your project!

xFiruath: What's happening with the lyrics and are there are any particular overall themes to the album?

A.V. : Most of us are familiar with the Garden of Eden birthplace of mankind and of the universal sin in monotheistic mythology. There is no specific context behind the idea of the “Graveyard of Eden,” it's rather a reflection on the repetitive pattern that afflicts mankind, "the general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power that ceaseth only in death” (Thomas Hobbes). The “Graveyard of Eden” is our interpretation of what is seems to be looked upon by the majority as heaven, a world where monotheistic and unique thoughts tend to be the norm. My inspiration for the lyrics on “Graveyard of Eden” comes mostly from rituals, dogmas, and belief found in various religions. Mostly from all four major monotheisms and their derivatives. Take for instances “Invocation of the Sublime Death” is based on the Teosophical (Blavatsky) principle that life is eternal and separated in three stages: earthly life - death - incubus - death - stellar and eternal life. “Ov Madness” is about a mujahidin who falls in deep and sweet madness. On the other hand “Temple of Lust and Fire” is the story of a twisted and perverted carnival of its own and “Crypts of Blood” is an interpretation of the Biblical and Coranic story of Abraham.

xFiruath: Who handled the cover artwork for the album?

A.V.: Gabriel Tapia vocalist of Ecuadorian death metal veterans Ente and Brussels grinder Vorax Virous is responsible for the cover of “Graveyard of Eden.” We are working with Gabriel as from 2012 with the release of BTOAC. Since then he has done most of our shirts designs it was clear he would do our upcoming release artwork. The concept behind the album cover was discussed with him in various meetings and hangouts, if I remember well we had 4 to 5 sketches done before proceeding to its finalization. The cover is the “Graveyard of Eden,” the damned worshipping the damned, mankind worshipping itself. Our idea the culminating point of individualism and of self destruction.

xFiruath: Where is Dehuman headed out on tour this year to support the album?

R.S.: We are concluding, as I speak, the booking for the first “Graveyard of Eden” European tour in April. Some shows in Spain have already been announced, we will go through Italy, France, and Portugal in more or less three weeks. Some weekend tours are getting confirmed as well. All information on our future shows can be found on our social networks, there is a bunch more things cooking under the pan which are yet to be revealed.

L.L.: We’re also already booked on the French festival Loches en Grind and on the opening party of the SWR Barroselas.

xFiruath: You guys just had the first Kaotoxin Festival - how did that go and who all played that gig?

L.L.: It was very intense, as always in such smalls venues, and underground (literally)! We had a very good time! It’s always a pleasure to have some time to meet, speak , exchange and laugh with our label mates Lumberjack Feedback, Ad patres, and Sidious.

xFiruath: What's the status of your local metal scene, and are there any particular venues that are really supportive of metal?

A.V.: Belgium has always been a fertile ground for the music scene with a wide perspective of choices, almost every tour from mainstream to underground music come through this small country. Since I'm a kid and even earlier you could attend more than a couple of shows from international bands around the country every week. In Brussels things are a bit different, metal-wise there has been many up and downs. Let's put it this way it doesn't seem to be a priority for the town's administration to keep and finance its venues. Location-wise it is a bit complicated. However there are a lot of very dedicated persons to the music scene, on the top of my head I can think of the now defunct Detest Records and Undercore BXL Productions and the very active A Thousand Lost Civilization, which will be home of the next and last edition of the Nidrosian Black Mass and of course the Blackout Studio home of many Belgian and international bands. I must say I am quite happy with the changes going on, many people stop but in the mean time those who remain are getting stronger and more professional.

L.L.: In Brussels everything was turning around the DNA bar and the Magasin 4! But the DNA recently switch their musical interest after 31 years to “something else” so only the Magasin 4 stay’s…. so bad!

xFiruath: What albums - metal or otherwise - are coming out this year you guys are looking forward to?

L.L. : There’s nothing that we really wait for… but I can’t wait for a new Tool or Necrophagist album hahahaha!

xFiruath: Anything else you'd like to add?

L.L. : Stay Brutal and support the metal scene and your local scene! A lot of metal heads complain about “how metal music is going today” but they often forget that the first thing to do is going to a show buy some merchandising and keep the devil horns up to their head!

A.V.: Thank you very much for this interview, your crew and all your readers. A big shout goes to all our fans, all people that supported/helped us in any way and the bands we shared the stages with! Don't let them mind fuck you! Keep your head straight and prevent yourself from haste full judgements! Only death is real!