Interview with CORRUPTER

!!!DEATH METAL FROM FRANCE!!!

Welcome to the FILTHY DOGS OF METAL Webzine.

Tell us a few things about CORRUPTER (Members, Starting Year etc).
We are two-piece band ; same line up as Morgue. We started this project in march 2021, following the demise of another band that we had for years, who was named Mutism.

You have recently released your album 'Gloria in Profundis'''. What is the feedback from your audience as well as from the press?
It seems the feedback is very positive. The album was released three weeks ago so it is a bit early to tell, but we get more exposure than we got for the first album, which is quite normal anyway because at the time of the first album our name was totally unknown.

The cover artwork has a great atmosphere! Tell us a few things about it.
It is a painting from Paolo Girardi, who worked with us (as Morgue) for the last records. We have been fans of his art for years actually.

And what about the lyrics?
Personal introspective subjects, transpositions from personal encounters to spiritual views, or the opposite. Most of the time in a dark perspective, as the human being generally speaking is more often perverse than kind. I like to have a kind of global concept when I start an album ; it’s been the way for both corrupter albums.

How did your cooperation with Godz Ov War Productions occur? What do you prefer, Label or DIY and why?
When we recorded the first album (Descent into madness) in 2021, we were unknown as Corrupter, we never released anything before. We sent a few promo letters, Godz Ov War was the most serious about us and we were pleased with their conditions, their roster, their image... It seems we are working great together, as we have been doing 4 albums with them since (including Morgue). We used to be in the DIY scene for some other bands of ours in the past, and actually we shall still remain in this scene as well as we also have a side project that goes into the doom stoner territories and that will most likely remain DIY, so we know well how this works… but to be honest I like to have a label, I don’t have many contacts and don’t want to, so I am not much qualified for promotional duties.

Is there any funny or weird story from the recordings or from your live shows that you would like to share with us?
Actually I fear there isn’t much with Corrupter, as we never played live since we are only two persons in the band… We played a lot with Morgue until 2016 though… There are many stories behind this band since it was created in 1997. One that comes to mind is about the time we lived in the USA. I was a clandestine there for several months and when I came back to France I was broke and achieved to fly back home using an expired plane ticket that looked like a piece of shit. Nothing I would dare to do these days.

What are the differences between ''Descent into Madness'' and ''Gloria in Profundis''?
Gloria in Profundis is the continuation of Descent into madness, the main difference is that they were not recorded at the same place, nor with different engineers. Soundwise the albums are quite different I think. The atmosphere remains the same anyway.

Do you prefer Vinyl, Tape, CD or Digital Format and why is that?
Obviously I like vinyls, but I also like CD and never quit buying CDs. Same thing for tapes, I used to buy cassette tapes thru ebay in Poland something like 10-15 years ago, prices were low at the time but these days it’s not like this anymore obviously. Digital is fine when discovering new music but I am not the one listening to digital too much.

Your music style is Death Metal. Which are your main influences (Favourite Artists / Bands etc.)
There are so many… I have been into death metal since 1993 and keep on discovering bands… So you can imagine the amount of bands I like… Let’s say that regarding Gloria in Profundis the main influences were Morbid Angel, Morpheus Descends, Rottrevore, Beherit, Sepsism, Damnable, Fleshtized, Fallen Christ, Chaosick (Can), Purulence (Can)…

Which things do you think a band should sacrifice in order to succeed? Have you ever sacrificed anything in your life for a better future for your band?
I don’t think I sacrificed anything except maybe when being a teenager, i sacrificed much time for the band and in retrospect I should have been less focused maybe. As a band I don’t think we ever sacrificed anything in order to get success anyway, i think we even went the opposite way. We never had much success, but who cares, we still do what we like so that’s fine for us. I know too many guys that just turned ridiculous trying to sell out.

Describe your ideal live show as a performance band. Have you already experienced that?
Again, not with Corrupter as we retired from playing live almost 10 years ago ; but as for Morgue, yes we did play what you could call ideal live shows, be it in Paris, New York or Moscow.

What do you think about the rise of AI in music production?
Not interested in that shit at all. I actually try to avoid all that as much as I can.

What attributes do you think that a new Death Metal Band should have in order to gain identity and be unique?
I think it all comes down to what you listen. A band with no musical knowledge trying to sound like a big-name band will likely be uninteresting. The most important I think is the will to discover bands and spend a lot of time listening to bands…

Do you believe that Digital Platforms help the new Death Metal Bands? Which, do you think, is the ideal way for a band to promote its work?
I helps obviously, but at the same time there is so many bands there that it is kind of difficult being noticed. As I said earlier I don’t like that much digital, I spend a lot of time listened to records, buying records, searching for records so my interest is still the same as it was 30 years ago.

From your experience in the music industry, what would you tell to a new Death Metal band to avoid or what to do?
I don’t really have any advices to be honest, except maybe to stay focused on what you feel, it is easy to jump into trends, I most likely did it at some points and I talk from a lot of experience.

Tell us a few things about the New Underground Metal Scene in France (Bands, Fanzines, Webzines, Metal Clubs etc.)
I don’t know much about the new scene, but I am still into bands like Mutiilation, Zoldier Noiz, Catacomb, Malkebre, Mercyless and many others… As for clubs, around here in Montpellier some of them are closing down, so the scene is not going so well I fear.

What does Black Metal means to you? And give us 10 metal albums that run in your veins.
I am into black metal, today much more than I was 20 or 30 years ago. For instance I remember buying ‘Det Som Engang Var’ in 1994 and not actually digging it, I really got back to it and to this band as a whole some years ago… It is always kind of difficult to give a list of favourite albums, but let’s try to anyway :
1-Beherit ‘drawing down the moon’
2-Darkthrone ‘under a funeral moon’
3-Burzum ‘filosofem’
4-Clandestine Blaze ‘resacralize the unknown’
5-Deathspell Omega ‘paracletus’
6-Warloghe ‘logos of all-that-ends’
7-Rebirth of Nefast ‘tabernaculum’
8-Misthyrming ‘med hamri’
9-Blasphemy ‘gods of war’
10-Mayhem ‘de mysteriis dom sathanas’

Do you know anything about the Hellenic Metal Scene?
Quite a bit, I just saw Dead Congregation live a few days ago for the first time, such a great band. Some other bands I like : Varathron, Ectoplasma, Vultur, Necrovorous and Wargoat.

What are your future plans?
Regarding Corrupter, we are just doing a bit of promotion right now, we are still looking for a drummer so we could play live, but I am a bit pessismistic, we don’t live in the good place for that. We are working on Morgue’s 5th album as of now, all the material is written and arranged, we have to start recording but I am not sure about the date as of now, maybe we will start by July.

Thank you very much for your time & keep up the good work! The closure is yours.
Thanks a lot for the opportunity, that’s much appreciated. Horns up.

By Steve the Filthy Dog.