Interview with MALEFYR
Welcome to the FILTHY DOGS OF METAL Webzine.
Tell us a few things about MALEFYR (Members, Starting Year etc).
MALEFYR started in early September 2024 because me (Dani) and the drummer (Hugo) left our old band called Nameless Order. We just left because we didn’t share the same artistic view on the project anymore and we needed our own project and creative freedom. We then started to look for NEW members, we tested some, I switched back and forth with guitar and bass depending on the few lineups we tested haha and we finally asked our old friend Anthony to take the low ends and he agreed! We were then a power trio but we really wanted a second guitarist for harmonies and shreds! And we tested this young guy, Esteban, we knew from the local scene with a beaten up les paul and he just left us speechless with his playing. Exactly two weeks after asking him if he wanted to join, we were in the studio recording the demo! So now the lineup is constituted of Hugo “Scabies” on drums, Esteban « Fuzz » on lead guitar, Anthony on bass and finally me “Nasty” Daniel “Executor” on lead guitar and vocals.
You have recently released your demo ''Cryptic''. What is the feedback from your audience as well as from the press?
We didn’t receive much from the press but fans f*ucking loved it!! We have some amazing friends and supporters that gave us honest feedbacks on every title and 99% of them are overwhelmingly positive. One of the first thing we also did is send a link to our demo to almost every OGs and old thrashers that lived the 80’s thrash, and they all loved it too and coming from them it’s amazing to hear! In Belgium where we’re from, speed and thrash were kind of a big deal for the youth and we had great bands like ACID, Warhead, CYCLONE, Black Shepherd,... You can even hear in an interview from Exciter that their biggest fans came from Belgium. Hugo our drummer sent it to Necrohex, the frontman from the band Phantom that we love and he said it was awesome, that totally made our day.
The cover artwork has a killer atmosphere! Tell us a few things about it.
Thanks a lot!! I’ve always been a huge fantasy and D&D nerd so I needed that old school manual/zine vibe!! I once drew a little skeleton warrior, thought he looked funny and named him Hextor. I was looking up for an artist to draw him for our demo cover and I was following this guy called Randy (@randinavian.jawbreaker on IG) that played bass in a band I saw live once called TRAUMATIZER from the Netherlands and his style was f*ucking perfect for what I had in mind! So, we talked a bit about it, I sent him some pictures of Hextor and he did this killer drawing! As for the rest with a friend we do covers and flyers for shows and bands under a small thing called Poisoning Reality (@poisoningreality on IG) so we did everything else beside the main drawing in the middle. I still wanted that old school DIY vibe so we did everything ourself by printing cutting and gluing everything for that authentic look!
And what about the lyrics?
I write a lot about fantasy stuff or whatever obsesses me at the time like religion, occult, magic, ... Sometimes I just grab things from my D&D world because I’m also a Dungeon Master hahaha. I also like to add hidden layers on lyrics like on the track “Mind Flayer” it also talks about government brainwash and abuse of power. I always write in English because the majority of the population of the world speaks it and that way a lot more people can understand what I’m screaming in the mic haha. It’s sometimes a little bit hard to write in a language that’s not native to you I’d like to get better and use more complex words.
Are you in searching for a record label? What do you prefer, Label or DIY and why?
Yes, we are searching for a label I think it will open us to a lot more opportunities than trading tapes in the undergrounds (even tho tape trading is way cooler!!) and it will maybe also allow us to focus more on the music, I remember in a previous band we screen-printed about 30 t-shirts with no experience on the day of a show, I ended up cutting one of my finger pretty badly and I played like shit because of that. To top it off we used paper ink and not textile one so everyone that bought a shirt that day washed them a bit later and the ink just disappeared hahaha. Now I took some experience in DIY and I still love to do it but a label is maybe a little easier.
Is there any funny or weird story from the recordings or from your live shows that you would like to share with us?
On the first track of the demo called “Darkened Wrath” on the very last note I broke my low E string and it was the first track we did that day and I had to run to the music shop that was closing in 15 mins to get a new pack of string haha that was pretty scary I didn’t have a spare guitar so we couldn’t have finished the demo if I didn’t make it in time. And when doing the vocals on the last track called “Malediction” I kept making the last scream longer and longer because each time I did it I wasn’t satisfied and I tried to do an ultimate scream after a very long day and so many tries and I almost fainted and did the last Tom G. warrior “OUGH” at the very end holding on to the mic stand with blurry vision and that take made it to the final mix haha. Hugo also the drummer was playing on his basically destroyed drum sticks that day, it looked like two chewed up toothpicks he earned the nickname master splinter that day hahaha.
Do you prefer Vinyl, Tape, CD or Digital Format and why is that?
We all really love records and tapes. Its feels way more authentic and having music in your hand is just amazing, but we all collect CDs because they are way more stable and easier to play, I still remember the first time I ruined a vintage tape I had no idea of what I was doing and I still regret it to this day hahaha. As for digital format we’re not against it but it kinda ruined small bands, they basically give nothing to the musician. You can’t just go on the road and live off selling records and shirts anymore but at least it makes it easier for everyone to listen to music.
Your music style is Thrash Metal. Which are your main influences (Favourite Artists / Bands etc.)
Our main influences are Slayer, Venom and Celtic Frost, we love their raw, aggressive music and approach but we also love Teutonic thrash like Sodom and Destruction and south American thrash some and it really shows in our playing style! For example, Hugo is basically like Chris Witchhunter from Sodom son they basically play the same haha, and when I do vocals, I do a lot of those Tom G Warrior from Celtic frost and Hellhammer “AHHW” and “OUGH”. We also get mixed influences from crust punk we all love that style a lot, and our city, Liège, is very well known for the crust punk bands that were born here like Hiatus and because of them a lot of major crust punk bands come to play here.
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?
Time is big thing you have to sacrifice; everything takes time in a band and not putting up that time to things like learning new scales, writing new music, simply practicing to get better or all the “paperwork” stuff like emailing venues etc is going to kill any small band like us. Working a job to pay off for studio time is also a time sacrifice hahaha. I personally sacrificed a lot of time my bands but I love it so its fine for me!
Describe your ideal live show as a performance band. Have you already experienced that?
We haven’t played any show with MALEFYR yet, sadly. But in past projects I played in sweaty small venues full of maniacs and it’s the best shows I’ve played, it’s pure chaos and good fun. We would like to play a big venue for the thrill but that’s every small band’s dream hahaha.
What do you think about the rise of AI in music production?
I think it’s f*cking stupid it takes away people’s ability to think. With ai small cover artists disappear and musicians have to race with robots to get more fans on the internet it’s so dumb. In a world led by technology where everything already goes way too fast and people don’t take enough time, AI was the last thing we needed especially in the already f*cked up music industry. I’d rather watch a music video with teenagers dressed as cheap zombies recorded on their parent’s old VHS camera than a music. video with an AI biker fighting aliens or whatever they ask to it. DIY AND REAL ART FOREVER.
What attributes do you think that a new Thrash Metal Band should have in order to gain identity and be unique?
I think trying to stay true to themselves is really important, like not trying to imitate or be another band but stay themselves, in that way you can implement other influences in your music perhaps or simply don’t try to be trendy do whatever you like, there’s probably someone somewhere that would love what you’re doing.
Do you believe that Digital Platforms help the new Thrash Metal Bands? Which, do you think, is the ideal way for a band to promote its work?
In a way, yes, they do help them to find an audience or a community or find new public and digital platform makes it easier to listen to anything anywhere in the world but sadly it doesn’t reward hard work like selling a record would. For me the best way to promote is Bandcamp, it’s an amazing platform and actually gives back to the artists. YouTube is also really good sometimes the algorithm does wonder hahaha. Advertising on social media like Instagram is also good way to reach an audience.
From your experience in the music industry, what would you tell to a new Thrash Metal band to avoid or what to do?
From my past projects, if there’s something I’ve learned the hard way, it’s never rush anything and take the time to do the things nicely and correctly and avoid rushing. When writing or taking decisions or anything else really think through it and and ask yourself if the timing is right.
Tell us a few things about the New Underground Metal Scene in Belgium (Bands, Fanzines, Webzines, Metal Clubs etc.)
The Belgian scene at the moment is mainly hardcore stuff but we still got a few maniacs that appreciate the traditional stuff there’s the maniacs from a city called Antwerp, they have a small venue there called Music city and the collective VuileGeit that book most of the shows there always find the best filthy underground bands you can think of. Also from Antwerp, the band Axident is a cult classic they play an amazing thrash that always led to crazy moshpits. Here in Liège where we’re from there’s also good thrash bands like Senttura, The Guts, Nameless Order and good death metal like Dextrocardia who play a really good d-beat grind like old school Carcass.
What does Metal means to you? And give us 10 metal albums that run in your veins.
For me music is everything and metal is art, it’s a medium to express ourself, it’s really amazing what a few people can create if you give them music instruments and some time. I think that without metal, this world would be pretty boring... what would I headbang and have fun to? So, here’s a few albums I headbang a lot to Slayer – Show No Mercy: For me this album is everything, it’s my favorite thrash album of all time and it really changed my world when I first heard it. Every single track is amazing in their own way and there’s no skips at all. Tom Araya’s voice is simply amazing and the solos from Jeff Hanneman are pure evil, he very quickly became one of my favorite guitarists. I love every aspect of this album if I had to be mad about one thing about this album is that they didn’t record the song Ice Titan on it, they used to play this song on shows during the Show No Mercy era and I think its way too good to be left out of the album. Morbid Tales – Celtic Frost: This album was a real punch in the face for me, the voice of Tom G. Warrior on those strange enigmatic guitar riffs and even stranger chaotic solos that makes no senses but at the same time perfect sense? The bass of Martin Ain perfectly supporting the structure of everything with an additional groove making the whole experience incredible and how can I forget that d-beat crust punk style of drumming from Stephen Priestly with amazing breaks. This album is for me the perfect mix of every extreme style of music I love and this lineup was in my opinion the best in its own little genre Dahmerized-Dahmer: Beside thrash/speed and crust punk I love grind and this album will always have a special place in my heart, no idea why but its simply amazing. The mix between the pitched vocals and the power violence style scream is amazing. I love that drumming and guitar tone total old school death metal with enough punk in it. The first patch I’ve hand painted was one of this album! It wouldn’t have been fair if I didn’t ask everyone to answer with some album of their choice so I asked the guys too answer with me and here’s what everyone gave me!
Hugo: Cannibal Corpse - Tomb of the Mutilated: It’s the album that got me into extreme metal. I was 10 years old when I discovered this album. The riffs were so heavy and aggressive, the vocals were very low and row I was asking to myself “how is it possible to do that”. After the first listen I told to myself “f*ck, this is what I want to do when I’m older” ultimately leading to me learning music. Exodus – Bonded by Blood: This album was a revelation for me, it’s still one of the first thrash metal album I’ve listened to and as soon as I finished listening to it for the first time, I needed to learn every song from it and I loved it! I got lucky enough to see some of the songs played live and I almost cried hahaha. Sepultura – Chaos A.D.: Sepultura is my all-time favorite band and this album is simply amazing both musically and thematically. Some subjects spoken in the lyrics are still as strong now than they were when Max Cavalera wrote them. Songs like Refuse/Resist or Territory still carry on the same strong message. And also, the Calavera brothers are just amazing musicians.
Esteban: Obituary – Slowly We Rot: It was my first real metal album I’ve ever listened to alongside Beneath the Remains by Sepultura. In my opinion, Slowly We Rot is the best old school death metal album of all time! It’s really a perfect mix of thrash, hardore, crust punk, ... Metallica - Kill ‘Em All: This album made me learn lead guitar; I owe a lot to Kirk Hammet for my solos. Without Kill ‘Em All, I would probably still be a rhythm player because before listening to that album I would only limit myself to playing riffs. Just in general, this album is so important for the history of thrash metal, it’s absolutely perfect.
Anthony: Neglect - En It! (EP): Even if it’s an EP, it is so important to me that I had to include it! Those 5 songs were for me an important entry point to hardcore music which I adore! Bathory – Bathory: This album was one of the first metal album I’ve ever listened to. I especially love its raw, dark and brutal energy. I even think that the track « Enter the Crypt » from our demo resemble a bit the track « Storm of Damnation » from Bathory’s album.
Do you know anything about the Hellenic Metal Scene?
I don’t know a lot about the Greek scene sadly but I really like some bands like Black Sword Thunder Attack. Their self tilted album is so amazing those riffs are so good, the leads are very haunting and the vocalist is killer! I’d like to know more about the Greek scene if anyone got good recommendations!!
What are your future plans?
In a near future, we really want to start playing shows and find a label to release more music to share around the world to other freaks and maniacs! In the far future, hopefully make it big in that new gen thrash scene! I love to travel play music listen to music and meet other freaks and maniacs like us and sharing with them so it could be amazing if I could do that without having to worry about paying rent on time.
Thank you very much for your time & keep up the good work! The closure is yours.
If you read this interview to the end thank you so much and really I hope we can meet on the road! AND REMEMBER TO STAY MANIAC OR RISK DYING A POSER!!!!
By Steve the Filthy Dog.
MALEFYR CONTACT:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61580469775287
https://www.instagram.com/malefyrband
https://malefyr.bandcamp.com/album/cryptic-demo
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/malefyr/1868847804