Interview with OBSTRUKTOR
Welcome to FILTHY DOGS OF METAL Webzine.
Last time we talked was 5 years ago, when you released your debut album ''Wrong Hands''. You have recently released your second album ''Post Extinction''. What is the feedback from your audience as well as from the press?
Man, 5 years flew by like nothing..! We’ve received very positive feedback so far. Multiple people noted that they hear a growth in overall musicianship and that they enjoy the cohesion of the album and its story.
The cover art has a great atmosphere! Tell us some details about it.
Thanks! The cover art is an hourglass with a depiction of an overgrown city (representing society as a whole) in the bottom still polluting the skies, implying that even though we are clearly working ourselves to ruin, humanity will not care nor listen. The top half holds the black hole at the centre of our universe in which we’re bound to disappear, regardless of our actions. The city in the bottom is sucked into the black hole, rather than sand falling down from top to bottom, implying that time has run out and we are completely defenseless against the forces of nature and time itself. Valuable details are that the artwork was based on skylines and details from our direct surroundings from where we live. The city for instance consists of important landmarks and industrial scenery in and around our hometown of Haarlem and the frame of the hourglass was inspired by an old cabinet we have in the kitchen of our studio. The artwork was made by Elisa of Wild Black Cherry (@wild.black.cherry on Instagram).
And what about the lyrics?
The lyrics are very conceptual from start to finish. We live in a time where we don’t need to come up with scary subjects for edgy songs. Just turn on the news and you’ll have your source material right there. The lyrics throughout the album tell the hypothetical story of the downfall of humanity, starting from the present day until the bittersweet end our species has brought along with its growth. Each song describes another stage of this way down, even vending into a bit of science fiction during ‘Nomads II’. Although we wanted to tell a full story, we challenged ourselves to keep every song listenable as a standalone song, which kinda helped shape every song into its own substory or chapter.
Are you going to search for a record label?
We are looking into the possibilities but we also believe that our creative process and our way of doing things needs full priority in Obstruktor. Finding a label that fully understands, respects and supports this is gonna take time.
What are the differences between ''Wrong Hands'' and ''Post Extinction''?
Wrong Hands felt more spontaneous and ‘searching for which ground to cover’ in a way, whereas Post Extinction is more like an immovable object, projecting raw and unfiltered emotions and
energy in your face. Also our skills as musicians and producers have made quite some improvements and this is very noticeable when you compare both albums.
Do you have any funny or weird stories from your recordings to share with us?
Plenty! But one of our favorites has to be recording gang vocals with our friends of Headless Hunter, another thrash band from the Dutch metalscene. We had a lot of fun, standing with 8 guys in our recording room, recording multiple layers of seemingly senseless words when you only scream half a sentence. In ‘Nomads II’, the first words of the last verse are ‘We the people’. ‘People’ kinda sounds like ‘Piemel’ which is the Dutch word for wiener. So at least one of the gang vocals layers you hear on the record says “Oei, een piemel!” which roughly translates to “Wow, a wiener!”. Needless to say, our 8 year old brains think this is the funniest shit ever.
What do you think about the rise of AI in music production?
It sucks. If you wanna be a musician, put in the effort to be so. And no, prompting is not effort, musicianship or artistic. It’s lame, lazy, stupid and above all: technically theft. Please let AI take over all the mind numbing shitty jobs in the world so we can keep art and music human instead of the other way around.
Based on your experience, what advice would you give to a new band? What should they avoid or focus on?
Don’t give up on what you believe! Pour in all your passion, energy and emotion and allow yourself to fail. Failure is the mother of all things learned and if after all your hard work maybe 5 people show up to your show, you better play your hearts out and asses off for those 5 people. Impress them so much that they have no choice but to tell their friends. That, and surround yourself with likeminded people and/or people that fuel your inspiration. Stay focussed and don’t forget to play plenty of blastbeats and downpick all your riffs (this is a joke but do take our advice).
Share with us 10 Metal albums that run in your veins.
Death - Symbolic
Aborted - Terrorvision
Nuclear Assault - Handle With Care
Metallica - Ride The Lightning
Judas Priest - Defenders Of The Faith
Miscreance - Convergence
Vexovoid - Call Of The Starforger
Fleshgod Apocalypse - King
Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell
Blood Incantation - Absolute Elsewhere
Honorable mention: Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon
What can we expect from OBSTRUKTOR in the near future?
Stupid fast blastbeats, enough riffs to solve world hunger and new music without having to wait another 5 years!
Thank you very much for your time and keep up the good work! The last words are yours.
Thanks for interviewing us! Our new album Post Extinction is out NOW and available on most streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and Tidal. Be sure to check out our Instagram/Facebook pages for any news on upcoming events. If you're in the Netherlands, Saturday December 13th we play in Bredius, Woerden with Axident from Belgium and Grindpad from the Netherlands. Hopefully we'll see you there! If you want to support us, consider buying some merch from our Bandcamp store or message usdirectly on our socials to order. Thanks again and stay filthy!
By Steve the Filthy Dog.
https://obstruktor.bandcamp.com
https:/ www.facebook.com/obstruktorband/
https://www.instagram.com/obstruktor/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6ROyEbI1PoGfKEFyLnvShP