Interview with STYGIAN
!!!HEAVY METAL FROM BRAZIL!!!
Welcome to the FILTHY DOGS OF METAL Webzine.
Tell us a few things about STYGIAN (Members, Starting Year etc).
We are actually a very young band we started mid 2024, we had a lot of lineup changes before going public. As the bands stands we are:
JOAO "SAMURAI" BASS
RAUL "SALEM" VOCALS
JAO "BEHOLDER" DRUMS
BINI "HAND OF DOOM" GUITARS
Also every single one of our fans, especially our most loyal ones to whom we gave the name of "Weekend Warriors" our first gig was may 2024 and on the same year we got to play with Picture on November and Whipstriker on December, while also doing lots of smaller gigs before that.
In 2024 you have released your single ''Heavy Metal Load''. What was the feedback from your audience as well as from the press?
Man our first single was A RIDE we are all unexperienced musicians, we were not all that happy with the final result. We were VERY shocked on how well received it was, the merch based on the single sold out within 2 weeks. While we quite like the song, we had a LOT of production issues. The vocals you hear on the recording are basically live, i did one full take and two others ones to overdub The mixing is awful, the drums is like 1/3 of the recorded drums, so the live version of the song is way different. I wanna state here that this song is going to be re- recorded, bringing it closer to the live version.
Label or DIY and why?
We would really like to be signed into a label, but even then metal is DIY, first you gotta prove you are worth being signed, second we want the promotion and the money to do big things, we do not want and do not need people messing around with the songs we write or the attitude we carry. Stygian is true anti nazi steel, MAKE A FIST OR BE CRUSHED BY ONE.
Is there any funny or weird story from the recordings or from your live shows that you would like to share with us?
Man we have a lot of funny stories, on our fist gig at a local pub our drumkit gave out, we did not stop playing (YOU CANT STOP STEEL), so we kept playing while our drummer in the background was literally going around fixing piece by piece. On the same show a drunkard who was doing stupid things like trying to grab the guitar and microphones invaded the stage, i had to front kick him back into the crowd, was quite the nice kick, we have pictures! We also once accidentally broke a katana on live stage, we always bring swords axes and such, it was actually a steel katana and i swung it hard into the air, it was a very old blade it detaches from the handle and went flying cross stage (no one got hurt).
Do you prefer Vinyl, Tape, CD or Digital Format and why is that?
Vinyl. Its just magical man, vinyl is not just about listening its a whole ritual you do. Select the title take it off the sleeve put into the machine, then the needle onto it. I also love the community aspect, you have to go to the store, you trade one title for another, you learn about different pressings. Vinyl helped me find lots of hidden gems trough word of mouth. All you bangers out there get into vinyl its worth it i promise!
Your music style is Heavy Metal. Which are your main influences (Favourite Artists / Bands etc.)
We are heavy metal worshipers, we love the sound we love the movent. There are many bands who inspired us:
Tank
Mercyful Fate
Living Death
Grave Digger
Running Wild
Raven
Venom
But to me personally the bands that made me want to get into it where local bands:
Hellgun
Murdeath
Hazy hamlet (love you artie!)
Also my favorite band of all time is:
JUDAS MOTHERFUCKING PRIEST. THE BEST BAND IN THE WORLD THERE IS NO SECOND PLACE.
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?
Man you sacrifice time and money, and we really don't have much money. The fans help us a lot specially the weekend warriors (you guys are the best). Playing is fun and comes from the hearth but there are a lot of weekends you gonna have to dedicate to it. My advice is don't ever think you are getting into this to make money, in fact expect to loose. We are now in a point where the band is self sufficient but only after we made a fanbase for ourselves. Weekend warriors rules!
Tell us 10 Metal releases that have ''entered'' your blood.
1. Defenders of the Faith
2. Melissa
3. Filthy hounds of Hades
4. Hall of the Mountain King
5. Thundersteel
6. Sob o signo do heavy metal
7. Vengeance out of Hell
8. Gates to Purgatory
9. Night of the Blade
10. Battle Hymns
Do you believe that Digital Platforms help the new Heavy Metal Bands? Which, do you think, is the ideal way for a band to promote its work?
Yeah, i check on Spotify artists and we always see people from different countries listening to us, we could never reach them without digital distribution. Also Instagram, this interview is a good example we would never have gotten in touch if it wasn't trough Instagram
Do you see any differences between the Brazilian Metal Market & the EU Metal Market (Labels, Bands, Fans etc)?
I could never complain about fans cause we have the very best in the world. We host BBQ parties with our fans, they support us a lot, true headbangers with a hearth of steel. The market part is harder, very difficult to have commercial success, very hard to get access to big venues. We lost too much space to other genres of music, but those who stayed in metal are the very hardcore base, just like Thor said it ( ONLY THE STRONG).
Tell us a few things about the New Underground Metal Scene in Brazil (Bands, Fanzines, Webzines, Metal Clubs etc.)
The scene is very good, Brazil is a gigantic country so we lots of scenes. In Sao Paulo the boys from Trovao are just slamming hit after hit, there is also biter and sweet danger witch i quite like, here in Curitiba we have Phantom Star with a more technical sound creatures and espectro are both 70's goodness witch i really enjoy, wild witch has a new frontman with KILLER VOCALS Gorgona just released a full length, a legendary instant success we have the young talent from leather wrath as well. I also wanna dedicate a paragraph here to our local producer Arthur from "Heavytron" you guys REALLY SHOULD INTERVIEW HIM, He is a local god, with a voice that can shake the earth, He used to be in hazyhamlet now retired from singing he started a recording studio for independent bands such as us, he has soooo much talent in both singing and producing he is the true MAN ON THE SILVER MOUNTAIN, producing ALL of the bands i listed above. We all love you artie cheers!
Do you know anything about the Hellenic Metal Scene?
Yes, like most i know more about the black metal scene you guys have which has reached world wide fame. but there is a band i fell in love with: Omega, i love their full length "The Hell Patrol" i almost managed to snatch a vinyl copy many times but i always lost the bid, if this ever come to your eyes: You guys are great, aggression, killers riffs and punkish attitude i love it, you music sounds like what the people from mad max would produce, we even have a song based on your style is called Fire and Hate.
What are your future plans?
We are done recording our new single, we are starting to tape a video clip which will launch on the same time as the single. also there are lots of gigs confirmed for this year, we plan on keep playing live and recording so we can eventually launch our full length sometime next year. Always keeping the true metal faith alive!
Thank you very much for your time & keep up the good work! The closure is yours.
I would like to thank the zine for having us do this interview, but i would also like to thank the weekend warriors and artie for always supporting the band: Felix, Manu , Duda , Sabrina , Kelly, Pedrinho, Bidi, Emily, Thaynara, Pietra, Helen. You guys rock and will never be forgotten. The weekend warriors like to fight JUST TO TO KILL!
By Steve the Filthy Dog.
STYGIAN CONTACT:
https://www.instagram.com/heavystygianofc/