Line Up:
Robbe Kok On Vocals
Ivar Useinov On Guitars
Timothy Dunn On Bass
Josha Nuis On Drums
Well,Friends Of Aristocracy!
We speak again of our newsroom, where in a little while, we will have, in all its emotions, the interview 152 of the Aristocracy.This time, we talked to a band that plays extreme metal and that stayed for reasons related to their wishes, eleven years away from the scene. But, they return in great style and with great sound power.We are talking about Carceri, a Dutch extreme metal band that presents us with their second album entitled From Source To End. We thank the whole band and especially vocalist Robbe and guitarist Ivar as they answered our humble and necessary questions. complete in its entirety for you and after that, the interview with them.
A1:Talking about the composition work in From Source To End?
Robbe Kok/Ivar Useinov:On our first EP Carceri 2002 and our first full length album(The good must suffer the wicked in 2011. We were influenced a lot by Suffocation and Cryptopsy. Specially on the first EP. Fun fact, that this EP was mastered at that time by Robbe K, our new vocalist.On this album went back in time. Before Carceri existed we Josha’s brother Misha was in the band, then called Heavy Mozart. There was a musical transition going on in the band. When Misha left the the band, I was the only guitar player then.We were playing a lot of Misha’s material but also wrote the EP Carceri. The old songs that contained a lot of Misha’s riffs didn’t make it on that EP. Misha’s stuff was more about song structure and melodie. And our new stuff was more technical and faster, less based on a good song structure.Actually, we forgot about that old stuff for years. But in the first lockdown 2020, by accident we listened to an old recording, of us playing that stuff live in the year 2000 or something. We were like 21 years old. Not that skilled as we are today, but the songs had potential.We were listening, and thinking, wow these songs are not that bad and pretty brutal, but if we would write something like this today, we would have changed a lot. Just for fun Josha and Ivar re-recorded demo’s of all these songs. Back then Ivar didn’t play solo’s. So we added solo’s, 2nd guitar parts, made the riffs a bit more technical and brutal and also decided to tune down the guitars. It turned out really cool and brutal. So we were thinking about re-writing and to re-record all the old songs from that time and put them in a 2021 jacket. So these songs are a bit different, but we kept the essence of the songs. That’s why this album sound so different, than the previous ones. Some of the songs are almost 25 years old.
A2:Why this album is nihilistic?
Robbe Kok/Ivar Usnov:We don´t take ourselves too seriously,so there is some nihilism to that. In fact the lyric are about the opposite. Everything has value! Nihilism is about opposite.
A3:Why did it take a decade for the second album?
Robbe Kok/Ivar Usnov:Unfortunately, we didn’t have the success with Carceri we wanted. Our interest in life and music took another direction. Some of us got families and played just ocassionally in different bands with different styles of music. After Josha and Ivar saw each other at a concert of Disavowed in 2020, we felt the urge to do something with Carceri again. After a couple of shots and a good smoke, {haha}. After the Disavowed show, we hung out with our old friend Robbe K. He said it was a shame that Carceri didn’t play anymore and if we decided to do something with Carceri in the future again, he wanted to be a part of it.
A4:It is very premature for a report to call you masters. Do you agree with that?
Robbe Kok/Ivar Usnov:We never considered ourselves masters and we never will. It would be a compliment, but we just love to make music. We don’t think about that.Our examples are, Suffocation, Death, Cryptopsy, Nile and many other metalbands. Also a lot of bands outside the death metal Genre.
A5:Some literature or film inspire the band?
Robbe Kok/Ivar Usnov:Donnie Darko,Flodder 1, 2 and 3,Kickboxer,1984,Bladerunner,Dune,The Fountain,The Matrix.
A6:How band arrive to Brutal Mind Records?
Robbe Kok/Ivar Usnov:We asked Robbe what his thought was on the demo we send to him. He liked it a lot, so we asked him if he wanted to add some vocals to the demo and it turned out super awesome and brutal.Since Robbe’s band Disavowed is also with Brutal Mind, Robbe asked Mr. Deni what he thought of the demo. He was really enthusiastic about, so he made it possible for us to join on Brutal Mind and record the album, which is amazing for us.
A7:Why the band have this name?
Robbe Kok/Ivar Usnov:Misha, our old guitar player found the name trough a role playing game.The rest of the band was cool with it, and it stuck for all these years.
A8:How did Death Metal enter the life of the current lineup?
Ivar Usnov:For me,it started with Metallica and Slayer in high school. But after being introduced to Despise The Sun by Suffocation and Bolt Thrower by Josha, I became addicted to Suffocation, Death, Cannibal Corpse and Cryptopsy. But also black metal like, Marduk, Dimmu Borgir and Immortal.
A9:Does Nihilism alone explain Carceri being what she currently is?
Robbe Kok/Ivar Usnov:No, not really! Carceri is abour opposites. To value and no to value.
A10:Are Vibrant and Venenoso the best ways to explain the second album?
Robbe Kok:It is a good explanation of the album! Two opposites again: vibrant/alive and poisonous!
A11:How is Carceri different from your previous bands?
Ivar Usnov:My former bands are thrash metal, Hip Hop crossover, New York Hardcore, Black Metal, even Balkan Gipsy stuff.
A12:Are Bastaard and Carceri metaphorically musical brothers?
Robbe Kok/Ivar Usnov:Well, in Bastaard Josha played drums, Josha’s brother Misha played guitar, Ivar played guitar and his brother Ajdar did the vocals. So there were a lot of brothers in the band haha. The former bassplayer for Carceri Rogier van Kleef also played bass in Bastaard.
A13:This album is conceptual?
Robbe Kok/Ivar Usnov:In a way it is! It is about the journey from source (the start) to end(death) and do it all over again! It is about misconceptions in this journey.
A14:What´s bands influence ours?
Robbe Kok/Ivar Usnov:Suffocation, Death, Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Autopsy, Cryptopsy.
Actually,so much stuff over the years.
A15:Religion is an opium, but what is the greatest opium in the world besides it?
Robbe Kok/Ivar Usnov:For me,the greatest opium is making music or winning a soccer game .
A16:Does Love make you strong to make Death Metal more destructive with every show or song made?
Robbe Kok/Ivar Usnov:I think we all need love. But we all have a dark side or evil side inside us. And sometimes it has to come out in a form of music or in a show. To let all your negative energy go. It’s like therapy.Thank you for this interview! All the best!
Ivar and Robbe from Carceri!