Hello brothers of Denigrate. Greetings from Peru. How are things going in Finland these days?
Galzi: Hi there! So glad to get in touch, I believe this is our 1st interview from Peru! All good in Finland, the music scene slowly recovering from Covid. The powers of darkness are gathering while we're facing towards Fall.
Denigrate is a band with a long time of existence, you started back in 1996, if I am not wrong. The band released, despite certain periods of silence, a lot of stuff among demos and singles, without taking into account the three albums you have in your discography. I haven’t had the opportunity to listen to all of your material but Blackguard and a couple of songs from Dismal Euphoria, your first full length, I found on youtube and, to be honest, I do find certain differences between these two productions. Would you tell us about your productions? How do you see Denigrate throughout time and releases? What production do you feel more comfortable with at this point of your music career and why? What would have you done differently in the past productions if you’d had the opportunity?
Sepi: Yes, we started 1996. Dismal Euphoria was our first album and of course it has the songs that we composed during the years 1999-2002. We had a lot of different influences and that might be the reason why there are so different kind of songs in that album.. We were just searching our own style and sound. The second album differs a lot from the first album.. There are more dynamic differences and vibe differences between the songs than first and third album. I think Blackguard was easiest to write because I knew that I wanted to compose slow, melancholic songs with 90´s vibe. I would not chance a thing.. I was happy with everything while we released the albums.. We just should have done more albums during the years :)
Galzi: I joined the band because of these Blackguard demos. Sepi had joined my band Dead Shape Figure a year before or so and on one band rehearsal weekend we discussed and checked out Denigrate's unreleased songs.
I told Sepi i'd do the vocals asap if he wanted 'cause on my opinion such a songs can not go unreleased! Besides, this totally doom vibe comparing to Dismal-album was something i always wanted to do vocals on. And on we went!
I must be honest. When I saw Blackguard’s cover, I don’t know why I thought I would find a Black Metal band, but I felt totally, and excitingly, surprised when Sonata Del Diavlo started to sound. Damn! You got me from the first second and I couldn’t stop listening to it till the end of the album. You guys, at some point, took me back to the 90s and made me recall the way I felt when listening to Paradise Lost’s Draconian Times for the very first time, even though your music is not necessarily the same, but it does have some kind of influence, at least for me. When this occurred, I started wondering: Why the hell I had not heard of this band before? A similar question rounded my mind when checking information and finding so few interviews and none of them, the same in the case of reviews, from this part of the globe (South America). Tell us a little bit about your latest production and how you are promoting it. I know reviews have been more than favorable in Finland and some European countries, but, are there any other comments from other places?
Galzi: I gotta say, Draconian Times was my and surely the whole band's top 5 list back in the 90's. That being the case, Blackguard indeed was composed to be a sort of a homage for the 90's doom BUT absolutely updated for 2022. We didn't want to do anything that would copy our personal favourites but we wanted the influences to be there.
Blackguard has got a very, very encouraging feedback literally around the world, and now that we got a much wider promotion than ever before, there are much better visibility to be expected for the band.
Talking about Sonata Del Diavlo, it has a videoclip. Could you please tell us a little about it? How much does this animation fit the lyrics? Are you happy with the result?
Galzi: The video is a director's vision of the song's lyrics, the story's about a very direct way of mental abuse in a relationship and how one never gets away with the guilt really. The hopeful ending of dreadfulness where evil gets punished in the end. The video is one output of an individual professional which i always find intresting: to get totally different visions on the project, something we would not have been able to imagine ourselves as a band. I always respect an approach of an outsider so to speak, when the album itself is completed. It'd be so cool to be able to make a whole album as a video story one day.
Melancholy would be a word that defines your music very well. How much does this word connect to the concept of Blackguard?
Galzi: The music itself indeed has a vibe of melancholy but there's also a glimpse of hope and joy when you learn to listen behind the obivous. The same thing in vocals, it is a strange thing how sad and beauty has a thin line, just as pleasure and pain has.
I have read that some of you tend to read a lot of stuff about certain topics to write the lyrics. Is literature the only type of art that influences Denigrate to create music or lyrics? Do you practice any other types of art besides music?
Galzi: The older i get, the bigger is my source work when starting to write lyrics. It is such a pleasure to start with a huge amount of sentences, narrow them down as a story and even after that peel off a vast majority of words and still keep the story alive. I love to think there's a bit same than an abstract painters might have: to keep only the most meaningful on sight.
I myself write a lot, the songs are my favourites but i love to play a home grown poet and a short-story teller as well. But still, music in it's entity is such a huge, never ending experience, it keeps on giving forever. Also I'm a record collector and i love to make a bit bizarre dj-gigs every now and then, hell yeah!
Perfida is probably one of the best tracks Blackguard has. It is dynamic in different ways. What is it about? Do you have a favorite track on this album? Which one and why?
Sepi: I am also a fan of Perfida and also Sonata del Diavlo.. I just think that those songs raised to next level after adding some orchestral arrangements.
Galzi: Perfida is about an abusive relationship and a waynto switch it around - as all the songs in Blackguard are in their own way. The very ones you have zero faith in will take you down.
I really can't name my favourite from Blackguard, you know, all the tracks gavr me so much pleasure while making the lyrics and vocals on them that i can not but to love 'em all!
Finland is not so far from Russia and Ukraine. How much has the war between these two countries affected yours? What is your opinion about this conflict?
Sepi: I hope that Ukrainians will get their land back. I sure they will win the war! It´s very sad to see what is happening there.. the Russian soldiers are animals!
Galzi: We see this war daily on our news, it is just unspeakable how something like this can take place on our lifetime. We have welcomed over 30 000 refugees already and i hope they all can at least feel some hope in these desolated times. Russia has made the mistake of a century and the country -not the common people- needs to be held responsible immediately and totally.
Wars bring desolation and grief, always, and these topics match perfectly with the genre you play. By any chance, is there a possibility to write any songs based on this?
Galzi: The sadness, sickness, desolation and hope are there on our stuff, the only thing i refuse to write about is the war itself. I totally despise war, totalitarism, abusive actions and oppression and on my opinion to even write about war is too much given on something that should never be.
Finland is well known for both beautiful landscapes and cold weather. How much do they influence your lifestyle and music?
Sepi: I think they does not have influence for music, but of course life itself.
I read that you have basically played gigs only in Finland, but that you would like to play in other countries. Why have you not toured to other places in all this time of existence, and, even more, with great quality productions such as Blackguard?
Galzi: It is all about promotion and contacting. Denigrate had such a strong start in Finland back in a day that there was little time left to do promotion elsewhere. Now that we're on on another level musicwise and promotionally, there will be totally different chances to do tours. This all takes time though, specually when we all have other bands to tour as well but i guarantee Denigrate will tour in the future!
Thank you very much for your time and answers. Is there anything you would like to add?
Galzi: Thanks for your time and i sincerely hope we will meet each other in flesh and on stage w/ all them readers out there!
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