Interview with Micael of Corrupt 2007

by Bradley Smith

Your most recent release is Silence Equals Death but it has been out for awhile. How do you view it now?  It seems to have created quite a buzz in the underground and I have heard your name mentioned by quite a few of the Norwegian thrashers I am in contact with.  Have you noticed this increased attention?

Yes, we recorded the EP about a year ago, and I must say I'm still very much pleased with it.  The sound, the lyrics, the artwork and the feeling - everything really fit as I was hoping it would. With “Silence Equals Death” we found our path.

I haven't noticed the attention that much, so I don't know if there really is any.  I do know we got ourselves a gig in Oslo that wasn't because of our own efforts, and if people show up then maybe you got a point, heh.

Based on the number of demos and EPs you have released Corrupt has had a longer career getting establishment in the underground than a lot of other bands.  Has that made you guys stronger than a lot of these bands that do one demo and put out an album?  Do you think that paying your dues as a band is still important in this day and age?

Well, I don't think it should be measured after the amount of released demos - not in our case - because the first two (“Lethal anger” & “Shotgun death” that is) were never actually released, only recorded for ourselves.  But anyway, Corrupted came into existence in 2002 so yeah, we've been around for a while.

To play, record and do gigs a few years before putting out real releases is good because then you've had the time to learn what you really want to do, and how you want to do it.  Doing a full-length album is something completely different from making demos, and of course also EP's for that matter, and I think you turn out for the best with as much experience as possible.

You guys are deeply indebted to old school thrash for your style.  What are some of your main Influences?  I noticed on your 7” you leaned more towards a Merciless vein?  Can we expect still more progression/regression or is your style pretty much settled right now?

Generally the 80's thrash scene's harder acts: Kreator, Sodom, Sepultura, Slayer, Sadus, but also the more brutal acts of the nineties, Merciless as mentioned, and Hypnosia not to be forgotten.

About progression, we will never leave the oldschool thrash genre, but of course we're not standing completely still either.  In my eyes the vision for Corrupt is to play fast, aggressive thrash without being copycats, and because of this you just can't keep repeating the same type of riffs all the time.  Our influences are different, but we're never to let them compromise with our style.   

You guys have an upcoming concert with Code:red and Deathhammer in Oslo.  What sort of preparations have you been enduring to make sure your show goes well and what can the audience expect from you?  What do you think of the bands you will be sharing the stage with?

Not much preparations at all to be honest.  I've bought two pairs of drum sticks, hehe.

Since half a year ago I live in a different town from the rest, so there isn't much time for rehearsing.  But we've done a couple of gigs during the years so we pretty much know most of the songs we do live pretty well.  The audience should be properly dressed, a smoking and a matching tie will do fine, to handle some Swedish damned aggression, especially since we'll be playing two new songs.

Code:Red and Deathhammer are really interesting bands, both really keeping the oldschool vein primary.  Also, their sounds differ from each other, so it'll be cool to hear live.

Lyrically it seems you deal with political topics which would normally be fodder for Crust punk bands and so on.  Why did you approach lyrics regarding this subject matter?

Lyrics about death, violence and war may fit aggressive music but it's just “brutal” words, it doesn't tell you anything.  And I don't share the beliefs of satanists so the satanic theme is out of the picture.

My lyrics deal with topics that matters to me.  It's more or less a natural response to everything I read about everyday.  It's rewarding for myself to write about these subjects, because it helps me understand my own opinion about different things.

To me lyrics are important, and my interest in politics was actually more or less founded through reading different artists' texts.  But my hopes for my own lyrics is not really to be inspiring, but to piss people off, because that's the feeling we're trying to create with our music. Now whether people gets pissed off because they agree with what I have to say, or because they consider my lyrics not to be brutal enough, doesn't matter, hehe

Politics and every day living seems to be an overlooked topic in the metal scene.  Do you follow politics in your own personal life?  How do you view Sweden from an internal standpoint and how do you feel the rest of the world views it?  Are there any hidden issues that people should be aware of?

Yes, I follow politics and I'm about to begin my studies in global politics in the university next week.  As far as my opinion goes, Sweden's going to hell.  With our recently elected  liberal government (don't ask me how, but in some way they managed to get majority) we'll tear down whatever is left of the social security we once had.  We're long gone down the way of becoming puppets of “bigger interests”: the European Union, USA, WTO.  Survival of the richest.

I believe the rest of the world's view of Sweden is somewhat old.  I think many still believes that Sweden is the country where no one is left behind, the country where it doesn't matter whether you're rich or poor; you're still entitled to health care and education.  This was once the case, but not anymore.  The solidarity is dead and buried, especially with this new government of ours.

Sweden is a pretty low-ball country in international politics, so I don't know if we have any issues that could be important for people outside our borders.  Maybe the surveillance issue that's been quite debated lately.  The government wants the police to have absolute authority to tap phones, bug homes and hack computers without notifying the suspect at all.  A former director of the department of intelligence condemned the proposal and said it would make Sweden a shocking example.  Still the government wants to go through with it.  We're going to hell, no doubt about it. 

I have been doing some research on you guys and it seems you have a special distaste of Glam, Nu-metal, and In Flames styled “non metal.”  Heh heh, Can you tell me what you think of these styles and what the only true deserving styles of metal there are?  Heh heh.

Special distaste, haha.  I don't know if it's that bad.  I dislike them because they all adjust their music to sell records, and that they're mistaken for being in the frame of what is metal music.  It seems as every band using distorted guitars is metal nowadays, and that is quite misleading.  Glam, “Nu-metal” and whatever genre they're in is commercial music, adjusted to fit kids with a little more extreme taste than ordinary MTV-music.

I also read that your favourite thrash scene was the 80s American scene.  What sets that scene apart from the rest?  What other thrash scenes do you guys enjoy and what made them so different and yet still so special?  What are some of your favourite thrash bands of all time?

We're all different regarding the taste in thrash.  I believe Olof is the only one preferring the American scene actually.  I myself am most into the German style, and why is because I like the brutality and the speed.  And the harsh vocals shouldn't be forgotten, it gives a whole other dimension to the brutality compared to high-pitched heavy metal vocals.

I'd say Slayer, Exodus, Sadus, Kreator and Sodom are my absolute favourites.  The “R.I.P” album with Coroner is one of the best thrash releases ever, but on the other hand it's is the only album I really like with them so I guess they don't really qualify to be a favourite.

On a separate but similar note, what do you think of the Swedish thrash scene both back from the 80s with Hexenhaus, Agony, Merciless, Skull, Melissa, and so on to the more recent bands like yourself, Charon’s Blade and so on.  What do you think Sweden’s lasting legacy will be?

I'm not familiar with Skull and Melissa, probably because they never released anything but demos.  Hexenhaus and Agony are much similar in style to the second American wave of thrash, with many bands developing into using more melodic, technical riffs.  This is not my type of thrash, but I've heard Agony's full-length album and it's ok, but nothing out of the ordinary.  I remember having a Hexenhaus album once, can't remember which though, but I got rid of it quite fast because it was more power than thrash.

The legacy I hope will last is that Sweden's underground scene has produced many classic acts when it comes to oldschool thrash and death metal, and still continues to do so.  Merciless, Morbid, Nihilist/Entombed, Dismember back in the days, and today we have, in my opinion, the already cult bands Hypnosia and Repugnant.  And there are more to come...

You have a song entitled Profit Prevailed, and mention greed, etc. on a regular basis so it made me wonder what your thoughts and views on Capitalism are?  Do you think it is necessary or is it evil?  If it is evil what could be used to replace it?

I believe that is one of the biggest and most important questions of our world today.  I see it as evil because obviously the ones possessing the capital also possesses the power, and that leaves the majority out of the equation.  But at the same time, I don't believe in going back to basics with out any currency whatsoever.  I do believe in cooperative owning, community based societies – the majority being the ones possessing the power.  Workers being in charge of their own farms, their own factories etc as many grass root organizations around the world try to encourage, is a positive thing that will help people understand that these executives on their high horses aren't necessary to make a business successful.

You have to be realistic about these things though, and it's more or less impossible to change the current world order over a night.  You have to make smaller changes, one at a time, and a good place to start is, as a friend of mine put it, to try and find a way where people can gain on being equitable.  That would make solidarity a popular thing, because in this individualistic world of ours helping others just isn't rewarding enough.

I guess I need to ask, can we expect a full length album in the near future?  How many songs will it contain?  Any song titles or maybe the name of the album?

Well.  You can expect a full length album, but I don't dare to promise it within a near future.  There's always trouble with putting out releases...

We're in the writing process right now, but we're not really sure how many songs it will contain yet, but you can count on maybe eight?

We have a few titles, the name of the album as well, yes.  But I won't reveal more than that “Perjury” and “To What End?” are the titles of the two new songs we'll be playing live in Oslo.

Last words of hypocrisy for this modern world are yours?

Yes.  Remember that Corrupt CAN touch Mc Hammer.  Thanks to you Brad for keeping the underground alive on the net.  Keep it up!

// Micael