Hi ! We are Gravefields, a Death Metal project from Ireland and France, formerly known as Dirtyprotest, we are about to unleash a brand new album through Redefining Darkness Records. Thanks for giving us this interview!
> 2.In June you have a new album coming out, musically how does it differ from the album you had released in 2017?
The idea for the first album was a personal tribute to some of my favourite deathmetal bands from the early 90's. Entombed, Bolt Thrower,Bloodbath, Dismember to name a few, using the Boss HM2 guitar sound that i loved, and without ripping anyone off it was supposed to be a familiar sound with familiar riffs, noting new, and nothing original, just a tribute to the old ones !
The new album is defiantly a step up musically, a different style and direction, with more personal song writing. And in my opinion the production is way better (the album is self produced like the first album, this time JB Van der Wal(ex-Aborted) at Hewwetover Studio mastered the album) every song is a little particular and Thomas has added a much wider vocal range with more epic and hardcore additions to the sound. It sounds more epic, more melodic and more brutal, with a lot more leads and faster blast beats, more than traditional Death Metal as Dirtyprotest was. I would describe the album as a well balanced mix of old and newschool deathmetal, blasting grind, on a blackmetal plate, lots of atmosphere and catchy haunting melody's. Still using the HM-2 guitar tone but with more of a modern Blackened Death Metal vibe. Like a mix between Behemoth, Grave and Dissection, if this makes any sense?
3.Your lyrics cover drugs and self destruction, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in those topics?
The first album was focused on war-themed subjects. We wanted to make something a bit different this time, and talk about subjects that are a bit more unusual. The whole album concept is around derivated usage of drugs, addiction, self destruction and manipulation. Some songs are about facing gods through a DMT trip, other about human experiments or manipulation with scopolamine. There is even a song making the bond between the two albums, "Narcotic Warfare", as it talks about amphetamines and pervitine use on German soldiers during WWII !
> 4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Gravefields'?
The name "Dirtyprotest" had its sense at the beginning of the band, but now as the sound has developed and is becoming more and more aggressive, that name was more suited for a Hardcore type band and did not fit anymore. "Gravefields" is a homage, it is a song from the awesome band The Chasm, one of the greatest occult and cosmic Death Metal acts that ever lived.
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> 5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
Having an art background, I made the artwork myself. I wanted to have it pretty simple with a dark theme. It represents a scene of destruction in a world that's destroyed , the void being the gateway into another world and the key to this void being psychedelics (especially DMT, which is found everywhere throughout nature, and this is what will more likely take us to the next world rather than man made technologies).,
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> 6.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you open to expanding the line up or do you prefer to remain a duo?
Yeah, who knows what could be next? It originally started as a solo project, now as a 2 piece working with Thomas. We are both living on different continents, France and Egypt, and even tho we never actually met, I think the arrangement we have right now is very convenient. We have a good way of working together using the internet to bounce ideas back and forth, and we can get the songs done really quickly.,I write and produce all the music from A to Z, send him advanced demo tracks, he then came up with all lyrics and vocals and that's it. 2 albums in, it has worked well so far, I think another album will follow and we will see? I do really miss playing shows and have thought about the idea of putting a full band together in the future and play some shows. Even if it was jst one tour it would be cool, as I am moving back to europe this year so we will see what will happen in the future.
> 7.The band started out in 2006 as 'Dirtyprotest' but you waited until 2017 to release any music, can you tell us a little bit more about the earlier years and also the decision behind the name change?
Yes Dirtyprotest was a personal side project i was working on at home while i was playing drums in a local band here in Cairo Egypt. I was working on demos at home and had written about 14 songs, it was a bit of a mixed bag of songs, some heavier than others, and some i didn't really like anymore, I picked a few of the heavier tracks and published them online. After getting some good feedback I had a plan to take the project a bit more serious and write an old school deathmetal album. A track from the album was published online as i was on the look out for a good vocalist. Thomas got in touch and his style and dedication fit perfect so we started working to finish the album, a year later we had the album finished and it was released digitally in 2016 and then rereleased on French label Mystyk prod. And so Hellstorm was born, and Dirtyprotest became a real band rather than just a few random demos.
For a while now i thought the name "Dirtyprotest" diddnt really suit the music anymore,and also unaware at the time that there was a couple of other punk/rockabilly bands using the same name, we decided on a name change and came up with "Gravefields". I think the new name suits and fits the music much better, and as this is a relativity new project so it was best to change the name now rather a few years down the road.
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> 8.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of extreme metal?
it has been unexpected but really cool. From the start of this project I didn't have any high expectations, I just enjoyed writing classic Death Metal songs. After releasing the first album as a free digital album it was good to just put it out there and see what happens, we didn't expect it to go out on a label a year later, because we are not touring and playing shows, the project was born online and only use the internet as promotion. Now after completing our second album and signing to U.S label Redefining Darkness Records, we'll see what kind of reaction there will be, first ones are really positive and it will be good to get our music out further afield !
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> 9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Another album is definitely on the cards,i guess the new album 'Embrace the Void"will be a good starting point to what will come next. Maybe more Black Metal ? Something more experimental maybe? We'll keep on writing and see what may come.
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> 10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
I guess a lot of the classic deathmetal bands from the early 90's would have a big influence. European and US bands,( Entombed, Dismember, Bolt Thrower,Carcass, Death, Morbid Angel), I also listen to a lot of early uk crust/grind bands, (Doom, Extreme Noise Terror, Napalm Death), the last number of years i have been listening to a lot of black metal so i guess it would be a mix of all these bands,also after living in Egypt for the last 15 years(long holiday), it has given me inspiration to write new music.
> 11.Does Occultism play any role in your music?
No, not directly other than some imagery on the album, but I do believe we all participate in some sort of occultism on a daily basis and most don't realize it.
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> 12.What are some of your non musical interests?
Along with playing and producing music, i've been a tattoo artist/machine builder for nearly 20 years, its been a full time job running my own studio.
> 13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thank you for your time and interest. "Embrace the Void" is about to be released, we are really looking forward to the feedback, and getting back to work on more material!
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