Vrykolakas. Interview with Kai

Interview with Kai

Interview by Jay Parker

1-Tell us about Vrykolakas... When and where was the band formed? What inspired you to form the band? Who is in the current line-up?

VRYKOLAKAS was formed by former members of DEMONIAC and BESTIAL COLONY way back in July 1991. The first line-up was Shafiee Sathanas on guitars and Khairil Nefarious on drums. We didn’t have a name and decided to use the name TUMULUS at first. We eventually chose the name VRYKOLAKAS which we found in a book about occultism and demonology. We liked how the word sounded and decided to use it. I remember forming the band not out of inspiration but because of frustration. Both of us were getting bored of the lack of activity and direction with our previous bands. Ironically, the band went through another period of inactivity and disappeared from the scene between 1993 to 1998. Shafiee had totally left the metal scene, concentrating on his day job. I felt the urge to play music again and got Iman, my cousin, to help me out. This was in 1995. It was Iman on guitars and me on drums. I then went to fulfil my national service in the army and when I ended my national service, I asked Iman, who was playing in NEUROTIC VILE, to help me reform VRYKOLAKAS. He pulled in Zainal, (from NECREOUS / XENOPHOBIA) to play drums and Andy (from OBSEQUIES / NEUROTIC VILE) on vocals. We quickly got to work and recorded 5 songs which appeared in the “Nuthfah” Promo 1999, “Buried In Filthy Vomits” Demo and EP, and the “c 2000” MCD. Zainal left after these recordings and 2 shows, replaced by Edi (from HOMICIDE / CASTIGATE). Iman left the band in 2006, after the recording of “Unleashing Vrykolakas Upon Mankind”. We had friends from other bands to help us out on guitars when we play shows. Currently, and since 2007, the Eternal Trinity consists of Andy (Vocals), Khairil (Guitars) and Edi (Drums).

2-Describe your music in five words.

American and European Death Metal.

3-Tell us about your new releases in chronological order...

July 2021 was the band’s 30th anniversary. The original plan was to record 30 songs to commemorate 30 years of existence and start releasing them in various formats such as demos, Eps and splits, and even compilation tracks. But we received an offer to record an album. So we excavated our plan made in 2000 – to release 5 full-length albums before slowing things down and release shorter formats. We shelved our 3rd album due to many factors and obstacles which prevented its completion and release. We then decided to continue the 5-album plan and re-record the 3rd album. Now we are working hard to complete songs for the 4th and 5th albums. As we write the new songs, we thought that we needed to revive the past albums. We managed to convince a few labels to help us with this anniversary plan. So in chronological order since February 2020, here the releases and reissues: August 2020 – “Into The Shadow Of Death” Tape EP by Evil Damnations Records. Reissue of our songs which were featured in the 3-Way Chaos Split CD and Tape, previously under Metal Industries and Depressive Illusions Records. November 2020 – “Unleashing Vrykolakas Upon Mankind” CD and Tape by East Gothic Productions. Reissue of the Tape previously released by Atomik Nuclear Desolation Productions. June 2021 – “The Cult Of Nocturnal Death” Demo Tape by Bleeding Concrete Records. We streamed 2 songs which were written back in 1995 but only recently recorded in December 2020. The tape also included the Demo 1992 tracks because the reissued version was sold out. July 2021 – “And Vrykolakas Brings Chaos And Destruction” CD by Dark Blasphemies Records. July 2021 - “And Vrykolakas Brings Chaos And Destruction” Special Tape by Evil Damnations Records. American version of the album on Tape in a special outer board design. August 2021 – “Spawned From Hellfire And Brimstone” Tape by Goatlordth Records. Reissue of our 1st album previously released under Vrykoblast Productions. This tape also features 2 unreleased tracks from the album recording sessions in 2004 and the “Into The Shadow Of Death” songs. Coming soon – “And Vrykolakas Brings Chaos And Destruction” CD and Tape by Sadist Records. This is the Asian version featuring alternate coloured artwork and some features in the songs not available in the Dark Blasphemies Records version.

4-your new album, and Vrykolakas brings chaos and destruction, is a nostalgic trip back to classic 90s death metal, fast, furious, fat riffs, growling, spitting vocals, perfect tempo changes... tell us about the album…when and where was it recorded? Run us through the tracks...

This is indeed a special album for us. We had started recording this album between 2008-2010. We had recorded everything except for Andy’s vocals. Many obstacles appeared and hindered the completion of the album. There were 9 songs originally. The songs were recorded using a faster bpm and we only managed to record my vocal guides. While waiting for Andy’s availability, the studio moved location and eventually became a home-based recording endeavour. We had to make the decision to leave the songs as they are and the sound engineer gave us the master in its basic and unfinished version. So when we wanted to record our next album last year in 2020, we decided to redo this unfinished album. We changed the tempo, the drum patterns and kept 5 songs from the previous set. We already have songs when we were recording the “3-Way Chaos / Into The Shadow Of Death” songs. We added 3 new songs to make it an 8-song album instead of the original 9. The recording started in December 2020 and completed in February 2021. Actually, we only recorded during the weekends, in total about 10 days. We left the mixing to the studio engineer, Nizam Aziz, the IMPIETY guitarist. Nizam Aziz owns Studio 47. It took Nizam up to May 2021 to finish mixing the album due to other recording projects he had to complete. But it was worth waiting because the result was beyond our expectations. And so far, those who have listened to the album enjoyed the death metal we were trying to convey. The 8 songs are 1. Silkhannas Falls From Grace, about the fallen angel. 2. Kaf-Fa-Ra, about the antichrist. 3. Yajuj Majuj Versus The World, about Gog and Magog. 4. The Dajjal Brings Chaos, the continuation of the story of the antichrist in the 2nd song. 5. The Storms And The Shadows, about the djinns. 6. The Jasad On The Throne, about the antichrist coveting and inheriting Solomon’s secrets 7. Transcending The Quantum Realm Of Barzakh, about the purgatory. 8. Seven Steps Above Six Feet Under, about the whole funeral process, especially after the funeral. You can read the liner notes and lyrics for each song on our Bandcamp page: https:// vrykolakas666.bandcamp.com/ album/2021-and-vrykolakas-brings-chaos-and-destruction-dark-blasphemies-records

5-What are your plans for the future?

We are recording “The Necromantic Revocation” as we are doing this interview. This is a retrospective album, imagining what would have been in 1993 if we were a bit more serious with our music. We were offered an album deal but still being in school, we really couldn’t see ourselves having the discipline to finish and record a full-length album. We only had 2 new songs then. Shafiee was missing rehearsals when we had found a solid drummer who wanted to commit himself to the band. So, during the recording of our 3rd album, I told Andy and Edi, I want to finish this project to reminisce the atmosphere of the 1992 when the metal scene in Singapore was thriving with many bands. It will contain 7 songs – 3 from the 1992 demo, 2 songs started by Shafiee Sathanas and 2 songs which were rehearsed by Iman and myself as a 2-piece band in 1995. Please follow our Facebook page for regular updates on this album. After this album, we will enter Studio 47 again to record our 4th album, “Nocturnal Dominion Of Death”. 8 songs of death metal. And then, our 5th and final album to complete our original plan, currently titled “Supreme Brutal Vrykolakas”.

6-Tell us about the metal scene in Singapore…recommend some bands for our readers...

I mentioned about the Singapore scene in the early 1990s. During that time, many teenagers discovered metal music and fanzines and wanted to form bands, record demos and play gigs. The scene was very united. Then, in 1993, problems started. DARKTHRONE became black metal and the Norwegians started their segregation strategy. A lot of Singaporean metal heads got very influenced and we became disunited, very judgemental, labelling individuals and bands as “posers” and “trendies”, without realising we are the ones faithfully following a trend started by the Norwegian black metal zealots. But things are better now. We seemed to have returned to the 1990s. There are many bands with very different metal hybrid in their music. There is a lot of desire to improve the musicianship so you will find many bands with skilful musicians. I will only recommend a few based on my limited memory: DARAH (total death metal), NAFRAT (death metal supreme), DISPITEOUS (death metal), ABVULABASHY (black metal), OSHIEGO (brutal death metal), CARDIAC NECROPSY (death metal, but check out their goregrind releases as well), INUKA (doom), XANADOO (superb intense thrash), WITCHSEEKER (head banging and fist punching heavy metal), ASSAULT (melodic death metal), ANTOLOGI (death thrash featuring Edi!) and check out IRON FIST (mainly heavy metal with touches of black, punk and anything filthy!) and many more!

7- Tell us about your influences and what bands you listen to now...

At this moment, we only want to sound like a mix of GRAVE, IMMOLATION and INCANTATION. But we are influenced by many European and American death metal bands. In terms of the band culture, we are greatly influenced by the 1990s Singaporean metal bands like NUCTEMERON, DREAD, ABHORER, INFIDEL and ANATHEMA. These are the bands that inspired us to start a band. As for song writing, generally, we always listen to the albums and demos of the abovementioned bands, also NILE, ABSU, SEANCE, INCUBUS (Florida and Illinois), VADER, MASSACRA, MX, early MORBID ANGEL, PHLEGETHON, FUNEBRE, a lot of Indonesian brutal death metal bands, a lot of Japanese death metal bands and ABHORER.

8 - Do you have a message for our readers?

First of all, we would like to appreciate the help of Jay Pee! Interviews like this has helped VRYKOLAKAS spread our name and music across the globe since 1992, even though we are not actively playing shows internationally. Keep up the great work spreading the music! To the readers, do your part as best as you can to support the scene – the bands, the zines. With internet and digital platforms, it is easier to help the bands whose music you enjoy. Form bands, write, record and release music, make zines, spread the music, start a label, release albums, eps, etc. Let’s keep on metal. Hail death \m/ https://vrykolakas666.bandcamp.com