Gersuva. Interview with Gerado Suarez

Interview by Andrew Stanton

Gersuva are a DSBM band from Mexico. Andrew Stanton talked to frontman Gerado Suarez about their new album.

- Can you tell our readers a bit about your history, please?

“Gersuva starts in June 2012 as a Depressive Suicidal Black Metal One Man Band project; later a live band was put together, currently the lineup is Gerardo Suarez (me) on vocals and bass, Alejandro Marin on guitar and Zuriel Hernandez on drums. Already today I have released 5 full lenght (Tragic Silence, Ashes, Holy Rain, Too Late For Smile and Made In Pain) a compilation “The Suicide Tape” and a split with the Colombian bands Kuntur and Taife. In the studio it is a very personal job, I record all the instruments and later with the band we perform live. My personal studio is Satirus Productions which has released every one of Gersuva’s albums, although currently I have also recorded other Mexican bands like Hecate Pagan and Cry Of Doom, promoting Spectrum and Costa Rica Ancient Spheres albums. In Colombia Gersuva’s albums can be found on the Blasphemous Attack label and in Europe and Asia under the Cvlminis label.

We have been a support band for bands like Inquisition, Horna, Varathron, Asagraum, Mortuary Drape, Consider Suicide, Nebiros, Profanatica and Pseudogod. In addition to touring in several countries in Central and South America such as Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Cuba, Colombia and Peru.”

- What bands inspired you to create DSBM?

“Darkthrone is a band that got me into Black Metal, but the band that inspired me to do DSBM was Nocturnal Depression. Later bands like Lifelover, Happy Days, Bethlehem and Silencer gave me a broader perspective of the genre. Although my way of composing is not pigeonholed, it has some Folk, pre-Hispanic, ambient noise overtones, I am very experimental in that aspect.”

- What other Mexican bands should our readers check out?

“It’s going to seem very obvious but I totally recommend Hecate Pagan, Cry Of Doom and Spectrum which are bands from Satirus Productions, they are really good bands. I would also recommend Encarnalium Nosferatum who has a new album and also listen to Tormental and Dark Matter Mx who are also very brutal bands.”

- In your own opinion, what do you think makes DSBM different from Doom Metal?

“According to technical definitions both things are the same. For me personally, the DSBM gives me a little more freedom to compose. I mean that I can work with more intense musical atmospheres, include not so usual instrumentation and work with different musical tempos. Sure, it’s a personal opinion, but that’s how I perceive it.”

- What can fans expect from your new album?

“Made in Pain” is the first double album I have recorded. The inspiration was due to the loneliness and anxiety that was unleashed in me during these years of the pandemic. I have a very special collaboration with Lizzie Carlsson, a girl from Guatemala who is the vocalist of Witchmoon WM who sings on the title track of the album. My third theme sung in Spanish is “Destinos Separados” my first theme in Italian is “Mi Manchi” and a theme in Mayan language “Ah Puuch” who is known as the god of death. On youtube you can find the song “Fill Yourself With Pain” the video clip shows a little what it’s like to work in the studio as a one man band and put everything together at the end. On the cover you can see a painting of my own called “Crisis”, the album can temporarily only be ordered physically through the Gersuva fanpage on Facebook.”

- Why do you choose to sing in English?

“Personally, I find it easier to compose that way, in English, although I also have songs in the Mayan dialect, in languages such as Spanish, French, Italian and even a song that is half Mayan and half Russian called “Ubey Sebya” I believe that the message should not be in a single language, it should reach every corner of the planet.”

- Why are there so many solo artists in the DSBM scene?

“The DSBM is a genre that externalizes the demons and the darkest feelings of a person that are reflected in notes, in screams, in very personal sensations, that is why there are so many projects like this, it’s difficult for two or more people to understand musically what you are feeling, then it is something strongly loaded with thoughts and sentimental voids, incomprehensible for many, but for others it is a way of identifying and coinciding.”

- Are you planning a tour?

“At the moment it’s difficult, some countries still have certain restrictions due to the pandemic; we had something planned for 2021 in Asia but it was and is impossible, at least for a few years. At the moment we have fulfilled some commitments that were postponed in the countries of Colombia, Belize and Guatemala, but in a few months we hope to have something confirmed for Europe and resume the Asian tour.”

- Do you have a message for our readers?

“First of all, I greatly appreciate the space provided in this magazine and secondly to each of the people who take the time to read a little about this project. I hope that soon we can travel to those corners of the world that are missing to deliver the message.

“Siempre Firmes en el Culto al Black Metal”