Maze of Terror - interview!!!!!

MAZE OF TERROR - interview with Leviathan.

No introduction is needed here, I reviewed Peru's Maze of Terror EP a while ago, you can still find it somewhere here... and obviously I liked this band's take on old school thrash metal a lot, so I didn't hesitate to send some questions to Leviathan. It is always damn great feeling to support some more exotic, unknown bands from such a distant lands like Peru... Fuck, get "Skullcrusher", read this interview... and bang your head!

Hellzzzz to thee, Leviathan! Hope you’re all well down there in Peru. Tell me, how does the scene of nowadays look like in your country? Is it getting bigger and better or just stale, as people in your country maybe are not as enthusiastic and active as maniacs from Brazil or Chile?

Hailz Maniac from the South American Underground!!!! Thanks for the review and these blooded lines!!!!

Well, direct to the point, the biggest scene in South America is Brazil, then comes Chile, then maybe Colombia, but in Peru we have a good tradition of Death Metal and Black Metal, much of the sound of the "Brazilian Warfare Noise" has been with us, there are bands, organizers are there, labels are there, but the common banger do not buy national productions. I can also tell you that the state does not support, just recently the foreign minister said "the music in Peru is not on the TV or radio because it doesn’t have the necessary quality"… Obviously us and other underground bands we think the bastard deserves to die, but fuck, this is underground with or without support we go ahead. Here come many bands, like Slayer, Metallica, Iron Maiden, coming soon Possessed, Sabbat, and Black Sabbath and Peru have really good bands and they have productions of great quality like COBRA, MORTEM, NECROPSYA, EPILEPSIA, REYNO HERMITAÑO, ANAL VOMIT, and I can mention many bands, new and old, but it is only a matter of exploring metal archives.

Obviously Mortem is the most worshipped and known band from Peru. What do you think of them? How the Peruvian maniacs consider their most legendary band?

MORTEM is the best in Peru, in short, all real Peruvian bangers will say you the same, when I first heard (their music) it surprised me, they are really brutal, all their riffs and vocals are great. Thanks to them we have a great tradition in the death metal in Peru.

I guess another bands from Peru, which are worth being supported are the likes of Goat Semen, Hadez, Death Invoker, Anal Vomit, R.I.P., plus maybe few more. Can you tell me something about how is the relationship between the bands in Peru? Do you support each other or there’s strong rivalry? And please, introduce us the old Peruvian scene a little bit

more… What was it like in the late 80’s/early 90’s, I mean were there many bands and concerts, what problems did the maniacs and bands had to fight to survive?

Goat Semen, Hadez, Death Invoker, Anal Vomit are really good bands, the people of Goat Semen have a label and they support the bands making productions for all the years, the people of Hadez too and make International shows in Lima Peru. I do not think in rivalries in Peru, here are varied bands in Peru, our scene thrives in all, death, black, thrash, heavy, stoner doom, there are guys who speak evil, but they are everywhere and really do no harm.

About the old Peruvian scene, there were large bands of which the majority has returned. We had in Peru some difficult epochs, in the past it was very difficult to do shows because of the problems of the country, but from 90’s everything has changed, these obstacles disappeared and in 2000 the shows returned, international bands began arriving, I believe in certain way we are grateful to those first bands to have laid the foundation, despite the problems of that time.

You’ve been a member of R.I.P. – killer band, which I only know from the “United Metal Massacre” split tape, which is just awesome release… What caused your and Hammer’s departure from this band? Do you still support and are companions to this band? Feel free you recommend and introduce R.I.P. to the readers, if you will…

Well about R.I.P., it was a project that began when we started to listen metal and it was something that was very limited within our means… there was power and force and brutality but the problem with R.I.P. was that things were not taken seriously, so we opted to stay away from it, I feel better now with Maze Of Terror, which is more aggressive and defined and of course serious.

And of course I recommend R.I.P. to the bangers, but unfortunately I think they are not active, and do not get anything new since 2009, more than anything I recommend bands of my generation such as Purgatorio, Bloodlust, Blackfire, Mandragora, Agonize, Birro, Destroy, Evil Spectrum, Morbid Slaugther, and of course Maze Of Terror, all Peruvian brutal bands, I hope I didn’t forget everything sorry hahahaha.

Maze of Terror was spawned in 2011 by you and Hammer, with Criminal Mind joining on guitar… Well, it seems like you and Hammer are true brothers in arms… How long do you know each other and how did you meet Criminal Mind? Has he also played in some other bands before? How did you form this new band?

Of course we are a brotherhood with Hammer, I've known him a long time. When we left R.I.P. it was Hammer's primary idea to form a band with a better style and definition. It was difficult to record the EP “Skullcrusher”, we were only 2 people, we looked for a guitarist who would support us in the guitar solos and the recording, so there appeared our first guitarist Bestial Slaughter, but he had other projects and we wanted another guitarist to continue and play live with us. So, an old comrade who played with R.I.P. as support recommended us Criminal Mind, with whom he has played in a Metallica tribute band called

Metalmilitia… Shortly after we launched to perform live, after a few months we toured Bolivia and opened for Whiplash in La Paz, Bolivia and Destruction in Arequipa, Peru.

What about Bestial Slaughter? Who was this guy and why has he left so soon?

Well, the thing is that he plays in a band, which is very important here and he does some important things… and his help was very supportive, because it was very difficult to find a fixed guitarist at the time… He still remains a great comrade to whom we are very grateful.

“Skullcrusher” – your first EP – was recorded very quickly. How did you work on these songs? Did only one of you compose all the riffs or maybe it was a team work on rehearsals? Is any of this stuff older, maybe originally was destined for R.I.P., but then you decided to use these riffs for Maze of Terror, as you no longer was in R.I.P.? Sorry, I’m just guessing here hehe…

Well more than anything they had to leave, riffs or rhythms or voices that lead us to any idea, to worthwhile created , sometimes at random times is something that flows easily, sometimes, or it is very difficult to think of something new.

We never use anything of R.I.P.;from the beginning we seek a new direction , a different way

a clean sound and good Production but the southamericanagressive things, We want to do things quickly, without wasting time, so our first move was to record these songs in an EP.

I love the songs and the sound on the Ep. They are truly awesome and I honestly think of them as some of the best thrash metal sounds I have listened to for a long time. Are you happy with this material? Does it sound as you wished? How’s the feedback on “Skullcrusher” so far?

Really thanks man!!!! For these words!!! We really wished with this sound for thisagresivity andpower !!!!,we really like the Ep, I say thanks for the great opportunity to play and record this songs, So far we have sent some material to Japan, Europe, and South America in small quantities, as we seek more expansion as band, I'd love one reissue in Europe, although not given that opportunity.
 

I wonder, when we speak of thrash metal, what do you think of all those new bands, which have came out of nowhere few years ago to play thrash metal? I mean, some of them, like Evile, Merciless Death, Bonded by Blood or Gama Bomb became quite popular and are signed to big labels… Do you listen to these bands or you prefer to stick to the old LPs and maybe also to some less knows, more underground, bands like Violator or Bloodthirst?

Although personally the best of the best comes from old bands, I like to explore the new in all genres...

I like Ghost, Enforcer, Midnight really good bands, I like South American bands like Miserycore, Bestial Holocaust among other, this bands are of contemporary history, I like  Toxic Holocaust are very aggressive also Municipal Waste or Violator in his style is more Dri or Nuclear Assault,

About the bands that you mentioned, have good jobs, but there are modern bands like Bonded by blood who do not take seriously your theme and are dedicated to talking about which is a poser, or liquor, or similar things are empty lyrics and styles glad I do not like much, I prefer a lyric raw, bloody, have much to talk about in a lyric, and songs most brutal and aggressive, less Happyness more brutality, more serious and important things to give the music the value it should have, aggressiveness and sincerity above all

Back to “Skullcrusher”… tell us something more about the songs from this demo. Try to describe your sound and style…

Well, about the EP… These songs are really simple, for being our first job; they have blast beat and sounds crushing. As I mentioned earlier, much of what is done in Peru is influenced by the Warfare Noise, we have some pretty fast speed parts and torn voices, some riffs are dark and death metal touches, to get more brutality, but sound is clean and pro. In the lyrics of “Damned to Eternal Pyre” for example we talk about the perversity of human mind, some songs like "Hatred" talk about fighting for your freedom over oppression… The theme “Rivals” talks about 2 people who hate so brutally and brought this hate to the last limits and “Lord of Destruction” speaks about an unstoppable entity to do destruction and madness, and “Run with Death” is history of brutal man in a strange world like the movie “Taxi Driver”.

Capricorn Records is Peruvian label. Are they doing a good job for you or maybe they are just OK for your own country, but not so good for the rest of the world? I am happy that you contacted me and sent the CD, but what about hundreds of thrash maniacs, who would definitely like your skull crushing music? Where can they buy the CD?

Well about our EP, it is an independent release, we recorded it with our own budget, but released it under the label Capricorn Records and now about with 300 copies nearly sold of this EP we have the opportunity to spread in to distant places. We can make packs to distant places but it is still expensive and I say again I'd love if someone reissued this in Europe, although we were not given that opportunity yet.

For the moment the label https://www.facebook.com/capricornrecords.peru, have some material in Japan; the label http://www.deathrasharmageddon.com/ tieneotrascopias mas, in Argentina / South America the label http://totaldesasterprod.blogspot.com/ make a re-edition of 100 copies on tape, coming soon in May 2013. And the label The Desolation Serpent will make other re-edition in tape, limited to 300 copies; this is the email of the guy: thedesolationserpent_recs@hotmail.com. We are really grateful for this.

And well this is a modern time, after some time we have seen that some people upload the EP on blogs to download, but we are not against it, since more than a year ago it has been released, so we spread some links so you can download it in some friends' blogs. You only have to look on the Internet and is accessible to all. We wish that most bangers will have possibility to access the published material, but otherwise, you can destroy your skull when download our songs.

Being active live, Maze of Terror plays quite a lot of gigs I think. Could you say something more about them? With which bands have you played and where? Are Peruvian fans crazy when you thrash like maniacs? What about that gig with the legendary Whiplash and Destruction? How did it happen that you opened for such high profile acts?

We play anywhere that lead us, provided they pay for our transport, food and lodging. We have played in various cities of our country. The bangers in Peru are crazy but it is in the

province where the people support more the Peruvian bands. We did a tour in Bolivia, as I commented you… The public and organizers helped us and supported us quite much and when we planned the tour it coincided with Whiplash tour and we had the opportunity to open for them, with great sound, fire and full support of the people, it was amazing!! A big hail to IN METAL WE STAND PROD of Bolivia for this great opportunity and to Whiplash for so many posters hahahhahahaha. We have some videos on youtube if you’d like to see it. Back in Peru one month later we had the opportunity to play with Destruction and the bangers gave us a great support. I am really grateful for this.

I’ve already seen some footage on youtube of your gigs and I liked them. You played some cool covers for example Sarcofago’s “Nightmare”, which is a killer! If you had to choose 3, 4 covers to record, what would that be?

I personally love playing “Nightmare” and “Guerreiros de Sata” - song of Vulcano. I would like to play is “Gates of Iron”, maybe some songs of Razor or Infernal Majesty, but it is preferred for us if we record and make our own songs than covers… The covers are to fill the minutes between the songs that we have and motivate the public.

I truly like Peruvian zine called Crypts of Eternity. Do you know it? Tell me something about some other zines from your country and also about Crypts of Eternity, in case you know the guy behind it in person…

I heard about this zine; one friend told me “it’s good and very cult!!!, honestly I think it’s a good zine and it don't rotates to Peru, mostly going to out.

Jeff Hanneman died recently… surely a great loss, but I personally stopped listening to any Slayer records post “Seasons in the Abyss” LP; everything after that is not what I like at all and I also really stopped caring about this band years ago, as they don’t do any good albums anymore and more so, they have nothing to offer, except playing the same old songs over and over again. Just like Metallica, for instance… Tell me about your opinion on Slayer, Slayer’s history and recent LPs and just everything else you would like to say…

Well, the last two albums are cool for me, they improved many things that were lacking on the other albums after the “Season of the Abyss”. It’s normal that “Show no Mercy”, “Reign In Blood” and “South of Heaven” are masterpieces; Slayer defined the thrash metal in its most accurate form, that wild and terrifying sound from “Show no Mercy”… Slayer has always been a great band not only for their songs, but also by they are influence to all brutal bands, which is a thing which should ne known. The influence of bands like Slayer, Dark Angel or German bands like Sodom or Destruction contribute much more than other metal bands like Anthrax and Testament… But Jeff Hanneman was the creator of that maximum sound with riffs, tremolos, and dark guitar harmonies. QEPD Jeff Hanneman, you are a really master for all.

How big is the influence of South American metal on you which SA bands would you consider to be the most killer and influential for your band? I personally admire not only bands from this region of the world for the music, but more so, also for their true and honest attitude, which they often have, they all seem to be real maniacs and worshippers of metal. What do you think?
Well, we like so much Sepultura for the brutality… I like Sarcofago, Chakal, Holocausto, Mutilator, some other bands like Pentagram, Deathyell, Mortem, Necropsya, Witchtrap and of course Vulcano, who for us is the greatest South American band, the pioneers within brutal sound of the metal, their album “Bloody Vengeance” from 1986 is very brutal, more brutal than any other band from that year. The South American metal has much to offer in the old and new, I invite anyone who does not know about this to investigate, listen and break the skull against the wall.

OK, I guess we can finish here… Tell me if Maze of Terror is planning to record some new songs, maybe in the near future you’ll release something new, tell me also something about your new tracks… and that’s all. Takecare and goodthrashinglucktothe band!

Really thanks man, we are prepared for the war this year!!!! We actually play live and work and brake our brains at the time to make new songs… new motherfucking songs. This year we plan to make new disc, we have ready some really brutal songs to play in live!!!! And when this is record will be ready, we will send it to you to listen and share to all Headbangers Crazy Fuckers in you blog, comrade! We say in the name of Maze of Terror thanks for your support and recommended to all bangers listen South American metal and of course Maze of fucking Terror !!!!!!

Keep Brutal Crazy Fuckers a big hello to all!!!!! METAL TO THE BONES!!!!!!!