INFINITUM OBSCURE recently returned to the scene with their new full length album "Sub Atris Caelis", which is without a doubt their strongest musical statement ever since the band’s origin back in 2000. We hooked up with the band’s founder Roberto Lizarraga (vocals / guitar) to discuss the rollercoaster ride throughout INFINITUM OBSCURE’s complicated history…

Greetings Roberto… hope everything’s going well overthere?! An in-depth INFINITUM OBSCURE feature in VOICES FROM THE DARKSIDE really has been overdue, so I hope you’re in a good mood to do a little bit of talking about your musical activities (past and present) now…
"Hails Frank!! If anything, it’s an honor to be featured in the grandeur of Voices From The Darkside, I thank you so much for you particular interest and enthusiastic support towards INFINITUM OBSCURE. I do not mind at all talking in depth!!"

Let’s go back in time a little bit and start with your first experiences in the music business… I’ve read that you’ve been in a band called THE SUFFERING prior to INFINITUM OBSCURE… For how long had that band been going exactly, was it your first band ever, did you record / release anything with them and what kind of style did you play with THE SUFFERING?
"Well depends on how far back you wanna go, I started playing guitar at age 10 or 11 and at age 14 I had my first band called MORTEM CHRIST which was a Death Metal band, it was formed around 1992. THE SUFFERING was actually the 3rd band I had been in and that was in 1996 and up to 1997. Samuel Ocadiz (the other guitar player) and I formed that band but at the end of ’97 I left because I relocated from Mexico City to the north west of the country, to Tijuana. They recorded the first THE SUFFERING demo without me but 50% of the music in that demo was written by ME and Samuel executed my parts perfectly well, so I do consider it part of my discography in a way I guess. That band continued on after my departure and they eventually broke up. Now they are back."

According to Metal Archives you’ve also been part of several other bands at one point or another, such as MORTEM CHRIST, AS LIGHT FADES, OMISION and MORDSKOG… Tell us a bit about that, like when you’ve played with them, if it was just project work for you or real bands and why it didn’t work out in the long run…
"Well, I will tell you all about these bands / projects. As I mentioned in the previous question, MORTEM CHRIST was formed in 1992 and broke up in 1995, it was my first experience being in a band but since that day it was also my first experience in leading a band and being the main driving force. We recorded a rehearsal demo in ’93 called “Mortem Demo” and we made the copies ourselves, by dubbing the cassettes and photo copying the inlay cards, etc. We did a few copies and gave them away to people we knew in the Underground scene in Mexico City around that time. In ’95 the band broke up because the drummer left and persuded another style of music so the singer and I ventured into looking for another band.Then in that same year (’95) I ran into an old friend of mine from kindergarten acually haha, and he played in a band called Nocturnal Serenity. Me and the Mortem Christ singer began jamming with them but the main guy left the band so we changed the name to AS LIGHT FADES and we wrote all new songs. This was more of an atmospheric Death / Doom Metal band. We recorded a rehearsal demo and then the band broke up in ’96. After As Light Fades, me and Samuel Ocadiz formed THE SUFFERING and we actually recluted Ricardo Gil (from As Light Fades) on bass, the original drummer was Antonio Leon of THE CHASM. The demo situation was explained in the previous question. OMISION, is a Death Metal band from Tijuana (where I live since 1997) and it’s my friend Heriberto Perez’s band. OMISION was formed in 1993, and it’s a very simplistic style an of old Death Metal sound with some Thrash influence. Heriberto was the singer in the band but he writes all the music. He always had 2 guitarists though and he sang only, but after many line-up changes, he found himself with no guitar players at one point and I offered my services to him because he is one of my best friends and because we agreed that I would play lead guitar for OMISION if he practiced hard and did rhythm guitar and vocals, and that has been working perfectly fine like that since February 2007. I have recorded 2 demo CDR’s with OMISION entitled “Utopia Of Chaos” (2007) and the new demo called “Pray” (2009). Right now we’re looking for a record label to produce and release our first full length album. MORDSKOG is a Black Metal band from Mexico City lead by my good friend Lugubrem. This is 100% his band / project and he invited several of his best friends to participate in it. I wrote a couple of songs for MORDSKOG for an EP called “Rare Hymns Of Perdition”. Now they recently recorded the first MORDSKOG full length but I am in the process of recording the bass on it. This will probably be my last participation with them because I have no spare time and the distance is too big between Tijuana and Mexico City."

In 2000 you finally started up INFINITUM OBSCURE… What exactly motivated you at the time to start up a new band again and was it clear for you right from the start that INFINITUM OBSCURE had to become a whole lot more serious in every aspect than all of your previous bands / projects?
"Yes, I began writing music for INFINITUM OBSCURE in 2000 and started working on the whole idea of the band. After my relocation to the city of Tijuana, I found myself in very hard situations as far as adapting to this place, finding friends and acquaitences, etc. I found myself in lots of fucked up situations of backstabbing, lame gossip, and I got fed up with all that bullshit so in 1999 I moved away for a year to Seattle , Washington. The only REAL friend I had in Tijuana at the time was Joel Marquez (ex – Sadistic Intent drummer). While I lived in Seattle I began writing music again which for this new band I had in mind but it had no name at that point. In 2000 I really uncomfortable with the idea of being in Seattle so I moved back home, called Joel and formed INFINITUM OBSCURE. This band became my life’s work at this point, all my personal experiences and energies (both positive and negative) are compeled within the music and lyrical concepts behind INFINITUM OBSCURE. This band was initially formed as a tool for revenge, the dagger that would slay those who did me wrong, and it served its purpose. If you read the lyrics in “Ipsus Universum” they are all based in hatred, treason and desire for revenge. That stage of the band was completed and the goal was met! So the lyrical direction of the band in the “Internal Dark Force “ album became one of self exploration and instead of expressing feelings and ideas from the inside to the outside. Now with the new album, the concept is an expression of personal dreams of death, visions of the culmination of life, and the desire to reach the omega point, THE END of all existence, separating the elite ones who bear the inner black flame and the trascendece of that flame unto the nothingness becoming ONE with the universe. The mundane simply will perish and will never trascend. All this is still based in real life experiences, in my way of seeing the world and the mediocrity and limitations of common human life and an enslaving society."

Were you particularely impressed by any bands at the time, bands that motivated you even more to come up with something very strong on your own or was it more vice versa… that you disliked the whole scene so much that you simply had to create something better on your own in order to regain your enthusiasm for Metal again?
"Well, I think that between 1995 and 2000 the Metal scene began falling into some sort of lacking. My idea for a band has always been that I want to write an album that I want to have in my collection and that I desire to listen to, you know? Like albums that I grew up with, not just CDs that fill a space in a shelf but an album that has a DEEP and REAL meaning. I personally think that this is the difference between a GOOD album and just any CD. There’s worlds of difference apart in creating music with a real meaning than just being in a plain and shallow band that will cause no impact. Impact comes from WITHIN and ones personality shines through when you write music, the music should eb a natural reflection of your soul and mind. Forced things taste like plastic. Do you like to eat a piece of plastic? I don’t. To be quite honest, nowadays I find deeper inspiration in different sources, not just Metal. As a matter of fact as time goes on, I find less inspiration in Metal music. However my personal expression IS in the form of very obscure Death Metal, but the sources of inspiration are elsewhere nowadays."

From what I’ve read, the first person you’ve asked to join the band was former SADISTIC INTENT drummer Joel Marquez… What was the reason for that? Did you already know him before or was it more like you admired his drumming skills and always wanted him to be part of a band of yours?
"As I partially mentioned in question 4, me and Joel are very close friends and have been since 1998. We met at a Morbid Angel show in San Diego California, and we became very close friends ever since. Joel always mentioned his desire to play Death Metal again and in 2000 when I moved back from Seattle, the time was right to join forces and unleash the demons within! It was more of a desire of both of us to create a new band, it was that mutual desire that lead to our collaboration. Joel left INFINITUM OBSCURE after he finished recording his drum tracks for "Internal Dark Force". But we always remained friends though. Now me and Joel play together again hehe, Joel joined OMISION last year!! Hehe."

Who else became part of the very first band line-up? Did you also contact any people that weren’t interested to join INFINITUM OBSCURE for one reason or another?
"The first line up was completed by Carlos Escobar on bass and Noel Bello on second lead guitar. Carlos was a good friend of ours and I liked his style and it was just a natural thing to ask him to join me and Joel, this was in 2001. Same thing with Noel, I felt that we had similar drive and influences and it was a natural decision to ask him to be part of the band, this was in 2002. The first shows we ever played in 2001 and 2002 were actually as a three piece. Carlos and Noel both left the band in 2004. But Noel is back now, he returned to the band last year (2008), long story but bottom line is that he is an original member of the band and he is back."

It’s pretty obvious that INFINITUM OBSCURE is your brainchild, your vision… and several members have come and gone over the years. Would you mind telling us a little bit about the reasons why it didn’t work out with some of them? Have you also lost any members that you would’ve loved to work with in the long run maybe?
"People come and go because they lack discipline, vision and commitment. Someone with a weak mind or common goals should not be part of INFINITUM OBSCURE. I am more cautious now in choosing people. The mistakes of the past will not be made again. There has been good musicians and everyone claims to be the one, but where are they? In the end, the ones who have the nerve to withstand all the ups and downs are the ones who remain."

I noticed that there’s 2 contact addresses of yours… one in Mexico and one in the US… how come? So, do you consider INFINITUM OBSCURE more as a Mexican or US band?
"I live in Tijuana Mexico, which is a border city with San Diego California, I have a P.O. box in the San Diego side of the border because I get all my international mail there and I send out international mail from the USA because it’s faster than the Mexican postal service hehe. That’s the only reason… but we all live and work in Mexico."

When it comes to the lyrical topics you’ve once mentioned that a strong disgust for religion was always a big part of them… Would you agree that the world would be a helluva lot better place without religion of any kind?
"Religion is for weak minded people. The strong minded individual seeks freedom and liberation and follows the path of his own making. I dare to say that most of the problems within society and the world in general are caused by religion (I totally agree! – Frank). Religion manipulates empty souls and shallow minds, and I am neither."

It took you quite a while to come up with the first INFINITUM OBSCURE release, which was the split CD with ANCIENT GODS back in 2003… Why did it take you so long? Have you recorded anything prior to that, demos or anything, that you decided not to release officially? Have you been playing any shows already in the early days?
"Well Frank, actually that “Ipsus Universum” part of that split CD WAS a demo. It was a demo that was recorded between the end of 2002 and early 2003. It DID see a demos release in the form of a CDR and this is what lead to that release deal with Utterly Somber Creations. Prior to that, I had recorded only a couple of songs with a friends drum macine in his house, I dunno if I still have it haha, it was the very first version of ‘Shunned By Thy Dark Light’. I should look for it hehe. There’s a 4 song demo that we recorded before “Internal Dark Force” that was only sent to a few record labels in 2004, and it’s actually a killer version of those 4 songs, they sound way better than the actual album, Ha! One of those songs was released in a compliation CD by the label called Kthulu Productions. The compilation was called “Reflections From The Abyss Vol.1” and it was done in 2006. And there’s also a live DVD form 2004 in San Diego, California from a show we played wiith MORTEM and SADISTIC INTENT (what a great package! – Frank), but there hasn’t been a proper release for it yet. Maybe these recordings and footage get a proper release sometime soon?"

How did you hook up with Utterly Somber Creations for the release of that split CD and were you familiar with ANCIENT GODS already at the time? How did that split came together exactly?
"Well as I mentioned to you, I sent out a few demos to labels, looking to see if anyone would be interested in a release of some sort from the band and Utterly Somber responded. But they actually wanted to release the DEMO I HAD SENT THEM hehe. They had the idea of that split with Ancient Gods, whom I had no idea about at the time until the split happened. The label suggested the split CD idea because Ancient Gods was about to enter the studio and record 4 songs, and we had that 4 song demo, so it was the label’s idea to master it and compile it with Ancient God’s songs. I thought it was a great idea, so we went with it."

Unfortunately I haven’t heard anything from those guys anymore ever since… do you know what happened to them? Are you still in touch? Are they still around?
"As far as I know they broke up after that split CD (too bad… I think they really had potential – Frank)."

I suppose the fact that you helped out on various THE CHASM live shows in the following years is based on the good relationship you had with Daniel through Utterly Somber Creations, isn’t it? How were those shows for you compared to shows you played with your own band(s)?
"Not at all. Daniel Corchado has been one of my best and dearest friends for the past 15 years. We became friends in 1995, when we both still lived in Mexico City. In ’97 I moved to Tijuana and he had relocated to Cleveland, Ohio when he was part of INCANTATION in ’96. Then in ’97 he got a hold of my family’s phone number and called me to tell me that he had left INCANTATION and relocated THE CHASM to Chicago. We’ve never lost contact, he is one of my BEST friends in all my life. I was always a THE CHASM fan since their first ’93 demo and I saw them play several tiems in Mexico City in local gigs and opening for international acts so for me it was a HUGE honor that Daniel asked for my help in 2004. He asked me to fill in on bass and I did. The first show I played with THE CHASM was in Chicago, we played with MORTEM and DISINTER. Then in 2005 I did a tour with them in the East Coast fo the USA, 10 shows in 2 weeks. That was my very first touring experience. It was MORTICIAN, INCANTATION, THE CHASM and FUNERUS on that tour. This lead to John (McEntee) and Kyle (Severn) of INCANTATION asking me to play with them, because they liked the work I did with THE CHASM very much, and because we were all long time friends."

Three more years went by until you finally returned to the scene with your debut full length "Internal Dark Force"… from what I’ve heard part of the long delay were serious problems with the studio were you recorded it, so would you mind telling us a bit more about that?
"I made a horrible mistake of not knowing how to choose the right studio. A friend of mine recommended me that studio and I went there and talked to the guy, he played some materials for me that he had recorded there and they sounded fine. Also it was a matter of a budget, we paid for the recording ourselves. The label didn’t pay for that, because they had agreed to send it to a this very professional mastering studio where the split CD was mastered and it was going to be quite expensive. We recorded the album and I sent a final mix over to the label, but supposedley it had problems when they tried to master it so they wanted us to re-mix the album. I chose Daniel (Corchado) to re-mix it, so I went back to the studio to obtain the raw tracks and the studio engineer didn’t have all of them anymore. He used one of my tapes to record another band, thinking that he was done with our album and that I wasn’t going to need the master tapes anymore!! So after that an entire nightmare started because he said he would pay for the tape and the re-recording time for the lost tracks (all vocals, leads and acoustic guitars) and that he would call me back in a few days when he had an opening in the studio for free time. Of course he never called me, I called him back dozens of times and he gave me more stories which took a toll of 3 months I think, waiting for this asshole to be responsable. Then the label said they couldn’t be waiting so much because they had other releases in progress besides ours so they gave priority to those other releases and ours got set back. Finally I decided to ask a friend for help. My friend let me use his recording gear at home to re-record the lost tracks and send them to Daniel. Daniel recieved them and mixed the album, then it was in the label’s hands, BUT they didn’t master it in the studio that we had agreed in and the album ended up sounding like shit. Daniel’s master mix without mastering sounds way better and it’s the mix me and Blood Harvest Records are using for the “Internal Dark Force” vinyl release, and it’s gonna be mastered in Sweden so I know FOR SURE that it will sound way fucking better than the CD. So that’s the story, yeah."

What kind of reactions did you get on the album if you compare it to the split CD? You mentioned to me that you’ve been compared to THE CHASM all the time… was it already a case at that point of time and do you think the fact that you’ve been a live session member of THE CHASM, your releases came out on their own label and Daniel even mixed "Internal Dark Force" had a lot to do with that… that people immediately associated you with THE CHASM because of all these connections?
"Daniel doesn’t run Utterly Somber Creations. Daniel’s own label is called Lux Inframundis (arrgh, stupid me – Frank). I think they compare INFINITUM OBSCURE to THE CHASM due to all those things mentioned and because THE CHASM IS one of my favorite bands and honestly, it’s a Mexican style of Death Metal. Don’t tell me that Entombed and Dismember don’t have a similar sound yet both bands are different? Know what I mean? But the first thing a person will always do is look for comparisons, we’re all guilty of that I guess, and of course THE CHASM is an older band, the first thing people say is that we copy them, when that is NOT the case at all. Either way, if you know both THE CHASM and INFINITUM OBSCURE you will know that both bands are different in alot of ways, for starters, the concepts behind them and the musical approach in general. INFINITUM OBSCURE is way more straight forward. THE CHASM is more complicated."

What was the reason that you re-recorded ‘Beyond A Dying Sun’ and ‘Storm Of Impious Hatred’ for the full length and where do you see the song’s main improvements when it comes to the new version?
"The reason is very simple. “Ipsus Universum” was a demo, and those 2 songs were on that demo, and I always think that some demo songs have to be part of a band’s first full length record. Simple as that, there’s no change in the songs, they are played exactly the same, the only thing that changed is the sound on each recording."

If I look at the cover artwork of "Internal Dark Force" I get the impression that it’s kinda like a continuation of the one you’ve already used for the split CD… was that pure coincidence or is there a certain concept behind it?
"The cover on the split CD is HORRIBLE!!! Hahahaha, I had NO IDEAS for a cover at that time, and I was like “what the hell, we’ll use this” because I found some sort of indentity between that vortex and the ideas of hatred in the lyrics. Now, the artwork for “Internal Dark Force” I certainly do not think AT ALL that it has any relation to the "Ipsus" one, maybe you say that because of the sphere in the middle? (yep – Frank) Well the sphere in the “Internal Dark Force” artwork represents the “self”, the “fire” within."

The next step in your career was the "Seeding Darkness" demo in 2008, which you recorded, but not officially released… Why did you keep that for yourselves? Tell us more about the reasons here and the material itself…
"Well, that demo was supposed to be released by a label named Nuclear War Now, and they failed us in ALL POSSIBLE WAYS. They sat on the recording for an entire year without releasing it and in the end they came out with numerous lame excuses to not want to work with the band anymore after we even had an agreement for the new album. The excuses were the weakest ones I have ever heard. So I said fuck all this crap and I put the demo songs up on myspace so that people could hear what the band was doing with new music. Music gets old man, if it’s not released soon, line-ups change, the music changes, the band progresses, etc. Music needs to be released, not sat on. Know what I mean? These were STRONG songs, and I felt that the material for the new album was VERY deep and heavy and it deserved proper exposure. NWN offered to do that demo to help us promote the band and look for a label for the album, in the end supposedly they wanted to do the album and release the demo anyway but it was all just fucking lies and resulted in the label insulting me and playing childish games and name calling. FUCK THAT, I’m here to work. I got shit to DO."

In 2009 Blood Harvest Records released an EP of yours entitled "Obscuridad Eterna", which originally was supposed to be released a lot earlier already… From what I’ve understood the label that was supposed to release it, ran into financial problems, is that correct? But I still don’t understand why it took 3 long years anyway until it was finally released by someone else? Tell us a bit more about this and the material that is featured on it… especially the DISSECTION cover ‘Son Of The Mourning’, which turned out really impressive…
"Ah yes, another complete flaw, this was actually BEFORE the “Seeding Darkness” demo, just so you know. The label that was gonna release it in Mexico ran into financial difficulties and asked us to be patient. I accepted because he is a friend of mine and becasue we had a sort of a special agreement to do that EP as far as making a statement with it. So I was very patient for over 2 years. I kept asking them for a possible release date and all I kept hearing was that it would be sent to press soon. I heard the same story for over a year and nothing happened.Then, last year I found myself with NO line up at one point, I had to re-build everything from scratch because I had the wrong people in the band, people that had no clue of what the CORE meaning of this band really is. Due to those incompetent people leaving, we lost a good show in Los Angeles with Nifelheim, Master, Hirax and lots more, it was a killer festival. I was very dissapointed at all of that and I took a break and retired for 2 weeks of being away from everything and everyone and thinking about the future of the band. Rodrigo from Blood Harvest had always mentioned his interest in the band, and he actually wanted to release the “Obscuridad Eterna” 7 inch since day one but I had the agreement with the other label and I respected that. During my little prívate retirement I emailed Rodrigo and asked him if he was still interested in the 7 inch release, he immediately replied “YES, send me the stuff and I will release it in one month!” and voila!! Said and done, as soon as I came back home I gathered all the artwork and audio and sent him everything, and “Obscuridad Eterna” finally saw a release after over 2 years. Since then, Blood Harvest have been releasing all of our stuff on vinyl and I could not be happier. Rodrigo is TRULY an honorable gentleman with a real man’s word and TRUE conviction and belief in INFINITUM OBSCURE. He also agreed to release the “Seeding Darkess” demo tape as well as the new album on LP. I found a great home for the band in Blood Harvest Records, I couldn’t be more thankful and happier thanks to Rodrigo Alfaro. That 7 inch is pretty much a single for the song ‘Possessing The Fire’, and it has an old intro that was written in 2000 but never recorded nor released, as well as that DISSECTION cover song. That DISSECTION song is very special to me, cuz it was one of the first song I ever heard by DISSECTION and the EP served as a personal tribute to the late Jon Nödtveidt who was a musician I deeply admired and had the opportunity of becoming friends with. Jon had become a huge INFINITUM OBSCURE fan and he helped us alot, and supported us in many ways. He will never be forgotten…"

Have you ever recorded any other cover songs or played at rehearsals and / or live shows?
"We recorded a Dark Angel cover of the song ‘We Have Arrived’ which has never been released and as I mentioned in question #10, there’s a live DVD that has never been released from 2004. I really wish to release it though, it not that bad hehe, but I don’t think many people will be interested enough. There’s also a few live songs from 2002 which I have in the vault hehe. Other cover songs we’ve done have been by ‘Open Casket’ by DEATH (we did play that live a few times) and ‘South Of Heaven’ by SLAYER (live one time only)."

Tell us a bit about your live activities… Are you playing a lot of shows in general… I only read about a Mexican tour with WATAIN in 2007… how did that go for you?
"We don’t play alot as we used to these days. I think we played alot more in during 2004 and 2005. There’s an archive of live shows that the band has played since 2001 up to early 2008. There’s some shows missing from 2008 and 2009 but they’re not many so its pretty much 95% complete. You can see it here. You can see all the flyers of all the shows we’ve played on our myspace in this album. The WATAIN tour was very good in fact! It was a great experience to tour with WATAIN and it gave us a second chance to play in the central part of out country, it was exciting."

Judging you by the titles you’re choosing for your releases (incl. the new full length "Sub Atris Caelis") it seems to me that you have a soft spot for the Latin language, haven’t you? How come?
"YES, I am very attracted to the ancient tongue of Latin, although I’m not very versed in it. I think it reflects a sort of ancient feeling to the albums and song ideas because it is a dead tongue and well, I think that relates to Death Metal in a way, at least to me personally. I also think it gives it a touch of finesse, which is something I relate to in a way I guess."

Talking about your new full length… How come you released "Sub Atris Caelis" through Deathgasm Records (in co-operation with Blood Harvest Records) this time as opposed to Utterly Somber Creations again?
"We haven’t worked with Utterly Somber creations since 2006. It was time to move on. The co-operation between Blood Harvest and Deathgasm is SUPERB, they made the entire production a reality and I couldn’t be happier! They are both EXCELLENT labels lead by TRUE UNDERGROUND WARRIORS (Evan March for Deathgasm and Rodrigo Alfaro for Blood Harvest) and for me the most important part of this relationship with both labels is that they are FANS of the band and they share a deep belief in the music that I write and that differs from all other labels. INFINITUM OBSCURE is in the right place."

To me the new album not only is your strongest musical statement ever, you’ve also managed to get legendary producer Bill Metoyer to engineer and mix it and furthermore mastered it at the also quite known Necromorbus Studio in Sweden… How did you get all these opportunities? Has your management company Turn To The Left something to do with all this?
"Well Frank, I am almost 32 years old, and if someone would’ve told me 20 years ago that I would get a chance to record an album with the one and only Bill Metoyer I would have laughed endlessly! Recording with Bill has been one of my BEST experiences as a musician not only because he is a magnificent producer but also because I am a fan of all the work he did mostly during the 80s with all those Metal Blade bands!!! He helped create some of the most inspiring albums of all time. Yes, I agree with you 100% that “Caelis” is definitely the strongest material the band has written and managed to release, it has a very STRONG meaning behind it and as you say, it is a statement. The contact with Bill Metoyer did happen through Turn To The Left Management, as Jim Mills is very close friends with Bill. When Jim mentioned to me his desire to have Metoyer produce the album I really did not believe that I could achieve something like that, now I see it as a timeless experience. The mastering through Necromorbus was Evan’s (Deathgasm) idea, as he’s close friends with Tore (Stjerna) and now Tore and I remain in contact, and it was also an honor and pleasure working with him in this album. My words to express my grattitude to these men are not enough: to Jim Mills for Turn To The Left Management, Mr. Bill Metoyer, Evan March, Rodrigo Alfaro, Tore Stjerna and last but not least, Mr. Ketolahelvete for an amazing depiction of my vision through his artwork!"

Was it difficult for you to come up with a complete new album, considering that the whole line-up had already changed once again… Tell us a bit more about the members of the current line-up…
"The album was already written and composed in a 90% before the line up changed completely. These are all my songs, I write all the music. The hard work that the other band members put into it was to learn all the songs and put their own heart and spirit into it. Every musician has a different way of playing, and it is then when a musician leaves their mark on a song. Without Noel and Ezequiel, this album would have been impossible. Their dedication and commitment is strong and I really hope that this line-up stays together for the longest time. The chemistry we share in the band at the moment is so unique that it would be a shame to lose it! Now about Noel and Ezequiel. Well, Noel was an original member in the band from 2002 to 2004 and we’ve been friends for 10 years so he has always been very familiar with the band’s style so re-adapting to the new material was not hard at all. He is also a really good guitar player so he gives his own touch to the music as well. Ezequiel Mercado is a great drummer that has never been in a serious band before. Actually he never played Death Metal before. He used to play Thrash Metal in a small local band in his city of Tecate, Mexico between 93 and 98 I think, but due to other situations. He stopped playing drums ever since until last year when he joined INFINITUM OBSCURE. You can hear the result of real hard work in the new album, things don’t happen magically, one has to work HARD to make them happen. And we have our session live bass player, Emmanuel Luna, who is actually the main guitar player and singer in his own band called Infernal Conjuration. They just released a 7 inch EP with Blood Harvest Records as well."

Do you agree that the comparisons with THE CHASM should definitely end now after all? I think with this album you’ve managed to get away from that without loosing your own integrity…
"I agree 100%. “Caelis” has nothing to do with THE CHASM at all."

You’ve also helped out INCANTATION as a session member recently, haven’t you? Tell us a bit more about that and how you hooked up with John McEntee…
"I’ve done 10 international tours playing bass with INCANTATION actually, between 2005 and 2009. I’ve played with them all over North America (USA and Mexico), Europe, the Canary Islands, South America, Central America, and Japan. I met John McEntee through Daniel (Corchado) a while back, since Daniel was in INCANTATION between ‘96 and ’97. After Daniel left INCANTATION, I’d still meet up for drinks with John whenever they played in San Diego. In 2003 Infinitum Obscure opened for Incantation here in Tijuana, so John and Kyle were familiar with the band also and because we have been friends for a few years now. As I mentioned in question #12, I toured the East Coast of the USA with THE CHASM in January 2005, and another band in the package was INCANTATION!! Funny don’t you think so? Since Daniel also played in Incantation in the past. So John and Kyle liked the way I played with The Chasm and they invited me to play a 2 month long tour with them in the USA (48 shows!!). The result was great and when the tour was over they asked me to tour Europe with them so I accepted, hehe. So that’s that. I still help them when I can, I just played in Central America with them 3 weeks ago, in Guatemala and Honduras. And I look forward to playing with them again, it’s always a pleasure to share the stage with John, Kyle and co."

Ok Roberto, I think we covered everything by now… If I should’ve missed out on something important feel free to add it here… otherwise I’ll leave the closing words up to you and wish you all the best!
"Thank you Mr. Stöver for this extensive in-depth feature on INFINITUM OBSCURE, it is an honor and a real pleasure to know that respectful and honorable people like you still exist in this trend-infested Metal scene. If you are looking for really dark and obscure Death Metal, please check out our new album “Sub Atris Caelis”. Fuck the world!!"

www.infinitumobscure.com, www.myspace.com/infinitumobscure

Frank Stöver

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