Greetings and welcome to Voices From The Darkside. I hope you have a bit of time available to answer a bunch of our questions. First of all let me tell you, that to me your debut album “Toba” is one of the greatest aggressive Thrash records in quite a long time, so congrats on that! How long have you been working on it, including songwriting, recording and mix?
Noctumbra: “Greetings and thank you very much for this interview! Personally, I have been a follower and reader of this site for several years, in large part because of the interesting (and often irreverent hahaha) questions you ask some of my favorite bands. It’s great to know that you liked the album; I started composing it at the beginning of 2019, with the songs ‘Hazardous Prowler’, ‘Extinction & Mystery’, ‘Triumph Portrait’ and ‘Valley Of The Tundra’. By 2020, in the middle of quarantines, I was able to compose the songs ‘Escatological Symphony’ (at that time we called it ‘Sunset Of The End’), ‘Kollarbone Crushed Neanderthal’ and finally ‘Olduvai’s Lullaby’. The composition of the album was supposed to end there, as we were thinking of including our old song ‘Volcanic Blast’ on the album, but since Covid shit was harder than we thought, by 2022 (when we were only able to properly resume rehearsals) it felt like it had been too long of a wait to include re-recordings, so it was in those days that I composed the song ‘Toba’. As for the recording, we started it at the beginning of 2023, and we were finishing it in November of the same year. I don’t remember exactly, but it seems to me that the last details of the recording were almost hand in hand with the end of the mixing process.”
Even though “Toba” is your debut full length, it doesn’t feature any of your old songs, which is pretty unusual, since the early songs of a band are often considered true classics. What was the reason to exclusively record new stuff for it?
Noctumbra: “There were several reasons for this decision. First of all, although I really like the songs from our older material, the truth is that, due to their great similarity to our classic German Thrash influences from the mid ’80s, I was already wanting to show some difference in quality, variety and compositional identity; you know, it’s not like we invented a new style with “Toba”, but I definitely think it sounds more authentic and personal than the older material. On top of that, we were always happy with how our older songs turned out, so re-recording them was a big risk of “messing them up”, considering the line-up changes we had (my move from drums to guitar and the departure of our ex-vocalist Demian). There was also the decision not to include a re-recording of ‘Volcanic Blast’, which is more detailed in the answer to the previous question.”
I think we should talk a little bit about the MAYHEMIC line-up situation as well, since it is a bit confusing to me… You not only changed a couple of members since the band’s origin in 2018, you partly also switched positions within the band. Can you tell us a little bit more about that? Who was part of the band’s original line-up and what lead to all the changes that followed?
Noctumbra: “To help you understand the situation better, I must tell you a few things about the true origin of the band. I have always been a guitarist, and I was trying to form MAYHEMIC since 2014, but the problem was always the drummers. You know, no matter how much the members of a band advance musically, if the drummer doesn’t do his job, you’re screwed, and being a new band, with nothing but promises, finding someone every time was a titanic task. At some point in 2018 I got tired and said “but it‘s two fucking sticks and some stupid jars!!! How can it be so hard?”. That‘s when I started learning and playing drums, so you’ll understand that I didn‘t do it for fun. With that change made, I managed to get Demian and Doom for guitars, and once Parabellum joined on bass we got our first solid line-up, with which we recorded our demo “No Life” and the EP “Mortuary Feast Of Skeletons”. Eventually, Demian left the band, and now the problem was the vocalists. We tried out some people who were good at it, but we were very suspicious about their seriousness. We didn’t want someone to come in, record new material and then leave, as that would destabilize the identity of the band too much. Somehow, we came to the consensus that Doom and I would take over the vocals, as he already had experience singing in his previous band ALIENATION and I in PARKCREST. Here another problem began; the songs were much faster and more complex than in the beginning, and managing to play all that on drums while singing was a hassle for me. One day I told the guys “I don’t want to play drums anymore, I’m just going to sing, so we need to find someone” and that moment coincided with Parabellum’s departure, so it was my chance to take over as bassist / vocalist, but Hellion (who was playing guitar at the time) beat me to it, switching to bass and leaving me the guitarist spot free. With a more established name within the local circuit, finding a new drummer was a lot easier (that’s when Leviathan joined).”
When and why did your original guitarist / vocalist Demian leave MAYHEMIC? And why did you switch from drums to vocals, Noctumbra? Was it easier to find a new drummer than a new vocalist? Considering that Doom also handled the lead vocals later on, why didn’t he take over the vocals at that time already?
Noctumbra: “Demian was still very young when he joined the band (14 years old, to be exact). Since I met him, I saw great potential and talent in him, and that’s why I invited him to play, but he had a lot of problems with the commitment and seriousness with which he approached the project, which triggered a lot of internal problems, especially with Doom, who always took the band in a very professional way. At the beginning of 2019 we had a presentation at Arena Recoleta, Santiago, which was our first really important show, and Demian didn’t show up (he fell asleep after a tremendous party). To save the show, already on stage, we decided that Doom would sing the three songs from our demo “No Life” and I would sing the three new ones that we had just recorded, and that would be part of the new EP. That same day we said goodbye to Demian. One of the main reasons why we didn’t take the vocalist position (Doom and I) from the beginning was that Demian really had a powerful presence and charisma. He was one of those guys who would stand on stage and you couldn’t get him out of your head, and his chaotic and fast-paced lifestyle was typical of a great frontman, which made him very suitable to be the face of the band in terms of personality, but well, those characteristics weren’t enough to keep him in that place…”
Now both of your share the vocal duties, which is a pretty cool idea for sure, but how do you decide on who’s gonna sing which song?
Noctumbra: “So far, I’ve been in charge of deciding who sings each song, and I always do this with a view to which voice would best suit each musical part, as well as other technical considerations. There are also special situations, such as the song ‘Olduvai’s Lullaby’ where both Doom and I sing. In these cases, I try to keep the task as balanced as possible.”
For how long does the current line-up exist now and do you think the four of you will remain together a bit longer from now on?
Noctumbra: “We currently have some things to sort out regarding the line-up. In fact, we could say that we have two line-ups. Since 2020 we have been established as follows: Noctumbra (guitar / vocals), Doom (guitar / vocals), Magelis (bass) and Leviathan (drums), and it was under that line-up that we recorded “Toba”. On the other hand, since the beginning of 2024, Invoker joined on drums. The thing is that Leviathan has had several matters to resolve in his life (mostly work-related) and his permanence in the band is subject to that, so he asked us for a year to get sorted out. At the moment, Invoker has really done a great job and we are very happy with him in the band, but until this year is over, we cannot confirm him as an official member. Depending on what happens with that, our intentions are to continue forever with a single line-up, but it is difficult to know for sure what will happen in these cases…”
I noticed that all of you are (or have been) pretty busy in a couple of other bands as well, so how much time do you spend on those bands besides MAYHEMIC? Do you consider MAYHEMIC your main band or is it just one of a few bands that you’re all part of and all others are equally important to you?
Noctumbra: “Currently, my main bands are MAYHEMIC, ABREAKTION and NOCTUMBRA (my personal project, just emerging from the ashes of PARKCREST, although I’m not entirely sure which name will prevail). Even though those three are my main ones and that may sound quite ambiguous, clearly MAYHEMIC is the one I give the most space to given the commitments we’ve made according to the goals the band has achieved so far. Additionally, I’m the guitarist for HELLISH (they were one of my main bands before, but we eventually split up and recently got back together, not with intentions beyond playing live a couple of times…), DEVIANTS (project led by my colleague Doom) and ARMOURED KNIGHT (just joined). The most important ones for me are MAYHEMIC and NOCTUMBRA, since they’re where I compose all the music. ABREAKTION is also very important to me, as it is the band fronted by my childhood friend and where I have a considerable creative and administrative task.”
I was wondering for quite a while already, why so many musicians are active in various bands at the same time, nowadays? Isn’t it more effective to focus your full energy on just one band only?
Noctumbra: “I really don’t know why others do it. In my case, I don’t see any other meaning in my life than making this kind of music, and since many times – due to the poor level of commitment of many musicians in Chile – it is difficult to move forward constantly and without stopping with a band, when something happens that does not allow us to move forward, I simply continue working with one of the other bands I participate in, making complete stagnation practically impossible. Anyway, at this moment I find myself playing almost exclusively with quite serious and committed musicians who encourage fluidity in musical activities, which makes the panorama something really challenging for me, but I prefer it that way. Also, there are times when I want to do different things without interfering with the identity of one of my existing bands. An example of the above was the creation of MAYHEMIC; I was playing in bands with a more technical and polished direction, like HELLISH, PARKCREST and ADDICTION, but I also wanted to make raw, primitive and heavier music, and since I didn’t want my projects at the time to be mixed with that, I started MAYHEMIC, as another outlet for expression.”
All of your releases so far have been released in all kinds of different formats and through various different labels. That’s very impressive, considering that your 2018 debut demo “No Life” already gained a lot of interest right from the start. How do you explain that? Were you already playing a lot of shows before you released that demo, so that the band had a very good reputation right from the start or how is that possible?
Doom: “”No-Life” was originally only going to be released on cassette through a friend of ours’ now defunct label, but after posting it on social media we started getting more offers to re-release it. The first one was Helmuth from Evil Steel Records who released it on a CD-R jewel case and a couple of years later we co-released it again with Dissonant Death Records, so it’s not like we were really known for playing a lot before we released the demo, in fact we wanted to start playing when we already had something to show. The owners of these labels I mentioned are bangers from our local scene, just like us, so we could say that they are more accessible for new bands than other bigger labels, since we already knew them in person, and it was just a matter of offering our material. I think these different editions come from an honest search to release our material in physical format (of which I am a big fan) both to realize ourselves and to spread it.”
Talking of live shows… your music is destined to be performed live, so how many shows have you already played with MAYHEMIC, with which bands did you share the stage and have you already played outside of Chile as well? Any standout shows that you remember well maybe?
Doom: “As of the date I am answering this interview (September 10th) we have performed live 34 times. We have played with great national bands such as SLAUGHTBBATH, DEMONIAC, RIPPER, DEKAPITED, INVOCATION SPELLS, MENTAL DEVASTATION, NECRORIPPER, MORBID CRUELTY and many more, and with great foreign bands such as MARDUK and KRISIUN. So far we have only had one tour outside of Chile, the recent “Toba Tour over Bolivia” with PHRONEXIS and BESTIA from Bolivia and our side project DEVIANTS. We hope to be able to continue touring as soon as possible. If you ask me about great shows, I think there are several on the tour that we will never forget, El Alto, Cochabamba and Tarija were the best of the tour.”
In 2022 Awakening Records luckily released a compilation album entitled “The Darkest Age”, which features all of your demo and EP songs for all those who missed them. But why was ‘Shaking Ground’ (from the “Shaking Ground” single) and ‘The Last Judgement’ and ‘Volcanic Blast’ (from the split with HELLISH), left off? Or are those versions identical with the ones that are featured on the compilation already anyway?
Doom: “Because they are the same recordings, no variations.”
When did you record the KREATOR cover ‘Dying Victims’ and was that supposed to be an exclusive track for that compilation or did you originally have other plans for it? What made you pick exactly that song from KREATOR, which to me is a very unusual choice, considering how many classics they have created over the years?
Noctumbra: “If memory serves me right, I think we recorded the covers ‘Dying Victims’ and ‘Tormentor’ during the first half of 2019, shortly after our debut EP, and although I don’t remember exactly what material we originally intended them for, we did think they would be used as bonus tracks for something. KREATOR is my favorite band and honestly, I would record any song from “Endless Pain” / “Pleasure To Kill” or even the earlier material!!! But of course, it hadn’t been that interesting to record songs like ‘Tormentor’, ‘Pleasure To Kill’ or ‘Total Death’, which everyone has already covered. The decision was more about songs that I consider excellent, but that are often not as highly regarded, like ‘Death Is Your Saviour’ or ‘Carrion’. In the end we decided on ‘Dying Victims’, which is personally my favorite from “Endless Pain”, besides having several details that for me, make it unique within the classic era of the band.”
When I first read that you also covered ‘Tormentor’ by TORMENTOR, I thought it would also be the wellknown KREATOR song, but it obviously isn’t. Since Metal Archives currently has listed 24 bands with that name, it was quite a challenge to find out that it’s actually the Colombia based Thrash band, which is musically even pretty close to you guys, so the song definitely was a perfect choice. How did you find out about them and what made you choose ‘Tormentor’, instead of any of their other songs?
Doom: “More than anything it was because of my fanaticism for the sound of TORMENTOR, which I consider very similar both in execution and in essence to what we were doing at that time with MAYHEMIC. At least for me, it was a great experience to have been able to pay homage to that sound of yesteryear that I enjoy so much.”
You recorded and mixed all of your demos and EPs at Lion’s Roar Studio in Peñaflor, Chile, so I suppose you were pretty satisfied with the results. But for your debut album, “Toba”, you went to Audio Custom Studio in Santiago, Chile for the first time. What was the reason for that? Did you hear any stuff from other bands that was recorded there and that you really liked or did you already record there with one of your other bands maybe?
Doom: “For “Toba” we wanted to take it to the next level in terms of sound quality. We wanted something that sounded big, that was perfectly understandable, but that also sounded heavy and organic. I think it was a pretty big challenge to achieve, and at the time the idea of recording at Audiocustom with Sebastian came up when I heard “The Siege”, the second album from Doomers CAPILLA ARDIENTE, which in my opinion perfectly meets these characteristics, so, for me at least, it was the obvious decision.”
When I first heard MAYHEMIC I immediately thought, “Ok, those guys are obviously heavily influenced by the “Endless Pain” / “Pleasure To Kill” era of KREATOR. But after a few more spins of the album and also of your entire back catalogue, I also noticed riffs here and there that recall the early days of METALLICA (“Ride The Lightning” era), SLAYER (Metal Blade era), POSSESSED, DESTRUCTION (“Infernal Overkill” / “Eternal Devastation” era) and SODOM (“Obsessed By Cruelty” era)… Would you agree that those bands are among your main influences and that you especially totally worship the old German Thrash?
Noctumbra: “MAYHEMIC’s main influences are indeed old German Thrash Metal, but also some Brazilian. Specifically, the albums that influenced MAYHEMIC’s music are: “Endless Pain”, “Pleasure To Kill”, “In The Sign Of Evil”, “Obsessed By Cruelty”, “Sentence Of Death”, “Infernal Overkill”, “Necronomicon”, “Power Of Darkness”, “Misanthropy”, “Bestial Devastation”, “Morbid Visions”, “Abominable Anno Domini”, “INRI” and “Bloody Vengeance”. Regarding some influence from METALLICA, SLAYER and POSSESSED, I really like those bands and there is surely something of them in our music, although if that were the case, I would attribute it more to an unconscious process.”
Do you still listen to all those old bands? What’s your opinion on their newer releases? Any new releases from pure Thrash bands that you can recommend?
Noctumbra: “I still listen to all those bands, even though I don’t like most of what they’ve released since 2000. Of course, there are some things that I liked, like the last POSSESSED album, even though I personally don’t consider it memorable. SODOM’s latest is not bad either, but something is missing. I have a total admiration for the old legends, but currently (and mainly when it comes to Thrash Metal) I’m more interested in new bands with influences from old Metal, especially from the local scene, since those are the bands I can follow live as well. Acts like RIPPER, NECRORIPPER, WARTH, DRENCROM (their album “Permanent Living Death” is fucking crazy!!!!), DEMONIAC, CRITICAL DEFIANCE and VENUS TORMENT are some of my favorites in Chile. I’d also like to highlight VOLAHN (USA), who although they are Black Metal, are the international act that I’m currently most interested in, and as far as I know, they are on their way to a third album.”
Doom: “Even though I consume a lot of old school material, I am always on the lookout for new releases, especially Death Metal, Black Metal or Doom. A Thrash album released this year that blew my mind was the album “Altered Realities” by the Norwegian band SOVEREIGN. Other more current bands that I highly recommend would be CONCRETE WINDS, SIJJIN, SPECTRAL WOUND, IMHA TARIKAT, BLACK CURSE and the Chilean band ROTTEN TOMB.”
To me aggressive Thrash Metal has always been music that was meant to be played by young musicians, because you loose that fresh energy when you get older, have family and kids and a full time job. Do you agree with that? Would you still consider to continue on with MAYHEMIC, when you are in your fourties or fifties, if the band would be still around then?
Noctumbra: “You are largely right, and it is something inevitable. Physical wear and tear is inherent to age and occurs without there being much to do about it. Personally, I have been working full-time for about six years now and before that, when I was a student, I always worked part-time, and although it is a tremendous challenge, I am willing to take it on until I die, or until it becomes ridiculous, like the last episodes of “El Chavo Del 8″, in which you see a cast of very old actors playing children. Anyway, my commitment to music is such that it has made me take decisions such as not having a family (I recently had a vasectomy). The bands are my children and my partner is also my colleague in the artistic / musical world, and if at some point my musical projects are able to sustain themselves and me, I will also leave my profession.”
I already mentioned all the labels that released your demos and EPs, but when exactly did Thomas of Sepulchral Voice Records get in touch with you? Was he already interested in MAYHEMIC earlier or was it an offer for a full length album right away?
Doom: “He contacted us before the release of “The Darkest Age” in early 2021. His first offer was to release that material and the album as well.”
Lyrically the songs on your debut album “Toba” are pretty unusual and offer a fresh approach in a genre that mainly relies on horror movies or typical Metal clichés… So, would you like to tell us a bit more about them, when you got the idea for all that, what inpired the topics and if you consider “Toba” a concept album?
Noctumbra: “Yes! I also agree that the album is conceptual, but its concept (as confusing as it may sound) is not the Toba volcano. The concept I chose for the album was simply extinction and the scenarios that can lead to it. ‘Kollarbone Crushed Neanderthal’ talks about the theory of Neanderthal genocide, which exposes Homo Sapiens as the probable responsible for the disappearance of the Neanderthals. ‘Extinction & Mystery’ talks about the super mass extinction of the Triassic Permian, the largest of the five great extinctions on earth, where almost everything perished. ‘Valley Of The Tundra’ talks about the last ice age, which primitive humans experienced and which killed several species due to the hostile climate. ‘Triumph Portrait’ talks about the Black Death and its effects on the European population in the Middle Ages. ‘Hazardous Prowler’ is about the constant threat of extinction due to a collision with a large enough asteroid. ‘Olduvai’s Lullaby’ tries to recreate a post-apocalyptic scenario in which humanity ends up living in primitive conditions again, as predicted by the “Olduvai Theory”. Finally, ‘Toba’ is about the catastrophe that occurred about 74,000 years ago in what we know today as Sumatra. The reason I chose this theme as the main theme is that, if it had happened as the most catastrophic scholars think, it is the situation that has come closest to extinguishing the human species, which I consider to be much more shocking than the other scenarios. We do not need to wait for something from space to come and destroy us, all that is needed is for a volcano of sufficient size to erupt one of these days, and no technology that we know of will be able to defend us from such adversity. I was very inspired by certain science books and channels that I usually check out.”
It’s pretty obvious that you pay a lot of attention to really strong riffs instead of just playing fast or aggressive. So, how long do you guys already play guitar, how often do you practice these days and are you self-taught or did you get lessons from someone?
Noctumbra: “I have been playing guitar since I was 13 / 14 years old (I am currently 28). When I was studying and working part-time, I spent about 4 / 5 hours every day playing guitar, a pace that nowadays, given the number of bands, instruments (in certain circumstances I need to practice drums, bass and others), work and other commitments, I cannot maintain. Currently I try to dedicate at least one hour a day to playing guitar, which is usually not enough to improve, even more so considering that almost all that time is spent just practicing and almost none of it studying the techniques, but at least it helps me maintain the same level of performance. I have never taken technical or theoretical classes, but I would really like to.”
“Toba” also features an instrumental track entitled ‘Eschatological Symphony’. What was the reason to leave out the vocals here and was it meant to become an instrumental right from the start or did you decide on that when it was already written?
Noctumbra: “The song was born as an instrumental. When I set out to start writing the album, one of my goals was to make it more varied than the previous material, and in addition to the rhythm changes, I consider instrumental songs to be a good resource to vary the music, since it allows you to explore different types of passages more freely, without being tied to structures that help you keep your attention on a song, such as the typical Verse – Chorus – Verse – Chorus. In addition, it is an excellent way to rest up your voice at live shows.”
Do I also hear a keyboard / organ in ‘Valley Of The Tundra’? If so, who’s idea was that and who played that short part?
Noctumbra: “The idea was mine. I felt that that part of the song needed something to give it more weight, or to serve as a climax. Through various experiments I eventually came upon the idea of the organ and I thought it sounded demonic!!!! The idea was to get a real organ or some synthesizer when it came to recording it in the studio, but just didn’t work, or didn’t sound as good as what I had tried. Finally, we used the software guitar pro 5, which is what I use to record my compositions in first place. Finally, we took the sound directly from the midi output by this software for that organ section.”
Now that the album has been released, what are your plans in support of it? Has there already been talk about a video or a full length tour maybe?
Doom: “We want to present “Toba” in as many places in the world as possible before preparing a second album, we hope to be able to do our first tour in Europe next year.”
Ok guys, thanks a lot for taking the time. All the best to you and the rest of MAYHEMIC. The last words are yours…
Noctumbra: “Thank you very much again for the interview! It is a real honor for me to answer it. Greetings and keep enjoying MAYHEMIC’s damn Neanderthal Thrash Metal!!!!! And as my murdered great-grandmother said, drink a lot, fuck hard and wait for death!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!”
Doom: “Thank you for having us! THRASH!”
www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100036174441864, https://mayhemic.bandcamp.com
Live pics: Sergio Mella / www.sergiomella.cl
Interview: Frank Stöver