Eternal Rot is 2 piece doom/death metal project done Polish guys living in UK, obsessed with death metal we grew up with and everything associated with it. Idea has been exhumed in the mind of Mayer in 2012, trying to express himself in best possible way with sounds slow, heavy and nasty. After finishing 2 tracks, he was convinced by good friend that there are good enough to be shared in some way in the Underground. At that point Grindak joined in as we share same vision for this project, he came out with the name, general imagery, and lyrics to one of the completed tracks ("Crawler") and it has been released as "Promo Tape 2013" on cassette. 100 tapes sold out quicker than worms can eat the body and not long after same 2 tracks has been pressed on vinyl as "Grave Grooves" (by Fallen Temple Productions). Eternal Rot took part in "Vestibule of Hell" compilation (Wolfsbane Records) alongside few much bigger bands. Now it is time for something longer and smellier, so "Cadaverine", 4 tracks in 29 minutes, will be released on CD on 17th of September by Godz Ov War Productions.
2. In September you have your first full length coming out, what are some of the things you have done differently with this release that you where not able to do on your previous ep and demo?
There was not much of a difference, except the fact that album is properly proper mixed and mastered. But laying down the tracks has been done in the same way as the demo.
3. You refer to your music as 'putrid doom/death metal', can you tell us a little bit more about this term?
There is no bigger philosophy in this, it just fits perfectly to general feeling we want to invoke in listener. There is no place for reinventing the wheel here, it has to crush, smell with freshly opened grave, peel faces off and vocal delivery has to be full of vomits. When you read about the band with "putrid" adjective sticked to it then you can't expect clean crisp production, intricate solos and lyrics about environmental issues, just filth. So if you like it you can dive here blindly and be happy.
4. This is your first release in 4 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time span?
[GRINDAK] Life happened, kids happened, work happened. We're far too busy than we would want but passion for this hypnotic death groove is burning strong.
[MAYER] During that time in a slow pace we crawled between the graves in search for an inspiration. Honestly – families and work take most of our times. I also took part in the Noise Nihilist project whose 7 "flexi split with Impetigo (2 live tracks from Central Illinois Metal Fest 2007) will be released by Left Hand Patches Rec.
5. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
[GRINDAK] Lyrics here have to be exact reflection of the music so as you can imagine they deal with all the death metal topics which come with it. Cemetery feel, losing your mind surrounded with most horrid thoughts, fine dose of gore obviously. It is purely work of my imagination and I put effort into the lyrics and try to do my best to make them good. From the other hand I know they are drowned in growls so anyone who wants to find them will succeed. To spice things up I can say that 2 lyrics on new album were prepared before recording, and other 2 were done after, just like in good old John Tardy way: vomit yourself first, find the meaning later. Somehow it works fine, apparently dead ones approve it.
6. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Eternal Rot'?
[GRINDAK] Inspiration is very unintentional but I first I have to say that very good Foul Stench album was known to me before. When we briefly discussed band name I was away on holiday, got exceptionally drunk & stoned one night and had some fucked up dream containing us, some death metal noise and this name all over it. Possibly it was stored somewhere in back of my consciousness and appeared in such way. Mayer said yes and we never looked back, some time later I've realised that his is not original idea but fuck it, there are so many bands named after someone else's track that one more won't do difference. It my opinion this name pictures everything about this music and our approach to it.
7.One member lives in the United Kingdom while another one lives in Poland, what kind of impact does this have on the musical style that you play?
This sentence is wrong, but we understand from where this little mistake originates. In our bio we say that this is UK/Polish band but this is to underline the fact from where we are now and for where we're coming from. Nowadays both of us live in UK from over 12 years. Years earlier we could get ourselves wasted on countless of gigs in London as we were living there then. We moved out to different cities and meetings are rare as fuck so impact is almost same as we would live in different countries anyway.
8. Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you open to expanding the line up or do you prefer to remain a duo?
Currently there are two of us, but on next release there will be a live drummer, which does not mean that we will be doing any gigs.
9. On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of doom and death metal?
It is far greater that we could expect, your review of the album and this interview are the living proof of it. So far it is so great feedback that it just surreal for us. We are overwhelmed by the response of everyone who got in touch. We're fans of such kind of vibe in music and we know we're not alone in this. Everyone who reaches out to us welcomed like fresh zombie to the horde.
10. Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
[MAYER] We would like to record some good LP, EP or splits. We do not expect contracts with large labels, our place is in the deep Underground.
[GRINDAK] Down into the madness.
11. What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
[GRINDAK] Without a doubt with atmosphere we're influenced with such great bands like Funebrarum, Hooded Menace or Disma but this is quite clear because they are the best. When it comes to death metal we agree on many things. OK so here is the festival of namedropping from mine side. I used to grow up with bands like Black Sabbath, Running Wild, King Diamond, Iron Maiden, Manowar and blaming here my older brother I discovered far too early such ones as Bathory, Celtic Frost... quickly been catapulted into everything good the verge of 80's and 90's had to offer from thrash metal, death metal or grind-core side. Crawling in Autopsy, Gorguts, Winter, Carcass or Entombed or all the obvious ones on everyday basis, and nothing has changed here till today. Diving into such an amazing hidden gems like Windham Hell or Mindrot or Darkified was great feeling. Nowadays I still try to soak the most of the stuff coming out, because there is so much top notch things going on all over the world. Seems like almost every country has something good to offer in disgusting Death Metal. Fuckin' Undergang, Krypts, Mortuous, Ghastly, Inisans, Ossuarium, Malignant, Coffin Stench, Rotted ... just first few which caused shivers recently. By the way - in USA you have such an amazing scene in certain cities that it seems unreal, so many fucking good bands, and they keep coming! Beside metal related thing I'm into many other genres, from things on the verge of silence to extreme noise and everything good in between. Eternal love to Steve Roach, Robert Rich, David Sylvian and Bvdub. Mayer currently is very much into Pink Floyd, beside this he enjoys stuff like Dead Can Dance and tons of extreme underground stuff.
12. What are some of your non-musical interests?
[MAYER] Not enough free time but I love cycling.
[GRINDAK] Waiting for death. Dull existence of the living corpse. Beside this whenever time allows it is computer gaming (currently Witcher3: Wild Hunt), history in general, being in new places people call travelling, good books, but mostly it is music, this is biggest passion. Day is still stubborn fucker and refuses to have 76 hours so for now it has to stay like this.
13. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
[GRINDAK]
Big thanks for an opportunity (is gone....) to be featured in Doomed to Darkness! If you like slow hypnotic metal from the grave, feel free to listen to this, I think you won't be disappointed. Let's Rot.
[MAYER] Thanks and see you at the cemetery.
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