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Interviews
Cerebral Effusion - Eihar & Co.
03/05/14 || The Duff
Cerebral Effusion are from Spain and play a relentless style of brutal death metal in the vein of the California masters Disgorge, emulating certainly their earlier styles with “Cranial Impalement” and “She Lay Gutted”.
Cerebral Effusion’s first two albums, “Smashed and Splattered Organs” especially, are both commendable records of catchy, fun brutal death metal, compared to their peers at the time they were even when released dated, limited; with their third record, “Impulsive Psychopathic Acts” they became something entirely different, a focused powerhouse of energetic riffs and dredging slams.
With their new track to be released on their new album by New Standard Elite in May of this year, it seems they have once more set the bar for themselves and the sub-genre – read GD’s interview with drummer Eihar to find out what is sure to become a very important contribution to the scene
GD:Tell us about Cerebral Effusion – your beginnings, your influences.
Eihar: Everything started many years ago when some members started a band called Demorior, which played early Morbid Angel style death metal. After some line-up changes Kosme (bass &vocals) and Abur (drums) decided to take a more brutal direction and in 1997 started to play as Cerebral Effusion. One year later the first EP was released “Immortal Cemetery”. You can notice more primitive brutal death influences on the first album, but the band’s style has evolved with new members and influences.
Tell us of the line-up changes that have occurred over the years.
There have been a lot of line-up changes, I don’t know if I could remember all of them! Most of them have been on guitars. You can see there is a different line-up on each release until “Impulsive…”. The band seems to achieve a solid line-up finally and its musical direction is more defined than ever also.
Are you one of the few Spanish bands of note other than Wormed? Who else would you recommend?
Well, there are a lot of bands in Spain nowadays, some of them are great, others are quite generic and others have great potential. I see many good bands that have no continuation, it’s a pity. I know it’s difficult though. I could recommend you Haemophagia or Vermis Antecessor for example. Check also Carnivorous Voracity and Virulency, they will be releasing their first full-lengths soon and they have great potential for sure.
Your first two full-length albums are very different to your third record “Impulsive Psychopathic Acts”, from classic Cannibal Corpse to something of more care, less immediate. What brought this change?
I think line-up changes brought new influences to the band. Every member has absolutely clear which style we want for CE, we have the same concept in our heads, maybe this question wasn’t so clear some years ago, there was more diversity between members. I can tell you also that we work harder and take more time for composition process. We twist our minds until everything fulfills our expectations.
Tell us about the new record. How does it expand on the albums that have preceded it?
The new album is the natural evolution of the previous one. It has more twisted compositions and more tempo variations, but the essence is there, the feeling hasn’t changed, we try to evolve towards the purity of our concept. The feeling the music transmits is the most important thing to us. We are not introducing new elements in our songs just to do it.
You are not as technical as your peers, some might even say less ‘delicate’, was it a conscious choice to make the principle distinction of Cerebral Effusion tracks Eihar’s drumming?
The drumming is an important part that is considered during composition process. We focus a lot on drums patterns to create different intensities and variations and try to sound as compact as possible, taking care of accents and the feeling when playing. Also, we use real sound drums on our albums so we can keep the drummers style alive and not to sound like tons of other bands.
Are you endorsed at all? What gear was used for this new record, at which studio was it recorded? How would you describe the tone when that of “Impulsive…” was very light for the style of death metal you guys play?
We are not endorsed at all. Drums were recorded at Soundlodge Studios, the rest was self-recorded in our studio. We used an old Sovtek amp with a Vader cab for guitars, recording it with different mics so we could choose different takes. Bass was recorded the same way with a Hartke amp. Sasha from Tsun-Tsun Productions did the mixing. I think this album is closer to our real sound when we play and more balanced than “Impulsive”. Guitars have a lower tone on this one, drums are without any compression and vocals sound much better. We like both productions but this is the way we wanted to take on this one.
Would you say you have found your own distinctive sound? Which bands in the death metal scene do you think are likewise up-and-coming?
Evolution is a never-ending process in a band, unless it’s stagnated. I don’t know if we found our distinctive sound but we did found the way we want to evolve. There are many things we would change if we could go back like in every recording but that’s inevitable. The concept is clear, when you listen to a CE album, you know what you will get.
About other bands, I see a lot of new bands nowadays playing brutal stuff, which is great! You just have to check NSE roster. Other established bands seem to be releasing new material too, like Putridity, Inherit Disease, Disentomb or Gorgasm.
Who designed the album artwork for this new record you are releasing? Who have you gone to in the past?
Marco Hasmann did the artwork on this one, as well as on “Impulsive…”. We are extremely happy with the final result, he did an amazing job. We worked with Toshihiro Egawa on “Smashed…”, and that’s all.
Lyrically, have you tried being anymore creative than with “Impulsive…”? We understand English is not your native language; do you think this enhances the dark humor? What topics can we look forward to on the new record?
Lyrics are more worked on this album. We tried to represent the perversion of human behavior that always surfaces on extreme situations. Some of the lyrics are inspired on real facts. I would say all of them. Masses accept violence and even genocidal acts on films or literature as longs as there’s victimization on it, there’s a need to empathize with someone’s suffering to accept it. But what happens when there is no such a thing? That’s the pure and uncomfortable violence, not the moralized and victimist one.
How are things with New Standard Elite? What made you sign to them considering you are a European band and they US-based?
We are really happy with NSE. We have always worked with US labels, so that’s not new for us. It was the perfect choice for us, our style fits perfect on the label and we understand this passion on the same way. We have all we need from the label and the attitude towards the band is excellent too.
Are you touring with any of the bands on their roster? Ideally which of them would you like to tour with? Have you toured the US? How did that go – are you well known outside of Europe?
We started to plan a couple of tours for this year but things didn’t work out. We would love to tour with any band from the roster. It’s difficult to tour for us though, we have full-time jobs and on the other side, it’s not easy to make it economically viable. We went to the US in 2011. We made a two-weeks tour with Blasphemer and Coathanger Abortion. It was a great experience for the band and we can’t wait to come back. I think this style is minority and the support is similar everywhere.
Which bands in the underground scene are you most excited about? Which new releases are you most looking forward to in 2014? Do you have expectations for the new Disgorge?
It seems that 2014 will be a good year for brutal releases. I’m really looking forward the new albums from Disentomb, Abhorrent Castigation, Delusional Parasitosis, Gorgasm and Putridity. I’m sure there will be great surprises too. About Disgorge… I saw them some months ago and they were devastating, they are the masters and they’re still unmatched. If they release a new album I hope they keep their level.
What is next in line for Cerebral Effusion?
We are going to record a music video in a few days. We can’t wait to start playing live again. I hope we have some touring soon!
Thank you for your time – is there anything you would like to add?
Thanks for the interview! Your support is really appreciated. Blast the new album and let the sickness invade your minds!!!
