1. Would you please introduce band members and describe your music for the unlucky people who wouldn't know you?
Steve: Well, that's Heinz (the drummer), René and Dave (playing with the guitars), Marco (vocals and other guttural stuff) and me, Steve on bass. We play something that can be set somewhere between Grindcore and Deathmetal with some punky and hardcory influences. Just to name some bands to compare, that would be stuff like Repulsion, Terrorizer, Extreme Noise Terror, Impetigo, Napalm Death and the like.

2. What are your occupations beside the band?
Steve: For professions, Heinz is a car-varnisher, Marco and Dave both are teachers, René is an electrician and I'm working at the Swiss Social Insurance. Marco is also a painter, and Heinz's second profession is drumming. I'm writing short stories from time to time and release them on my own webzine, www.scrypt.ch - but that's in German only.

3. Is the split 7" with Agathocles your demo? How this came out?
Steve: No. It was our very first release. We back then had still our other band going, Aeternum, and E. T. was only thought of as a side project because we wanted to do some grind stuff. Dave was already in contact with Agathocles and had asked them if they would be interested if we would release a split 7" with E. T. on our own label. They agreed, and that was about the same time we had finished recording our first session. The quality of those songs might be poor compared to our newer stuff, but back then we didn't want to invest too much in just such a project and recorded and mixed all songs by ourselves.

4. You really seem to love vinyl's (just like I do!!!) and your discography starts to be impressive, according to you , what are the positive ways to realise split 7" and vinyl's in a general way? Do you see a bad point?
Steve: I was always an absolute vinyl freak! I didn't even have a CD player until about 6 or 7 years ago (maybe 8, that would've been in 1997 or so, don't know anymore). I always liked limited editions, the colored vinyl and that you had bigger covers. Vinyl's just cult in a way, and I'm happy there are labels that still bring out vinyl. So I don't see no fucking bad point about it, hehe. Only thing you can't take them into your car and play them there... but well, I also own some CD's. If I remember right it was me who brought Dave into the vinyl stuff too, hehe. After all, it's just nicer than CD's, that's all to it.
Dave: Steve, to be honest, I also had lot's of vinylstuff before, hehe! Maybe you infected me with the vinyl-virus!

5. Do you fix your splits with the bands you like or is it done by the labels?
Steve: That differs. Sometimes a label asks us if we're interested in a split with that or that band, on other occasions we get in contact with bands who would like to do a split with us and then search for a label. But if I'm right, that's mostly labels asking.

6. Do you have a favorite Embalming Theatre record? Why?
Steve: Uh, that's difficult. I still think some of the songs from the second session are absolutely great, like "We ate daddy" we re-recorded for the "Sweet chainsaw melodies". The split-7" with Unholy Grave has a nice colored vinyl. And our best bandpic is on the 4-way split-7" with Jigsore, Dysmorfic and Kadaverficker.

7. About your album "Sweet chainsaw melodies" , how came the opportunity for you to sign on Razorback Records? Did you appreciate their job? What about No Escape records?
Steve: Dave was in contact with Billy Nocera and sent him to our homepage to download some tracks. And he liked what he heard, so we had the deal for a CD. And yeah, Razorback do a real great job for the underground, their name stands out after all. I don't know much about No Escape Records yet, for I'm not the Grindcore-Freak anymore and have settled down a bit, concerning my musical taste. Guess Dave should answer this question, hehe.
Dave: Unfortunately Razorback is not able to release our next CD (lack of money!), so I asked other labels instead. As I was in contact with Dave/No Escape Rec. I asked him, and they were interested! So it came to the MCD "Hormones from the dead". Last year we thought, it will be time again for a full length and as No Escape Rec. did a great job too we're very happy with this deal.

8. How started your collaboration with the fantastic artist Darken Art who made your logo , do your covers...?
Steve: That's simple: Dave has known him from since when he started with Aeternum, and he did the logo for that band and sung on their first demo, before I took over for the coming years. When we were talking about our grindcore project that would later be called Embalming Theatre, Dave was telling us that he had interest in singing in a grindcore-band, so he was with us from the start, so to say.

9. Your lyrics are inspired by true morbid anecdotes , can you please name your favorite one(s) and maybe another you never used for a song?
Steve: Oh, well, my absolute favourite is the one about the kids playing soccer with a human skull, hehe. I also like those lyrics that are a bit ironic, like the ship loaded with guests of a funeral that sinks and the people drown. Marco has some lyrics that weren't used up to now, so I leave the last part of the question to him.
Marco: We have a few songs entitled “buried alive”. Actual song is “part VI: Stabbed, beaten and pregnant” and I still have a couple of ideas for that series. A special not yet released song
is “Get high on a dead dog”: Burglars found a bag with white “powder” and they sniffed it. It was not exactly cocaine… they found a bag with the cremated remains (ashes) of a dog.

10. Do you often play live? Will you tour (especially Belgium!) soon?
Steve: We play when we're asked and have got the time. Marco and Dave can't just take days off because they're teachers and have to wait for their holidays, and we others can't always get just a day off - but of course we try to play live as often as possible. Another problem is that some areas are really far and it's no fun to have a day's drive. And flights are usually a bit expensive. There are no plans for tours right now, but maybe will be over to the US next year for about two weeks. Nothing in Belgiums planned so far, but well... you never know.

11. What was your best show ever? And worst? Why?
Steve: Hm, that's not easy to answer. Most of our gigs are very great, the audience going wild and stuff, and that's just way cool - the most intense show in this manner I can remember was at the Ox in Zofingen, don't know the exact date right now, but there have been people up to the stage and rolling around on the floor there. It was kind of strange but nevertheless cool. The worst I guess was in Geneva, where we had our problems on concentrating on playing the songs right and there wasn't much of an audience. It was still good compared to some gigs I had with former bands.

12. How is the Swiss scene nowadays? What are your favorite past and present Swiss bands?
Steve: I'm not much into the scene anymore, but you should look out for Disparaged (American style deathmetal - our drummer plays there too). Other bands would be Relic and Carnal Decay, there are more, some good, some bad, but haven't been to much gigs recently. Bands from the past: Of course Messiah, I adore their first two albums. Bloodstar, and Exxor. Fear Of God, too. Yeah, I guess that's about my faves.
Marco: Past faves are Fear of God, Exulceration, Reactor, Babylon Sad and more… nowadays faves are Nostromo, Sludge, Requiem, Disparaged, and more. And I heard that another swiss “legend” is reanimated: Excruciation.

13. Do you play in another band / side project?
Steve: No, not anymore. I had once a side project which was called Infernal Carnage and did some brutal death metal, but there was only one recording and for years no plans to do fresh stuff. Heinz plays with Disparaged, and René in a band that's more like, uhm, Rock or the like. Don't know about Dave and Marco.
Marco: We reactivated Damnatory and made a promo CD-R two years ago. 5 new tracks are planned.

14. What are Embalming Theatre future plans?
Steve: Conquer the world! Huh, I don't know. Do much more 7"es and CD's and stuff and having a great time, maybe some gigs a bit more far away. We'll see.

15. Do you know / like the Belgian scene?
Steve: Hell, I like(d) Black Shepherd! The band was just way cult back then for me, but next to Agathocles (and Blatant Yobs, if I'm right...) that's all I know of Belgium bands... uhuhuh...
Marco: Next to Agx my Belgian faves are: Black Shepherd, HIATUS, Aborted. But I know a couple of other bands from your country as: Legal Butchery, Sektor, Firestone, Renaissance, Exoto, Clouded, Ectopia, Dying Corpse, Solid, Crypt, Chemical Breath, Ancient Rites, Emeth, Bestial Summoning, and a few more… I also want to remember the godly Apocalyptic Things compilations (what is Fred doing nowadays????)

16. Which local bands , zines , labels , distros , ... would you recommend us to check out?
Steve: As mentioned before, that's Disparaged, Requiem, Carnal Decay that come to mind just now. Can't name no zines, unfortunately, labels would be Blutwurscht Productions and distro Trauma store.

17. Last words are yours... Thanks a bunch!!!
Steve: Thanks too for the interview! Keep your heads up (and on your necks, hehe - mucho maniacos out there, just read our lyrics...) and grind on!
Send the replies back whenever you want but that would be cool for me to
receive it within 6 weeks. Thanks again , take care , ERIC.

back