EMBALMING THEATRE play old-school deathgrind in the vein of REPULSION and TERRORIZER and they play it well. They have released a slew of 7”, splits, and their fullength cd on RAZORBACK “Sweet Chainsaw Melodies” really caught my attention. I caught up with them to see what the band is up to lately and to delve into the inspiration behind this ferocious band.

1. Gory Greetings from SEPTI-GORE zine! Please introduce yourself and the band.
Steve: I'm the bass player and background vocalist of Embalming Theatre and have been forced by Dave to answer these questions (he wouldn't have sex with me if I don't do this interview, he sai... erm, I mean, he wouldn't give me any candy for Christmas, yapyapyap, that's it, ahem... damn). Dave's one of our guitarists, and the other one's René. Heinz is drumming the skins, and the vocals are done by Marco. We play soft rock and intend to do a soundtrack for a porn movie, yeah babe. Uh, okay, honest, we do some Grindcore influenced by bands like old Carcass, Napalm Death, Terrorizer, Repulsion, etc. etc.

2. Your discography is extensive!! Please share with us the multitude of great releases you have put out.
Steve: We're still far away from such bands as Agathocles and Unholy Grave, but we try, hehe. Until now, we released one full-length CD/LP (Sweet chainsaw melodies), a Mini-CD (Hormones from the dead), a Split-CD with Torture Incident (called split-organ) - the tracks of E. T. of the later two both released on LP, too. There are split 7"es with Agathocles, Final Exit, Unholy Grave, Terrorism, Maggot Shoes, Sewn Shut, The Jazz Intrusion, Birdflesh, Din-Addict, Intumescence, a 4-way-7" with Jigsore/Dysmorfic/Kadaverficker, and tracks on different compilations.
And a brand new CD to come this December.

3. What musical and non-musical influences influence EMBALMING THEATRE?
Steve: All the old Grindcore- and Deathmetal-stuff, of course. And some of the newer stuff too. I myself like such bands as G-Anx, Extreme Noise Terror, At The Gates, Repulsion, Assück, S.O.B. - to just name a few. I guess the non-musical influences would mostly apply to the lyrics and covers, but that's Marco's district. That are mostly gruesome news, but he also likes horror- and splattermovies (like me), and reads a lot. He's also doing our covers, and there, his favourite artist is H. R. Giger, the Swiss painter who was responsible for the looks of Alien. You can visit his homepage at: http://www.darkenart.ch

4. I understand you play live quite a bit. What countries and Europe have you played and have you played outside Europe or have any offers to do so?
Steve: We don't have too much offers, it counts up to about 4-6 gigs a year, I think. Most of the times, these events occur in Switzerland, of course. Only time we played outside our country was at the Obscene Extreme festival, in Czech Republic. We had an offer to play in Italy, but unfortunately, we couldn't on that date, and another one in Germany to play this December, but the local closed down. We will play in Strasbourg, France, coming February, and another gig in Dornbirn, Austria. And we're right now clarifying for some gigs over in the United States - that should take place next autumn, if all goes right.

5. Do you have a most memorable live performance?
Steve: Haha, yeah, sometimes, I would say so. We often choose to play in freaky clothes, like on the last gig, where we all wore women's dresses and clothes (can't wait to see the pictures of it).

6. What bands have caught your interest lately? Any recommendations?
Steve: Hm, I like As I Lay Dying. But I don't buy lots of new stuff. I'm pretty content with my collection. Right now, I'm interested to get my hands on some good Chinese traditional stuff, anyway. Guess that wouldn't interest too much of your readers.

7. Are you into horror/gore cinema? Any favorite movies in this genre?
Steve: Yeah, definitely. One of my favourite is Angel Heart with de Niro and Rourkey. And all the Argento-Giallos, of course. And the movies of Cronenberg. And I like bloody Zombie-flicks.

8. I understand you have a lot of future releases planned, including a “best of” type EMBALMING THEATRE compilation. Please share with us any details on future releases.
Steve: As mentioned before, there's a new CD coming this December. The compilation contains all our 7"es so far. And there's a split-7" planned with Frightmare. And some other stuff, but that's Dave's district. I lost track some months (or years) back.

9. What are the professions of the band members[jobs] outside of EMBALMING THEATRE?
Steve: I'm working in an office. And Dave and Marco both are teachers. René is an electrician, and Heinz is a coach-builder.

10. Are you interested in playing in the US? Any US bands you would love to tour with or hang out with?
Steve: Again, as mentioned before, we are clarifying a little tour of about a week or two over there that might happen autumn 2006. Only band that I'd really like to meet and see on stage with us from there right now is Frightmare. It would also be great to tour with such guys as Incantation or Suffocation.

11. Are you happy with your ‘Sweet Chainsaw Melodies” release on RAZORBACK? I understand it is already sold out. Any more copies of this release planned?
Steve: Yeah, Nocera's work with us was just great! We were a bit surprised when he asked us if we're interested in a full-length release on his label, because we weren't so known back there. I think there's a repress on its way, but Dave should know more about it than I.

12. How can the fans contact you and find out more about the band? Do you have a website and merchandise like shirts, records, cds?
Steve: We have a website: http://www.embalmingtheatre.ch/. Most of the stuff can be ordered there: The CD's, LP's and 7"es (as far as they aren't sold out), and we have some shirts too. Pictures of 'em are on the site.

13. Anybody you would like to say “FUCK OFF” to?
Steve: The bitch that crashed into my car end of November. There are a few people I don't like, but I don't mind enough to hate them. Yeah.

14. Last gory words?
Steve: The boy's skull split open with a loud crack, like a nutshell, as the bat hit it with full force. His face landed in the bowl of corn flakes, the milk flooding over the rim and spilling over the table, mixing with the blood and brains that leaked from the injury. Hell, yeah.
Thanks a lot for the interview and keep on rocking in the grind!

back