THY INFERNAL formed in the winter of 1996 in Portland. Soon after that, they recorded their demo, and got signed immediately to MORIBUND RECORDS. They now have two labels… MORIBUND and NAPALM. NAPALM takes care of Europe. THY INFERNAL has two albums till present: Satan’s Wrath, and Warlords of Hell. They have also appeared on numerous compilations.
‘Warlords of Hell’ is the first sign of life(?) I beheld. Were there any demos or previous CD-releases? See first question! 3. ‘Warlords of Hell’ was recorded etc. in the Supernatural Sound Studios and the Black Lake Studios. I am not familiar with these studios. Are they Metal-studios? Did everything pass smoothly? How long did it take and how do you look back on this experience?
BLACK LAKE Studios is definitely a Metal studio. It is actually within walking distance from my house. Great place to record. I would not say everything passed smoothly, but we are very happy with the end result. Of course we would change certain things, but that is a given.
Christophe Szpajdel drew the THY INFERNAL logo. Is he also so well-known in the USA as he is over here, in Europe (almost every band here has a Szpajdel-logo)? How did you get in touch with him? Did he support THY INFERNAL in any other ways?
Actually our label got ahold of him. That is the only contact we have had with the guy. Great logo though.
Same goes for Joe Petagno (KRISIUN, DIABOLIC, UNLORD, MOTORHEAD, VITAL REMAINS, ANGELCORPSE, INFAMY…)… he is responsible for the coverart. How did you get in touch with him? Could you introduce Shaun Flanigan (DiabloGraphix) to the readers? Can you tell us more about his works? How should people contact him?
Actually our label got hold of Petagno, for us. It is good to have a label that works FOR you, not against you. As far as Shaun goes: great artist, very abstract type sh!t. He mainly does black and white pieces, but made an exception for our album. LAST EPISODE is doing the vinyl for our album. It will be gate-fold, so you will be able to see Shaun’s artwork the way it was meant to be. Not chopped up to fit a CD booklet.
As far as I know, there are not many American Black Metal bands in comparison to Europe. ABSU is probably the most important one. Is the scene growing?
Yes, the scene is growing faster than ever before here in the states. Hopefully we are leading the charge!
When I listen to ‘Warlords of Hell’ MARDUK is the first name that pops up in my mind. Are they an important source of inspiration to THY INFERNAL? Am I right if I say that THY INFERNAL is mainly influenced by Scandinavian Black Metal acts? Because, in my opinion, there is a geographic pattern in Black Metal, for instance Scandinavian Black Metal does not sound like Greek Black Metal or Polish Black Metal. Do you agree? And does American Black Metal also have some recognizable style-factors?
Hmm. Good question. I would say early on we were influenced by Scandinavian Black Metal. Not so any more. I would say these days we have a very American Black Metal presence in our music. Our music is very aggressive with a lot of evil intent in the riffs. I do not think you hear much of that in other styles of Black Metal these days. American Black Metal is also very rooted in brutal Death Metal. That is inescapable. And yes, we love MARDUK.
In the booklet, I noticed that the singer APOKALYPSE does the vocals on two songs. Tell us more about APOKALYPSE.
Apokalypse is the singer for a sick, primitive, barbaric Black Metal band from Portland called (appropriately enough) WINTER OF APOKALYPSE. THY INFERNAL‘s Armageddon plays drums in the band also.
What do you think of the latest ENTHRONED? And the latest ICONOCLASM? What do you think of Belgium’s (Hellgium!) Black Metal scene in general?
Funny you ask, because I am listening to The Apocalypse Manifesto as we speak! I have not heard their newest one. I really like those guys though. I have never heard of ICONOCLASM, or know of any Belgium bands off the top of my head. Sorry.
Compose the ultimate album:
vocals: Gene Simmons
lead guitars: Scott Gorham
rhythm guitars: Mick Mars
bass: Joey Demiao
drums: Frankie Banali
logo: GG Allin
coverart: MANOWAR’s guy
label: MORIBUND RECORDS
studio: ABYSS
medium: Vinyl
What is your opinion on piracy? What about the fact that demos are released on CDs nowadays instead of on tape? Is internet a good or a bad thing for the underground?
Piracy does not bother me because we do not make any money any way. So the more people that hear us, the better. What format a band releases their demo means nothing to me. The internet is good for getting your music heard. It is bad for the underground though, because nothing is underground anymore. How is it underground if your mom could have access to it within seconds?
Anything else?
Buy Warlords of Hell!!!!!!! Thanks for the interview. Stay Metal.
G: Thanks THY INFERNAL!
THRONE OF ABSENCE 