THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT – Interview with Sjoerd

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Sjoerd Visch, drummer of the brutal Dutch Death Metal band “MONOLITH DEATHCULT”. If you're not familiar with “MONOLITH DEATHCULT”,they are defiantly a band that you should check out if you're a Death Metal fan. Their style is unique in that they use a 3 man vocal attack on your senses. They are very experienced in that they have also lead their talents in bands such as “ALTAR”, “DEADHEAD”, “ETERNAL CONSPIRACY”, “EXPOSING INNARDS”, and “SLAYNE”. I hope you enjoy the following interview and I hope that after you have finished reading it, you head out to your local record store and pick up their brutal release “The Apotheosis”. Enjoy

What some some of the bands influences growing up?

We're not really influences by any band. We all do like death metal, but we all like different kinds of bands in different kind of genres. I think that's a plus if all members have different background / influences for the variety of the music.

Who was the creator behind the MONOLITH DEATHCULT name?

Michiel came up with Monolith, we all thought it sounded great and it means like a sculpture of one part. We think it matches the music we make. Every song is a lot of music, if you understand what I mean: intensity. There are many bands who go by the name Monolith so we very soon made it: The Monolith Deathcult. It also refers to our music death metal.

When was The MONOLITH DEATHCULT formed?

A year ago. I think it was April last year. I met Michiel in a bar and I walked with the idea to form a brutal band. After some time we discovered we were very much on one line and decided to look for more members. The next week we were in the rehearsal room already writing songs.

Who's idea was it for the MONOLITH 3 vocal attack and how does the most vocals for the band?

The idea was spontaneously born. Our main vocalist is Robin, but Michiel and Martijn will do additional vocals. It makes the music more insane and hysteric. Especially live, it looks cool and you can dosage the vocals for every vocalist.

Who are some of the bands that you have toured with and are you involved in any tours in the future?

We've done a European tour with The Crown and Skinless from March 21th till April 5th. It was a great opportunity for us to promote our band and our first album. We had a lot of fun and great reactions. We're hoping to do some more touring within the near future. At the moment we have some options, but nothing is certain yet so for updates you can always check out our website: www.monolith-deathcult.com

Do you have any memorable shows or tours that wish would have never ended?

We all would have liked the fore-mentioned tour to have last longer. We really enjoyed ourselves. Now we're looking forward to more tours. We do have some confirmed gigs and that's also something we really love to do. We like to play as much as possible. We love to do it and it's a great way to promote your band and meet fans and get reactions.

What do you guys do to relax when your not on the road?

It differs. We all have jobs or/and study. For us the band is a (serious) hobby. I like to play music in my spare time, but of course we ll do different things. Going out to a bar / film theatre / staying home read a book or watch TV. Some of us are addicted to the Internet. I like to windsurf. Once or twice a week we head the rehearsal room and play music.

Have you ever played in the U.S.? If not, do you plan to in the future?

No, that's something that has never happened yet but we're hoping to do sometime. We're not desperate to play there, it all has to be properly arranged. Financially it may not cost us anything or maybe a little bit, but we can't have to lose money with gigs. Of course there's the normal price for bands to pay to join bigger bands on tour but I'm talking besides that.

How do you guys find the time for MONOLITH with all the other bands you are involved with?

We made agreements that the first gig confirmed will continue. So if another band one of us plays in have gig we can't play. For a tour we make exceptions. Till now it hasn't been a problem and sometimes it was even a fact that than both bands play the same gig / festival.

What goals do you hope to accomplish with MONOLITH in the future?

First of all we're still busy promoting our album ”The Apotheosis”. Playing a lot, hopefully more touring, and these interviews are important to us. We are already writing new songs. We have enough ideas. One song is already finished and we already have 4 lyrics. Until we head for the studio again we can still change songs but we're already working on the new album and till now we're very satisfied with the development.

For the people who have never heard of you, what do you hope they get out of your music when they hear it for the first time?

I hope they think, WOW what's this. Of course they have to have an affection with death metal, otherwise they're likely not to like it. What I hope that it's an album you play more often and it will get better the more often you play it. For me that are the better albums

That concludes the question's for now. More questions may be ask later. Thank you for your time and I hope to hear from you soon.