HELL:ON – Interview with the band

„(…) the basic is a Thrash Metal (…) some tribal elements and experiments with folk staff (…) we are just crazy about such things in our music (…) it always sounds very groovy and catchy on the live shows (…) Groove is not only Thrash Metal. – HELL:ON

Pavel: Hello and I immediately warn you that my brother (Anzelm Bohatyrowicz) has a specific way of asking questions, hahaha …

Hell-o, I guess, I’m totally okay about it.

Anzelm Bohatyrowicz: Howdy. From first time of listening your music I catched myself that you blend all possible variants from around the world in your music, although I would just call it the old good thrashing Metal. Such genre like came from 2 or even 3 decades ago?

Hi! Yes, I’m pretty sure that the basic is a Thrash Metal. But! From year to year now (2013-2019) we were added more and more crazy atmospheric elements to our music, some tribal elements and experiments with folk staff. That is why we started to attached „death” to our genre description. You will hear it on upcoming EP. Although the first track from EP will have less death than thrash in it, I guess other tracks will fully compensate it.

Anzelm Bohatyrowicz: Among other things I think about the piece “Filth” that is the first track from “Once Upon A Chaos”, the third one also has such accretions …

Definitely. But it is still has some death metal elements, as we see it.

Pavel: Indeed, this sitar strengthens the climate … It is a pity that it is only seconds …

You know, when we started to experiment with it, at 2015, it was just a beginning of the Road. So, we thought like: „let’s try a bit of sitar and will see how it will works”. Now we are just crazy about such things in our music, hehe… we try to make it everywhere in our new material. Sound arrangement now takes even more time than composing of the song itself.

If you like experiments with sitar in Filth, you will definitely likes acoustic part in „Spreading Chaos” with all these percussion and so on.

Pavel: Why do you interest of ethnic and folk music as the damn metalheads?

Who knows… it is just came to our mind one day…

Pavel: It was great idea. But you play aggressive Thrash Metal, or even Groove Metal. Sometimes I associate it with SLAYER and the old SEPULTURA. It’s probably for a reason?

Have no idea, mate. We don’t think in that way anymore.. we prefer just create music and stop guessing what is become looks like. You know, we play our new material to our friends and some of them told us… – Wow, it is sounds like Polish death metal (what?! 🙂 ) , some friends told us that it reminds them Greek school, like Rotting Christ and Septic Flesh. Another guy told it reminds him new Sepultura and Testament. Just couple days ago, one of our friend told us that „Spreading Chaos”(EP 2019) sounds like Death 91’ 93’. So, i mean mate, there is so many thoughts and ideas. And, really i don’t care 🙂 We just happy to create something new for us, experiment and just have fun with our new music baby 🙂

Anzelm Bohatyrowicz: But at one point I also found myself to comparing you to SEPULTURA … although you do not sweep like them. Realy, they are the precursors of Groove.

Yeah, it is possible of course. Sepultura is an huge milestone of metal music for lot of metalheads around the world. So, you just can’t avoid it on your Way. But as for me, with all these years of creation, i guess we just have it as legacy and took it through the prism of our perception and understanding.

Anzelm Bohatyrowicz: Groove? … Explain to me what it means? For me, Thrash is the quintessence of Metal … Nothing before that and nothing else matters… And you’re riding on a risk level … You’re modeling from Gods but that’s what counts …

You’re right, but Groove is not only Thrash Metal i think. It is like characteristic of music, riffs, bit so on. I prefer to not consider it as original metal genre i mean.

Pavel: Of course not. Groove evolved from Thrash.

Anzelm Bohatyrowicz: Ad of course, your music is not identical to the Gods. Your music lacks this dirt, although it has something special … Maybe those solos, which I hate?

Who knows.. but i like solos :). I like Slayer’s solos for instance.. it brings more madness to their music. And yes, sometimes we played it like Slayer, haha… with all these chromaticity and evil-halftones. Clear madness.

Anzelm Bohatyrowicz: And I like simple fucking playing intertwined with technique … You also are such.

Great 🙂

Anzelm Bohatyrowicz: All in all, you play very melodically. I do not even bother with these virtuoso shows on the six strings … You just push this heavy equipment in front of you …

We just love solos 🙂 and especially double solos parts , it always sounds very groovy and catchy on the live shows. We add it to the new material a lot.

Anzelm Bohatyrowicz: Yes … I even hear a bit of VOIVOD in your music … But it’s a different story …

Never heard them 🙂 but, why not. Maybe 🙂

Pavel: Well, dudes 🙂 VOIVOD is a different sounds but it would be necessary to know them (especially old ones).

Anzelm Bohatyrowicz: Because I would call it Techno Thrash more. And in one piece you fly like a Canadian VODNIK, but they are not so good like you …

We prefer to call it Progressive, but it also could be consider as Techno, yap.

Anzelm Bohatyrowicz: … You fuck in a balanced way, this make your music is stable … And here the question… What does audience take you on the live?

Usually it is people 25-30 years +. Never a kids. At least i saw not so many teenagers at our concerts. I don’t know why. Maybe we play old school music, not modern.. who knows.

Anzelm Bohatyrowicz: I’m asking because once upon time I was at a concert. The band appeard on the stage and they were starting fucking show. But the audience was somehow drowsy … But one piece rised up the crowd … And you had something like that?

You know, It depends. And it never happens equally. Sometimes you have crazy mosh-pits, even wall of death on the show, sometimes i feel like we are playing Dream Theater material, hehe… people just standing still and stare at us. But it doesn’t means they are don’t like our music, they coming after the concert and telling that they really enjoy the show. So, i guess mostly it depends on temperament of person.

Pavel: Well, before you, a hot period of concerts … In September, you’ll be playing in Kiev with ROTTING CHRIST …

Yeah, we will be as special guest for their shows in Kyiv and Kharkiv. And we are really happy about it, cause we are big fans of their music. And it is good time for playing in Ukraine, as we are not play very often here. We didn’t released new material since 2015, and I’m sure, it will be great opportunity to present our new material to the public.

Pavel: And in October with MARDUK, NILE, EXHORDER and many others …

Right. We will play at Way of Darkness festival with all these great bands. We will do several shows in Germany to promote our new EP, so this festival will be part of it.

Pavel: During the concert tour you will also play one concert in Poland (October 6) in Stettin. Is this your first concert in Poland? Will it probably be combined with the promotion of the EP?

No, this concert will be not a first concert in Poland, we were played there before a lot. Small clubs and big festivals as Metalfest at 2012. But during October tour it will be only one concert in Poland. We were not supposed to play somewhere except Germany this year, but due to Metallurg booking we will do. Yeah, it will be promotional show for our new EP „A Glimpse Beyond”. Also we will play material from last album „Once Upon A Chaos”, as we re-released it on vinyl early this year.

Pavel: Right. In October you will also release Ep split with PRIPJAT titled “A Glimpse Beyond”. Where did the idea come from for such a venture?

It is a long story. Idea came year ago, when we do couple of shows together in Germany. We were on backstage together doing some crazy things together, then we were drinking.. so you know… 🙂 First of all they are good friends of us and they play really great music that i call New Wave of Teutonic Thrash Metal, hehe… I guess, regarding release it was mostly their idea, as we both don’t have any publishers and contracts for the moment. So we decide to have fun and combine our efforts and make this double strike as split EP. We cooperate with good German label Crawling Chaos with this release and suppose it will be great result. At October it will be only CD version, and later maybe vinyl and tape. Anyway, it is first experience for us, to release something as split, so we really don’t know what to expect.

Pavel: On the fifth album “Once Upon A Chaos …” from 2015, you invited Andreas Kisser (SEPULTURA) as a guest … How did this happen? What was his role?

Yeah, it is true. He did a guest solo part on the track called „Salvation in Death”. The story is rather simple, i met Andreas at the backstage at Kyiv during his touring over Ukraine and we talked. I just proposed him to do the guest solo and he agreed. It tooks several years to make it, but he did it. And this is awesome. And it was just like a dream come true for me. He is great. He is real metalhead, believe me.

Pavel: You have such a song, “Delirium”. What did the song inspire? Have you seen the real delirium?

I would not use the word “inspire”. It just describes the state. I’ve never seen this state with my own eyes, but there are a lot of movies and books which describe it. For me it was always interesting to understand why people get into the delirium so we have made a song which tries to reproduce the feeling itself. If you ask why such human emotions are attractive, the most simple explanation would be a desire of a small child to step into total darkness even that he or she knows that the monsters are waiting in there…

Pavel: In my previous work, I had the opportunity to see patients with delirium many times. They would be interesting stories… And the song “Satan”? Who or what is Satan for you?

Yeah, it is one of our favorite track. Originally it was composed in 2012, but since 2015 we started to play it live. It is not so easy, because we used to recorded some orchestra things in this track. But we stated to use playback, so it is works.

Satan it is a free will, it is independence, power to move forward in any circumstances, power to create. Symbol of all that against stupidity and blindness that all religions propose.

Anzelm Bohatyrowicz: Do you know that you have street named from Polish city Wroclaw? The Polish city Wroclaw also named the street from the name of Zaporizhia to sign of respect.

Never heard it. But, i checked it in Google, it is really is! 🙂 that’s funny 🙂

Anzelm Bohatyrowicz: Are still create Zaporozhets at the Zaporizhia Automobile Building Plant?

No, as i know, the factory is not working anymore.. last production was several year ago and it was Lanos as main product i guess. Zaporozhets you can see very seldom even in the Zaporizhia 🙂 it is very shitty car to be survived after all these years, hehe… but it is classic)

Pavel: All we have to do is to wish you successful concerts. Thanks for the conversation! The last words belong to HELL: ON !!!

Thank you for the interest to our music, check out our new material and spread the Word! See you.