Avulsed


I have long been a follower of Repluse Records and a fan of Dave Rotten's projects since 1995 and couldn't resist the opportunity to interview them. Keep in mind this interview was written partly in mid-1999 and partly in 2000, so the questions may jump around a bit. In any event, I'm pleased to feature an interview with such an ardent supporter of the underground metal scene! Read on to find out more about the man himself, Dave fuckin' Rotten. . .


Eternal Frost: As I immensely enjoy a lot of the mid-'90s death metal, I've gotta say the original Repulsive Assault compilation is one of the best underground comps of the decade. What prompted you to get into the underground scene? Was this the first comp you put together? Are there plans for a third installment in the series?
Dave Rotten (vocals): Well, I have to say that the second one is also a killer compilation!! Anyway, my first compilations were two compilation tapes I release on my previous label Drowned Productions and they were called Defaced Compilation. These featured some of the best underground bands of the early '90s.

I got into the underground scene sometime around '97, just when I started to trade tapes with some friends in Germany, Portugal, UK, Holland. . .Later I did two magazines (Spain Is Different - '90 and Drowned - '91). I also started my first label in late '90 called Drowned Productions. After I finished with this label, I started Repulse Records in January '94.


Are you still part of Avulsed? What's going on with them these days and will their next release be on Repulse?
Yes, of course!! We did release our second album Stabwound Orgasm in September '99 and since then we've played many shows in Spain (like 22 or so) and also did a tour in America, from California down to Costa Rica going through mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras & Nicaragua. A total of 12 shows. Now we're doing some cover songs for different tribute albums to Carcass, Morbid Angel and Sodom, then after the summer we'll start working on our third album, due to be recorded in Summer 2001.

Back in the early days, when the label first started, the prevailing attitude was "True death metal rules! Fuck trends!" Since then, Repulse has expanded its musical spectrum to include gothic metal and the more popular Fear Factory kind of metal. Do you think this has harmed or helped the label's reputation in the extreme underground? Will you continue to release stuff in this vein along with your brutal outputs?
Yes, definitely it hurt our reputation. First, we started doing only death metal, but then we felt we wanted to release other extreme bands that we liked as well, and since it's our label and nobody tell us what we have to do, we signed a few thrash, black and even gothic bands, but they didn't sell well because our market is for death metal. That's where we can do our best, so we have decided to skip many bands from our rosters and remain only with the most relevant ones in order to give them the best promotion, distribution and attention possible. [HAILS! --goden]

As a label owner, you must receive tons of demos from unsigned bands. Is there any country that seems to send more than any other? What are some of the bands that are catching your ears' attention lately?
I don't know--I receive demos for all countries, perhaps in Italy, France, Sweden, Germany, Holland, Czech Republic. . .I think one of the most interesting unsigned bands is Kaamos from Sweden. As for the bands that I like, the most lately, I can tell you names like Angelcorpse, Myrkskog, Emperor, Sup, Disgorge (Mex), Nile. . .

What exactly happened between Repulse Records and Deranged that led to Deranged signing to another label?
The reason is simple: we only had contract for one album, and since they weren't satisfied on how we handled their promotion and distirbution and we weren't satisfied on how demanding they became, we both decided not to continue with that. This is funny, because after some years, none of their following albums sold more than the one we released, even considering that we released their album when we were a young label with just one year of existence and our distirbution and promotion was quite small. Anyway, with our promotion, the band reached some kind of cult status in the underground that they haven't reached with the second or third albums. Now I'm glad we didn't continue with them, because I don't like their following albums that much. They didn't improve at all and kicked out their original singer, which was the best. Now we're still friends after all.

Now that Repulse has an American office, is there any possibility of a North American Repulsive Tour, even if it's just with the American bands who are signed to the label? Was it difficult putting together the European Repulsive Tours? Will they be continuing in the future?
No, that will be totally impossible, since the American way of doing shows and tours is drastically different than the European way. As for Repulsive Tours, I don't think we'll ever repeat anything like that one we did in '97 with Incantation, Avulsed, Deeds of Flesh and Adramelech. Europe is rotten, it sucks when it comes to do tours, because not many people goes to see the gigs and you end up losing a lot of money.

How is Qabalah Productions associated with Repulse? Is it a sub-label or an outside entity that licenses releases to you?
Initially it was a different label, but since the only owner is working with us at Repulse and we were doing the manufacturing, promotion and distirbution of their releases, we decided to consider it as a sub-label where he signs and control his own bands with our help.

I assume your duties at Repulse Records and the store are a full-time thing. How long ago were you able to quit your "day job"? Do you have any other new projects outside Repulse?
Well, since the beginning, Repulse has always been a full-time job for me and my two partners. It wasn't the same when I had Drowned Productions, because I was working at a metal record store at the same time, but since I decided to create Repulse, I left that job and devoted all my time to the new label. Besides Repulse I also organize gigs here in Madrid. Let's say I'm the only organizer of death/black gigs here, because no other promoters want to do it. I got gigs for many bands like Cannibal Corpse, Marduk, Sinister, Ancient Rites, Nightfall, Aborted and man others. Soon I'll do shows for Nile, Incantation, Hate Eternal, Immortal, Impaled Nazarene. . .None of my other partners at Repulse help me in this except Toni from Qabalah.

What are your favorite bands these days? I know you're a Mortician fan; what do you think of their new one? (I think it's fucking awesome!) Have you ever heard Winter? Do you listen to much doom at all?
Yes, I love Mortician!! I like all their releases - to me they're one of the heaviest and mose extreme bands on earth!! Yes, I've heard Winter since their demo and I love this band!! I like doom, yes!! I like other stuff like industrial, old hardcore bands from late '80s, some heavy metal bands and of course most of the late '80s thrash gods!!

You were part of the total fuckin' cult band Christ Denied. Is the band still active? Why did you choose to release the band's full-length on Gulli Records instead of Repulse?
Yes, we're still active!! We recorded two songs in Summer '98 for a split 7" EP with Mortician, but since they decided to cancel it in the last second, we decided to release it as a split MCD with Aborted which came out in March 2000 and we added a cover version of Pyrexia to it as well. Then in January 2000 we recorded four new songs plus a cover of Goreaphobia for a split CD with Bastard Saints which is out now in June 2000. Our style is a lot more brutal than our first album!! Listen to our newer tracks if you can, then you'll die!! As for releasing it on Gulli, well, they simply asked us for it and we said yes. . . I prefer to release my project bands on different labels rather than on Repulse. I also have another band called Anaemia where we play the fastest grindcore on earth. Kind of like Assuck, Mule Skinner, Terrorizer, Nasum, etc., but faster!! Pure grindcore!! Our first CD is out on the same Belgian label that released thwe Aborted/Christ Denied MCD.

Are there any new Repulse signings you'd like fans to know about? What are some of the upcoming releases from Repulse Qabalah?
Well, we just released the new Disgorge (Mex) album Forensick and it is the sickest, most brutal release on this fucking planet!! We have also signed Chilean gods Toten Korps and their debut album will be out in October 2000. They were formed back in late '80s and since then they have gotten a strong reputation in the underground. Their style goes in the vein of Morbid Angel, Krisiun, Kataklysm, etc., but with a darker feeling. . .Our next release after Disgorge is the fifth album of Swedish Centinex - Hellbrigade, out in August. And by the end of the year, in December, we'll release the second album of the mighty grindcore legend Hideous MAngleus!!

May Repulse brutalize the masses for years to come! Any last words?
Yeah, definitely!! We have come back to our roots!! Only death/grind will come out from Repulse and only quality releases with cult bands!! Thanx, Goden, for the interview and for any info, just check out our web page: http://www.avulsedcom/ and there you'll find info about the label and also my bands Avulsed and Christ Denied, although for this one you can also check on www.christdenied.com.

AVULSED
PO Box 50562
28080 Madrid
Spain
www.avulsed.com
info@avulsed.com



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