Welcome to the filthy, putrid slaughterhouse of the morbid butchers. Are you listening to anything right now?
Thank you for inviting us to this interview! Right now I (Violatör) listen to Flight, heavy metal band from Kolbotn. It's great to know that people are still interested in Filthdigger, even though we haven't played a gig since september 2016.
Firstly, congratulations on making "Damned By The Living Dead." It's an excellent piece of rotten death metal. Are you proud of it?
We are surely proud of the release. It was the first time we released a record on LP, cassette and CD at the same time and that was quite an achievement for us. We just played one gig in January 2016 and we got a deal with a local label in Oslo, No Posers Please. Great guys with passion for solid metal. The studio, Endless Tinnitus Studios, is the best studio to record in. With Mr. Mökk behind the sticks and with his analog tape recorder, nothing can go wrong.
Can you briefly tell us the story of the band's formation?
Me (Violatör) and Nekromizör had a band going on in middle school, but that band fell apart because we were inconsistent. Nekromizör then formed Filthdigger as a side project, where he did everything and I mean everything. After a while he asked me to join, and the band was just for recording sessions and no shows. We thought after a while that we needed a drummer. Deströyer was the obvious choice, because he liked the same music as us. And boom, in autumn 2015 we started up for real and got a gig shortly after.
Norway has always been known for its black metal bands. Even I couldn't list many Norwegian death metal bands, and I'm already 44 years old. Why did you choose to stick by this style?
Me and Nekromizör were into black metal at the start, like every Norwegian metal enthusiast. But we soon realized that black metal was overused. It's really hard to stick out in the Norwegian black metal scene, becuase everything is mostly done. But the interest for death metal came with Entombed, Autopsy, Death Breath, Repulsion and Death, and for me and Nekromizör that was the way to go. Death metal was cooler, more intense, heavy and more fun. Black metal is too serious haha!
The album was released in three different formats, although the CD version has a slightly altered cover. Why?
The CD cover was altered becuase we wanted to do some variation. We thought it was too boring to have the same cover on every format, so we just made them different to make them more exclusive.
The album is merely 24 minutes long, do you consider this to be an appropriate length for a debut album? Please note that this is completely fine with me, I don't like long albums as much. HAHA!!
Death metal needs to be fast, intense and right to the point. We have a punk attitude in our approach and that comes to show in the album length. "No bullshit" is the mantra.
I really like your vocals; they aren't typical growls, but more like insane screams. Why did you choose this style? Have you never growled before? Do you growl occasionally during concerts?
Nekromizör had growling vocals before, but he changed it because he liked to scream rather than growling. I think he wanted to scream to show the maniac inside of him, haha! I thought is was cool too, becuase not many death metal bands screams nowadays.
All three formats were released by different labels. Are you satisfied with the work they did?
All the label guys (No Posers Please, Cavernous Records and Snake Oil Kassettforlag) are super great guys! They have helped so much. Without them we wouldn't get the publicity we have now. We really like the work they put into the releases, and they are great professionals.
What motivates youngsters like you to make such crypt-stenched old-school death metal?
The motivation for this kind of music lies in our youth anger, and playing in a band is an escape from reality. We want to rock out in our own way and do things that we like. One can say that we do this out of rebellion against the straight culture, but the most important factor is our interest in extreme and honest music and that we want to a part of that.
Who writes the lyrics?
Nekromizör is the riff master and lyrics master. He's a hard working guy who wants to make he best music he can make.
I'm guessing you're a fan of horror films. If I'm wrong, tell me - what films do you like? What are your biggest favorites? What's your opinion on remakes?
Do be honest, I (Violatör) don't watch to many horror films actually, haha! But Cannibal Holocaust in a classic of course. I used to watch the Saw-movies when I was a teen, out of interest for the gory stuff. I played also some gory FPS video games too. But my favourite horror film is Aliens. It's the creepy feeling that appeals me. Remakes are bullshit for the most part. The movie companies just want more money. That's the reason they make remakes in the first place.
If someone asked you to act in a horror movie, would you accept?
Do you play lots of shows? What was the most distant venue you played?
We have played 5 shows I think. The most distant venue was in Trondheim, 7 hours north of Oslo. We played in the local punk venue, UFFA. What a wierd place, haha!
What music do you listen to when you're exhausted?
I listen to some good rock n roll, like Iggy Pop, Stooges, Cream, The Who, Led Zeppelin, but also Kyuss, Yawning Man and Joy Division. If you want to chill listen to Savages from the UK, great band!
Tell us about a currently inactive death metal, thrash metal and heavy metal band you'd like to see become active again.
Death Breath need to get out from the crypts. They have been away for far too long.
Are there any bands without whom FILTHDIGGER couldn't exist? In other words, who are your biggest influences?
Well, Death Breath is one of them, but also old Death, Autopsy, Repulsion. We are very inspired by punk too, like Discharge, Minor Threat, Anti Cimex and Black Flag.
Let's get back to FILTHDIGGER. Are there any new songs in the making? When are you planning to release something new?
We are currently inactive, because Deströyer left the band in the spring 2017 and Nekromizör is focusing on Negativ, a local punk band in Oslo with great potential. So we don't have any plans for releases and new songs right now. We'll wait and see.
Could you tell us about some new Norwegian bands we should keep an eye out for? Any style is welcome.
Keep a look at Psykopath from Bergen, Reptilian from Fusa, Inculter, Æstethica and Nachash.
What's your attitude towards alcohol? Are you heavy drinkers? HAHA!
Haha, yes, we can drink a lot. But we have a relaxed attitude to alchohol; alchohol is not important for our day to go around, you know.
Do you know any Hungarian bands?
I know very few Hungarian bands. I saw one Hungarian melodeath group in Prague one time, they were called Death-something, I don't remember, but they were cool!
Have many people interviewed you yet?
We have had very few interviews recently, so it's great to be back!
Do you regularly buy / read fanzines?
No, I don't buy so many zines, but I think I should do that more often. I get my information on Facebook and Bandcamp for the most part.
Which bands would you be happy to open for as a supporting act?
That's a difficult choice, but I have to go with Death Breath. It would be a boyhood dream coming true.
I've prepared a little game for the end of the interview. There are 6 words below, your task is to write the name of the musician you first think of, corresponding to each word.
1. Godfather = Toni Iommi
2. Virtuoso = Chuck Shuldiner
3. Devil = Quorthon
4. Sincerity = Ronny James Dio
5. Beast = Chris Reifert
6. Unearthly = Abbath
Thank you very much for the answers. I hope we'll hear many more excellent albums from you. Wish you all the best of luck with the band.
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