Chrys Baphometal: Hi everybody ! It’s a great pleasure for us to do this interview for the best Webzine ! Axecuter is doing fine, doing rehearsals and gigs, all that usual stuff. At the moment we are working VERY HARD on the production of our first full lenght album. Things are never easy when you’re on studio but...we have no hurry. All we want is to raise a killer record, destined to all those who understand our proposal and love real metal with all its power. 

T. Basstard: Hello... It’s great to answer your questions. Thanks for your support...

T. Basstard: In the year 2000, me, Danmented and Baphometal plus some mutual friends used to meet on weekends just for fun, barbecues and beer drinking. Everyone played metal on an uncompromising way and the first riffs and ideas came at that time. Ten years later, I asked Danmented and Baphometal to bring back those ideas and create a real METAL band, so here we are… I play in Offal (Death Metal) and I also have a one-man-band called Lutemkrat (Black Metal). Danmented plays on Imperious Malevolence (Death Metal) and Jailor (Thrash Metal). Baphometal is playing only in Axecuter right now.

C.B : Yes, you are right....it’s a mix between these two words. This name "Axecuter” is a pun, there’s no philosophical or intellectual meaning on it. We believe it’s a good name for a band like ours, cause we play raw and fast metal, straight to the point. When we were choosing a name for our band, we wanted something straight and objective, as our music is.  It sounds a bit cliché, no problem for us... we don’t want to reinvent the wheel.  

C.B : No, absolutely not. Here in Brazil, our style is very rare and unusual. Here you can find bands into death, thrash, black, gothic, melodic power metal, hardcore, nu, etc. Circa 90% of Brazilian bands are into these styles and our media (webzines, radios, magazines) are mostly into these styles as well. Bands such as Axecuter, Comando Nuclear and Denim And Leather are extremely obscure, destined only for a specific kind of people, the 80’s die hard fans. We don’t give a shit to what’s going on nowadays on the "metal” scene, we just try to keep honest to ourselves, to what we believe.

C.B : We got in touch with Fabien, owner of Infernö Records and he replied us in a cool way. He liked our songs, our attitude and offered a cassete single release. We accepted, and we’re very satisfied with his work for the band, our partnership is going really fine! This is the perfect label for a band like us, where "money” and "profits" are not the main words. Everything is done with passion, pure metallic devotion. The next step is to release our first full lenght album through Infernö Records in early 2012, that’s the goal. After that, nothing is planned yet. We’d like to work with Infernö for more than one album of course, but all future projects will depend on the CD’s feedback. 

C.B : At least in our case, it’s very easy to play as a trio, not hard. We are all long time mates, we grew up together and we all know how our songs should sound. Yes, this was intended since the beginning because me, Danmented and T. Basstard have the same mind, we’re an union, tag team. We’re not only band mates, we’re daily friends, real metal brothers. Axecuter’s songs are not too difficult to play, but you must have the right interpretation, the right feeling and the right technique. If not, you just can’t do it. That’s one of the reasons we don’t add more members in the band. It’s very hard to find people who understand our proposal and play the right way. Things always worked for as a trio, so there’s no reason to change it.   

C.B : No, there won’t be big differences between our tape and the full lenght album. All three songs from the tape will be there too, re-recorded with more punch and feeling, we think. About the other songs, you can expect a good mix between traditional metal and speedy styles. There will be fast songs, mid tempo songs and slower songs, all on that typical  80’s rifferama style. And there will be a nice surprise too, stay tuned!!!  

T. Basstard: I think these new tracks show more diversity without losing our identity. As Baphometal said before, our main objective is to use that old feeling with this music language to spread our visions. We’re all looking forward to it...

C.B : There are many "Brazils” within Brazil. Our Northern and Northeastern regions are poor, colonized by Spanish and Portuguese immigrants whose brought African slaves. On the other hand, there you can find the best beaches, beautiful natural places, perfect for tourists. Southern/Southeastern are rich, mostly colonized by German, Ukranian, Polish and Japanese, it looks like Europe. The difference of culture between the regions is quite large. Most people think about carnival, football, samba, bossa nova, beaches or Amazonian jungle when they hear the word "Brazil”. This is only a part of it, not the whole thing. Of course there is too much poverty here, impunity, corruption, all that typical "third world” reality. But it doesn’t influence our music at all. We don’t write about social conflicts, religion or politics. For us, the music is the most important factor, not the lyrics. 

T. Basstard: Our lyrics are about our personal concepts and points of view about Heavy Metal (past, present and future) and most of the lyrics are written by Baphometal and Danmented. I think this kind of lyrics fits perfectly with the band.

C.B : For us, nowadays "metal" scene is absolute crap, a disgusting reality which we keep ourselves away from. All that goth, nu, core, alternative, melodic stuff, etc. Nothing against these kind of music, but for us it’s not metal at all! The 70’s and 80’s were and always will be the best years for Heavy Rock and Heavy Metal, no doubts about it. The best albums and the best bands came from there. If you want to play real metal, you must go back in time and learn from the masters, no other way. Fortunately, there are younger bands arising on every corner of the globe, bringing real heavy metal back to life. Helvetet’s Port (Swe), Bullet (Swe), Steel Horse (Spain), Nightmare (Colombia), Razorwÿre (New Zealand) and others. It’s very important because in the future we won’t have the pioneers among us anymore. AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Accept, Saxon, Judas Priest, Motörhead, etc, will disappear and only their music and legacy will survive. The younger bands have a great responsibility in their hands, to keep it alive! 

C.B : We are just a metal band. Raw and powerful metal, straight to the point, that’s it! Sometimes fast, sometimes not so fast, but always metal. Some people call us Thrash Metal... To make it clear: We are not a thrash metal band! Yes, we all like Thrash, but we don’t play typical Thrash. For us, Thrash Metal is old Testament, Anthrax, Overkill, in the American way. Of course there are many ways to play Thrash, not only the American way, but we consider ourselves a bit far from this context. Most of our inspiration comes from the European side, bands like Motorhead, Venom, Mercyful Fate, Tank, Destruction, all the good metal you know. 

T. Basstard: I would say: "Axecuter plays Metal... LOUD!”

C.B : I work as a drum teacher on music schools, Danmented is teacher too, he has a degree as musician and T. Basstard works with design, and he is also a teacher. Our daily routine is very simple, I could define it in two words: Metal and Sex. Well, of course we spend our time with other serious things but metal and sex are what keep us alive! At the end of the day, all we want to do is to lie down on the bed and listen to a great metal record. I did it yesterday with Picture’s "Diamond Dreamer”, absolutely great!!!

T. Basstard: Well, every ordinary day is a busy day for me... I work with graphic and interaction design, but I also work with music recordings. I have produced some soundtracks and some metal albums. Our first full length is being recording on two studios: AvantGarde Studio with Maiko Thomé as a producer and Lutemkrat Studio with me... I really enjoy my activities, but sometimes, after 8 or 12 hours of work, all I want is to listen to Heavy Metal and to forget about everything. Music is what recharges my batteries... it is where I can find the real MEANING!

C.B : All right Adrian, thank you for this interview and also thanks for all the Romanian die hard metal fans for supporting real metal alive nowadays ! Stay tuned for Axecuter!

T. Basstard: Thanks a lot for you support! I also like to invite you all to listen to our songs on MySpace (www.myspace.com/axecutermetal), ReverbNation (www.reverbnation.com/axecuter) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/pages/Axecuter-Official/189367251077353)

Interviewed by Adrian

Answers by Chrys Baphometal and T. Basstard

October 2011