Please tell us a few words about the new release, about the music on it as a whole or a few words on each track in part. How are you happy with the final release?
The criticism and comments on our first full-length album, “Necrokindergarden,” helped us to identify our strengths as well as the things that could be improved in our music. With “Acrotomophile Mutilator” we wanted to make a statement, demonstrate that we could do it better the second time. In that regard, we spent a great amount of time composing and arranging the songs. Because of that this album might appear more technical and less soulful to some people. But this is something that occurred naturally as the songs were created… the intricate passages, tempo changes, and odd meters were there because the songs demanded those changes. As a side note, all the tracks can be seen as a whole because they were composed using a systematic method in a six-month time span, something that lead to a cohesive musical statement.
How would you describe/label the music on it? Does it sounds like anything we might have heard before?
While some bands are dying to label their music as forward-thinking, avant-garde, and strive to sound like nobody else in the world, we are happy saying that we play straightforward death metal. We love to listen to it, and we love to play it. Of course, we have influences from different groups and styles, but in the end what we deliver is the good old stuff. We are not reinventing the wheel; we’re doing what we’re good at.
Where was it recorded and how much time did it take you to record it? Any interesting stories from the recording/producing the material?
It took us ages to release this production. Money is everything! Since we were short of cash we had to divide the work in stages. First of all, we recorded the guitar tracks at my house using a tube amplifier and a direct box (these tracks were re-amped afterwards using hi-end amplifiers in a proper studio.) Bass went directly into the recording software using a valve preamp. Drums were programmed using MIDI and BFD2 for the sound simulation. It was a painstaking process because we wanted the sound to be the more realistic possible, so we had to introduce nuances and even small mistakes here and there to infuse realism to the performance. Vocal tracks were also recorded in my small home studio. The mixing process was long and tedious; I wanted a natural and balanced result... you know, something that I hate in records nowadays is that the bass is buried and it’s almost inaudible while the snare is hyper loud and almost overshadows the vocals. So the idea was that every instrument could be easily distinguished, and that was a hard thing to achieve. Once the mixes were ready, the bounced files were sent to John Script, chief engineer at Massive Mastering for mastering. We knew him for his work in Suffocation’s “Blood Oath” album. He did a tremendous job with “Acrotomophile Mutilator,” we’re more than pleased with the organic yet powerful sound achieved. He acknowledges that louder isn’t necessary better, which is the problem we hear these days in most metal releases (sound waves squashed to death to appear louder than they are, oftentimes destroying the dynamics and causing ear fatigue in the listener.)
What can you tell us about the cover artwork? Is there a link between the artwork and the lyrics? What are the topics of your lyrics?
The artwork was inspired by one of the songs included in the disc, which is about a guy with a deviant paraphilia: he loves to have sex with amputees. For obvious reasons, he’s not able find many women that fit that profile, so he decides to kidnap girls, keep them on his basement, and mutilate them in order to satisfy his needs. Óscar Huayamares, the artist responsible for the drawing, found the lyrics of "Acrotomophile Mutilator" both intriguing and interesting. I wasn't impressed with the first mock-up, but the final illustration was insane, just what we wanted. By the way, the finished illustration didn't fit the guidelines of many digital stores (it was labelled as pornographic and indecent, what a compliment for us!) so we had to crop the illustration before releasing it to the general public. Fortunately enough, the original cover can be seen here in Pest Webzine.
Concerning the lyrics in this album, the original idea was to embrace the topic of children that commit murder. This biased belief that kids are innocent beings and that they're incapable of harming other persons has no foundations. After doing some research, several stories about young killers and the inborn evilness present in humans were found. "When Children Murder," "Kidnapped and Kill," and "Psychopath" speak of that. Nevertheless, as time passed by, the original concept started to branch out ("Rape... Kill... Rape" and "Beheaded Children Contest," which weren't included on this release, spoke about child predators.) The rest of the tracks are a collection of gruesome and controversial subjects such as coprophilia ("Feasting with Feces"), zombies ("Tetrodotoxin" and "Wish You Were Dead (Again)"), cannibalism ("Regurgitating Human Parts"), serial killers ("First-degree Murder," and "Acrotomophile Mutilator"), and euthanasia ("Worse Than Being Dead").
What do you expect to gain through this release? What are the band's aims at the moment?
Recording music has a purpose: leave a legacy, something that endures the passage of time. We want people to hear us, to know that a Peruvian metal band named Infection exists. By releasing this album we confirm that we’re still making music… that we still have something to say. Back in 2009 we didn’t do much to promote our first album, which was a bad call because it certainly could’ve helped us nowadays to have a stronger fan base. This is something that we’re willing to change. So in this moment we’re spreading our music in order to recruit followers.
Is there a special format the material is released in? Or is it released in multiple formats? How many copies were pressed?
Due to the fact that manufacturing physical discs was rather expensive, we decided to release “Acrotomophile Mutilator” in digital format. With the streaming and purchase of the album, we are expecting to save some money to produce glass-mastered CDs. If things go well, we would like to press a limited edition on 12” vinyl… that would be sweet! So, this is a message for all those who find our music interesting: please support us by purchasing or streaming our music.
Where and how will you promote this new release?
We started promoting our album in our website and the commonly used social platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. The album has also been sent to websites specialised in metal music where we have received positive reviews. Since we’re an unsigned band, these appearances in metal sites and zines mean a lot for us, because many headbangers rely in those sources to discover new groups.
Where can we order it?
Here are the main distributors of our album:
iTunes
Purchase hi-quality audio files via this well-known store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/acrotomophile-mutilator/id886336169
Spotify
Each song that you stream generates revenues to the band: http://open.spotify.com/album/6KdNXLcSNX3choKim5KFHk
Bandcamp
A good place to buy our new production: https://infectionmetal.bandcamp.com/album/acrotomophile-mutilator
GooglePlay
It’s Google so you must now this store: http://tinyurl.com/m89nz9h
October 2014