Interview - BANISHER - We are mixing the album to the point, where absolutely no one has anything to change or improve. ~ DEADLY STORM zine

Interview with technical death metal band from Poland - BANISHER.

Answered Hubert Więcek, thank you!

Translated Martkéta, thank you!

Questions prepared Jakub Asphyx.

Recenze/review - BANISHER - Degrees Of Isolation (2020):

https://deadly-storm.blogspot.com/2020/03/recenzereview-banisher-degrees-of.html

Ave BANISHER! I have not found the interview with your band in Czech anywhere. Could you please introduce BANISHER to Czech metal fans? Who are todays BANISHER?

Hello there! So Banisher was found by me and my mate from high school in 2005. Since then we’ve recorded few demos & EP’s, four full-length albums, played sereval tours and multiple festivals and singular gigs which would make over 100 shows in 20 different countries around the world. Interesting thing, our first show abroad was in Prague in Czech Republic in 2006. Throughout all those years many things have changed, we’ve developed as a band significantly, as well as a musicians. Since 2017 Banisher has a permanent line up, including current, live and ex members of Decapitated, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Belphegor, Acid Drinkers, Vital Remains, Hate, Redemptor and Shodan. That would be myself, Eugene Ryabchenko, Szczepan Inglot and Piotr Kołakowski.

I have received your newish record „Degrees of Isolation“ for review from the label SELFMADEGOD RECORDS and I am really delighted! I was waiting for good gravedigger handwriting, however, I did not expect that it cut me into pieces so much. How was the album created? How exactly BANISHER writes the music?

All music in Banisher was always written by me. The new album was no exception. The process itself looks pretty much like this – i gather riffs and ideas, then i write songs from those ideas and record demos of the songs. Then I send the demos to the rest of the band and we work on them to get the final versions of the songs. After that we enter the studio to record all the instruments. Then we are working on the vocal parts. We are writing rhythmic lines and then write lyrics, suitable to the designated vocal lines. When everything is done, we record the vocals and additional guitar parts, solos or whatever we come up with. Secret revealed.

The sound of the record is also really great. It is dark, cold and harsh at the same time. In which studio did you record the new album? Did you have a chance to say/argue something to your producer regarding the resulting sound?

The album was recorded at Invent-Sound Studio in Bydgoszcz with Szymon Grodzki. This was our third time there, before we have recorded „Oniric Delusions“ and „Scarcity“ there as well. Szymon knows the band for 10 years, we have a good connection, he knows what we want and he knows how to work with us. He often has very good ideas and I am always opened for advices and alternative ideas. Considering the final mixes, this was always a huge warfield. We are mixing the album to the point, where absolutely no one has anything to change or improve. This time it ended after 18 versions of mix and 3 versions of mastering. Yup, needs to be perfect, no excuses.

Could you reveal us who is the author of lyrics and what is their background? Where do you take your inspiration for topics in the lyrics?

The lyrics were written by me and Szczepan and are based on true events, that happened to me in 2017. Every song talks about the feelings and emotions experienced throughout the incarceration, custody, and after being acquitted. This album is very personal and emotional for me. You won’t find some bullshit stories here, this all has happened and was real. You have a real thing going on in here, and it’s precisely connected with the music, which was also written during that period and directly after I’ve returned to Poland.

You have always had the amazing cover arts. Is it very important for you, how the whole album, booklet, cover looks like? Who is the author of the cover of new album „Degrees of Isolation“? I really like his work. How was this cooperation formed?

The music, lyrics and the cover art with booklet on „Degrees of Isolation“ are like Holy Trinity. Everything is precisely connected here. The author of the cover and booklet, Łukasz Jaszak did phenomenal work here. He has been introduced to the whole album concept, has been given guidelines, lyrics, music and our initial vision of the cover art and created it all as he visualized it. We are insanely happy with his work, this is a masterpiece and everyone, who will see the booklet and all the things included there will know what I am talking about. Łukasz also did two videoclips for us and the photo session of the band. He is a really talented guy.

When I revealed to my friends that I am going to make an interview with you, everybody recommend me to ask, how the underground in your country works? Czech Republic is a small country; we have only a few death metal bands, which are really great. How do you perceive your scene? Do the fans go on concerts, to buy merchandise? Do the bands support each other?

Well, polish metal scene (cause it’s hard to name it underground nowdays) is very specific. We have plenty of great bands that are becoming known worldwide and are highly acclaimed, but not necessarily in Poland. We have great death metal scene, we have outstanding and very fast developing black metal scene. There are groups of bands that support each other, help out with the shows/tours, kinda hermetic circle tho. Polish metal fans are huge maniacs and are very clever and conscious of what they are listening to, although they are really hard to be pleased nowdays, also they like all the sensations and just love to trigger shitstorms in social media.

I am old metal dog, who listen to metal music more than 30 years. The time has so changed during these years. We have an internet, young fans only download mp3 and sometimes I really miss „the old good times“. How do you perceive the changes in music, at concerts etc.? Did you have to change an approach as a band?

All of this things are changing really fast. Remember myspace? Yup, probably no one does now. From like 2006 untill like 2012 it was a must have for all bands. Then Facebook, Bandcamp. Now Instagram. You’re not on Spotify? Oh, let me know when you guys are there so I can listen to your new album. Any special limited boxes or vinyl edition? Only CD’s? Meeeh. Got some cool merch? Only black T-Shirts? Eh, that’s a pitty. People are super picky those days, because everything is so easily accesible now, you don’t have to put any effort to get almost everything. That’s why bands need to be up to date and be familiar with all the new things going on in the industry or they will just start to dissapear.

Do you remember who created the BANISHER logo? Recently we talked about the best death metal logos with my friends in the pub. Besides of we were drunk, the result of this discussion was that we could not decide which logos are the best.

Our first logo was created by our former guitarist Michał Wyrwa. We were using it till 2013, when we’ve changed the logo to the current one, which was created by Michał „Xaay“ Loranc. Best metal logo? Probably Slayer. Easy to cut on your forearms.

And what about the BANISHER and concerts? How difficult is for you to organize the tour? Do you prefer to play in Poland or do you want to go also abroad? I know, everything is about the money, but I still think, the live shows are bringing to the bands more and more fans.

Speaking of now, the current situation is critical. No one knows, when it will end. But we are working on alternative options. Already we’ve had a proposal to play live stream shows, which are the only possible solutions for now. Hope that this is not going to last long. And before that – well, we are pretty busy musicians, I play lots of shows with Decapitated, recently I am helping out Acid Drinkers, Eugene joined Fleshgod Apocalypse, Piotr is getting really busy as stage/production manager (recently did Sabaton tour), so it’s not that easy to gather us and schedule dates for tour or even few shows. But we are working on it and want to get the best out of this band after releasing „Degrees of Isolation“. Fingers crossed.