Interview with death metal band from Netherlands - ANTROPOMORPHIA.
Recenze/review - ANTROPOMORPHIA - Devoid Of Light (2025):
Ave ANTROPOMORPHIA! Greetings to the catacombs of Tilburg, Holland! When I was preparing for this interview, I found all the albums I got from you guys over the weekend. I found out (and a friend confirmed it) that the first demo that came to us was the 1992 recording "Bowel Mutilation". You know what's interesting? I haven't found a single weak record in your entire discography. How is that possible? Do you have a recipe for that? You've kept the bar of quality so high for so many years.
Thank you for the compliment, the recipe is that there is no recipe.
We always set the bar pretty high for ourselves, are not easily pleased, follow the path of progression, we’ve become better musicians, also I think I’ve grown as a composer through out the years and we never bother with what other think of us. Maybe that’s it?
We've waited six long years for this year's full-length album "Devoid Of Light". You released it on Testimony Records and I have to admit I was very impatient. Even though I'm still listening to your previous album "Merciless Savagery". Why did it take you so long? Where did you want to go and what is the basic idea of the new album?
Merciless Savagery’ was having momentum, then life came into play and fucked things up majorly, with the pandemic being the first thing to ruin the timeline.
During that whole period I tried to find some creativity but I felt no connection it all felt lethargic. As I was still in a state that connected me to ‘Merciless Savagery’.
After the pandemic became background noise, we were able to do some shows, at that point in time creativity presented itself to me.
Having found this connection I started working more intensively on these new musical incantations.
Then another time consuming factor presented itself.
Due to personal tribulations, I wont go into the specifics because its quit personal, I wasn’t able to write or record anything new for almost a full year.
I guess somewhere early 2023 we continued on this journey which ended in July of 2024, that’s when we finished all the recordings.
The album was done for quite awhile but with the whole finding a new label and the time it takes for a label to plan a release adds another 10 months to the process.
I never no where we go, it’s not something you predetermine. The writing process of an album is an artistic journey, where the music presents itself to you. It tells you where to go what is necessary and when to stop adding to it.
Anyway, the album "Devoid Of Light" is out and immediately became one of my most played albums. Listening to it, you get the feeling of being back on a timeline to the 90's, yet the new stuff is fresh and interesting. It is excellent! How was it made? And how does ANTROPOMORPHIA actually create new material?
Like I said, the inspirations/music presents itself. I never sit down and think let’s write a song that sounds like this and has this type of vibe. It’s something you stumble upon or find their way to the surface and bring with them a certain spine chilling energy. That’s when you know you’re on the right track so to speak. I some cases it takes months to conclude these riffs into songs and sometimes it takes an evening or two, which in our case is very rare.
I've always liked the sound of your albums a lot. "Devoid Of Light" is no exception. Where did you record the album, was it with Marco Stubbe again? How did you achieve such a cold, dark and dense sound? It seems to me as if it was still recorded in analogue or am I wrong? Or is it Dan Swano's mastering? Interestingly, I find the sound of the recording to be very similar to the previous record "Merciless Savagery". Do you have a lot of say in how the record should sound or do you leave it up to the sound masters?
We always record at our drummers, Marco Stubbe’s studio, we record digital. My involvement stops with the guitar sound(s) that I present and want for the album. We leave everything up to Marco, we’ve founded this band and he knows how exactly this band should sound, he knows what he’s doing and there has never ever been an argument on that. For this album one thing changed, we recorded the vocals in another studio, one closer to my home but all other steps are the same; Marco produced and mixed the album, he’s the mastermind behind our sound. Swanö mastered it.
.
I'm an old school fan and I'm very big on record covers. "Devoid Of Light" is signed by the always excellent painter Richard Schouten. The motif is so great for me that I put it on my desktop on my computer. Can you tell us how the motif relates to the music on the album? How did you get together and how did the cover for the album come about?
Richard created the image from things we presented to him regarding the lyrics and my take on certain things. He came up with a sketch and I immediately saw things that weren’t deliberate or even there but clicked with my lyrics. How it connects is different for each person, within the band we had different views on it’s connection and that is all fine because there is not just one.
The last original members of the band are drummer Marc Stubbe and singer and guitarist Ferry Damen. Is it hard to find musicians in Holland who want to play death metal? You also play quite "complicated", which puts high demands on the individual members. Does that mean that the two original members have the final say in everything? How are the other members involved in the running of the band? Do they also compose new material? Have you ever had submarine sickness? Has your opinion of how your music should sound never changed? You know, some people like blondes, some people like brunettes. Then all it takes is a few more pointed words. Someone once wrote that a band is like a family. How is ANTROPOMORPHIA?
I wouldn’t know, we never had to seek for members in such a way that we had to canvas the whole country. Jos we’ve known for ages, since the Acrostichon days. Jeroen was already a friend of ours before he joined the band. Each member has their respectable roles within the band.
No my views on how this band should sound never changed.
Friendship, or I would rather call it a brotherhood is what makes this band, I could never be in a band with hired help or someone I have no personal connection with.
What's good about today is that we have the internet. I mean, as in what, but at least I can remotely watch your concerts. It's not the same, the sound on youtube is always so weird, but according to all available information - you mainly perform only at big festivals? I'll be honest, I'd really like to see you live, but there's no place. You're not going on tour? I would imagine you, ASPHYX, SINISTER, THANATOS and maybe you can take AUTOPSY. It would be a dream come true. No, seriously - what about ANTROPOMORPHIA and concerts? What would you say about a trip around Europe with a stop in the Czech Republic?
We do not only play big festivals, we also do club shows and we do tours. We are selective but plans are in the works and at this point there isn’t more I can say about it.
Just yesterday I was talking to a friend in a pub about how crazy everything has changed in the last few years. Everyone has the internet in their pocket, young people are more influenced by pictures and videos than music and lyrics. Nobody reads much, we agreed that a lot of things are more superficial. Maybe it's different in Holland, but here in the Czech Republic I see it every day. It's no different in music. How do you perceive the changes in society as a musician? We have a lot of new technology, recording studios are better equipped, ideas can be sent over the internet.
There are positive things about these technological advances and we use them, because it makes things easier…mainly in the beginning of an album process. As far as society goes, I don’t pay much attention to what other people do I mostly avoid them, so I don’t really care.
It's a different world, also in terms of labels, publishing houses. ANTROPOMORPHIA are a band that for me is synonymous with underground death metal. We have bandcamp, youtube, labels can spread your music faster and get it to more people. But you know, vinyl is vinyl, cassette and CD has its charm too. Have you had to change your approach to releasing your music in any way? Or are you still going old school and the new stuff leaves you cold?
From the bands perspective I think the biggest adaptation we had to make is to be more involved on social media, I am not a fan but unfortunately it is part of it.
I personally only collect vinyl and some tapes, CD’s I don’t care for and streaming platforms am also not a fan of, it can be convenient when traveling but I prefer to have what I want to listen to in good quality uploaded to my phone if I listen to something digital.
Holland is a country with a very old culture, with traditions. But what about death metal? Are concerts also underground events for a few visitors like in the Czech Republic? What about your fans, when you compare them with the ones you've met at concerts around the world? Do they support you?
I don’t goi that often to a Death Metal show, I’m one of those guys that gravitates towards the bands from 80’s early 90’s when it comes to DM . So I can’t really speak on this.
The Dutch fans are more restraint towards their native acts. Where as we’ve played shows in Germany we’re the audience was one big frenzy, let’s just say throughout the EU we get a more enthusiastic response.
You founded the band in 1990. You were all at the beginning of something new. I love the old school of death. I like that it's so dirty, raw. What was the '90s and your beginnings like? Please reminisce for us. What bands did you like to go to, for example? Who were your role models? Feel free to add a funny story, I'm sure you have plenty of them.
We formed the band in 1989 as a three piece by the way.
We found out about new bands through tape trading and it seemed like there was a show like every other week, I saw so many DM bands on their first time visit to the Netherlands. Autopsy, Morbid Angel, Dismember, Bolt Thrower, Carcass…I mean to many to name. But one of the greatest shows I ever saw was in my hometown Kaatsheuvel, I use to work at a local club called L’ecole and we hosted the: Death-Leprosy tour in ’89. Death’s ‘Scream Bloody Gore’ was the thing that sucked me into the genre so to have them in our own club but to say any of them were my role models..no.
Later on my friends and I started our own metal night, live music was one of the things we organized. I was the booker for most of the shows, we had bands such as, Asphyx & Gorefest back in 1990, Sinister & Acrostichon..but also Grave on their ‘You’ll never See’ cycle.
I ask this question to every band and I'm really interested in your opinion. What does death metal mean to you? How would you define it? On ANTROPOMORPHIA records you can hear a lot that you put everything into your music, that it is played with heart. As a fan I feel that way. So death metal means to you...?
Death Metal as a genre nowadays doesn’t mean that much to me, I mean I think Teitanblood and a band like Grave Miasma are great because they have a unique way to approach the genre but for the most part, like I said earlier I always gravitate towards the same bands as back in the day.
Regarding AntropomorphiA, what we do comes from a genuine honest place, it demands that you put everything into it…. but that has little to nothing to do what a certain type of musical genre means to us, we listen to a broad audial spectrum and DM happens to be one of them but so is rock, heavy metal, black metal and wave etc etc. I see AntropomorphiA as a boundless extreme entity that conveys a palpable sense of oppressive darkness. We never write with an intention to sound like a genre and I certainly don’t care if it will fit a genre labelled box.
Finally, a classic but important question. What is ANTROPOMORPHIA going to do in the near future? Possibly, and I firmly believe in this, will we finally see you somewhere on a club tour in Europe? If you want to say something to fans, labels, promoters, here is the space…
Thinks are I the work, that’s all I can tell about it at this point
Thank you very much for the interview. I really appreciate it. I'm an old ANTROPOMORPHIA fan and you actually made one of my dreams come true. I wish you a lot of sold out shows, let your fans rip your hands off with merchandise and I will look forward to more of your music. I hope to see you live as well. May your personal lives prosper as well. ANTHROPOMORPHIA RULES!
about ANTROPOMORPHIA on DEADLY STORM ZINE:
Recenze/review - ANTROPOMORPHIA - Devoid Of Light (2025):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sledujte nás na sociálních sítích - follow us on the social media:
instagram:
facebook:
