Interview with doom death metal band from Spain - BOCC.
Answered Emilio (guitars and vocals), thank you!
Recenze/review - BOCC - Demolarium (2026):
Ave BOCC! Greetings to the Catalan underground. I hope everything’s going well over there. It should be you’ve just released the fantastic second full-length album of your career this year. I have to admit, it literally pinned me to the wall. It’s dark, energetic, and cuts like a sharp knife. It’s very clear that you’ve done a great job and brought a lot of talent to the table. How do you view the new album in relation to your previous recordings? Where did you want to take things, and in what ways do you think the albums differ?
Emilio: Hi, Emilio here (guitars and vocals). First of all, thanks a lot for the interview. We really appreciate it.
I think this is our most serious record to date for a number of reasons. First of all, there has been a change in the line-up: now there are two singers in the band, Andreu and myself, and this adds a different approach to the vocals in the songs. On the other hand, I think the songwriting process for Demolarium was more conscious and focused, less punk and more thought-out. The album has an overall musical concept, but with the same idea as always: playing a kind of raw and direct death-doom with some sludge and crust punk influences.
“Demolarium” embodies all the attributes of good death-doom metal. For me personally, it’s an album I love coming back to. How did it come together? How does BOCC compose new material?
Emilio: Thanks a lot, man! The process is always the same. Andreu or I go to the rehearsal room with some ideas, riffs or whatever. Then we start playing with Sergio, our drummer, and try to arrange a song. We record the rehearsals on our phones and work on the ideas and arrangements at home. After a while, when the music is ready, we work on the lyrics and vocals.
I looked it up and saw that Gerard Porqueres handled the mastering and mixing. I have to say, the sound is absolutely killer. It keeps making me turn up the volume on my stereo. Gerard created a sound for you that’s brutal, raw, and at the same time dark and primal. What was it like working with him, and why did you choose him specifically? Which studio did you record in, and how did everything go?
Emilio: Gerard is an old friend of ours. He worked as a sound engineer for Cirque du Soleil before founding his own studio, Heartwork Recording, in El Prat de Llobregat, Barcelona. This is the third time we’ve worked with him and we’re absolutely happy with the results.
This time, we recorded together in the studio, playing live, and I think that gives the final mix this kind of raw and direct vibe. To do that, we used three different rooms in the studio: one for the drums, one for the guitar and one for the bass. After that, I recorded another rhythm guitar, the solos and melodies and, finally, the vocals.
Gerard believes that a producer should let the band play together in order to capture the spirit of the music, like producers such as Andy Wallace, Bob Rock or Steve Albini, and we love working this way. I think it’s perfect for BOCC. In the mix you can hear some mistakes or whatever, but you can also hear a real band playing.
The CD is an integral part of the release and a sort of bonus for fans today. You released it yourselves, and it features interesting artwork. Who designed it? How did you choose the motif, and how does it relate to the music on the new album?
The cover artwork was done by Narcís Boter (@demonomania666 on Instagram). Narcís is an old friend of ours and has illustrated almost all of BOCC’s releases. The design and layout were done by Pol Branca from Branca Studio. He’s also an old friend of ours and a renowned designer who has worked with Paradise Lost, Black Sabbath and Amenra, among others.
The motif comes from Dante’s Inferno in The Divine Comedy. The whole album deals with different kinds of torment that we have to endure in modern capitalist society prison, addiction, violence, suicide and the cover depicts a circle of Hell where the condemned are punished.
In your lyrics, you mainly deal with the history of Catalonia, wars, the darkness of human existence, and anti-fascism. Who is the author, and where did you draw your inspiration from? Was it old books? Movies?
On this record, I wrote five of the six lyrics, all except “Calvari dels condemnats” (“The Torment of the Condemned”), which was written by Andreu.
The inspiration comes from our society. Sometimes reality is more horrific than the horror you can find in books or anywhere else. But we also find inspiration in books. “L’Escorxador” (“The Slaughterhouse”) is inspired by a book by the Catalan writer Lluís Riera Porta, and “4227” comes from the book 4227 by the Catalan philosopher Laura Llevadot.
“4227” deals with suicide. You know, suicide is the leading cause of non-natural death in our country, and nobody seems to talk about it or care about it.
I’ve been wandering through the underworld for over thirty years now, and when it comes to music, I go to Spain because I know I can count on it. I think we have similar temperaments and tastes when it comes to metal. I really like your bands and follow your scene closely. Maybe I even envy you a little we only have a few death metal bands back home that are worth checking out. How do you explain the fact that death metal is doing so well in your country in particular? How do you perceive your scene, the fans, and the labels?
Well, I don’t know. I think we have a bunch of great bands here, but maybe we can’t really talk about a single scene. There are some areas in the Spanish state with a lot of bands, such as Barcelona, Galicia, the Basque Country or Madrid, but it’s hard to get the chance to play shows or go on tour here.
Over the last few years, it seems things have been changing a little, but we’ll have to see what happens.
You’re from Catalonia, a region I’ve visited several times. Beautiful nature, history, and very friendly people. How has the place where you come from influenced your music? Do you have any recommendations for a good club or a place I should visit next time?
Thanks! We think it’s a great country too! Well, the music scene in our city, Barcelona, has had a strong influence on BOCC. We had a strong crust punk scene in the early 2000s, and that has definitely been an influence on us. You should check out bands like Horror or Leadershit.
As for clubs, the saddest thing is that Barcelona has become a heavily gentrified city, and we’re losing a lot of venues, such as Rocksound, as well as squats. Right now, I think the best club to play in town is Upload. We’re also waiting for the reopening of what, for us, is the best club in town: Bóveda.
You play old-school-influenced death metal. These days, a band can’t really avoid comparisons, but I’d be interested to know how the idea to form BOCC actually came about, who your role models were and are, and where you want to take the band next. Are you tempted by big international festivals, for example? Would you be willing to go on tour with a more famous band?
Our first reference was Coffins’ Buried Death album. In fact, when we started the band, the idea was basically: “Can you write a kind of side C to the Buried Death album?” But it was just for fun, you know.
After that, we started developing our own approach to death metal, following the path of bands like Autopsy, Winter, Obituary and Morgoth, together with the sludge vibes of Grief, Warhorse and so on.
As for shows and tours, we all have regular jobs and family duties, but we always play whenever we get the chance. Last year we played in Spain, Poland and France, and this year we’re doing a twenty-date weekend tour around Spain and southern France with our mates Osserp.
Last year we almost played at Kill-Town in Copenhagen, but in the end it wasn’t possible. Let’s see what happens next year. Maybe you can help us come to your country and play some shows!
When I started my website ten years ago, my vision was to try to support bands that I felt weren’t getting enough attention. To let the world know about them. I think I’ve been pretty successful at it, at least judging by the feedback. How do you approach promotion? Do you leave it up to the label, or do you send out CDs yourselves for reviews? For example, I buy albums that I really enjoy. How about you? Are you also fans who like to support your peers often? Do you go to concerts? Do you party?
Yeah! For sure, we go to shows and party with friends and other bands too. This weekend we’re playing at Castelhell with Dead Congregation and Galvanizer, and we hope to have a great time there.
Regarding promotion, sometimes we send out CDs ourselves. This time we had some help from Matt at Night Terrors Records and from Anubis Press too.
On the one hand, every band today has plenty of ways to get their name out there, but on the other hand, there are so many bands that fans get lost in the crowd. A lot of people just download MP3s from the internet and, instead of going to a concert, prefer to spew venom on Facebook. How does modern technology affect you as BOCC? What do you think about downloading music, Google Metalists, streaming music, and so on?
Personally, I don’t like streaming platforms, especially Spotify. I think they take music and art away from the creators. Personally, I prefer to use Bandcamp or Qobuz.
On the other hand, everybody uses these platforms, and they help underground music reach a wider audience, which is a good thing. Personally, when I really love a band and their music, I try to buy their records and merch and support them in some way.
I like to ask musicians what death-doom metal means to them. How would they define it? Is it more of a philosophy and lifestyle for them, or “just” a way to relax? What does it mean to you? How do you perceive and experience it?
For me, it’s the best subgenre of death metal because it’s slow, heavy and you can really feel the structures and the riffs. I love it.
I like all kinds of death metal, but death-doom is definitely my favourite. Back in the early days, when I was fifteen, I always preferred Celtic Frost, Obituary or Paradise Lost to the faster bands. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like Deicide, Carcass or Cannibal Corpse, obviously!
To wrap up, a classic but important question. What does BOCC have planned for the coming months? Where can we see you in concert? If you have a message for fans, labels, or promoters, this is the place…
We want to present Demolarium around Spain and southern France and maybe, if we get the chance, in other parts of Europe too and, importantly, try not to die in the process!
We have a seventeen-date tour running through the last few months of 2026 and until April 2027, which isn’t bad at all!
Thank you so much for the interview. I wish your new album every success, and I hope your fan base grows as much as possible. I look forward to seeing you live somewhere, and I wish you all the best both musically and personally. I’m going to blast “Demolarium” again!
Thanks a lot to you for such an in-depth interview!
Recenze/review - BOCC - Demolarium (2026):
BOCC
Night Terrors Records
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