Interview with black thrash death metal band from Spain - FUNEBRE DEVASTATION.
Answered Erun-Dagoth (vocals, guitars), thank you!
Recenze/review - FUNEBRE DEVASTATION - The Verminous Spawn (2026):
Ave FUNEBRE DEVASTATION! I’m currently listening to your new album, “The Verminous Spawn,” and I can’t shake the feeling that I’m at an evil black mass. You play black thrash death metal, and this is your third full-length album. Can you tell us how the new record came together and in what direction you wanted to move from your excellent previous releases? Did you want to be even faster, darker, more devilish?
Hails, Jakub Asphyx!! First of all, thanks a lot for taking the time to interview us and for sending such interesting questions. Let's get into it!
Believe it or not, our first idea when we started writing this album was actually to make something more old-school. We wanted to lean more towards the early days of Venom, Celtic Frost, and the first Sodom records. We even talked about throwing in a few more Speed/Thrash Metal sections. As you can hear, those influences are definitely there in some of the songs, but others dive headfirst into filthy, deranged Black/Death Metal.
In the end, I guess we naturally drift somewhere within that extreme swamp. We just can't help letting influences from here and there creep into the music. We don't really force anything—we just let the songs take us wherever they want to go.
You know what literally hit me right in the face? The sound on the new record. It’s organic, gritty the album has a dark spark to it. In this day and age of over-amplified and compressed formats, it’s a breath of fresh air. To me, this is what true hell sounds like! Please tell me where and how you recorded? How did you achieve this sound?
Thanks a lot, I really appreciate that! I recorded the album myself using my own gear. I've been recording my own demos and a few other bands since 1997, when I started out with an old PC and a cassette deck. Over the years I kept adding more equipment, and eventually I settled on my Yamaha AW4416, which I've been using since 2004. I still use it to record the drums and some of the guitars.
It's one of the first digital workstations ever made, but it has a very old-school way of processing audio and a much more analog-like character than most modern digital gear. Everything else was done on the PC using different DAWs and preamps. The whole idea was to capture a more organic sound, something closer to those early '90s records—that was the goal from the very beginning.
The entire album was produced by me in my humble, filthy little Khazad-Dûm Studios.
I’m exactly the kind of old-school fan who approaches music in such a way that if I like an album, I buy the CD, the vinyl, and the T-shirt. I have to say, the cover art for this year’s album is really well done. This is pretty much how I imagine medieval hell. Can you tell us how you chose the artwork, who created it, and how it relates to the music?
Absolutely! The cover artwork was created by Vhan Art, an artist I've been working with for quite a few years now. Not only with Funebre Devastation, but also with other bands and projects I'm involved in, like Hrizg, Deprive, and several others.
He's an incredibly talented artist who regularly creates pre-made artworks and puts them up for sale. I always take the time to check out every single piece he releases. Whenever I come across one that perfectly matches the atmosphere I want to capture with a particular album, I simply buy it. That's really all there is to it. It's a straightforward way of working, and it lets us get straight to the point without overcomplicating things.
Looking at your lineup, you’re a band made up entirely of experienced musicians. How do you actually create new music? What does the process of writing new material look like? Do you have trouble agreeing on things? After all, experience can sometimes be a hindrance. You know how it is egos and all that.
That's an interesting question. The funny thing is, there really aren't any egos in this band. We don't argue about the music. We all know the kind of metal we want to play, and we simply make it happen.
Everyone throws ideas on the table suggestions, comments, different approaches—and then I write the riffs that best fit each moment. Sometimes I come to rehearsal with a complete song already written, while other times I just bring a rough idea. There are also times when Argus suggests the kind of song he'd like us to work on. And every now and then I bring in material that's a bit outside the band's usual territory, so Ha-Shatan steps in as a sort of artistic director, helping decide which riffs really fit the spirit of Funebre Devastation.
Even though I'm the one who writes all the music, the contributions from the other guys are incredibly important. Their input shapes the final result and gives the band its own identity.
In the past we've worked with a few lead guitarists, but none of them really fit our way of working, our music, or our philosophy. So we've decided to keep Funebre Devastation as a three-piece for the foreseeable future.
For me, old-school metal has always been associated with a certain darkness. Even as a young guy, I was fascinated by the references to Satanism that grime and decay that you could sense in your bands’ music. How did you end up gravitating toward this particular style?
Well, in my case it all started with bands like Manowar. Without a doubt, they're the band that dragged me into this whole mess. There were other bands before them, of course, but Manowar were the ones who really opened the gates to Metal for me.
As for the Satanic side of things, I'd say Venom first, and later Morbid Angel, completely blew my mind as a teenager. I'd listen to their albums and read the lyrics with this strange mix of fascination and fear. In the end, though, fascination won.
By 1993 I was already deeply into Death Metal, and I always found myself drawn to the bands that had a Satanic or occult atmosphere. It was only a matter of time before Black Metal entered my life as well.
I guess it's the same story for a lot of people from our generation, isn't it?
I’d be curious to know what the music scene is like in Spain, especially in your area (Santander, Cantabria). How did you get into music, and who was your role model? What about your scene, clubs, and fans?
Well, I wouldn't really say there's an actual scene where we live. We're from Santander, but in reality each of us lives in a different town, quite far apart. That's pretty common around here—young people get together because they're into the same music, but they rarely live anywhere near each other. Metal is pretty scarce here these days, although there is some new blood slowly picking up the torch.
There are still bands around, most of them made up of old bastards like us, and we're all friends and support each other. But calling it a real scene... I don't know, I think that might be giving it too much credit.
Spain has some absolutely killer bands and amazing musicians who know exactly how to do their thing. But Cantabria, the region where we live, is a different story. It's a small region where the extreme metal culture has been fading away for years, leaving only a handful of younger maniacs who, hopefully, will bring the underground back to life little by little.
There aren't many bars or clubs where you can hang out, have a few beers, and listen to bands like Slayer. And if we're talking about true underground metal, there are even fewer. If there aren't enough fans to keep a scene alive, there certainly won't be many venues for them either.
That said, we're used to it, and honestly, we don't really care. We do our own thing, and there's always a bunch of friends who show up at our gigs ready to go completely insane—to mosh, raise hell, and unleash some proper violence and chaos, just the way it should be.
We got into the scene back in the late '80s and early '90s, when things were completely different. There were loads of bands, loads of gigs, loads of ideas. It felt like a real scene—clubs, maniacs, and underground metal everywhere you looked. But all of that eventually faded away, and nowadays... well, it's become something much smaller and far more exclusive.
Your lyrics are also very dark. That’s obviously part of death black thrash metal, and I like it, but I’d be interested in the origin and creation of the lyrics. How did the lyrics for the new album come about? What are they about?
The lyrics are basically a mix of ideas, phrases, and concepts that all revolve around a few core themes: violence, darkness, and extremity. From there, each song leans a bit more in one direction or another. Some are about taking revenge on people who cross you. Others deal with serial killers, occult rituals, or pure destruction. Darkness always has to be the dominant element. They're very direct lyrics, written to emphasize the darkest and most extreme side of human nature. I couldn't really tell you that one song is about this specific subject and another about something else, because together they all form a single conceptual world, even if each one explores it from a different angle.
Funebre Devastation embraces feelings like hatred, revenge, and defiance because they're part of human nature. We don't believe in preaching or moralizing through our lyrics. Instead, we write from the perspective of the darkest instincts, standing our ground against a world that's often cruel and full of hypocrites mother fuckers. The message isn't about surrendering it's about pride, resilience, and refusing to let life or anyone else break your spirit. No matter how many times you get knocked down, you stand back up with your head held high.
Throughout the history of metal, there have been many instances where certain bands were banned because they were shocking or held views that differed from mainstream society. Have you ever had any problems? In today’s internet age, it’s incredibly easy to immediately condemn someone, spread a rumor, and destroy them. How does mainstream society in Spain view black death thrash metal bands? You’re a strongly Catholic country…
Well, I wouldn't say Spain is a deeply Catholic country. It's a country that tries to be secular without really being secular. There are still plenty of people who believe in this false god, of course, but it's nothing like countries such as Poland, or others that seem to be much more religious.
We've never had any problems because of the themes we write about. Not with Funebre Devastation, nor with any of the other bands we've played in over the years. That simply doesn't happen here. What can happen is that bands openly associated with the far right may end up being boycotted. Bands that openly promote those kinds of political views can run into serious trouble with the more radical left. But we're an apolitical band. In fact, we don't give a fuck about politics, whether it's left or right. As far as I'm concerned, they can all go fuck themselves!
Personally, I think today's society has become domesticated. People get offended by every little piece of bullshit someone writes on the internet. But then again, that's actually good for us. We like offending people... so everything's working out just fine! Hahaha.
Have you had to change your approach to music in any way due to new technologies? Thanks to the internet, the world is completely different; bands have to approach everything in a totally different way. How do you perceive these changes?
I like this question. The internet has democratized stupidity, and even though we're assholes too, we're not going down that road. We make the music that matters to us. We're an old-school band because we're old, and we grew up with that mindset. We're never going to change that. If we did, Funebre Devastation simply wouldn't make any sense anymore.
We're not going to change anything just to please a herd mentality that buys their outfits from EMP and only listens to whatever Nuclear Blast, Napalm Records, or some other shitty labels happen to release.
We don't work according to the algorithm. Sure, we have social media, because otherwise nobody would even know we exist nowadays. But that's as far as it goes. We're not crossing the line or betraying our convictions just to sell ten more records. We don't have that obsession with making it big. We're not a professional band, and everything we do comes straight from the heart.
That's the fundamental difference between Funebre Devastation and most other bands. We have principles, and those principles are non-negotiable.
How are things going for FUNEBRE DEVASTATION in terms of concerts? I noticed you don’t perform very often. Wouldn’t a European tour appeal to you? I could imagine you sharing the stage with bands like POSSESSED or DEICIDE they come here pretty often.
I can tell you one thing: the day we go on tour with bands like the ones you mentioned, we'll probably shit ourselves with excitement at every single show! Hahaha...
We play as much as we can. We've all got jobs, some of us have families... so we simply can't play as often as we'd like. That said, this year we're not only playing in Spain, but also in Portugal and France, which isn't bad at all. We're also playing the incredible Drums of War Festival alongside bands we grew up listening to.
As for next year, the plan is to do a European tour. We want to take our shit abroad and export our noise. We'd love to play more festivals, but this is a DIY commune, so we can only go as far as our own resources allow.
What do death metal, black metal, and thrash metal mean to you? How would you define them, and how do you perceive these styles as an experienced musician? I don’t want you to describe your playing technique; I’d be more interested in your perspective, your feelings, the energy you convey, and so on. Try being a philosopher for a moment.
Whew... alright, let's see.
To me, Death Metal is about savagery and sheer impact. Darkness and aggression. Violence and extremity. Of course, it depends on what kind of Death Metal we're talking about, but that's always been my general perception of the genre. Putting on your headphones, cranking the volume up, and being physically unable to stop banging your head. Your face twists into a grim expression while you stare into the void. That's real Death Metal. That's how I always experienced it. A swamp of horror that keeps growing inside your mind until it takes over like a terminal disease.
Black Metal gives you different feelings. More romantic ones, in a way. Colder, older. It brings out the philosophical side of life and death. The epic feeling of immemorial times. Almost divine forces watching over everything. It's the kind of music that makes you dream about ages you never lived through and ideas that would never have crossed your mind otherwise. That's what Black Metal was to me. Nowadays, it's mostly just a bunch of hooded idiots who only care about sounding perfect, playing perfectly, and making money. That feeling died many years ago.
Thrash Metal, in my opinion, made perfect sense in the '80s. It was humble, streetwise kids from rough backgrounds trying to crawl out of their shitty lives, expressing everything they lived through with razor-sharp riffs, fast drums, and an untamed attitude. Nowadays, Thrash Metal is a fucking commercial circus. It's the most extreme genre that's still part of the mainstream. So now you get kids showing up with instruments that cost more than all of mine put together, taking lessons at music academies, with everything paid for by mom and dad. That's got absolutely nothing to do with where the genre came from. That's why I call it what it is: a fucking circus.
Of course, if you take the very best elements of all three styles and turn them into something hostile and violent... then everything is exactly as it should be.
What does FUNEBRE DEVASTATION have planned for the coming months? Where can we see you in concert? If you have a message for labels, promoters, or fans, this is the place…
For the time being, you can catch Funebre Devastation live in Bilbao, Barcelona, Tarbes (France), and Porto (Portugal). But of course, if any promoter wants to book us, we'll gladly go wherever we're invited, as long as the conditions aren't ridiculous. We're not going to pay for our own travel and accommodation just so the promoter can disappear with our money and spend it on cocaine.
As for record labels, honestly, we're pretty easy about it. If anyone wants to release our material, all they have to do is get in touch and send us a proposal. Whether it's about putting out one of our releases or booking us to play in their area, we'll always take a look at it and give an honest answer. We're open to any kind of collaboration.
And to the fans... I don't know if they've heard the band yet or seen us live somewhere, but one thing's for sure for better or worse, we don't leave anyone indifferent. I think that anyone who has the same blood running through their veins as we do will eventually find their way to Funebre Devastation and understand what we're about. Our music calls to old spirits, whether you're old or not.
Thank you very much for the interview. I really appreciate that you took the time for our site. I wish your entire band a lot of hellish inspiration, sold records, and enthusiastic fans. May you also thrive in your personal lives. I hope to see you live someday.
Thank you very much, Jakub. It was a real pleasure answering your questions—they were thoughtful and genuinely interesting, which isn't always the case with interviews these days.
We really appreciate your support and the chance to spread the word about Funebre Devastation through your zine. Hopefully our music will reach a few more maniacs thanks to this interview.
We also hope to make it to your country someday and share a few beers after raising hell on stage. Until then, keep the underground alive, support the bands that deserve it, and never let the flame die.
See you somewhere on the road... and hail from the filthy depths of north of Spain!
Recenze/review - FUNEBRE DEVASTATION - The Verminous Spawn (2026):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sledujte nás na sociálních sítích - follow us on the social media:
instagram:
facebook:
