Interview with AETERNUS PROPHET
!!!BLACK DEATH METAL FROM UKRAINE!!!
Welcome to the FILTHY DOGS OF METAL Webzine.
Tell us a few things about AETERNUS PROPHET (Members, Starting Year etc).
Aeternus Prophet (from the Latin Eternal Prophet) is a Ukrainian metal band founded by artists Dessident and Oberon at the end of 2010 in Fastov. The band was founded by drummer Dessident and Serhii "Oberon" Voytenko in 2010. Logos (vocals) and Filthon (guitar) also joined. The date of creation of Aeternus Prophet is considered to be August 14, 2010, since the band played for the first time in this composition. On January 14, 2011, the second performance took place at the rehearsal base, which was called "Black Winter Day" (the name is taken from the song of the same name by the band Amorphis), where the first versions of the songs included in the album "Ruthlessness" were played.
In 2022 you have released your album ''Ruthlessness''. What was the feedback from your audience as well as from the press?
Our band re-released this album on a label from the USA - since we released this album in 2012 independently, since labels from Ukraine did not want to release this material of ours, referring to the fact that it was too heavy, the reviews were very good, since underground metal media liked our material, as well as our new and old fans and listeners who follow our work.
Label or DIY and why?
Many Ukrainian labels are chasing a very light sound and very mainstream music, they release it very often by mainstream teams, instead of promoting heavy music, we don't like it very much !!!....And so our band is interested in releasing their music on labels, since there is minimal support for the band on the label, since it is very difficult to do a wide range of work autonomously, in addition to having to work at several jobs, in order to get funds to do music and keep at a certain level.
Is there any funny or weird story from the recordings or from your live shows that you would like to share with us?
But in fact, our band does not have such a history, the most surprising thing was how our active vocalist got into the band, but at the moment he is at war, but this is a story for a more extensive interview, because it was very strange! !! As for a beginner musician who never knew how to play music in half a year, Abaddon became a professional showman, and in 2019 he showed himself very cool in the EU tour!!! You can see the video from Abaddon on our official YouTube channel!!!
Do you prefer Vinyl, Tape, CD or Digital Format and why is that?
All these media are very interesting for the audience and collectors, at the moment we only released CDs, but we plan to release also vinyl, but cassettes are also a very good thing, our guitarist Oberon had a very large number of cassettes, and Oberon also collected DVDs of metal concerts and tours of other bands.
Your music style is Blackened Death Metal. Which are your main influences (Favourite Artists / Bands etc.)
Each of our members had wide musical preferences, so the influence on our creativity was as diverse as possible, the guitarist was inspired by black metal, I was a drummer by death metal, the other members listened to metal core and hard rock, and we created a unique sound!!! The bands were very different, mainly the EU metal scene and the USA, but the guitarist was also influenced by Ukrainian black metal bands.
Which things do you think a band should sacrifice in order to succeed? Have you ever sacrificed anything in your life for a better future for your band?
Yes, in order to achieve success, you need to be very stubborn and focused on creating music, and also be determined to achieve success, since all this requires long and hard work, on yourself and on your mistakes, a lot of time is needed to work on various jobs, as well as devote time to writing music, recording it, and everything else related to creativity!
Describe your ideal live show as a performance band. Have you already experienced that?
For me, all the live performances that our band performed are unique events, it's very cool when there are metalheads who listen and understand our music, our band started with garage shows and performed at various venues in Ukraine and the EU, but the coolest the show for me, the drummer and founder of the band, was a performance in Romania at the festival - RITES OF THE BLACK MASS - there we performed with the band Enthroned on the same stage, I I really liked the work of the music technicians in Bucharest, everything was very well organized!
What attributes do you think that a new Black/Death Metal Band should have in order to gain identity and be unique?
Our guitarist says that you need to be up-tempo and persistent, then the music will be as evil as possible, because of the fact that a lot of effort is put into it, the music becomes unique!!!....
Do you believe that Digital Platforms help the new Black/Death Metal Bands? Which, do you think, is the ideal way for a band to promote its work?
Yes, digital platforms are good, people can listen to music on different platforms, but it also has a very negative effect on development, as some fans are oversaturated with technology and are too lazy to attend live shows. discs, cassettes and metal magazines - and were very pleased with the update that we found for ourselves - new interviews with metal teams, a new cassette with a new album - this it was very cool and unique - this was the year 2010 for us, in 2024 for many people - everything is in the open, people are very lazy, it makes us a little angry........!!!!
Do you see any differences between the Ukraine Metal Market & the EU Metal Market (Labels, Bands, Fans etc)?
Yes, these are very different situations - Ukraine is different in that here people have become very, so to speak, spoiled, there has been a really great demand for light music, few people have started to support heavy metal, in 2012 and 2015 the situation was better, since 2016 everything went down in 2019, and from 2019 even more so, but with the beginning of the war in Ukraine, people got angry and started to return to heavy music, I saw one metal fan who also started listening to pop, but after the war I saw him in the merch of the band - Batyushka, this is such a topic...!!! And in the EU and the USA, we see such a sharp decrease in interest in metal music, our group does not see it, we see - some labels and musicians are going bankrupt, due to certain reasons, but our opinion is that the EU and the USA in a certain way are on the same level !!!! ....
Tell us a few things about the New Underground Metal Scene in Ukraine (Bands, Fanzines, Webzines, Metal Clubs etc.)
Yes, of course, Ukraine also has a metal scene and so on, but now everything has become very difficult than in previous years, before our band gave a lot of concerts in Kyiv, but now everything is very bad in this regard, our band has not done much suits, since some organizers and labels did not allow our band to tour Ukraine in support of the Armed Forces in 2022, at the beginning of a full-scale invasion, this is very us got angry, but now we will focus on positive people and those who helped and are helping to develop the Ukrainian metal scene - this is - the director of the TOP SOUND RECORDS studio - the guitarist of the Bila Vezh band - Andriy Tomashenko, the director of the magazine - Terroraizer - Ihor Simonenko, he also published the book - Artefacts Ukrainian rock, also Olena Rybak - this girl leads the Facebook group - People Rock UA - various metal facts are published there, and everything about the metal music of the world and Ukraine, the organizer of metal fests - Volodymyr Barykin, he is the director of the metal agency Metallurg Concert Agency, he helps Ukrainian bands and not only Ukrainian bands to show themselves on the European stage, as well as our backing vocalist Predictor - he helped our band in these difficult times to find a good place for rehearsals, considering that there is a war in our country, it is quite good that our band - the active members are in relative safety..!!! There is also a blogger from Kyiv - Ukrainian rock events - our group is also pleased to meet this person.
Do you know anything about the Hellenic Metal Scene?
Our knowledge is a little limited in this regard, but our band definitely listened to the bands - Rotting Christ and Septic Flesh - we know and respect them!!!
What are your future plans?
According to the report of the label from the USA, with which we signed a contract in 2022, our band is listened to in 44 countries of the world - not massively, but there are a certain number of fans, this is data from Spotify listening, let's hope that in the end it will be with the dictator Putin finished in the future, and our band will go on tour in those countries where our music is listened to, and we also want to find more booking agencies, in order to build a tour schedule, we hope that the members of our band will return from the war, and we will do powerful shows with our new material, which is very powerful - material for the 3rd album!!!
Thank you very much for your time & keep up the good work! The closure is yours.
Thank you for the interview!!!! STAY METAL!!!
By Steve the Filthy Dog.
AETERNUS PROPHET CONTACT:
https://www.facebook.com/AeternusProphet/?ref=ts&fref=ts
https://www.instagram.com/aeternus_prophet_/
https://aeternusprophet.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7ccAP4hpdynSWjnXPHqFfh