Interview with KARDROZ

We had a conversation with MB (Drums). Enjoy!

Welcome to the FILTHY DOGS OF METAL Webzine.

Tell us a few things about KARDROZ (Members, Starting Year etc).
Well, maybe the most surprising thing about us - especially for ourselves is that we are still around. MP, TZ, and RZ started the band back in 2010 in a rehearsal room somewhere in the Austrian periphery, next to a private garage where some folks were constantly working on cars or something like that. If I remember correctly, it was even located in a cloister and sublented to the band. A weird place in the middle of nowhere, absolutely freezing in winter. So, when the other guys asked me whether I wanted to join as a drummer, I quickly jumped at that chance. I may have been slightly inebriated at that moment. Nevertheless, I guess the rehearsals must have worked out reasonably well and some 14-odd years later, we’re still making music together. Fast forward to today, all of us are working regular 9-5 jobs, so I am afraid it is not getting any easier. Our style has shifted as we have changed the songwriting process over the years - not least because we finally managed to recruit a reliable session musician to help us with the bass parts. That way, I think, we avoid becoming a stagnant and predictable geriatric circle jerk.

You are going to release your new EP ''Severe Dysfunction''. Tell us a few things about this project.
It was a long and grinding project. We started working on new material really shortly after releasing “Exaltation | Degradation”. But then this whole pandemic thing happened and we couldn’t meet in our rehearsal space, because of the lockdown restrictions, living 200 kilometres apart and all that. We are not really the kind of band where one person does all the songwriting alone in a room somewhere. It is safe to say that this structure didn’t help in this situation. The biggest change when it comes to songwriting was that I got bored during the first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 and decided to finally get a guitar and a bass and learn to play. I live in an apartment and I couldn’t really practice drumming so there was a window of opportunity. I got really cocky really, really fast and started pitching riff ideas. Surprisingly, some of them sounded quite good and ended up on the EP. And I was pushing harder to keep the songs simpler. We used to have at least one part in each song that used some weird odd-time phrasing followed by tempo changes. This time, I wanted the songs to have more of an honest, in-your-face quality that you can sometimes only convey through primitive caveman riffs. We also decided to record drums at a professional studio, because we were never quite satisfied with what we got out of our DIY-approach. We recorded at Doomstudios in Linz which is still a work-in-progress studio by a very talented musician from the local Hardcore and Punk scene. It was really a very pleasant and inspiring atmosphere. In fact, we actually wrote and recorded “Spontaneous Combustion” there on the spot.

The cover artwork has a sick atmosphere! Tell us a few things about it.
It is an oil-on-canvas painting by RF Pangborn who creates these extremely eerie horror scenes. Really awesome stuff. Quite frankly, we could have chosen almost any of his portraits. The central element of the blurred and deformed faces fits so well with the EP’s motif of ego dissolution and mental anguish. The painting we went for is called ‘A Vague Feeling of Emptiness And Stagnation’. I think it is still up for sale. So, if you need to add some horror decor to your living room, you are all set. In any case, we are absolutely grateful that he let us use it as the cover for the EP.

And what about the lyrics?
The lyrics on ‘Severe Dysfunction’ are mostly penned by TZ. On the last EP, we had like a fifty-fifty split, but TZ hates the way I write lyrics - I usually write in an essays-like style and it is utterly painful for him to fit them into a proper vocal melody. So, this time, he asked me to pitch ideas, titles and stuff, which I did. But I also wrote unsolicited lyrics for two of the songs, sent them to TZ and he twisted and turned them around. When he was done with them, they hardly had anything to do with what I originally had in mind. So, it was a bit of a battle of the egos, but I gave in the end. Although I insisted on making some minor changes to his lyrics on the spot when we were recording them. As I said, we two have two very fundamentally different approaches when it comes to writing lyrics. And I had my revenge by overruling his suggestion for my drum parts. 

Your previous EP ''Exaltation | Degradation'' was released in 2020. Almost 5 years have passed since then. Why does it take so long to release your new EP?
As I said earlier, we are all working regular 9-5 jobs and the lockdowns during the pandemic didn’t help either. Quite a lot happened in our personal lives so writing new music for KARDROZ was not necessarily always the top priority for all four of us at the same time. It happened in phases, like, we were playing “Rhypophagy” already back in 2022. Some bits and pieces of other songs were also already there but we never got around to properly finishing them. You could say that our creative phases are hopelessly out of sync. But once we get going, the songs come together surprisingly fast.

Label or DIY and why?
It depends, I guess. There are some brutally good DIY bands out there and my personal impression is that the underground scene is extremely strong these days. But I think that you run the danger of hitting a wall quite early on if you insist on DIY. There are some smaller labels and distros out there that are doing invaluable work for the promotion of underground diamonds. And as a consumer, it makes it much easier to discover them. The right contacts, promotion channels and a good idea of the business side of things can take you very far.

Do you prefer Vinyl, Tape, CD or Digital Format and why is that?
That depends on the perspective, whether you are a producer or a consumer. As a consumer, I personally started by collecting CDs, but switched to buying mostly vinyl around ten years ago and then a couple of years back I also got a proper tape deck. I am covered with the analogue formats so to speak. But truth be told, the digital format is just dangerously convenient. Not just for listeners, but also for musicians because you hardly have any costs and it is really simple. These days, I do feel that every underground should go through the process of releasing a proper demo tape as an initiation ritual.

Which are your main influences (Favourite Artists / Bands etc.)
You can get a wide range of answers to that question, depending on which band member you ask and when. MP was really binge-listening to UK’s DRAGGED INTO SUNLIGHT, which you can hear in “Rhypophagy”. TZ and RZ had an ANTICHRIST SIEGE MACHINE-phase when we were in the studio, which probably explains the riffs in “Spontaneous Combustion”. I have personally listened to BLACK CURSE, COFFINS, PUBLIC ACID and POISON RUIN a lot when I was composing riffs, lyrics and vocal melodies. I guess it shines through in a way.

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?
We never intended to go professional with KARDROZ. You could say we sacrificed our musical ambitions for our other professional careers. I guess, we still do sacrifice a lot of spare time though, which can be grounds for spousal grudges.

Describe your ideal live show as a performance band. Have you already experienced that?
Anything that sparks this strong emotional response that collectively listening to music evokes. I have had this when I saw bigger acts on big stages like MOTÖRHEAD or MERCYFUL FATE, but also smaller acts in really small venues like BLACK CURSE, KRINGA or RATTENBURCHT. Just to name some from the top of my head that stuck with me in recent years.

Tell us a few things about the New Underground Metal Scene in Linz, Austria (Bands, Fanzines, Webzines, Metal Clubs etc.)
A lot has happened in Linz over the last ten years or so. Linz used to have a bigger venue called Posthof, which was frequently visited by tours of well-known international extreme metal acts like AMON AMARTH, SIX FEET UNDER, BEHEMOTH, and so and so forth. You had a couple of small local acts, but nobody that really made a splash beyond the borders, or at least not that I could think of. That changed rather abruptly when the guy behind the booking of Posthof died unexpectedly and the new booker did not want to book any more metal acts for some obscure reasons. This left a void in the metal scene and the younger generation jumped in and created new structures. I was not involved, but as an outsider, I had the impression that it was the people around bands like KRINGA and the Kapu - a small concert venue with a long history in Linz - who carried this process of rejuvenating the Austrian extreme metal underground with collabs across major Austrian cities and musical genres. These guys who now organise metal shows at the Kapu are internationally well-connected and I am always surprised when they get acts like PAGAN ALTAR to play in this small venue.

Do you know anything about the Hellenic Metal Scene?
I have to admit that my knowledge is not as deep as I would like it to be. I am mostly acquainted with the better older acts from the Hellenic Black Metal scene, like Rotting Christ, Necromantia and Macabre Omen, and younger bands that released on international labels like Haxandraok and Nox Formulae. Oh, and I did have the pleasure of witnessing the sheer intensity of Dead Congregation live. But when it comes to the current underground bands, I am shamefully unaware.

What are your future plans?
I will soon be relocating to Finland for professional reasons for one year. That will inevitably put some distance between me and the rest of the band. We will not be able to play as many gigs in support of “Severe Dysfunction” as we would like, but we are going to play selected shows in Austria in 2025. For 2026, we are already making plans to play international stages again. We will also be working on new material in our typical decentralised process, but we still have not yet decided whether we will finally go for a full-length album this time.

Thank you very much for your time & keep up the good work! The closure is yours.
Thank you very much for having us!

By Steve the Filthy Dog.

KARDROZ CONTACT:

https://www.facebook.com/kardroz.metal

https://www.instagram.com/kardroz.death/

https://kardroz.bandcamp.com/album/severe-dysfunction