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By: Sander van den Driesche
Earlier this year Polish post-metal/hardcore band Fleshworld released a 3-way split with Gazers and Viscera///. Sander van den Driesche asked Mateusz of the band some questions to find out more behind the band.
(((o))): Can you introduce Fleshworld to our readers please?
Mateusz: We’re a post-metal/hardcore band from Krakow, Poland. So far we’ve released a demo, an LP and a split, with one more to follow in a few months. Although our sound changed a lot with each release, the overall mood still oscillates somewhere between nostalgia, lust and anger.
(((o))): What is the history of the band?
Mateusz: I formed the band with our ex-vocalist Andrzej around 2008 I believe. He knew Szymek, our drummer, who’d soon join us. We were focused on conveying a certain mood and atmosphere rather than sticking to a particular genre. We were into Twin Peaks at that time, its phantasmagoria and the symbolical portrayal of evil and wanted to incorporate it into our music, a blend of synthetic beats, live drums, oldschool synths and a bit of guitar. We got in touch with Kuba and Lukasz through ads and as soon as we started playing as a five-piece, we started to shift towards post-metal. Although we’ve kept the same concept and mood, the musical side started evolving in a way I didn’t expect it to. After a few years we parted ways with Andrzej and Tytus arrived to record vocals for Like we’re all equal again. He stayed with us for good and here we are.
(((o))): You recently released a 3-way split with Gazers from France and Viscera/// from Italy. As the bands involved are from different European countries, can you tell us something about how this split release came together?
Mateusz: We just came in touch with Gazers through social media at some point and figured it would be a cool thing to do. Nowadays, I guess most split records are made for promotional reasons, to get the music across to a larger audience, but we also thought that our songs would complement each other in a way. Then Viscera/// came along and made the whole picture complete.
(((o))): Are you planning a tour with Gazers and Viscera/// as well to promote this new release?
Mateusz: We’ve already played a show with Gazers in Krakow a couple months back when they were touring with The Prestige but the record wasn’t ready back then so we hope to play together in the nearest future. Viscera/// is coming to Krakow on the 7th of December and we’re playing a show together with Coffinfish. We would love to get the three bands from the split to play a show together but the harsh reality of touring will verify if it’s possible. We’re currently in the process of arranging shows for 2015 and we’ll keep everybody updated.
(((o))): Describe how a live show of Fleshworld looks like.
Mateusz: We try our best live. Performing in front of an actual audience has always been an important part of what we do. Every live show has its own dynamics and that’s the beauty of it. We don’t impose any specific behaviour on people that come to see us play live.
(((o))): What is the Polish music scene like? I know Poland has its fair number of death and black metal bands, but what about the post-metal music scene?
Mateusz: I’d say that the post-metal scene here is no different to the rest of Europe. It has its ups and downs. A couple of bands, like Blindead had a chance to support big acts such as Behemoth, which helped popularise the genre a bit, but apart from these few examples, we’re still very much a niche. We’re always thankful to people who come to shows, buy CDs and support the scene. There is no big enterprise behind post-metal, so they’re the ones who keep it alive.
(((o))): What are your main musical influences?
Mateusz: I guess that would be ISIS on the post-metal side and Daitro on the other. These are the two bands that all five of us love and look up to musically.
(((o))): Besides the musical influences you also list the director David Lynch as an influence on your Facebook page. How exactly does he influence the band?
Mateusz: The name of the band comes from a name of an adult magazine that appears in the Twin Peaks series. I’d say that David Lynch and Twin Peaks became a point of reference for our music at some point. The balance of the beautiful, the dreadful, the supernatural, the absurd is something that inspires us to this day.
(((o))): If you would get the chance to curate your own festival stage. What 5 bands would you definitely book and why?
Mateusz: We’d book all the bands we shared the stage with in the past, maybe not all of them but a great majority. Because there aren’t many post-metal bands around, we got a chance to play with bands that represent the entire spectrum of heavy music. It would be a crazy line-up.
(((o))): What records have made a big impression on Fleshworld this year?
Mateusz: I guess we haven’t really concentrated on the recent releases. But if we really have to choose which 2014 album influenced us in a significant way, I’d say (in random order):
Plebeian Grandstand – Lowgazers
Wovenhand – Refractory Obdurate
Twilight – III: Beneath Trident’s Tomb
Kriegsmaschine – Enemy of Man
Oranssi Pazuzu – Valionelu
Swans – To Be Kind
Also, our friends from The Moth Gatherer (they are amazingly good by the way, check them out if you haven’t already) keep recommending something called Bolo – Outside the Box, but we haven’t got around to listening to it yet.
(((o))): What’s next for Fleshworld?
Mateusz: Another album (we can’t reveal too much, more info is coming very soon), maybe a video and a bunch of nice gigs we’re planning to do in the spring.
(((o))): Do you have anything else to add for our readers?
Mateusz: You are the ones who keep this whole thing alive. Keep doing it.
