Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Interview with Tomas owner of Forever Plagued Rec. done by Patrick on 11-19-14

Dark  Hails!!
Thank  you  all for  checking  this  new  interview   out  this time  I  was  lucky  enough  to   get  a  Interview  with Tomas and  his  black metal  label  "Forever  Plagued   so  anyone  who  is  into   black metal   should  check  this   label  out  today.He  has  a lot  of  new  releases  out  dealing  with  cd  and  cassettes. so  be sure to  check  out  all his pages  at  the  Links at the  end of the  Interview
regards
Patrick
fiendformetal@live.com




Interview    with  Tomas  owner   of  Forever  Plagued Records. done  by   Patrick


 1.Greetings  Tomas thank you  for  taking  the  time  to  do  this   interview  when  did you first  discover  metal  music?  Who  were  some  of  the  first  bands   you  listened to? Who  are some  of your  current  favorites?


 When I was about 8 years old, had heard most through an older sibling.  Remember being fascinated with Kiss which was short lived.  I ended up liking WASP, SLAYER, Metallica, a lot,  but disliked Dio a good bit back then.  Was never able to check out VENOM which was another tape that was there but I was too young to listen to that hahah.  My current favs are the titles I've discovered over all the years, just depends what mood I'm in I like lots of different stuff, definitely not limited to metal. 





2.What  gave you  the  idea  to  form  "  Forever  Plagued Records"?  How  did  you  decide  on  the  name  for  the   label?  


 Wanted to create a record label that was not only dedicated to underground black metal but was also one, with the bands and the music.  A record label that fully stands by their bands.  The name represents those of us who forever walk doomed to despise most of what humanity and the meaning for organic life is about, not focusing on the religious aspects but of course plays a big roll for many of us I would think. 




3.Do  you  have  any  advice  for  anyone  thinking  about  starting  a  label? Do  you  run  the  label  by  yourself  or  do  you  have  some  help  from  friends? How  many  hours  a  day  would  you  say  you  work  on  label  releated  business?


  Don't do it, we don't need you, there are far too many labels run by incompetent people already no need for another.  FPR is a very small operation and probably always will be, its run by a few dedicated people when necessary.  A record label is a 24hr job unless you have a full staff which in the underground that is probably a good way to keep zero funds for actual content and ultimately the end of that label.



4.What  are  some  of  your  current  releases  the  public  can  get?  Do  you   have  any  newer  releases  coming  out  before  the  end  of  the  year?


 We have quite a bit coming out these days and in the past of course.   We've released some great titles such as NIGHTBRINGER, INCURSUS, TENEBROUS, DEMONCY, GRAVELAND, NOCTERNITY, AKITSA, FUNEREUS etc  Coming out soon is two new ORCULTUS demo tapes,  newer stuff we have coming out would be two great acts from GREECE namely   SEPTUAGINT / AKROTHEISM split CD,  finally    DEMONCY's Joined In Darkness on DigiCD for the first time ever, a new KULT OF TAURUS album is planned and an unknown band from Italy called  MOURNING MIST.  




5.What  are  some  things  you  look  for  when  signing  and  releasing  a  band?  Do  you   usually   look  for  the  bands to  release  or do  they  come  to  you?



 Well ultimately I look closely for raw hateful black metal but it must have energy!  this style is certainly been played out and dumbed down over the years so it really takes a certain kind of band to pull it off.  Other than that there are a variety of things I look for.  Some of our newer bands have shown a kind of unique blend of styles that just seems to work in some way that I feel have something to offer therefore we'll release it and take the care into representing that title.  Considering how busy I am I find it very hard to seek bands out, usually they come to us or have been found in some other similar manner.  Usually the bands we seek out are already in the middle of deals or they are already signed altogether.





6.Tomas  you  have  released  both  cassettes  and  cd's  how  do  you   choose which  band  to  release  on  cd  or  cassette?  I  believe  you  also  have  released  some  vinyl  releases  in  the  past  which  is  your  personal  favorite  form to  release  on?


 Well its all guess work in the end, but I haven't had great success with moving vinyl so I normally only do CD of newer bands unless a certain level of demand is created for that title then we may look into pressing vinyl of the band. Tapes are almost always demos or rare releases for us anyway.  My personal favorite is CD, I rarely listen to tapes or vinyl. I do prefer demos on tape though, full lengths on CD.



7.Tomas  you  are   also    the drummer in  the   band  Bloodstorm  when  did  you   join  the  band?


  I joined the band in 2003 at some point. 




8.Are  you  self taught  or   did  you  take  lessons  when  first  learning  the  drums?  Who  are  some  of your  influences/favorite   drummers? Do   you  play  any   other    instruments?


 I took lessons off and on for about 2 years.  I don't really have any influences, I play fast and chaotic with very little discipline.  I play guitar,bass,drums and dabble with keys. 



9.What  does  black  metal   mean  to  you?


Evil, Darkness,Negativity,Hate,Destruction so on and so forth



10.Tomas  what  is  your   opinion  of  the  U.S  Black  metal  scene?

 It has always seemed to be missing something. Certain bands have pulled off writing and 
recording great albums but mostly it is stale to me.  The people are even worse, why I do get along with certain individuals who have or do belong to the U.S. black metal scene, I could do without most of them, more so nowadays than in the past.  I have enjoyed some great times in the U.S. in the past but nowadays it is a mystery to me.




11.Who  are  some  of  your   all-time   favorite   u.s  black metal  bands?Are  their  any  new  bands  you  feel  the  readers  should  check  out?



The classic titles would of course be DEMONCY - Joined In Darkness, JUDAS ISCARIOT - all releases, BLACK FUNERAL - Vampyr throne of the beast, HAVOHEJ - Dethrone The Son Of God, INQUISITION - Into The Infernal Regions Of The Ancient Cult,  KRIEG - Blue Miasma, YAMATU - Shurpu Asaru, BLACK WINTERS EVE, INCURSUS - Eternal Funeral Trance & Adaestuo, TENEBROUS - Arias Towards The Black Sun & Opus Magnum.  The few newer USBM bands that have done anything for me is  FUNEREUS which we released their second album this year (if you even consider them U.S.) or  WORMREICH which is alright, GALDR is a decent atmospheric black metal band, TUKAARIA is pretty good as well, HELLGOAT is getting better and better too.




12.Besides  the  U.S  black metal  scene  you  have  released  some excellent  bands  from  various  countries.Do  you  have  a  particular  country  that  you  feel  has a  great  black  metal  scene?



  I don't follow scene's  I mean back in the day the Polish scene was undeniably pretty incredible but I don't search out a scene in order to find bands to enjoy.  Right now Greece seems to be going pretty strong. We by coincidence seem to have quite a bit of Greek bands on our label but it certainly wasn't by choice it just ended up that way so I imagine they must have a pretty strong scene right now. 



13.Thank  you   Tomas   for  taking   the  time  to  fill  this  interview   out  do  you   have  any  final  comments  for  the  readers?


See you in hell... on earth! join us!


www.foreverplaguedrecords.com
fpr666.bandcamp.com
www.soundcloud.com/forever-plagued-records
www.youtube.com/user/foreverplaguedrex