Ekskluzivni intervju s Žulijanom Tušanom, pjevačem Benighteda
Razgovor vodio Mario Lovreković
Benighted je francuski brutalni det metal bend osnovan u Sent Etjenu 1998. godine. Nakon devet savršenih albuma stiže novi, pod nazivom „Ekbom“.
Q: Prvenstveno ti se želim zahvaliti na ovom intervjuu i čestitati cijelom bendu na iznimnom singlu i spotu „Scars“, te također na drugom singlu „Metastasis“ koji su najava za novi album Benighteda „Ekbom“. Album izlazi 12. aprila 2024. u diskografiji „Seasons of Mist“, pa možeš li nam reći nešto o samom nastajanju albuma i o dosadašnjim reakcijama fanova?
A: Hvala ti na lijepim riječima. Znači puno! Ekbom je rezultat dvije godine rada, strasti i bijesa i stvarno smo htjeli s ovim napisati jedan najmračniji opus u diskografiji Benighteda!
Njegov naslov potiče od sindroma umišljenog parazitizma – kad osoba vidi nevidljive insekte kako joj gmižu pod kožom. Priča je zapravo o mladoj djevojci koja je veći dio svog djetinjstva provela brinući se o majci koja umire od raka.
Zbog toga ne može na pravi način razviti svoju psihološku strukturu i razvija uvjerenje da je neprijatelj uvijek u nama i da će nas uništavati iznutra. Kad joj mama umre, nađe se sama i upadne u šizofreniju, te počinje imati halucinacije o kukcima koji joj se uvlače pod kožu, pa ih pokušava izbaciti rezanjem. Također u svakoj sobi vidi mračnog muškarca s demonskim licem koji se smiješi čim ona to počne raditi. Sve pjesme na albumu dio su njenog života, traume ili simptoma.
Osnova ovog albuma je naravno det metal. Stvarali smo, međutim, pod jakim utjecajima, poput grajndkora, hardkora i blek metala - koji je prisutniji nego u prošlosti, jer je to najbolji način da se stvori jeziva atmosfera koja vas tjera da uđete u Ekbom - kao da doživljavate izlet u psihozu bolesne osobe.
Brutalnost se susreće u isto vrijeme s gruvom, jezivo sporim dijelovima sa uzorcima koji povećavaju opresiju glazbe, i također s najzaraznijim refrenima koje smo ikada napisali! Izbacili smo već tri singla i reakcije naših fanova su jednostavno lude! Prokleto smo ponosni na ovaj novi album!
Q: Po vašem mišljenju, gdje je kolijevka det metala: Švedska ili Florida? Det metal rođen je sredinom 1980. Tu su bili Possessed, Morbid Angel, Deicide, Death, Obituary, Entombed, Dismember, At the Gates, Pungent Stench itd.
A: Osobno sam otkrio da su to Cannibal Corpse, Obituary i Morbid Angel, pa bih rekao Florida, ali naravno i Skandinavija je također imala nevjerojatne det metal bendove!
Q: Kada si počeo slušati det metal i koji su bendovi utjecali na tvoje početke stvaranja vlastite glazbe?
A: Imao sam 17 godina kada sam otkrio det metal, jer sam greškom kupio kazetu Cannibal Corpsea samo zato što me je zaintrigirao omot!
S mojim najboljim prijateljem Olivierom (originalnim gitaristom Benighteda), gledao sam puno horor filmova u to vrijeme i kad sam jednom kod kuće slušao kazetu „Butchered at Birth“, stvarno mi je bila sjajna!
Nisam mogao razumjeti svrhu takve glazbe i zašto slušati takve vokale u kojima ništa ne razumiješ??? I nakon nekoliko slušanja, shvatio sam da moje uši jednostavno nisu bile pripremljene za ovu vrstu auditivne agresije i stvarno mi se počelo sviđati!
Dok je Olivier svirao gitare, pokušao sam režati i našao neke kul načine za to i tako sam pao u det metal! Onda sam kupio albume Obituary, Napalm Death, Carcass, Death... i vidi gdje sam sad!
Q: Tvoje vokalne tehničke vještine su stvarno nevjerojatne, isto kao i tekstovi koje si napisao. Možeš li nam odati tajnu svog vokalnog umijeća i otkriti je li istina da su tvoji tekstovi povezani s radom u mentalnoj instituciji?
A: Hvala vam! Uvijek mi je pomalo osobni izazov pokušati dodati nove raspone svojim vokalnim tehnikama iz albuma u album kako bih iznenadio slušatelje i uvijek napredovao. Puno koristim lažne glasnice za režanje i bez obzira koji glas koristim, uvijek izdahnem, čak i pig squeal (skičanje praseta).
Da, zapravo je istina, radim kao medicinski brat u psihijatrijskoj bolnici već više od 20 godina i koristim svoje profesionalno iskustvo da pišem tekstove koji poštuju realnost simptoma mentalne bolesti, izbjegavajući sve klišee koje možete pronaći u horor filmovima ili medijskim reprezentacijama.
Važno mi je da slušatelji razumiju užasnu bol koju ljudi trpe svaki dan kada se moraju suočiti s ovom vrstom patologije i da su oni najranjiviji, a ne potencijalne serijske ubojice kakvima ih mediji žele prikazati. Brinem se o pacijentima koji pate od toga već godinama i prva osoba za koju su opasni su oni sami. Kad počnete slušati album Benighted, stvarno očekujem da ljudi zamisle da ulaze u psihozu, mjesto puno brutalnosti, puno promjena, nešto ugnjetavajuće i mračno što se mora doživjeti da bi se razumjelo.
Q: Osim brutalnog det metala, što mislite o drugim žanrovima poput nu metala, det kora, blek metala itd? Nefastes je neka vrsta melodičnog blek metal zvuka. Kako se to dogodilo?
A: Jako volim blek metal, grajndkor i hardkor! Detkor je bio Dying Fetus davnih devedesetih, jednostavna mješavina det metala i hardkor vibre, i koliko sam shvatio, to je postalo nešto potpuno drugačije u današnje vrijeme, ali stvarno volim oboje!
Néfastes je rođen tijekom pandemije, kada smo se udružili s Olivijerom i Lijemom (obojica originalni gitaristi Benighteda) kako bismo napisali blek metal projekt pun mržnje i odavanja počasti bivšem bubnjaru benda koji je preminuo prije nekoliko mjeseci. Lijem je napisao nekoliko pjesama, kontaktirao me da vidi hoću li biti zainteresiran za pisanje stihova i snimanje vokala za ovaj projekt i naravno da sam prihvatio!
Olivijer je svirao bas i to je s naše strane bio samo projekt za zabavu, ali kad smo objavili pjesmu na internetu, istog su me dana kontaktirale izdavačke kuće koje su nas htjele angažirati pa smo odlučili napraviti cijeli album „Scumanity“ s „Izvor Atone Records“.
Q: Europska metal scena je sjajna. Imam Fejsbuk prijateljicu iz Amerike koji nikada nije čula za bendove kao što su Konkhra, Illdisposed, Susperia, Mnemic, Zyklon, Spiritual Beggars, Fleshgod Apocalypse itd.
A: O da, imamo vrlo bogat izvor bendova u svakoj zemlji i jako smo ponosni na našu scenu!
Q: Koje francuske metal bendove, bez obzira o kojem se metal žanru radi, možete preporučiti našim čitateljima?
A: Za det metal bih rekao Kronos, Recueil Morbide, Gorod, Akiavel. Za blek metal, rekao bih Seth i Acod. Za grajndkor, naravno Inhumate i našu braću Blockheadse!! Inače, Xavier koji pjeva u Blockheadsima bio je gost-vokal na našem posljednjem albumu za pjesmu „Fame of the Grotesque“!
Q: Benighted je bio u Zagrebu 29.11.2011. Osobno sam bio tamo i moram reći da su recenzije hrvatskih medija bile odlične glede vašeg nastupa. Kako to da ste došli u Hrvatsku kao predgrupa Morbid Angel? Btw, mislim da Benighted mora opet doći, s „Ekbom“ turnejom.
A: Ta turneja je jednostavno bila fenomenalna! Želim se vratiti u Hrvatsku - da nemaš pojma koliko to želim i stvarno se nadam da će to biti moguće u skorijoj budućnosti, već je prošlo previše vremena!
Q: Kakva su vaša očekivanja nakon što objavite novi album „Ekbom“? Više ljetnih turneja na festivalima na otvorenom? Znam da će Benighted biti na „Death Awaits Fest“ u Lionu, „Rock a Lusine“.
A: Imamo vrlo zaposlenu godinu prvenstveno s francuskom turnejom koju organizira Hellfest u travnju, koja se zove „Warmup Hellfest Tour“ s Ten56, zatim imamo nastupe i ljetne festivale, zatim u rujnu imamo „Canadian Infestation Tour“ u Kanadi s Cognitiveom i u studenom „Beast Against Beast Tour“ u Europi s Baestom i Coffin Feederom! Radimo na južnoameričkoj turneji u ožujku sljedeće godine i Japanu u svibnju 2025! Imat ćemo puno nastupa u iduće dvije godine!
Q: Od 2000. do 2024. Benighted su i dalje u vrhu brutalne det metal scene, usudio bih se reći čista umjetnost. Za one koji to nisu znali, sada to znaju. Puno ti hvala na izdvojenom vremenu Žulijane, nadam se da će Benigted još jednom „lomiti vratove“ svojih obožavatelja diljem svijeta.
A: Puno ti hvala na ovom intervjuu, čovječe! I hvala vašim čitateljima i našim fanovima! Jedva čekamo da se vratimo i opet zabavljamo s vama! Stay sick!
Exclusive interview with Julien Truchan, vocalist of Benighted
Interview by Mario Lovreković
- At first I want to thank you for this interview and congratulate you for this extremely perfect single and video „Scars“, which is annoucement for a new Benighted album „Ekbom“. The album is coming out on April 12. 2024. by the „Seasons of Mist“ discography, so can you say something about making the album and about the reactions from fans so far?
Thank you for your words, man! It means a lot! Ekbom is the result of 2 years of work, passion and rage and we really wanted to write with this one the darkest opus in the Benighted discography! Its title comes from a syndrome of delusioal parasitosis where the character of the concept sees invisible insects crawling under her skin. The story is actually about a young girl who spent most of her childhood taking care of her mom dying with cancer. Because of that, she can’t develop her psychological structure in a proper way and develops the conviction that the enemy is always inside us and will destroy us from the inside. When her mom dies, she finds herself alone and falls into schizophrenia and starts having halluciations about insects crawling under her skin, so she tries to get them out by cutting herself. She also sees in every room a dark man with a demonic face who smiles as soon as she starts doing it. All the songs in the album are a part of her life, trauma or symptoms. With this album, we kept our Death Metal spine of course and used a lot of influences like Grindcore, Hardcore and also Black Metal which is more present than in the past as it's the best way to create creepy atmospheres that makes you enter Ekbom like if you were experiencing a trip into the psychosis of a sick person. Brutality meets at the same time groove, creepy slow parts with samples which increase the oppression of the music and also the catchiest choruses we've ever wrote! We unleashed 3 singles already and the reactions of our fans are just insane! We are so damn proud of this new album!
- In your opinion, where is the cradle of death metal, Sweden or Florida? Death metal was born in a middle of the 1980's, there was Possessed, Morbid Angel, Deicide, Death, Obituary, Entombed, Dismember, At the Gates, Pungent Stench etc.
Personaly I discovered it cannibal Corpse, Obituary and Morbid Angel so I would say Florida but of course Scandinavia had amazing Death metal bands too!
- When did you start to listen to death metal and which bands were your influence in your beginning to making your own music?
I was 17 when I discovered Death Metal as I bought by mistake a tape of Cannibal Corpse just because I was intrigued by the cover! With my best friend Olivier (original guitarist of Benighted), we were watching a lot of horror movies at this time and when I listened to the tape of „Burchered at Birth“ once home, I really found it aweful! Ah ah! I couldn't understand the purpose of this kind of music and omg why doing this kind of vocals where you don't understand anything??? Ah ah! And after several listenings, I realized my ears were just not prepared for this kind of auditive aggression and I really started to like it! As Olivier was playing guitars, I tried to growl on my side and found some cool ways to do it and that's how I fell into Death metal! Ah ah! Then, I bought albums of Obituary, Napalm Death, Carcass, Death... and look where I am now!
- Your vocal technical skills are really amazing. Same as the lyrics. And Benighted videos also. Can you tell us your secret about your vocal skills and is it true that your lyrics are connected with your job in a mental institution?
Thank you! It's always a bit of a personal challenge for me to try to add new ranges to my vocals technics from an album to another to surprise the listener and always improve myself. I use the false vocal chords a lot for the growl and no matter what voice I use, I always do it exhale, even the pigsqueals. Yes, it's actually true, I work as a nurse in a psychiatric hospital for more than 20 years now and I use my professional experience to write lyrics that respect the reality of the mental illness symptoms, avoiding all the clichés you can find in horror movies or media reprentations. It’s important for me for listeners to understand the terrible pain people are in every day when they have to deal with this kind of pathology and that they are the most vunerable ones, not the potential serial killers medias want to make them look like. I take care of patients suffering with this for years now and the first person they are dangerous for is themself. When you start listening to a Benighted album, I really expect people to imagine they are entering psychosis, a place full of brutality, a lot of changes, something oppressing and dark that must be experienced to be understood.
- Except brutal death metal, what do you think about other generes like nu metal, death core, black metal, etc? Nefastes is kind of a melodic black metal sound., how did that happen?
I really love Black Metal, Grindcore and Hardcore! Deathcore was Dying Fetus back in the 90', a simple mix of Death Metal and Hardcore vibe, and from what I understood it became something totally different nowadays, but i really like both! Ah ah! Néfastes was born during the pandemic when we teamed up with Olivier and Liem (both original guitarists of Benighted) to write a Black Metal project full of hate and paying homage to the former drummer of the band who died few months ago. Liem wrote several saongs, contacted me to see if I woulf be interested in writng yrics and recording vocals for this project and of course I accepted! Olivier did the bass and it was justa project for fun on our side but when we released a song on the internet, I was contacted the very same day by labels who wnated to sgn us so we decided to make a whole album „Scumanity“ with Source Atone Records!
- The Europian metal scene is great. I have a Facebook friend from America who's never heard bands like Konkhra, Illdisposed, Susperia, Mnemic, Zyklon, Spiritual Beggars, Fleshgod Apocalypse etc.
Oh yes, we have a very rich source of bands in every country and we are very proud of our scene!
- Which french metal bands, no matter what metal genre it is, can you recommend to our readers?
For Death Metal, I would say Kronos, Recueil Morbide, Gorod, Akiavel. For Black Metal, I would say Seth and Acod. For Grindcore, of course Inhumate and our brothers of Blockheads!! Xavier who sings in Blockheads made guest-vocals on our last album for the song „Fame of the Grotesque“ by the way!
- Benighted was in Zagreb, Croatia, 29.11.2011. I was personally there and I need to say that recensions from croatian medias were great about your gig. How come you came in Croatia with Morbid Angel then? Btw, I think that Benighted must come again, with an „Ekbom“ tour.
This tour was just phenomenal! I want to come back to Croatia like you have no idea and I really hope it will be possible in a nea future, it's been way too long already!
- What are your expectations after you release the new album „Ekbom“? More summer tours on open air festivals? I know that Benighted will be on „Death Awaits Fest“ in Lyon, „Rock a Lusine“.
We have a very busy year with at first a french tour organized by Hellfest in April which is called the „Warmup Hellfest Tour“ with Ten56, then we have gigs and summer festivals, then in September we have the „Canadian Infestation Tour“ in Canada with Cognitive and in November the „Beast Against Beast Tour“ in Europe with Baest and Coffin Feeder! We are working for a South American Tour in March next year and also Japan for May 2025! we will have a lot of gigs for 2 years!
- From 2000. to 2024. Benighted is still on the top of brutal death metal scenes. For those who didn't know that, now you know. Thank you so much for your time Julien, I hope that Benigted will kick ass once more in Croatia.
Thank you so much for this interview, man! And thanks to your readers and our croatian fans! We can't wait to be back and party with you again! Stay sick!!