APEP (Germany)
CD."Before Whom Evil Trembles"
T: Why the name APEP ? Any special meaning and who chose it?
Oliver: “Apep” is old Egyptian language for “Apophis”, the god that embodies darkness and disorder.
But let's go into a little more detail here. Apophis is the only Egyptian god for whom there was no cult, temple or rituals. He’s not only associated with dissolution, darkness and chaos. In the imagination of the ancient Egyptians, the deceased takes on the role of the sun god when he arrives in Duat (the Egyptian underworld).There he has to repeatedly fight against Apophis in the form of a giant snake made of flint in order to symbolically restore the creation of the world.
Apophis stands for nothing less than complete annihilation and primordial chaos. If he wins the fight, it means the end of the world, of creation, of the universe itself. So when we founded APEP back in 2016 we thought that this name hits the nail on the head for our band in both regards, our lyrically dominant theme as well as pure Death Metal music.
T: What bands and styles have influenced you since you decided to form the band?
Christopher: We are big fans of NILE; MORBID ANGLE, IMMOLATION only to name a few. Especially the old school death metal style has a strong influence on us.
Oliver: My main influences are, of course, NILE but also other Death ìd te acts like IMMOLATION, MELECHESH and KRISIUN. Also the early esa albums are strong influences of my guitar playing in general. Despite you can’t hear it necessarily in APEP.
T: What was your biggest influence from the beginning when deciding to form the band?
Christopher: For me it is definitely NILE, their exceptional way of playingthis technical Death, which on one side very fast with a big technical touch and on the other side these songs are very catchy.
Oliver: As Christopher said, our main influence is NILE. We’re both huge fans of their work although their latest albums were not as strong as their earlier works. I think NILE is one of the main reasons why we decided to make this particular type of music. But it definitely was never about being a copycat, as a few people on the web try to imply.
We wanted to mix this wild, technical influence with our unique playing styleand the Old School Death Metal we used to do with the band before. The result is APEP and I hope we were able to solidify our unique style with the last album.
T: What do you hope to achieve with your musical proposal when they are heard in other countries through out the world?
Christopher: Hopefully the people have the same fun listening to the songs, as we had writing and recording them.
And of course it would be very cool to play shows outside of Germany again and reach more people with our music.
Oliver: I have always found it particularly fascinating that the metal community is at home all over the world. The internet and social media have further strengthened this community and welded the underground even more closely together internationally.So I hope that our work finds its way into the metal communities of the world and people simply celebrate our music and support us on an international level.
T: Why did they enter the world of metal and what keeps them motivated?
Christopher: For me, it started in my teenage years. At first I listened to punk bands like THE EXPLOITED and that changed when a good friend of mine showed me IMMORTAL’s “At The Heart Of Winter” and “The Bleeding” by CANNIBAL CORPSE. These really are two masterpieces that immediately captured me.
The motivation is that you can see the progress of something that each of us has put a lot of effort into. For me, the concerts and the contact with the fans before and after are also motivating.
Oliver: Growing up, I had few friends who listened to metal, and thus few influences in that genre. Eventually, I discovered bands like RAMMSTEIN and SYSTEM OF A DOWN. The energy of this music immediately captivated me, gusta and it didn't take many years for me to get into death metal and black me teental. If I remember correctly, I quickly gravitated toward the early works of IN FLAMES, SEPULTURA, and DARKTHRONE. As soon as I was 18 or 19, I spent a lot of time in metal bars and quickly made contacts with local musicians. This had a strong influence on my personal life, and to this day, I feel a strong desire to be involved in the metal underground as a musician.
T: How would you define your music?
Oliver: We play a mix of OSDM with significant technical influences. Technical death metal bands from the late 90s and 2000s are a particular inspiration for us. As we already mentioned, old Egypt mythology, the works of H.P. Lovecraft and other occult themes playing a special role for us thematically.
T: Who is in charge of the art for your CD. Cover "Before Whom Evil Trembles"?
Christopher: Like for the 1st Album we were really happy that Paolo Girardi was interested in painting the cover for the 2nd Album again. He really nailed it, a true master at his art.
Oliver: The artwork of our upcoming album was again painted by Paolo Girardi. In our opinion he’s one of the most relevant contemporary artists for extreme metal. His paintings are super detailed and atmospheric. Also, he’s a very nice and uncomplicated person to work with. We wanted to have a unique cover artwork that takes up the topic of the title track “Before Whom Evil Trembles” and Paolo was our first c freehoice, because we had good working with him before. The cover depicts the goddess Sekhmet on her throne in the underworld.
T: What can you tell me about the experience of recording your CD."Before Whom Evil Trembles"?
Oliver: Actually it’s always a lot of computer work and it also takes a very long time because we don't record continuously in a studio. At first, after we finished arranging the songs in the rehearsal room, I created a project in an audio recording program and recorded demo guitars. After that we started the first recording session in a friend’s studio in which the drums and drum effects were recorded. I then took the project with all the recorded drums home and recorded and reamped the final guitars. The same thing happens with the bass guitar, which a good friend of ours is recording in Berlin. Finally, the whole project ends up back in the studio where the vocal recordings are made. During the entire recording period, which lasts about half a year, we of course continue to rehearse and discuss the progress again and again.
Once all the recordings are finished, the whole thing has to go to a professional mixing and mastering studio. Nowadays, everything happens over the internet. Data transfer, agreements about the mix, etc. which allows us to do a lot from home. This is of course very convenient for family and work.
T: What are the lyrics of your CD."Before Whom Evil Trembles" about?
Christopher: There are various topics on “Before Whom Evil Trembles”. Again we have themes from the Egyptian mythology, for example archaic gods hunting down humanity. On the other side also old video games are influences for some of the lyrics on this record, also Lovecraft and Necronomicon has been an source for some lyrics.
T: Which do you prefer writing lyrics or music?
Oliver: I usually develop the songs at home and then bring the concepts to rehearsals, where we finalize the arrangements. Christopher writes most of the lyrics. He listens to the songs in the rehearsal room and then adapts his ideas to the song structure. I, on the other hand, sometimes come with a text that is already finished and is adapted in detail to the respective song. But you can say that the tasks of composing music and writing lyrics are usually clearly divided.
T: What inspired you to write the lyrics for the song "The Breath of Kheti"? Perhaps you read some books about Egyptian culture to get inspired?
(Kheti or Khety was an Ancient Egyptian name, borne by pharaohs and other nobility. The name may refer to: Pharaohs of the 9th or 10th Dynasty.)
Oliver: Kheti is also an underworld serpent from one of the Egyptian books of the dead. Its job is to destroy the souls of the "enemies of Osiris" forever with its breath of ‘liquid fire’. In the Egyptian concept of the afterlife, annihilation is the ultimate punishment. The blessed dead are allowed to rest in the underworld for all eternity and live in a kind of paradise, the ‘Field of Reeds’ or sekhet-aaru. On the other hand, for example, the souls of grave robbers who disturb the peace of the pharaohs are destroyed forever by the breath of Kheti and thus cease to exist.
T: What is the relationship between the CD "Before Whom Evil Trembles" and the CD "The Invocation of the Deathless One"? Is it perhaps a continuation of the Egyptian story?
Christopher: You can't say that there are directly related stories, but in general the themes of “The Invocation of the Deathless” and “Before Whom Evil Trembles” are both from darker Egyptian mythology. The first record deals with the theme of Apophis, the entity that brings chaos and darkness to the world with the sole intention of destroying all that exists. The title track of the 2nd record is a little more intimate. It tells the story of Sekhmet, who is a servant of Re when she first appears. Re sent her out to deal with the people who had lost faith in Re. She then went into a bloodrush to kill all humans. Only with a trick was Re able to appease her again.
T: What significance does it represent for your CD."Before Whom Evil Trembles" cover and who is in charge of the art?
Christopher: On the cover you can see Sekhmet on her throne in the Egyptian underworld. Like mentioned before Paolo Girardi has really done a great job on this one
T: How has it been working with War Anthem Records, have you received all the support you expected?
Christopher: Well, after we took the release of “The Invocation of the Deathless one” into our own hands, it was clear that we wanted to go in a different direction for the second album. We are very happy to have found a professional partner in War Anthem Records, they really did a great job with the release.
T: How did you get in touch with War Anthem Records and have you signed for any other albums?
Christopher: That's a longer story. When we were about to finish the recordings for the new album, we already had a deal with a label. But this contract was canceled for reasons beyond our control. When everything was almost ready, we started looking for a new partner to work with. That's how we came into contact with Jarne and Tobi from WAR ANTHEM RECORDS. They really liked the work we put into the new album. As you can see from the available physical formats of the records, it really paid off for us.
Long story short, we are really happy and proud to be a part of WAR ANTHEM now
T: What currently inspires the band to continue working in the underground death metal scene?
Christopher: We are happy to be a part of these strong and familiar scene. Like mentioned before it is real fun for us to play live, get in contact with the fans and a pleasure to hit the stage with Bands like SINISTER, MERCYLESS or PURGATORY.
Oliver: Our last album was very well received by fans and critics alike. The audience reaction, especially at smaller venues, is always very encouraging. You can tell people are interested in our music. Of course this motivates us to keep going and write new material. I think we're on the right track with our brand of death metal, even if we're entering a rather unusual segment of the local scene.
T: How did your latest CD."Before Whom Evil Trembles" go? I hear a very technical evolution in sound and more brutal at the same time. What do you think about it?
Christopher: We tried to enhance the style of OSDM combined with a technical set up. We think we could improve the sound in that way, good to hear that you have the same feeling about.
You have to mention that the mastering has been one by Christoph Brandes of Iguana Studios in Germany. Like Paolo for the artwork Christoph was absolutely the right person for this Album.
Oliver: I think, we grew together much closer as a band after the first album and honestly rehearsed even harder during Covid times. Also, I always tried to improving my songwriting and featuring new and unexpected elements. And as well, we definitely improved our playing techniques in general. All this surely pays off on the new record. I also tried to compose the songs to be more ‘listenable’, and I hope I succeeded. I think we all can agree that ‘Before Whom Evil Trembles’ sounds more mature than ‘The Invocation of the Deathless One’,. Last but not least because of the tight and brutal mix and mastering by Christoph.
T: What can you tell us about the Zwickau, German scene and why is it somewhat less known than other scenes in Europe?
Christopher: Well the scene has been stronger in or region in the early 90`s. There has been a lot of great bands playing close to our home town, for example in the “Ratskeller Fraureuth”. But that was before our time, we were just too young to attend these glorious concerts. Now we still have some good bands which came from Zwickau or the closer areas.
T: What other bands in your Country Germany see future projection on the local scene?
Christopher: The first local Band that comes in my mind is ARCHAIC THORN. They are good friends of us and they will have a new album out this autumn via High Roller Records, so stay focused! Then there are a few bands that we have shared the stage with beside AT, just as INCREMATE, PURGATORY or BLACK THYRIA.
T: What do you think of the national death metal scene in your country?
Oliver: The death metal scene in Germany is relatively strong, and there are a huge number of bands. Although it does vary regionally. There are strongholds for death metal, as well as for black and thrash metal. A veteran of the death metal scene, PURGATORY, actually comes from our state of Saxony, and we've had the pleasure of sharing the stage with them several times in the past. I think the underground scene is similarly strong in other regions of Germany.
T: What continues to motivate the band to stay active on the Germany and world extreme scene?
Oliver: As I said the scene is very active in our country, with many festivals and touring opportunities. Naturally, the sheer number of bands here also makes it difficult to get into good lineups. But it also opens up new opportunities for us to remain active in the underground. I think what motivates us most is the desire to release excellent, atmospheric albums and deliver awesome concert performances. All of this for the underground fans who appreciate good music. We also want to make a name for ourselves in the scene so we can play at more festivals in Germany and neighboring countries in the future.
T: Would you like to come to South America one day? And to be able to publicize his music more?
Christopher: Of course South America has some really great bands; therefor it would be a pleasure to play live in this country. For now this sounds more or less like a dream to us but you never know, maybe one day it happens. By the way due the global distribution of W.A.R. and its partner labels, it is now able to get our new record “Before D Z Evil Trembles” in Mexico (via Chaos Records) and Brazil (via Old Shadows Records).
T: What is the new thing that APEP is preparing to record?
Oliver: You could say we're already working on a new release. At the moment, I'm gathering ideas and composing. We're also arranging a first song. But we're still in the very early stages of the writing and production process. It usually takes a few years from this point until the material for a full album is ready. Maybe next year we can test first new songs live and see how the audience reacts. But it will be a while before we can announce anything about our progress. We're working. Slowly, but we're working.
T: Thank you so much for taking the time to answer the interview for “The Legion Of TchorT” 'Zine. Any last words for our reader's? Where can our readers get merchandise from your band?
Christopher: Thanks Tchort for giving us the opportunity to say a few words about our latest release, we really it. Cheers to all the metal maniacs in South America.
Oliver: Thank you for the interview. We would really appreciate it if you would listen to our latest album, "Before Whom Evil Trembles." For all fans in Peru and South America who want to support us and are looking for merchandise, follow us on Bandcamp. Enjoy our music!
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