Birmingham Pride - established 2003

Some of the biggest death metal legends come, or came, from the soil of England. However, it has been a long, long time since an English band have risen to the upper levels of the pantheon of death metal music. Birmingham's Sarpanitum have rapidly gained not a little of respect in the British death metal underground. After hearing their debut album 'Despoilment of Origin' released this year, it's clear that the prestige acquired is of royal stature, and totally well-earned. The future will show what the band are capable of, but indications promise a lot. Archaic Metallurgy contacted the band via e-mail to check out the latest news and vocalist/bassist Andy Techakosit gladly revealed some things.

AM: Hails from Finland! First off, congratulations for your fantastically brutal and spellbinding debut full length album 'Despoilment of Origin'. How has things been since the release?

Andy Techakosit: Thanks Lane, we are extremely proud to finally have 'Despoilment of Origin' released through Galactic Records. Presently we've just come back from a short summer break and are looking forward to moving things forward writing material for our second album.

AM: How about the band's live activity lately?

Andy: Currently we're amidst organising a short UK trek later on in the year with another top notch British extreme metal band, at the moment things are in their early stages, but for all who might be interested keep checking www.sarpanitum.com for progress updates.

AM: How has 'Despoilment of Origin' been taken by death metal fan hordes?

Andy: The album has gotten really positive responses and international acclaim from fans and publications alike. We are certainly really pleased with how the fans have taken to our music and we hope it continues to catch the attention of the death and extreme metal scene into the future.

AM: You're writing new material now. How would you compare it with the debut album's songs, if you can give any details as yet?

Andy: The songs so far are sounding really promising; there are certainly elements that will sound familiar to people who are familiar with the band, although I feel the new material holds many new elements that have come with the progression of the band since the first record, as well as with Mark's (Broster, Guitar) introduction to the band last year. The lyrical themes will continue in a similar path with ancient historical concepts running through out, however certainly won't be restricted to Mesopotamian mythology alone.

AM: Sarpanitum's history doesn't go too far in the past. How do you see it yourselves?

Andy: Well, Sarpanitum has certainly been a project that has had many different incarnations since it began as a two-man studio project in 2003. It's taken some time to find a solid line-up due to many unfortunate obstacles such as distances between members, commitment issues, as well as personality clashes.
In 2005 we finally recorded our debut album, and since then left our previous label home and signed a deal with new record label Galactic Records to release 'Despoilment of Origin' and the subsequent follow up.

AM: Can you shed some light on the debut album's lyrical content, please? It's definitely got something more of an uncommon theme for death metal going on on it.

Andy: The seldom mentioned and in someway forgotten Mesopotamian empires struck me as a subject with great potential when fused with death metal. Of course there are others who have or continue to tread a similar lyrical path, such as Melechesh of course, Septic Flesh and even Morbid Angel. However, with Sarpanitum I wanted to convey the chosen mythological stories in a, to some extent, third person or even documentary-esque narrative, rather than merely focusing on the brutality of the era to mould standard death metal lyrics. Don't get me wrong, the violent and barbaric nature of ancient Mesopotamia holds great interest with me, but it certainly isn't what Sarpanitum is about in its entirety.

AM: If the lyrics are more grandiose than usual gore 'n' killing topics, so is the music. What and who are your inspirations?

Andy: Music in my opinion should convey more than just a list of musical influences. I believe inspiration comes in many shapes and forms; from musical influence to books, idealism and even film.
Concentrating on purely music, from the obvious death and black metal entities which inspired us to form an extreme metal band in the first place, to the dark atmospheric dwellings of bands such as Dead Can Dance, Elend, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Tenhi. And from classical compositions by Igor Stravinsky and others to genres far-removed from death metal such as electronic and trip-hop.

AM: Is it hard to be a death metal band in UK nowadays?

Andy: I think it has always been difficult for a UK death metal band to rise to the same fame as the big names that came before them in the 80s and 90s. Reluctance from fans, press and labels has only led to our peers overseas surpassing the UK scene. However, there seems to be a resurgence from bands from these shores which we are proud to be apart of.

AM: So, anything else happening in the near future?

Andy: As I mentioned already, we are now presently continuing to write material for album #2 for Galactic and continuing to promote 'Despoilment of Origin' to the metal world as much as possible.

AM: Is there something you want to say and haven't been asked?

Andy: Thanks again to Lane and all at Archaic Metallurgy for the interest in our band as well as our fans, thank you for the continued support, and be sure to keep an eye on our website for updates. Regards.

AM: Thank you for this brief dive into the world of Sarpanitum, Andy. Good luck for the band. World needs more quality death metal!

Sarpanitum (from left to right): Tom Hyde (guitar), Sean Broster (drums),
Andy Techakosit (vocals/bass), Mark Broster (guitar/vocals).

(Interviewed by Lane.

08/12/2007 10:54