Degenerate

Not part of a generation of degenerated

Time to present some young blood again. Degenerate come from Pietarsaari, Finland and have released two demos to this day. The band's metal isn't genre dependent, but is made of thrash and death metals among other things. Archaic Metallurgy contacted Degenerate via e-mail and guitarist Mikael Ekstedt answered back.

AM: Could you tell Degenerate's history? Why such a negative band name?

Mikael: Founded in Pietarsaari, Finland around 1998 by guitarists Mikael Ekstedt and Andreas Backa plus a drummer who's no longer in the band.
Degenerate wasn't really born until we started up things again in the end of 2002 after a break. In the summer of 2003 we had to replace the drummer because the old one seemed like he wanted to do other things rather than rehearse with the band. The drummer change was successful and we got a better drummer than before.
In November of 2003 we headed for Lappfjärd Folkhögskola to record our first demo, containing 4 songs which got pretty good reviews overall.
We decided to record another demo in the spring of 2004 since we could do it for almost no cost at all and have something to do at the same time. The
drums were recorded yet again at Lappfjärd Folkhögskola and the rest of the instruments at our rehearsal place. Some people seem to like this recording as well.
The band name doesn't sound negative to me at all, I think it fits the music quite well. It's up to yourself how you perceive it. We just decided to take that name when we recorded the first demo, there hasn't been any reason to change it.

AM: About the demos, then. How have metalheads received them? How much demos have you sent out and have you got any feedback from record companies?

Mikael: The demo CD's have mostly gone to friends and to a few webzines for reviewing purposes. We haven't sold a lot of them anyway, people doesn't seem to take a great interest in demos. Quite a few promo packages has been sent to labels. We'll just wait and see what happens in the future. There is some light at the end of the tunnel though, in form of interest from a small label.

AM: As Degenerate are such a young band yet players are skilled, have they played in other bands prior to Degenerate?

All the guys have played in local (and unknown) bands before. This is just about the only band I have ever been in. The vocalist plus the other guitar player had a blackish metal band a long time ago, the bass player was in a similar band also earlier.

AM: What bands and artist have influenced Degenerate guys? And is there any influences outside music?

Mikael: A few bands that have influenced me personally are At The Gates, Carcass, Death, Iron Maiden, Dark Tranquillity, Soilwork and Testament. I'd say mostly death and thrash in general for me, I don't think there are any influences outside the music for me except the joy of playing heavy and quite technical music.
The rest of the band listens to everything from Emperor and Mayhem to Slipknot, Symphony X and Slayer.

AM: How is Degenerate's music born?

Mikael: Usually I make up all the riffs and parts at home and arrange them into a song, I always record a harsh demo of the song on my computer (with guitars and drum machine) at home and play it to the other guys and we take it from there. Sometimes things might change a bit before a song is ready, like some parts are slightly modified or a riff/solo/melody order are changed around to fit the song better. The songs are usually planned carefully right from the start. The vocals are always the last thing to come into a song.

AM: Do Degenerate guys play in other bands now?

Mikael: The other guitar player and the drummer is involved in another band, a pop/folk/irish-oriented band. That's about it.

AM: Lyrical themes seem to be quite diverse, when judging by the song titles. Urban angst and E.A. Poe's poem inspired texts for example. What else? Where the themes come from an is there a red thread running through all the lyrics?

Mikael: All the lyrics comes from the vocalist, he describes them like this; looking upon the world, the lyrical content of the songs are not directly linked together but deal with similar topics. They are written with some time in between so you can perceive them in more than one way. The lyrics are done in such a way so you can apply them to a different situation other than what was originally intended.

AM: How is Degenerate's live concert side?

Mikael: We've had only one gig so far, here in Pietarsaari last summer. It would be nice with some more gigs though. Unfortunately there aren't so many opportunities to play metal music live around here.

AM: I noticed your vocalist Jacob lives in Sweden. How's rehearsing?

Mikael: Yeah, Jacob is in school in Sweden, but the rest of us rehearse two three times a week.

AM: What about the band's near future?

Mikael: The number one goal right now is to get some kind of a record deal with a label. If that happens then also to record an album, hopefully during the coming winter. More gigs in the future would also be fun.

AM: Anything else you feel need to mention?

Mikael: Buy our demos if you like this type of music, as we have some left to get rid off =) If not then check out the mp3's on our webpage www.degenerate.nu. Spam the guestbook if you like!

Degenerate (from left to right): Jacob Ericsson (vocals), Andreas Backa (guitars), Markus Rosenberg (drums), Mikael Ekstedt (guitars), Mathias Lillmåns (bass, backing vocals).

11/09/2004 12:41