-- Primal Creation gets shredded --
22/10/2019
Stijn Daneels
Interview
conducted and written by Glenn “Terra Shredder” Van Bockstaele with assistance
from Anton De Prijck (who made the final photograph).
Primal Creation is a Belgian thrash metal band formed
in 2007 and who debuted in 2017 with their well-received album “Demockracy.”
(our review of that album: http://belgianmetalshredder.be/reviews/70) This year
they worked their way through the WOA Metal Battle Belgium 2019 contest and
took the victory home! Right after their epic winning performance that day,
Anton and I met up with Primal Creation to talk about the band’s origins, the
making of their “Demockracy” debut, their countless music inspirations and the
importance of working together with other bands.
BMS: Hello there! How did this Primal Creation begin?
Primal Creation: We started in 2007 At the time we were
with 4 guys but we quickly decided to look for a second guitarist to further
beef up our live shows. We had a few lineup changes through the years, with our
vocalist Koen being our newest recruit. He’s been with us since 2014.
Koen (vocalist): Before Primal Creation I did vocals
for bands like Collateral Damage and Incarnate. Playing in those two bands gave
many fun times and a lot of experience which I now put to good use as part of
Primal Creation. And now here we are at the finals of WOA Metal Battle Belgium
2019!
BMS: And I’m
glad we’ve got you here! Tell me, who provides the main songwriting for Primal
Creation?
Primal Creation: everyone in Primal Creation
contributes to the overall songwriting but only Koen writes the lyrics.
BMS: Speaking about the lyrics, I see that there are plenty of political statements in them. Can you tell us something more about that?
Koen (vocalist): I try to maintain an open minded opinion
and when writing lyrics for Primal Creation I want to provide lines that make
people think about the world we’re living in right now. Our band’s main motif
is to “vote clown,” a pretty obvious reference to the hypocrisy of modern-day
politics and the clowns that are running the show. And that’s why during some of
our gigs we have someone acting like a clown politician, wearing a sleek suit,
a clown mask and holding pamphlets that say “DENY GLOBAL WARMING.”
BMS: Well I’m
glad that you did that little vote clown sketch during your show today. And I
have huge respect that you guys go out and give your honest opinion about
contemporary politics.
Primal Creation: Yeah, but let’s not forget that most thrash
metal bands today deal with politics and current-day issues. Think of bands
like Megadeth, Kreator and Sacred Reich. They also see bad things and they use
it to fuel their lyrics. We as Primal Creation aim to provide people with a
good time and mock with the “democracy” we’re living in today. But people don’t
have to agree with everything we say to enjoy our music. You can think about
the lyrics but you can also just come in and bang your head!
BMS: Excellent! Now, tell us something about the artwork of the “Demockracy” album.
The artwork is made by Italian comic book artist Fabio
Listrani (his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/FabioListrani/). We found
him when we were when searching through the internet and we loved his colorful
yet realistic style and so we asked him to make something similar for our
album. The artwork is a reference to an apocalyptic post world war future with
a bunch of kids in a classroom, all wearing gasmasks because of the lethal
pollution. And the hexagram logo stands for “as above, so below,” it has to do
with ratio, freedom and humanism. Plus you can also see the letters P and C in
it, which of course refers to our band name.
BMS: While I
didn’t personally review your album I do dig your stuff a lot! But tell me, how
do you handle criticism to your material?
Primal Creation: We don’t mind criticism, we once read
a review for “Demockracy” in which the reviewer gave the release 57/100 and
while the writer didn’t really specify what he didn’t like about the album, we
still have much respect for his opinion. We remain very self-critical about our
work and we constantly seek feedback to see how we can keep on improving our
sound.
BMS: That’s
a great work ethic! Do you have plans for a second album?
Primal Creation: Yeah, we are in full writing modus
and we’re planning to enter the studio in early 2020.
BMS: Are you
planning to experiment with your sound or will you rather stick to the style
you currently have?
Primal Creation: Good question! Well, our style
consists of a mixture of thrash, death and progressive metal, all inspired by
the music that each one of us is listening to individually. And of course, as
time goes on, we discover new music that may entice us to implement it into
Primal Creation’s sound. So yeah, our music is constantly evolving and who
knows what we may crank out next year!
BMS: Time
for one final question. What shows will you be doing for the remainder of the
year?
Primal Creation: Aside from our major gig at the
Devils Rock For An Angel charity festival this fall we’ll be going on a tour
with 3 other bands, Blow Up from Mons, IANWILL from Lille and Desdemonia from
Luxembourg. We’ll be playing gigs in each of our respective home regions in
order to help each other gain some sweet exposure. And that’s one major advice
that we can give to every band out there, don’t hesitate to work together with
bands from other parts of Belgium or Europe. When you join forces, you and your
friendly bands will all benefit tremendously!
BMS: Very
inspiring words, thank you for the interview! And BTW, congratulations on being
the winner of the Wacken Metal Battle Belgium 2019!
Primal Creation: Thank you so much!
