-- Putrid Inbred gets shredded --

21/10/2016
Stijn Daneels
Putrid Inbred is a band I've known since 2013. And since then, I've had an annual encounter with these five cannibal cooks. And during Paul's Metal Fest in JC Den Ast in August 6, 2016, me and the guys went up close and personal for an interview. (I decided to put this interview on hold for a while as it fits perfectly for the Halloween season)

So what's on the menu, you ask? The ups and downs Putrid Inbred have experienced over their long musical career, a possible upcoming second album, the band's big distaste for social media and the band's equally big taste for human kidneys, fried Frenchmen and anal bleaching. Plus a reference to a certain famous fictional cannibal. ;) 
PICTURES OF THE BAND IN ACTION WILL BE ADDED SOON.

BMS: Tell me, Putrid Inbreds, is this your first time playing in West-Flanders?
Peutie: Not at all. We've already played in Roeselare and plenty of other places.
Kristof: We've actually been around for a long time. Peutie and I began Putrid Inbred in 1997 and the band's lineup has remained pretty consistent for the past ten years. Except for Lieven, who used to be our second guitarist. However, we've played pretty much everywhere in Belgium since Putrid Inbred began!
BMS: Did you like playing here in Heule?
Kristof: We certainly did. Despite the early hour a lot of people came to see us and they went crazy to our music. Yeah, we also saw you in the crowd moshing the place up!
BMS: Well, I was standing in front of the stage so I was hard to miss (in the figurative sense, that is!).
Peutie: It doesn't happen often that the opening bands get that big an audience. Too bad there was no stage diving. That would've been the blood icing on the flesh cake!
BMS: So how do you get the ideas for those wild songs like Fried French and the Art of Cooking Human Kidneys?
Peutie: It's because we're cannibals and we love a good meal!
BMS: I remember one guy who personally came to my home to criticize my work. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti!
Peutie: Ok, let's get serious. We love dark, morbid humor and we want to have fun on stage and therefore make our songs so gory and over-the-top that it becomes campy! But we don't base our themes on real-life events neither do we metaphor certain aspects of life. When we think about songs to write we let our wildest fantasies do the job for us!


Putrid Inbred from left to right: Jonas (bass), Steven (vocals), Kristof (drums), Mike (guitar) and Peutie (vocals).
BMS: In 2007 you released Scavenger. I'd say you guys have written a lot of new stuff since then, right?
Kristof: We really want to produce a new album but it's fucking expensive! And nowadays few people actually buy albums. I recall when we were printing our copies for the Scavenger. We hadn't yet received our physical copies but the album itself was already available for download on various piracy websites! It's fucking disgraceful! Still, we received a lot of critical praise for Scavenger and we eventually sold out all copies of the album.
Jonas: But to answer your question, we did write a ton of new stuff since Scavenger. Some of our more recent songs dive into grindcore territory while others are more technical. We still retain the gory humor from our previous work, though. So don't expect us to come singing about flowers (unless they get burned), birds (unless they get decapitated) or alcohol (unless it's about dying from liver poisoning).
BMS: So what songs do you prefer to play in front of a live crowd?
Jonas: When we play live, we present our recent material. Our current setlist only retains about three songs from the Scavenger era and earlier. We want to give people an accurate, up-to-date impression of our band. Plus we've got tired of constantly recycling our old material.

Peutie: You've got to realize that we used to do a LOT of shows back when Lieven, our secondary guitarist, was part of Putrid Inbred. I'm talking about two or three shows a month! Eventually Lieven decided to quit the band to focus on his family and his departure forced us to cancel several shows which hurt Putrid Inbred's popularity!

Peutie: It was also around that time that Facebook and other social media began slithering its way into society and let's say that we don't like all that virtual chitchat very much. We rather go out and meet people personally rather than wasting our precious time behind the screen of a computer or smartphone!
Jonas: I do try to adapt to the social media craze. It helps to promote the band.
BMS: I don't use Facebook a lot either. Just to promote my webzine and to see what events will be taking place during the following weekends. All my interviews I've done thus far have always been up close and personal.
Peutie: I like talking to people. And it feels so much better and natural to talk to people using your mouth rather than your fingers!
Kristof: Our lack of social media exposure also caused Putrid Inbred to become more obscure over time. You know, at the peak of our popularity, we would've headlined this festival! Although nowadays we still have a dedicated cult following! One final issue we face as a band is our musical style. Some promoters like Obscene Extreme think we're too soft for their festival and most Belgian festivals think we're too heavy for the average headbanger's tastes.
BMS: That's weird, I'd say you're pretty extreme while still maintaining melody and technique. You guys deserve much more recognition in my opinion.
Peutie: Thank you, Stijn! But I am thankful that many fun loving people come to see us when we play a show even now that we don't play as frequently as we did before!
BMS: I've already seen Putrid Inbred about four times over the years and I agree, Peutie, you folks can easily ignite a frenzy in the crowd!
Kristof: All five of us still enjoy being part of Putrid Inbred. We go out, we play our show and we have a few drinks. And we rehearse each Sunday before we have a few more drinks! We're glad to see that people enjoy our music as much as we enjoy making it, but they don't make or break the band! As long as all five of us remain motivated, Putrid Inbred will continue! Just keep a few drinks in the fridge for us!
BMS: That's a great speech, Kristof! Now what are your other activities aside from cooking human kidneys?
Jonas: I also play bass in a recently founded band called ExoGenesist. The band's style is symphonic death metal. Currently the band is writing songs and we hope to start doing shows next year. And I'm also rebuilding my home.
Steven: I love travelling the world and going to a lot of concerts. Thanks to all that travelling I met my wife, Maiko, who's Japanese.
Mike: My full-time job slurps up a lot of my time.
BMS: And how about you, Kristof?
Kristof: I'm an old geezer. And since I've got a wife and a seventeen year old daughter to take care of, I'm focusing all of my free time either on my family or on Putrid Inbred. That's all!
Peutie: I'm also a family man. I've got four kids, twin daughters and twin sons, five and three years old respectively. Reading graphic novels is also a big interest of mine, particularly sci-fi and supernatural stories. No Marvel or DC comics! In addition I do vocals for a similarly themed and styled death metal band called Steengruis, occasionally both Putrid Inbred and Steengruis play during the same night.
BMS: What are your personal favorite Putrid Inbred songs?
Peutie: I enjoy every Putrid Inbred song expect for the very early material. I pretend to forget we ever wrote such bland, boring crap! Kristof: Eat Shit and Scavenger are fan-favorites during shows. Other fun tracks for me are Anal Bleaching Gone Wrong and Backstroke in a Septic Tank.
Mike: I've got a similar preference to Kristof's.
Steven: For me Anal Bleaching as well as the song I Collect Hemorrhoids.
Jonas: I absolutely love Fried French. Both the song and the meal!
Peutie: Fried French? Man! I want to get rid of the song, but I can't because our fans and my fellow band members love it!
BMS: So you'd rather have Fried Belgian, Fried Dutch or Fried Japanese?
Peutie: Ha! I was just kidding! No, I enjoy every song that gets my blood pumping and my bowels ready to explode! And that includes all fried stuff!
BMS: Later this month you'll be going to Slovenia, tell me how the show has come to be.
Jonas: I've been visiting the Metal Days in Slovenia for the past eight years. And during such events one makes new friends and so I met a couple of Slovenians who play in a band called Valuk and they invited us to join their show.
BMS: I hope to visit the Metal Days somewhere in the near future. Although I'll have to save some time and money for the trip. I do know several people who've already been there and they all said it's a fantastic experience!
BMS: Is there anything else you Inbreds still want to share?
Kristof: We're currently training a young newcomer named Jeroen to become Putrid Inbred's next second guitarist. He has potential and we hope that he'll be willing to work with us for a long time.
Peutie: A couple more shows and we'll have enough money to spend on recording a new album. Maybe you can help us with that?
BMS: I'll see what I can do. In any case, you have my full support. ;) And anything else?
Peutie: Do you know why Napoleon was always wearing braces?
BMS: No. You tell me!
Peutie: Otherwise he'd be caught with his pants down!
BMS: Ha, ha, ha! A joke so bad it's good! See you later, fellow Inbreds!
Putrid Inbred - Scavenger