Thursday, December 27, 2012

Beheaded (Death Metal from Malta)


Official Facebook Page - http://www.facebook.com/BeheadedMT

2011-2012 :- Work on the new album entitled ‘NEVER TO DAWN’ has been completed. Music was recorded at Temple Studios Malta while vocals were recorded at 16th Cellar Studio in Rome (Italy) with producer Stefano Morabito, alongside mixing and mastering of the album.

The set date for the official release of NEVER TO DAWN is set to November 6th 2012 via Unique Leader Records.

2009-2011:- Beheaded regrouped its writing core and started stitching together the successor to Ominous Bloodline. Along Chris (Drums), Omar (guitars) and Dave (bass) the band welcomed Frank (vocals) and Robert (guitars) to its fold. The new line up which without doubt is one of the strongest since the band’s inception started work on the successor of ‘Ominous Bloodline’ whilst hitting the road once a number of times again taking the stage at festivals such as Neurotic Death Fest, Death Feast Open Air, Mountains of Death.

2004 – 2008  :- Beheaded inked a new record deal with US label Unique Leader Records in April ’04. The ‘Ominous Bloodline’ album was recorded in July / August ’04, at Temple Studios, Malta and Mastered at Imperial Mastering US. Ominous Bloodline featured praised tracks like ‘Esoteric Kin’, ‘Conceived to Dominate’ and ‘Rooted in Profundity’. The album was launched officially on March 8th, 2005. It marked a significant step forward for Beheaded on all fronts. Lots of touring and festival presences followed and the album was received with great acclaim in the death metal circuit. Ominous Bloodline nailed the band in the major league of extreme music.

2002 – 2004  :- Early 2002 saw the release of ‘Recounts of Disembodiment’ on Denmark’s Mighty Music, an album which went down exceptionally well with the followers of this extreme form of music. Positive reviews cropped up from every where in every country, and countless of interviews were done in numerous underground publications. A 9/10 review in Terrorizer made the band’s day for sure! Mighty Music also licensed the Resurgence of Oblivion MCD, and Recounts of Disembodiment CD to US label Forever Underground Records. April and May 2002 was the time when the first US tour took place. Such tour included over 20 shows and boasted appearances at the Ohio Deathfest and New Jersey Metal Meltdown. Way back to Europe, Beheaded took part in the F*ck the Commerce V festival in Germany. The band’s sheer brutality on stage was something that was praised by many. 2004 saw the band hit the European roads again on the ‘Beheaded Europe with Prejudice Tour’ along friends and Belgian maimers Prejudice.

 1999 – 2001 :- A promo disc was recorded in 1999. The 5 tracks on the promo captured the attention of several record labels. However, the band opted to sign with Danish Label Mighty Music. The same five tracks were released as the Resurgence of Oblivion Mini CD. Such release left its indelible mark in the brutal underground scene and was again praised in countless publications. The new songs also went down extremely well during live performances. Enter 2001. During this year Beheaded wrote all songs for the upcoming ‘Recounts of Disembodiment’ full Length in between January and May ’01. The recording took place once again at Temple Studios in June’01, with friend and sound engineer, David Vella behind the mixing desk. ‘The European Extermination Tour’ took place allover Europe in July ’01 which saw Beheaded headlining alongside label mates Anasarca. Beheaded pounded the Obscene Extreme Festival (CZ) stage whilst on tour. 2001 was the year when Chris got endorsed by Paiste Cymbals for his abilities behind the skins.

1996 - 1999 :- 1996 saw the band signing its first Record Deal with Sweden’s X-Treme Records. The first official full length was recorded at Temple Studios in June 1996. Unforeseen hindrances determined that the CD saw its release in early 1998! Even so, the release was again praised in countless reviews including a 4K/5K review in Kerrang, and 7/10 review in Terrorizer. Summer 1998 also saw the band embark for the first time outside Maltese shores to play shows in Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Germany. During this tour the band played opening shows for Vader, Dying Fetus, Defaced Creation and Deranged, as well as gigs with Fleshless. New material started to outline a more brutal and heavy approach in the songs.

1991 – 1995  :- Original formation of the band. Sending caustic shock waves to the local music scene by delivering blistering death/grind assaults, Beheaded has breathed fire ever since. Set in Malta, an island, in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, the quintet stood firm, against all the odds, and narrow mindedness such an environment generated. Confrontations were the order of the day. A demo tape called ‘Souldead’ was released in 1995 which put Malta on the extreme music map. Souldead was made to circulate strongly in the fanzine / tape trading circuits of the era.


Kshitiz - Hello guys, what are u guys doing nowadays ?
Frank & Omar - Hello and thanks for having us for this interview. We are doing well, closing off 2012 which has been a very positive and active year for Beheaded culminated by the release of the new album ‘Never To Dawn’ which by itself has involved a lot of work. We’re preparing ourselves and looking forward to a busier 2013.

Kshitiz - Tell the E.U.M.S.N (our community) Followers about your band and the journey till today in brief. Where are you guys from ? How did u be a part of the band ?
Frank & Omar - I personally joined Beheaded in 2009 so I’m the newest member whilst the rest of the guys have been there for much longer. Beheaded has been active since 1991 which means over 20 years and before joining I followed the band as a fan. Coming from an island like Malta for a death metal band to survive so long it means overcoming unimaginable obstacles and adversities on so many levels but Beheaded did pull through so far and I believe there is still much more to come.

Kshitiz - What are the main lyrical themes or topics in most of your songs?
Frank & Omar - I’ll speak about ‘Never To Dawn’ as I’ve contributed the lyrics for the album which is loosely inspired by the concept of Atlantis and focuses on the element of water as the source of life which our world depends on to survive. Water at the same time is a destructive force and the songs are connected by this running theme of a surreal world. Malta being a small island and the constrictions ‘water’ can bring upon you the theme is something we could somehow connect to in a more personal level.

Kshitiz -What has been the biggest obstacle in your journey with the band ? How did u overcome the obstacle ?
Frank & Omar - The biggest obstacles are being from Malta and having opportunities to grow abroad, the fact alone that to go abroad to perform one has to fly over is already a mountain to climb, personally, financially, logistically being from Malta for a metal band, or any musician makes things much more difficult. However we have always managed to find ways and means to overcome this hurdle and play outside Maltese shores on a regular basis.

Kshitiz - What do u like the most about the Death metal community ? What inspired you to be a part of it?
Frank & Omar -Well death metal is to us the medium through which we express our artistic abilities. The sheer heaviness and technique involved in the music is something we feel most at ease with. Meeting likeminded people from different areas of the globe makes it even more interesting. We have made so many friends from all over through music and we consider it as something really positive and in a way it has kept the fire burning for all these years. Basically it’s the music combined with the friendship that has kept us part of the scene throughout these past two decades already.


Kshitiz - Which is the most recent album you've heard that impressed you the most ?
Frank & Omar - It’s hard to say. There have been a lot of good releases lately. The new Suffocation is sounding promising. The new Sinister is also good and I’m really looking forward for the new Pyrexia, who I consider as the forefathers of New York death metal along Suffocation. We’ll be hitting the road with Pyrexia in March during the ‘Castigating Europe’ tour. So that’s something we’re really looking forward to.

Kshitiz - How do u guys feel about playing in Nepal, would it be possible in the near future ?
Frank & Omar - I would never decline an opportunity to play in a place, in which we never played before. If the right conditions would arise, we’d be more than happy to play in Nepal.

Kshitiz - What do you wanna tell your fans and supporters ?
Frank & Omar - Keep an eye on our face-book page here www.myspace.com/BeheadedMT and check the tour dates for our upcoming tour with Pyrexia in March 2013. We’ll be hitting most of Europe including UK, so we’re looking forward to that. More touring is being planned for later on in the year. In September we’ll be playing in Australia and other countries.

Kshitiz - Any new stuffs we, the fans can expect from Beheaded this new year ?
Frank & Omar - Basically we’d like to play live as much as possible and give a good exposure to our latest album Never to Dawn, which was released last month. The general feedback has been very positive so far and we’d like to continue building on this feedback. We’ll start to write the next record.

Kshitiz - Anything you would like to tell apart from what i have asked you during this interview ?
Frank & Omar
- I would like to extend my best wishes for the new year 2013 to all involved in E.U.M.S.N. Without people like you, the scene would wither away. Hence, we really appreciate your involvement and support. Please check out our web store, accessible through our face-book page at www.facebook.com/BeheadedMT . Thanks again for sparing some space for us – appreciated.

Kshitiz - Thanks for giving your valuable time for this interview. Eumsn wishes you and your band the very best in upcoming days. Much love and respect. Cheers !! \m/
Frank & Omar - Respect from all in Beheaded.


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