Photo courtesy of Ván RecordsAchtung, metalpunk freaks! The Voidvod-loving, Fenriz-approved Catalan heavy metal destroyers in Körgull the Exterminator are back with a new album, Reborn from the Ashes—their first new full-length since 2013's Metal Fist Destroyer. This latest foray into extreme metal hell sees the band retain its iron grip on the mangled blend of speed, black, thrash, punk, and straight-up heavy metal it first began to forge back in 2004, crunching and mangling it all together into a lethal dose of high-speed madness. A ripping cover of Razor's "Take This Torch" only sweetens the deal.Ván Records will release Reborn from the Ashes on the 11/27, and we're bringing it to you a little early so you can plan your Satan-sponsored Black Friday record shopping spree in advance. I also sent guitarist Mark Wild a couple of questions via email to talk heavy metal tropes and independence referendums.What was running through your heads as you wrote the songs for this record? Are you more interested in staying true to classic heavy metal ideas—war, violence, speed, metal—or in interpreting those themes in your own way?I really guess we're influenced by the music and mood we are in when composing, but there is no doubt that we look for those classic ideas you mentioned. We don't want to send any messages or things like that; we're really comfortable doing and playing those cliches we've grown with. Anyway, Lilith is really enthusiastic about obscure poems and literature, so her lyrics have a plenty violent and dark aura that fits perfectly with our music.You've kept up an intense release schedule since that first split came out in 2008. How do you keep churning out quality material so quickly? How much of your time do you devote to the band?We rehearse once a week, and we're just a bunch of metalheads that enjoy making music and drinking some beers together, so that's our main inspiration! We never stress out about churning out new songs and never finish a song until we are all satisfied with it… I mean, we have our regular jobs and we only do this for our own pleasure, so why not be honest to ourselves?I know there's a huge squat scene in Barcelona, and that metal/punk crossover seems obvious when you listen to Körgull the Exterminator. How much do metal and punk bleed into each other there?
There is a bunch of bands that feels comfortable mixing metal and punk but not as much as you might think. The Spanish scene is really healthy nowadays, better than ever I think, and it seems it's reaching international recognition. In our area, the scene is fucking strong, especially for extreme metal, but there are also classic heavy metal and extreme bands growing in every single corner of Spain that really deserve a listen! Everything moves in an underground way anyway.How do you feel about the Catalan independence movement?That's a difficult and very usual question nowadays! First of all, we are not a political band, so I can only speak for myself. The fact is that people seems to think that it's a question of hate against Spain, and I can really say it couldn't be further from reality. It's a mixture of two facts; the one is very obvious, that there are people here that have never felt themselves culturally as Spaniards (that's my case!) and the other one is a result of the political situation (and economic crisis, to be honest) we are in now. People here don't have any problem with Spanish people, it's only the Spanish government and its politics of insulting our culture, languague, history, and institutions that is creating more and more independendants every day. Even between people that you couldn't imagine—there are plenty of people born in the rest of Spain that declare themselves for independence, too!Kim Kelly is taking the torch on Twitter.
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Noisey: First off, how did you settle on that particular Razor song? Obviously, Razor rules, but I always wonder about the process of picking out the perfect cover song for a new record. You've previously covered Voivod, Sabbat, and Plasmatics—definitely a diverse list.Mark Wild: Well, in fact, we recorded three covers in that session, and the rest will be used on further splits or special releases. Including a cover in our full-lengths has become some kind of tradition, and we enjoy covering songs from bands that we worship and from all different styles that really inspire our stuff! When listening to the whole album ,we decided that Razor's one was perfect for it;Executioner's Songis an album that impressed me since I was really young, and "Take This Torch" is a fucking anthem. I remember imagining it with Lilith's voice and said, fuck, we must do it!Tell me a little about this new record. 'Reborn from the Ashes' is a perfect blend of speed metal, black metal, and nasty punk rock (and those solos!).Hey, don't forget heavy metal! [Laughs] We haven't changed any of our composing way ,so it's a pure Körgull The Exterminator album. We like to mix all our influences, but I honestly think that we've reached the goal of sounding like ourselves. This one sounds heavier than ever because of the best production we've ever had, but it keeps sounding really straight and in-your-face—that is the only thing that we really enjoy! Must say that we're extremely excited with our deal with Ván Records, too—excited and honored to go into their amazing roster.
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There is a bunch of bands that feels comfortable mixing metal and punk but not as much as you might think. The Spanish scene is really healthy nowadays, better than ever I think, and it seems it's reaching international recognition. In our area, the scene is fucking strong, especially for extreme metal, but there are also classic heavy metal and extreme bands growing in every single corner of Spain that really deserve a listen! Everything moves in an underground way anyway.How do you feel about the Catalan independence movement?That's a difficult and very usual question nowadays! First of all, we are not a political band, so I can only speak for myself. The fact is that people seems to think that it's a question of hate against Spain, and I can really say it couldn't be further from reality. It's a mixture of two facts; the one is very obvious, that there are people here that have never felt themselves culturally as Spaniards (that's my case!) and the other one is a result of the political situation (and economic crisis, to be honest) we are in now. People here don't have any problem with Spanish people, it's only the Spanish government and its politics of insulting our culture, languague, history, and institutions that is creating more and more independendants every day. Even between people that you couldn't imagine—there are plenty of people born in the rest of Spain that declare themselves for independence, too!Kim Kelly is taking the torch on Twitter.