Interview with Bob of Asphyx 2008

By Bradley Smith

Can you tell about the events that led up to the Reformation of one of Holland’s most legendary acts?  How did the Party San concert go?  I read that you thought it was one of your best shows. 

Bob-Jarne from the Party San phoned me in September 2006 and asked me if I wanted to reform Asphyx for the 2007 edition of the Party San.  At first I had my doubts but after he asked several times again I phoned Martin and he was very excited about the idea as he wanted to do something with Asphyx again for a while.  Just playing simple brutal Death Metal.  Well, Eric (Daniels) couldn't make it so Martin met Paul, which he was already playing with in Hail of Bullets at that time.  Paul said to Martin he wanted to do the job as it would be a big honour for him since Paul was an all time fan of the band.  So after a meeting we started to rehearse and there was that special click again, the one you really need to achieve something.  Then, of course, Wannes said yes as well, since he was in the last Asphyx line-up so there it is.  The Party San show was awesome! We'll never forget that one.  That's for sure! We got a brilliant and warm response over there.  Special!  It was one of THE best things we ever did.  A very special feeling.

Your new EP should be out before too long.  Can you tell me a little about what it will feature and how it will sound?  Can we expect more new recorded material after that?  Perhaps a new album?  Or is that still out of the question?  It seems the fans are hungry for something new.

Bob-In fact, it is out today.  Just got the message a few hours ago.  It will feature a new track called "Death...the Brutal Way" and a cover of Celtic Frost's "Os Abysmi Vel Daath".  It sounds very raw, primitive and brutal, what else?  We have 6 songs ready so far and in a few weeks we'll record some more tracks as a try-out.  We're working on a new album indeed.  But we'll take our time.  The release should be somewhere in 2009.

Can you tell us about the Celtic Frost cover comp that you participated in?  What song did you cover and why?  What other bands are featured?  How do you feel now that it looks like CF is over once again, or at least it will continue without Tom?

Bob-The CF cover we did was, as said, "Os Abysmi Vel Daath", and was for a Century Media anniversary comp.  I don't know nothing about a CF comp however.  But we also used the track for the B side of our 7" EP.

CF without Tom is not CF and has no right to exist in my humble opinion.  Too bad they ended their short re-start since "Monotheist" is a great album.

Can you describe how the Death of Theo Loomans affected you and the band?   How important is it to have the blessing from Eric for Paul?  How does he fill Eric’s shoes in obtaining that raw feeling required for Asphyx?

Bob-Well, it got to me quite heavily at that time.  It was weird to see him lying in his casket.  That was heavy.  Both Eric and me went to the funeral.  But his sudden death did not affect the band since Asphyx already split up then.  At that time we're playing in Soulburn.  Eric's blessing was a good thing for Paul and us, since we're still good friends.  We even had a jamming session a while back.  Paul does a great job replacing Eric.  Paul's guitar sound is similar to Eric's, a bit heavier even!  Rawness to the bone again.

It's still 100%  Asphyx, and I must say that our new songs are probably the most brutal and rawest we ever did.  I know that every DM is saying this, but it's simply true.  Even more to the bone.  A brutal mixture between The Rack and The Last One on Earth.

What is the problem with Death metal these days?  It seems that everyone is caught up in playing really fast and technical and not concentrating on morbid atmospheres and such. 

Bob-Exactly, these days Death Metal lost his original feeling.  Most bands are only concentrating on technical hocus pocus bullshit and try to "overspeed" each other without really caring about the actual song and morbid atmosphere at all.  1200 riffs in one song is not what I call the real essence of Death Metal at all.  Fuck that! No, we better stick to our roots.  But luckily we still have great bands around like Coffins, Necros Christos, Pagan Rites, Funeral, Nocturnal Vomit, Pentacle and now Hail of Bullets.  They know what real Death Metal is all about.  So we better concentrate on those ones instead.

There seems to be a good relationship between Asphyx and Hail of Bullets, especially with Martin playing in both.  There are so many great bands throughout the Dutch metal scene’s history.  What are some of your faves and why?  And why do you feel that the Pestilence reunion is a joke?

Bob-Yes, we're good friends indeed. We're all Death Metal veterans and have 100% respect for each other and drink some beers together as well.  That's the way it should be.

My fave Dutch Death Metal band of all time is without a doubt Sempiternal Deathreign.  They blew my away with their "Creepshow" demo in 1988, and in 1989 with their "The Spooky Gloom" lp.  We had the honour to play with them in 1989.  They we're, in fact, a little inspiration for Asphyx as well.

Then I really like Hail of Bullets 'coz it's simply great old school Death Metal, I also really like Pestilence-Consuming Impulse since it's an excellent album with great songs and sound, Pentacle of the old school feeling, God Dethroned, Severe Torture and of course Gorefest, their latest album Rise to Ruin is excellent!  Also I really like Sinister alot-Cross the Styx-is still one of my fave albums from Holland. Also the old Houwitser is great!

The Pestilence Reunion is a joke because it seems they only play their latest Spheres technical crap.  The C187 was a flop and suddenly there is Pestilence again.  Pestilence without Martin is like a zombie movie without zombies and they turned their back on Death Metal with Spheres and didn't mind saying so as well.  Pathetic!

Being as Asphyx has been around so long and recorded albums with so many different line-ups, can you give me a short perspective on each of them from your point of view?  I mean how do you feel about each of them within the career of Asphyx?

Bob-Asphyx-Embrace the Death: A very dark, heavy and evil atmosphere sounding album which I still like alot.  It was very Satanic as well.  At that time we we're totally dedicated to the occult.  That album never was truly mixed, and now it's for the better, I think.  It fits the atmosphere perfectly.

Asphyx-The Rack: A milestone which seems to have the classic status these days.  I think it's still one of the rawest and purest Death Metal albums in history.  Totally unpolished and simplistic Death Metal.  It was recorded on only 8 tracks, 80% live in the rehearsal room/studio, which was still in progress.  We're recording in between bricks and cement!  The whole album only cost like $1500,so it's also probably THE cheapest Death Metal recording/album on a major record company.  I remember that we we're at the Century Media office and that the label boss started the DAT tape deck and thought that we we're making a joke.  He said "haha, funny, but where's the real studio recording?"  We said that it was actually the real recording and the man almost started to cry like "This can't be true!! This sounds horrible!!  Where is the production???!!!  And we have not enough time to re-record the whole thing! Aaarrgghh!!"  So we said that this was our sound and that Asphyx was/is a pure and unpolished Death Metal band and this was/is the way it stayed as well.  Later on we sold like 80.000 copies of The Rack and we saw only smiling faces afterwards...

Asphyx-The Last One on Earth: The very heavy and brutal follow up of The Rack.  This time the production was better but also even more brutal.  I still think this is the best Asphyx recording to date.  Also seems to have the classic status as well.

Asphyx-Crush the Cenotaph EP: Good songs but a crappy production.  This sounds not like Asphyx thanx to that shithole of a "producer".  We still say "BRING US HIS HEAD ON A PLATE!!!".

Asphyx-Asphyx: I don't play on it and I'm not into it because of it.  Still it's a good album, but the vocals are horrible.  It has some demo songs on it.

Asphyx-God Cries: A dark album, but I have not the "click" with it.  I liked it alot at the time but it got lost on the way.  Theo's latest appearance however, so that makes it special again.  It was his personal album and a forecast to what was about to happen to him.....

Asphyx-On the Wings of Inferno: A typical Asphyx album, raw and to the bone, but the production lacks a bit.  It was with Wannes on vocals were he did a great job.

So many different lyrical topics surface within the underground.  When it comes to death metal in general what do you think are acceptable topics for lyrical content?  What types of lyrics do you hate!

Bob-For Death Metal I still think that Horror/torture/pain/Chainsaws/meatcleavers/axes/graveyards/zombies etc are THE lyrics for a Death Metal band.  They make one with the music.  Acceptable topics are world downfall and annihilation topics.  I really hated political stuff, but when brought the brutal way it's totally fine with me.  Like our own "Serenade in Lead".  That's brought extremely brutal so that one is great!

As a drummer, who are some of your greatest inspirations?  Whose drumming made you desire to be a drummer and when did you first pick up the sticks and sit behind the kit?  Does a drum kit still hold the same pleasure and magic for you as when you were younger?  Also what equipment do you currently use?

Bob-They are Abaddon(Venom), Steven Priestly(old Celtic Frost), Chris Witchhunter(old Sodom), Joe Blazer(old Necrophagia) and Dr.Blasbeat(Majesty).  Certainly not the best drummer around, like myself, but with a great dedication and feeling to it.  They inspired me alot and I made all their styles combined to my own.  I first started drumming in 1987 when I started Asphyx at the same time.  The Drum kit still holds the same pleasure as back in the days.  I'm not into technical stuff, I disgust that, but I'm always happy if I play the typical Death Metal polka's or the doomy stuff.  Hell yes!  My kit is still the same as the one in 1987(that's real old school), it's a black Pearl Export double bass, Sabian cymbals.

Now that you have resurrected Asphyx do you feel it has that “band” feeling to it?  What is important about a band feeling and how does that inspire you to create music?

Bob-Yes, definitely! 100%!  Perhaps even more then in the days.  We have alot of fun.

There has to be that special kind of magic, can't describe it really, to get excited about your own songs and also the new ones.  Not just rehearsing because of it, but also because we like to turn in up LOUD in the rehearsal place and get freaked out by it as well.  Looking forward to the rehearsal because we want to play!  Playing our Death the Brutal Way!

Thinking back to the cover of Last One on Earth, it made me think of the current rise in Zombie movies.  Do you watch horror movies and zombie movies in particular?  What are some of your favourites from the genre?  Which modern ones do you hate?

Bob-Yes, I'm totally into gore/horror movies.  Always was and always will be.  My favourites are Evil Dead, Zombie Holocaust, Zombie 2 and 3, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Night of the living dead trilogy, Phenomena, The New York Ripper, The Beyond, City Of the Living Dead, House by the Cemetery, all the Friday the 13th's etc.

I hate those modern ones with all those computer blood graphics like The Hills Have Eyes part 2 for instance.  It has no atmosphere at all, but then again, nothing can beat the late 70's and early 80's gore movies.

Aside from what we already discussed earlier in the interview, what are some of the future plans for Asphyx?  What about you personally?

Bob-We're busy writing new songs, 6 are done, 2-3 to go.  We'll do some festivals (29th of August the Hole in the Sky festival in Norway) and some cool club shows.  Not too much, it must be special and interesting.  Me personally, I'm also busy in my personal life since I have kids, 2 sons, which keep me busy.  But that's good fun and since they both are into Death Metal (they play the latest Coffins album everyday in their room) it's noisy all the time here, haha!

I’ll leave any final words of disgust to you.

Thanx to you, Brad, for this cool interview!  I've enjoyed doing it!  And remember...Death...the Brutal Way!