1. Arrogant Destruktor was born in 2012, why did you decide to create the band? And what does the name Arrogant Destruktor refer to?
We decided to create the band just for something to do really. No big plans of world domination of anything, me and A.T worked together and shared a mutual interest in Black Metal. Arrogant Destruktor came from the lyrics of one the first songs we wrote. We liked it and decided it will be an appropriate old school sounding name.
2. In the period 2013-2014 you edit your first two demos and a compilation with both, perhaps being your second demo "Hate Legions Ride!" the one that caused the greatest repercussion. Tell us a bit about the recordings of those first demos? What did these first releases mean for the band? And what role did Anaal Nathrakh and Cancer's drummers play in these early days of the band?
The recordings of the first 2 demos were both done at Carl Stokes' (from Cancer) home studio. Steve who played for Anaal Nathrakh at the time played the drums just as a session musician, emulating what I did on the drum machine on the rough demos I showed him. Wolfspell records offered to re-release the recordings from both demos but wanted 2 new songs, so we recorded "The Rule of Xerxes" and "Black War Machine" . That became "Amidst The Blackest Void." which some people refer to as our first album.
3. At this moment it seems that the band is willing to edit their first album, however in 2016 the one shared with Wrang arrives? How did the possibility of this collaboration arise?
I think we suggested recording a MCD for Wolfspell but they preferred the idea to do a split cd. They had another band lined up to do the split with but they pulled out for some reason... so we suggested Wrang instead.
4. And finally in 2018 comes the edition of your first album “Commandments of War and Necromancy” that we recently reviewed on the blog. Do you feel proud of your first album? How was the composition and recording process for "Commandments of War and Necromancy"?
Yes we are still proud of "Commandments..." I feel it sounds a lot better than the older material, and a good reflection of what we wanted to achieve. The drumming was handled by Anil Carrier (also of Anaal Nathrakh, he replaced Steve in that band too) but again just as a session musican, I showed him exactly how I wanted him to play and he did it. Until then A.T wrote the lyrics and did all the vocals, but this time was I did lyrics and vocals on 2 songs, "War Commander" and "Chapels of Dust". We also did a promo video for the last track on the album "Born of Mountain Mysticism".
5. Your sound goes through terrains and influences of all the primitive black and thrash sounds with a clear reference in the early works of Bathory although bands like Satyricon or Celtic Frost are also represented, at the same time that you give it a personal touch that away from simple imitation, how would you describe the sound of Arrogant Destruktor? And what are for you your main influences in terms of sound?
We get a LOT of Bathory comparisons but in all honesty i don't consider them a primary influence. We take it as a huge compliment though because Bathory is of course fucking legendary. We describe our sound as Black Metal, some people call is Black/Thrash, we don't mind. I suppose we take more influence from stuff like Master's Hammer, the old Greek scene like Necromantia, Rotting Christ, and of course the old noise records bands like Kreator and Celtic Frost that you mentioned.
6. The themes of your lyrics revolve around mythology, fantasy and even cosmology. Where do your interests come from for this theme?
The earlier stuff has those kind of themes. A.T takes care of the lyrics and he doesn't limit himself to what he can write about. Black Metal we feel can be pretty much unlimited in a lyrical context. Since "Comandments" a lot of lyrics deal with war based subject matter too.
7. One of your beginnings Arrogant Destruktor worked as a combo, however you recently came from incorporating Clive Parkinson on drums and Lewis Chrimes (Opus Mortis) on guitar, subsequent additions to the edition of “Commandments of War and Necromancy”, What are these two musicians going to bring you, not only in offering concerts but also when composing songs for a new album?
Arrogant Destruktor has always been me and A.T but we wanted to do some live shows after 8 years of existence so that was our primary reason for expanding the line up. Most likely me and AT will still continue to compose the majority of the material but we will wait and see.
8. And speaking of a new album, I think its release is imminent. What can you tell us about this new album that you are going to edit?
The new album is called "No Fucking Mercy", we recorded it in Birmingham, the title sums it up really, It's more of the same really but there's a bit of variety on there. Some fast stuff, we have a 10 minute epic on there as well so we get and mix it up and keep it interesting, without deviating from our style too much. The album will be released in August.
9. Returning to "Commandments of War and Necromancy" the cover, in my point of view, seems in veiled homage to that of "Blood Fire Death" by Bathory, can there be any kind of parallelism between the two? And who was in charge of the design of the cover and how it relates to music?
The cover artwork was chosen as we wanted it to carry on in a way from the visual theme of "Amidst The Blackest Void" but I'm retrospect I feel they look a bit too similar, so we decided to something a bit different on the new album.
10. "Commandments of War and Necromancy" was released on cassette by Blackwood Productions and later on CD by Total Death Records, however in your early days you worked with Wolfspell Records, are you satisfied with the promotional and editing work of Blackwood Productions and Total Death Records? What have these record labels brought you regarding Wolfspell Records? With whom will you release your new album?
Wolfspell released the first album and split cd with Wrang but I don't think they were interested in "Commandments" for whatever reason but Total Death offered to put it out as they knew us previously, they stocked our stuff in their distro....For "No Fucking Mercy" Void Wanderer will release the CD version, and Analög Ragnarök will release a limited cassette version. The cassettes that they have previously done are some of the nicest tapes I've seen so I'm especially looking forward to that.
11. In what way has the emergence of the Covid-19 affected you on your professional level as a band?
Well we recorded the new album in January, and mixed it in March. Also we were rehearsing for a live set with the new members and things were progressing well... and then lockdown happened. The plan was to book shows in the summer to coincide with the album release but with the situation in the UK now as so write this, I doubt we will see any shows in 2020 in this country. The government have handled the crisis really badly and we have the highest death toll in Europe. I think live shows will return in other parts of Europe before us.
12. You come from Birmingham, what is the extreme scene in your city? Which bands should we pay more attention to than they have and which ones would you recommend from your area?
The scene in Birmingham is quite poor for Black Metal, most touring bands will tend to play London or Manchester. I go to lots of shows so I'm always travelling to see bands. There's no Birmingham bands that I would recommend!
13. How were your beginnings in music? What pushed you to want to be a musician and form a band?
I've been listening to metal for longer than I remember, I started tape trading when I was 14 years old, making music seemed to be a natural extension of that.
14. What plans do you have for the immediate future for Arrogant Destruktor?
When lockdown has ended we will finally go back into the rehearsal room. The chances of us playing live this year are looking very slim so we might work on some new ideas that I've got.
15. Thank you very much for the time dedicated to Black metal spirit, if you want to add something for the followers of Arrogant Destruktor, this is the place. I hope the questions have been to your liking
Thanks for the interview and your support! People can buy our albums from our bandcamp page, and prepare for "No Fucking Mercy" out in August. Cheers!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pressed on 180g black vinyl and housed in a fullcolored jacket with printed innersleeve.
Limited to 285 copies.