1. The band started up around 2019, how did the creation of the band come about? Why did you choose the name Morghuul and what does it refer to?
Mörghuul was started by me and Viktor (guitars) when we were 15. When we originally started, we envisioned playing thrash metal in the style of Sodom. Mörghuul is like a fucked up version of the word morgul, which is from Tolkien and means dark sorcery. We figured out that it sounds pretty evil, so we decided to use it. In our beginnings we didn't do much. We had a few rehearsal, recorded a pretty bad EP, played no gigs and stayed in our rehearsal room. We pretty much didn't exist during covid and got back together only after it ended. We found new members Adam (bass) and Dominik (drums) and by then, we already knew that we wanted to play old school black speed.
2. Some of you belonged to the band Sezarbil and later came the incorporation of Adam and Dominik, how important is Morghuul to you that you have decided to give it all possible priority, abandoning other bands? What did the incorporation of Adam and Dominik mean? When it came to recording your first album?
Mörghuul is definitely the priority for most of us. We abandoned Sezarbil specificaly, because we wanted to focus on Mörghuul. Dominik is a damn great drummer, who also plays in an awesome thrash metal band Refore. He made us much faster, because he's insane and plays everything fast. :D Adam is originally a guitar player, so his handling of bass is very ambitious. It didn't take him long to get intimate with hisninstrument.
3. The release of your first EP “The Beginning of Unholy Ride” around 2021 brought some recognition to you, however the sound was not entirely optimal. How do you approach the process of composing and recording the new album “Domination?” of the Beast” to correct the “mistakes” of the past?
Yeah, the EP sucked, we mostly make fun of it. We wanted to make the new album mix of everything we like. From old school thrash metal through black metal to punk. We wanted the sound to be old school, but readable at the same time, so you can pick up all the details on it. It was mixed by Otyn from Davos studios. He's an absolute mad man and he was able to achieve precisely that.
4. Your sound merges the influences of the most primitive black metal with elements of thrash, speed or punk, managing to offer a raw and visceral sound, at the same time that you do not give up a certain melodic tone, how would you describe the sound of the new album for those who haven't heard it yet? What sounds and bands are influences for you when it comes to composing?
As i said. The sound is old school, but still pretty clear. If you like loud kick drum, then you're fucked, because there's nothing like that. If you like loud cymbals, you will have a good time. We are mostly inspired by the new breed of old school bands like Deathhammer, Nocturnal, Bunker 66 or older recordings of Hellripper. We however find inspiration all over the place.
5. The theme of your lyrics does not differ much from what was expected, devil, blasphemy and anti-Christianity, do you think that a style like blackened thrash/speed metal is linked to a theme of the previously described lyrics in an unalterable way? Are the lyrics Do they compose after the music or vice versa?
Of course it's linked! If your black thrash is not satanic and blasphemous then what the fuck are you doing? Sometimes we write the lyrics after music, sometimes before. It depends on the situation. Often times i get inspired, write lyrics and then find out, that they do not fit the song and then i have to change them a bit. Every song is approached differently.
6. Today there are a good handful of bands that collect classic sounds within the most primitive black metal with thrash or speed elements, managing to take us back to the eighties. Is it very difficult to stand out in a style, in which it already seems everything has been said and that many times you can err on the side of being a crude copy of the original? Is it a style that is somehow condemned to the underground?
Black thrash is inherently tied to the underground and that's a good thing. There is no point in innovating, because as you said, everything has already been done. It doesn't matter tho, we live in a post-post-modern age, so why not make art which is just worshipping that, which came before, as long as that worship is of high quality?
7. For the release of the album you have had the record label Doomentia Records, which has been in charge of releasing it not only in digital format, but also on vinyl and cassette. How did the possibility of releasing it with Doomentia Records arise? What does it mean for you to have physical editions of the album from the beginning?
We already knew personally Peťan, who is one of the main guys in Doomentia. He is also behind the Thrash Nightmare festival in Písek, which focuses on old school thrash and speed metal and where we will play this year. He loves everything old school, so he approached us at the Obscene Extreme festival, where we also played, and told us that he'd love to release it under Doomentia. It's a great and quite legendary label, so we agreed. We love that the album is on cassettes and vinyl. We already had our demo on cassette, but vinyl is a quite different beast.
8. There is not much information about the recording, mixing and mastering process of the album. How was this process carried out?
We recored in Davos Studio in Vyškov, Czech Republic. The whole album was recorded and mastered by a Czech legend in the field of recordings and masterings - Otyn. It was loads of fun in the studio. We drank a lot and smoked a lot of weed with Otyn, so the album turned out the best way it could :D
9. On the other hand, if we know that the cover is the work of Tomáš Mitura, how did the possibility of working with him to make the album cover arise? What does this cover represent and how does it relate to the content of the album?
Well we know each other from the Czech scene. He sings in Sněť - awesome old school death metal, if you don't know them, definitely check them out, and in Vole - the greatest Czech punk band. We're friends and he is a great artist. He made cover art for Sněť's debut Mokvání v Okovech, which let us know, that he's the right man for the job. We basically let him do whatever he wanted. We send him lyrics to our songs and just told him, that we want a demon there. If you read the lyrics, you'll find out that a lot of the songs are represented on the cover art.
10. You come from Brno, one of the main cities in the Czech Republic, is there an extreme metal scene established in your city? What bands would you recommend?
There is a big metal and punk scene in Brno. It is however mainly grindcore, fastcore and powerviolence which we don't dig that much. We would still recommend Brünner Todesmarsch - awesome hardcore punk, Slať - filthy stoner/sludge or Hever - another great hardcore punk band. Other than that, we're not that much associated with the scene of our city as we are much closer to the scene in the capital - Prague.
11. I suppose the intensity of your music will be accentuated live. Have you already started the live presentation of the new album? What can your followers expect from your concert? Who would you like to share the bill with on a mini-tour?
You can expect war and hell on our shows. Nothing and no one is sacred.
12. How were your beginnings in music: first concerts you attended, first albums you bought? What happened in your lives that pushed you to want to be musicians?
My first real good concert was Slayer in 2019, which i attended with Viktor, our guitarist. I was just 14 and he was 13. It was quite a nice mayhem. First album i bought physically was the debut Bathory alhum on CD, which i bought, because it had the yellow goat cover art. I don't know what was the first bought music of other guys. I personally wanted to be a musician after i saw the Exodus tour documentary. It just seemed so cool to me, that you get in a van and travel with your friends while playing music. It seemed like a nice adventure. And honestly it is! :D
13. What album represents for you the essence of black metal? What latest albums have you bought?
Depends on the style of black metal. I'd say that the first three albums of Bathory and the whole discography of Darkthrone are what black metal should be in our eyes. Latest album I bought was the debut self-titled EP by Slovak oi! punk band Remdik on cassette.
14. Thank you very much for taking the time to answer these questions for Black Metal Spirit, if you want to add something for Morghuul fans this is the place. I hope the questions are to your liking.
Thank you very much for this interview.
Matěj
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