text: Dawid Krosnia
Two men, one ExistencE
There is a famous saying – ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’. I must admit, when I was introduced to this record, after setting my eyes on the album cover, I was not impressed. The artwork design of is pretty simple and rather uninviting. There is not much you can say about the band or what they represent as musicians when looking at this album cover. I left it and forgot about it without listening to the album. Thankfully, one of the band members, Oskar, reminded me about it and, finally, I pressed play. Holy shit, Jesus Christ and his Mother Mary! Let us present you – two men, one ExistencE and their album – When Tomorrow Comes.
From the first song on this record, We know, I was hooked instantly. Great thrashing riffs, a lot of great melodies and vocals. Well, if a you’re fan of Tom Angelripper from Sodom, you’ll fucking love it. The next two songs, The Fall of Heaven and Right or Wrong complement each other very well. They’re totally different when comparing with the opening track. Still thrash metal vibes but with energy and grooviness of Soulfly and even Divine Heresy’s first record, Bleed the Fifth, only slower. The whole record represents a lot of old school thrash metal influences which, as a fan of this genre, you would recognise. I could go on about each song separately but I think it would be pointless, because the album must be listened to in full. It’s a great piece of music that would suit any metal sing along house party. The title song and The End is Near or War of Faith are my personal favourites from this album.
What is quite interesting and what really shocked me is that ExistencE is made of two Polish guys, Oskar Zając and Krzysztof Małek, living on two separate continents. The album was recorded in their home studios and the drums are programmed (they sound fucking amazing!). This band had its origin in 1992, in Tarnów (Poland), so they’re not some young lads wanting to be Kreator or second Destruction. They’re just guys who like to play some good metal. I could not resist and I had to ask Oskar a few questions about their history, this album and the future of ExistencE.
Were some of the tracks and riffs written now or did you use some ideas from 20 years ago?
In regards to the material, it has all been written between 2014 and 2015. It might have happened that some riffs were in my head before but we’re talking 2 or 3 years back.
Did you record everything through the Internet and with some homemade methods?
We recorded everything through the Internet – me at my place in Germany and Chris at his home studio in Canada. We exchanged our remarks through the Internet and both of us made some corrections or changes in arrangements. In the whole year that we needed to records When Tomorrow Comes, we haven’t seen each other apart from the webcam.
What made you record this album and why haven’t you done it earlier?
Recording this album was in my head for long, but there was always a problem with a lack of spare time. We eventually came up with a conclusion that we had to start it and, no matter how long it would take, we would record it. We simply wanted to do it for our own satisfaction that after 20 years we are still able to play and compose some music. We have a studio demo from the nineties, the next step was to record the full album as we had all material but we couldn’t do it back then because we had emigrate from the country.
What were your expectations about this album and its publicity?
In regards to our expectations, I must honestly say that we’re happy about each listen to our songs and each like on our page. It’s also nice to read some positive comments. Of course, there is some negative feedback but you can’t make everyone happy. It’s absolutely enough for us and we’re glad that someone listens to our music.
What are your plans for the future of ExistencE? Any new recordings?
We’re already in the process of creating material for the next release.
Vocals remind me a little of Tom Angelripper. What bands were inspiration to you, both musically and vocally?
I didn’t model myself on anyone in terms of vocals. This is how it came out and that’s how it stayed. It’s not the same throat as 20 years ago. A lot of people say that the vocals are weak and they could be better. They could be right but, on the other hand, a number of people give some positive feedback that it’s not too heavy. As I said before, you can’t make everyone happy. Musically, I love the bands like Death, Slayer, Kreator, Sodom, Death Angel, Arch Enemy, Dimmu Borgir and shitloads more. I think that subconsciously, I could have patterned some of the bands as they never leave my head. If there’s anything on our album that reminds you of something else, it surely hasn’t been done on purpose.
Could you say something about the lyrics? What are they about?
Lyrics are not my strong point. Most of them are about death and life. There is one about the war between heaven and hell. Also, one song is about the Jesus’ suffering and the people that left him. I think that each song is anti-church but it doesn’t mean that I am a Satanist. It has just come to my head so I wrote it.
THE GOAT TAVERN 