(Belatedly, we are still catching up with interviews conducted by Comrade Aleks at a time when our editor was too incapacitated by work to publish them in a timely manner, and today we catch up to his discussion with Ion Santos from the Basque Country brutal death metal band Putrid Torso.)
About a year ago we did the interview with Hopelessness, a melodic death metal band from Basque Country. And somewhere around November 2023 I got the message from their guitar player Ion Santos. He said that he’s also involved in the brutal death act Putrid Torso and that Trails of Hypnotized Human Veins had just been released by Pathologically Explicit Recordings.
And, honestly, brutal death isn’t my cup of tea (even Lovecraftian brutal death), but we’re just mere puppets in the hands of Ruinous Powers. So here’s the interview with Ion for those who are into extreme and misanthropic metal.
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Hi Ion! How are you doing? What’s going on in Putrid Torso’s lair?
Hello Aleks! Everything’s good here. Right now, we’re working on new songs for what will be our second album in the future.
We also want to announce that Oscar on bass (Anthropodal Humanicide, Slit Your Gods, Scrumptious Putrescence, Cadaverized Ferocity…) and David on guitar (Unstructured, La Matanza, Avgrunn) have recently joined Putrid Torso.
Trails of Hypnotized Human Veins was released just three months ago! Isn’t it too early to start working on another album? Are you so inspired that you can’t keep it inside?
Yes, yes! Haha, we don’t stop! We love composing! Basically, that’s what we do since we’re not doing live performances at the moment.
The band was formed in 2022, and events developed swiftly. How did you manage to record the EP Prologue to Nowhere and the LP Trails of Hypnotized Human Veins in such a short period?
Truth is, Igor and I connect really well when composing, and we make progress quickly. But it’s also true that we invest a lot of hours. There are no magic tricks here; if you work, you get results.
You started the band together with Igor, did you perform live as a duo?
Originally, it was supposed to be a project just for the two of us, so we didn’t consider doing live performances as a duo. Now, things have changed with the addition of Oscar on bass and David on guitar, and our plan is that if we find a drummer to complete the band, we’ll give some concerts.
Oskar and David joined you in 2024. What did you manage to do with the new lineup?
With the addition of Oscar and David, we aim to bring more variety to the songs, exploring some changes in the sound without losing our essence.
Do you mean that both guys are involved in song-writing on full terms? I see that they play in brutal death metal bands as well, so it seems to be a natural thing.
That’s the case, both are seasoned musicians with years of experience in extreme metal bands, and we want them to bring fresh ideas to Putrid Torso to enhance the quality and diversity of the songs.
Trails of Hypnotized Human Veins was released in October 2023. Have you already gotten some feedback?
We are very pleased with the response from people. We’ve received excellent feedback on social media, and we appreciate the fans. It’s like a driving force that inspires us to keep composing.
Well, what’s the story behind Trails of Hypnotized Human Veins? What drove you to gather in the name of brutal death metal?
It truly was the ability to accomplish something that we had pending for many years between two friends. It got out of hand, and in the end, it turned into a demo, an album, and now we’re already working as a group of four on the second album, while we search for a drummer to complete the lineup entirely. The band’s name is from 1999; if it were born today, would be different. However, it’s like something romantic, reminiscing about our past grinder days when we were young, hahaha. Now, we want to take another musical step, adding greater complexity to our music and more nuances. Still, I remain a devotee of blast beats, hahaha.
Really? What prevented you from starting the project earlier? And how did you manage to keep this fire burning until 2022 when Putrid Torso was founded?
Truth is, we always had in mind that the band would return at some point. It was a thorn we wanted to remove at some stage. The reality is that until we started composing, we didn’t know how the new Putrid Torso could sound because, after so many years, both of us have musically evolved. What we were clear about was that we wanted to sound aggressive and brutal, and we hope we’ve achieved that, haha.
Brutal death isn’t my cup of tea, and I’m always puzzled with the lyrics bands tend to write for their songs, as most of the time it’s all about violence and bloodshed (Manowar reference wasn’t intended). So what about you? It seems that Igor’s texts are a kind of reflection on modern society, aren’t they?
We have a strong class consciousness and are completely against humanitarian, social, homophobic, and capitalist inequalities in the world. We can create interesting lyrics with messages within brutal death. We don’t like gore lyrics, and we want to address the struggles that ordinary people face every day, and how the elites and media constantly deceive us. They always oppress the poor, and right now, with immediacy and powerful lobbies, the majority of people act like a zombie plague of trends. It’s a total complex, and our lyrics will always be social, advocating against established powers, social injustices, and political fascism.
Do you feel that brutal death metal is a precise instrument to sound your civil position? Or is it an addition to music you like and tend to perform?
In Putrid Torso, we’ve aimed to channel the anger we carry against the injustices you face every day, and I find the style ideal for doing so. The aggressiveness you can express with Brutal Death is unmatched by other genres.
Ion, you also play in the melodic death metal band Hopelessness. How much does your equipment sets differ in both bands?
As for the instrument, I use a Gibson Explorer for both bands. The difference lies in the tuning, with a lower tone for Putrid Torso compared to Hopelessness. For the bass on the album, I used a 4-string active Schecter Elite4. As for the amplifier, I use an ENGL Powerball 2, which offers enough power and versatility for my taste. I don’t use distortion pedals, only a Boss Reverb for Hopelessness.
How did you get in touch with Krzysztof Klingbein? Did you intend to play drums on your own, without any guest drummer?
Putrid Torso‘s entire drumming has been composed by Igor, and in the EP, we maintained programmed drums. However, for the album, we sought a drummer who could recreate Igor‘s compositions. Finding someone with such skill isn’t easy, but luckily, Krzysztof liked our project and wanted to be part of our debut album. I must say, we were pleasantly surprised because he recreated Igor‘s drumming at 95%, a feat that, in my opinion, is only within the reach of a few.
What are your plans for 2024? Do you have a gigs schedule?
This year, we’ll be working on new songs and continue the search for an official drummer for the band. Currently, we don’t have any scheduled live performances. Thank you very much for the interview, Aleks! And we want to express our gratitude to everyone for the incredible support for the band!
https://www.facebook.com/PutridTorsoEus/
https://putridtorso.bandcamp.com/album/trails-of-hypnotized-human-veins