(Our contributor Zoltar is back with us again, this time presenting his interview with José Pablo, vocalist and bassist of the Costa Rican death metal band Candarian, whose debut album was released in April of this year.)
Two out four members of CANDARIAN already play in Chile, eat your heart out? If you’re a classic and dark-sounding death metal freak like I am, you do know damn well that over the last few years, Chile has more or less taken the lead in that style, piling one after another bands with the right attitude, underground ethos, and shitloads of reverb this style requires. But there’s a new boy in town…
With only 5 million citizens, Costa Rica may seem like a ‘small’ country in comparison and had left very little mark on the international death metal scene so far, with few isolated cases here and there, like the overlooked CORPSE GARDEN or INHUMAN. Yet somehow, slowly but surely, things started to move in the right direction when BLOODSOAKED NECROVOID released their psychedelic-filled downtuned demos in 2018, and while it remains quite incestuous, the Costa Rican scene is now developing at an impressive rate.
You could hardly label CANDARIAN as original, as their roots dig deep into the genre’s early days, but as proven first by their 2022 demo Stagnant Livor Mortis and even more so now by their debut full-length Trepanación out on CD on Memento Mori and on vinyl on Me Saco Un Ojo, these experienced four lads have a bit to say, to say the least.
We asked their bass player and vocalist José Pablo to give us a quick lowdown on their whereabouts…
ASTRIFEROUS whose rustic style ain’t pretty nor melodic. José, you are already contributing to PERISHING whose recent debut album was one of 2025’s most vile death/doom records of the year. So why the need to do another old-school death metal band, may I ask?
It’s a combination of things. I joined ASTRIFEROUS shortly after CANDARIAN started, so at the time the objective was to begin making music with CANDARIAN while catching up with ASTRIFEROUS. Also, each band serves as the creative output for different minds; I believe the sound is distinct in each one, even if they pulse within the same death metal vein.
As for PERISHING, it sounds slower and denser at times because it leans more toward the death/doom subgenre instead of OSDM. I started PERISHING with José María because he had some music ready which I thought sounded awesome, and I wanted to help him capture and release it.
Considering how many bands you guys are all involved in, does this mean that CANDARIAN is a studio-based project only or is it an actual band?
If by ‘actual band’ you mean playing live and rehearsing, then yes! CANDARIAN is an actual band.
I assume the name CANDARIAN is a reference to the Kadarian demon spotted in Evil Dead 2 is it?
You are right, the name CANDARIAN comes from Evil Dead.
There’s a four years gap in between your demo and this album. Did you spend all this time gathering material for it or was it a case of you being busy with all your other bands?
It can be tricky to juggle several projects while also handling life responsibilities. We’ve all been working on other bands and releasing material, but about a year ago we started writing the music for Trepanación.
We played several local gigs when we released the Stagnant Livor Mortis demo, but we didn’t want to rush things. When the time came to work on the full album, we focused entirely on it. That said, we didn’t pause the other projects – we kept releasing music with them as well.
There’s a lot of nasty reverb on the vocals, for once we can hear the bass, the music can go in fast mode but isn’t overloaded with blastbeats, and it sometimes lean towards the early INCANTATION scope of things… Did you guys study hard to get the right sound and the right elements?
Thanks for considering that we achieved the right sound and elements on this material. The album was mixed and mastered by Greg Wilkinson from AUTOPSY. He has a lot of experience and really helped us achieve the sound we were aiming for. We can say it’s the natural result of listening to a lot of death metal and having clear objectives while writing Trepanación. We weren’t trying to reinvent anything – just to create a solid death metal record that fans of the genre can enjoy.
You have no problem coming up with five-minutes-plus songs but as far as I recall, I don’t think there were any solos happening on your demo, was it?
There are indeed solos on some of the songs, performed by Christopher. Our music is mostly riff-driven, but on this release, we added solos to Trepanación. The demo didn’t have any, so it’s a new addition.
The album’s title and, obviously, its gruesome artwork suggest gory lyrics. Is it the case?
Yes, totally! The title, song names, and artwork are pretty straightforward in suggesting the overall theme. The lyrics are nasty as well – no heavy metaphors, just straight gore.
You’ve decided to use your native tongue for the album’s title and the final track only. Why? I personally do believe it adds a welcome extra to your style…
Yes, it was a deliberate addition. The practice of trepanation has always seemed primitive and nasty to me (especially its spiritual aspect), which you can see in the lyrics of ‘Skull Drilling Exorcism’. I wanted it to sound more direct, and in my opinion, the Spanish term sounds rawer than in English. Later, ‘Vilipendio del Cadáver’ the last track on the album, came into the picture. It also features Spanish lyrics, which was a new experience for me as a vocalist (kind of ironic, isn’t it?). I agree it adds something extra to the record.
What’s happening with Costa Rica right now? It seems that nothing happened for ages in terms of death metal, although we would hear a bit about few ‘classic’ bands like INSEPULTO, and boom, ever since the BLOODSOAKED NECROVOID demos, it feels as if the gates were finally wide open. What happened? Was it matter of time with a whole new generation of musicians taking over?
Costa Rica is currently going through what I consider its best period for the local extreme scene. There are great bands releasing strong material, both musically and in terms of production and visibility. That said, we also had great releases back in the ’90s. You can check PSEUDOSTRATIFIEDEPITHELIUM, for example – they’ve been playing death metal since forever and have released excellent music. I truly respect that, because it wasn’t easy back then to access music or gather influences. Producing quality material required much more effort. Today it’s easier thanks to the internet, the exposure it provides, and the support from labels.
What’s next for you guys?
We already have some local gigs scheduled and will probably organize a release show where we play the album in full. We’re also aiming to play outside Costa Rica, so we’ll see how the record is received and hopefully get some international offers.
https://www.instagram.com/candarianhorror
https://mesacounojo.bandcamp.com/album/trepanacion
https://www.memento-mori.es/