Hell Spawn

The rhythm section is replaced since the "The cult of disease" ep. In a three piece that's more than half the band. It didn't affect your overall sound too much, but did it have an influence on the way you work/write in Procession?
It did somehow, from the point of view i assumed this responsibility as my own in a 100%, even though we still managed to come up with arrangements and the last track "White Coffin" at the rehearsal room with Claudio and Francisco. But the vision is clearer than ever, the guys took it and understood it and the results were/are great.

From the ep onward you had quite a distinctive sound, this new album seems a continuation, only the true doom pieces seem heavier, the aggressive parts seem more aggressive, the epic more epic. It's something like 'bigger, better, faster ...'. A natural evolution or was that the goal for this album?
Well, thanks for the words. It is somehow the approach of  "Destroyers Of The Faith", we kinda see every chance we get to put out a recording as if it could be the last one so it has to be huge, ambitious, loud as hell and we really squeeze our feelings and skills onto it. The first strike must be deadly!

You recorded "Destroyers of the faith" at the same studio as "The cult of disease", but when hearing how heavy it sounds it seems you learned a lot since your previous recording session?
Sure we have learned our ways, we have got to know our instruments better and so has our engineer with his studio (DM6 Studios, CHILE). The biggest improvement is in our ears, as technically I could even say we just focused on a few analog pre-amps and that´s it. But, again, we knew which elements to use, what the snare, guitars, vocals should sound in the mix, etc. You never stop learning, that´s for sure...

You rearranged "The road to the gravegarden" in some parts for this album. Why? Because you felt this song wasn't actually finished or another reason?

Great guest appearance by Peter Vicar by the way...
Well i´ll always say that the demo version has it´s magic, but the performance and, mostly important, the drumming was really poor. It´s a great song to play live and, somehow, it has become a sort of a classic for the people that follows us since the demo. So, we just decided to give it a proper sound/performance treatment and please ourselves with Peter making some leads on it... the result was mind blowing, you know, it´s like a pounding 9 mins stampede with a lot of melodic sections.

After the theatrical, dramatic (and that's a compliment for sure, it quite sets the tone for the album!) intro "Hyperion", you burst into true headbanging metal with the title track. It gives a truly classic doom vibe to the album: opening with a fast song. Was that the intention?
Yeah, we focused on having this bombastic explosion, like a fucking fist in the face. And also because it works fantastic as a show-opener, you know, most of the ´people expect us to play  some monotonous slow piece or something and this one works as a statement of the pure heavy metal energy that runs through our veins. We see this record as a descent, that´s starts high in the sky to end deep down in hell.

The lyrical theme deals with the loss of faith (due to abuse, misuse, lies by the representatives of the catholic church), something which came through on "The cult of disease" as well. It almost seems a personal quest to open the eyes of listeners? Because you grew up in very (naïve) catholic surrounding?
Yes, but it´s also a manifesto against corporations, governments, any fucking institution that deals with human needs and makes their profit out of it. The biggest and shameless of all is, of course, the Catholic Church, but the analogies of the album are applicable to any leaders/followers conception.

It's already known that "Destroyers of the faith" is also a bit of a reaction to Judas Priests "Defenders of the faith". I totally respect that! Indeed, I never understood that so little people name that album when asking for their favourite Priest record... All tracks are classics!
Aaah, is my favourite along with "Screaming For Vengeance"! First came the concepts for the songs and the whole vibe of the album, then this pun that as a title works perfectly with our vision of how the whole thing sounds like! And another statement of how heavy doom metal has to be: live fast, play slow!

Unlike with the ep you're working with two labels now, German High Roller for the vinyl version of "Destroyers of the faith" and Czech Doomentia for the cd version. That appears rather complex to follow up?
Of course the ideal would be having just one label doing both things, but it was just the first chance we had to have the album out as soon as possible and well, both labels do a great job with quality releases and bands that we totally agree with...that´s enough for us.

What's the thing with the bonus dvd that comes with the first edition of the cd? What's actually on it?
It´s the last gig we had in Chile in may 2010, recorded with 3 cameras and where we play a bunch of songs of the new album too. We thought it would make sense to have smth extra for the album, even though the quality might not be spectacular, is a great addition to the whole package.

Artwork is stunning again! "The cult of disease" was designed by Irish artist Elaine C, who made this masterpiece?
Thanks man. Well, this time, it was Claudio (bass) himself, who´s an experienced graphic designer, comic addict, vinyl collector and beer drinker as well! It was not hard at all and, as he knew the concepts from the beginning and followed the whole process step by step, it was an easy choice to make!

You're gathering quite a name for yourselves, from the ep on already. The stakes are high, expectations as well. Does that reputation bring a lot of pressure to you, to the band or on the contrary, does it make things easier for Procession?
You know what, we try taking it really easy, not to be lazy but also not to stress ourselves. Now, to be honest, with this DIY Tour things have become really stressing, as there´s a lot of shit to take care of and, as unexperienced as I am in these matters, it´s really easy to lose control. That´s the only "bad" point of this I would say...there is pressure, but not from others but ourselves!

Being a fan and while having the opportunity: how 's the Capilla Ardiente debut album coming along. I thought this was planned for 2011 as well?
Let´s say 2012 now, as we´ve been 100% focused on all the Procession activities. But meanwhile, i´ve been checking some of the songs Claudio already has for it and what can i say....he´s the spirit of Capilla Ardiente and we can only expect an album full of uncomfortably melodic and obscure doom metal the only way he can write it...somewhere between Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus, Voivod and Motörhead!

Thanx very much for your time and the interview. If there is anything to add to these questions, please be my guest...
Thank you man, always nice to answer some questions from another doomed soul. To readers, check our Myspace for updates and plans for 2011. Don´t forget to get your copy of the LP on High Roller Records, who has just putted out a 2nd pressing. Doomentia has also our CD/DVD available by now...

http://www.myspace.com/processionburn

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