How and when was Human Demise formed?
Maurice, Paul (E) and Ivo (our former) started to write songs in February 2004 in the vein of Ringworm, Integrity and Ringworm because we all wanted to be in a sick metalcore band that plays songs in the vein of above mentioned bands. In May our bass player Jasper joined us and later we came up with the name Human Demise and recorded our first demo.
Who is in the band and what do they play?
The current line up is:
Maurice: vocals
Paul E: Guitars
Paul K: Drums
Jasper: Bass
Willem: Guitars
However Willem decided to quit the band so we are currently in search of a new second guitarist.
Is this the original line-up?
No only Maurice, Paul E en Jasper are left from the original line up.
What do your lyrics deal with?
Mostly the lyrics deal with how we look on modern society or how people behave in modern society. They deal mostly with the negative aspects of it. However on our MCD Whitechapel Demise we chose to make a trilogy about the Whitechapel murders so those lyrics described the atmosphere around those killings back in the 19th century.
For an upcoming split 7 inch our singer Maurice made lyrics about the situation of his Father's disease. How the disease came up (Agony), the feeling of gonna loose someone or not (Anxiety) and the acceptance of the disease after a years of struggling (Acceptance).
What do you love/hate about being on the road?
Love: Playing awesome shows, feeling you become better and tighter every night playing the same songs. Also drinking beers, partying and meeting new people is awesome.
Hate: Driving long distances in the van, waiting to get up on stage and for me personally sleeping on dirty floors or in a house where a dog is because I am allergic to dogs and have a mild form of bronchitis.
How do you create new material?
Mostly one of our guitar players come up with a riff and than start to jam with our drummer. With adding new riffs and breaks a new song will be created. The rest of the bands helps with arrange the song by telling the song writers how to change/add parts to make a song awesome and sick. Sometimes the lyrics are already written, other times the lyrics will be written afterwards. When rehearsing the new song a lot of times the vocals find its place into the music till it's shaped to play it live. Or stay in the rehearsal room/record forever ;).
How would you describe the music scene in The Netherlands?
Personally I think it's very divided. You have the old school hardcore show, the mosh shows, the 'difficult' hardcore shows but it's never mixed together so that means you are stuck with the same type of bands on one night. That means you don't see the old school people at the mosh shows and vice versa. Personally I am a big fan of diverse line up although than you'll have the risk that a part of crowd stays outside when a certain band is playing.
Also in the Netherlands we are very spoiled with hardcore shows. Every day in the weekend we can choose to go to about eight to ten shows, that means sometimes a poor turnout for a venue. On the other hand all cool bands will tour the Netherlands so you get the chance to see a lot of cool bands.
Any plans on coming state side for a tour?
We wished we could come over because we get awesome reactions in the States. Nothing has been planned up till now but we are hungry to come over.
Favorite country to tour?
Personally for me Finland. Awesome people, beautiful country and lots of people that went nuts on our show.
Favorite show so far?
The prefest of the Ieper Festival in 2006 and this year Ieper. On both shows we got a lot of reactions. On the first show we headlined that night and the whole crowd went nuts and sang the songs with us. After the show we found out the there were people from Spain and Finland there, countries we had toured before we ever did a lot of shows in Belgium.
This year we played second on the Ieper Festival but although it was pretty early the reactions where great.
Describe Kill Human Demise music style?
In the beginning we were a true adept of the Ringworm/Integrity style but with our new songs (that have a different twist) we have created an own face by introducing other influences from hardcore and other styles. One important thing however is that it must sound sick.
How would you describe your sound to someone who hasn't ever heard you?
Sick, anger-spitting lyrics with heavy guitar parts and bone crushing drum parts make the band one heavy experience you must see live on stage. Human Demise brings you crushing, bile spitting hardcore with dark metallic twists. Their singer has got one hell of a throat; his downright spine-chilling screams fit the ominous atmosphere perfectly.
What bands would you name as influences for Human Demise?
Ringworm, Integrity, Earth Crisis, Strife, old Sworn Enemy, One Life Crew, Earthmover.
For my vocals black metal like Leviathan, Xasthur, Mayhem or Shining is also a huge influence.
Five CD's that got you into hardcore?
Maurice:
Strife - One Truth
Sick of it All - Live in a world full of hate
Merauder - Master Killer
Madball - Set it Off
Tech 9 - Scars from the Inside
What bands are you currently into now?
Hardcore: Living Hell, Palehorse, Iron Age, Meltdown, Shipwreck, Guns Up
Other: Xasthur, Neurosis, Isis, Torche etc
How often is Human Demise playing shows?
Roughly 60 shows a year, that means every weekend one show.
Is anyone in the band in any side projects?
No we don't have the time for that. Maurice and Willem only did two special shows as an All Out War coverband together with two ex-members and a bassplayer recently.
Tell us about the Heavy Hitters comp coming out, Lot of sick bands on
it (Hoods, Alcatraz, Lionheart, Taken Under, CDC etc)?
Jasper:
We are very glad we got the opportunity to contribute to the Heavy Hitters compilation. One day we got talking to Noodle from CFTF Records on myspace and were offered a slot on this compilation. We had just recorded some new stuff so this was something we had to do.
Not many bands had been confirmed round that time but it turned out to be a cool list of bands. We are looking forward to hear what the other bands have contributed. I am especially curious for the songs by Alcatraz and CDC. I love Alcatraz and I did a show for the guys in CDC, they are amazing people and a cool band.
We don't know all the bands on this compilation but we like the idea. This is a perfect way for people to check out new bands. Can't wait for it to come out.
Also check out our friends from Strength Above All, we've know these guys for quite some time now, people should get into it, its hard!!
Now is Human Demise on Envy Records and if so how is that going for you?
Carlos and Amaya (who are running the label) are awesome people who did a great job in Spain, France and US for us with releasing the Whitechapel Demise MCD. It's almost sold out now and they also helped us a lot by doing three times Spain and one time France.
Due to the distance it's hard for them to push the boundaries further for us in the rest of Europe so we are busy to find a label in our region to release our upcoming full length.
Is Human Demise a straight Edge band?
Hell no, we all like to drink lots of beers!
Any bands from your area you wanna tell us about?
Strength Above All: They only have demo out but check them out if you like Kickback. They are in the progress of writing new stuff at the moment.
Blade: A new band from Belgium spreading music in the vein of Integrity but with more mosh in it.
What is your definition of Hardcore?
Difficult to tell in a few words. Hardcore for us is the do it yourself spirit (how cool is it to travel around the world by putting on your stuff by your self and with help of others that share the same ideal) and to show you can make a difference in these days. Musicallywise for me personally I must hear the anger, frustration, energy and intensity in a band (on a record or live) to call it hardcore.
When the band isn't touring/playing shows what do you guys do on the off time?
Besides the band we all have full time jobs. In our spare time we like to visit shows, going to the pub or chilling with girlfriends or friends.
How can the readers get in contact with Human Demise?
Dropping a message on our myspace (www.myspace.com/humandemise) or sending an email to humandemise@gmail.com
Any last words?
We have twelve new songs ready and we are busy recording them right now. The album will come out in the first months of 2008. We are still searching for a record label. Also we are in search of a band that wanted to join us on a split 7 inch we already recorded a year ago.
Thanks for your interest in the band and we hope we will meet you in the future on a possible US trip.
