 Poland has always been revered as a massive player in the metal music world, most notably for it's wealth of history and presence in the Extreme Metal arena. Heavyweights like Vader, Behemoth and Vesania may spill off the tongue like as if it was common public knowledge, but it's the underbelly or underground that is currently driving the scene forward and it's bands like Hostia who act as part of the cogs turning the mechanisms. This machine does not need oiling, but by examining the fluidity of the overall machine it's clear that the Polish Metal scene has a long, bright future ahead of it. Guitarist St. Anacletus (historically speaking refers to Cletus who was the third Bishop of Rome (c.79-c.92; his death) gave GMA the low down about Hostia, their history, debut album, music style, and general attitude towards metal music in Poland.  "We are not Portugal that gave Moonspell the award for promoting Portugal in the world. Behemoth would never get that kind of thank you from our minister of culture" For those who have not heard of Hostia, could you please give us a history of the band? "We just started to write our history! Story of 4 reincarnations of dead popes playing grindcore metal! Kidding! There is not much to say. We are long time friends, each of us played for years in different bands, but we wanted to play this kind of music in this certain line up. I told the rest about the idea and 30 seconds later we had the band!" What do your families think of your music, and when did you get your first taste in metal music? "Haha! Good question! My lady can stand it for a moment, that’s why we have such short songs haha! For my mum metal music is OK until the growling vocals come in. So Hostia is probably too much! I started with Metallica when they played at Wembley after Freddie’s death and then very quickly got into more extreme stuff like Death, Morbid Angel, Vader, Napalm Death and Sepultura. Slayer came quite late for me I must say. What enticed you to play Grindcore? How would you define your sound? "I just f*cking love it! I am into very different music styles but when it comes to playing I feel the best in the most intense, energetic and brutal short songs! Stripped to the bone, pure energy! Like a punch between the eyes! So I hope Hostia sounds like that! We consider Hostia as a grindcore metal band but with some other elements taken from hardcore, death metal or even rock and roll. We don’t want to play the same song ten times on the album. We want it to vary, but at the same time as brutal as we can make it!" How does it feel to release your debut self-titled album "Hostia", will there be a album launch party? "Feels f*cking awesome! It’s like the birth of a child… except the fact that none of us have a child. We are proud of it and really overwhelmed by the great response we have received till now. It feels really f*cking good! It’s not a debut album for any of us as musicians, but it feels like the new beginning for us! There was no release party because of two reasons. We want to keep our faces unknown for some time and second – as you noticed it is our debut album, and we are still a quite unknown band so it would be a big exaggeration to organize a release party."  (Warsaw University of Technology) - Politechnika Warszawska Will you be looking to do an international tour in support of the album? "That’s a hard one. To be honest we didn’t plan Hostia to be a very active live band when we started it. But all of us love to play live. Playing live is the reason to have a band so we will see what time brings! We are ready and open for all kind of offers. I think it all depends on if people will like our music as much to have the need to see us live. For now I can say we have some people from all over the world and places so far away from Poland like Honduras or Venezuela writing to us and buying the album so you never know what future brings! We would love to play some shows for sure!" What is the general attitude towards metal music in Poland like? Is it well supported? "Hard to say because we used to have quite big metal labels like Metal Mind or Mystic, but firstly it's getting smaller with number of releases and second left metal and focused on other styles of music. And then are more underground labels like ours Via Nocturna. So metal is supported mostly by small local radio stations, or late night broadcasts in bigger stations, and by internet magazines. Government would rather make us disappear than support but what can you expect from hypocritical ultra catholic neo-nationalists right? We are not Portugal that gave Moonspell the award for promoting Portugal in the world. Behemoth would never get that kind of thank you from our minister of culture. But fuck it – we don’t need that until there are many metalheads! Metal supposed to be in opposition!" What is the metal scene like in Warsaw? What venues, bars, etc are there? What sights / attractions could you recommend to metalheads to go and see? "Forget about Hardrock Caffe Warsaw – that’s first! There are many clubs but smaller ones changing every couple of years and I must say – cause I am really out of time I have blank head now! Most metal big club here would be Progresja Club. Then we can mention Potok Club, Proxima, Stodoła, Palladium. There was Club Rock but not sure if it exist any more. For beer you can check Rock & Roll pub next to Metro Politechnika station. About Warsaw – I don’t want to make everyone asleep by me taking next 3 hours about what you shall see in Warsaw! Depends on what you like but we have a lot of interesting places and stuff to see. Let me know if you around!" What plans do you have for the year ahead? "Some new videos are coming and hopefully some shows! As well as some kick ass new merch so feel free to visit us on www.facebook.com/hostiaband as well as Bandcamp and Youtube! Thank you for the interview and all readers for spending their time on checking a bit about Hostia! Spread the blasphemy!" https://www.facebook.com/hostiaband/
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 Portugal might not necessarily be a country that produces metal band after metal band on the international stage, instead it produces a range of metal bands with the potential to. Naturally the first metal band to spring to mind would be Moonspell, arguably the most successful Portuguese Metal export since the scene first emerged. However one of the latest bands to find the path to international recognition is the grindcore outfit Axia, whose latest album "Pulverizer" (released via Selfmadegod) is a brutal force to be reckoned with; album was mastered by Peter In de Betou (Arch Enemy, Amon Amarth, Meshuggah, Hypocrisy). GMA was able to grind the band down and to analyse what makes Axia, Axia.  For those who have not heard of Axia, could you please give us a history of the band? "Hello. We're basically a group that have been together for quite a long a time, collaborating with other bands and projects. We frequently tour and write music very often, and was the genesis of Axia. One day after listening to a stack of songs and realizing that it followed a musicality that wouldn't fit in any other of our projects, we decided that would be necessary to create a new identity capable of bring those tracks to life." What do your families think of your music, and when did you get your first taste in metal music? "I've been consuming music ever since I can remember of my existence. I was still a child when I first started to collect entire tape discographies from the 60's/70's, heavy metal was gradually introduced during my curiosity incursions through my friends collections. I think metal music eventually became much more respected and user friendly than it used to be 20 years ago. People tend to respect and appreciate the musical/skill abilities from a given musician, even if they do not enjoy the music there's a lot more recognition and value." What enticed you to play Grindcore? How would you define your sound? "Extreme metal as always given me a sense of excitement and freedom. There's such huge energy stream gleaming when the music is playing that it makes the heart beat synchronizing with the the tempo. I wouldn't describe us as a grindcore band, I rather say that The backbone of AXIA‘s music is an hybrid raid of extreme paced songs, infused with infinite levels of self-inflicted negativity and hopelessness." What was reception like for your album "Pulverizer"? Was there a album launch party? "We're still collecting opinions and reviews about the new record, but so far the reactions are quite above what we initially expected. We did a release show during the almighty SWR - Barroselas Metalfest XXI, along with a line-up of awesome bands which actually went pretty great."  Clérigos Church, Porto (Credit: Tripadvisor) What challenges do you face as a band in Portugal? "Well, Portugal is developing quite fast during the last couple of years. Things have change a lot and nowadays the only obstacles are the geographical position and of course the low wages. Musicians are getting better and more ambitious, there's a lot more planning and creativity." What is the general attitude towards metal music in Portugal like? Is it well supported? "If we take in account the population size, I would say that Portugal is one of the best countries to play live shows. With a good promotion campaign, an underground show can easily achieve a massive attendance of 200/500 people depending on the band popularity." What is the metal scene like in Porto? What venues, bars, etc are there? What sights / attractions could you recommend to metalheads to go and see? "Porto became a crucial landmark in what regards to music, there's very few chances that any band won't play Porto during a tour that features the peninsular area. There's many great places to visit, to enjoy live music or simply to listen and buy old rarities. Make sure you don't miss Bunker Store, Piranha, Zhe isuisria." https://www.facebook.com/AXIAband/ |
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