Interview Interrogation: Downfall Of Mankind (Portugal)

"The fact that bringing a new genre for most in Portugal, sometimes it's kinda hard for everybody to accept it all at once"

If you think of the Portuguese Metal scene, you tend to think of Moonspell (they aren't the only band)... for the best part it does seem at times like the Iberian nations of Portugal, Spain, Andorra and the dependency of Gibraltar become forgotten. Enter the new kids on the block in Downfall Of Mankind, who bring with them a totally new and fresh sound to the Portuguese Metal scene even if the sound is known more widely in the international metal scene. Slamming Symphonic Deathcore is the game and Downfall Of Mankind is the name, with this interrogation we tried to be tame, but in the end we were scorched by this Lisbona flame.

For those who have not heard of Downfall Of Mankind, could you give us a brief history of the band?

      "Downfall Of Mankind is a Slamming / Symphonic Deathcore band that was created with the purpose of bringing the best of both worlds together in trying something new. Bringing Slam and  Symphonic Metal into Deathcore was something that we didn't expect to work out, it turned out to be something that we all enjoyed and doing, and we are super excited to show what we have got in store!"


Given you play Slam / Symphonic Deathcore, how do you distinguish yourself from the hordes of bands in this genre? How did you come to play this style?

     "Our founding member (Lucas Bishop) was the one who came up with the idea of mixing the genres and seeing what comes out of it, given that pretty much all of the members were already fans of Slam and Deathcore, we've decided to come together and add the Symphonic sauce to it."


You recently confirmed that you're playing the 2021 XXXAPADA Na Tromba festival, can you tell us more about this festival? Have you played it before?

     "Yeah, it's going to be our very first time at the festival, we are beyond excited to be part of such huge line up, sharing the stage with bands such as Stillbirth, Vulvodynia, Benighted and all the others its pretty much everything that a newborn could wish for, and we are more than happy to be part of the line up for this year's edition."


How has the Portuguese people and bands reacted to the lockdown imposed due to COVID-19? What plans of yours were cancelled / postponed?

     "It's been difficult not just for the Portuguese people but for the whole world, see, the music industry suffered and is still suffering a lot from the outbreak situation, we are still trying to pick up the pieces from the damage done, standing tall and striving for the best we can get. We did have a couple of concerts cancelled and others postponed, luckily we are managing to re book most of it, all we want is to go back on stage and show what we are about!"

Downtown Lisbon, Portugal / Source: Booking.com

Given the turn of events, what plans do you have going forward in late 2020 / early 2021?

     "We definitely will be releasing new material in 2020 still, maybe a new music video you never know, new merch, all i can say is we have got a lot of new stuff to deliver between 2020 and 2021, including tours."


Tell us more about the Portuguese Metal scene, what are the challenges that bands face, is there a great amount of support?

     "Well the fact that bringing a new genre for most in Portugal, sometimes it's kinda hard for everybody to accept it all at once. Given for the time being Downfall Of Mankind has been receiving a lot of love from it's country; which is what's important, it feels good to bring not so new stuff into a country that never paid much attention to it."


For metalheads visiting Lisbon, what sights / attractions and bars / venues could you recommend? 

     "There's a lot of good stuff to see around town, sight seeing and walking around the city its definitely something you want to do while visiting Lisbon. Regarding venues and bars, we'd definitely recommend RCA, its a nice place to go if you want to enjoy some good music from time to time, it's our home and we love that place. If you want to experience different types of music you could go up to Bairro Alto where you can find a bunch of different bars for all kinds of tastes, overall Lisbon is a place for everyone."


Do you have any thanks or greetings you wish to send to friends, family or fans?

     "We would like to thank everyone that has been involved in this band so far, everyone that has bought or will buy and support our music and merch, to all the fans out there that has been waiting for some slammy and juicy new tracks, all we gotta say is...

They are coming..

     Lucas Bishop  /  Claudio Melo  /  Sergio Pascoa  /  Alejandro Puentes  /  Franscisco Marques

DOWNFALL OF MANKIND & CREW"

https://www.facebook.com/DownfallOfMankindBand/