Interviews: ANZILLU

This is a new interview with the Extreme Metal band ANZILLU from Finland. Check out the interview and follow the artist on his FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, plan it, or came out just like that?

I wanted a name that wasn’t generic, no other band has it already, would come up first in search engines, and would sound cool. This pretty much ruled out all English names, so resorted to other languages. After a while of browsing, I stumbled upon a Sumerian-English dictionary and Anzillu was right there among the first. It means ”Abomination” in English.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

I wanted to play fast and aggressive but felt that traditional thrash is too narrow a pen to operate in and plagued with purists. I also wanted to let my other influences show so I ended up with this infusion of thrash, death, groove, and a hint of prog in the melting pot.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed? 

Nope, every other dude was a new acquaintance. It’s refreshing, but it was also frustrating to find good people. Luckily I eventually did.

4. Each band member's favorite band?

Jesse (GTR): Pantera

Teemu (Vox): Deftones

Sami (GTR): Stone

Rasmus (Bass): Lamb of God.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs? 

All kinds of music, not just metal. Certain life events, current events in the world, politics, philosophy, anti-religion, and just noodling around the fretboard and discovering something new by accident.

6. Where was your last gig?

It was a gig organized by a university student culture association in Espoo. It was almost sold out, which was great and people could bring their own booze. It was a fun night.

7. Where would you like to act?

Act like a movie? Probably something sci-fi. Star Wars would be great, Alien or Blade Runner would also be pretty sicced.

8. Whom would you like to feature with? 

Gary Holt of Exodus, he seems like a cool guy and is a riff lord. Or perhaps Gojira, they’re a great band with a distinct vision.

9. Whom not? 

Ted Nugent. He’s crazy.

10. Have any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tip for beginners on how to beat that? 

Maybe the first ten shows when I started out with guitar. After that, the fright turned into excitement. Pro tip: don’t worry about and most definitely don’t treat with booze or drugs. It passes after you got some shows under your belt.

11. What bands have inspired you the most? 

Numero Uno would be Pantera, Dimebag compelled me to take up guitar. Other notable mentions: Tool, Kingston Wall, Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Strapping Young Lad, Zakk Wylde, GnR, Van Halen, AC/DC, Stam1na.

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for? 

Do body shots of me after a show.

13. What do you think of your fans? 

Everyone who listens to our music comes to the show and buys merch as top dude/dudette. It would be pointless to do stuff without them.

14. What do you think of our site? 

It’s great, keep it up!

15. Something to add? 

We are stoked about this new deal with M-Theory and can’t wait for people to hear our debut. Luckily the first single is already out, and there will be some others released before the record drops. Keep the band in mind, I think you’ll be positively surprised.