Interviews: Epidermal Veil

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Technical Death Metal band Epidermal Veil from Iceland. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

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

Stefan: The name came from the working title of “Reapers Nectar”. It was inspired by a Star Trek episode actually(Sigurjón might know the episode number that fucking nerd) but there really wasn’t any deeper meaning to it the whole concept behind the EP came later actually. 

Sigurjón: The name came from a scene in Star Trek Voyager S1E14 “Faces”. In this episode an Alien grafts on his face a human face to “look pretty”. That kind of stuck with me and later on became an inspiration for the lyrical content. 

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

Stefan: It’s what we enjoy! In our other bands(Devine Defilement, Necksplitter & Holdris) we play completely different styles of extreme metal so we kinda wanted to push our boundaries and try something new. 

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

Stefan: Oh yeah the scene here in Iceland is quite small so we’ve known each other for a while. So hooking up was really easy.

Ingolfur: Me and Stefán play together in Devine Defilement, and our guitar players Sigurjón and Arnar are in Holdris, and both these bands have played gigs together so yeah we were already buddies 

4. Each band member's favorite band?

Stefan: That would be really hard to narrow down but for the band as a whole Beyond Creation, Obscura and the Black Dahlia Murder.

Ingolfur: I'm a bit older than the rest of the guys, so for me a few favorites would be Suffocation, Cryptopsy, Cephalic Carnage and Morbid Angel 

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Stefan: Well, we never really aim to write a certain type of song. What usually happens is that Sigurjon gets manic and writes a shit ton of stuff he thinks sucks(it doesn’t) then me and Ingo team up with the lyrics and concept. 

Sigurjón: Most of our music starts off with one idea that kind of metastasizes into a swarm of different music based on that idea. 

6. Where was your last gig?

Stefan: The funny thing is we haven’t played a single show as of this moment. But we are gearing up and we have a show planned for early next year.

7. Where would you like to act?

Stefan: So many places to be honest.

Ingolfur: We'd love to play just about anywhere really! 

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

Sigurjón: If Will Ramos would like to collaborate with us, We’d be stoked!

Stefan: There’s so many tbh! We would have loved to have Trevor Strnad feature on a song. We have a feature from Mario Infantes (Cult of Lilith) and Unnur Bjork (Svartþoka) on our EP which was cool and a whole lot of fun.

9. Whom not?

Stefan: Chris Barnes.. dude fucking sucks. 

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

Sigurjón: Not that I could recall -Stefan Best not to think about it.

Ingolfur: Like Sigurjón said, best not to think about it! Usually, when you hit the stage and start doing your thing the excitement and adrenaline will make you forget you were nervous, to begin with. 

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

Sigurjón: The biggest influence on my playing was hearing Master Of Puppets by Metallica when I was younger. The insane down-picking from James Hetfield was so fucking mindblowing that I had to learn that! Later on, it became more of a mix from a variety of bands that influenced me each in their own right. 

Ingolfur: The very first band I got into as a kid was The Prodigy, and my older brother got me into some weirder prog stuff like Frank Zappa as well. That really ignited my interest in music at an early age. As for rock and heavier music I got into Faith No More in my early teens which led me to discover Slipknot's and System of a Down's debut albums. That really opened me up for heavier stuff. After that, it was on to Napalm Death, Carcass, and Cannibal Corpse and since then my love for death metal has only grown!

Stefan: My metal journey started pretty early with bands like Rammstein and Korn but then I totally got swiped up by Slipknot then I just started seeking more and more heavy shit. I think Job For A Cowboy’s Doom EP was the point of no return. 12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for? Do we have fans? Haven’t had any weird stuff happen with Epidermal yet.. but I’ve had some weird requests that are better left unsaid for now.

13. What do you think of your fans?

Stefan: Not sure if we have any diehards yet but anyone who supports us is cool to me! 

14. What do you think of our site?

Stefan: I think it’s a great platform for bands to get their name out there.

15. Something to add?

Stefan: Pick up or stream Psalms of the Flayed on CDN records get your local promoters to book us!