BURIAL interview March 2012

Formed in 1991 and hailing from The Netherlands, old school Death Metallers Burial have had their ups and downs but the band are now stronger than ever so I spoke to guitarist Steven Vrieswijk about various topics...

Hi Steven, how are you and how are things going with the band?

Pretty good, actually. We started rehearsing again last October, after being without a rehearsal room for over a year, and currently  getting our new vocalist worked in.

I hear that 'Relinquished Souls' will soon be rereleased, when will this be happening?

This month, it will be re-released through Memento Mori records .

'Relinquished Souls' is now considered an underground Death Metal classic. When you recorded it, did you have any idea that it would ever reach this kind of status?

No, not really. The other guys, who were in the band that time didn't either.

Although the 85 points in Aardschok magazine should be a little hint though.

Apart from Burial, you were also a member of Polluted Inheritance, can you tell me a bit about your time with the band?

I was asked to join them on bass in the late 2000, if I'm not mistaken,

just after the recording of the last album. I didn't record anything with them,  but did some shows. In 2008 after our last show with Testament, we called it quits. Since we all had families and jobs, it was really hard to free up the time needed for the complex music that we made. Ronald (vocals&guitars) plays guitar with Master of Waha (with a.o. Xavier Carrion, ex-Channel Zero), Friso (drums) is a professional musician in the jazz circuit and writes all sorts of classical stuff. Erwin, the other guitarist isn't musically active at the moment.

Real shame Polluted quit...

Did your 2006 demo 'Resurrection' sell well, and how was it received?

No not really, still got some left. We haven't seen a review either since we didn't send it around. We know it is a terrible product. The song themselves are okay, but it has been played and recorded poorly.

Are there any plans for a new Burial album any time soon?

Well we want to, but first we need to write more material. The sabbatical we had caused a real delay in writing.

In the early days you were very much influenced by Massacre and Death, is this still the case?

Absolutely, although there are some Obituary and Meshugah things happening as well along with some Slayer and Morbid Angel like stuff.

Of your three releases with Burial, which one is your favourite and why?

Definitely the album.  I have listened to the thing over and over again, so it has some childhood memories for me! And the four demo tracks are on there as well.

On the re-release , the entire 'Frigid Cold' demo is added as bonus tracks.

 What bands are you listening to most these days?

Death, Massacre, Bone Gnawer, Slayer, Necrophagist, and the Dutch band IChaos, they're awesome!

I recently re-discovered Gorguts and Disincarnate... really love that old stuff.

What first got you interested in Metal and what prompted you to become a member of Burial?

It all started out with KISS, I guess. Later I thankfully got into the Thrash wave in the '80's with Metallica and Slayer, until I heard Death... that was quite an eye-opener!

As far as Burial is concerned, I've known the original members for years, as I was always hanging out in the rehearsal room they had at the time. Stefan (the original guitarist/vocalist) is my cousin, and got me into playing as well. After the split up in '94  it wasn't until 2000 that I called some of the guys to see if there was a possibility to jump start Burial. Stefan didn't want to sing anymore, so we got a new vocalist called Sebastian whom I've known since we where ten years old. Peter (guitars on the album) started drumming, and I became the second guitarist.  In the course of years, Stefan left and was replaced by Frank Schobben (ex-Mordancy). And last year Sebastian left, since he didn't see an end to the sabbatical and got bored, basically.

He's been replaced by Angelo de Bruijn (also ex-Mordancy).

Will there be some new Burial merchandise soon?

Well Memento Mori will print some album design shirts, and we still have logo shirts in stock (black with red logo).

What does the future hold for Burial?

Who knows?  First we need to get back on stage asap, and write more material.

Any last words?

 Keep Death Metal old school, and like us on Facebook, add us on MySpace and fan us on Reverbnation. Horns up!

Thanks Steven.  Remember to check out the re-released version of 'Relinquished Souls' out on Memento Mori.