Vermocracy Exclusive interview
1-Hello and welcome to Metal Music Midwest, first off, thanks for taking the time to do the interview, could you give our readers a brief description of the group? Where is the band from?
Hello and thank you for hitting us up. We are Vermocracy, a Melodic Death Metal band from Vienna, Austria. We play a style reminiscent of 90s bands like In Flames, At the Gates or Arch Enemy. Andi (guitars) and Roman (drums) started the band in 2017. Since then, Stella (guitars), Hannes (bass) and Michael (vocals) have completed the line-up.
Immediately after we finished the recording of our first Album “Vermocracy” in 2020, we started to write new songs. Unfortunately, everything was very difficult due to the pandemic. Some of the songs were written in isolation and there weren’t many possibilities for direct interaction between the members over the course of a few months. Additionally, we used the time to find a suitable label as a partner for the release, which we found in Black Sunset/MDD. We doubled down on the work to finalize the songs together, as soon as we were able to get into the rehearsal room again and entered the studio in spring 2022. We are very satisfied with the outcome.
3- What musical influence inspires the bands compositions?
The individual band members listen to many different styles of music but Vermocracy in itself is mostly inspired by Melodic Death Metal from the 90s and early 2000s. You can also find influences from Technical Death Metal, Black Metal and even Hard Rock and Classical music. For example, the last song on the new album is our interpretation of a renaissance song by John Dowland.
4- Vermocracy started in 2017, can you tells us how did you all meet?
Andi and Roman are old friends, who have been playing together for many years. They were in different formations before founding Vermocracy. It took some time to assemble the perfect line-up. Michael joined as a vocalist in 2019, after leaving his former Black Metal Band Theotoxin. Stella, whom we already knew from her former project Black Coven, was found as a new guitar player later in the same year. Hannes has previously worked with Michael in Horns of Hattin and Obsidian Chamber. He became our bass player shortly before recording the debut album.
The line-up has been stable since 2020 and has proven to work well during the pandemic and the creative process for two albums. We do not plan on slowing down any time soon.
5- The new album title is "Age of Dysphoria", can you give us details about the content and more in depth meaning to this title?
Our lyrics depict dark and critical topics. The connecting theme of a general dysphorian mood, as we can witness today, fits perfectly with our music. We try to examine this in a greater social context as well as in a very personal way. The lyrics range from the danger of obsolete values to the yearning for an escape from a self-determined existence.
Since we put a lot of focus on the content we convey, we also put a lot of effort into our writing process. For the lyrics on Age of Dysphoria we teamed up with Bettina Neustifter, who worked with us on fine-tuning our ideas and found the right words to our songs.
The fantastic artwork of Armin Stocker also picks up on these topics and represents an advancement to the artwork of our debut.
6- Each member of this project is part of another band? How do you maintain a good balance working together?
For Andi and Roman Vermocracy is currently their only one. Michael und Hannes are involved in some other projects that don’t play live at the moment - like Obsidian Chamber and Horns Of Hattin. Stella is also playing live with Asagraum.
We all live in the same city, are friends and treat each other with great respect. We also meet up outside of band work – to go to shows or simply hang out – this makes it easy to stay connected on a personal level. We also have weekly rehearsals and regular exchange, even if there aren’t any upcoming shows or recordings. It was quite difficult during the lockdowns but we learned to maintain the communication and retain our motivation.
7- Have you performed any shows in your area? if so, how receptive and supportive are the people to your music?
We played a lot of shows in and around Vienna during the last years, supporting bands like Malevolent Creation or Baest. Even between the lockdowns in Austria we were able to play some smaller gigs – with seated audience because of official restrictions. A bit weird but quite an experience because everyone was so hungry for music.
The scene in Vienna is great. There is so much support from the fans but also a good network of other musicians and promoters. It’s no surprise that there are a lot of amazing and successful bands from our city.
8- Are there any upcoming shows or tours you can tell us about?
In November we will play an Album Release Show in Vienna and then two more concerts in Graz and Klagenfurt. We are planning more shows for 2023 and are reaching out to bookers and promoters outside of Austria, too.
9- Thanks for your participation, finally, what is the best way to get a hold of the band, in case someone wants to book or promote the band? Any final words?
You can contact our label at promo@mdd-records.de for our Album and Promo material or reach out to us directly at mail@vermocracy.at or facebook.com/vermocracy for news and booking information.
You can also check out the album on Spotify.
Thank you for your interest in our music and your support. Hope to see you soon at one of our upcoming shows. Horns up!
Thank you readers. Bands please visit The Metallist PR to get your music out there
Visit them at https://www.themetallistpr.com/
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