FLESH MADE SIN (Holland)

It’s easy to relate Flesh Made Sin to something like brutal death or grind because of the phenomenon by Deeds Of Flesh, Godflesh, Fleshgrind, or so other brutal-fleshy names. But when it comes to this Dutch band, they aren’t brutal nor grind but thrash!! Formed in 1999 with 3 releases, they’ll surely thrash your head again!!
 
Flesh Made Sin is a unique name but for me I think it doesn’t really match for a thrash metal band but more appropriate for brutal death metal bands because the words ‘Flesh” is used by Deeds Of flesh, Fleshgrind, Fleshtized & so do your label mates, Project: Failing Flesh. Who gave the band’s name & how did it turns up? What’s that mean by Flesh Made Sin?
I find this is a strange question, Amin. We think it’s a cool name for a thrash band. Easy to remember and hits you in the face when you hear it, just like our music. Twan and Bjorn came up with the name and I don’t know if there is a deeper meaning behind the name. It just sounds great, don’t you agree?
 
As I knew thrash metal is not a big thing like black or death metal these days, have you find any difficulties on the early stage to get the bands exposed? Do you encounter any problem to get the perfect members of the band & how the band is formed?
The band is formed 6 years ago and is still with the original members. Before that time Bjorn and Twan were playing in a band called Gore for More ( I think demo’s are still available ) together with 2 other guys. Marco and I were playing in a band called Antropomorphia ( old-school death metal ) and the 2 bands did a lot of gigs together. So we saw those guys playing thrash riffs in the way we like them the most. We asked the boys if we could jam together sometime and so we did. From that time everything turned out well and we felled magic playing together. “Kick the other guys out of the band” we said for fun, but they did. That was a difficult thing to do for them. They were high school friends, you know. Back to now, the members of Flesh made Sin became great friends and have a lot fun playing together. Of course we had to do our stinky best to get the attention from the record labels. It’s commercial not attractive for a label to sign a thrash band. I think we convinced them with our live performances and the lots of merchandise we sell. Don’t forget, the most “older” metalheads grew up with thrash metal and they have still not forgotten the music. If you have no fans a band is nothing!!!
 

How are the responses for the debut album, “Dawn of The Stillborn” so far? How the sales going & what’s the best review you get? Your own comment for this album, do you really satisfy with the result or still have something should be improve? Your favorite track in this album?
The responses for the album are fantastic, sometimes there is a note like: “I wonder if this music is not to old school to be picked up with a big number of people”. We got 82 points in Holland in the main magazine “Aardschok” ( earthquake) and became one of the top ten albums in that period. We received 80 points in the main magazine from Germany called “Rock Hard”. The best reviews for us are the ones were they compare us with bands like Kreator, Slayer and Dark Angel, not for being a clone, but for the same aggression and speed we put in our music. We play the same style of music, we do not copy riffs from those bands. Maybe for the next album we will use a more modern sound to reach more “kids” who are not familiar with the sound of the eighties. My favorite track is Descending Life or Wastelands. For me the whole album is a killer.
 

Prior to this album, the band have released 2 MCDs; Scenery of Death & Masterwork in Blood. Can you tell us about both of them like what songs appeared how did they sell, how were the reactions & so on? And what are the comparison can be made between the debut album with these MCD?
The songs on those mcd’s have the same quality as the songs on the album. I think we sold 1000 copies of each mcd, most of them when we were playing live. Responses were also great, we knew we were doing a great job, just wait for a label to call us. I think the songs on the album are a little bit faster as the songs on the mcd’s. Maybe we will bring them as a bonus on next recordings. The songs are to great to leave them on the shelf.
 

Karmageddon Media, the label that responsible in releasing the debut album is also a Dutch label, how did you get deal with them? In May 2004 Karmageddon Media asks the band to join in as support on the Dismember & Callenish Circle mini-tour in Benelux, is it why they offer FMS a deal? Are there any label have offered you other deal? Do you satisfied with what they did for the debut album?
The mini-tour convinced Karmageddon Media to offer FMS a contract. Of course they already heard from the band, they are also Dutch people and Holland is a small country. But because of the great responses we got, Karmageddon dared to take the risk in signing a thrash band. I think the business between the two parties is going well. They do a lot of advertisement, even in Malaysia they know our name, and we try to play as much as we can to promote the album. Other labels were interested but couldn’t offer what Karmageddon did.
 

I heard that before the debut album is released, the band failed to have a deal with the first MCD, Scenery of Death. So that you formed your own label, Thrashing Hell Records to release the second MCD entitled Masterwork in Blood. Is it true? What’s up with Thrashing Hell right now?
It’s just for fun that we formed that label. You don’t need a label to release recordings, we thought it would be cool if we just put a label name on the CD by ourselves. So Thrashing Hell Records is not a label to whom bands can send their demo’s or other stuff. It has no commercial purpose.
 
There’s a song entitled Tormentor in the Masterwork MCD. There were many bands that have song with the same title like Destruction, Kreator, Slayer, W.A.S.P etc. your explanation about this? What’s this song story about?
All the thrash bands from the eighties got their own Tormentor, that’s why we also created our Tormentor. Every cool thrash band needs his Tormentor. Did you know that Cab , the singer from Hypnosia (Swedish thrash band ), also appears on the song. They were in Holland at the time we were in the studio and brought us a visit. That was a cool time with a lot of laughs, smoking and beer.
 

All of your songs are recorded in Harrow Studio, why? I knew that this studio was also use by Asphyx & Occult, is it a very best studio in Netherlands? Do you really satisfied with their work? Are you still gonna use this studio again in the future?
We want to get the sound of the eighties on our recordings and Harrow is the studio who can arrange such sound. The producers are very relaxed people and that is important if a studio is your home for a couple of weeks. In the future we will try another studio, just to prevail becoming a copy of ourselves.
 

If the band had to record a tribute album, what songs would you choose? I’m just thinking that Destruction or Kreator will be among the first to appear in you head as both bands have become the major influences for the band, is it true? What are your top 5 thrash metal album all the time?
1. Reign in Blood-Slayer
2. Pleasure to Kill-Kreator
3. None shall Defy-Infernal Majesty
4. Elegy for the Weak-Occult
5. Sentence of Death-Destruction
As you can see I’m influenced the most by the so called “Euro Thrash”, not by the Bay Area thrash, although Testament and Exodus are great bands. I think the other guys will agree with this statement. By the way, everybody who reads this must listen to that Occult record. Wow, what a nice record.
 

Do you really follows nowadays’ thrash metal progression, can you recommend good thrash metal bands lately? What are the bands that you worth listening right now? Have you listened to recent Kreator’s tribute album by Fullmoon Productions which’s presented by Krisiun, Angelcorpse, Centinex, Rotting Christ, Acheron etc.?
Occult is a superb thrash band from Holland, Merciless and Maze of Torment are two bands from Sweden. Other bands who receive a contract are most of all The Haunted copies. That’s a shame for the scene.
 

What did you know about the Southeast Asia region? Have you hear of any bands. Labels, zines from here? Do you have in touch with anybody from here?
I think the south-East Asia is an upcoming region. For Metal music as well as economical. Now a days we receive interviews from that region more and more. Last month we had an interview for Painkiller Magazine from china with our friend Yang Yu (cheers mate, if you read this). I don’t know any bands yet, but we’re looking forward to meet them or to listen to their music.
 

What are the activities of FMS right now? Are you have start writing any new song right now? Thanks for the interview!! I think I’ve covered mine, so the rest is yours...
At this time Flesh Made Sin is promoting the record and is trying to get gigs all over Europe. A mini-tour with Macabre (the American Macabre) and Prostitute Disfigurement ( a brutal death metal band from Holland) is upcoming in August. Maybe a tour with Dismember and Thyrfing in November, but that’s not for sure. We will also start writing material for a new album upcoming in 2006. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could play a gig in Malaysia? Who knows!!! All Malaysia metalheads, greets from Flesh Made Sin and the rest of Metal Europe. Keep the scene alive!!!!
 

Flesh Made Sin Discography
1. Scenery Of Death MCD, 2000
2. Masterwork In Blood EP, 2002
3. Dawn Of The Stillborn, 2004 Karmageddon Media

www.fleshmadesin.nl