(interview answered by Phil Hutchinson - published in Metal Dominance fanzine in 1995)
+ Which was the beginning of CHAPEL OF REST? How did you get together?
- C.O.R first formed back in April 1992, our first line-up was myself (guitar/vox), Andy (guitar), Mike (bass) and Jase (drums). We were all in different bands before then but we weren�t happy with what we were doing, so we all decided to get together and form a new band.
+ What is �Memorium Grief� about?
- It�s not really about anything!! They were the first songs we wrote together and they�re all basically about death and typical death metal stuff!!!
+ What do your lyrics refer to?
- The lyrics on the demo, like I said, are typical clich?d death lyrics, but our new lyrics are more a reflection on the things we see and feel. They�re about such things as life, death, love, pain, anger, joy � things like that. Mainly they�re about emotions and feelings.
+ Are you satisfied with the people�s response to your band until now?
- Yeah!!! Up to now we�ve had an amazing response!! We�ve sold over 450 copies of our debut demo and even though now we think it�s pretty boring and contrived we�ve had loads of people write to us who really like it which is great!!! Hopefully we�ll get an even better response when we release our second demo.
+ Is there a metal scene in Hull or any other death metal bands? Do you find it difficult to arrange gigs? (Which are your relations with the other groups?)
- There�s quite a large metal scene in Hull but, unfortunately, there is only a small death/thrash scene!!! We�re the only �death� band in Hull, but there are a couple of good thrash bands, namely Idiot Savant and Vanadium. It�s pretty easy to arrange gigs in Hull and we�re good friends with most of the English bands, so it�s not to difficult for us to arrange gigs.
+ How many gigs have you played �till now and where? Do you like playing live in front of an audience?
- Up to now we�ve played 10 gigs, most of them have been in Hull, but we�ve also played in Bradford and Norwich. We�ve played shows with Malediction, Incarcerated, Cradle of Filth, Gomorrah, Burial, Absolution and loads more. Yeah, I love playing in front of an audience, it�s the whole reason for being in a band in the first place!!!
+ What are your musical influences?
- I don�t know really, we all listen to so much different music and it all influences us in some way. I suppose our main influences are Metallica, Slayer, Death and the early thrash and death metal bands as they are who got us into this music in the first place.
+ What do you think is the main feeling that death metal nowadays expresses?
- I don�t know!! I think most death metal is still the really fast, aggressive, release of anger kind of thing but with all the new doomy death bands there�s a more mellow, moody feeling in a lot of bands nowadays.
+ What�s the main difference between thrash and death metal, in your opinion? Why did you decide to play death metal?
- The main difference between thrash and the majority of death bands is just the vocal style and the downtuned heaviness of the guitars. As for why we play death metal? Who knows!! It�s just the type of music we enjoy playing!!!
+ What do you expect from the future to bring to CHAPEL OF REST?
- Well I hope it will bring us fame + fortune!!! I don�t know for sure, we will just release our next demo and see where things go from there. Hopefully we will be offered some kind of deal or something, but we just take one step at a time!!
+ Is there something you�d like to add?
- Thanks loads Natalia, for the interview and great questions! Best of luck with your zine. To everyone else, thanks for reading this interview, look out for our stunning new demo due out in November, write for details of our merchandise (demos, LS shirts etc) take care + stay brutal!!!