Dreams of Consciousness: Please introduce your band - who are you, where are you from, and how would you describe the music you make?
A.M.: We play blasphemous death metal. Currently we are a trio: A.M - drums and songwriting, J.S - vocals and lyrics, T.D - guitars. We're from Tel Aviv, Israel, but I relocated to Berlin right after finishing recording the debut album.
DoC: What was the genesis of Deathsiege - what brought you together, and what did you hope to accomplish? What led you to expand from a duo to a trio, and when did your new guitarist Tom Davidov join the band?
A.M.: Actually it wasn't intentional - on the contrary, I just left two bands I played with at the time (Mortuus Umbra and Kever) and I was kinda sick of the classic work frame of a band, sick of finding the consensus between band members, etc. I started to write riffs so I can play along in order to strengthen my drumming skills; the riffs became songs, short bursts of blasting obscure death metal. After recording [by] myself I asked J.S to join as a vocalist and lyricist on this project. We released that demo and another demo together, and only after we had all the material for a full album, we asked T.D to join, since we've been friends for a long time and played together in the past, and we needed to level up our guitar work.
DoC: I was introduced to Deathsiege through the Unworthy Adversary release. Do you consider this to be your first album, or a demo? What were your intentions for this release? How well do you think it represents the band now?
J.S.: Well it's in fact our second demo, but the only one to get released as a standalone 7" and cassette, so I guess one could call it a very short EP. It's a special release for me because I play guitar on some songs and even wrote a riff or two. I think it was a very important release for us in understanding what Deathsiege is and what it was lacking, and this allowed A.M. the freedom and energy to compose a bunch of new songs and compile a fully formed debut album. The addition of a new guitarist was really a musical necessity, because Unworthy Adversary was a great celebration of our collaboration as drummer and vocalist... maybe not so much as guitarists.
DoC: What sorts of themes and topics do you write about in your lyrics? How much are you influenced by your surroundings and things you have experienced in your own lives?
J.S.: I honestly do my best to avoid any direct influences or sources of inspiration in the lyrics for Deathsiege because I want it to be rooted in absolute negativity and nothingness. But I guess that in itself is a choice well informed by various influences in my life and especially in Metal.
Actually, the title track Throne of Heresy is quite different from the rest in that it deals with a cultural/religious element, the unholy Baphomet. It is explored as an element of mythical hypocrisy and that has a lot to do with the album's themes of meaninglessness.
DoC: What is your songwriting process? Do you write together or does A.M. work on the songs on his own? How much does T.D. contribute to the songwriting?
J.S.: It's all A.M. as far as songwriting goes, with my vocals and T.D.'s solos coming on top of a well constructed pile of riffs and beats.
DoC: At the end of October, you released your debut Throne Of Heresy. What do you want listeners to experience while listening to this album?
J.S.: I think the cover art says it all. Burn!
DoC: The recording is a big step up from your previous releases. What led you to work with Tom Cohen, and what would you say he brought to your sound?
A.M.: We recorded everything by ourselves. Drums and vocals recorded in one session each at our rehearsal studio, and T.D recorded guitars at his home studio. We sent everything to our friend Tom Cohen for mixing and mastering at Forneus Studios.
J.S.: I think [what Tom brought to the sound] is best answered by listening to Unworthy Adversary (self-mixed) and then the album, while keeping in mind that the drum and vocal sources we gave Tom were not much better than those on that demo. That guy is the best.
DoC: The album is being released by Everlasting Spew Records. How did they get involved with this release?
A.M.: I was in touch with Tito from Everlasting Spew before we even recorded the album. He liked the demos compilation Imago Blasphemiam that we released in 2021 and offered to work together and to release our debut with them. We are more than satisfied with the way they work and promote the album.
DoC: Deathsiege is the first band from Israel to be interviewed on this site. What is the metal scene like there? What is the biggest challenge for underground bands in your country? Who do you see as your peers - either in your own country, or in the larger metal underground?
J.S.: The underground scene is so small here there really isn't much to talk about. At any given time there are less than a handful of bands carrying the torch, and over the last two decades A.M. and T.D. have actually played in most of them (Sonne Adam, Har, Kever, Mortuus Umbra, Venomous Skeleton)! There are some nice collaborations with the Punk scene, and that's about it. My own band Svpremacist tends to walk that narrow Metal/Punk line a lot of the time. There's a bigger "new school" scene going on but we have nothing to do with that.
DoC: What's next for you?
J.S.: Only death is certain.
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Everlasting Spew Records
Blast From The Past:
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