Interview with metal band, Rest In Disgrace

I recently stumbled on a new metal band with Buddhist influences, Rest In Disgrace. I was able to e-mail them some questions and promptly, they replied with some answers. I hope you enjoy learning a bit more about the band as I did. So here we go…

PM: Rest In Disgrace has various influences from Carcass, In Flames to Akercocke. The sounds of the influences are very evident in your music. Was it the intention to make the sound so evident or is this just what happened when you got together? I also hear quite a bit of Amorphis’ sound, are you guys fans?

Márcio Quirino (Bass): Well, we can say both things are true: we wanted to sound just the way we do, having some clear mentions to the names you quoted above, but in the other hand, I believe this would end up happening anyway, naturally, since that’s what we usually listen to, which means it is how we understand and express our music as well.

João Pachá (Guitars): Hails Nathan. How are Yah!??! Hummm, well, I agree that, some sounds are evident, but maybe not that much. I believe that it’s the result (are you also a clairvoyant? Ehehe) of both personalities that share some similarities, and the unshared ones left, complete each other most of the time. Just like Yin & Yang?!!

PM: You guys got your start in Brazil and now live in Germany right? What brought on that move and how is that going for you?

Márcio: It came as a conciliation of both personal and professional issues, which i had long planned. Then, considering the differences between Brazilian and European scenes and the advantages one can find in the latter, in terms of metal music, it was like a consequent step on the band’s career.

JP: Thats right. It’s a sure thing that we have some mean difficulties in Brazil that prevent every band to achieve considerable exposition and consequently success… UNLESS you do like Sepultura and Krisiun did and go out of the country to try to get a record deal with foreigner labels. Otherwise, not.

PM: You claim to also have inspiration from Indian Mythology and Buddhist principles. Please explain how those come together in the sound of RID.

Márcio: Firstly i took those as an interesting lyrical theme to be aesthetically explored in the lyrics and some sonorities. But, besides that, this interest comes mainly from a personal admiration and moral, spiritual commitment with the philosophical meaning these traditions have. My philosophical academic formation led me to a lot of certainties, disbeliefs and questions, made me tougher and helped me develop my rationality and critical view of things… but my involvement with the occult side of reality and the discipline of buddhism has shown me the paths of an individual truth which one cannot read in books nor learn from others, but just feel and live through it… and that’s what I try to do with my music, i.e. to invite other souls to behold those sentimental, spiritual landscapes with me. This perspective can be seen in the lyrics and some sonorities of the band, something like an invitation to experience peace; not a peace that means only the momentary absence of conflict, but the opposite: a peace that stands even in conflict and on the ugly side of life… which would be like resting in disgrace.

JP: To me, it works like the other half (and perhaps more) that complements my mind, soul and spirit. My desire to explore the other side of life and its connections began in the age of 21, with Astrology, then Psychology, then some occult religions like Umbanda, Candomble, Spiritism, and most recently, Buddhism.
To Explore and be in contact with the Mysteries of the universe, one needs to be in contact to himself, and then contact with as much things as possible. And there are some techniques to help the „traveler“ to achieve his goals. One of them is the Yoga, which we practice… among other things.

PM: Are you guys practicing Buddhists or is Buddhist philosophy just used as a basis for inspiration?

Márcio: I think I have partially answered this question in the last reply. But Ican add thatIi am mostly familiarized with the philosophy and values of Buddhism, though as an ordinary man and not as a monk, for instance… but who isn’t ondinary after all?

JP: Good one. I do tend to know as much as possible about the cults, religions and the like that interest me, and if i connect (understand it well and feel that it matchs my previous philosophies) with it, then I’ll extract the aspects that interest me and leave the ones i didn’t have so much empathy. We can call it Universalism?!?!?

PM: Care to give us a sample of some of the lyrics that you’ve written from the Buddhist realm?

Márcio: Sure thing! This fragment is from the song ”Ascendance”, bringing up some modern man’s resignation and pessimism, but as something that’s rooted in a buddhist idea, in a way:

How can we feel the divine
If we’ve spent our days on believing in it
And the more I try, the more i fail
To become a good man after all

Also, the chorus from ”Vanity” is very poetical and has a deep brahmanic meaning:

Astute thief
Thy face is a mirror
Lonely old man
Thy shadow is my shelter
Trembling soldier
Thy fear is mine
Screaming woman
I cry inside you

And finally, this part from ”Unnamed Feelings” is my very favorite and the most epical, mythological of all:

Oh divine muse of all desperate ones
In forgetfulness i shall find thy motherly arms
Silence will embrace this weighty heart
One which is as dark as a dying lotus

PM: Your album “As Beauty Springs From Mud” is an obvious reference to a lotus flower which, even from the muddy depths, springs forth with great beauty. Your logo also features a lotus flower. Where did you get the idea to incorporate this visual so often?

Márcio: Very well observed. I have such a fascination for the symbology of the lotus flower. It can even be looked at as a metaphor of human life as a whole and has a profound existential meaning. Also, it is almost a beauty in itself, perfect for the sake of a mark or logo, a sign which people can immediately identify with the band.

JP: Yeah, its like Márcio said. It’s the fusion of both the deeper meanings and aesthetical beauty that led us to choose the Lotus as one of our symbols, for its meaning (expressed on our cover artwork, logo and music.) in the music and nature in general.

PM: How has the EP been received by the masses? Is it getting much attention from any labels?

Márcio: For the release of the EP we didn’t make a massive, large number of copies. But even though its reception from the part of the audience has been very good, as in Brazil as here in Europe and America. That makes me glad and gives us the good responsibility to do it even better in the full-length to come.

JP: People tend to like and give us some positive feedback. The reviews so far are good too although due to our relocating process, we delayed some copies to labels and magazines. So, some new reviews and replies from labels are still on their way.

PM: Thanks for the opportunity to get this brief interview done. I appreciate what you guys are trying to do and look forward to hearing more in the future.

Márcio: Thanks Nathan! I’ll keep reading  ”Precious Metal“ and spreading it around our friends and fans.

JP: We are the ones to thank you for such nice job with your Blog and Metal Worshipping.
Thanks for the interview.

Links:
Myspace : www.myspace.com/restindisgrace
Twitter : www.twitter.com/restindisgrace
Last FM: www.lastfm.com.br/music/rest+in+disgrace
Pure Volume: http://www.purevolume.com/RestInDisgrace
Reverbnation: http://www.reverbnation.com/restindisgrace