Interview for DEATHTHRASHER MAGAZINE by ARMANDO MUTILATOR : 

Armando, my friend,

Here are the answers for the interview, I placed them between your questions. I hope you like reading them as much as I did answering your question. If you want to now more, just mail me! Let me know when the review and the interview are online, so we can make a link to it from our website, ok? Thank you for your help, interest and support to Septuagint. We'll keep in touch and we hope to hear again from you soon!

Greetings,

Berry & Septuagint

DT: When and why the band was formed? (current line - up).
S: SEPTUAGINT was founded in 1991 by singer Cees and some other guys. They started rehearsing and later on performing live. At one point they started to become quite a known name in the Dutch underground scene, but due to several line-up changes they didn't had a chance to record something. That changed in 1994, the year bass player Pepijn joined the band. In the fall of that year Septuagint released their first Demo tape, simply named 'SEPTUAGINT'. The 300 copies of the tape were sold out in no-time, but that didn't kept the drummer and one of the guitar players from leaving the band. Pepijn and I were already playing together in another band, so it was an easy question to ask me to keep the drums eat warm. It was an easy answer for me too , of course I wanted to play in SEPUAGINT! With the four of us we started to write new songs, and in 1998 that resulted in our first CD, the mini album '...My Darkest Domain'. It was very well received among both critics and fans, which we noticed by how fast we sold them and how many gigs we got. But there was only one problem: we really missed the power of another guitar live... So we went looking for a second guitar player, which we found soon enough. Now with Mike completing the band we could start doing gigs. We played all over Holland and that caught the attention of a small record label. We had already written most of the songs of what would be our first full-length album, so we signed the deal, and went to the studio to record it. But shortly after we started recording the label broke up. But the producer and we decided to finish the album anyway. We did, but because now the producer was the one paying for the recording, he decided how it should sound like. And that was not such a good idea... But if we didn't agree, we wouldn't have an album at all... So, there it was, our first album 'When Good & Evil fall in Love'. Of course we were proud of it, the songs, the ideas, the album in itself, but we weren't very proud of the production. But there wasn't anything we could do about it anymore. So we went on... that is, until one of the guitar players left. That was a very crucial period. The question was: should we quit, or should we give it all we have one more time? Could we start over again? We decided to give it a try, by first searching another guitar player. Fortunately we found Andrew, a guitar madman! At that point we tossed every doubt we had aside, fired up our engines and started off! New songs came easy, I might say, and we wanted to show everyone that SEPTUAGINT was still alive and kicking (and we also wanted to show what SEPTUAGINT should sound like) so we decided to record two of our new songs as a promo for the band in general and for the new album we want to record in particular. So we released 'Meditation Among Demons', in May this year, and as gift and thank you to everyone who supported is we are giving it away for free. Of course it is also a way to promote us, and attract new fans and organizations who can help us with our dream, which is to spread the best Metal we can all over the world. That is, in short, the history of SEPTUAGINT until today... 

DT: Why the name of SEPTUAGINT?.
S: Right... I knew this question was coming... First of all, the one who came up with the name has left SEPTUAGINT a long time ago, so I don't know why we got the name. But when people first started asking me this question, I looked it up in the dictionary, so I know now what it means: it's the English spelling of the Latin appelation for the Greek translation of the Old Testament. Some mean the original translation of the Torah, which was done in the third century B.C. Some mean the original translation of the entire Old Testament plus Apocrypha, which was done over the next century or so. But so many revisions have been made, that none of these original translations exist. So some scholars will use 'SEPTUAGINT' to refer to a particular revision of the translation. But even these can only be reconstructed from what manuscripts there are. So still other scholars will use 'SEPTUAGINT' to refer to a particular manuscript of the SEPTUAGINT. According to an ancient legend in a document known as the Letter of Aristeas, the original translation was done by 70 Jewish scholars. This led to the name 'SEPTUAGINT', which is derived for the Latin for the word 'seventy'. Or something like that... 

DT: Tell me about your "Septuagint" (Demo 1994) please.
S: About the Demo I only know what I heard from Cees and Pepijn, since I didn't play on it. By then I already knew Pepijn, we were playing together in the band Discipline Problem (for both of us our first band), so I heard the demo when it was released and it blew me away! That was really great music, I wanted to play that too! So, I was actually glad that shortly after the release of the demo the drummer of Septuagint quit the band and asked me to join them.
On the demo are 4 tracks: Silent Scream (not the Slayer song), Children of the War, For Those I loved and The Dream. Although we don't play those songs anymore (I don't know why) they still would fit perfectly in our set list. Hmmm, maybe we should start playing them again, then... Anyway, this is as much as I can tell you about it... 

DT: Do you like IRON MAIDEN?, which is your fave IRON MAIDEN's album?.
S: Do I like Iron Maiden??? Hell yeah!!! For me it's the best metal band in the world! It is also the first Metal band I ever heard. When I was 11 I got the 'Powerslave' album from my neighbour, and it's been metal for me ever since. And 'Powerslave' is still my most favourite album, not only from Iron Maiden, but my most fave album ever!

DT: Your fave SLAYER's album?.
S: That's easy too: 'Reign in Blood'! A real trip to hell and back! It was my 3rd album I bought (After MAIDEN's Killers and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son) Dave Lombardo has always been a big influence for me, especially the parts he plays on 'Reign in Blood'. 'God Hates Us All' is also very high on my fave list, and it's really a big loss to the Metalworld Paul Bostaph isn't able to play the drums anymore...

DT: What style do you play? HARRY POTTER - Metal?.
S: We call it Power / Thrash Metal, influenced by the 80's style metal. A reviewer came up with the name 'Harry Potter' metal, because our lyrics also deal with fantasy and mystery, magic and all that. And he reviewed our 'Good & Evil' album in the same time as the first Harry Potter movie came out, so I guess that's why he came up with it. We thought it was funny, so we used it in our biography. But we would have preffered if he had compared us to Lord of the Rings, which came out in the same period. But that's his choice... 

DT: Do you prefer MADONNA or BRITNEY SPEARS and why?.
S: That depends on what you are talking about. If you mean the music then in overall MADONNA has made more better songs than BRITNEY, but in the end I like BRITNEY better, especially her songs 'Baby..., hit me one more time', 'Lucky' and 'Oops... I did it again'. I actually have been to her show in Holland, and it was a strange experience... I have never ever have heard so many little girls scream at the same time... It was ears hattering!

DT: Are you satisfied with "...My Darkest Domain" (MCD - 1998).
S: Yes, very much! And we still are! Nowadays '...My Darkest Domain' is still the last song of our shows. It was also the first song I co - write with SEPTUAGINT. We recorded it at the Round Midnight Studio, which is the studio of my drum teacher. It was our first CD recording and we still think the production is great: raw and intense, just the way the 4 songs should sound like. In that time we used less melody and more aggressive riffing, so it's a bit different from the demo and our album, but we still believe in the power of the songs.

DT: Do you like STAR WARS?... which EPISODE is the best?... are you an action figure collector?.
S: Yes, I am a big STAR WARS fan, I've seen every movie at least 5 times! I think 'Return of the Jedi' is the best of them all, but I also like 'Attack of the Clones' very much. I'm really looking forward to Episode III, especially the part where Anakin transforms into Darth Vader (or am I spoiling the surprise for someone now?) I've got a large collection of action figures, but now I have stopped collecting, I don't like the new figures, too modern... And the old ones I cannot afford anymore, they ask too much for them. But I am proud of the ones I have, and the Millenium Falcon still flies through my bedroom....

DT: Do you prefer Shoarma & Pizza or Dunkin' Donnuts?.
S: That's easy: shoarma and Pizza! You can wake me in the middle of the night for that (especially with a large beer on the side...) I like donuts, but I don't go out and buy them because then your bound to run into some cops who are permanently stationed at the donut shop...

DT: What do you think about GUNS 'N' POSERS?.
S: I can be very short about that: I really, really, really don't like them, especially that f***head W. AXL. ROSE... I am glad that they quit, and if they want to reunite again: DON'T!

DT: Do you like ROCKSTAR (the movie)?.
S: I've seen it, and I thought it was a fun movie. Surely I recognized some parts of it, but some parts are hugely exaggerated. I wonder if we will act the same way if we ever become that famous, but I doubt it... I think we're too much down to earth kinda guys to behave like that. The most brilliant part of the movie I find where they have glued all the furniture to the ceiling of the hotel room, and the look on the face of the cleaninglady when she sees that. That might be something I want to try out in real life!

DT: Tell me about "When Good & Evil Fall In Love" (CD - 2001).
S: The album was a glorious milestone and a tremendous depth in the history of SEPTUAGINT at the same time. It was great because there was a small record company who was interested in us and we signed up with them. Finally we had a chance to record and release all the songs and work we had done in the 2 years after '...My Darkest Domain'. And of course it would be our first whole album! In the first few weeks we were recording we had an excellent time, great fun during the sessions and late at night at the hotel were we stayed, making plans for the future and talking a lot of bullshit... But then things went downhill: the record company broke up due to internal arguments, but the producers of the studio wanted to go on and finish the album. We were very glad they felt tat way, but their influence became to big on the final outcome of the album. It wasn't the way we had hoped for the album would sound like. And it also took 1,5 year to finish everything, because we had to do everything at times when the studio was available, so when there were no paying customers... So in the end, when we finally had the CD in our hands, we were very happy that it was finished, that we had the songs on a disc, but we thought it could have been better. It also resulted in the departure of one of our guitar players, and we think he left because the whole period in the studio played hell to his motivation. Actually, we don't blame hem, it was very hard for the rest of us too! We even reached the point where we had to decide if we would quit the band, or get going one more time. When I look back at it, I am very happy that we chose to go on! 

DT: Your fave TV Show? "FRIENDS" or "ALLMOST ALL THEM"?.
S: I almost never watch TV shows, I think they are stupid, no fun, boring and an insult to the mind of mankind... of course there are exceptions that prove this rule, and I think 'Friends' is one of them. I think that show is great! Although I sometimes wonder why people, including me, waste their time to live to watch the fictional lives of others... 

DT: Do you like PEPSI with Cooked Carrots?.
S: If you want to see me puking my guts out, then that's what you should feed me... A combination of the 2 most disgusting things in the world, you can give my portion to... and that brings me to the next question:

DT: Who's the best GEORGE W. BUSH or OSAMA BIN LADEN?.
S: 2 of the most disgusting people in the world. They both shouldn't be allowed to give orders to a dog! Let alone to large groups of people or whole countries. I hope they both die horribly and preferably soon! Normally I am a very friendly person, who wishes all the best to everyone, but my only wish to GEORGIE (what does that W stand for? War or Wacko?) and OSAMA is: F*** OFF & DIE!!!

DT: What can you tell me about "Meditation Among Demons" (2 track CD - single - 2003)?.
S: You can call the 'Meditation Among Demons' single the new start from where we left off since the 'Good & Evil' album. When we decided to go on, and found Andrew on guitar, we wanted to do something to prove to ourselves that going on was a wise decision, and to let everyone know SEPTUAGINT still existed and what we really are all about. And we couldn't have hoped for a better result: the single came out just as we wanted, and all the fans agreed with us. With the single we also have reached a very large group of new people, Metal Heads around the world (such as yourself) who are interested in great Metal music! We also released the single as a teaser for our new album 'Dying Flame' that we are going to record and release in the 2nd half of this year. Until now we are writing all the material for that album, which will be the sequel to 'Good & Evil' And now we are doing what we like and do best: playing live! We really hope that you guys can see us working on stage someday! Who will know what the future will bring...???

DT: Your last growl for DEATHTHRASHER readers?.
S: ARMANDO, my friend and all the DEATHTHRASHERS in Peru and around the world: Metal forever! and Cheers! We hope to see you all someday! And until that day: Thrash 'till Death!!!