::wEbmEtAl::

PYRON! A new death metal band hailing from my hometown and I think by now they are quite famous in the local metal scene. Formed in 1996 and released its debut demo in 1999. In 2002, they released an EP.

Hail! How are the guys in PYRON doing at the moment? By the way who's answering the interview?

Siege Heil! Pyroniacs are doin' great recently just sort of busy for our own other boreshit commitments (study, career, bla bla blaa~{!-~}), and we're preparing for our upcoming gig in Songkhla, Thailand this May (They already did the gig. Must be a great experience! Pity I was out of money to join them! ~~ed). By the way, this is Qyrie, the guitarist of the band.

PYRON have been quite active doing gig lately, from Singapore to East Malaysia. Only few West Malaysian able to do that especially at a young age. PYRON must have strong follower there. How was the reaction from the crowd at your gig? What is your best gig so far and what is your sweet, best and bitter experience playing on stage?

I'm not denying that we're kind of aggressive on that though, that we have a number of friends that organize gigs and such. And we're dying looking up opportunities to perform on stage that we found it as a perfect way to enjoy and express ourselves. For us, listening through cassettes or CDs aren't enough to feel the strength upon the music. I could say that so far the crowd never disappoints us where ever we played and that's why we love to perform live show. So far, we have a number of gigs that left us with great impact such as Kopi Sechewen Show back in 1998 in Ipoh which was Pyron's 2nd performance on stage, Panzer Holocaust Metal Fest in year 2000 also in Ipoh which we shared the very same stage with Surrender of Divinity and the legendary Langsuyr (The last Langsuyr gig and the most horrible gig ever play by them. ~~ed) plus there were a lot of friends from all over Malaysia, Temasik Neo-Diabolic 2001 in Singapore, and Choice of a New Generation 2002 in Kota Kinabalu that both we had such an enjoying time plus the crowd were so fucking nasty (thanx to everyone) and there was one band on that show in Sabah openly declared that they worship the devil (Really? Ha! What a joke! ~~ed) which we would never see back here in Peninsular Malaysia. Keep on rocking (Come on man, you want more devil worshipping? We don't have enough black goats for that! ~~ed)!

I heard you cover a rock song too? Cool though. Will that be recorded for your future release? Some said your newer song is a lot faster now, more grind and with an interesting concept/theme too?

Yup, it was Bujang Senang from legendary rock band WINGS, and now we're kind of addicted to that (That song is heavy! But the radio always play their soft ballad song. Pee on them! ~~ed), and yes we are planning to record a rock song with our style. At the moment, we're composing new songs for upcoming release which we intend it to vary to one another. We don't actually concentrate on grinding only but we are trying to include as much as possible elements into the music, and yes we're fastening our song to make a greater impact to the listener. The concept isn't going to change that we're still in the Death Metal music, just to make it a lot more variety, not to stick on only one element which people would say stereotype. Thus, it isn't the matter of identity, just to explore our own creativity.

Now we go to the historical fact of the band. How did you guys came up with the name Sangkacalust for the band name? And why change the name? What is the meaning of PYRON?

It was me who came up with that name, Sangkacalust which means 'the lust of the Sangkakala' that I found it so adorable and powerful enough to suck up all things in the universe and it was a perfect word to summarize what our songs is all about. And I was also the one who responsible to change that name to PYRON that we found more adequate to our music, that is simple yet strong! Furthermore, we did came out with conclusion that the name Sangkacalust is more suitable if we play Black Metal music which is not the kind of music we're playing. The word 'pyron' I actually took it from the word 'pyre' which means woods for burning corpse, but we like to define it as firewood in hell which are used to burn~{!-~} you know who and who (You, me and the people reading this magazine... ~~ed)~{!-~}

Still with the name PYRON, how exactly to pronounce it? Is it PYRON, with 'pi' (as in 'pillar') for PY and 'ron' (as in 'iron') for RON or 'py' (like we said 'by') for PY and ron (as 'moron') for RON or...? As Malay, we can say PYRON in different pronunciations...

The correct way to pronounce it actually is 'py' as for 'by', 'ron' as for 'iron', as I modified the word 'pyre'. However, many people misunderstood and mispronounce it as 'py' as for 'by', and 'ron' as for 'moron', and we just couldn't do anything about it (That's how a typical Malay will pronounce. I think pronounce it in the second way sounds much brutal. Just watch the face of people saying it...PYRON! ~~ed).

PYRON released a demo before the cassette EP came out. Talk more about "Pure Flesh Bloody Hell". Is it still available for hardcore underground fans?

Yup, we're in the process of reproducing the demo in CD format as there are huge demands on it foreign and domestic. 'Pure Flesh Bloody Hell' was Pyron's debut masterpiece produced in 1999 (I think its the best local demo in 1999. ~~ed), and even though it was a demo, I'm bloody hell satisfied with the output. It is what people would say an Eastern Metal thing that remind them of the legendary Langsuyr, but for us, we didn't actually intended to imitate the respective band, may be it was just coincidence that people found it as similarity (Where??? ~~ed).

Did this demo lead you with the deal with NEBIULA? Why choose them for "Hell Pyre 2002"? NEBIULA is a bit lack on promoting their bands abroad but locally they are doing excellent.

Yup, it was the demo that led us to Nebiula but that was not just it. At the time, Nebiula needs the band to be more experienced on stage, and off stage, and we needed some time to establish the name 'PYRON' among undergrounders (I forgot about this business strategy. ~~ed), local and abroad. So, we decided to hit the stage all around Malaysia, making friends and such, and the more important thing was to look out for experience, and we did. After the show in Singapore, Nebiula stated their readiness to produce our second release which was the 'Hell Pyre 2oo2'. We chose them because it is a lot easier to deal with local label than abroad that each one of us has already burdened with other commitments, and for us Nebiula is well establish in Malaysia that we chose them. I agree with the promotion thing that we also did for promotion ourselves towards overseas and we're pushing to it to the label as well.

While "Hell Pyre 2002" is still fresh, tell us (everything) about this cassette EP. How was the experience in NEBIULA studio? Did the final output meet with your expectation?

It was recorded at Nebiula's home studio on Nov 2001 - Jan 2002, while the drum tracks were recorded at the revival Studio, Ipoh just before that. We were actually the first experiment to record at Nebiula's studio but it was great though. However for me, the output didn't meet my expectation of satisfaction. There's a lot more to learn, and we would do better in the upcoming release. Sorry, there is not much to say bout this (No problem. ~~ed).

Will there really be a CD version for this EP? I think pairing with VOCIFERATION ETERNITY for the CD is quite awkward since VE plays totally different style.

If you're referring to the split EP with VE, I don't actually think so since we didn't hear anything about that for a few months now (Nebiula once said CD is not selling well and its easy to make copies from it, so... ~~ed). But if there is, for me it's a great idea because it'll give the listeners chance to hear a variety of music. For me, you don't have to play a similar music to do a split release. Something different would attract more attention, don't you think (Maybe. We can't please everyone, right? Normally split release will have bands with the same style and I like this tradition. ~~ed)?

PYRON is compared with LANGSUYR in the flyers. LANGSUYR is a cult band, initiator which influences the scene a lot. The label is not exaggerating, right? Just to boost sale...

That was not to us to decide. And still, we're not admitting we're the resurrection of Langsuyr neither to play their kind of music. Honestly, I don't have any comments on that. It's far beyond our hands.

Talking about music style, what does "eastern death metal" really means? What is you definition of "eastern" metal? Is it in the music or just in the lyrical concept?

The eastern thing is actually a very interesting element to explore, especially the myths. For me both musically and lyrically are important to play this style of music. Take As-Sahar for instance, they succeeded to include both in their music. For the music thing, eastern influences would be softer than the west or the Europe, which I would refer to the riffing style. Many of us couldn't just run away from this reality because we were born in Malaysia, and we've listen to the soft eastern music from the day we were born (It's in the DNA. ~~ed). And generally, very few of us could actually produce riffings like the white people do. We need a lot of time and experience to step forward and produce shit like they do. And for lyrically, it would depends on the band's concept and theme. It's the lyrics which most reveal about eastern elements like legends, myths, stories and such. Lyrics alone wouldn't burst the eastern elements without appropriate music.

Are we still far away from hearing your next release? In what form will it be?

Nope! Yet we're still in the process composing our new 'spells' and the plan is to record it within end of this year and the release should be next year I think.

Ipoh metal scene is quite famous I guess. If not the bands, the word "Ipoh metal scene" is at least sound really big in the Malaysian scene. There will be couple of compilation releases of Ipoh's band and with these; the number of bands in Ipoh is quite big. Enlighten the reader with a brief info on Ipoh metal scene.

One of it comprise of Pyron, Bilharzia (Brutal Death), DMW (heavy metal), Buttohead (Grincore), Hecatomb (Brutal Death), Catapuru (Melodic Death), and Hellunatic Illusions (Death Metal). All of these bands basically originated from the very hometown Ipoh. The recording have all done just looking for appropriate interesting label to release it as Last Chapter Movement is doing quite slow right now. For the other compilation, I don't actually know much, just it is going to be Ipoh's Metal Militant II consist of some major bands from Ipoh like Necrotic Chaos, Hayagriva etc. there are a lot more talented bands in Ipoh, just lack of opportunities.

Are you or other members playing on other bands or have any other projects?

I did have plans on doing a project band, but it seems like it's better for me to concentrate on Pyron only and so as the others. Only for Bob (drummer) is currently playing with Elisabelle Tears (Sounds interesting! ~~ed) that is playing some kind of emo stuff.

The Malaysian scene, as we now know it, shocked with the black metal issue. How were you back then? Ever got arrested or running away from your home like some metalhead did? And not to forget, hiding your metal collection because of fear the police may raid your house? Is/are there anyone we can blame this thing on? What is your opinion on this issue?

Hehehee~{!-~} nope, I'd never get arrested yet I still wearing Mayhem's shirt while things were hot and friends did called me 'berani mati', and I didn't ran away as my mom is quite supportive on me playing this music (Its the government that I afraid off. They can do anything and no lawyer on earth are able to defend you if legal action is taken against you. ~~ed). I don't think blaming someone is going to solve anything, we just need to find a proper solutions on that (Metal is a filthy music. If throwing 'the filth' away, then it is no longer called metal and sadly, this is the only solution available! ~~ed). But if there is need to blame, I would point my middle finger to those medias especially Harian Metro, Penyebar Fitnah Masa Kini (You have missed out Konsert! magazine. They have that stupid column for kids sending their pictures in corpse-paint! My feet looks much extreme than them! ~~ed)! Not to forget those exposing posers acting as models on the frontpage making up ridiculous stories never happened. My opinion, we're exposing ourselves too much. This is not Norway (We are probably in the country with the most praying places [mosque, church, etc] in the world! ~~ed)! Just stay low and under.

A year after the 'tragedy', I think the scene become more appreciated in the local music scene. Some bands got covered in some music magazines and some magazines got small column on underground scene. Is this good and healthy to the scene especially metal music?

Development is what we need most to be better and to survive. I really do agree if they are sincerely contribute to the betterment of metal scene, but if it just for money, then f you (Commercial music magazine is always in for $$$!! They know the fans of extreme music is big and will sure give them more $ on sales! ~~ed)! All succeeded scene have gone through these things, it is the matter of how we handle it. If there is opportunity, just grab it as long as it doesn't affect yourself, others and the scene. For me, getting covered in some music magazine is not wrong (I agree! ~~ed). In fact, we're playing music right? As long as it doesn't split out of the concept, it's okay for me. (I forgot to mention that we still have some problems with the authority i.e mail being confiscated, etc. ~~ed)

What do you think about Malaysian metal scene? The band, the zine, the label, etc? Can our band go internationally? If not, what is the reason? Honestly, I think Malaysia can only be proud of SIL KHANNAZ but none of the new bands really stand out and recognized outside our border.

Our scene is small and still developing. Can our band go internationally, the answer is yes. I strongly believe that someday our bands would pass over the south east asia border. I would like to urge everybody in the scene to share the belief because that is the initiator of all success. I'm not denying that for now we can only be proud of Sil Khannaz, but believe me, there are a lot more talented bands waiting to burst out. In the matter of time and opportunities, we will, and even Pyron is not excluded. We're still learning and developing, event though it's going to take a long time, we will. Just take example of Impiety. If there is a will, there should be an effort! Even Pyron now is looking forward to penetrate Indonesia and Japan. We're walking a long way and nobody say it's going to be easy.

What about the 'fight' among metal scenes in Malaysia? Not the fight among music genre but among places/states/etc? Will it come to an end (if such thing exist)?

It's all about attitude! Sometimes I just got sick of this so called 'Malay attitude' (although I'm a Malay as well). There are so much jealousy and selfishness that made us so weak. People just can't stand to see others being better and better, and worst they always looking up a way to bring them down rather than enlighten oneself to be better. I've always wish for an open minded society within our metal scene to build up a stronger community and contribute to the theory "together we are strong!" that is often shouted by the undergrounders but seems not to be practiced. There are cold wars between scenes long before and as I speak. Will it come to an end? May be in the matter of time and attitude.

Year 2002 have ended, would you tell us what's your local favourite releases (demo, album, zine, etc)?

Zubirun - Maximum Hell Overdose, Cardiac Necropsy/Necrotic Chaos - Splitting The Vulva.

I'll stop here for our first chat. Thanks for the time and good luck to PYRON.

Thankx ed for this great interview, and for all the readers and everyone out there, get a fucking good life and stop bothering too much about others. Be you are, good luck and keep on rocking!!! (taken from seametalforce site)