Because every day another band records another song. Because 83% of those songs are unlistenable and you can’t be bothered to sift through the dreck. Because metal is about not giving a shit and waking your own personal storm. Because music is universal, expression is boundless, and even indie labels (whatever that means these days) don’t know everything, Decibel brings you Throw Me a Frickin’ Label Hack.
Last Friday morning we brought you Vampire’s lo-fi thrash death terror, which at least one of you hailed as “true metal”. If you sympathize with such a statement (or if you are the very dude who posted it), then this week’s TMAFL will probably bum you out. Entropia play expansive, melancholic black-splashed post-metal. No, Joey Denim’n’Studs, don’t worry about the vomit you just sprayed all over the floor… we caused it, we’ll clean it up. And we’ll play Entropia’s new adventure, Vesper, while we mop up your mess. This record takes you on one of those hour-long journeys through the rippling darkness of self and space that never gets mired in repetition or feels like waiting for a dozen samey songs to end. Guitar chords and melodies split the difference between contemplative and aggressive, drums plod and rip in perfect complement, and hellish rasped vocals explode from the album’s bleak center.
Check out Entropia’s bandcamp site, or just stream the album below while you hear from the band about blending genres and the inevitability of loss.
Who are Entropia?
Entropia is a post-black metal band from Poland. Five guys in [their] early twenties from a little town in Lower Silesia, not far from Wrocław and [the] German border. We met each other through [a] local newspaper ad years ago. I remember that our first meeting took place on [a] football field, we sat on car tires as we discussed our first rehearsal. We used to play as a trio for a few years until we invited keyboard player Damian to join the band and most recently we were joined by the second guitarist Michał. I’m still surprised that despite it being our first serious project we never disbanded, instead we played together with dedication for almost six years to achieve our current sound. It’s not common to see such determination in 16-year-olds [like] we used to be.
What was the first heavy music that got you interested in playing?
We were always aiming to play demanding music, but at the beginning we had no experience or equipment whatsoever. I was fascinated by [an] Isis show in 2007 and soon I realized that I wanted to create a band and try to pursue that sound in one way or another. We composed a lot of tracks, played them at local shows and ended up recording first EP. We were still teenagers at the time, so shows were sloppy and compositions more chaotic than it is now. Later on we began to discover this new wave of black metal, mostly from [the] United States. In my opinion that sound had the same roots, the same angst as our previous idols, it just had this fierceness ‘traditional’ post metal lacked. I’m also deep into black metal aesthetics, I think by merging those two genres we’ve become a band we always wanted to be.
How did you settle on the sound you’ve created with Vesper?
I think the whole process was really simple… We just used faster tempos, blast beats and a lot more effects. There was no agenda behind this change, we just suddenly began being rather black than post metal band. Sometimes you can hear three or four guitars in our songs giving that shoegazy-eerie feel. We really liked it as a part of our sound and I think our further recordings will follow this direction.
How do Entropia songs start?
Mostly I’m composing the guitars that form the backbone of a song, then we are rehearsing it, adding riffs and removing them as we please until [the] track feels ready. Everyone is composing their own parts, so definitely it’s not [a] one-man metal project. 99 percent of the time I’m composing guitars at home; we rarely jam to create new music. I think that for creating this kind of music you must place yourself in a creative environment. I’m finding solace in making music and it’s not something I could achieve being around others.
How have the band members grown in their style of playing through Entropia’s music?
Throughout the years we learned the means to sound as we wanted to rather than adapting sounds and riffs made by coincidence. Our music is not overly complicated, it’s all about the mood and crescendos, very post-rockish attitude. I don’t think it’s a vice, that’s what differs us from others, melody at first, then going for brutality. I can already tell that our new tracks will be faster, murkier and more black metal in vibe, but the overall melancholic feel will be maintained. Our drummer Patryk is speeding up and we shall too.
What has the band’s stage experience been like?
We’ve played a lot of local shows with Polish bands representing a still growing underground scene, some of them are really outstanding, some are mediocre but everything is worth checking out. We’ve also played with Altar of Plagues near our hometown, that show was sick and I still cherish the memory. Reception varies from polite curiosity to frenzy, sometimes we used to play with bands completely out of our genre. Recently we went to Czech republic to play a show in a desolate village in the mountains, I don’t know how but suddenly dozens of people appeared out of thin air and entered the venue. It turned out great in the end.
What themes have you explored with your music and lyrics? What kinds of ideas inspire Entropia’s work?
Lyrics and the intellectual background behind music is really important to me both as a musician and listener. On Vesper I was dwelling on the concept that all kinds of people, be it a mathematician, physicist, poet, inventor or a philosopher, all of them, no matter how vast their knowledge is, how deep they understand human nature, they will always have to face loss and death, and there is no way around it, it’s just a matter of time. I think that the concept of inevitable loss and asking the question how one can cope with it, but without providing the answers is really apparent on Vesper. In my opinion song lyrics should be simple, but they should also provide room for interpretation. Some topics are exploited too much and when bands are incorporating them into their lyrics it just feels obsolete, especially black metal bands, so to interest the audience you have to push the boundaries little more.
What are your goals for Entropia?
As for the future, on the 2nd of May we will perform at the Asymmetry Festival 5.0 in Wrocław, Poland with Mayhem, Cult of Luna, Melvins Lite and other fantastic bands. You must definitely check out this event, it’s one of a kind in this part of Europe. We have also scheduled gigs with Dopethrone, awesomeness incarnate Aluk Todolo and Germans from Downfall of Gaia. And this is Spring alone, we want to hit the road for some European dates later this year. Meantime we started looking for a label and rehearsing new tunes – they will melt your faces off.
