Up-and-coming Danish Death Metal outfit Plaguemace recently released their debut album entitled Reptilian Warlords on November 27th via Napalm Records. The band’s frontman Andreas Truelsen took the time to talk with Metal Express Radio about their debut album, the formation of the band, the band moving at a fast pace, and more. Check out the chat below!
Metal Express Radio: Your band, Plaguemace, released their debut album entitled Reptilian Warlords on November 17th, what can you tell fans about the new album?
Truelsen: Reptilian Warlords is our debut album and is a concept album revolving around our own fictional universe. This is the first album in a series of concept albums taking place in or around Mt. Lobotomy. All songs are linked but the story won’t make sense until we release a couple more albums. Sound wise the album is in the category of old school death metal. We utilize the scooped guitar sound known from bands such as Cannibal Corpse. We also try to push the bass forward to make it more present in the mix. The bass is often more hidden in the mix on death metal releases and we think this is a shame. This is our take on old school death metal and we try to make our inspiration from other genres shine through as well.
MER: How was the writing and recording process having this being your Napalm Records debut?
Truelsen: We actually already had the record recorded, mixed and mastered before signing with Napalm. This means we had the album sound how we wanted it to and then sent it to Napalm who luckily liked it and signed us. We wanted a major label to release it so we are very stoked Napalm picked it up and wanted to release it.
MER: How did the formation of the band come about?
Truelsen: My brother Simon and I (Andreas) started the band, we met each other in 2000 when Simon was born. Then I went to school with drummer ‘Modo’ for a year and we became great buddies. In high school I met guitarist ‘Ant’ and we bonded over our love for High on Fire. Ant was buddies with bassist ‘Crob’ but we also knew each other a little through school. Some years passed and Simon and I started writing riffs and songs in my basement and in the spring of 2020 the band started playing together. Rest is history.
MER: Who are some of your musical influences?
Truelsen: We try to combine our different influences which include: Entombed, Obituary, High on Fire among others. We are mostly influenced by old school bands which also is rather apparent in our music. We try to draw inspiration from old school death metal as well as rock ’n’ roll, thrash, stoner and whatever else we feel like including in the songs.
MER: What do you see as plans for you and the rest of your band after the album is released?
Truelsen: Would be nice if it could open doors on the big festivals. We never released anything on a label before so we don’t know what to expect, but we hope it will get a lot of exposure and people will enjoy it. For the release we are doing ten Danish shows and one German show. Our booker is also working on booking some tours for next year to support the release of the album but nothing is certain yet.
MER: Who do you hope to tour with and why?
Truelsen: Of course it would be a dream come true to play with bands such as Cannibal Corpse, Obituary, Suffocation etc. Would be sick to tour with bands such as these because they are or biggest inspirations and bands we are very big fans of. We would love to tour with almost all bands even if they are not death metal bands. We toured with Left to Die and Nervosa which was amazing and we can’t wait to get back on the road.
MER: Where are you most looking forward to playing live and why?
Truelsen: Biggest show we have booked at the moment is Copenhell which we are looking very much forward to. We really like playing live so all shows offer something different. Surely big shows are very exciting to play, but we also love playing small venues and even floor shows are very sick. Really just looking forward to going on our first big EU tour at some point. That being said we would really love to play big festivals such as Wacken, Brutal Assault, Bloodstock etc.
MER: Since the band’s formation in 2019, what have been some of your favorite memories?
Truelsen: Oh we have so many great ones and we always have a lot of fun when we are playing shows or rehearsing or just hanging out in general. Last year we played a tiny little festival pretty far up in Norway called Eide Open Fahr. This trip consisted of the five of us in a small, completely packed car. As we drove to the ferry in the morning it was Simon and I in the front seat. The drummer Modo sat in the middle seat in the back crammed in between the guitarist Ant and bassist Crob. Ant had had a bad salmon sandwich on the ferry the night before and had a very shaky stomach which made us stop quite often. On the other side of Modo was Crob who was very hungover and had to throw up almost all the way on the 9 hour drive. It was a very fun scenario for Simon and I, but I think Modo would have preferred another seat. I could go on telling silly stories from the road all day, but to sum it all up we just have a blast, when we are together and love taking the piss out of each other.
MER: Things seem to have moved fairly fast for you guys, what is some advice you would give to a new band starting out?
Truelsen: Yes it has and we are very stoked about this. Some advice I would give is to just play as many shows as possible. Doesn’t have to be big shows, but just the experience of playing live is super beneficial and is absolutely essential if you want to get better at playing as a band. Another tip is to go to other people shows and talk to other bands to try and create new contacts and maybe open up possibilities to play a show together at some point. Don’t be too focused on what you are payed to play the gig, the exposure alone is so crucial for a new band. Lastly, do a lot of merch, merch is king.
MER: What are your hopes for your band’s future?
Truelsen: Hopefully we will keep on playing a lot of shows. We want to play all over the world and we love meeting new people at the venues. We want to keep on writing albums, continue to build on our sound and grow as songwriters. Hopefully at some point it will be feasible for us to do Plaguemace full time but that is very unlikely. Most important is to keep playing live because that’s the absolute best feeling in the world.
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