Interviews: Immortal Possession

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Old School Death Metal band, Immortal Possession from Canada. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that?

I'll let Chuck answer this one as I wasn't in the band at this point in time. We had a list of words so we combined a few. One of the names was “Mergatroid” lol!! So basically IMMORTAL POSSESSION just sounded cool and we also thought it means that we are possessed forever. Our possession never dies.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

I think it was a natural progression in terms of being allured to heavier and darker forms of music. Growing up, It went from hard rock to Metal, then Thrash, and finally Death Metal. To us, Death Metal was the ultimate expression of aggression and we naturally gravitated to it.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

To answer this briefly and not take your readers through all the sordid details of our incestuous music scene; yes, we did all know each other in some form prior to playing music together.

4. Each band member's favorite band?

Chuck's all-time favorite band is Type O Negative, Derrick's is Judas Priest and mine is hands down, Black Sabbath.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

We are inspired by many things such as the hypocrisy of organized religion, traumatic life events, history, numerology, black magic and demonology, inner spirituality and guidance of personal destiny, world events, the brutality and beauty of nature, horror movies and science fiction to name a few.

6. Where was your last gig?

Loud as Hell Festival X in Drumheller, Alberta. it's an incredible festival and both our bands (VOTOV and Immortal Possession) had prominent slots this year.

7. Where would you like to act?

We absolutely want to get over to tour Europe, as it's been a lifelong goal for us. 

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

It would be awesome to be on a Canadian old-school bill with Sacrifice, Razor, Voivod, Aggression, and Exciter. Also, some kind of a CDN Records tour with label mates would be super cool!

9. Whom not?

That's a hard question, as we all have certain bands that rub us the wrong way and you can't for the life of you, figure out why they are popular. Over the years, I've learned to not publically slag or discount anyone as it always bites you in the ass. Obviously, most times you want to play with other bands that suit your genre or style of music but, some really cool things have come from being on weird bills. You never really know who might end up seeing you and becoming a huge advocate, allie or supporter of your music.

10. Have any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tips for beginners on how to beat that?

Practice, practice, practice! I think most musicians have some form of stage fright, especially when they first begin to play live. The fear of failure is all too real and I think a lot of it comes from inexperience and lack of confidence. Obviously, over time, you become a better player and get more comfortable being in the spotlight. My advice for beginners is that we are human and we'll make mistakes, nobody plays perfectly all the time. The secret is to not let the audience know you played a bad note or missed a squeal. As long as there isn't a train wreck, chances are that nobody noticed. If you suddenly have a look of disgust on your face and make a big deal of it, everyone knows. Try not to be too over-critical of yourself, relax, and have fun...All three of us still get pre-show jitters but, most of it is anxiousness from things that are beyond our control such as sound issues, equipment failure, and crowd turnouts. We are all very OCD before a show in terms of checking and rechecking our personal gear and coming well-rehearsed to every performance.

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

Obviously, bands like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica, Slayer, Celtic Frost, Possessed, Anthrax, Megadeth, Morbid Angel, Death, and Deicide have influenced us in some way or form. My biggest influence has always been from seeing a killer band live. Even to this day, nothing inspires my personal growth as a musician more, than seeing a band that literally blows my mind. It makes me feel the need to go home and practice my instrument and step up my performance game. Bands like Dying Fetus and Fleshgod Apocalypse tend to humble most players, after seeing their live performances.

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

We did actually get asked to sign a fan's breasts once, lol. For the most part, it's just pictures, autographs, setlists, picks, and drumsticks. We used to have a tradition of stopping the set to play a game of "Guess the Organ". On the day of the show, we would go to the butcher shop and buy various organs and put them in a garbage bag. We would get people to stick their arms in the bag, grab something and guess what it was without looking at it. If they guessed right, they won a prize. Usually, it was a unique piece of merch that Chuck had created in limited quantities such as fake human jerky, a packaged eyeball, etc. Needless to say, we had to stop doing this, as bar owners threatened to stop booking us because, at the end of the game, everyone would rush to the bag, tear it open, and spill the contents everywhere. People would end up with blood and entrails all over and would throw the organs around the bar. The pit was literally slick with guts! Lots of times it ended up on stage as well. To make a long story short, at one of our reunion shows in 2016, a fan came up and asked us if we had any of that "Human Jerky" for sale?

13. What do you think of your fans?

Our fans are everything to us. It's an incredible feeling to be able to create music that we Love, have people embrace it, and feel as passionate about it as we do. We always try to make time for our fans and be accessible.

14. What do you think of our site?

Totally cool and well-designed, with lots of new bands to check out. We are very much looking forward to being featured on "Breathing The Core", hails!

15. Something to add?

Thanks for taking the time to interview us and we look forward to working with you in the future. This is only the beginning of all the content that we'll be generating with the release of this album. We have many more videos to release throughout 2023 and lots more music coming down the pipe. Our other band VOTOV has begun writing a new album that should be out next year as well. Keep posted on all these things and more by following all our social media pages and the CDN Records pages.