FEBRUARY 27th 2015
LELAHELL EXCLUSIVE
Welcome to Metaltitans, Guardians of Metal Entertainment Worldwide, we are here with Death Metallers “Lelahell” from Algiers, Algeria. Thank you for taking this time to do this interview with us.
1. How did you come up with the name "Lelahell" as a band name, was there any inspiration behind it ?
Lelahel (with one 'l' letter in the end) is An angel of the zodiac exercising dominion over love, art, science and fortune. We appeal to this being of light for good luck and good fortune. We added an 'l' because there is already an Italian rock band named Lelahell, and
Lelahel is also my nickname. So to make difference between them I added a second 'l' in the end of Lelahel.
2. When did Lelahell form as a band, and who started it ?
I started the band initially as a one man band with the recording of the first material. After that I met Ayrod and Nihil from Barbaros and told them that I was looking for band members for my project. Some weeks after Slaveblaster (the drummer of Barbaros) contacted me for joining Lelahell and Nihil (bass) joined the band too.
3. Why did you choose to do Death metal, over any other genre ?
Because it is the music that we like and which correspond the best to our behaviour and attitude in the daily life!
4. Was there a band that inspired you to become who you are ?
Got inspiration from many musicians and metal genres during 2 decades. regarding Lelahell we don't have any particular influences , we get our inspiration from everything which is related to death metal and all brutal stuffs and some local music.
5. Can you tell us how each of your members came to be in Lelahell :
Lelahell (guitars/vocals): In the end of 2000’s it was difficult to find musicians for metal, the old generation disappeared and the new one doesn’t exist yet, so I decided to learn to play guitar and practice (I was bass player before), because I didn’t find musicians. After that I made some jams with other musicians but they didn’t have the metal feeling.
So I started Lelahell in 2010 as a one man band with recording a 7 tracks demo (never published), the quality was so poor that I decided re record 6 songs from this demo with a better quality and a better mix . Those tracks formed the first Ep and the first release of the band called "Al Intihar". In January 2012 coinciding with the end of the Ep recording slave blaster the drummer of barbaros contacted me because he heard that I was searching for a drummer and a bassist. So I told him to ask nihil for joining us as bass player of Lelahell.
Nihil (bass): One day in end of 2011 we visited Lelahel in his home with Ayrod (Barbaros) to trade some merchandising ...he told us that he needed some musicians for his one man band to give shape of his songs already recorded ...I was very interested from this, after that I contacted "Slaveblaster" who was interested to play in a death metal side project , he quickly contacted "Lelahel" ....some days after we joined the band .
Slaveblaster (drums): When I was still playing with Barbaros our vocalist told me that redouane founded Lelahell. I decided to contact him because I was interested to play Death Metal! (when I was playing Black Metal I was always influenced by the brutal death metal) The band of Redouane interested me and I was totally invested since the first rehearsals!
6. Is it hard to get noticed in Algeria with a death metal band ?
It depends it was easier 15 years ago but now things have changed, but in our main goal with Lelahell is to get noticed in the international scene!
7. Have you been in any band before Lelahell ?
I played bass in neanderthalia from 1993 to 1996, after that I founded Litham (bass and vocals)with 2 band members of the previous band. After that got a gore grind project called Carnavage (from 2004 to 2007), and I joined Devast (vox) in 2008, and finally founded Lelahell in 2010. Nihil (Bass) played in some rock bands after that joined Barbaros in 2008. Slaveblaster founded Djamharouche , played with me in Devast and played with The Kult of Satanachiia and Barbaros.
8. Was this something you have always dreamed of doing ?
Yes it is childhood dream. It's what I've always dreamed of, ever since I was a child.
9. Would you ever consider doing anything else ?
Don't think so because the Death metal is our main passion!
10. Who composes the lyrics for your songs ?
For the first Ep and this album I composed the lyrics, for the second album nothing wrote yet.
11. Where does the inspiration come from to write the lyrics ?
We get the inspiration from our daily life, and past experiences nothing more.
12. You now have a first full length album that has been released, and that we just reviewed…..
Here is the link for fans interested in checking out the review: http://www.metaltitans.com/lelahell-cd-2014/. How has the response been in your country on your first album ?
Thanks for your support and for this great review. We go positives responses in our country but as we say : " no man is a prophet in his own country" because the feedback was really better outside!
13. Was it a long process for you, from writing to the final stages of producing the CD ?
We started the writing process of guitars album and structures just before the Ep release in Spring 2012, after that we spent around 6 month to finalize the album (drums, bass, lyrics, vocals,..)
In January 2013 we started to record drums, two month later we started the recording of bass and guitars. The vocals were recorded in august 2013 just before our first tour.
After that I was going to mix and master the album, but it was difficult to find a suitable sound for our music which was the most arduous part of the recording process, so we decided to search for a producer, and the time to find someone for that we were in December 2013. The album was mixed and mastered by Ivan from Anthropocide studio from Belarus. He did a great job, this guy is very patient and talented! and the album was finalized in march 2014.
14. Do you have a favourite song on this album, and why that one ?
Al Intissar which means the victory is my favorite song, because when I play or listen it I have the will to win!!!
15. How has it been received so far around the world ? Has any place been better than others ?
We got an amazing feedback from all around the world, more than 50 reviews in webzines and magazines and all of them are positive. The best place is France, got an excellent review in Metallian Magazine (5,5/6) and most of internet sales are from France.
16. Tell us something about your band, that maybe we don’t know ?
I Think that you know almost everything about Lelahell, excepting that we were selected to play in Afghanistan in 2012! and due to financial restrictions our participation was cancelled!
17. Do you plan to tour now that you have released your album ?
Yes it is Called Al Insane Tour 2014
18. Where will the tour take you if you have one planned ?
It will start on 19th of December : confirmed shows are 3 in Germany, 1 show in Poland Czech Republic and France and 2 in Switzerland . waiting for 2 others to be confirmed, please go to our FB page for all details
19. Is there anything you would like to add to this interview that I might have missed asking, but you want people to know about Lelahell ?
You can buy our stuffs here :
http://lelahell.bigcartel.com/ new merch stuffs coming soon!
Support Lelahell or die!!
Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview.
Thank you for your great support and stay brutalz!