Cosmogon – Pre Fest Interview Wacken 2014

Cosmogon are the winners of the Luxembourg Wacken Metal Battle. They play at Wacken along with all the other Metal Battle winners from all over the world to compete for the Over All Metal Battle Champion!

Cosmogon bandCan you give the readers a quick introduction to the band.

Cosmogon was founded back in 2011 by 3 members of one of the first Luxembourgish Death Metal Acts ‘Ex Inferis’ ( Fabrice Mennuni, Vocals in Ex Inferis/Bogey/Paranoiz ; Angelo Mangini, Guitars in Ex Inferis ; Michel Spithoven, Drums in Ex Inferis / Abstract Rapture / Vindsval / Le Grand Guignol / Falkenbach ) . After the split-up of Ex Inferis it was clear to us to start something new, due to a deep friendship. We just continued rehearsals with formerly Bass Player Steven Elkington ( Abstract Rapture, by the way first Luxembourgish Band that performed at Wacken back in 2007 ), who was replaced later by actual Bass Player and fix member Dani Da Cunha.

The idea was just to riff and groove and jam until we would find our own sound and that happened very fast indeed, soon the first songs had been finished. First live shows came very quickly as well and again we had been established in the very big Metal scene in the small country of Luxembourg.

First Album ‘Chaos Magnum’ released in March 14th 2014.

How would you describe your sound?

Our sound is a product of not being limited to fit in one particular style, strongly influenced by all the different music that we consume on our own, I would define basically it as a big tight touch of 90’s Gotheborg Death Metal with all the spice and groove from Southern States Sludge and a touch of Doom Metal, you’ll find some Hardcore influences as well. Main Bands that have great impact on our brains are for instance : Black Sabbath, Crowbar, Down, Mastodon, Neurosis, Trap Them, Soilent Green, The Secret, Amenra , just to name a few… Got an idea ? ;-)

How would you describe the metal music scene in your country? What has changed over the last few years.

As mentioned before, we think we have a very active, fast growing, and very much varied Metal scene compared to the size of our country. Rehearsal Rooms are mostly in public places where most of different styles and musicians meet almost every day, every one among the Metal scene knows each other, mostly there is a strong friendship which often leads to the creation of new projects. The quality of most bands is astonishing and gets better and better, you’ll find Metal shows nearly every weekend.

Why did you enter the WOA Metal Battle Competition.

It is a true challenge to us, WOA Metal Battle pushes Bands to get the far best out of them. It is a dream for Cosmogon to perform at Wacken Festival, and this will definitely be our biggest achievement so far. It leads you to a more professional point of view of organising a Band, of enhancing media presence and hopefully return with a bunch of new contacts ,friends and fans. To me personally, besides playing at Wacken, it’s so much fun to hang out with the Metal Battle Bands which gather from all over the globe, tremendous !

What was your initial reaction when you found out that you have won & you were playing at Wacken.

Honestly it had not been that big surprise, because even before the contest a lot of our friends that play in the other bands oft he competition kept on tellin‘ us that almost surely we were to win and that we really deserve it. But still, I remember standing together before the scene and there was trembling excitement, strange but cool feeling, initial reaction : grab a beer !!! Then trying to realize what just happened…

What was the best and worst part of the competition for you.

First, there was no worst part. As every year our competition in Luxembourg was organised in a perfect way. Best Part : being called on the scene in the end of the evening and realising after a couple of beers that we fuckin made it J

Would you recommend the competition to other bands? Any hints/tips for bands that are looking to enter.

100 % recommendation to every band with the strong ambition to reach a higher level. The only tip that I can give is rehearse your asses off, have fun and just be yourselves !

What can the audience expect from you at the festival.

As long as everyone is in good health, the audience gets what we try to do on every show : a 100 % Heavy Groove Machine ! We are prepared…are you ?

Wacken 2014 Metal BattleWhat has been the bands biggest achievement so far?

Biggest achievement so far was a small Tour in Portugal in February this year with our good friends from More Than a Thousand. Opening the show in Lisbon in front of 800 metalheads and seeing them turning totally crazy is one of the most precious things that we experienced on stage. The same thing happened in Porto the day after.

Have you ever been to Wacken before? If so when and what did you enjoy most about it.

3 of our member have actually never been to Wacken before, they always travelled to Festivals like Graspop, Hellfest, Roadburn, Dour or Werchter. So just imagine who excited their asses are to finally be there for the first time and even have the opportunity to perform on stage !!! To me it will be my Wacken Number 6. As I mentioned before my most exciting experience at Wacken was in 2007, we we played with Abstract Rapture…which was crowned by an breathtaking Show of Immortal in the night ! Just unforgettable! I love the mentality of the people in Northern Germany, there is always fun, everything is organised in an absolute perfect way and I must say that both catering in Backstage and on the Festival Ground is of a delicious level! You get in touch with Metalheads of all over the world and the nights are always endless, just one huge heavy Party oll over the Ground. Perfect Holidays J

What is your opinion of the Wacken line-up?

It’s a very attractive line up again, every Metalhead should find and satisfy his proper taste. I’m personally very looking forward to Behemoth, Decapitated, Emperor, Sodom, Kreator and Motörhead again

Can you sum up Wacken in one sentence?

WACKEN = Wildest Ass Crackin’ & Kickin’ Endless Nights !

Any message you wish to pass on to the PM readers.

Don’t miss COSMOGON Thursday 15:45 W.E.T. Stage ! Have some nice cold beers and support the Metal Battle Bands whenever you can ! For the rest : unleash Hell J

Links:

cosmogontheband@gmail.com

www.facebook.com/cosmogontheband

www.soundcloud.com/cosmogontheband

About Sheila

Former Editor, Team Co-ordinator as well as PR, news poster, pass requester, Ex-Scottish Team Leader for PM since 2011 \m/ \m/ Also owner of the infamous Garfield L'arpie, who is a official mascot of RACPA UK. Check out RACPA UK (Rock Against Child Pornography and Abuse UK) http://www.racpauk.org/