In the realm of extreme metal, where intensity meets philosophy, Astral Casket has emerged as a band to watch. Hailing from Costa Rica, this Blackened Death Metal band, led by Ignasio and Kevin, has quickly made its mark with their debut EP, Anti-Cosmos Revelations. With a sound deeply rooted in chaos and Luciferian spirituality, Astral Casket offers a unique musical experience that transcends the ordinary. In this interview, Ignasio and Kevin delve into the band's spiritual and musical origins, the creation of Anti-Cosmos Revelations, and their vision for the future. Enter the profound and unsettling universe of Astral Casket.
Serial Metalbums: Can you tell us about the origins of Astral Casket? How did the band members come together, and what inspired you to start this project? Why did you choose the name "Astral Casket"? Does it carry a specific meaning or concept related to your music or philosophy?
Ignasio: Astral Casket was initially formed by Kevin and me in 2022, but we've known each other for more than 10 years since we both lived in the same neighborhood. There weren’t many people interested in playing guitar, especially anything related to Metal at that time. I remember going to his house at the age of 14 with a small amp and guitar, and we’d play covers of bands like Sodom, Slayer, and Kreator, however, what really helped us develop our skills and think creatively about songwriting were bands like Opeth. Before long, we started creating our own riffs, leading to our first metal band, Extrofia, which was an old-school Thrash/Black metal band. We never recorded anything because our rehearsals were more about drinking Pacha (a local booze) and jamming in a small room. Eventually, in 2022, we got more serious about making something more extreme and connected to our spiritual beliefs, and that’s when Astral Casket officially started making songs.
Kevin: The name came up after having like two more ideas. Basically, we wanted and will always express our ideas about the spiritual characteristics of the world and the spiritual world. We are passionate about Luciferism and death as a door to another plane of existence, the heart of where the universe started, and the views proposed of Chaos in the book called "Azerate". Astral meaning the non-mundane plane of existence and Casket meaning the spiritual graveyard where all of existence will reach. Speaking for me and Ignasio, the astral plane and the whole nonphysical existence has intrigued us since we were very young. Each song is a different manifestation of chaos, therefore, our philosophy is always there.
Serial Metalbums: What inspired the title "Anti-Cosmos Revelation"? How does it reflect the themes or messages you wanted to convey through the EP? Can you walk us through the composition process for this EP? Were there any particular influences or themes that guided your songwriting?
Kevin: The name "Anti-Cosmos Revelations" is entirely inspired by chaosophia, the opposition to the cosmic order that many people have been taught. We don't aim to sound cliché or "dark", however, the aggressive and powerful strength of the anti-cosmos philosophy is palpable in our lives. As we said in one of our songs, "I, just an instrument," this means that we are merely a gateway to that ancient chaos that lies beyond our boundaries and, at the same time, within ourselves.
Ignasio: The songwriting for this EP always started with the guitars. Kevin would come to my house, and we’d either start a song by jamming or by working with riffs one of us already had in mind, trying to make them fit with other ideas. We believe it's easier to structure the songs with the guitar first, and then later compose the lyrics, which was mostly Kevin’s role for this EP. This approach helps us understand the character that will take shape depending on the feeling of the song. For example, if a certain riff sounds depressing, the lyrics will reflect a topic that fits that mood. Once the lyrics and guitars are ready, Gabriel composes the drums. I created the bass for this EP, but our good friend Oscar quickly learned the songs, and thanks to him, we were able to complete all the pieces to perform "Anti-Cosmos Revelations" live.
Serial Metalbums: How was the recording process for "Anti-Cosmos Revelation"? Did you face any challenges, or was there a memorable moment during the production? And do you feel that the sound on this EP represents where the band is heading, or is it a snapshot of a particular moment in your creative journey?
Ignasio: The process was very homemade (literally) because everything except the drums was recorded at my house using an audio interface, guitar plugins, and a mic for vocals. This was our first time experimenting with recording, which, thankfully, is very accessible nowadays. Gabriel composed and programmed the drum tracks, which we then sent to a friend who studied sound engineering. He helped us with the mix and master, which turned out better than we initially thought Astral Casket would sound. We took inspiration from well sounding bands like Belphegor, Watain, Dissection, and Necrowretch, but we always kept in mind the important aspect of not creating anything that we couldn’t replicate in a live show.
Kevin: The sound we gave to the EP turned out to be much better than expected. We do not try to sound raw like the 90's bands did. It was awesome and still is for their legacy and we admire many of them, however, we thankfully had the tools to create a decent sound in our opinion. We for sure will try to keep the roots of our first EP in upcoming material, but there is always room for improvement. The creation of music for us is a personal challenge, therefore, we will always push to create better material.
Kevin: Yes, we are. We already have a name for what will be our first LP. The name will be: Iconoclastic. Right now, we are focused on the instrumental part of the tracks. The lyrics will come out once the music is finished. We have one song that is complete already. What we can say about Iconoclastic is that we are improving ourselves in terms of composition and topics. But as previously stated, always keep our roots in terms of our spiritual views. We do have plans for a debut live show that it will be more "private" to put it in some way. We are not interested in sharing the stage in just random concerts that we do not feel comfortable with. We want the live shows to be a powerful experience that can really cause something in the people sharing that moment with us. Fans can expect an experience that hopefully will always be remembered. We understand that this might sound pretentious or weird for some people, but it's a decision that we all took and we all support.
Serial Metalbums: What’s the metal scene like in Costa Rica? How has the local community influenced your music, and how do you see yourselves fitting into the global metal scene? Are there any artists or bands you would like to collaborate with in the future? What kind of collaborations do you think would push the boundaries of Astral Casket’s sound?
Ignasio: In Costa Rica, you can find high quality bands for almost every subgenre of extreme metal, and several bands that have toured abroad, like Chemicide, Mantra, Requiem of Malediction, Mortual, Astriferous, among others which proudly represent Costa Rica's deepest and loudest sounds. However, there is still no market for extreme metal events that can make it sustainable for local bands to survive solely on making extreme music. So, in general, most of the scene is still very underground. It’s common for local bands to share members who are in multiple bands, helping each other for the cause. However, this is not the case with Astral Casket because we are not really involved in this underground movement in a direct way. Instead, we’re just a group of friends making music as a form of expression, and we look forward to connecting with the appropriate people to share the stage within the future, along with excellent musicians who share the same passion for Extreme Metal music as we do. We believe the band has full potential to fit in a global scene in terms of music and the quality that requires and at the same time is curious that it seems a local movement of Blackened Death Metal is getting started in Costa Rica, this is a very personal opinion of mine taking in consideration recent gigs I been to and saw bands like Corpus Necromanthum and Abyscyre and notice each band has a unique and brutal sound but always in a thin line between Black and Death metal which is also one of pillars we have for Astral Casket when in comes of writing songs and the style we want to keep. It would be great if we could form together local scene of bands with unique styles of the same subgenre and start making some noise, at least enough for other global scenes to know there is an amazing underground scene here in Costa Rica.