Infecated (VN): from Predictable Death to Destroyer of Worlds, definition of Infecated and Death Metal
Vanity Vietnam conversing with Infecated, Vietnamese death metal quintet, upon the release of their debut album Predictable Death
Music Video Maze of Hatred
1. Predictable Death meaning…. ?
The descriptive “Predictable” in the album’s name is employed to allude to things happening around the early days when the band was founded: be it at societal or humane, or personal levels, everything seemed predictable, and thus decided by Nhân, our former guitarist and founding member . Even more so when the following track in the album is Mutual Kill.
2. The artwork subtly hints at Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam, albeit pulled from inside out to encapsulate what seems to be the “negative”, reverse version of such creation. How and how deep are the interplays between the artwork and Infecated’s compositions? How do real life happenings in turn affect the album as a whole, with some of its compositions dating as far back as 2019 (the split album with Taste)?
The intro Desires of the Righteous was actually composed last in the line, by courtesy of Đức, our drummer, as we were finishing the album. The inspiration was drawn from listening to all the tracks as a seamless whole, from which a dark, looming theme emerged, and yet, grew brighter somehow towards the end - somewhat similar with the wars themselves. Thus, the inclusion of a famous, oft-quoted speech by R. Oppenheimer, the architect of the Atomic Age, finely consolidated the common themes of human-caused destructions and reconstructions from those ruins. Additionally, the lyrics written by our vocalist dealt with a host of alarming societal and personal issues, thus alternatingly and fittingly woven in the greater theme of darkness. In a way, Predictable Death is a sum of its parts, however randomly put together.
As you may know, our chief writer during the formative years of 2018-2019 was Nhân, guitarist. Together we had finished 4 songs, yet decided to include only two of them in the split EP Excrescence Of Humanity - Dysphorically Dissecting with Taste (JPN). We decided against releasing our own EP (too short a format for a death metal band!) to focus on having our first full length. With Nhân relocating in the U.S with his family, we struggled to find replacements over at least 1.5 years, including incorporate their individual influences in the our music, notably perhaps in the greater “melodicity” from Hưng, former drummer, An, current bassist, and Cường, current guitarist.
[Nguyên Dốc, illustrator] On my end, I always have a strong tendency towards the contrasting elements, the dichotomy of black and white, brightness and darkness, angels and devils, in my songwriting and artworking. Another major influence of mine is the famous classical paintings and sculptures. In the making of Predictable Death, after extensive listening to the music and ruminating upon its lyrical content provided, I tried my best to “capture” the messages conveyed by the band. And on their end, Infecated themselves are very much happy with my dominantly black and white treatment employed in the artwork, which absolutely mirrors the themes of overwhelming misery and devastation.
Illustration by Nguyên Dốc
3. Please reveal a bit further about the making of Predictable Death artwork - what does stand out about it, according to you?
To [Nguyên] it was completely random. Upon re-visiting Saigon for the 2nd show of Canadian death metal monster Cryptopsy in December 2023, I rekindled some old connections with aggressive musicians in Saigon, Infecated band members included. After hearing about the release of Predictable Death, the debut full-length, I suggested in-charging of the album’s visuals, to which they agreed. However, the making process was not without challenges. After receiving the first round-mix and the tracks’ lyrics, I spent a great amount of time ruminating over how to establish the audio-visual connection between the music and the artwork itself. A good load of procrastination and a host of visual treatment offers, of various styles and composition, after, I have come up with the artwork that we all see, about which I am relatively confident. I suppose it best reflects the music we have in Infecated’s Predictable Death.
4. To new listeners of Infecated, especially those not having watched the band live, what are the three things that make you you, that they should focus on? What does Infecated actually mean?
Perhaps highly groovy riffs, windmill headbanging by our vocalist on stage, and our signature harmony. You can see, two audio and one visual - we do not and never want to limit ourselves to a studio band. In our live sets, we want to keep you off your feet as much as we can.
About the name, well, we originally wanted to go with Infected plus Noun, but more than one death metal acts have shared the thought. Infection, as in infected, also did not seem to correlate a lot with the musical vision we had in mind. Therefore, the guys agreed to insert a letter [a] to the mid section, Infec[a]ted, to completely abandon the original meaning, though discerning audiences might guess it somehow.
Infecated on stage at Rooster Rhythms’ Birthday Bash 18 May, 24
5. Either retaining purist old-school death metal sounds or maximising the influences, be them musical or not, seem to be the two poles of songwriting. What are the influences or inspirations from international (and local) artists in Predictable Death? Is death metal, beyond an artistic choice, reflective of your tendency to depersonalise, by lyrically avoiding depiction of personal struggles, while thematically tackling the more universal topics - how is your own definition of death metal?
Listeners and live audiences can spot traces of early-day Kataklysm (at the turn of the century), Arch Enemy and Sepultura. We never want to be anyone's copy, nor intend to spark any confusion in listeners. What you are hearing is the amalgamation of our combined years listening to a copious amount of music and artists, therefore the inspirations are inevitable.
Death metal is a natural, obvious choice amongst our band members who are long-term purveyors and enthusiasts of this particular sound despite the lineup changes, since our founding, to the extent it is plain weird if we otherwise compose anything else. Fittingly to the question, we do not want to talk about ourselves, instead tackle the greater issues about and around life itself. To us, death metal is a style of music with which performers can unleash their greatest amount of creativity, as well as their tremendous pent-up energies. It is as simple as that.
6. Having shared the stage with a rare few international metal giants such as Cryptopsy (twice) and Implore, what do you have to share about the inevitable reality that the ageing idols of yore are increasingly harder to reach and the international emerging acts are grossly unpopular with Vietnamese audiences at large?
In our observation, the chances of hosting internationally renowned (metal) acts during the pre-COVID 19 period were next to zero, but whenever it happened, the public was beyond ecstatic, manifesting in extremely energetic live performances by Cryptopsy or Implore, whom we opened. The post-COVID 19 period, especially over the past 1.5 years, witnessed a greater regularity of international artists setting their foot upon Vietnam, to perhaps also compensate for the global lockdown, while audiences are more willing to pay to watch their favourite artists, and promoters improving themselves in multiple aspects. In general, we suppose things are going in their due course, positively so.
Regarding the neo-global favourites who are touring the globe after their first decade of existence, we think it is hard to put all the blame upon the younger audiences in our country. The popularity of heavy metal in Vietnam has been in some decline, and even die-hard fans like ourselves do not always align creatively with the younger (and more handsome) performers of nowadays. Thus, hosting the contemporary metal artists in Vietnam, where the underground scene remains rather small, will have to be balanced out by locally organised shows to introduce extreme music to wider, and greater new audiences, in order to engage and keep them longer.
7. What is the next plan after your album’s release? How about Infecated’s wishlist of artists to share the stage with, locally or internationally?
Infecated is planning up a tour, or at the very least separate shows taking place at Vietnam’s major cities, in medium-to-underground-size festivals. We always wish to share the stage with the likes of Vietnam’s Lolotica, Voluptuary (also our very first Vietnamese artist to share the stage with), ROT, and internationally, Kataklysm, Blood Red Throne, Sepultura, Arch Enemy, Black Dahlia Murder.
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About Infecated:
With the first full length album “Predictable Death” released in April 2024, the Vietnamese flag-bearing death metal quintet Infecated will celebrate their 5th year in existence with ferocious grace. Founded from the ashes of the death/thrash outfit Onslave, the band solidifies their position in the microseismic metal scene of Vietnam with their crystallised vision of old-school 90s death metal sensibilities (think of Death, early Cannibal Corpse, Malevolent Creation) and catalysed by an extreme passion for playing extreme music live. After a series of singles and a split EP with the Japanese veteran Taste (released via Bloodbath Records/JPN), Infecated has grown into a local metallic finesse to offer to both local fans and international touring artists to the scene alike - in 2019 they have supported the ultimate legendary Cryptopsy (again in 2023) and Slaughter to Prevail in Vietnam while a regular name at the now-defunct Hanoian underground beacon of Hai Ba Trung Deathfest. With a remarkably consistent lineup featured three original founding members, the gang of Tăng Cường (guitar), Phúc Hưng (guitar), Nguyễn An (bass), Anh Đức (drums), and Mạnh Toàn (vocals) play to the public the aggressive music they themselves want to hear.
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