Kat’s Band Of The Day: Grand Supreme Blood Court

NAME: Grand Supreme Blood Court
THEY ARE: Heavy Doom Death Metal
FROM: The Netherlands
FOR FANS OF: Asphyx, Soulburn, Possessed
LATEST RELEASE: ‘T.B.C.’ (Century Media Records)
WEBSITE: FACEBOOK

Ex-Asphyx guitarist Eric Daniels is back with a new band and has teamed up with his old Asphyx bandmates Martin van Drunen and Bob Bagchus along with the newest Asphyx member Alwin Zuur and Hail Of Bullets bassist Theo Van Eekelen to create some “brutal real doom death metal”. We spoke to Eric to get the scoop.

From the early ‘oos onwards you kind of went off the death metal radar; what were you doing in the quiet years away from the spotlight?

“I was focusing on other things. Best to see it as a longtime rest I needed after some crazy musical years. Indeed after the ‘On The Wings Of Inferno’ Asphyx album we did some shows and I needed to focus on other things. It took me some years to reach the job I wanted to do and succeed in that. I also had a family life. I almost never touched my guitar in those nine years, and looking back it’s good I did not. All inspiration I kept inside until now I used for the upcoming album. A fresh start and in another time.”

When Asphyx reformed, why did you not join in with the rest of your old bandmates?

“I was not ready to reform with the other guys. A lot of things were still happening, and I could not focus on music. Asphyx is an oiled machine and I say never change a winning team. I am proud of what the boys do and respect their hard work. In music nothing is for sure, I am not closing doors, at the moment I focus on Grand Supreme Blood Court, it’s the real music I want to play. Paul [Baayens] is doing a great job, I respect him to be my replacement. Asphyx was 11 years of my life from the morning til I went to bed. I lived for it, and that can’t be erased.”

When did the initial idea for GSBC come about? What do you think sets GSBC apart from Asphyx?

“After some time I started to play again and got the right feeling back with my guitars. I tweaked my equipment, wrote some riffs [and] recorded them at my personal tiny virtual studio. Most of those riffs I sent to the other guys to let them hear what I was doing. They loved it and were thrilled I was back to play music. The idea was to start a project with Asphyx members and Theo [Hail of Bullets] on bass. Right now we have almost finished the album. Only the vocals have to be recorded by Martin. GSBC is more basic, raw, heavy doom/death metal. Of course we have our bands and how we play and that will be noticeable, but the whole idea is to separate those two bands. It won’t bother me, cause I know the music and production is different. To me it sounds all fresh!”