Atomic Aggressor interview

ANSWERED BY ENRIQUE ZÚÑIGA (GUITAR, FOUNDER)

1. Hail! When Bloody Ceremonial appeared in 1989, nobody was talking about "old-school death metal". It was simply the present. Looking back now, does it feel strange seeing an entire generation trying to recreate a world you originally lived through?

It is a bit strange to see it from that perspective today, but I think it is a good thing to try to maintain the underground spirit in a movement that should try to stay away from commercial trends.

Back then, everything required more effort—getting cassettes by mail, writing letters by hand, making music without resources, printing zines by photocopy—so that whole era had a special value and mystique. Besides, the uncompromising nature of the bands, far from mainstream trends, felt more real. I think that mystique and honesty are what attracts new generations, because they were at the core of what extreme metal became.

So, for me, it doesn’t really feel strange.

2. There was a sixteen-year gap before Atomic Aggressor returned. During those years away, did you ever genuinely believe the band was finished for good, or was there always a feeling that the story remained unfinished?

When we dissolved in 1992, we didn't necessarily plan for it to be a permanent end, but the band simply "agonized" until it died due to the lack of a stable drummer and the shifting priorities of our lives. For many years, we focused on our careers and other projects, so for some years I didn’t even think there was a possibility of reuniting the band.

Of course there was always something like a ‘personal debt’ because we never recorded a proper debut album and because we all knew that Atomic was a project that had so much potential during its short life. So many things we could have done, but too few we did.

In time, after 2000, the situation changed. Some people started showing interest in producing a reunion concert and paradoxically it was Pablo Clares, the same drummer that abandoned the band in 1992, who convinced us to reunite Atomic again. By then, I was playing in Sadism and really wanted to resurrect my original band.

3. Many reunion albums sound like musicians revisiting old habits. Sights of Suffering avoided that trap by sounding hungry rather than nostalgic. How did you keep the reunion from becoming an exercise in self-celebration?

Our main goal was to avoid sounding like a "new" band or a group that simply copies its own past. We wanted to follow the story exactly where we left it in the early '90s, keeping the style we played in 1991 but with the better skills we have today. And I must say it was a long and difficult process of "blood and tears" where we discarded many riffs and ideas until we found together the genuine "Atomic" identity again. After the long hiatus, it wasn't easy to filter out some of the creative trends we had absorbed during that period, that were not what we were looking for. We even kept our original guitar tuning in E to preserve that specific old-school feeling instead of following modern, overproduced trends.

Also we were very aware of not becoming a tribute of our own band and very critical of the new riffs, discarding anything that sounds like filler or simply like a copy of our past.

4. The Occult Forces arrives seven years after Invoking the Primal Chaos, yet the aggression hasn't softened in the slightest. Does writing simply take longer now, or are you more ruthless about what deserves to carry the Atomic Aggressor name?

It is a combination of both; we are not a band that composes quickly, and we prefer to let ideas mature until they have the right atmosphere and something fresh to add to the band’s DNA. But the main reason the album took much longer than we wanted was because of numerous personal issues and life responsibilities that affected some members along the way. We also played many shows, which consumed a lot of time and rehearsal space.

Furthermore, we have become much more critical of our own work in the rehearsals to evaluate the new riffs. We want each song and each record to represent an evolution compared to the previous ones, while keeping the same identity.

5. Your music has always balanced death, thrash, and black metal without sounding like a calculated fusion of genres. Was that mixture something you consciously developed, or simply the natural language of the Chilean underground in the late '80s?

Initially, from 1985 to 87, our style was "schizophrenic" because we were kids mixing everything we liked, from hardcore punk to early death metal with really poor musical skills. However, by 1988, we wanted to be a more serious band and we consciously decided to focus on Death Metal, but we naturally kept many Thrash or even Black Metal elements that were part of the early days of the genre. This mix wasn't calculated and it was simply born out of the music we liked. It was the natural language of the scene before sub-genres became so strictly defined. For us, that balance of speed, rhythm changes, and darkness is what defines our style.

6. South America produced countless cult bands that never received the recognition they deserved outside the continent. Looking back, which overlooked Chilean or Latin American bands should today's listeners still be hunting down?

From the early Chilean scene, I’d like to mention the bands that started the Death Metal scene in this country alongside Atomic Aggressor, with whom we used to gig almost every weekend back in those days in an old venue called Sala Lautaro. Anyone should check out the old demos of Sadism, Death Yell, Darkness, Totten Korps, Torturer.

7. The press release mentions that the guitar solos on The Occult Forces are more restrained and deliberate than before. Was that an intentional artistic decision, or simply the result of decades of experience changing your instincts?

It was more an intention to favor the atmosphere that every song “asks for” over technical complexity. I believe that music should flow naturally and that technical skills should serve the song rather than just being a display of virtuosity. Besides we try to complement or balance the soloing style and great musical skills of Julio with my more limited resources.

8. Extreme metal has become technically astonishing over the last thirty years, yet many newer records lack the danger found on primitive recordings. What ingredient do you think has gradually disappeared from the genre?

If you are talking about sound and production, yes. Many modern bands are focusing too much on extremely perfect, digital, or overproduced sounds. Sometimes, when everything is too clean and "mainstream," the sinister and visceral spirit of Death Metal starts to fade. For me, Death Metal loses its meaning if it is not rooted in the underground; it needs that analog and "rotten" feeling to remain honest and free from market criteria.

But there are also a lot of new and not-so-new bands always looking for a more organic sound and rawer production. Personally, I’m listening to some amazing new bands a lot these days that capture that “old school” feeling, like Abohorration, Horrifier, Nedgravd, Taphos and others.

9. You’ve now experienced the underground in two completely different eras: tape trading in the late '80s and instant global access today. Which period demanded more commitment from both musicians and fans?

The late '80s definitely demanded a lot of commitment because everything required a massive physical effort. Back then, you had to write letters, trade tapes by hand, and wait weeks for a response from another country; that struggle gave the music a special value to both the creator and the listener. Here in Chile we used to go every Saturday noon to the only records store dedicated to metal in Santiago, called "Rock Shop”, to sell our tapes and promote the band. And the production of gigs and recordings required a lot too, because we didn’t have good amps or drums and everything was learned by doing it. Promoters and bands used to go out at night to put up concert posters in the streets, trying not to be seen by the police.

Today, everything is just a click away, which is marvelous for promotion and for discovering new bands, but a lot of commitment is also required. For bands, it is a huge amount of work and effort, because the competition when they try to sell records, merchandising or tickets for shows is gigantic, because today there are infinite bands of every style trying to get awareness and recognition. Also is hard to compete against big international bands touring Chile when you are producing a local show the same day or week. And for true fans, the ones who understand all that, it is necessary to be there for the bands they like so they can produce more records, shows and tours and not disappear.

I think commitment is what has made Metal the best fuckin music in the universe.

10. After more than three decades, do you still write songs the same way you did in the early days, or has your creative process fundamentally changed?

The core process is very similar, but now we use some tech resources to improve the result. Back in the early days, we made riffs in our homes, sometimes we recorded them in a cassette, and then we shared them with the band in the rehearsal room to build together the songs.

Today I usually create initial riffs and build demos at home on my computer and then bring them to the band. Julio also brings his riffs to the rehearsals. And then we start a "collective workshop" where the whole band works on the arrangements and structures.

11. The title The Occult Forces suggests something ancient rather than fashionable. What does the occult represent for Atomic Aggressor: philosophy, symbolism, atmosphere, or simply the perfect language for death metal?

For me that title connects perfectly with Atomic Aggressor's lyrical identity. Since 1988, one of our most important sources of inspiration has been the mythology and atmosphere created by H.P. Lovecraft—dark rituals, ancient divinities, and cosmic horrors beyond human comprehension—mixed with some anti-religious and mystical concepts. It was also mentioned in a verse of Beyond Reality.

We try to translate that spirit into our music. So I would say it’s about creating an atmosphere that gives the listener a feeling of ancient evil, cosmic horror, and the idea that human beings are insignificant when confronted with occult forces they cannot understand or control.

12. HELLS HEADBANGERS has become one of the strongest homes for traditional extreme metal. How important is it for a veteran band to work with a label that genuinely understands the history rather than simply exploiting nostalgia?

Working with Hells Headbangers has been very important for us because they have a well-earned reputation in the underground and have allowed us to share a label with so many awesome bands. Chase has been great to us since the resurrection of Atomic, showing patience even with our “eternal delays” and supporting every project regardless of how long it takes to finish. It’s important to be with a label that values honesty and doesn’t try to manage the band according to mainstream market criteria.

13. If someone had handed you The Occult Forces back in 1989 and claimed it was the future of Atomic Aggressor, what would your younger selves have thought?

Interesting question hahaha. In 1989, we were "pendejos" who could barely imagine even recording a full album for an international label, because that was almost an impossible dream in those years. We would probably be shocked by the professional sound and I think we would be positively impressed by the music and by keeping the same identity. Today we really try to maintain the style and I think we naturally achieve that, because it is the kind of music we really like.

14. After all these years, what still gives you the same adrenaline that Bloody Ceremonial did when you first heard those songs blasting from the speakers?

I remember the first time we listened to the finished demo at REC Studios, when the engineer turned up the volume, pressed play on the studio console, and our music for the first time sounded like real music. I know that production was nowhere near an actual album, but for our younger selves it was simply unbelievable. We realized that we were a real band.

It’s hard to find many moments as big as that one. Maybe when we play a song like “Beyond Reality” live and see the absolute chaos it still causes, or when a package with the vinyls of a new record arrives, like the one we’re waiting for right now. Those moments remind me why we’re still doing this after all these years.

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