With its most recent creation, ‘Stronger Than a God’still hot, Slavery They prepare to hit the road, fight and show that enthusiasm and quality latent in each groove of the LP and in each of their words. They have wickers to roll wherever they want. Javier Perez sits with Alex Guerra (guitar), Mauro Martín (drums), Marc Quee (vocals) and Ibrahím Delgado (bass) to know first-hand everything they are cooking for times to come.
Do we consider ‘Stronger Than a God’ as an LP, which fits me in terms of footage, or as an EP, a very popular format these days?
(Alex) “Well, we don’t consider it as an EP, but as a normal album, there are six songs, but the total length makes it that of a complete album, it’s more than 40 minutes… There are albums that don’t reach that minute with twice as many songs”.
(Mauro) “In reality, it is a full-fledged album, in addition to fitting perfectly into the vinyl format (about 24 minutes per side), which is not done on purpose. Our idea was always to make a work in the style of Slavery, with Its eight or ten songs are extensive, around 70 or 75 minutes, but given the circumstances of the recordings and the changes of components, we had to discard two songs, so we left it at the six recorded.
Why does so much time pass between your previous album and this one that concerns us?
(A) “It’s not something that we deliberately look for, it’s just that it’s not easy for a band like us to release a record; it takes a lot of time to put everything together and finish the process. In fact, even the big bands that have record companies behind it that put the money, if you look, it’s not like before, where they released albums every year and a little, now the time between album and album is longer. So imagine in our case, we don’t have that support. Furthermore, on this occasion, the Covid 19 pandemic caught us in the middle of the production process, which delayed us and complicated everything much more.”
(M) “We are not a professional band (we would like to), with record contracts, that closes big tours, that has a representation office behind it, that invoices thousands of euros, etc. We do not function as a company, which is how they walk the groups that are one hundred percent dedicated to this today, we cook everything and eat it ourselves, and the expenses are “defrayed” and “suffered” by the four members of the band, so the investment is high. for each album is dilated in time and, consequently, its realization”.
You’ve had a bassist change, right?
(A) “Indeed, now the bassist of the band is Ibrahím Delgado. His integration into the group was a very natural and fantastic process. The quality of his work can be seen very clearly in this ‘Stronger Than a God’. Furthermore, “Ibra belonged to the Esclavitude family for many years, so everything was very easy and simple.”
(M) “As my partner Alex points out, Ibra can be compared to Bon Scott (AC/DC), he went from being the leader of the group to being a member of it, and from what it seems, he will retire in Slavery (laughs) Jokes aside, we had no qualms about incorporating him into our ranks in 2020 knowing his good work, the desire and the degree of involvement that we expected.
What song would you say best represents the concept and sound of the album?
(A) “Wow, that’s difficult. It’s difficult to choose one song over another because each song is different from the others. That’s one of the hallmarks of Esclavitude, each composition offers you something that the others don’t have, so choosing the most representative one is almost impossible. You have to listen to the entire album as a global concept to understand the work.”
(M) “Perhaps, and corroborating what Alex said, “Lord Have Mercy” has a little bit of the essence of the rest of the songs on the album, but, even so, it is an impossible mission to choose one.”
In which style do you feel most comfortable or most identified with: heavy metal, speed, hard rock…? I see that you go from one to the other without difficulty.
(A) “We move from one style to another naturally. In fact, we don’t even think about it when composing, we simply make music, which offers you an infinite range of possibilities. We like to experiment and move around “ all the places” (compositionally speaking) that attract and inspire us. Hence the style so typical of Esclavitude. We simply like to play with music.
The album hasn’t been on the market for long, do you already notice that it is having a significant impact among your audience and the specialized press?
(M) “‘Stronger than a God’ was published on May 15, both in CD and vinyl digipack formats, and is available in our online store. It is a self-produced work, as well as the entire promotion (managed by Esclavitude), which is bearing fruit and is having an impact. We have received very good reviews, not only from national specialized media, but also from abroad, especially from France.
On the other hand, we have criticism from the band’s closest fans and friends, who tell you what they think of the new album without hesitation, and we accept them with great affection, because we know that they are opinions given from the heart and the most valuable, and the thing likes… (laughs).
Regarding the public, we notice that they are impatient to see Esclavitude live, which we will announce in a few weeks, so everyone pay attention to our social networks now our web“.
Is living in the Canary Islands still a very important handicap? I imagine that, to go on tour, even yes.
(Ibrahím) “I think not! The Canary Islands are one of the best places in the world where you can live. Many established and famous musicians live and carry out their work on the islands. There is a special magnetism here. Today, technological advances have broken borders, which we have taken advantage of in this work, as, for example, with Pete Newdeck’s production. It is clear that those of us who are dedicated to trying hard never have it easy, but good work will always move us forward here. and in Beijing.”
(M) “It is clear that no one is going to give you anything, so we, being Canarians and residents of the islands, must fight twice as hard or more than the peninsula gangs, but we have our own means, so everything is organization and good approaches to be able to get Esclavitude out of the Canary Islands. We have already done it many times, so this time it will be no different.”
What remains of that group that started back in the mid-90s?
(A) “Everything remains from that band of the beginnings, from the enthusiasm, the desire, the band’s own seal… Obviously, we have changed over time, as is logical, and that has given us and opened new horizons , but always maintaining the essence of Slavery. We are still the same as before, older, but with the same essence…. (laughs)”.
(Marc) “It is clear that Esclavitud is a band that has always been alive, from its beginnings to the present day. Mauro and Alex are the founders and the only original members since that already distant 1996, but both I and Ibrahím never met. We have felt like the “second” or the “last”. The four of us have the same weight within the group, whether we arrived in 2016 (as is my case) or in 2020 like Ibra.”
For the future, would you like to be able to manage shorter time periods between each release?
(M) “Well, it is something that we have never considered, because we have never been given the situation of working against the clock; we do it without any pressure from record contracts or representation agencies, etc. We maintain the ability to have our freedom of movement, both in compositions and in rehearsals, tours, specific concerts… If the time comes where something has to be signed, then we will take care of maintaining that essence that allows us to continue being Slavery.
“Right now we are immersed in closing live shows where we can defend ‘Stronger Than a God’ and be able to give our audience what we have always given them: a live show without tricks or cardboard, where what they will hear is a faithful reflection of the new album.”
(A) “To conclude, we want to thank the entire MariskalRock team for the work of continuing to spread “our vibe” and giving us the opportunity, once again, to have a voice and become participants. And to the general public, we would like to say to be attentive to our website and linked social networks so that you are informed of our news and movements.”
(All) “A big hug for everyone!”
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