Annihilation Interview

1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard of you before?

Fabio: Annihilation began in 2004 in a small town called Almeirim, about 80 km from Lisbon with this big idea of creating his own vision of Death Metal. Within a couple of years of hard work, a demo was recorded with the idea to be used as a promo for getting gigs and festivals in our own country so we could get exposed. After some gigs and festivals with lot of people interested in our music we began the recording process of our debut album in 2011. The Band suffer many line up changes until we found the right people to continue. Being me the started of all this process the band is now consisted by: Fábio Silva - 30 years old - Rhythm guitar/Vocals (founder of Annihilation), Daniel Pacheco - 23 years old - Lead Guitars (Session musicianmainly, too many to tell), Diogo Silva - 23 years old - Bass / Backup Vocals ( Exhumer ), Paulo dos Santos  - 27 years old - Drums ( The Ladder, Side-effects, They Were Gunshots, BlackSunrise ).

 2. How would you describe your musical sound?

Daniel: “In the beginning, we had a lot of influence from Morbid Angel, Gorguts, Cannibal Corpse, Hateeternal and such. I think that it’s pretty obvious for anyone who listens to the album. Every one of us tries to listen to as many music possible, from all the genres and styles. But, since our formation changed heavily after the recording, and since we found very talented people, we could start to arrange and compose more technical stuff and now basically the band stands at the more technical side of the genre like The Faceless, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Obscura and Hour of Penance.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

Fabio:  most of the lyrics were based on the more personal aspect and the main topics were the negative aspect, inner war and misanthrope of the Human Being. For the new tracks we’re actually aiming more for dualism, space and conscience awareness, since that’s how our music is progressing for.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

 Fabio: The idea for the band’s name “Annihilation” actually came from Nile’s album “Annihilation of the Wicked”. This was the album that I listened a lot during the formation of Annihilation and still today is one of my favorites! So this is my way of saying thanks to the guys of Nile.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?

Fabio:“We’ve played in some of the big festivals in our country and some venues too. Now we’re getting some tour dates around Europe and, with some luck, some US dates too. Our stage performance is pretty directly to the music itself. We try always to have the best sound and equipment so our fans and crown can have the best experience ever!

6. Do you have any touring plans for the future?

 Fabio: “We are currently making plans to tour our country then Europe and maybe a mini US tour so we can our debut album at its best .We have already a date in Spain on a festival down there too, so lets see what we can work from there.”

7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by brutal death metal fans?

Daniel: “Pretty positive I must say! We’re getting a ton of good reviews and the people are buying the album, so I must say things are going as expected! That´s why worldwide distribution was so important to us, so we could get to the most people out there! “

8. Are there any other projects besides this band or is this a full time line up?

 Daniel: “This is a full time line up. Some of us have other projects but this is top priority. For instance I work in music mainly as session musicians but currently have a grindcore project called Hiroshima and in process of recording my own stuff. Paulo dos Santos also plays drums on “The Ladder” too.

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

Daniel: “Since now we found a stable and very talented formation, we are working on the more technical and experimental side of the genre. Bands like Hour of Penance, Obscura, The Faceless, Origin and The Faceless became major influences. This is the new direction we are heading and all the composition are following these direction. We are pretty excited to perform these new works and record them!”

 10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

 Daniel: “We listen to a lot of music from all genres and styles. I listen to a lot of jazz, free jazz and djent. Paulo listens to aggrotechfor example. So we pretty much listen to everything and try to use all of that as influence during your composition stage”.

11. Outside of music, what are some of your interests?

Fabio Silva: “Well I work for BlackBerry providing technical support for the BlackBerry PlayBook in Australia, United Kingdom, Canada and USA. Daniel Pacheco works in his family’s engineering firm on the instrumental and inclinometer readings part. Paulo dos Santos is taking his major at informatics engineering and Diogo Silva is  a domestic contractor.

12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

Daniel “Just to say a big thanks for this interview, we really like it! A big thanks to all our worldwide supporters out there! It´s for you we do this! We will be touring this summer, we have already a date in Spain at Skulls of Metal fest in 7 July. Spanish fans don´t forget this we wanna see you there!! More dates will be announced since we are finishing our plans for this year tour. After that we will continue our pre-production work and have some news about the new album! Keep checking our facebook for news and events! A big word of appreciation to all out there !