Castrum is a metal band from Ukraine that´s been making a name for them since 1994 when guitarist Cornelius formed the band with a vocalist called Georgius. After some line-up changes the actual band is composed by Cornelius- Guitars/Vocals, Roma - bass and Doni -drums. We interviewed Cornalius to see what is going on with their debut album and the metal scene in Ukraine.

Castrum's music is described as Gothic Brutal Death Metal with medieval influences.
What do you think of this categorization of your music?

Right! The medieval thing is in our lyrics, intros and some songs. The brutality we
like and we do it in our songs as well. And all these things combine the Death Metal
we play. Now our music sounds more aggressive, but due to the historical lyrics, we
like to call our music just simply Medieval Death Metal.

I was curious about the line up with Sharapoff on guitars. Did you had a bass player
at the time or was a line up without bass? Can you feel a difference on the music with
one and 2 guitars?

Well, 'til the end of 1999 we played without bass guitarist, 'cause there wasn't any
good person for filling up this position. Unfortunately, we've played only one gig
with Sharapoff. It was 10th of October 1998 in Banska Bystrica (Slovakia) with bands
like KRABATHOR, SANATORIUM, AGGRESSIVE TYRANTS, OVS and DEZINFEKCE. Meanwhile, we have
a full-time bass player, namely Roma, and the current line-up is Doni - drums, Roma - bass
and me, Cornelius, - guitar/vocals. Regarding the use of one or two guitars in the
music, of course, I feel a big difference. You could be more complex and technically
it's also better to use two guitars, but for us one guitar is more than enough, ha-ha.

What do you think of "The Leading Spirit of Medieval Tortures" now that more than one
year has passed from its release?

As it was only a compilation material that featured all our old demos and rehearsals from the period 1996-1997 I cannot say it is out of time. These kind of stuff is always timely. And what's more it has a pretty cool booklet with all the lyrics, photo and a lot of additional info about us.

"Burial of the Affection" was recorded in rehearsals of the band? Was it recorded
almost like a live album but in the studio?

Yes it was recorded live in our rehearsal room back in February '96.

What contributes/contributed each of the members/ex-members of the band to
Castrum's music?

Uh, it's difficult to say. I really don't know. Maybe the aggression, originality
and energy that surrounded us all the time.

Is it possible to add a new guitarist and/or a keyboard player to Castrum?

Would be great to have a second guitarist again, but in our town there's no
candidate for this. And to be honest, we are satisfied with the line-up we
have at the moment.

Do you have any parallel projects or do you concentrate completely in Castrum?

Once upon a time, we formed a Black Metal project called CHAMOS. OK, with CHAMOS
we've done only one rehearsal demo called "Hellish Reveries" in 1997, that included
2 songs. The line-up of it was the same as for CASTRUM in that period. The music was
more than just a simple Black Metal stuff. I would say it was something quite extreme
and at the same time brutal, fast and evil. But it was just an experience from our side.
We won't go to continue it. Why? I can simply say, because we played that kind of stuff
only for our fun and don't wanted to be popular as lots of Black bands that trying to
be famous after releasing only one or two materials.
Nowadays, we concentrate all our power and energy completely in CASTRUM.
No more projects, ha-ha.

Is the debut album ready? Are the songs very different from the ones in your
past recordings?

Well, it is ready to be recorded. It's called "Hatenourisher" and will contain 9 or 10 songs. Musically, of course, they differ a bit from our past recording, but that's understandable, because we play in other line-up. I would say, it's more aggressive, extreme, hateful and sophisticated. We'll go to the studio this week to start its recordings. So be prepared for Medieval Death Metal massacre!

How did you obtain the contract with Metal Force Records?

I would say really simply. First it looked only as an order of both CASTRUM's studio
demos and some 'zines from the side of METAL FORCE Records. But after a while METAL
FORCE's chief Vadim Shatniy contacted me with an offer to release these studio demos
along with our first rehearsal demo on one cassette. The agreement went successful
and "The Leading Spirit." MC was unleashed upon the Ukrainian metal fans. Of course,
we are more than pleased with the work of METAL FORCE Records. Although, you should
take into account that METAL FORCE is a new-born underground label, which can arrange
us good promotion only on the territory of Ukraine. That's why I take care about
sending out our tapes to the foreign 'zines, mags, labels, etc. As I understood, METAL
FORCE is open to release our new materials as well. Meanwhile, they are eagerly
awaiting the recordings of our new stuff.

How do you see the metal scene in Eastern Europe, particularly in Ukraine?

The Metal scene in Eastern Europe is quite strong. I mean there's a lot of cool bands over there like VADER, DEMENTOR, KRABATHOR, HYPNOS, PATHOLOGY STENCH, DEPRESY, PARASOPHISMA, and many more. The scene in Ukraine is growing day by day. There are lots of talentful bands over here. To name a few: NOKTURNAL MORTUM (Black Metal), MENTAL DEMISE (Brutal Death Metal), XUL (Evil Death/Black Metal), FORGOTTEN SPIRIT (Sympho-Folk Black Metal), PHANTASMAGORY (Progressive Death Metal), LUCIFUGUM (Black Metal), ASTROFAES (Black Metal), TESSARACT (Death Metal), ARTEFACTED IRRELIGION (Death Metal), MUNRUTHEL (Keyboardish Heathen Metal), RUNES OF DIANCEHT (Black Metal), etc.
All these bands playing on quality level their music. And I hope that soon will be
more and more bands presented to the World's scene from Ukraine.

Interviewed by Federico Marongiu

Burial of the Affection- rehearsal (1996)

Flames by Impiety - demo (1996)

Pleasure in the Deeds of Horror - demo (1996)

The Leading Spirit of Medieval Tortures - (1999)

Cornelius - guitar, vocals

Roma - bass

Doni - drums