Greetings Gabo, welcome to Bathory, broadcast media for Spain and Europe, it is a great honor to have you in our midst, let's start with the carnage, how was the idea of forming Tungsteno born, could you go back to the origins of the band and why did they adopt this name ? Did they want to refer to a strong and concise metallic element like their music?
- Greetings Bathory Zine friends, thanks for taking the time to interview us, to begin with the answers I must point out that the name was chosen by Pablo Guerra, our first drummer. He grabbed the periodic table and looked for a name he liked and used it. As you well point out, Tungsten is one of the hardest metals, more difficult to melt, a transition mineral that is why he chose that name, which he believed would go very well with the band and its sound.
When we started with the band we were just a group of kids making noise in the hope of putting our music on a record and going on tour everywhere. We were fascinated by the fact of being able to convey a message, what we thought and felt. Get our message as far as possible. We only cared about the present and there was no future, there was an urgency and a hunger to go out and play, a hunger for glory, to show our music which is what I suppose all bands have with determination and the will to get ahead. The best part is that they were fun and learning times. That added to the excitement of recording your first songs and good to have study material from your group, these are very strong emotions and they motivate you to keep going even more strongly.
It has been more than 13 years of musical trajectory, where we see an insurmountable work on the Argentine scene, part of this trajectory has been written internationally, taking metal from Argentina to other latitudes and doing in a short time what bands of more travel It was difficult for you. Why is Tungsten where it is today? Could you tell us a bit about your international career in terms of countries and festivals where you have been present with your thrasher artillery and international bands with which you have been able to alternate?
- We were lucky that our music has hit hard in South America and that is very good, there is nothing better in life than being able to travel thanks to your music. That you go to distant countries and there are people with another culture or idiosyncrasy who respect you just because you could translate some songs into an album, which they liked. To name a few, we were at the Bogothrash 2015 in Colombia, at the QZO in Brasilia invited by the Brasilia municipality on the heavy metal day, sharing a show with Jess Cox, singer of Tygers of pan tang, also at events with Havok in Ecuador, another different tour in Brazil with Enforcer, in Chile, Paraguay several times .. There are really many to remember all ahaha.
Tungsteno has raised the way of making thrash metal to another level, their music is powerful as a direct punch to the face, and in certain parts it has death metal overtones that remind us of pestilence or death, but what are the musical influences and What genres do you like apart from thrash?
- We make thrash metal plain and simple, with a classic cut. We are influenced by many bands of that style such as Exodus, Overkill, Artilley, Coroner, Anthrax among others .. More than anything it is about the classic sound with which the genre was born. Now, if we talk about tastes, we listen to a lot of music, classic rock, some tango ajaj almost everything .. I am a lover of that old death metal that you say, Bolt Thrower, Pestilence, etc. Even if it is not manifested in our music, we listen to everything ..
Has the Covid-19 pandemic affected the world in a terrible way, how did it affect Tungsteno? Did you have a plan that was cut short with this pandemic? And what is the band currently in? Since we were able to see a quarantine Tunsgteno TV rehearsal with a very peculiar battery, tell us about that.
- We have a new album half recorded (drums and bass recorded and the rest is missing) so what remains is to record guitars, the voice and the mix of all the material, hopefully this will end soon so we can resume our activities, the video The one you are referring to is the one in Ciudad Toxica, which we recorded in isolation, the drummer (who has his drums in the rehearsal room) had to use pans, pots and others, ahaha it sounds horrible, in fact it had to be turned up 10 times the volume to Don't let the voice and guitar cover it up, that's why it's very difficult to rehearse like that.
We have listened to the two Tungsten albums where you can see a thrash metal that is not at all repetitive and less boring, it is a sharp, dangerous and street thrash metal and with certain progressive overtones in which they address a social sense but in addition to the social one. What other themes address in their lyrics and where does the inspiration to write come from?
- Lyrically we always had the influence of bands like Anthrax and Nuclear Assault, who mix lyrics of a style of social denunciation with other, funnier, more hilarious lyrics .. Basically we base our entire career on that, it depends on what the song asks for. Sometimes we make funnier lyrics, other times more serious lyrics about all kinds of topics from dictatorships, poverty, inequality and everyday injustice to lyrics about our love for wine or more fun things. Inspiration comes from situations in life itself.
How has the musical concept of Tungsteno evolved since its formation? What have they released in terms of discography and what ideology does Tungsteno adhere to?
- The first demos were our learning period, we began to generate our musical identity, always influenced by the old school sound, perhaps the second demo was a bit aggressive, I sang with a raspier and deeper voice closer to Sodom, Possessed but beyond that both lyrics and music were quite similar, a natural step straight after the first demo. Finally, after 5 years of experience, we were able to record our first album entitled “Imminent Annihilation” and we recorded it as best we could, with little money, little experience, we made all the possible mistakes that bands make when they record their first album (only the drums are recorded in studio and voice in a friend's “home” studio) but still today I look back and am proud to have done it. With our second album, "Lobotomia" we did not make the same mistakes, maybe we made others but not the same ones. Ajjaa that album if we could record everything in the studio even though we changed studio to mix it and the Jedbangers label was able to send it to master abroad, at same study where they remastered the Vio-lence and Sodom albums in the US. It's tremendous to be able to find people who have passionate feelings about both albums, they have even gotten their cover art tattooed. We don't like them so much because we suffer in our own flesh the ordeal of being stranded recording them, and it takes much longer than expected but with the passage of time you rescue the good of each experience.
Tungsten is an amalgam of genres added to the speed and power of thrash, but how would you define Tungsten's music?
- We do what we know how to do, just that. We have fun playing live and putting together songs, then everything else comes naturally. Obviously we do OLD SCHOOL STYLE METAL THRASH, beyond that we don't need to look at another batch and say "what would Overkill do here ??" because we already have it incorporated automatically, when one listens to this type of music for so long and feels it, things automatically come out without thinking.
Within the Argentine Underground they are the most representative band in Argentina, and the band with the most international projection. Has this affected you in anything in your country? Is there support between bands or is there still this senseless competition between bands?
- It is not good for any movement that there is only one, two or three bands that are the ones that summon and the others cost them a lot to be able to carry out their shows because that way a kind of monopoly is made that does not help anyone. It does not help the replacement, it does not help the self-esteem of the musicians and above all it generates misgivings and stupid envies. And unfortunately, if your band does better than another, many hate you or scold you for no reason, not all of them are like that, many bands understand that there is room for everyone and luckily we are friends of bands like that. People who are carried away by the idiocies of envy and ego give me particular pity and shame. Life is too short to spend time on that.
Tell us about the Metal scene in Argentina, how do you see it? And as for zines, organizations, is there support for concerts? and what bands could you recommend from Argentina? And what bands are key in the history of Metal in Argentina? And what bands could you recommend from South America?
- Well I think that on a musical level the Argentine scene is better than ever, it is varied, it is more professional and I see bands with true compositional talent in various genres. The problem is that there are a lot of young people who are taking their first steps in the world of metal and I think that as a scene we have failed to teach them or show them respect for musicians, teach them how to pay a ticket to a show that brings together 4, 5 bands or more, at the cost of what a bottle of beer is cheap. That is the fault of us as a society thatqueremos stinging anything, and also in part of many emerging bands that are forced to give away tickets or do not charge because otherwise no one is going to see them, not to mention the owners of premises and producers who want to do 6 shows and save themselves, who want to win with tickets at the door, at the bar and on top of that, they also make tickets or pay the same musical groups, suffocating any possible capacity for growth.
Of course there are great zines and support, people like Despreciable Realidad, radio shows like Arrasando, Thundersteel Magazine, South of Hell prods, Metal Aggressive Fanzine, Disembodied Records, there will always be people who do things well and for the love of metal. As for current bands on the Argentine scene, I can recommend Vapuleador, Tempestor, Calavera, Apophenia, Induxion Mental, just to name a few. In the history of Argentine metal we have V8, Hermética, Nepal, Retrosatan, Bloke, Escabios, Militia and Horcas (but only the first albums) all of them fundamental pillars and spearhead, they are not the only ones but if it occurs to me that they are the most representative.
And well from South America there are also sooo many, just to name a few of today you have Extinger, Toxic Soul, Arkoxia from Ecuador, Excorsismo from Brazil, Evil Whiplash and Beer Drinkersfrom Colombia, Phronexis and Azotador from Bolivia .. Many, it is unfair to have to name a handful.
When will we have a new Tungsten production and what are the band's future plans after the lockdown ends?
- As I mentioned in a previous question, we have a half-recorded album consisting of 11 songs, the first thing we will do when the confinement is lifted is just finish recording that album, we even put together some new songs in this period of inactivity but that will be for an upcoming album.
The carnage has stopped! This has been it for now, final words? Anything you want to add? And please send a hello to Bathory zine readers and Tungsten fans in Europe.
- Thank you for the space and the interview, I hope people enjoy reading it as I enjoy doing it. Also that they are pending of our next album and hopefully soon a show or our tour of Europe can be completed. Greetings everyone and STAY UNDERGROUND !!!
DISCOGRAPHY:
Vino Till Death Demo 2007
Thrash Slash Vol. 1 Split 2008
Realidad o ebriedad Demo 2008
Tungsteno #19 M.U.M.E. Demo 2010
Escuadrón de muerte Split 2010
Inminente aniquilación Full-length 2011
Indestructible velocidad Compilation 2014
Lobotomía Full-length 2017
Thrash Slash Vol. 1 Split 2008
Realidad o ebriedad Demo 2008
Tungsteno #19 M.U.M.E. Demo 2010
Escuadrón de muerte Split 2010
Inminente aniquilación Full-length 2011
Indestructible velocidad Compilation 2014
Lobotomía Full-length 2017
tungsteno_thrash@hotmail.com
Interview by David "Carnage"
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