Hugo Ojeda - 2025 Interview

Hugo.  You've heard the name, or seen it as a feature on some of your favorite tracks.  For almost 20 years, BDM and Slam fans have grown accustom to his brutal and unique vocal stylings.  If you don't recognize his name, you likely have enjoyed his contributions to the scene without even knowing it.  A lot of time has passed since the birth of Esophagus, and many other bands.  I was stoked to be able to ask a few questions about what has changed, and what to expect!

Enjoy the below interview with the legendary Hugo Ojeda!!!!

Hugo, thanks so much for taking the time to do this!!!  What have you been up to?

At the moment I’m focused on my job, family and of course music. Even though it’s a hobby, music is essential to me and I always try to find the time to do it.

Can you tell us your age and how long you've been into brutal death metal?

I’m soon to be 47 years old on January. I started doing music in 1996 when I finished highschool.

I think most people who know of you, found out about you from Esophagus.  I know there has been many other projects and bands over the years.  Could you tell us your story?  How did you start in this crazy world of music, what bands have happened, and where are we at now?

The first band I joined was GOREDEFECATE in 2001, there I recorded my  first demo where I was on vocals and guitar, it’s called THE DAY OF THE DEAD (2002) and it’s available on Youtube.  And then, on the same year, I debuted live. 

After GOREDEFECATE, THE MACABRE was born in 2005 with the demo SERMON TO THE LAMBS, also available on Youtube, where I was on vocals and guitar as well.  And from The Macabre’s ashes I created the still active band WOUNDS OF CHRIST and it’s first demo, DESPISING THE CHRISTIAN RACE (2007) is still available on Youtube.

In 2008 I founded the band ESOPHAGUS, which is active to the date. 

We recorded 3 demos, PULVERIZED BY MISANTHROPIC BEHAVIOR (2009), ORIGIN OF HUMAN DEGRADATION (2010) and AWAKENING OF A NEW ICON (2011). 

I left the band in 2023 after recording all the vocals between the years 2018 and 2023, although, that version (2018 onwards) of the band still exists only because Mauro, who is on the guitar, is my friend and asked me not to kill the band. 

But as it is my band, I decided to rejoin Esophagus in the upcoming year 2025. This time only with the records from 2009, 2010 and 2011, I don’t give a fuck about whatever was recorded since 2018.

Between the years 2016 and 2018 I recorded an album and a demo with the band INTESTINAL EXTIRPATION, both available on Youtube.

Currently I’m on vocals in PUTRESCENT (2005) and we’ll soon release a demo in 2025.

I’m also in DECREPIT CADAVER and PUTHROATFUCKTION on vocals, for the latter I recorded a demo (2024) and soon we’ll release an album in 2025. I always try to lend my vocals to bands that need them for recording.

I also participated on various projects like, SUPREME BANISHMENT, FIRST DEGREE MURDER, INDOCTRINATED SOLEMNITY, all of them available on youtube.

**Holy shit, First Degree Murder is amazing:

Let's speak a little about your vocal style.  How long have you been making inhuman noises with your face?  What do you call your technique?  Who are some of your favorite vocalists?

I started doing vocals since ‘95 approximately. It’s not really a technique, I learned from other
vocalists until I found my own brutal style. I always try to sound as inhuman as possible.

Some of my influences are, Chris barnes, Joe ptacek, Matti way, Rich Lipscomb, Joe wolfe, to name some.

I tried to emulate everything that sounded inhuman and animalistic.

Can you talk about the origin of Esophagus?

I created the band Esophagus on 2008. And the reason I created it was to achieve an inhuman slam with my voice.  I got the idea from Joe Ptacek from Broken Hope, it was a real influence on my way of singing.  The year was 2008 so you can imagine I had the trashiest PC with the shittiest software and hardware haha, still, I created the most brutal band.  It was so powerful that even Mark Rawls (Guttural Engorgement) offered himself to participate on vocals, so we had 3 vocalists on our 2009 demo.

Can you tell us all of your current active bands that you are part of?

**CLICK TO HEAR**

Active:

Wounds of Christ 

Putrescent 

Puthroatfucktion 

Decrepit Cadaver 

Chunks of Guts 

Esophagus (The original from 2008 that I just recently resuscitated)

Can you tell us all of your past/inactive bands?

Goredefecate 

The Macabre 

Intestinal Extirpation 

Esophagus 2018 

Supreme Banishment 

First Degree Murder 

Indocrinated 

Solemnity

Some projects I was in but they were mostly only live performances 

After the release of Inglorious Beings, you left the band?  Can you clear the air about what happened?

I got bored of music. And mostly I got tired of working with Victor who joined the band on 2018. I really couldn’t stand him, he thought he was better than the rest and that he owned Esophagus.

It’s true that when he joined the band, I told him to take the reins and he delivered by making good contacts and publicity, I can’t argue with that.  But in the human part he was a real dickhead, I mean, before thinking your’e the shit, you need to remember how you got there and who put you there.  In my eyes he will never be the real Slam. He needs a reality check, never bite the hand that feeds you.

Azerate Nakamura took over vocal duties for tour, did you help with this decision?  What is your relationship like him like?

I met him not long ago. I just got back to him when I saw that they left him on his own in the middle of touring. 

At first he had sent me a DM which I didn’t want to answer because my first thought was “why would this dude that’s touring with my band want to talk to me?”.   But then I saw he was having a hard time so I decided to reply to the almost 1-month old text because I felt something was odd. And then we talked and we told each other everything about the band. Now we’re mates.

SOOOOO, what is the future like for Esophagus?

Pick up from where we left and play live here in Chile

Hugo, it seems like extreme music has been a huge part of your life for a long time.  What are some other things you are passionate about?

Actually, being with my family and being able to play live with mates. I’m old now haha, almost 47, music to me has always been a precious hobby and I try to get the most of it in the little time I have for it. 

Thanks again!!!   Anything you'd like to add?

I want to thank all the people that are listening to the 2008 Esophagus and you for these questions. This is my first interview haha, so I’m really thankful.  Enjoy music while you can and remember that family is above all.

Insalubrity 2024 interview

Hello and thank you for answering a few questions!  Who are you and what do you do in the band?

I'm Mauricio the guitarist, music composer, creative conceptualizer and lyricist

Can you give us a history of the band up until today?

 The band started in 2014, playing in various places in the country, in 2016 they recorded their first self-titled EP, in 2017 the band signed with realityfade from Ukraine and released their demo single, in 2020 the band released their first album with the New Standard Elite label from the United States in 2024 the band participated in the Bogota grind death fest, in Bogota Colombia, currently the band is getting ready to release their 4 ways split Sheol, it promises to be a new brutal gem, they are also preparing their Demo 2025 which is a prelude to their second album, which promises to be much more twisted than the first, more details will be revealed soon

What can you tell us about the upcoming 2025 promo?

As mentioned before, the promo is a prelude to the second album, consisting of 3 songs, 2 new ones and a cover of a very influential Colombian band which is breaking through in Europe, Carnivore Diprosopus, the songs are already ready to be recorded in January. 2025, a sketch has been published which has been a preview of the brutal art that is in progress.

Full length on the way?  When will you start recording for that?

Of course, the album is in the process of being composed

As soon as the composition and pre-rehearsal of all the songs are finished we will record, we still do not know an exact date

Can you give us 3 bands that you are inspired by?

For me I couldn't miss Suffocation, absolutely Defeated Sanity and of course Brodequin

What is your favorite style of music?

I listen to many styles of music but the ones I like the most are Death Metal and subgenres Brutal Death Metal, Dissonant, Tech, also Psychedelic Rock/Metal 

Thank Mauricio and Insalubrity!!!

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Excruciations Interview 2024

Cerebral Reviewment long-time readers will know, old school style BDM, like the latest from Kansas City one-man Brodequin worship project, Excruciations, is right up my alley.  The riffs, the vocals, the imagery.  Hell yes.  Thank you Simon!

Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions!  Can you start by telling us your age and a little background about yourself?

Thanks for hitting me up for an interview!! I'm Simon, 20 years old and lived in Kansas city damn near my entire life. been obsessed with this whole realm of disgusting music since high school and its been uphill (or downhill, depending on how you look at it) ever since.

You have two projects that are just you, Defaced and Excruciations, correct?  Have you always enjoyed working alone?  have you played with a full band before?

I've actually got a pretty ridiculous amount of projects haha, but defaced and excruciations are definitely my favorites. some others of mine are lymphoblast, pig stomper, ejaculation, scum, and my most recent musical endeavors , Butcher (ultra raw brutal death with all real instruments) and Portrait of God (which is a real deal band I play drums for , really really fun stuff).

but yeah I love working alone! sometimes working with other people on music can be really frustrating so I've always loved being able to just be like "well yall ain't workin out too well so I'll just prolly go do something on my own" without really having to sweat it lol.

This EP has a raw, unpolished feel.  Real old school feel right down to the pacing of the riffs and the wonderful gutturals.  You call this project "Brodequin worship" and I also see a Disgorge cover on here.  What other influences, music or otherwise, do you have?

oh man, there's such an endless amount of things I've drawn inspiration from for music , I'll try my best to break it down so this isn't a 40 paragraph answer haha.

the biggest ones for Excruciations are most definitely Brodequin and Disgorge, the upcoming EP is TO THE BONE Brodequin worship especially, someone described the debut as "if brodequin
moved to Kansas city" and just imagine that but cranked past 10. shit, imagine the knob broke.

I'm also endlessly inspired by my friends and loved ones who all pursue their own passions, seeing someone else thrive with what they love doing is an incredible driving force for me.

I love the classic medieval artwork!  Who did it? 

I won't lie, I'm one of those nerds who obsesses over medieval torture art and the like, so when it came time to release the EP, it was just the one I gravitated toward.

Looks like you have a debut full-length album coming soon!!!!  What can you tell us about "Putrification Through Torture"?  Same style?  Same production?

its definitely a big step up in my eyes! everything i loved while making the EP is all present in PTT, while honing it all to a massive extent. some of the absolute nastiest riffs I've ever written are on here , alongside some of my best vocals. there's actually a couple spots where I had to vomit after a vocal take because I biffed something, but ended up loving how it sounded haha.

What else can we expect in the near future?  Live shows?  New merch?

merch for sure !!! I would absolutely love to do shows someday, and even had a conversation with a couple people in KC who offered to play as Excruciations, but it unfortunately never came to fruition. but someday ! there will be at least ONE Excruciations show.

How did you pick the name "Excruciations"?

it's just a badass sounding word! very intense and ugly.

Can you name 3 bands that you take influence from?

I think the 3 bands who influenced me the most overall are probably Circle of Dead Children, with their extremely frenetic energy throughout their music, esoteric feeling passages where they show they're not afraid to use harsh noise or create an intense soundscape, just everything about them!

next would definitely be Suffocation, I've always been utterly infatuated by Terrance Hobbs'
playing, and how the tabs themselves are almost an art form when you really look at them.

finally, without any shadow of a doubt is Mortal Decay. the demos,  sickening erotic fanaticism, forensic and everything after really made me push my songwriting to its limits, especially when I was starting out. groovy, gory mayhem with melodies strewn throughout and horrifying frog vocals, they've just always checked every box for me.

Can you name a few upcoming bands from your area that we should check out?

BILLY!! 100% BILLY. some of the sickest and coolest dudes I've ever met, and they just dropped their second EP, Control Burn, which is a MUST LISTEN if you can get down with hardcore and hammer swinging riffs.

Strzyyga is also very very good, I've had the honor of ripping with these dudes and they're no fuckin joke. grinding, war-like absolute mayhem. they're about to drop their first EP too!

lastly I wanna mention Tombseeker. holy shit Tombseeker. they're some straight up, no bullshit death metal, and everytime I've seen them they've had such a control over the entire room it's impossible to ignore.

Thanks again!  Anything at all you would like to say to our readers?

KEEP MAKING MUSIC. Don't let yourself get bogged down by not being big on what you write. the first 5 or 6 months I was writing my solo stuff, it was all TERRIBLE! I'd be ashamed to hear it now. Keep on grinding that axe and before you know it you'll be pumping out some seriously sick shit.

Links:

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Parasitic Septicity - Mutations of A Putrid Breed

Parasitic Septicity are a new band out of Texas.  I think this first track from the band is some of the best BDM in a long time.  The track, "Mutations of A Putrid Breed" is one half of their 2-song promo "Genesis Of The Infestation" to be released on July 19th.

With amazing artwork done by Rudi of GorgingSuicide who has done so many amazing things!

Check out GorgingSuicide HERE

Parasitic Septicity are:

Daniel Benavides - Guitars & Bass

Josef Hossain-Kay - Drums

Sebastian Guarin - Vocals Check out the track below!!

Support the band!

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Lyrics:

Entering flesh, an unknown entity

Burrows deep to infest, it spreads

Innards become a feast, a monster within

Nourishing itself for expansion

Circulation fails, as immune cells succumb

Squirming, writhing, a grotesque tableau is done

Invisible demons devouring, living nightmares mesh.

Their hosts become victims, helpless and fresh

Rapidly, the vile infestation reproduces

Human immunity battling relentlessly

Organs are its playground, leeches for blood

Mutations of horrid organisms, a putrid breed

Agonizing screams of prolonged devourment

Pain, horror, immutable to foresee

The body is a vessel, host for the hideous

An inner spectacle for its species to compile

Scalpels slice out pulsating nodes

A surgical intervention to repel the monstrosity

The parasitic creature within, fights and resists

A grotesque battle, as the human body persists

As darkness consumes and pain subsides

Succumbing to horror, a monster still hides

Inside the corpse, a body now torn apart

A tragic ending, parasitic work of art

Down From The Wound - Agony Through Rituals of Self Purification - 2007

The Philippines are now known for being home to some of the best and most talented brutal death bands out there. This album was perhaps the first I heard to come from there and it blew any expectations I had out of the water.

The way the guitars and drums work with each other is perfect! This is filled with a lot of catchy riffing, only to slow down to smart, calculated slams, letting the drums shine through in the mix.

One of my favorite songs has to be ‘Propagation of Divine Apostasy’. It has everything on display that makes this album amazing. Actually, you could pick any song of this record and your jaw should drop. If you don’t play an instrument and are strictly into guttural vocals, then this is also for you!

The songwriting here really imprersses me each time I re-visit this album.

"Propagation Of Divine Apostasy" -

Proclaiming your insanity to carry out humanity fall to ruin this
unblessed spreading salvation abolished by the epedemic of conformity
ingesting they holy words from teachings based upon lies endless torture
manipulate above ignorance it brings mass destruction obscurity
people are already trapped in this deception embraced by misery doomed to
a life in dark hatred abomination for all.
Intense loating greatly discharged and abhorred
church ceased to exist
abandoned, crumble as religions will fall rapidly into total devastation
and will never have a chance to re-establish again
Compelled to carry the doctrines of total apostasy
humanity, condemned to the reality. Churches will be destroyed
and all its doctrines will vanish
abandonment of the principles from they false doctrines
breaking through the traditional teachings
conditional promises made to humanity by God, as revealed Scripture
violently gorging as the followers suffer.

Vocalist Tristan Dela Cruz does an amazing job here and I am sure he has only improved and I cannot wait for more Down From the Wound!

This was the debut full-length from the band, then a couple demos, then another full-length effort in 2014.

I can only hope and pray that Down Ftrom The Wound are still active and will surprise us with new music soon!

Prolapsed Interview 2024

Prolapsed, a one-man BDM machine out of San Jose, California has been on and off for close to a decade.  Now, moving full steam ahead, "Expulsion Of Innards" is set for a March 7th, 2024 release via Vile Tapes Records.  The single off of the project is a promising slab of slamming goodness.  Give it a listen HERE.

Thank you Alex for sitting down to answer some questions!

CAN YOU START BY STATING YOUR NAME AND YOUR ROLE IN THE BAND?

I am Alex Kristoff, head of all operations at Prolapsed. Vocals/Guitars/Bass/Drums as well as Mixing/Mastering

HOW DID YOU LAND ON THE NAME PROLAPSED?  HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN AT IT?  WERE THERE OTHER PROJECTS BEFORE THIS FOR YOU?

Coming up with band names is never easy. I wanted to have a one word name that would be as repulsive as the music. I think it fits perfectly. Prolapsed started as a side project back in 2010ish. At the time I was playing guitar for a Tech Death Metal band and I wanted to learn how to record music on my own. From that time up until 2022 I had performed drums with three different Black Metal bands, so Prolapsed was put on the shelf. After departure from the last group, I decided to resurrect Prolapsed and give it my 100% effort as a Brutal Death/Slam outfit. 

IT SEEMS LIKE THE PREVIOUS TWO RELEASES HAVE STUCK TO SIMILAR STYLES OF PORNOGRIND/SLAM/BDM?  HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND?  

WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO THIS CURRENT STYLE OF RAW IN YOUR FACE SLAM?

I would say the first 2 releases leaned more towards Brutal Death Metal as far as overall pace and riff style, whereas I have slowed things down a bit and leaned more towards Slam on this incoming release. In general I would describe Prolapsed as Brutal Death/Slam. A mix of heavy slow parts similar to Mortician and fast/technical parts similar to Beneath the Massacre or Cannibal Corpse.

SHOULD FANS EXPECT MUCH OF A DIFFERENCE IN WRITING OR PRODUCTION ON "EXPULSION OF INNARDS"

Main differences would be improvements in production and more slow slams incorporated. I'm perpetually learning production techniques, so each release keeps sounding better. I think if they enjoyed the previous two releases, they will definitely enjoy this one as well. 

WHO CREATED THE PROLAPSED LOGO?  HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT FINDING THE ALBUM ARTWORK?

Angbudlia made the logo.  I found him on Facebook. The guy makes amazing logos and he does it very quickly. I was able to get the Prolapsed logo within 24hrs and for a very good rate. I would highly recommend his work, The album art was created by WildanSlamArt. The extreme violence/gore was exactly what was needed. I will be using him for future releases

I LOVE YOUR SONG TITLES AND ALBUM TITLES!  DO YOU WRITE LYRICS FOR EACH SONG?  IF SO, WHAT IS THAT PROCESS LIKE?

I try to match the song titles with what the song sounds like, at least in my imagination. I do not write lyrics for Prolapsed. I know many would disagree with me on this, but lyrics are the most unimportant part of music for me. Plenty of bands offer that if you need that aspect, but it's just not my thing. Listening to bands like Cemetery Rapist kind of taught me that you don't necessarily need to have lyrics for vocals to be amazing. 

HOW OLD ARE YOU?  

37

EVER TRIED TO MAKE IT A FULL BAND OR DO YOU LIKE THE ONE-MAN THING?

This is something that I think about on a daily basis. I'll try to keep this answer short and to the point. I have been playing in different bands for the last 15yrs and at this point as far as how things are now socially, I feel I do much better on my own. I have full control of everything in Prolapsed, although that luxury comes with all the responsibilities. When you're in a group with five different people with five different opinions on what to do, things can get shitty. I absolutely miss performing live. There's nothing like playing live music, but to be honest I don't miss the other 90% of being in a group.

ANY PLANS FOR PLAYING SHOWS IN THE FUTURE?

Doubtful, unless I find the appropriate people to do so.

EP COMES OUT MARCH 7TH VIA VILE TAPES RECORDS.  HOW DID SIGNING WITH THEM COME ABOUT?

I had released the second EP "Sepsis" on Distrokid in hopes for it to reach as many platforms as possible without having to do the marketing leg work myself. That is my weak point in the scheme of making music. I don't enjoy marketing/promo. My strength lies more in writing and performing the music. With that being said, you can imagine how it felt to have Constantine from Vile Tapes reach out to me in interest to get Prolapsed on the roster. I am extremely grateful to be with Vile Tapes. Getting signed to a legitimate label was one of the main goals for Prolapsed and Vile is a perfect fit.

ANYTHING YOU WOULD LIKE TO SAY TO OUR READERS OR ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO SAY AT ALL?

Much appreciation to all who support Prolapsed. Expulsion of Innards will be available shortly and I hope it is well received. Keep your eyes out for the future as well, as I am about to enter the mixing/mastering phase of a 10 track full length. No comment on when that will be out or any other details, but know that will be coming in the future. 

Thank you Cerebral Reviewment for giving Prolapsed some great questions.

Shout out to 

Constantine from Vile Tapes Records

Angbudlia (Logo Maker)

WildanSlamArt (Artist)