Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

What´s the name of your band? The name is Malpraxis.

How was the band formed? The entire story began in the autumn of 2009 at the initiative of Flo (drums), widely known to the extreme metal audience for his presence in NECROVILE (one of the Romanian extreme metal scene pioneers since 2001) and Cristian (vocals), recently left from the underground extreme band called SKULLP. MALPRAXIS’s line-up has been fully completed in the same year, two months later, by Vali (guitars) and Ionut (bass), both of them agreeing to join the brutal team. Only for a short period of time, Dan (rhythm guitar) enters into the band, but is retiring quickly, because of some personal reasons. In the spring of 2013 the guitarist Vali left the band, so that a quick and in the same time a benefic change produced inside the crew – Ionut made the switch from Bass to Guitars and a new member, Attila, joins MALPRAXIS on Bass. Once with his arrival, Attila influenced the way of all things inside the band due to the experience gained from his presence as an active member (in the past years as musician) in the best extreme metal act provided by Romania till now to the world wide scene – NEGURA BUNGET. In 2014, Ionut has left  the band, so the actual members of MALPRAXIS are:, Attila (bass), Cristian (vocals) and Flo (drums) – the three death metal maniacs winning formula.

Can you tell about your band? Well, although we started the project in 2009, we are still at the beginning of our journey. We’re trying to make the most brutal death metal. What can I say, we want to innovate brutality.Our death metal approach is a mental instrument of torture which raises the power of both the players and the listeners of this kind of extreme music against those who blame on it.

Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band? All the members are from Romania, Transylvania to be more exact. So, I’m in charge of drumming (Flo) and we have Cristian on vocals with Attila on bass.We are currently working with a new guitar player, after the departure of Ionut,  but we’re gonna give more details about this on a later note, after we know for sure if this collaboration has a future.

What was the ambitions of the band when you started? When we started Malpraxis our desire was to create the most brutal and fast death metal band that Romania has ever seen. We still hope to get there. The only problem or, better yet, the most stringent problem is finding a guitar player good enough and fast enough to fulfill the concept behind Malpraxis. This is a real issue in our country because we have a limited number of good extreme metal musicians, especially guitarist. More so, just a few are willing to work hard and invest in a death metal project.

Could you explain your music to someone that haven't heard you? MALPRAXIS as a band is trying to perfectly weave their brutal, fast and aggressive music with their violent message in such a manner that the metalhead which listens to our songs to transcend into a world of crimes, to put themselves in the shoes of a serial killer, to feel the shivers of fear and the pain of their victim, however being unmercifully, and to use our music as a murder weapon against those weak.

 Our music is aggressive, influenced mostly by the American death metal scene,we’re playing a balanced mix between brutal death and slam death. Influences are coming from a large area of metal (death, thrash, even progressive) but basically death metal represents the overwhelming percentage in this equation. Old school death metal bands like Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, Deicide, Dying Fetus, Hate Eternal, Broken Hope, as well as brutal bands like Origin, Disgorge (both U.S. and Mexico), Gorgasm, Deeds of Flesh, Vile, Devourment, Skinless, Nile, Pathology, Cryptopsy, Condemned, Guttural Secrete, Defeated Sanity, Wormed, Disavowed, Severe Torture, Abominable Putridity, Katalepsy (and the list of bands can easily continue) had left their mark on us individually and on our music especially.

Who writes your songs?/ who writes the music who writes lyrics? Our songs are written exclusively by us, to be more exact I compose the music and Cristi creates the lyrics. As said above, I’m trying to create a brutal sound that completes the descriptions portrayed through our lyrics that illustrates different gruesome themes such as the murders of the best known Romanian serial killer Ramaru, or the journey of dr. J.Mengele in the World War II.

Who has the best since of humor in the band?Me of course, I’m just joking. Everybody has a great sense of humor in the band. You need that if you want to survive in the music industry.

What's good/bad with the band?/What genre do you feel you are?The great aspect about Malpraxis is the desire to make the most brutal music possibly. But, to take on the second part of your question, unfortunately, the bad parts are many and  don't necessarily  depend on us. Such a problem is the lack of time to rehearse because we all have pretty demanding jobs and the fact that we do not have a tradition on extreme metal in our country. Due to this it’s much harder to promote and organize tours, or get a good record label.

We are definitely a brutal death metal band, with some slam influences.

Why did you pick that particular style?/What are your songs about? The style represents us as individuals, each one of us being fascinated by the new ways of approaching death metal, and developing the fastest extreme music. And as the famous word says – We are what we are listening to, we are death metal heads – because death metal is more than music, death metal is a lifestyle.

More so, I think the name of our band ( Malpraxis) exposes the message of our songs quite well.

Do you write your own material or mainly covers? We write our own songs, everything is 100% Malpraxis.

Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they?

We have released our first EP  in the 22th of May 2011 in Bucharest and in 23th of May 2011 in Cluj-Napoca via Hatework label, both of the events being promoted through release concerts, with our brutal brothers and also one of our mentors – the Mexicans from Disgorge.

The album is called Forensickness and contains four songs: 1. Black Dahlia; 2. Necrophagist; 3. Sickness Unleashed; 4. Hell’s disciple – a brief sick biography of some of the most famous killings/mal practices in the long history of serial killers. I think our first material was a real success – fans from all over the country asked for and bought our CD’s during concerts or via internet. We have also received positive feedback and chronicles from metal sites like Metalfan, Bang Your Brain and so on about our first release and our live performances during time. We are proud of this and we will continue our road on the brutal way stronger than ever,  and we're currently working on a new album.  

Do you have any clips on YouTube? Yes. We have our official clip for Cold Blood Mutilation and a multitude of live shows online also.

How old are you?/What got you started in music? Well, I’m 31, Cristi on vocals is 29 and Atilla, our bass player is 33.

At what age did you start playing? I’ve starting playing drums when I was 14, and my first project was a trash metal band. The others members of Malpraxis started to experiment with music during college.

How old were you guys when you first stood on stage? When we started playing with Malpraxis we were about 24-26 years old.

What year was the band started? As I mentioned above, we started Malpraxis in 2009, 5 years ago.
Best/Worst gig you've played? Well, we had some great gigs at festivals as OST and Samfest in Romania. Also, we opened for bands such  Decapitated, Disgorge ( Mex), Krow, Obscura, Catamenia, so that was an excellent experience. Can't really say what show was the worst. Honestly, each concert is great on some level because it offers us  the possibility to offer our music and message directly to our fans. Also, every show is an unique experience, a mixture between the sound, the production and the public, witch is the key component.

What places will you be playing in in the imidiate future? At the moment we are focusing on the new album, composing and rehearsing as much as possible. Our next show will be with Defeated Sanity in Romania.

Where have you played from then till now? We toured pretty much in Romania, with concerts in nearby countries such as Bulgaria.

Witch band is the best you´ve seen? I have seen a lot of bands live, and I have to say many of them were great. But if I have to choose just one live performance, I'll have to say Cannibal Corpse.

Is it always the same songs live? No, we have different sets. Depends on the tour, or the concert also. We are trying to bring something new each time.

What has been the best/most promising gig so far?  I have to sayHatework Festival.

What are the plans for the rest of the year? 2014 is all about creating the new Malpraxis album.
Where do you usually play? Until now we have played mostly in Romania, different concert venues, but also festivals.
How do you get psyched up for a gig? I'm always psyched when it comes to metal and especially death metal.
What are your goals with your music? I must say our immediate goal is to tour more, and we hope to have some concerts in Czech Republic in the near future. 
When did you decide to go all in for the music? I remember the moment quite well, I was at soccer practice, and I've heard a band rehearsing one of the Sepultura tracks nearby. I was only 13 years old, but that was the moment I decided to give up sports to focus only on music.
Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? I get my inspiration from all sorts of bands, ones that you might consider old or some that are offering a more modern take on death metal.
What are your sources of inspiration? I find inspiration  everywhere, which can be quite a problem sometimes because I don't want to copy a band. I'm always very careful when it comes to plagiarism, especially on the guitar riffs.
What's the first step when making a new song? I start by composing and arranging the drums at home, after I polish the material with the band at our rehearsals.
How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? I personally buy albums, at the end of the day it's a decision that each person makes.

Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? I listen to different genres, from classical music to heavy, thrash and of course death metal.  My personal favorites include but are not limited to King Diamond, Suffocation, Cannibal Corpse, Nile, Morbid Angel, Death, Immolation. The list is too long for just one interview.
What do you hold most dear? This one is easy, my drums  and women, hahaha.
What would be your greatest fears for the future? I like to think that I do not have any fears.
When you are on stage, what do you fear most then? As mentioned above, I don't fear anything as long as I know what I have to do so I can deliver a strong performance. I'm sure of my technique and skills. The only problem could be the production of the show, like the sound for example.

What songs and what years were they released? Our EP was released in 2011, and the clip for Cold Blood Mutilation was launched in 2013.
Have you been part of any other projects? Yes, I've played in other death metal bands and currently I am the drummer  in an atmospheric melodic black metal project.
Have you been in any other bands? I've started playing drums in 2005 with Necrovile, a brutal death metal band from Romania. I have also been involved with Sincarnate( Doom Death Metal) and Charnabon ( Black Metal).

 What do you work with outside of the band and the music? I am an archaeologist. I've also recently started studying music at the "Gheorghe Dima" Music Academy, one of the most active institutions of higher musical education in Romania. But i've gave that up because it was not what i was searching for, or that was helping me grow as a musician.
What would you do if there was no music? I can't imagine life without music, but I suppose I would focuse only on archaeology. And women, let's not forget women, hahaha.
How important are your fans? The fans are the most important part of the scene.

How often do you rehearse? I try to rehearse at least four times a week.
Where do you rehearse? I usually practice at home. I compose there too. Two times a week we all get together and play at a rehearsal place in our town.
Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment? I like all my songs, hahaha.
What do you feel is the best live band you've seen? Definetly Cannibal Corpse.
What drives a band that isn't all that famous and renowned to try to make a living on their music and to keep playing? It's all about the music, the passion and intensity that we put into our lyrics, our sound and message. What can I say, the feeling that you have when you compose and complete a song is  irreplaceable. It doesn't matter if we are famous or not, or if we make money out of it.
Do you have any webpages?

Yes we do. You cand find Malpraxis on Facebook:

( https://www.facebook.com/pages/Malpraxis/175517332488059) and I have a page on Sick Drummer Magazine as Flo (http://www.sickdrummermagazine.com/index.php/sdm-video/viewvideo/2455/live-video/malpraxis--flo-live-at-irish-pub-2013)

 Check them out!
Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there? I don't know if this could be described as a pearl of wisdom, but my advice would be to work hard, work till you sweat blood.
Describe your show, visually and musically. Savage and brutal.
How do you view the musicindurty of today? The music industry in Romania is not very friendly especially with the extreme metal genres. It's hard to book shows and to promote a tour for a band that is just emerging and focuses on brutal death metal.
What are the biggest obstacles for a band? I can't say what are the obstacles for any band out there. For Malpraxis a real issue is to  coordinate our schedules to rehearse as much as possible.
What is best/worst with playing the clubs? The great aspect of playing in clubs is the public, the fans, you are closer to them in a small venue concert.

Tell us about upcomming gigs and why we should be at them? Our next concert will be in march 2014, opening for Defeated Sanity.  

What is your favorite crappy instrument? Hmmm, that's an interesting question. I don't think I have a favourite, for the simple fact that there's no such thing as a crappy instrument.Bottom line, every instrument could be used or portrayed in different genres or all genres of music, depending on the vision of the artist.
What was one of the most quarrelsome times for you in the band? I think one of those moments was early 2013, when we  had a bit of a disagreement about what the band should sound like and what does Malpraxis stand for. Due to this difference of opinions some changes were made in our line-up..

Whats your Pre-show ritual? I don’t really have a pre show ritual, I’m not a superstitious person in that sense. I try to rest, eat well, usually some chicken breast to assure my body an optimal level of energy. Also , for the same reason, I drink coffee.

Do you have anything to add? I would like to thank you guys for the interview and check us out on the web and at live shows.