Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

What´s the name of your band? Hello, we are death metal division Sacramental Blood.

What made you call the band "Sacramental Blood"? Sacrifice has been a feature of almost all pre-modern societies at some stage of their development and for some blood sacrifice was essential to the very existence of the natural order, so I thought the name Sacramental Blood would sound very powerful and also in connection with our lyrics.

How was the band formed? I was approached in 2001 by our drummer, who wanted to join my previous band Androphagous, but I decided I would rather start new band, with new name and completely new line up, consisted of better and more dedicated musicians than in previous band. It took us some time to find some new members and make it work and in January of 2002 sacramental blood was officially shed.

Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band? Right now we are all situated in capitol, but originally I was the only one from Belgrade and other members moved here to join the band and rehearse with rest of us. The line up features Srdjan Todorovic (vocals/guitars), Ivan Petrovic (drums), Marko Curcic (bass) and myself, Milan Dobrosavljevic (guitars).

What was the ambitions of the band when you started? We didn't have high ambitions back in the early days. We were just happy that we had finally gathered the line up that was able to perform songs the way they were supposed to be played. We enjoyed rehearsals a lot and we were yearning for playing small, local shows. None of us could even dream about sharing the stage with some of our biggest influences like Decide or Cannibal Corpse, or touring outside Serbia. Bigger ambitions came some years later.

Could you explain your music to someone that haven't heard you? It's fast, aggressive brutal death metal, technical but with lot of old school touches, in vein of Sinister,old Monstrosity, Suffocation...and Obituary/Pestilence/Death kind of vocals.

Where was your first gig? Small town Trstenik (Serbia), at Kolibri festival.

Where was the latest gig? It was here in Belgrade (Serbia) few months ago. We supported Hobbs' Angel of Death.

Who writes your songs?/Who writes the music who writes lyrics? I write the lyrics and most of music. We were joined few years ago by Srdjan who also started to contribute with some sick, twisted riffs and amazing solos.

Who has the best sense of humor in the band? I think we all have some twisted sense of humor although Srdjan is the loudest one, who usually makes us laugh during the long rides on tours.

What's good/bad with the band?/What genre do you feel you are? The best about this band is our music. It's something that we are all very proud of and what keeps us playing together. Bad thing is that it took us almost 10 years to gather “the ultimate” SB line up, that sounded as it supposed to sound from the very beginning of the band and was able to complete the debut album.

Why did you pick that particular style?/What are your songs about? It's just the music thatwe like to listen to and play. It fulfills us completely. Lyrics usually deal with religion and man's destructive nature.

Do you write your own material or mainly covers? We are not tribute band. We have been writing our own material from the very beginning of the band. We play 1-2 covers just to warm up the crowd but 90% of set list are our own songs. However, we have recorded 2 covers on our first 2 demos, that sound different from original versions. “Inception of Ceremony” features Vader's “Carnal” and we did cover of Kreator's “Storming With Menace” on “The Second Death” demo.

Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they? We have completed our debut album in January 2014 and it's entitled “Ternion Demonarchy”. We recorded it in 2-3 different studios in Serbia while mixing and mastering was done by Stefano Morabito (Fleshgod Apocalypse, Hour of Penance, Beheaded...) in “The 16^th Cellar Studio” (Rome).

Do you have any clips on YouTube? Yes, you can find some live clips posted by fans.

How old are you?/What got you started in music? Me and drummer are 36, Srdjan is 25 and Marko is 20. Metal made us all musicians

At what age did you start playing? I don't know about other guys but I was around 15 when I picked up guitar

How old were you guys when you first stood on stage? I was 16-17

What year was the band started? January 2002

Best/worst gig you've played? Can't choose one,there were too many

What places will you be playing in in the immediate future? In 2 weeks we will play in Belgrade and we are booked for 2 shows in Bosnia in May and June and 2 shows in Romania and Macedonia in October. More dates will be announced after release of album

Where have you played from then till now? Sacramental Blood has played so far 3 EU tours and several mini tours, playing more than 100 shows in Serbia, Bulgaria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Macedonia, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, Switzerland, Croatia, Turkey and Romania, sharing the stages with Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Vader, Sinister, Behemoth, God Dethroned, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Disgorge, Natron, Skinless, Arsebreed, Visceral Bleeding, Hypnos, Cripple Bastards, Ophiolatry, Christ Agony, Hobbs' Angel of Death amongst many others…And the blood keeps flowing.

Which band is the best you´ve seen? The best live performance was Arsebreed show at Mountains of Death festival in Swiss, 2006.

Is it always the same songs live? No, we change the set list but some songs are always part of the set.

Have you had any bigger tours from start to now? We have played 3 EU tours so far, in 2006 with Ophiolatry (Brazil), 2009 with God Dethroned and Fleshgod Apocalypse and 2011 with Disgorge (Mexico) and Natron (Italy).

How big crowds do you usually play for? We've played shows for 20 to 800 fans, but averagely it's 100-150.

What are the plans for the rest of the year? We are looking for a label to release “Ternion Demonarchy” album and then we will book as many shows as possible to promote it.

Where do you usually play? Balkan area (Serbia,Bosnia,Macedonia,Bulgaria,Romania etc).

What are your goals with your music? To play music we like and spread it wherever we can.

When did you decide to go all in for the music? When we picked our instruments for the first time.

Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? We are old school fans. Florida scene from early 90-ies is the most inspiring for us.

What are your sources of inspiration? All the music we listen to.

What's the first step when making a new song? Making bunch of good riffs and then slowly building the song structure out of it.

How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? We all download it 'cause it's already there available but I try later to get every album I like on cd. I understand if someone downloads something that is there for free but I can't really understand the jerks who upload albums on internet (especially those who claim they are doing it to support bands).

What would be your dreams for the band? To finally release album on some good,bigger label and then tour the world.

Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? Death metal, Thrash metal and some Black and Heavy metal. Favorite bands would be old Sinister, Disincarnate, Suffocation, old Monstrosity, Seance, Luciferion, Morbid Angel, Forbidden, Nevermore, old Deicide etc

When you are on stage, what do you fear most then? I don't think that much when I'm on stage, I just perform and try not to make mistakes.

What songs and what years were they released? We released “Inception of Ceremony” split cd with Ophiolatry in 2006 and “The Second Death” split cd with Heretical Guilt and Blasphererion in 2013.

Have you been part of any other projects? I think we are all focused right now on Sacramental Blood.

Have you been in any other bands? I used to play with Androphagous, Amon Din and Heretical Guilt for a while. Srdjan came from Blasphererion, Marko played in Toxic Trace and Ivan plays sometimes with Teutonic Storm.

What do you work with outside of the band and the music? Boring day jobs. Marko is also studying bass guitar.

What would you do if there was no music? Wasting time.

How important are your fans? They are reason why we get on stage and write/record songs.

What's the funniest/most memorable thing a fan has done for you? One guy came on bicycle from Bulgaria to watch our show in Serbia. As you can guess, it wasn't short ride.

How often do you rehearse? Depends on daily jobs and upcoming shows. Usually 2-3 times a week.

Where do you rehearse? Right now in our drummer's kitchen.

Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment? I like them all, but I guess I enjoy playing live “Destroyer of Thought and Form” and “Nearest to the God” bit more.

What do you feel is the best live band you've seen? Suffocation, Cannibal Corpse, Arsebreed.

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? We don't try to make living on our music. I do it only for passion. I love death metal and our songs and that's what keeps me playing this music. I have my shitty day job do make money, I don't need to make compromises with labels,clubs,managers etc. to play for living.

Do you have any webpages?

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sacramental-Blood/216271558393570

www.reverbnation.com/sacramentalblood

Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there? Work hard and make no compromises.

Describe your show, visually and musically Pure aggression in every way.

How do you view the music industry of today? It's too much based on money. Quality of music is not even the second most important thing. Bands are at the bottom of food chain and everybody seems to be more important in this business than bands. It's in constant decline and things are not looking promising, especially for newcomers.

What is best/worst with playing the clubs? Direct contact with the fans and exchange of energy is definitely the best thing about clubs. On the other hand, shitty clubs without proper PA or backstage or air-conditioners during hot summers are bad side of it.

How would you describe your sound in one sentence Sound of death metal division.

Whats your Pre-show ritual? Just warming up in the backstage, playing few songs while some other band is on the stage, talking to other guys about set list and getting ready to explode.

Do you have anything to add? Thanks for this interview. Don't forget to check out “Ternion Demonarchy”once it get released. It's going to crush you down. Cheers!