Primitive Warfare – “Your only option is death”

Primitive Warfare regresses art into its most primordial essence, where the intricacy and complexity matters naught, for like the hands that clutches the rock to cleave the head of another, where malice dictates the motion, such is the same where the sound of Primitive Warfare is concerned. The conversation you are about to read, my only hope is that it entices you to absorb this entity’s atrament and traverse it’s feral spirit.

Firstly, thank you for the honor in letting the fanzine host this interview, for it is immensely appreciated. Can you take us back to the infancy of Primitive Warfare, how was the band conceived from its ideology to choosing the sound you wish for the entity to be associated with?
We knew exactly how we wanted to sound as soon as we formed. We had ideas immediately and wrote the demo within a weekend. It was recorded not long after that and that continues to be the undercurrent of our writing style.

The band is made up of two individuals, even playing live shows. How did the decision come about to keep the unit this precise? But also, how is the dynamic and synergy between you two when it comes to writing and composing?
The decision made itself, we knew we didn’t want anyone else to come in and try to soften our sound. It also makes writing and performing much easier. There’s fewer opinions to contend with, fewer members that can make mistakes live, more room for the music to speak for itself. As far as writing, it’s a blend of guitar first/drum first composition that eventually gets cut down into a more precise delivery.

Your sound in the most rudimentary way can be described as an amalgamation of Black and Death, with other extreme nuances, however, if I’m not mistaken, you’ve gone to coin it as “AUDIAL HOMICIDE”. Can you expand on this meaning and speak about what is the ideology behind the sound, what is the spirit which resonates from your art?
AUDIAL HOMICIDE is PRIMITIVE WARFARE and PRIMITIVE WARFARE is AUDIAL HOMICIDE. We are sonic annihilation in its purest form delivered with revulsion. The entire point of this entity is to convey our message of death upon all willing and unwilling listeners.

Let’s talk about your newest offering, your first full length, ‘Extinction Protocol’, how exactly was this conceived? As it’s been four years since your last release? Also, what was the energy like during the recording process? Can you also talk about the energy during these sessions, what was the aura like?
Work for ‘Extinction Protocol’ didn’t really begin until about mid 2021. We would write a song or two during every practice and our practices happen once every few months so it was a very piecemealed process. Ideally it won’t be four years before our next release, we’ve slowly begun work on new material. The recording process was much like any other. Drums were done in a single take per song over the course of a couple of days followed by guitars and vocals over a weekend. It was intense, but that’s the music.

I’d like to discuss the progression of your sound/tone from the very first self titled demo (released 2019) to the full length,for the aural spirit still remains albeit there are some differences in terms of clarity where it’s become more refined as well as the black/death elements have been more prominent. Was this a conscious decision in the evolution of your sound? And would you say the sound that resonates within the full length can be described as the definitive sound of Primitive  Warfare?
We feel like we’ve progressed very little over the course of our releases before the album. That being said, we still wanted to regress. Our sound has always been the demo and we wanted to recapture that in a full length format. Extinction Protocol captures the essence of Primitive Warfare perfectly and will be the driving point of our writing indefinitely. 

Your music carries with it a natural primal essence,almost tangible to the senses, in terms of the aggression, can you explain the origin? In other words, what ignites you to create such visceral art?
Aggression and violence are base instincts, something primitively inherent in every human. We simply channel it back. Every note is a detonation, every impact a trigger pull.

Keeping inline with the origin of aggression, what would you say fuels you into crafting these sounds, be it influences from other bands, forms of literature or movies, or external factors?
Other bands would be Revenge, Conqueror, and Blasphemy. Books about war and battle are always good, even some fantasy. War movies are obvious but cliche for a reason and most anything Schwarzenegger works. The Twilight Zone is surprisingly good at sparking ideas.

The legendary Igorr Cavelera gave a testimony that your debut reminded him of the early days of South American Black Metal, how did you react to this?
Considering most of the bands we take influence from were themselves directly influenced by the South American scene we take it as a compliment. There’s no shortage of great metal from that continent. 

Regarding your live performances, there exists a barbaric and feral manifestation to the sound and image, from balaclavas and stripped down approach. What is the aim of bringing Primitive Warfare’s music to a live setting? What do you hope to achieve with the energies exchanged between you and the crowd?
We hope to deliver as much of a punishing assault as we do on record. It only makes sense to match our live image to our promo photos so we retain everything used for those sessions for use on the stage. That being said, there will never be a 40 minute Primitive Warfare set. We say everything we need to say in under 30 minutes. 

Going back to the full length,is there a certain way in which you wish the listener to interpret and perceive its transmission? If there was a particular takeaway in which can be extracted from ‘Extinction Protocol’, what would it be?
Extinction is inevitable. Idolatry will not save you. Prayer will not save you. As humanity falls, religious icons will fall further. Preparation will only give you limited time on an already dead planet. Your only option is death.

Looking at the future, what do you as an artist foresee for the growth of Primitive Warfare, in regards to both the sound and the philosophy?
Our prime objective is regression. We have no intentions of growth, progression, or alteration, we only aim to devolve. Philosophically our message will remain the same: only ash will reign.

Ending here, I want to express my gratitude for giving me the chance to conduct this Interview, knowing that it was truly appreciated on my end.I shall leave the last departing words to you, what shall you say to the readers so that it may linger within their minds?
Thank you for having us.

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