Hi Kornel, and hello to everyone reading! It feels great to be back, thanks for having me! We made several attempts to continue the band and later reform it, but personal commitments in all our lives made it impossible, until now. It wasn't so much a lack of motivation as a lack of time. The real drive was our love for what we did and the desire to recapture that raw energy and power. We ended the band in 2017 when my brother Catalin gradually stepped away from the music scene due to his commitments. We didn't want to go on without him, all three of us were the core, equals in every way. In 2018, I began revisiting old unreleased tracks from the "Age of the Covenant" era, and my excitement built from there. After talking with my brother, he urged us to move forward without him and rebuild with new members. George was still in, so we started recruiting. A few people came and went briefly, even a second guitarist for a time, but it never clicked... until we found Rares. He's been an absolute beast so far, a truly noteworthy addition to the band.

I'm glad you noticed, the single picks up right where we left off. The Mini-EP includes two tracks we wrote in 2014 and 2015, originally part of the work for a third Decease album. They were fully written back then but underwent slight changes since they were demos; some parts no longer fit, making them a blend of old and new. The drums were recorded at Liveset Studio in Cluj-Napoca, while the bass and guitars came from our home studios as both Rares and I have good recording gear. The mix and master were handled at Tide Studio in London, the same place that did "Scourged" for my other band, Pathogenic Virulence. We don't have a label right now and plan to keep it that way for now, releasing independently. Details about the release of "Sculpted into Servitude" will be announced soon.

Yes, we have artwork ready for the EP, created by Rudi Yanto at Gorging Suicide. He is the same artist behind our "Scourged" cover for Pathogenic Virulence and covers for my past band Necrovile. He does incredible work, and we already knew him well, so he was the natural choice. The cover serves as a metaphor for the title, forming a living monument to oppression, a bleak vision of humanity permanently bound and sculpted to the will of an unseen master.

Thanks a lot, I'm glad you liked it! Yes, we handled almost the entire video ourselves, from filming to editing, though I had some help on camera for my parts from George of Tableau Mort. The main protagonist is our old friend Bogdan, who's practically the fourth member of the band from the start, he also starred in our first official video, "Atrocious Deeds". His character's story embodies humanity: a man trying to create something simple in a world dominated by technology, thirst for power, and the willingness to crush others for success, which ultimately dooms our species. As he crafts the Man puppet, he realizes we're already on a path to destruction and smashes his creation amid visions of an apocalyptic world. The lyrics take a more sci-fi angle than the video, depicting a dystopian vision of human identity being erased and absorbed into a cold, oppressive system. Line by line, they move from mental control to total physical and cosmic collapse.

Unfortunately, due to the distance between us, we won't be able to play as often as we'd like, or as before, but we have a few gigs lined up this year that we'll be announcing soon.

As for plans, we're currently writing material for a third full-length, but there's still a lot to do, we'll release news gradually as it progresses.

The underground scene in Cluj-Napoca remains very much alive, even if it's not bursting with dozens of new bands yearly. Attendance at underground gigs has dipped a bit, likely because there are so many shows now, and people are more selective. Compared to a few years ago, things feel more structured, with new venues consistently hosting extreme metal events featuring both local and international acts. Some new cool, active bands from the Romanian underground include Crumble, Omnitrocy, Putred, Vorus, Rottheads, Ruyned, Psychiatry, Redux, and Frontkill, among others.

I switched to a 7-string mainly for Pathogenic Virulence due to our low tunings. I used it to record the new EP because I just love this guitar, and some parts sounded better on the 7th string, but live, I'll stick to a 6-string. My current guitars are a Mayones Duvell Elite 7 tuned to G# standard and my old B.C. Rich NT Jr. V 6-string in C# standard (for live gigs). Both use D'Addario NYXL 12-54 gauge, with an added .68 for the Mayones's low string. For amps, I run a Kemper Player through a Seymour Duncan PowerStage 170 into an ENGL 4x12 cab. Live, I send the Kemper direct to front-of-house while using the cab for my stage sound and that classic wall-of-sound feel. Depending on the venue, I sometimes blend both for FOH.

Mainly yes, it was tough traveling back to Romania so often, and I needed time to basically rebuild my life from scratch. Pathogenic Virulence is on hold right now, our bassist just became a father again, and our drummer left last year. Still, I'm writing new material and aiming for a third release, hopefully next year. In the meantime, we'll find a replacement drummer and get back to live shows soon. This turn of events actually let me refocus on Decease.

Currently, Omnitrocy is gearing up for their debut full-length album, due out later this year. They just signed with Loud Rage Music and are planning the release. So far, they've put out the "Solipsism" EP and a couple of singles.

Mostly brutal death metal, I've been digging Reduced, Bleedead, Ulo, Cephalotripsy, and Nemesism, among others. I've also revisited some old releases like Pig Destroyer's "Book Burner" and Immolation's "Unholy Cult", though few new albums have grabbed me. I'm still hooked on Wormed's new "Omegon" since it dropped, plus Defeated Sanity's "Chronicles of Lunacy" and Putridity's "Morbid Ataraxia", all last year's releases. Looking forward to Immolation's new one this year.

Thanks again for having me, it's always a pleasure talking with you. It's great to see zines still thriving in a world dominated by digital content! To everyone reading: thanks for the support, see you at the shows! Support extreme metal!