Decapitated. Photo Credit: Hillarie Jason Photography
Polish death metallers Decapitated have spent a good portion of their near 20 year existence touring the globe and introducing audiences to their sheer musical brutality. Being from a former Eastern European country, they have been appreciative to the fact that they have had opportunities to tour the world.
While supporting their 2011 release Carnival Is Forever, they ventured around the world and hit a variety of different countries many bands have either have not ventured into or found to have a much larger fan base than they originally thought they had.
Guitarist Waclaw “Vogg” Kieltyka spoke about their time in Nepal, where they played during their Asian leg of their tour. This tour happened prior to the earthquake that sadly ravaged the country in April 2015.
“Yeah we played in Nepal. We played in India. We had this Asian tour. We played in Japan, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia…we played in Nepal. Nepal was the most unexpectable place that we could imagine to play in the past. We couldn’t imagine going to Nepal. We imagined huge mountains, animals walking on the street, total terrible traffic on the street, and everything totally different than in the world than in Europe or the US. It’s a totally different world. It’s a different culture, different religion, different people, but a totally great time. [It was a] totally great show. We played one show in Nepal in Katmandu. Stage was big. It was like 4000 people watching the show. It was a festival called Nep Fest. There were a couple of bands from around the world, mostly from metal in Asia. There was a band called Nerve Cell. The guys came from Dubai.”
“Well…great memories and we had opportunities to not just be there and play the festival. We met some really nice people there. They took us around the city and showed us some of the religious places. It’s the part of the world where they’re really into Buddhism. All of the things we see or things we hear some crazy stories about reading these things, we couldn’t believe it. I can’t wait to come back to this country and this part of the world. It’s something that’s really, really cool. The European people don’t have any idea. If someone were never there or see these countries…if you see this on TV or on the Discovery Channel, you cannot feel it 100 percent. You can’t see how different it is.”
They learned how heavy metal music has spread across the globe and fans can be found almost everywhere possible. Vogg talked about how the music that they have been playing has reached into some of the unlikeliest of places such as Nepal.
“What was surprising for us was there are so many metal fans – same as in the US or in Europe. We didn’t expect this in Nepal. There are so many metalheads, some of the bands have their own equipment and instruments, and they read and play, but not too many people know about it. They really want to play heavy metal in this part of the world.”
Vogg of Decapitated
He also found how Decapitated’s technical death metal sound was a much bigger deal than they originally believed in Japan. Vogg was enamored by the cultural aspects of Japan, as well as their time supporting Fear Factory on that leg of the tour.
“I think Japanese fans and Japanese people are…their culture is about respect to perfection. Not just in a musical way, but in general, and in every kind of art and in life. I had a feeling that when we played in Tokyo or in Nagoya, those people really enjoy our show. There was a unique atmosphere going on [within] the show. I also have great memories of this place. We toured there with Fear Factory and we did three shows – Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya.”
“The shows were great. The Tokyo show was the biggest one. We played in Quattro venue I think [Club Quattro] and it was a sold out show – [It was] a couple hundred people. Osaka and Nagoya were a bit smaller but still really cool. What I remember it was a really professional crew. We came to the venue and we got all of the equipment we asked for before the tour and it was already set up on the stage, ready to go.”
“Then after the show, the crew was taking the gear to the trucks and straight to the next city. So in the morning, when we take the train to the next city, and we got to the venue and everything was set up on the stage in the same settings as we set up the last night.”
“We only spent three or four days there. It was so cool. If they enjoy our music, I’m sure yes. I have to say we have a pretty big fan base in Japan. I hope to come back to this country.”