[Local Interview] Unblessed Divine

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ARTIST: UNBLESSED DIVINE
COUNTRY: SOUTH AFRICA/POLAND
CITY: JOHANNESBURG/BLOEMFONTEIN
GENRE: EXTREME DEATH METAL

Members:
Vocals/Guitar: Lee Wollenschlaeger
Guitarist: Michal Grall
Drummer: Riaan Ondier Els
Bass: TBA
1. First of all, congratulations on signing the record deal with Massacre Records, please tell me
more of how that came to be?

Lee: Thanks so much Amanda. We were scouting for a label and we liked what Massacre
Records had to offer. They are really looking after us and it couldnt be a more perfect mix

2. How did Unblessed Divine get started and how do you all know each other?

Lee: I started the writing process straight after leaving Malevolent Creation. It was time I push
my own music instead of it just lying dormant on a hard drive on my PC. I wrote 3 or 4 songs
and knew that I wanted to get Riaan (Ondier Els) on drums. We have been speaking for years
about starting something up and never got chance to do it. The other part of the puzzle was
finding Michal Grall (Keyboards and Guitars) who had just left Sinister. We had spoken briefly in
the past as I did a T-Shirt design for Sinister. When we got in contact about having him do
keyboard duties we had a different idea of how the keyboards must sound. But as the music
evolved it turned into the dark atmospheric monster as it is today. Both Michal and Riaan are
very important to this project. Michal has the best sense of keyboards I could ever dream of and
Riaan is without a doubt the best drummer in the country. So it was a no brainer. But most
importantly, we had to get along as friends. Not just music partners. No ego’s and attitudes. Just
good people making great tunes together.

3. The fact that the band does not live in the same locations, does it make it difficult to practise
and record? How does that work?

Lee: With the way the world is now it is very easy to put an album together over the internet. A
lot of bands are against file sharing riffs to write an album. We do it well. We welcome it.Rehearsals are a different story. Riaan and I rehearse in either Bloemfontein or Johannesburg
while Michal will rehearse to backing tracks with our yet unannounced session bassist who is
from Poland too. Poland will be home base for full band rehearsals before any tour. We have
everything worked out and its working well for us. We are happy with the way its going. It would
have been a lot easier having everyone in the same place, but for what we are doing its just not
possible.

 

4. What was the inspiration behind the ep and music video “The Exalted One” ?

 

Lee: The EP is an introduction into what Unblessed Divine is. From straight up death metal
through to electronic passages to very atmospheric rhythms and choruses. The Exalted One
music video can be taken as the viewer perceives it. At first glance the video seems to be very
blasphemic. Not in the least. The video is all about the glorification of Lucifer and the darkness
which surrounds us all. We all have a dark side. We just dont ignore it. We bring it out in our
music and lyrics.

 

5. Is the search still on for a bass player?

 

Lee: As I said earlier we have a session bassist who is closer to Michal in Poland. We would like
to keep the band a 3 piece. Michal will play Guitar live while we use backtracks of the keyboards
very similar to the way SepticFlesh uses their orchestral arrangements. Live we will be a 4 piece
but as a core band we will remain a 3 piece to justify the unholy trinity.

6. Can we look forward to a live performance in the future?

Lee: Well as soon as the travel restrictions are over we will be touring as much as possible.
Mainly in Europe and South & Central America. The USA and Asia will come after that. We are
in talks with booking agents and promoters, so we just need to wait until the world comes back
to normal… or whatever normal will be then7. You say that you are working on a debut album, any indication of when that will be released?
Lee: Again, we need travel restrictions to be lifted so that Michal can travel to South Africa to do
the recording with us. Massacre Records are looking after us really well so that we will be able
to record the best album we could ever want. We hope to have the album recorded during
winter but it all comes down to Covid and travel restrictions.

8. What can we expect from the new album?

Lee: Darkness. Pure Darkness. We are damn proud of what we have written and for damn sure
we have left the best songs for the album. The EP was just a teaser into the world of Unblessed
Divine. We cant wait for everyone to hear what we have been cooking up!
Thank you so much for your time, we cannot wait to hear what the next album brings!

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