Born
from a shared love of raw emotion and heavy riffs, ChosenUndead channels
diverse metal influences into a unified sound that screams truth, passion, and
resilience—straight from Hainburg's quiet shadows.
1. Let’s start
at the beginning: ChosenUndead was founded in 2024. What inspired the five of
you to come together and form the band?
We've actually
been around as musicians for a very long time, but we've been together in this
formation for a year now. What drives us is our love of music and the artistry
that can be created through it. Each of us has our own motivations and messages
we want to convey—often a truth or an emotion that deserves to be heard. And
this happens under the banner of Chosen Undead!
2. Your
hometown, Hainburg near Frankfurt, is known more for its tranquility than its
metal scene. How has your environment influenced your music and attitude as a
band?
Yes, that's true.
It's a very quiet, slow-paced city. You have to imagine that you're relatively
young and want to be loud in what you do or say. We definitely were! But there
was practically no scene in our area, and at first we had to figure out how to
get noticed and where to reach our target audience (although we did play live
at small town festivals - that was fun!). Plus, none of us had much money, and
in the beginning we wrote songs like Karmic Justice on cheap acoustic
instruments in the woods because we couldn't afford a room or an amplifier. So
overall, our environment shaped us in such a way that we had to learn to get by
with very little and use it to show who we are and what we can do, and make it
loud and clear!
3. Each member
brings a unique musical background—from melodic death metal to thrash and hard
rock. How do you manage to blend these influences into one cohesive sound?
Wow, that's a
tough one. In a way, we'd call it magic. A song usually starts with a riff from
Abyssal Don (Yanni) or a melody from Dead Julez (Julien). From that initial
idea onward, everyone is involved in the process and contributes their own
ideas. Sometimes we can't even predict what will come of it; it just happens
somehow, and if it feels right, it stays in the song. Over the next few months,
you'll definitely hear that all of the influences of each member are reflected,
and no two songs share the same dynamic. So it won't be boring...
4. Your new
single "Karmic Justice" delivers a heavy and emotional punch. Can you
tell us the story behind this track—both musically and lyrically?
Well we qoute our
guitarrist tot hat question because it was his long term project:
„The story behind
this track goes way to my youth. At one point of my live I expirienced this
kind of betrayal, I don't wanna get to deep into it. But I found myself at the
bottom of the Abyss... My Mom is actually a very spiritual person and tends to
buddhism, therefore the concept of karma is rooted within me since I was young.
It started as a wish, for good to prevail and cast out the darkness, like in
the books and movies. In the end, I finally managed to get my revenge... maybe
one day I'll tell more about that. (nobody died, I promise it's just a
metaphor). Overall it's an outcry for everyone who got wronged and wish for
justice to strike down. I wish all of you the best if you are affected by
something similar. The name "Karmic Justice" itself actually came
from the videogame "Dark Souls" and is the equivalent to the phrase
"Karma always strikes back" I think when you get hit like 5 times, it
detonates with a huge purple explosion, doing tons of damage. That spell is also
the reason why the single artwork is purple. I wrote the main riff (verse) when
I was 13-14, inspiered by bands like Bullet for my Valentine, Black Veil
Brides, Escape the Fate, etc. I wanted to put in everything I learned so far on
guitar. It was my Magnum Opus back in the day. I thought I will never write
something this good again, most luckely I was wrong!“
5. The themes
you explore—betrayal, guilt, revenge—are intense. How important is emotional
authenticity in your songwriting process?
Our singer Dead
Julez makes no secret of the fact that he comes from the emo scene, and that
says a lot. For us, the foundation of every song is that it is emotional and
authentic. We believe that everyone has phases in their life when they are
strongly guided by their feelings, regardless of whether they are a sensitive
person or not. And that is exactly the place where we want to be lyrically.
Exceptional situations and what you feel in them and, above all, how you should
deal with them - whether in a good or bad way. Not everyone always acts
correctly, even if that should always be the goal. This usually happens in
emotionally charged phases such as betrayal, guilt, cheating, friendship, or
love in general. That is exactly what we want to capture. That is also the most
important element in songs about legends or historical backgrounds. These, too,
are often subject to actions driven by emotions.
6. Your sound
is described as a mix of fast-paced riffs, hard breakdowns, melancholic
undertones, and anthemic hooks. How would you describe your songwriting dynamic
as a band?
The Songwriting
process actually never stays the same. There are songs written only by Abyssal
Don or in work together with Dead Julez, others by our old guitarist, who had
more of an old school rock style and there are the ones written as a whole band.
Nowadays our drummer writes melodies on Keyboard too and we are already looking
forward to write new stuff with our new guitarist who has more modern
influences. Lyrically most songs are written by Dead Julez and there are a few
written/influenced by Abyssal Don, like Karmic Justice (Julez only wrote the
Breakdown for that one). It's an interesting process since we are all driven by
different subgenres of metal. At the end of the day we listen to everything our
bandmates listen to, but the greatest influences for everyone individually
comes from a different corner. That makes the final product so unique, I know a
lot of bands and muscians write songs based of a formula, popularity or
straight up marketing perspective. Abyssal Don often says that it's a shame
that everybody just tunes down their guitars to hell itself and try to sell the
same djenty chugs as a new thing. Don't get him wrong it's not bad music and he
is listening to it a lot, but in the end it's the same production, same riff
and so on... it's very generic.
Very few try out
new things and we think this is something Chosen Undead stands out for. For
example Dons writing: He writes music like a story, a new project is a blank
canvas and he writes what feels right for this painting, not what is popular,
or has the chance to go viral. To create something for everyone, is to create
something for no one. That are his words for everyone trying to write music or
make art of any kind.
7. There’s
clearly a strong symbolic and almost mythological layer in your lyrics. Where
do you draw inspiration from when it comes to storytelling?
Our lyrics often
deal with stories that you can relate to emotionally, but sometimes it's just a
feeling that takes center stage. Sometimes it's also very personal, like when
Dead Julez sings about a breakup or a broken friendship, Louis (Who) co-writes a
song about being an outcast and wanting revenge, or Abyssal Don sings about why
he has problems trusting and being close. All of this is put into the symbolism
of a story and described. Lyrically, images of ruins are drawn, or the dynamics
in a wolf pack, all of which are subject to these personal themes. There is
often an honesty that is difficult to convey and is processed under Chosen
Undead.
8. Your live
shows have already been described as energetic demolitions. How do you
translate the emotional depth of your music into your stage performance?
Just as our songs
are energetic, brutal and emotional, this is also conveyed on stage. We don't
have to do anything for it - it comes naturally. And of course we want to take
the crowd with us on this momentum. I mean, compare these two things: A concert
can be really good if the band stands still, plays beautiful songs and the
crowd stands still and listens to the melody. But there are also concerts where
the crowd goes wild and pulsates like an organism, interacting and celebrating
with one another and just like the band, bringing everything that is there into
the hall. You feel every fiber of your being and you know the person next to
you feels the same. What kind of concert would you like to experience? For us
it is clear that we want to bring our energy onto the stage and experience
something together with the others!
9. Julien and
Yanni both contribute vocals. How do you decide who takes which parts, and how
do you use your dual vocal approach to add depth to your sound?
Yes, it's very
interesting because we don't actually sit together and we don't have a rigid
division of parts as to who sings what. With certain songs you just know what
works well and Abyssal Don has this raw, powerful, brutal voice that's a bit
reminiscent of Rob Flynn. Almost like a warrior, he often brings across the
aggressive, raw vein of the vocals. In Dead Julez we have a soulful, higher
voice which brings clarity and can convey the emotions in a melancholic and
melodic way. It's similar with the screams. Sometimes you hear Abyssal Don
more, sometimes less, depending on the dynamics of the song, but together we
complement each other when singing so that we can create a depth for songs that
wouldn't be possible as a sole singer.
10. With your
debut studio album on the horizon, what can fans expect? Is "Karmic
Justice" a good representation of the rest of the material?
Karmic Justice is
the perfect example for things to come at one hand, on the other it's not. There
will be more songs like Karmic Justice with that fast old school
Melo-Death/Metalcore Style, but there are still some other Songs breaking that
formula completly and bringing in some fresh air. Still they all feel very
related and don't seem off, since they all have this Chosen Undead
"Soul". We see it at our live shows, we got a few punk songs and the
ones that are extremely brutal and tend to scratch the surface of deathcore,
this is the biggest contrast in our music. This always gets the crowd moving
and on their toes! Somebody once compared us to A Day To Remember for that
variety in style.
11. Metalcore
continues to evolve—some bands go more electronic, others stay raw and
aggressive. Where does ChosenUndead see itself in the broader metalcore
landscape?
Because we have
so many different influences, it's hard to say where we fit into the metalcore
landscape in the future. The upcoming album will have a lot of cinematic
elements, but we haven't worked much with electronic elements so far. I'm sure
we'll do things in a certain way, but it will never play a decisive role in
what we want to convey. The core of our music should always be somewhat
authentic and raw—what happens around it is dynamic. No matter what you hear in
the future, you can be sure that the Chosen Undead DNA will always be
unmistakable.
12. Finally,
what’s the message you hope listeners take away from your music—whether they’re
screaming in the pit or listening alone with headphones on?
All we want is for people to feel it. They should be able to listen to our music and say: Damn, I feel exactly the same and I'm not alone. We want people to feel understood and to know that their thoughts, no matter how nasty they may be at times, aren't bad at all, but rather what they do with them and how they deal with them. On a mystical level, it's often about how far faith goes and is the world as bleak as it often appears? Listen to us and form your own opinion! We believe that everyone can decide for themselves what we stand for!
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