After a six-year silence, Mortal Scepter returns with Ethereal Dominance—a darker, more technical evolution forged through setbacks, persistence, and a fierce commitment to thrash rooted in old-school brutality.
1. After
six years since Where Light Suffocates, what drove the creative fire behind
Ethereal Dominance? Was the long wait intentional or circumstantial?
A bit of both ! We knew from the beginning that we were looking for
something more "technical", in terms of riffing but also time
signatures and tempo changes, and a darker atmosphere than the 1st
album. We've started to write stuff right after "Where Light
Suffocates" came out but after jamming on 2 songs, we weren't satisfied at
all.
This is when the infamous Covid-19 struck worldwide. We all had ideas
but it was kinda hard to put everything together.
Finally it took about 2 years to write 9 songs, we've decided to put one
aside as it wasn't as good as the others.
2. From the ferocious opener to the epic closer ‘Into the Wolves Den’, the
album feels like a full-throttle ride. How did you approach the songwriting and
sequencing to maintain that level of intensity and flow?
The process hasn't really changed from the previous album. We all write
riffs, and even if we all have our identity, it always fits with the spirit of
the band. Once we have 2 or 3 riffs brought by one of us, we work together to
make it work. Everyone takes part in the building of the songs, add an idea or
a riff here and there.
The only thing that changed a bit regarding our previous way of writing
songs is that we don't compose everything in the rehearsal room anymore. We
reunite at our drummer place with 2 or 3 guitars and we do the sheets as we
progress in the writing. Sometimes it's very efficient : for example "Into
The Wolves Den" has been written in two sessions (and one of them was
during a party so it doesn't really count) so it's not much for a 10 minutes
song. But sometimes the ideas just don't come and we don't progress for
weeks...
About the intensity of a whole thing, it's a bit unconscious. As long as
you have good riffs and a real agressiveness, the listener won't be bored.
3. Mortal Scepter is often praised for blending Germanic thrash with early
death metal while staying fresh. How do you preserve that vintage essence
without sounding dated?
We are for sure inspired by old-school germanic thrash which could sound
a little bit dated, or "cliché" at least. But if a riff was good in
1985, it remains killer in 2025 !
Also, we don't stay focused in a particular country or time : we listen
to a lot of US thrash, we're all big fans of Sepultura's Beneath The Remains
era and we all love the techno-thrash style such as Coroner, Toxik, Deathrow's
Deception Ignored, Vektor...
Not to mention a lot of death metal as you said, like Atheist or
Pestilence who both influence us a lot for example.
So again, it's not a real goal for us to sound "fresh" or
something, but we're glad if it does. It means that our influences work well to
make an album that thrashers want to hear in 2025.
4. Tracks
like ‘Blindsight’ introduce more atmosphere amid the aggression. Was there a
conscious decision to explore new dynamics and textures this time around?
It was indeed. The idea behind "Ethereal Dominance" was to be
more diverse, while keeping the Thrash/Death vibe of course.
Songs like Blindsight, Omegacide Deadrays and Into the Wolves Den are a
bit less straightforward than the others, offering as quoted an atmosphere.
At the end, the songs are a bit slower than those from the 1st
album. It wasn't really something we were looking for but it turned out well.
It stays fast and violent, but it's more controled so more efficient.
5. You’ve worked again with artist Jon Whiplash, who has been a visual
staple for your releases. What was the concept behind the artwork for Ethereal
Dominance and how does it connect to the music?
It's always
a pleasure to work with him. We didn’t have any concept for the artwork, we
just wanted a sci-fi/horror theme in a comic book style, just like Philippe
Druillet’s work. Those are the only directions we gave to Jon, and as we know
him for many years, we knew he would be inspired by it. He directly got what we
wanted !
We really
love the artwork and we think it represents what you hear while listening to
the album : sci-fi lyrics, technical sections here and there but mostly a
violent thrash who threatens you during the whole record.
6. Recording with Raph Henry and mastering by Benoît Roux clearly gave the
album serious punch. What were the most important production elements you
wanted to get right this time?
Overall we were more prepared this time and we knew from the start what
to expect and what we wanted. We all improved a lot in the playing of our
respective instruments.
We've recorded with a click this time, it may seem quite obvious but it
made the sessions easier and better.
As we think "Where Light Suffocates" sounds bad in some ways,
we wanted the next one to be more "organic" and less
"chaotic". You can actually hear the snare quite well this time !
We've met Raph a few years ago and we like what he does. He already knew
our band and our first record, and also thinks that the sound was poor. So it
seemed quite obvious for us to record "Ethereal Dominance" with him.
He is everything you need when recording an album. Helpful, involved, gives
good advice, can also say when it's bad, but also nice and super funny. We had
an awesome time with him !
7. French deathrash has a strong legacy—Loudblast, Massacra, Mercyless… How
do you see Mortal Scepter’s place in that lineage, and do you feel pressure to
uphold it?
It's an awesome legacy and it's a privilege to walk in the footsteps of
those legends. It would be an honour to be compared to these bands, but we're
not there yet. Even if we're really proud of what we did with "Ethereal
Dominance", there is still a long way to go. Will "Ethereal
Dominance" be as respected as Neverending Destiny, Enjoy The Violence,
Disincarnate or Abject Offerings ? Only time will tell, but we don't feel any
pressure about that.
8. ‘Submit To The Crave’ and ‘Reverse Paradigm’ are prime examples of your
sharp riffing and relentless drive. Can you take us inside the process of
writing and arranging those tracks?
Well, those two songs may be the "oldest" of the record.
"Submit To The Crave" contains riffs from everyone. We jammed
the first part of the track for a long time in rehearsal before we managed to
finish it. To resume what we said on the previous question, the chorus's riff
is inspired by Massacra : a simple riff with a fast drumming, then the riff
remains the same while the drums go mid-tempo and the voice comes. Anyway, it
took us a long time to be satisfied with the slow/death metal part. Maybe it's
our problem : we lose confidence when the riff is to simple. It's also one of
the only songs we wrote with a mid-tempo section at the end, it was quite
innovative for us to do that.
"Reverse Paradigm" is almost written exclusively by only one of us, except the more melodic section in the middle of the song. It contains more black thrash riffs who could have been written at the beginning of the band and the structure of the song is quite simple : intro-chorus-verse-chorus-verse-bridge-verse-chorus. So it's one of the song we managed to write very easily.
9. With
Ethereal Dominance coming out on vinyl, CD, cassette, and digital—how important
is physical media to you in this digital age, especially for underground metal?
First of all, physicial media is important to support the band. Selling
CDs, vinyls and merch is the only way to stay alive for an underground band.
Making an album, rehearsing, buying instruments and gear... All of this is
really expansive, and even if we all do this with passion, those are costs that
we couldn't afford if our only earnings was from streaming platforms.
That being said, we don't share the same point of view regarding the
physical support for music. Some of us are die-hard fans of Cds and vinyls
while some of us don't really care about it. The most important for the music
is to be listened and sanctified, no matter the way you do it.
10. Now that Mortal Scepter is back with a vengeance, what can fans expect
in terms of live shows or further releases? Are you planning to bring this fury
to the stage soon?
We really hope that we'll manage to play live a lot more in the future.
We've been quite silent during the past years but we count on "Ethereal
Dominance" to allow us to do tours and festival. We'll work hard on that !
Regarding new releases, we hope that this time it won't take 6 years for us to
make an album, but we don't want to rush anything. It will take as long as it
takes but it will have to be even better than "Ethereal Dominance",. Beware !
Mortal Scepter (@mortal_scepter) • Photos et vidéos Instagram
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