It will be their first performance at an outdoor festival in our country, and they do not hide their excitement about it. The creator of this band, Martin Schirenc, revealed what their beginnings were like, how they evolved as a band, and how they took matters into their own hands.
Fans are well familiar with their direction – just mentioning Pungent Stench makes it clear that these are guys who have never adhered to rules and have incorporated the most diverse influences into their music. Originating from Austria, the band was initially a true outsider in the Death Metal scene. However, they quickly proved themselves as adept connoisseurs of this musical genre, evidenced by their nearly 40-year career. After 20 years, they are returning to Serbia, but for the first time at EXIT where, on Sunday, July 14, at the Explosive Stage infused by Old Spice, they will shake the walls of Petrovaradin Fortress with their hard-hitting tones. Martin Schirenc, co-founder of the band, shared his impressions about returning to Serbia, as well as many things about the band that we didn’t know.
You performed in Belgrade almost 20 years ago, and this time you’ll be performing at the open-air festival. What are your expectations for the EXIT festival and how do you feel about returning to Serbia?
We’re super excited to come back to Serbia after such a long time and being part of Exit festival! I’ve heard about it before and I’ve seen pictures, so I’m looking forward to play at this awesome location. It will probably also be our biggest show this year.
What first prompted you to get involved in extreme music? Have you had this passion from an early age or you just pop in randomly?
I’ve grown up with a love for rock music and the sound of electric guitars in particular. My older cousin introduced me to bands like Rainbow, AC/DC and Kiss when I was 8 or 9 years old and this experience quickly changed my future career aspiration from marine biologist to guitarist in a rock’n roll band. And as you can see, I went through with it and have been doing this for almost 40 years now!
Death metal emerged in the late 80s and you were a part of that scene already at the very beginning. How did Pungent Stench start and did you easily get on track with that world?
I’ve also been interested in other extreme music styles, such as hardcore/punk, noise rock and industrial music, so when I met Alex (Pungent Stench drummer) in the mid 80s, we quickly realized that we had similar taste in music. I joined his band as session guitarist and he helped out my band on drums. After both of them disbanded, we decided to form Pungent Stench in late 1987. It took us a bit to find a bass player and our first official rehearsal was in the beginning of 1988. It wasn’t really our intention to release albums at first, but when Nuclear Blast approached us at a show in Germany, we signed a deal for our first release – a split LP with Disharmonic Orchestra. That sold well enough for Nuclear Blast to offer us another deal and before we knew it, death metal became a rather big thing.
Let’s discuss your releases. It seems like each release has taken a somewhat altered musical direction, which is pretty cool. It’s still undeniably Pungent Stench, but the actual pace is different. Did you intentionally aim to make each new release or album different from the previous ones?
We were bored with what has pretty much become a mainstream genre and so we constantly tried to keep things exciting for ourselves. Commercially speaking, this wasn’t probably the best idea, as people seem to prefer consistency, but our non-conformist approach was part of our charm, I guess, and people are still coming to our shows, these days. I guess, we did some things right, after all?
You recorded an album at your studio, was it a bit of a drag when you’re the sound engineer and the musician since you have to concentrate on two completely different things at the same time?
Totally, but we’ve always worked without a producer and finally, we got rid of the sound engineer, as well. It’s a rather stressful way to do things, but that way, we kept every part of the process in our own hands. That also included cover artwork, management and concert bookings. Although we are a metal band, we’re all punks at heart and grew up in the DIY scene, so we stuck with that and still do to this day. It’s also the only way to make some money, since record sales are pretty much non-existing anymore and playing shows became the sole income for bands. But I can’t complain, because we’re very privileged to have such a loyal following!
Are you cooperating in your studio with some cool extreme metal bands nowadays?
Mostly local metal and punk bands, as I don’t want to do this as a main job. I rather use the studio for my own stuff and treat it like my personal man-cave, instead!
Who was the one to choose the Joel-Peter Wilkin photography for your album covers?
Alex found a small article about him and when we saw his work, we knew that this had to be our cover artwork!
