In 2015 I came across some old photos of the death metal band, I played in back in 1996, when I was 15 years old.
Me to the left
Looking at the pictures, I felt a strong urge to revive the band. Maybe just as a hobby.
However, there were a few challenges:
- The other members didn’t want to revive the band.
- We lived in different countries now.
- We had no recorded material.
- All the lyrics were lost and I only remembered fractions of our tracks.
I ignored all that.
I did remember a few lines from one of our old tracks, Wizards from Hell. It didn’t take me more than 30 minutes to come of with a new version. I think it was pretty close to the original.
I then made a guitar riff (I was actually the bass player) and recorded it in Garage Band. I put on some vocals and drums, and before I knew it, the first track was done. I scanned the old photos to my computer, and used them to create a ‘music video’ and posted it on YouTube:
The other members were mortified, when I shared it on social media. Not what they expected in the middle of corporate careers, relationships and serious, adult life.
Originally, we never meant for the band to be taken seriously. Frankly, it was a big joke.
We loved metal, but never quite understood, why everything had to be so pointlessly evil.
Purgatory was our answer to that.
With this in mind, I thought people of 2015/2017 would easily understand, that Purgatory was meant to make them laugh.
They didn’t.
I shared Wizards from Hell in 30+ metal fan message boards online, but people hated it and several commentators wrote things like: “Worst lyrics ever”, “Horrible sound”, or just “Retarded”.
“Yes, obviously! Isn’t it delightful?” was the reply I heard in my head.
No one seems to understand, that this was all meant to be humorous.
At some point I decided just not to care.
I have since written another song, The Forest of Decay:
One of the other members have deleted his Facebook account.
The other one usually ‘likes’ our new material.
I still insist that we are a full band, though I’m the only active member.
For some reason the other guys never officially ‘quit the band’. Not that I would ever allow it.
Purgatory will never die!
I’m currently working on a music video for our new track, Paleolithian Hunger.
I doubt Purgatory will ever play stadium concerts, but at least I’m having a blast.
Sometimes I do wish, that others could see the humor as well.