Diabolical Conquest (Nate Poblete): Hails Roberto! Thank you for taking the time to answer this interview for the DIABOLICAL CONQUEST zine. For those unfamiliar with the band, please give us a history on the formation of INFINITUM OBSCURE.

Infinitum Obscure (Roberto): Hails Mercyful Nate! Hope all is well in the Diabolical Conquest camp. Well, for those unfamiliar with INFINITUM OBSCURE's ‘Death Metal Darkness', the band came to existence first as a personal project in 2000. I had been out of the music scene for 3 years since my previous band in Mexico City called THE SUFFERING, and I had a lot of hatred built in that required a creative outlet, therefore INFINITUM OBSCURE came to existence. In 2001, I approached my good friend Joel Marquez (ex Sadistic Intent drummer) to see if he wanted to get this project going with me since a few months back he had mentioned that he also wanted to get back in activity within the Death Metal circle. INFINITUM OBSCURE far formed out of pure negative energy accumulated from several very sour personal experiences that life laid upon me, things that have been surpassed by now, but it was those acts of treason and unfaithfulness committed by certain individuals that simply left a DEEP scar in my soul, and the desire for retaliation was immense. How? Simply by doing my own thing … things fall by themselves man, and those people SURELY learned their lesson, cuz INFINITUM OBSCURE is not fiction, it's based around the reality of life, and my perspective of seeing the world.

Now that the personal retaliation is completed and successful, the band transcended into a deeper concept, that one of inner personal exploration and development. Also still remaining as a tool of expression for personal ideals and visions, mostly concerning the end of ALL life, dissolution of ALL existence and the transcendence of those worthy and authentic to a higher plane, divided from the earthly scum.

To sum it up, INFINITUM OBSCURE is a force of internal darkness expressed in the audible format of a very obscure and aggressive Death Metal, we don't care about the outside, most things out there are FALSE anyway, we don't give a shit about scum. Part of this is also a huge disgust for religion and its effect on the weak minded, so it's natural for the band to have a very Anti-religious approach, some of these ideas may even par with satanic ideologies, however, I have my OWN ideals as I find “independence” to be a key aspect in opposing religion.

A lot of people have come and gone from the band, but my vision remains clear and determined. Recently I was told that the band wouldn't be the same without certain members, so I just laughed.

DC: By the year 2000 (the year of INFINITUM OBSCURE's inception), the Death Metal scene had already began to become stagnant and full of generic, gimmick "gore" based Suffocation clones. What inspired you to create a Death Metal band when it seemed as if Death Metal wasn't going anywhere innovative? What do you believe separates INFINITUM OBSCURE from these hordes of mediocrity?

IO: What separates us? Our OWN desire to not be part of this ridiculous circus called ‘metal scene'! As you said it, Death Metal reached a stagnant point, every single person thought that Metal was what they THOUGHT it was but in reality they never understood where it came from, or where they were taking it, to being destroyed. It's been a process of years Nate, but quite honestly, I have lost faith in most of the Metal scene, it's overrun by mediocrity and trends, name it thrash metal, name it whatever you want. It's simply a very bad and tasteless joke of what once used to be Magical. My desire is to keep creating music that transmits inner obscurity and desolation to its listener and that it hopefully opens a new door, an alternative to what's offered in common day life.
  

DC: INFINITUM OBSCURE is a band that is themed around darkness and death, however some of the lyrics seem to be more personal. What concepts inspire the meaning behind your songs? Do you typically write lyrics first and create the music based on that, or vice versa?

IO: It's not that we ‘chose' a theme, it's simply my self expression, the outlet for my inner thoughts and feelings, lots of nihilism, lots of obscurity, because that IS what dwells within this being that I am manifested in.

INFINITUM OBSCURE is a progressing band, since it's a form of deep and serious personal expression, we are in a ‘new era' of the band. Stage one was establishing it and using it as a tool of vengeance, feelings that were trapped INSIDE and needed to be expressed in the OUTSIDE so that has been completed, and now we find ourselves in phase 2: comprehension of our own internal darkness. It's a trip from the OUTSIDE to the INSIDE of the self… and what you find is a very strong inner black flame, authenticity, individualism, elitism, and ideas and thoughts of the culmination of life. How many phases will there be? Ha ha, I don't even know if I will be alive tomorrow my friend… life is strange.

DC: Which modern day Death Metal bands do you feel play with conviction and keep the ancient Death Metal flame burning strong?

IO: Well, there are a very few, every day even less and less. It's not the same anymore since I was young in the early 90's. I wouldn't like to say a bunch of names, but there are a few bands that have emerged that I am enjoying a lot, but most of them are older guys with new projects, so it makes sense that they keep the old feeling you know.

DC: What does "Death Metal" and " Heavy Metal " in general mean to you personally? Does your concept of Metal manifest itself in INFINITUM OBSCURE?

IO: I devoted myself to Heavy Metal music since I was 10 years old, so it's the only lifestyle I know. Heavy Metal music is very different from other types of music, it's not just a recreation, it evolves around an entire lifestyle. It's a development of the mind and soul, if you know what I mean. Metal music opened huge doors for me in my life, both internally and physically. It's clear to me that when you put your entire heart and soul into what you do, things roll by themselves and rewards come to you in a natural way, as if it was almost meant to be. I've had a lot of things happen to me in my life that I had forseen since my childhood, sometimes I think this tells me that I have walked on the right path in life. I can't imagine myself being another person or thinking another way, and of course not following any pre-established path. One shot at Glory my friend, you only live once, either you do what you need to do in life or it will be a COMPLETE WASTE. To me, this is the case with MOST people, they just never seem to find their place in this world, they never find their essence, it's like shallow corpses walking around, animated by emptiness just going along with the flow, not breaking the chains, not setting new boundaries and breaking them, simply being hmmm common I guess? To each his own, just don't associate me with those kind of people, I worked hard within myself to reach the internal equilibrium that I feel now at age 30, almost 31.

DC: Since the release of the 'Ipsus Universum ' EP (which doubled as a split with ANCIENT GODS), the band has suffered many delays and problems with record labels. Can you tell us more about the 'Obscuridad Eterna' EP and when fans can expect it's release?

IO: Well yes, unfortunately we have been dealing with situations like these since the release of ‘Internal Dark Force'. I must add that Utterly Somber Creations always did an AMAZING job and we hail them and respect with much enthusiasm. The problems with ‘Internal Dark Force' were because we dealt with an unprofessional recording studio and that lead to problems. Of course I am not a magician and I couldn't forsee that this guy would rip us off and get us into trouble. It's in the past though, however, nowadays we still have situations like these, the ‘Obscuridad Eterna' 7” EP was supposed to be released in the end of 2006, it's January 2009 now and it's BARELY gonna see the light of day thanks to Blood Harvest Records in Sweden. It was gonna be originally released by another label in Mexico, but the guy ran into financial situations and one thing lead to another, the EP was never released and I got sick of waiting. I am sick and tired of being pushed around but no more Mr. Nice guy, I have learned my lesson. The EP will be available during the first 2 weeks of February, please check www.bloodharvest.se for more details.

DC: Tell us more about the Seeding Darkness demo. Why was it never officially released and how does the music differ from the debut album 'Internal Dark Force'?

IO: Ugh, we recorded this demo in the first quarter of 2007, and we had agreed a release deal with Nuclear War Now productions, but for some reason or the other it hasn't been released but I'm about to solve that problem. So far you can listen to the demo online, but a proper release will occur soon. Listen to the demo at: www.myspace.com/infinitumobscure

New music IS different than the first releases, my song writing has progressed a lot since the last album, it's a lot more mature and direct. It still ventures a lot with different textures and moods, but I like exploring within my own thing, open new gates, see new horizons, expanding myself WITHOUT loosing direction. The direction and definition is INTACT, if anything it has become stronger. Some bands tend to soften as they go, but I think my song writing is darker and darker everyday.

I feel that I am reaching a good peak in my music writing and it will be evident in the new album.

DC: What is the status on the upcoming album, 'Infra Ater Caela'? What is the meaning of the title and what can fans of the debut album expect musically?

IO: Well the album is pretty much all written. Time was coming closer to begin recording and suddenly some people left the band. Infinitum Obscure was inactive for a couple of months and right now we're in the process of restarting the band with a whole new line up. People come and go man, but only the ones with true vision and conviction shine through.

“Infra Ater Caela” is latin for “Under Blackened Skies”. This new album is a journey through darkness from my point of view, the arrival of chaos, where ironically I become the messenger of chaos and I stare at the world as the universe ends before me, the inferior are swept away into nothingness and the superior elect transcend unto the next plane, becoming one with the eternal dark.

“Infra Ater Caela” was composed in a bit of a more complete way I think, where it's not only riffs that come together through structures but more of a progression within each riff which gives it more transcendence and a darker atmosphere, this makes it a bit different and more mature in comparison to our previous album “Internal Dark Force” (2006). My mission is to travel within my own inner darkness, understand it and express it, but only for myself. It's cool when others appreciate it too but the main objective is self expression, so it's not necessary for me to be on the look out of who likes it and who doesn't. I walk my own path.

DC: INFINITUM OBSCURE is now working with Turn to the Left Management. How did you land this deal? Can fans expect to see live performances outside of the North American continent?

IO: Yes, we now have someone that can truly help us achieve our goals. Turn to the Left is an excellent company and we feel very honoured to be working with them. Some think that the band is not a “TRUE” underground death metal band anymore because we have a management contract, but that's because they don't understand what we require to meet our goal. I honestly think that alot of people don't really understand what the band is about, they claim to be “true metalheads”, some even run underground record labels and stuff, but I'm sure they don't really understand darkness in a DEEP personal way since being “dark” and “Metal” is nowadays the epitome of being cool. You know what? Sometimes one is limited in means to meet the ends, that doesn't mean the metal and the darkness aren't there. I'm sure they are way more present in me than in most of today's pseudo metalheads. Our goal is to ensure that we perform the best way possible and with all the means necessary. It's the ONLY way we wish to be able to do this, I refuse to settle for half assed things anymore.

Once the new album is released, distributed and it has reached the people it must reach, then we hope to be able to perform in other countries, especially overseas.

DC: The band is including a cover song of DISSECTION - Son of the Mourning on the 'Obscuridad Eterna' EP. When the EP was originally announced a few years ago, it was stated that the cover song would be a DARK ANGEL cover. What inspired you to change the cover song to DISSECTION as well as including it in many of your live performances?

IO: Well there are 2 big reasons, the first one being that we despise the way that thrash metal has become the biggest trend nowadays so the idea of dropping the Dark Angel cover was the best thing in mind. And 2, by the time we re-recorded that EP (cuz the first recording didn't sound as good) a good friend and supporter of the band by the name of Jon Nödtveidt had decided to leave this earthly plane and venture unto the endless dark, so we decided to play “Son of the Mourning” in remembrance and gratitude to him, as he lent some special support to Infinitum Obscure, something I will never personally forget. Alas, the reason of performing it live. On our Mexican tour 2007 with Watain, both Infinitum Obscure and Watain performed Dissection covers, we did Son of the Mourning and they did The Somberlain. It was a killer experience.

DC: INFINITUM OBSCURE has existed for almost one decade. Where do you see the Death Metal movement in general in another ten years?

IO: Gone down the drain. Only a hand full of bands will remain and those are the ones worthy anyways.

DC: Thank you for taking the time to answer this interview, Roberto! Any last words are yours.

IO: ACTA NON VERBA, words mean nothing, NOTHING AT ALL, only strong actions. And thank YOU and Diabolical Conquest for taking your time and interest in us.