Phoenix, Arizona (USA) metal act SARGON has unleashed their incendiary debut entitled In Contempt. It was recorded and mixed by Ignacio Molino at PTY Studios and mastered by Eric Koondel at The Audio Refinery in Florida. The eight perfectly-produced tracks mix death metal and thrash elements at a breakneck speed that will remind listeners of early SLAYER meets DEATH with a nice hint of MEGADETH.
The lead vocals and guitar chores are both handled with excellence by Frank Van Kwartel, while former MALEVOLENT CREATION drummer Alex Marquez performs like an absolute ‘blast beat-loving’ beast and bassist Edgar Candandedo – holding down the low end – rounds out the trio.
The Metal Den’s Randy “Rocket” Cody has conducted an EXCLUSIVE interview with SARGON vocalist/guitarist Frank Van Kwartel for TMD’s loyal following of DEN HEADZ all across the globe!
Rocket: Where were you born and raised?
Frank: I was born and raised in Panama city, Panama (Central America), and I actually went to elementary school in Madison, Wisconsin (USA) for a few years. I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to travel a lot, and I’ve been to a lot of different places in Europe, USA, and South America, so I’ve been exposed to different cultures growing up.
Rocket: Do you come from a big family?
Frank: Nah, not really. I was raised pretty much only by my mom. I have one older sibling (brother), and actually he’s quite responsible for me getting into Metal at a young age. We were living in Wisconsin when the US Thrash scene was pretty strong still, and my brother was a Metal-head teenager, so his long haired Metal friend’s would come over all the time sporting cool Metal band shirts, spikes, denim, and leather! So, yeah, I was pretty much exposed to all that at a very early age. I guess it stuck cuz sometimes I would have to fall asleep (at age 5, 6) listening to Pestilence, Slayer, and the likes whether I liked it or not!
Rocket: Who are some of your biggest musical influences?
Frank: Wow, this is a hard one. I like so much shit that I wouldn’t know where to begin. I pretty much like it all starting from Rainbow and Zeppelin to the most extreme Brutal Death Metal you can imagine. You know, including 60’s to 80’s Hard Rock, to Thrash and Black Metal. I’m also very passionate about Classical Music and in later years I’ve also been getting into Jazz Fusion a bit. If I had to pick guitar players in Metal that have had the biggest impact in me, I would say: Randy Rhoads, Tony Iommi, Dave Mustaine, Chuck Schuldiner, Trey Azagthoth, Ritchie Blackmore, Mille Petrozza, Kerry King, Jon Nödtveidt, and Yngwie Malmsteen.
Rocket: Do you recall your first rock concert?
Frank: Oh yeah, I remember. It was when Def Leppard came to Panama (Laughs). I was in 5th grade at the time, and I begged my older brother to take me. I think I had never heard Def Leppard before the concert, but hey, not that many bands came down to Panama, and it was a Rock N’ Roll show. I was already heavily into Judas Priest, Kiss, Iron Maiden, and Megadeth at the time. I think about 15,000 people showed up to the concert, and a big chunk of them were American soldiers from the Canal Area Air Force bases that were down there back then.
Rocket: How did Sargon band originally form?
Frank: Well, I remember trying to put together a band to no avail for a long time. I also played in a few other bands before Sargon, but none of them worked out. After that I started playing Metal covers for a while, and I put together a few Metal tribute gigs. I never made any money doing that, but at least I got to play some of my favorite tunes and be on stage (which is something I really dig). After a while I got tired with the whole cover BS thing because being a cover musician is something I never aspired to be, and it was really more stress and trouble than fun in the end.
Anyhow, during that time I was always playing guitar at home and coming up with shit. By late 2008, I had finished up the songs that would eventually be on Sargon’s first demo (The Vehemence EP), and I decided to put a lineup together to record them. Of the musicians I was thinking off at the time, only the bass player “Edgar” would end up playing in the Vehemence EP (and later In Contempt).
There was actually another drummer who was going to record the Vehemence EP. He’s actually a pretty good drummer and friend, but he broke his foot like a month before Sargon’s debut gig, and we were supposed to record the demo after the gig, so he was obviously not going to be able to do it. So, then, one day checking the Metal news sites, I found out that drummer Alex Marquez was living in Panama from a statement he had issued on one of the sites, and I was like fuck, I gotta get a hold of this guy.
So, I managed to get a hold of him through My Space. I gave him a call, we talked for a while, and then we decided to get together for a few beers. I played him a recording of me playing the songs on guitar, and thankfully, he dug them and agreed to record on the demo. He was retired from playing drums at the time, but well, after a few dozen beers and a cool Metal night out, Alex Marquez became Sargon’s official drummer!
Rocket: What exactly is the meaning behind the name Sargon?
Frank: I found the name in a history book. In a nutshell, the word Sargon means “True King”, and it is the name that an evil Mesopotamian emperor took. Sargon went on to conquer most of the known world at the time, and he was a ruthless ruler. I thought the name was a good fit for an Extreme Metal band.
Rocket: Let’s talk about “In Contempt”, Sargon’s new debut album. It’s now
released. Where was it recorded and who produced it?
Frank: Well, In Contempt was recorded and mixed in Panama city, Panama at PTY Studios. I would say that the record was produced by SARGON. I wrote all the music and lyrics, and we changed and arranged a few things around in the rehearsal room. When it came time to record, pretty much everybody in the studio would have a suggestion here and there. I would maybe cut a riff short, Alex would suggest harmonizing a melody or adding an effect, The engineer would also pitch in a suggest a few things.
When it came time to master, I had no idea what the hell I was going to do about that since I was very low on money after paying off the recording and mixing of the record. The American Carnage tour was going to pass by Miami, Florida around the time of my birthday, and my dad gave me the plane ticket as a birthday present (Tickets from Panama to Florida are around 200 dollars). I think I lucked out there because my old man never gave me birthday presents, and I ran into my bro Gus Rios (Present Malevolent Creation Drummer) at the show, and he actually hooked up the whole mastering thing up with his friend Eric Koondel. Eric ended up mastering the record, and he did a kick ass job!
Something else that it’s really important to mention is that, as I’ve stated before, we had a guest Lead guitar player on the record. My good friend and awesomely talented guitar player “Rod Denis”. When I wrote this record, I wrote it thinking about the classic twin guitar player attack. I grew up listening to bands with two guitar players such as: Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Megadeth, Testament, Helloween, and such… So, I really wanted to try and incorporate this in Sargon’s music. Honestly, that’s what I thought the band was missing ever since we released the Demo. We tried adding a second guitar in Sargon for quite some time, but none of the players worked. So then, I decided to ask my friend Rod if he was willing to record solos in the album in the vein of Alex Skolnick, Marty Friedman, and Scott Henderson which are some of his biggest influences.
I recorded all the rhythm guitars and pretty much all the melodies, harmonies, and I cut three guitar solos on the record. Rod recorded the rest of the solos on the album. After the album was mixed, I relocated to the US, so unfortunately, that specific incarnation of Sargon you hear on In Contempt never got to play live or in a rehearsal room for that matter.
Rocket: Was it a hard process to get the record finished?
Frank: Jesus man, at some point I really thought this record was never going to see the light of the day. There was so much BS in getting this record done… All that could have gone wrong — went wrong, and it just killed me financially. I’m very thankful that the recording engineer helped me out with the album. If it weren’t for that, I think I wouldn’t have been able to complete it.
I started working on the songs for In Contempt as soon as we were finished with the Vehemence EP which was in February 2009. We had a few gigs in Panama, and then I started working on the songs, and I managed to get us a rehearsal space. By July, it was clear that we were going to loose the rehearsal space, so I decided to book studio time and get the drum tracks for the album recorded. We recorded the drum tracks in August 2009, and there was actually a song which we never got to rehearse as a band before recording. That song was “Attack”. Thankfully, Alex (drums) is very professional, so we just winged that song in the studio, and it turned out pretty killer (and it’s one of my personal favorites).
The most practical thing would have been to simply save up the money to pay off the whole recording and just go from start to finish, but unfortunately circumstances didn’t allow it. I recorded my first set of rhythm guitars, solos, and melodies in December 2009. Edgar recorded his bass tracks in June 2010, I doubled my rhythm guitars in July 2010 (I recorded four rhythm tracks total), and I recorded the vocals in August 2010.
We finished mixing in September 2010 and started mastering in December 2010. So, yeah, from start to finish it was about a year and a few months. The songs were ready, but it was all 100% self-financed so yeah… Sometimes it’s tough being a band leader (laughs).
Rocket: Where can fans pickup a copy?
Frank: Well, you can pick up a physical copy of the record on CD BABY at “http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/sargon“, and you can also get a physical copy directly from the band at “http://sargon.bandcamp.com/”
If you’re interested in purchasing a digital copy of the record, you can do so at the iTunes store, Amazon, or Band Camp as well..
If you wish to preview the material, you can do so at our My Space site which is “www.myspace.com/sargonextrememetal” and Facebook at “www.facebook.com/sargonextrememetal“. Be sure to give us a “like” on Facebook as well.
Rocket: Who are some of the national acts that you would like to share the stage with?
Frank: Well, active American bands that I’d love to share the stage with would be: Morbid Angel, Malevolent Creation, Arsis, and Abysmal Dawn to mention a few.
Rocket: Sargon is still unsigned at this moment. Who are some of the record labels that
you guys respect and would be interested in getting signed to?
Frank: Seeing how the music industry has changed in the last few years, I know that getting signed and most importantly, getting a good deal is tough and nearly impossible, but if I had my way, I would certainly want it to be a label such as: Massacre Records, Nuclear Blast Records, SPV Records, Century Media, and/or MetalBlade.
Rocket: Who are some of the other underground bands on the scene that have impressed
you enough that you think are worth mentioning?
Frank: You know, Arizona has a pretty killer Metal scene, and I’ve been impressed with quite a few bands. The first would be Hemoptysis. If there is a band that I think has it together in all areas (music, promotion, work ethic) I think it’s them. They just released their debut album Misanthropic Slaughter, and it’s a good mix of many elements that I love in Metal music.. I would also mention Vektor. They are pretty killer Thrash Metal. It reminds me of bands like Coroner, Hellwitch, and Destruction — good shit… And I would also mention Rising Pain and Lago.
Rocket: There was a lot of killer metal albums released last year in 2010. Do you have a favorite album that you could share with us or maybe something you heard in 2011?
Frank: I have tried to stay in touch with the scene and the new bands coming out, even though, I pretty much listen to older shit. But man, newer bands that have blown me away are definitely: Obscura, Necrophagist, JORN, Dream Evil, Arsis, Wintersun and Destroyer 666 among others. The new Abysmal Dawn (Leveling the plane of existence) is killer!
Rocket: A bit off subject, but I wanted to ask you something. Some fans online on Facebook have organized a Pantera Reunion/Tribute Cause that would be only a one-off show to possibly reunite Philip, Rex and Vinnie Paul with guest guitar players filling in for Dimebag Darrell. It would be a way for the fans to get the proper final goodbye show and allow more people to learn about this great band that broke up in 2003.
Of course Pantera would never be able to get back together because Dime got shot on the stage and killed in Dec/2004. The cause is not about replacing Dime to reform a new version of Pantera.. they are just asking for an official tribute show for him. Do you support this idea?
Frank: Yeah, I support the idea because I think Vinnie should make peace with Phil. Regardless of whether Phill made a mistake or not, I think it will help Vinnie get better closure on Dime’s death, and those two making amends would definitely help the healing process. Keeping a grudge in the end is counter-productive, even if one is right to have it.
Rocket: Sargon is working on booking new shows, correct? What is your best pitch to a booking agency that is reading this interview as to why you think Sargon deserves to play bigger shows.
Frank: Well, Sargon is a hungry band, and we are willing to do what it takes to make it. No matter what we need to leave behind: home, friends, family, etc. We are willing to do it… If we need to go out on tour for a year come back, cut a new record, and go back on the road again. We are there, and we’re willing to repeat that process as many times as necessary.
Also, Sargon is a great show to see live… I think the songs really come alive and you can really feel the “energy in the air”. Listening to a record can become quite stale. I think that seeing a band you like live, will truly bring you the true essence of the band and Metal.
Rocket: Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Frank: Heh, that’s a long time my friend. I don’t make such long term plans. Who knows? Maybe dead? (laughs)
But, I can tell you where I’d like to be in 10 years… I’d like to be living off doing what I love and that is playing Heavy Fucking Metal. I don’t want to be rich… as long as I have a shitty apartment and I’m able to pay my bills, I’m fine… I’d also like to be cutting Sargon’s 10th album or touring for it!
Rocket: Thanks very much for rocking this out with me. Best of luck with your
music! Go ahead and give thanks out to your biggest supporters.
Frank: Thank you for the interview, bro! I’d like to send a big thank you to everybody who’s supported the band from day one (I know who you are), I’d like to say hey to all my friends and family back home, and special thanks to Gus Rios, Gary Cox, and Anthony Holscher. Give our shit a chance and at least give it a listen!
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