Hostia is a Poland-based Death Metal/Grindcore band that has recently released their third full album, “Nailed.” The band’s stage presence has often been described as groundbreaking, with the third album being a significant turning point in a group’s history. However, Hostia’s unique sound cannot be easily categorized or compared to others, as they have shattered expectations and broken free from conventions to create something truly original.
The album was recorded at JNS studio, with production duties handled by Haldor Grunberg of Satanic Audio. “Nailed” showcases Hostia’s unlimited play with the convention of extreme music, further cementing their reputation as a band that does not have to follow any established rules or do anything by the book.
We were able to connect with their guitar player St. Anacletus and pick his brain about their process and inspiration behind their most recent release.
MPM: How did the band form and what led you to play death/grind music?
St. Anacletus: This is the music I always wanted to play and the kind of band I always wanted to be in. So it took me only over 20 years to get here (laugh). All of us knew each other for a long time before Hostia and when our previous bands ended at more or less the same time we just wanted to make sth new together. As simple as that.
MPM: Poland has a rich history of extreme metal, how has your country influenced your sound and style?
St. Anacletus: Country inspired us much more in lyrical part – by being mentally catholic shithole. Musically – if you ask me about my music DNA so the music I grew up on – I need to mention Vader and early Hate. But it is much more part of my musical background than actual inspiration to what we do in Hostia.
MPM: Can you go into depth about what your lyrical content mostly is about, what inspires you to write about these topics?
St. Anacletus: That would be the question to St.Sixtus. However – from the very first album we have kind of a pattern repeated on every album. Most of the lyrics are anti religion and anti catholic sect ones. Then we have some inspired by real life monsters – serial killers, rapists and other life stories like Sister Bernadette or Siberian Werewolf. And we also have some lyrics inspired by old school horror movies like The Return Of The Living Dead or Leather’s Face Kiss.
MPM: Can you talk about your approach to songwriting and how you balance brutal death metal elements with grindcore aggression?
St. Anacletus: Main thing for me is not to overthink it. It has to come out of me naturally. There is always something playing in my head and at some point I need to let it out (laugh). It is always about a certain song, nevermind if it sounds more death, or grindcore or thrash or whatever. Combining all those elements is just natural for me, it is the way I feel music.
MPM: What sets your band apart from other death/grind acts in the Polish metal scene?
St. Anacletus: That’s for You to say! But for sure our new album is more purple than others (laugh)!
MPM: Your live shows have been described as intense and high energy, how do you prepare for and approach performing live?
St. Anacletus: Our music is meant to be as energizing as possible and that works both ways – on us as well as the audience! So it’s created for playing live!
MPM: How do you maintain the energy and intensity of your recordings when playing live?
St. Anacletus: I guess we are releasing all what is burning inside of us on stage (laugh)! As I just said – we are making the songs we are having fun to play – so I guess that also helps to have extra energy on stage. Those are songs to bang your head out! It is not only about the speed and heaviness. It has to move you!
MPM: Can you talk about any particularly memorable experiences or shows that you have had as a band?
St. Anacletus: There were many great moments but I will mention one, cause it was almost at the beginning of Hostia – we played a tour as the opening band so we thought we will play to empty floor and club stuff. And then – we entered the stage at the first show of the tour, and the place was full and people were going fucking nuts from the first to the last song! And the same was the whole rest of the tour – that was mind blowing and gave us a huge positive kick that we are doing it right!
MPM: Your discography features a mix of full-length albums and split releases, do you have a preference for one over the other when it comes to releasing music?
St. Anacletus: I prefer full length albums, especially we have very short and intense songs so even the full album is about 23-25 minutes. The EP was a kind of experiment and I am very happy about it, but not sure if we will repeat it soon. It is a limited edition and was planned to be a special release.
MPM: Death and grind can often be seen as controversial genres, how do you respond to negative perceptions and criticism of your music?
St. Anacletus: I am not doing it to please anyone and I am totally aware it is definitely not for everybody. I play it cause I love to play it. And we are lucky to have a growing group of people who are really into what we are doing – why bother about the others?
MPM: What are some of your favorite death and grind albums or bands that have influenced your sound?
St. Anacletus: Too many to count the albums, but I guess extreme bands that had the strongest impact on my music DNA are Death, Vader, Morbid Angel, Napalm Death, early Sepultura and Terrorizer.
MPM: Can you give us any hints or teasers about what fans can expect from your future releases or shows?
St. Anacletus: We play many of the new songs live, from the “Nailed” album but also most fun to play songs from every release and from what we already checked – the setlist works awesome! About the future release – it is way too early to talk about it. I am still on the wave after the release of “Nailed” so the time for the new stuff is still in front of me.
Written by: George Joseph Bauman IV
