Band: Repugnator Country: Portugal Genre: Black/Death Metal
1. AM: How are things in these strange times?
Repugnator: Strange times indeed., but we perceive that as a way to maintain focus on being consistent and productive so the band can move forward. This has been the key since the creation of the band in 2023.
2. AM: You are a new band. Tell our readers about the essence of Repugnator, the concept and history of the band.
Repugnator: Essentially, Repugnator is a putrescent black death metal band formed in the end of 2023, in the city of Porto, Portugal. The band is composed of Scourge Degragator on vocals, Cryptic Smog on bass, Poisonous Fumes on drums and Sulfuric Wraith on guitar. Our idea was to pick up the right influences and make a primitive, evil and disconcerting sound, fueled by spastic and transfixing riffs, a gurgling bass, cataclysmic vocals and pouding drums. With this being said, we want to do our own thing and create something that we feel is unique and powerful.
Since the creation of the band we’ve played with a couple of kick-ass bands such as Morbific, Hexecutor, Hyperdontia and one of our greatest influences, Mystifier. Many more evil nights to come, for sure.
3. AM: How was the band formed and what meaning do you put into the name?
Repugnator: The band started with Sulfuric Wraith and Poisonous Fumes jamming with an intent to make something evil. Having been together in bands before, such as Back Alley Lobotomy (deathgrind/grindcore) they’ve always been used to playing together live and creating extreme music. At this point , without having anything put together, Scourge Degrator was already in the band, even though we had met him briefly before he joined. The day we got to know him, through a common friend, we had such a connection due to our passion for bestial black metal that we invited him right away and we didn’t regret it for a second. We could see he clearly shared the same vision for the band and once we heard his vocals we knew we had made the right choice. Cryptic Smog, being a close friend and having also played with Sulfuric Wraith and Poisonous Fumes before, was an obvious choice to play bass in Repugnator.
Regarding the band's name, we wanted to have something that would portray the entity that embodies chaos, destruction, evil, punishment, all part of the blight and plague that we channel through the unhallowed death that is Repugnator and honestly there so many legendary bands with the “tor” in the end such as Mutilator, Vomitor, Ampütator that we wanted to pay homage to them in a way.
4. AM: Your debut EP "Foul Transfixation" was recently presented to the general public. Thoughts taking shape, real magic! Tell us how these recordings went from the concept stage to embodiment in physical form? What kind of mood reigned during this process?
Repugnator: The recordings of the EP were smooth and very productive. Everyone had their homework done. Everything was live-recorded in two days, except for the guitar part, which had a few overdubs, and the vocals. This way of recording was a part of the concept as a whole: we wanted something raw, organic and impactful. Seeing our EP taking shape and turning into the beast that is Foul Transfixation is something we are really proud of.
In terms of lyrics, we conjured a parallel world, kind of a hell of our own design, a shadowed mirror of modern society, where the rot of mankind festers beneath a thin veil of order. It is a dirge in prose, echoing the dread and madness.
Once the EP was ready to be released, we contacted a few labels that we felt were the right fit for our cause.
5. AM: The EP was released through Godz ov War Productions and several other labels. How did you choose the labels?
Repugnator: Yes, our EP was released by Godz ov War Productions (Poland), Noxious Ruin (USA) and Sacrifice Records (Portugal).
To be honest, we’re not that demanding in terms of what we expect from a label, but there are some characteristics that for us are non-negotiable when choosing one: they must be active and passionate about this genre, as much as we are, and we have to respect the bands that they’ve already released. This was the case for the 3 labels that chose to put out our release and we are very grateful to them.
6. AM: Tell us about the people who worked on the visual aspect: the logo and the cover art.
Repugnator: Our logo was done by Pierre de Palmas. Sulfuric Wraith and Poisonous Fumes previously worked with him for Back Alley Lobotomy’s logo and they had a very good impression of his work ethic and obviously its quality. And they were not wrong!
The cover art was made by Maria Madalena, aka Nosfewatuwu. She’s with no doubt one of the biggest talents in terms of drawing and painting that our scene in Portugal has to offer, especially talking about horror, gore and evil themes. Since we discovered her work, working together has always been a goal. Definitely worth checking her work.
7. AM: What ideas did you want to convey to listeners through your work? What special thing could you point out in your EP-album?
Repugnator: The intention is for our listeners to immerse themselves in the alternative world we've created on our EP. This has always been the primary intention behind the lyrics and everything that has to do with the production. Everything was well curated to suit the band's music and aesthetics so that whoever actually listens to it considers everything coherent and with a certain "aura" attached to it.
Something we’d perhaps like to highlight in our release is the way the vocals alternate between desperate high-pitched screams and pitch shifted low-end vocals, something that we consider to be a perfect match with the schizophrenic riffs and primitively unexpected beats.
8. AM: Name three albums that influenced you the most and ultimately led to the formation of Repugnator.
Repugnator:
Profanatica - The enemy of Virtue
Blasphemy - Fallen Angel of Doom
Incantation - Mortal Throne of Nazarene
And honestly we couldn’t not go without also mentioning Blood - Impulse to Destroy. It’s the grindcore influence we adapt in our music.
9. AM: Tell us about your musical experience. When did you start playing music?
Repugnator: We all started going to underground punk, hardcore, and metal shows when we were still teenagers. I think something we can all share as underground fanatics is the need to express our love for the music we listen to. Listening and buying all of this extreme music and not try to compose it and do it ourselves just makes us feel like this obsession is pointless. Most of us, either among ourselves or with other people, were in grindcore and hardcore punk bands before. Even nowadays our band members have other bands, from other genres. Shows and playing in bands in general has always been very present in our lives since we were young and it will definitely continue to be a passion for us.
10. AM: Regarding Black Metal and Black/Death in particular. What does it mean to you as a musical experience and philosophy? How would you describe your spiritual system?
Repugnator: We would describe Black/Death as being born from the arcane shadows of black metal and the primal depths of death metal. It is kind of a balance between the relentless pulse of one and the chaotic fury of the other. That’s totally what Repugnator is. We are not confined by definitions or bound by tradition but this genre is our homage to the spirits of the '80s and '90s, to the bands who carved this path in blood and distortion. But more than that, it is our way of forging something barbaric yet distinct, feral yet deliberate. Ultimately, an ode to the decadence of humanity.
11. AM: What are your plans for the future?
Repugnator: In 2026 we will be releasing a full length album. We have a few new songs that we are already presenting live. Additionally, we will play in Belgium at the Black Khaos Assault, on the 16th of january with the mighty Naked Whipper and our portuguese brothers Necrobode so that is something we are pretty stoked about.
12. AM: The last word is yours. Do you want to say anything to the readers?
Repugnator: Thank you for the opportunity to talk about our band and its release with you. It’s always great to see the passion in this genre. Make sure you keep an eye on our Instagram, @repugnator, so you can follow our work there. Contact [email protected] for any business matter. Cheers!
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October 2025
Interview for Articulo Mortis