Band: Paganfire Country: Philippines Genre: Black/Thrash Metal
Hello! How are you? Introduce yourself and your entire devilish brigade!
N: greetings! This is Nonoy Padrejuan axe wielder of the Philippines’ best kept secret PAGANFIRE, aside from me the band lineup is: Vro – bass/vox, M.A. – axe, Jay – drums. We play true thrashing metal that will never bow to trends and will never be cool to poser ears!!
Let's start with your introduction to heavy music. Which bands hooked you?
N: A lot of bands hooked me and to mention ‘em all will be boring, argh!! But as for the band we all dig Venom, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica, Slayer, Sodom, Kreator, Demolition Hammer, Order from Chaos and Holy Terror to name a few.
How did you start playing music? How did you guys meet?
N: I started playing the guitar at the age of 13, but to this day I still don’t know how! Jay’s wife is my cousin so long before PAGANFIRE we already know each other and we always listen to his Thrash metal tapes in his car! I met Alvaro via correspondence as we both edit zines, and then some time later I ran some ads for guitarist and bass positions, M. A. auditioned and Vro did too, and the rest as they say is history.
What is Paganfire? Tell us about the band.
N: Paganfire is Manila’s best kept secret. We play true thrashing metal bent on melting poser’s faces with our brand of aggression, speed, cruelty and everything else in between.
You had a hell of a time getting to your first album, releasing a huge number of different releases along the way. Tell us about that period in your band.
N: The first album’s writing sessions suffered most when our axeman Rowell didn’t show up anymore, we encountered a dilemma of being a trio or to get a replacement guitarist. The many releases in between were mostly out of cooperation with other bands and labels. We just wanted to get both band’s names out. Also from my perspective this is what a d.i.y. underground band is supposed to do, to cooperate and release as much as we can when we can.
Like any true underground band, you have a ton of split albums! Why do you love them so much? How do you choose the bands for these releases?
N: As partly stated above, splits to me are what underground bands like us are supposed to do. Only true maniacs will understand. The bands we get to do splits with are humbly asked by me if they would like to do it. Only 1 band was a label supplement. If anyone else is interested just let me know. Most of the bands we did splits were contacts and comrades of ours, not so much of a criteria there to discuss.
How do you design your work?
N: If you mean the layouts the labels do it and have it previewed for our approval. If you mean when we do it ourselves most of the time it’s Vro being in charge of similar matters. As for the artwork our artist Norman a.k.a. Cyclonus of Trident Nation zine/Kambing passed away a few years back. Most works adorning our releases are made by him.
Tell us about the Philippines and metal? What's the local scene like? Can you highlight some of its defining characteristics?
N: There is no scene in the Philippines just a group of people with the same interest and activities that resemble a scene. Yes there are tons of bands and individuals you will see online but at ground zero there is no die hard Underground scene. Most are just Facebook metallers, trendies, and everything else in between. If you are into people like that, they’re all yours hahaha! Otherwise, look the other way and do something else.
What local maniacs can you recommend?
N: I recommend bands in the ANK circle: Sacrosanct, Corrupt Insanity. Other names like Pathogen, Organ Harvest, Legion etc. also there are a bunch of kids bouncing around: Youth Alteration (Punk/HC) and Filipino Toxic Youth (thrash). For labels the only active one is Thresthold Records and then there are tons of people on Facebook you might see. By the way ANK stands for APOY NG KAMUNDUHAN productions, a production for gigs that we run and do shows sporadically.
Tell us about the place where you rehearse and record. What's the typical recording process like?
N: We rent a studio for 2 hours at least 2-3 times a month, depends mostly on our availability. It’s called ICON studios, its also a place where kids have music lessons, the gear is pretty much old and all but we like the acoustics and flat sound of the place plus its proximity to our location, I usually bring my gear (amp. Guitar, pedals, etc.) Our recording process is always doing the rhythm section first before layering the guitars, vocals and overdubs and yes we do not use metronome! Argh!
Are you planning a new album? When will it be released?
N: Yes we do. As we speak we have written 4 songs, two of which had already been demoed, I cannot answer when as we do not work on a tight schedule, we just do it when feel it’s right! We plan to make it an 8 song onslaught of total thrashing metal mayhem!!
What does metal mean to you? Do you have any particular ideology, interpretation, or ideas?
N: Metal is life! No metal, No life!!!! What else should it be!!!!
13 albums that you always listen to over and over again and feel like they'll last forever?
N: this one is hard!! Metallica – first four, Slayer – Hell Awaits, Reign, Chapel, Megadeth – Rust, Exodus – Bonded, Sodom – first three, Dark Angel – Scars, Darkness, Kreator – Terrible and Pleasure, Death Angel – debut, Holy Terror – Mind Wars, Demolition Hammer – first two, Protector – Shedding, Order from Chaos – All!!, Sarcofago – first three, and many more!! Sorry I answered wrongly, but can you blame me???
What do you think is the best way to promote a new black/speed metal band in today's world?
N: I am out of touch nowadays and don’t know how to do this anymore as facebook is too artificial for me and so are the other platforms, but if you look you will find PAGANFIRE there, on facebook, Instagram, bandcamp, spotify, etc. etc as we still have to do it to survive, I prefer doing interviews like this and spreading stuff via trades but honestly speaking, postage costs is too much now but I am glad that there are still many printed magazines and distros out there doing the ways of old, may your brood multiply!
A few final words?
N: Thanks to you maniac for doing this!! It is an honor to be on the pages of your zine! Never stop the madness!! Anyone else interested just drop us a line: [email protected] or via the fb page: paganfire.ph, we still have copies of the last maxi single release “Despotic Power” and of our 2nd album as well. Bands, labels, zines and everyone else in between feel free to get in touch!!! KAMATAYAN SA HUWAD NA METAL!!!
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February 2026
Interview for Articulo Mortis