Interview with Corpsemangle

After almost 10 years, Corpsemangle from Blagoevgrad releases their first full-length album, Eating The Damned. So let's get to know this pair of musicians.
Alan – Hi. Who is in the band? You said you play as a two-piece.
Antoan Bozhkov - We are indeed a two-piece band currently. Antoan Bozhkov is playing guitar and the main vocal and Martin Alexandrov is bass and backing vocals.

Alan – Corpsemangle is written on Metallum as having been formed in 2015. Now it's 2026 – 11 years have passed since the release of their debut album?
Antoan - It’s not exactly formed in 2015, but it started then. I was in a different band and started recording some riffs and ideas and saving them in a folder on my computer. That was essentially my solo project and over the years, more and more ideas were added. In 2025 I decided to release an album and see what happens, and in September of 2025 the first single was released. I contacted Martin to play live with me and he agreed. In January the album - Eating The Damned was released.

Alan – How is touring? As a two-piece. Are you going to add more players to the band?
Antoan - There are no issues at all for playing as a two-piece, we play with a click and we just play backing tracks of the drums. It is not the standard way, but it works. We are looking for a drummer, but more players are not needed, it really depends on the music. We will see in the future.

Alan – In the very beginning of the band, how did you get together?
Antoan - You could say that the beginning of the band was last year, but we played together in a different project that didn’t work out unfortunately and we have known each other for about 10 years. I just sent a message, Martin likes death metal and he agreed.

Alan – I hear more of an old school of death metal in your work, what is the core of your work?
Antoan - Yeah Corpsemangle is really influenced by the 90s death metal scene from Florida. That is the core and the idea was to almost be indistinguishable from a 90s album.

Alan – Who (what bands) influenced Corpsemangle?
Antoan - The main influences are Death, Deicide, Cannibal Corpse, Malevolent Creation, Obituary, Gorguts, Immolation, Suffocation and Morbid Angel, but there are many more.

Alan – You have your first album out. Can you describe the songs on the album for us? Both musically and lyrically?
Eating the Damned - Lyrically it's about the figure you see on the front cover. He is like a rotting zombie figure, who locks people in cells and makes them eat human flesh. He stirs the soup with rot and it's a combination of blood and rot and awful things. The prisoners are also shown in the cell. Musically it’s a straight forward death metal track with lots of tremolo picking and blast beats, there is a middle section which is slowed down and there are some influences from the band Obituary in that section. The ending has a semi grindcore riff and gets the crowd moving, and it sounded like an opening track. There is also a dissonant guitar intro at the beginning.
Rotting Fetus - Lyrically It's self explanatory, a rotting fetus ripped from womb, malformed limbs, infested organs. It's not a pretty song, well it's not pretty in a literal sense. Rotting it's very influenced by Cannibal Corpse. Musically it’s a little faster than the previous song but there are a lot more stops than the previous one, but there is a section where guitars come in and go - a little Slayer sounding.
Liquified Remains -  Stench rising form the crypt where festering secrets slip. For this one, it's brutal again but there is some mistery, there are some malformed figures lurking in the shadows, but you are not sure what exactly, this is left for the imagination. Musically it’s very thrashy but there are some brutal parts to it, but mostly straight forward.
Hydraulic Press Crusher - Hydraulic Press Crusher is an awesome song. So it's a revenge story, it's a guy who is pissed at a person and is torturing him in many ways. Hydraulic press crushes his spine, with electricity, with water torture, a baseball bat also included. It's very graphic and it also has a lyric video on Youtube. Musically it’s a little slower but is also heavy. Some riffs are influenced by Benediction. There is a really technical riff in the middle, but it doesn’t sound like it and it flows in the song.
Visceral Repentance -  Visceral repentance is about a serial killer, who enjoys killing, but he knows it's a vile addiction and needs to stop. He kills and feels awful after the action. There was a deleted part of the lyrics, but at the end he is captured and killed in prison, that is where he feels the pain he caused to others and that's how his story ends. This one is a little influenced by Dexter, the TV series. Musically it is really groovy, it just sounds like an old school Dying Fetus song. The chorus is a little modern sounding, but with the old school production it doesn’t seem like it.
Zombie Killings -  Zombie killings is straight forward, all the zombie movies you could think of and also Death had zombie ritual so some influence there also. Musically it sound the most old school death metal song from the whole album. It has the D-beat a lot, but also some blast beats as well. The main riff sounds like something that could have been on a Carcass or a Napalm Death album. 
Odor of Rot - Odor of rot is a song about a man who is fed up and has nothing to lose. He is like a leader figure in battle, but he leads the dead toward the abyss. He is very powerful and all in his way will meet their fate. Musically it’s very thrashy as well and the middle section is a little grove metal influenced. This song moves people live and there is a lot of headbanging.
Mangled Feast - Mangled feast was about to be the album title and the album cover was supposed to be with this butcher, but eating the damned seemed more fitting. Mangled feast is about a butcher hacking people apart, but doing it like art. Hanging the corpses and neatly stacking their limbs to make a portrait. He is a cool dude. Musically it’s a standard mid tempo death metal song and it’s the shortest one from this album. The riffs are a little less than the rest, but it fitted the song and it works.
Morbid Revelation - Morbid revelation is about a revelation that a man has decided to embrace the darkness. Into the depths of hell his soul forever dwells. I think he just wants to die and death will set him free. Musically it’s the most technical and the most melodic one in the album. This song is really influenced by the band Death and albums like Symbolic and Spiritual Healing.
Instruments of Butchery - It's again a straight forward song, it's about the madness during the war and twisted soldiers butchering other soldiers, but the twisted are killing machines on drugs. There is also a twisted doctor referenced, which I don't need to mention, who did a lot of experiments during WW2, so it's not too literal this song. Musically it’s the heaviest and the fastest song from the album. The whole song is tremolo picked, filled with fast double bass and blast beats. There is a little break during the solo, but after the solo the madness returns.

Alan – Did you send samples of the album abroad? What was the response?
Antoan - We didn’t send any samples abroad before the release and the album was first released only digitally. In February there was a short CD run and some CDs were sold to fans at gigs and some ordered through Bandcamp. Through Bandcamp they were mostly abroad and the reception was really good.

Alan – And what kind of response do you have in Bulgaria to your work?
Antoan - We were congratulated at gigs, for the old school sound and overall for the album. So very positive reception in Bulgaria as well.

Alan – To lighten the mood, any funny experiences with the band? While recording the album, or while touring? Or on the way to or from the concert?
Antoan - Well funny thing was probably when we were traveling to Pleven for our last gig and the road wasn’t very stable and there were a lot of potholes. My car is a cabriolet and through the roof air started coming in and since the speed was fast it was really loud. We just turned up the music to not hear the air, that was a little funny - the car is good no worries. The other funny thing was at the gig some fans decided to pass some car tires in the middle of the moshpit at one of our songs. They were throwing them.

Alan – So, how long did you work on the album? 10 years? Probably not. Was it intermittent?
Antoan - Well you could say it’s worked on during the course of 10 years, but not seriously. In 2025 started the serious work and it was fully done in January 2026, so 1 year.

Alan – How do you play in Bulgaria? Or, I’ll ask you another way: how do death metal bands do in Bulgaria? I had a few interviews with black metal bands, and they said that there is a very strong black metal scene in Bulgaria. Is that the case with death metal as well? And the bands I interviewed were from Sweden, Finland, and Norway. According to them, black is popular in Bulgaria.
Antoan - Yeah, black metal is really popular here. It could be the most listened to extreme genre here, but death metal is good as well. There are many death metal fests here, and the scene is alive. Locally it’s strong, but it’s mainly in the bigger cities - Sofia, Plovdiv and Burgas.

Alan – Were you surprised by any of the responses to the Eating The Damned album? Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be from a listener, it doesn’t have to be from a zine or the radio.
Antoan - The positive reception is a big surprise to us both. I mean I never thought there would be so many listeners to the album and I guess old school death metal it’s still loved. Old school fans really support this music which is really awesome.

Alan – Speaking of surprises. On stage or off stage, did anything surprise you?
Antoan - On the first gig we did for the album promo in Sofia - the pit was surprising to us. Fans were loving the album, headbanging and moshing. That was awesome.

Alan – Which band(s) do you play with most often?
Antoan - We haven’t played many gigs yet, but we seem to be on the same bill the most with the band Tumor (Grindcore). They are cool dudes and friends of ours.

Alan – Over the last five years, what has been the experience like in Bulgaria with clubs or festivals that play heavy music? Is it a decrease or an increase?
Antoan - Over a period of 5 years probably an increase I think. When the corona virus lockdowns started all gigs stopped and after the measures were removed, people wanted to go to concerts and many fans were going to gigs 3 or 4 times a week. This essentially made more festivals and bigger bands started coming to Bulgaria.

Alan – Thanks for the interview. If any reader from the Czech Republic or Slovakia were to go on holiday to Bulgaria, where would they go? And what food would you recommend them to try?
Antoan - Thanks for the invite. They could go to Plovdiv  - it is a beautiful city with an ancient Roman theater, where you could see Plovdiv symphonic orchestra concerts. I would recommend them to try Musaka, but the food here is good so whatever they try should be delicious.

Alan – Speaking of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Do you know any bands from these two countries?
Antoan - Well we know Krabathor, but not very many bands from Czech Republic and Slovakia unfortunately.

Alan – Thanks again for the interview. Good luck.
Antoan - Thank you.
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