An Interview with VIRTUAL PERISH (Part 1 of 2)

Automatic translation. Improvements are constantly being worked on.

In our two-part interview with Virtual Perish, we talk about their new album, “Virtual Parish,” which will be released on October 23, 2026.

Orkus: Let’s start at the beginning. Virtual Perish was founded back in 2020 and gradually evolved into the trio we see before us today. What was the original motivation for starting the band?
Aurelio: Originally, Virtual Perish was a side project of mine and a former founding member’s. The idea behind it was to take songs that didn’t fit into our main projects and turn them into full-fledged tracks within this project. I no longer have my former main project, “Aura,” and Virtual Perish is now my sole musical and artistic focus.

O: You guys come from all over the world. Where exactly, and how did you all end up together?
Aurelio: I’m from the Vienna area in Austria, and I was lucky enough to find my two bandmates through the Internet and social media.
William: I’m originally from Richmond, Virginia, USA (I live in Amelia, VA now), and I found Aurelio after I worked up the courage to share a sample of the only decent vocal recording I’ve ever managed to make on a Discord server we were both on. He liked what he heard and offered me a guest spot on a song. After that, we just kept going. (smiles)
Iris: Then we decided that a female voice was all that was missing to make it perfect. Sought—and found, I’d say. How could it be any other way with an online collaboration? Over the Internet, of course. Aurelio had posted an ad, and I was just open to a new, creative project. Perfect match! As an added bonus, working together regularly also helps me improve my English skills. (winks)

O: What’s the story behind the band name? How did you come up with “Virtual Perish”?
Aurelio: Virtual Perish, virtual decay. We’re seeing what social media can do to humanity. Anonymity brings out the worst in people. The rise of artificial intelligence adds a whole new dimension to this. Plus, the name was unique and memorable.

O: The single for “Primal” has already been released. It’s a wild mix that just sounds so cool! How did the song come about?
William: We got together to write a “groove metal”-style song, and I was somehow fascinated by Sepultura’s “Roots” album and Soulfly (especially their “Primitive” album).
Aurelio: It’s also the only song on the album where William and I created the instrumental together. William first played the main riff on his guitar, and then I recreated it using my VST instruments. It’s also the longest track on the album, packed with creative ideas like a Trance Gate effect on the heavily processed lead guitars.

O: You yourselves have said that the song’s lyrics explore the desperate urge to break free from the shackles of modern society, while at the same time maintaining a strongly self-critical perspective. How did that come about?
William: In the lyrics, I’m basically just letting my frustration run wild about how I’ve been told my whole life that I’m too loud, haha. I finally live in a place where I can be as loud as I want, and no one can complain anymore—it’s just awesome. I live out in the countryside now, which has brought me closer to nature again. And with the combination of the ideas behind “Roots” and “Primitive”—the return to nature and the pure liberation of letting it all out without any restraint—“Primal” was ultimately just the best choice.

O: How can we generally picture the process of working on the album? If it’s even possible to describe it in such general terms… how does a Virtual Perish song come to be?
Aurelio: It always starts with a word in my head—an “umbrella term” for the sound I want to create. In this case, the word was “groove,” and that’s how the songs took shape. I work exclusively with virtual instruments, but without using any artificial intelligence at all; these virtual instruments existed long before AI was even a thing. We work in different phases, and sometimes these phases can take a very long time. Most of the songs on “Virtual Parish” were written instrumentally by me two years ago (mid-2024). I currently have about five albums with the instrumental tracks already completed in reserve. After one album comes the next; I start working on the next one right away.
Iris: It all starts with an idea—and that usually comes from Aurelio. Little by little, it turns into an instrumental track, which is in itself a harmonious blend of powerful drums, catchy riffs, and brutal synthesizers. That’s when we (William and I) come into the picture—in our endlessly productive late-night online sessions, the very first question is: “What does this song make you feel?” If our “Master of Melody” hasn’t already had a basic concept in mind, this is how the song’s theme (and sometimes even the title) emerges. The next step gets technical—finding the rhythm of the vocal melody, counting syllables, coming up with words that fit the theme, a little rhyming here and there, and the lyrics and vocal line are done. At this point, I sometimes raise my—particularly popular—objection: “You (or I, haha) can’t sing it like that.” Then we tweak, correct, and harmonize again—that’s the fine-tuning. Once we’ve gotten this far, the rest almost takes care of itself: After figuring out who gets to sing what, where, and when, we record the vocals. For Aurelio and me, since we live so close, the recording sessions always involve sharing a snack and a quick chat about the work. (grins) Once the basic framework is in the can, my creative—and often overconfident—inner singer tends to come out: People really like my spontaneous harmony ideas, so I’m practically forced to sing them—which often isn’t that easy. So far, though, we’ve always found a way to make it work, as you can hear.
William: We pick a vibe and tailor all the songs on the album to it. This album was groove metal… “Under the Influence” leaned heavily toward nu metal, but basically it all came down to the question: “Can we write a song in the style of the bands we grew up listening to?”” “Virtual Errors” was more experimental. With “Infernal,” it was all about an “evil” vibe, and with “Immor(t)al,” a “dirty” vibe took center stage.

Claudia Zinn-Zinnenburg

Lineup:
Aurelio Rami – vocals, programming, drums, composition
William “Edge Case” Warden – vocals, composition
Iris Rebecca – vocals

Listen to “Primal”: