3 Flavours Of Doom: Reviews of Rituals of the Oak, Arc Of Ascent and Inverloch

Following are reviews of what in my opinion are 3 of the strongest releases inside and out side of the Doom Metal sub-genre for 2012. Each are completely unique within that sub genre and are deserving of their own sub doom sub-genre titles if other sheep were to choose to follow them....

Rituals Of The Oak - Come Taste The Doom (Eyes Like Snow)

My best attempt to describe the sound of Sydney’s ‘Rituals of the Oak’ is to suggest trying to imagine the Candlemass ‘Epicus doomicus metallicus’ album but with powerful almost celtic female vocals and a twist of John Christ flavour. But that description still doesn’t do them any justice as they really have a sound of their own.

‘Come Taste The Doom’ is the second Rituals album and it shows a decent advancement in both production and song quality to its predecessor ‘Hour of Judgement’. Strong songs with memorable Heavy Riffs and a clear powerful production are what make this 

The personal stand out tune for me is track 2 “The Horla” with its huge heavy headbanging main riff. Second stand out is the closing track “All Wells Are Poisoned” with its strong chorus echoing a sense of hopelessness for the human race. 

I can’t really write a review of this without making space for a special mention of the lead vocals of Sabine Hammered. Without these Ritals of the Oak wouldn’t sound as unique as it does and on the crescendo of “Serpentine Toungues” her vocals really get a chance to shine!

To sum up this release, if you like doom and if you want t hear something new that’s both different and good get ‘Come Taste The Doom’

You can get pretty much everything from ‘Rituals of the Oak’ HERE 

Arc of Ascent - The Higher Key (Astral Projection)

Imagine if Electric Wizard’s creative inspiration moved from Black Sabbath, and an overindulgence in every mind fucking drug under the face of the sun, onto Hawkwind and transcendental meditation. Instead of murky, heavy, not quite defined sludge with a rhythmic groove, you would get a ride through the cosmos with incredible clarity and the ability to sense everything separately, but all together at the same time. The result would be something that sounds very much like ‘The Higher Key’. 

Of all six almost equally strong tracks on the album “Land of Tides” seems to be the crowd favourite with its memorable sing along chorus. However my personal highlight is “Elemental Kingdom” with its psychedelic monk chant chorus, eastern sounding melody & rhythm and Citar like intro. ”Elemental Kingdom” seems to be the most adventurous and outgoing track. I wonder what AoA might sound like in the future if they were to keep heading in this direction?

Craig’s voice seems all the more strongly enhanced with well thought out harmonies and strategically placed backing vocals. His bass and John’s drums also sound perfect and can be heard clearly in the mix. I could never understand why Craig chose to replace Matt Cole-Baker with Sandy Schaare on Guitar. But on this album his reasons finally make sense. It’s Sandy’s guitar playing that shines and takes AoA up another level on “The Higher Key”. When he’s playing the heavy riffs it’s as heavy as all hell, but when he’s soloing or otherwise, it floats around through time and space as though it’s as light as a feather. 

In comparison the AoA debut album “Circle of the Sun”, whilst an awesome release, sounded more like early “Earache” bands playing Stoner Doom. “The Higher Key” has what “Circle of the Sun” was missing. It’s riffs seem more straightforward and basic yet are somehow more engaging, interesting and with more feeling. These guys are starting to get a bit more international attention paid to them and it’s completely deserved.

Get the digital album HERE or contact the band directly HERE  to find out how to get hold of a physical version. Do it!

Inverloch - Dusk - Subside (Relapse)

Inside the cover of the legendary Disembowelment - Transcendence Into the Peripheral album is an unidentified quote which reads “for we shall not pass this way again”. The question then that one would have to ask when listening to ‘Dusk-Subside’ is“Have they passed that way again?”

There are a few signature aspects of Inverloch sound which are clearly a part of the Disembowelment heritage. Such as heavily reverbed and delayed clean guitar strings which seem to tie this release together and of course slow grinding heavy riffs. But there are also some key differences which are different to that release such as the clarity in sound, playing and production. There less analogue chaos on ‘Dusk-Subside’ which in a way leaves less to the imagination but creates a more direct picture of the music in your mind. 

Song number one “Within Frozen Beauty” is a faster composition with the occasional nod to early 90s death grind such as Bolt Thrower. While the second track “The Menin Road” is closer to the Death doom of Disembowelment. Song Three “Shadows of the Flame” is almost a blend of the concepts used in the first two tracks. All three are solid tracks and are worthy of the bands introduction to the realm of recorded music. 

The main criticism I’ve read about this release is “it’s only 3 Songs”, which I’d have to agree with, I’m wanting to hear more! The “Dusk - Subside” listening experience is over too early and feels like a mere taster.

Have Inverloch passed the way of disembowelment again? My answer is “No”. This is a new band with traces of its past laced into the sound. Whilst I was skeptical at first, I applaud Inverloch for making the bold change from the d.usk name so as to make that separate distinction from Disembowelment. They have however crossed an intersection in highway of their predecessors. But they are headed off on an overgrown dirt side road through a darkened forest, much liked that featured on the EP cover. Dusk-Subside contains the fruits from only the beginning of this new journey. 

NASUM Interview

Thanks heaps to Ami of The Mighty Scoop for hooking up this interview and also to Jesper and Anders of NASUM for taking the time to answer these questions.  NASUM will be playing in Auckland later this month (See below poster for details), so if you live in New Zealand and are thinking of going, don't waste this one time opportunity to catch this awesome band got get your tickets ASAP!!!

GET YOUR TICKETS HERE

1) You are playing in New Zealand for the first time this year (21 August 2012), what are your expectations of that show and your visit? What can the audience expect from your Live performance?

Jesper: Well, uh, a bunch of really fast music very loud? You know, what we do isn’t anything that hasn’t been done before – it’s five guys who scream and make a hell of a lot of noise whilst engaging in on-stage frenzy. I guess as with all live brutal music, it’s about being there in the moment and being sucked into the energy that comes out of the performance, for band as well as audience. Nothing I verbally try to describe will do the shows any justice, you just have to be there. Nasum has a big bank of songs, and on these shows we’re playing our best stuff and pushing the envelope a bit further, making everything harder, faster and more frantic than we thought we could. As this is a farewell tour, we have this last chance to prove that Nasum is and always was non-compromising, oppositional and deadly serious about grindcore. Also, going to NZ is obviously special for us – it’s close to Antarctica for fuck’s sake! Antartica is definitely a grindcore continent. Also, Ulcerate will open for us. Gotta love Ulcerate. Hopefully there will be a local grind band on the bill too.

Anders: The question is: what can we expect from the audience? If I don’t see one Orch stagediving, I will be very disappointed!

2) Your website has a gallery of peoples Nasum Tattoos and mentions that you have seen a lot more since you’ve been on the Farewell tour. What other unique things have you experienced on the tour? Please describe a few highlights.

Jesper: Well, it’s a bit like coming home from the war I guess. The band has been away for a long time, and just like coming home after a long time you don’t really know how things have changed. We knew there was some anticipation, but that it would be like this was overwhelming. How much Nasum has meant to people kinda took us off guard, and the lengths at which people go to see this is humbling. In LA, there was an entire family – mom, dad, two sons and a daughter - who had all travelled from Peru to see us. In a Czech fest we played there were a bunch of grind dudes from Saudi Arabia who knew everything about the band and had travelled there to see us. Stuff like that. Also, the sheer energy in the crowd at some of these gigs is pretty massive too. Can you imagine looking out over a hall at the Maryland Deathfest filled with of 3000+ people and every single person is moshing like mad. Or standing at Hellfest in France playing grindcore – this underground thing – in front of 10000 people? Insane. I am baffled every time. We never experienced shows like this before.

Anders: Although the huge stages and massive crowds are good for the ego, it’s the little things that stays in my memory. Like when we played a bar in Ventura, California. When we got there I was almost angry at the size of the venue. I thought: “Why have we been booked to a place where you have to set up your stuff on the sidewalk OUTSIDE of the club as there is virtually no space inside?” But after wolfing down a few pizza slices in the kitchen and seeing some of support bands go mental, our show turned out to be one of the most intimate and crazy things I’ve done. It was one hundredth the size of the crowd at Hellfest but very fun.

3) How did you make the choice to have Keijo Niinimaa from Rotten Sound on vocals for the Farewell tour? How is he working out? What was the main reason for a farewell tour?

Jesper: We fumbled around with a bunch of suggestions that felt so-so for a while, but noone really felt perfect. When we finally actually thought of Keijo it was like ”aw, hell, he is the obvious choice, how did we not think of this immediately?” We wanted the person to fill this role to have a great voice and be an awesome performer of course, but also, importantly, that he would have a closer connection to the band. We’ve all known Keijo for years, his own band Rotten Sound has opened for Nasum on a few tours, and they also recorded in Mieszko’s studio when he was alive. So he was a friend of the band, of Mieszko, he has a great voice and vocal range, and loves Nasum on top of it all. We are obviously happy that he wanted to do it.

Anders: One important thing to notice is that Keijo doesn’t do just Mieszko’s vocals, he does mine as well. On the first two albums I sung a lot, but live it was all covered by Mieszko – so the fact is that Keijo is actually doing something closer to the albums than what Mieszko did back in the day!

Nasum 2012

4) Shane Embury and Barney Greenaway of Napalm Death both cited hearing Nasum, and Inhale/Exhale in particular, as a definite turning point which helped them to rediscover grindcore and thus led to the recording of 2000's acclaimed Enemy of the Music Business.(Terrorizer #140, Spring 2005). I imagine this would be an honour to be referred to in that way by these people, but what do you think Nasum did differently that refreshed the Grindcore sound?

Anders: I believe the history with Napalm Death started with Barney wearing an “Inhale/Exhale” t-shirt in a video. That was unreal! And then we heard the stories and as some point I even heard something about the grindcore-unfriendly Mick Harris though “the band on N was quite good” after receiving a bunch of albums from Relapse, but in all honesty that can very much be a creative memory. Honour isn’t strong enough, it was baffling to realize that the band that inspired us to 90% when the band was formed a) knew about us and b) liked us so much that they claim WE inspired them. It still is quite sick, although we have a friendly relationship today. Anyway: I think there are a few reasons to Nasum’s success: 1) We have always been very serious about our grindcore, from the very beginning. Although some of the early – and late lyrics – perhaps didn’t have that political edge that is so closely connected with the band, we never fooled around too much and especially not with the music! 2) Once we started to add our own touch to the sound, leaving the quite strict form based on our sources of inspiration, we got a clear identity quite fast. We brought groove to grindcore and kept the doors open to other genres solely to pick inspiration, not to turn into some kind of mixtape circus act switching styles within the songs. 3) We put a lot of effort into the vocals and especially the vocal patterns, and thus creating real and memorable songs.

5) Where might Nasum have been today if it weren’t for the tragic death of Mieszko Talarczyk? What might have happened in the 7 years since the 2004 boxing day Tsunami?

Anders: It’s totally impossible to say. In a best case scenario we would be still alive and have another 4-5 records in the catalogue, but in a worst case scenario we would have disbanded by some other reason and never seen the 20th anniversary. Nobody knows. In 2004 we did our first headlining tour of Europe and felt a “break” coming and we had some slight plans to go into the studio and create something spontaneous on the spot, but that was the only plan we had when things went down the shitter.

The Late Mieszko A. Talarczyk
"Mieszko never had the chance to be a hero or a survivor. He most likely died in the first wave.
I do know that the last thing he did was to protect his girlfriend so in my eyes he died as a hero." - Anders 

6) Tell us about “Coldworker” and “Burst”. What are they and why should we check them out?

Jesper: Burst was a band that me and my friends started as kids, and which gradually grew from a crusty punk band to a hardcore band to end up as a pretty brooding, progressive metal band. Burst was the reason I had to leave Nasum about a year prior to Mieszko’s death – the band started touring a lot more and grew gradually, and I felt I couldn’t handle two touring bands. As much as I love Nasum and always had, I had to make a choice. We made a bunch of albums and put them out through Relapse Records, and I am thoroughly proud of them. It has nothing to with Nasum or grindcore, rather it is more melodic in the melancholy sense, and slightly more experimental and metallic. Check out ”Origo” or ”Lazarus Bird”.

Anders: Coldworker is my (only) band, that was formed in February 2006 and so far has released three albums. I had about a year off from most musical adventures and eventually started to look around in my hometown for new people to play with. I found a few, and then some more and the ball got rolling quite fast. Coldworker is a death metal band. Someone once described us as “if Cannibal Corpse was from Europe” and that’s a good description. We like the American style of riffing but most certainly have an European edge to our sound. Coldworker hasn’t tour that much and up until now never really been judged on it’s own terms. There are ALWAYS comparisons to Nasum in the reviews, which is totally annoying and unfair as the only connection is me. For more info and samples and stuff, visit coldworker.com.

7) Would you ever consider continuing the current line up after the farewell tour, perhaps under a different name? Why?/Why not?

Anders: No. There are many reasons. The biggest one is that we have other bands that more or less waits for the Nasum thing to be over, and we need to get back to “normal life” and continue where we were. Another reasons is that whatever music this new band with same line-up would play, people would scream for Nasum songs and then we’ll just be Nasum under a new name playing Nasum songs and that, if anything, is milking it. So that’s out of the question. I’m not ruling out the possibility that some of us meet again for a project or something, because we play well together, but as of now we will not continue in any shape or form.

8) What is the future of Grind core?

Jesper: Grindcore will probably always exist. I don’t think it could ever be widely popular, but then that isn’t the point. This is a subgenre of a subgenre, and the oppositional nature of grind will probably keep it alive and healthy in the margins of the underground. Three ”new” bands I like are Magrudergrind, Wormrot and Massgrave, and I hope i’ll get new hope for the future when we go to OZ and NZ and see the local supports get jiggy with it.

9) I saw that you played a show (or some shows) with my good friends ‘brutal truth’. How were those guys on stage and in person these days? 

Jesper: They’re awesome. Fuzzy and scuzzy, but awesome and sweet. I can’t believe fucking Brutal Truth (and Dropdead!) opened for us in the US. 

Anders: To be completely frank, they are not “Extreme Conditions…” Brutal Truth anymore, but on the other hand they haven’t been that for a long time. Brutal Truth today is one big “fuck you” finger up the butt on… well, everything. They are super cool though, and Danny Lilker is quite the entertainer. You hardly have a boring time when he’s around.

10) Anything to add in closing?

Anders: Thanks for the support. Early on in this interview you asked about our expectations, and once the tour and show is done we will share our thoughts and if the expectations were met or not, as we have an ongoing tour blog at nasum.com. Check that out, and thanks again for the support!

Open Tomb

Open Tomb are Hamilton NZ based and play Slow Grinding Sludge Doom. Key members include Dane (Drums) and Sean (Gat/Vox) who have both been around forever and played in such underground bands as Gwaj, Sinfeeder, Azazel, and a bunch of others that I can't remember. Their music reminds me of the legendary Grief - Dismal Album (which I incidentally bought off of Sean's distro about 18 years ago) both in sound and in Sean's excellent vocals.

Open Tomb will soon have a split album coming out with Meth Drinker which will feature the first recording new second guitarist Kurt Silva.  In the meantime you can check out their latest demo of sickness by clicking the gaping hole below. 

Reviews: Winter Deluge & Exordium Mors

I’ve chosen to review the following two releases together, as they both have several similarities. Both Winter Deluge and Exordium Mors are from the town in which I reside i.e. Auckland, New Zealand; they both play extreme up tempo metal of the blacker variety, but the main reason is because both recordings were done over a year ago and, despite their awesomeness now they have been released, I’ve witnessed both band’s live performances improve vastly since.

Winter Deluge - As The Earth Fades Into Obscurity (CD)

Winter Deluge play aggressive but melodic Black Metal, and ‘As The Earth Fades Into Obscurity’ is a sterling debut effort! My main criticism of this release is that riffs and melodies need to be more prominent either in execution, production or both. There are definitely some incredible riffs, melodies and rhythms in the music but you have to really listen to hear them, as they seem to disappear under an atonal wash. Although as mentioned in the Inquisition live review, it would appear that Winter Deluge have already taken this issue into account and their future music should shine above this. There are however exceptions on ‘As the earth fades...’ though, such as on track 2 ‘Demonic Dweller of Winter Plains’ which is a stand-out tune with its dark, dynamic, evil build up and aggressive riffing, as is the album closer ‘Celestial Renewal’ - final track of awesomeness with its building of multi-layers of tension. ‘The Fragments of Mankind’ piano instrumental demonstrates the song-writing ability and musical talent within Winter Deluge. There is better to come from Winter Deluge, but that shouldn’t stop you tracking this down!

Exordium Mors - Sacrifice, Perish & Demise (Promo CD EP)

Unfortunately this isn’t an official release yet, rather a promo version the band are using to shop to labels. This being the case, you can’t actually obtain this at the moment, but you can check some of it out here:

‘Sacrifice, Perish & Demise’ is high energy, well executed Black Death Thrash featuring incredible “Iron Maiden on speed” melodic dual guitar work from Santi and Black Mortum.
Like a number of recent local heavy releases such as Hereisiarch, Beastwars and soon BulletBelt and Razorwyre, this features the awesome cover artwork Nick Keller (see examples in the above sampler and below).
The three original tunes ‘Sign of Judas Liege’, ‘Ancestors Call’ and ‘Exordium Mors (Pagan Ritual and Sacrifice to Roman Gods)’ are all of equally high strength. It also contains an awesomely well-executed thrash cover of Venom’s ‘Black Metal’. But while Exordium Mors interpretation of Venom is awesome it actually inadvertently serves to highlight the true strength of Exordium Mors’ own material on this release and sounds almost unnecessary; but then EPs are for releasing the sorts of tracks you wouldn’t put on an album. The newer material that I’ve witnessed the band play live is even better! Someone release this now so we can hear the forthcoming full-length album!

Inquisition Live in Auckland, New Zealand 6/6/12

I’d only discovered Inquisition late last year and just as I was taking a shine to their music a New Zealand show was announced by Internecion Productions and Chaos NZ. So as only happens once in a blue moon I was genuinely excited about this show. I’d read a lot about how much better live they were and to quote a cliche’ “they delivered”. Let start at the beginning of the evening...

Winter Deluge were on first. I’ve seen these guys play a few times over the last 12 months. each time they improve and this was the best and clearest performance yet. I could really hear what’s going on with the guitars and feel the riffs this time. Something that will benefit them in the future as it is also my one criticism of their past performances and their recent "As The Earth Fades Into Obscurity" CD (review currently being written).

Winter Deluge

Anno Domini Mortus - Second time I’ve seen them live and this time was much better. They seemed much more focused and the support slot set length seemed to suit them. As a friend of mine said to me “They’re awesome as long as the don’t play too long”. Commendation for note was their front man’s amazing presence with his manic pulsating gesticulations and expressions of torment. Good Black Metal! I look forward to tracking down their CDs so I can listen more closely to their music.

Vassafor - This was the first show I had seen with Ollie on Guitar. My initial thoughts were “What fuck is that dero doing on stage? I didn’t know he was in Vassafor” ...apparently he’s been playing second gat for a while and to my surprise he complimented the Vassafor live sound perfectly. Great show as usual with all bone constructed stage props. I prefer Vassafor in their own show where they make the venue theirs, but this one wasn’t far short of that. Highlight of the set for me was the closer “Makutu”, a 2 x bass, no guitar composition that benefited hugely though the massive sound system pumping out massive amounts of sub bass frequencies from realms beyond.

The Vassafor setlist

Vassafor action shot

Finally it was time for the headliners! The Inquisition stage set up is an interesting one. It consists of two Marshall amps, one on each side of the drum kit, no sign of any microphones on speakers, but twin DIs instead. I always thought that using DIs on guitars was a no no. But unless there is something I don’t know about or some form of new technology, it sounded fucking awesome! You could hear every note Dagon played and it was powerful as all fuckery!!!

I understand that some of the band’s merch and gear including their Guitar was lost in transit on the way to NZ, fortunately local replacement BC Rich flying V was provided (Donated by Warren Davies from Forsaken Age) and despite this shortcoming it had no negative impact on the performance at all. The inquisition live performance has been well honed through endless touring. It is enhanced with a Rock n’ Roll stage presence involving Dagon moving to opposite side of stage when not behind the microphone and busting out some mean shapes. 

I spent the first half of the set up front watching inspirational displays of multilayered guitar playing being channeled through a single 6 stringed instrument whilst being pummeled by the drumming of Incubus. The latter filling the sound out to the point where you forget that most metal bands have a bass player in them. Eventually I moved a bit further back where I could hear the legendary “Lord Frog” vocals more clearly. There was a genuine feeling of Passion and honesty from the stage which created the feeling that you were witnessing something special - “I don’t like to talk much between songs because it affects the flow of the ritual but thanks for all coming out to see us”. The reference to the Inquisition live show being a “Ritual” is something they aren’t making up. If you looked around the venue you could see the largely mixed audience, including punters of asian, indian, nz, male and female ethnicity all hypnotically swaying and nodding their heads to the Melodies and Rhythms that are much much more prominent and powerful live than on the band’s recordings. When there was a gap between songs long enough, a particularly loud applause was produced from the audience. “Thank you everyone we hope to maybe come back sometime... no DEFINITELY come back!!!” Come again soon!

Inquisition - Channelling demons from Beyond

INVERLOCH Interview

Inverloch L to R: Tony, Paul, Ben, Matthew, Mark. Photo: Rebecca Tovey.

INVERLOCH need no introduction other than to highlight of course that they are the extension of what was known as d.USK who were born of the legendary Melbourne based diSEMBOWELMENT. This in depth interview was kindly answered by guitarist Matthew Skarajew. 

1 - What inspired the formation of d.USK so long after the disestablishment of Disembowelment? Why are/were original Disembowelment members Jason Kells and Renato Gallina not involved in d.USK? How have the new members in d.USK(and INVERLOCH) filled their spots? Please give a quick profile of these members, these strengths and history?

Matt: Well, Paul and I had been asked time and again, for years - whenever we were at shows “why doesn’t disembowelment play?” or “we’d love to hear those songs live…just once” but we always maintained that circumstances being as they are, disembowelment could/would never really happen. But Paul and I always wondered what the songs might sound like in a live situation – I think Paul had never given up hope of bringing the songs to life. One night, driving home from a show and musing on it all, I wondered about putting together a concept/project band with some different musos that could feature the classic tunes. I felt it would be more respectful to give the band a different name – but still relate it to d. - At that point it was nothing more than a concept. I knew Paul would be right into it, but finding some competent players that could help us realize the songs was going to be the litmus test. Anyway, Tony Bryant (Bass – also drummer in grind outfit La Haine) was recommended to us by a close friend – he’d been a fan of d. growing up and he was committed from the outset. So for a while the 3 of us simply re-discovered the songs to see if it was even worthwhile. We tried a few vocalists – they were all great in their own way – all had different strengths – and at Tony’s suggestion we tried Ben James and he just complimented the songs – he was pretty raw at first, but we could all see the huge potential and diversity in his voice. I think the d.USK project is his first serious foray into this kind of vocal work – and it’s a bloody tough gig – but he handles it brilliantly and his voice has developed very well. Completely varied – covers a ton of territory and is a great frontman. Lastly, we called on one of my long-time buddies Mark Cullen to share guitar duties with me. He’s been apart of the Melbourne Metal Scene from way back in the classic mid-late 80’s era with Paul and I – with Mark it began more as a session spot but he grew into the role and was enjoying playing with us and stayed put! He’s a great player and friend with a ton of live  experience, so it’s awesome to have him there. This band has really gelled – everyone gets on great and that has contributed considerably to making the songs translate so well. 

We gave ourselves 12 months to see if we could really make it work – I so nearly pulled the pin a few times but the guys were stoic and I’m glad they pushed to make it happen. At that stage we only ever expected to do one show!

2- The original reason given for Disembowelment never performing live was that the music wouldn’t translate as well as it did in the studio. How much truth was in this? How do Disembowelment songs Translate live when played by d.USK?

Matt: It’s a good question. There are certainly some tunes that work better than others – at least in my opinion. There were a number of reasons d. never played, though. Regarding live translation, depending on how well you know the recordings it can be almost startling – but songs like ‘Tree or Excoriate are so raw they sound killer live. I’d never imagined playing ‘Burial’ live – for example, but we’ve got that happening on account of Roadburn Festival requesting the entire album – I’m not 100% convinced it’s the best way to present the songs… but that’s what the offer was based on and we didn’t want to pass up such a tremendous opportunity! We’ll have to simply give it a go and see how it sits. So far, ‘Burial feels immense in a room – it too is very raw, and I have been pleasantly suprized. For some of the other material I’d almost like to have a third guitarist. It’s interesting – the Inverloch track ‘Within Frozen Beauty’ was written specifically with our live d.USK set in mind – to be a contrasting point in the middle of the set. It can get a bit medium paced. But ‘ Burial can be central now, to slow things down a little, so… 

Paul. Photo by Adam Preljevic

Disembowelment – as it was in the early 90’s – would have been somewhat ill-equipped to play and convey the songs in a live context, from both a musical perspective and a technical perspective. It was certainly considered … and there were some crazy ideas discussed – in hind-sight some very naïve, but ultimately it was left alone. 

There’s no doubt that live you can never deliver the entire sonic spectrum of the album – that bothers me a bit simply due to the fact that, for some people, the TRANCENDENCE album is so sonically ingrained in their psyche that it may be hard to let go of that and simply enjoy hearing the music in a live format. But as we have always maintained – these run of shows are for people that have always wondered what the music might sound like live. That’s all there is to it. I maintain that if the concept bothers you – don’t go. I’m not offended. This is for the open-minded fans. That’s why it’s only a very limited run of shows.

3 - Just prior to sending this interview you informed me “d.USK tribute-format is basically over now apart from a few shows we're obliged to do over seas - and we have spawned a new side-project - 'INVERLOCH' - to play and release fresh material in the future.”. Can you explain why this decision has been made? Will INVERLOCH be a side project, or rather a continuation of the d.USK line up but playing new music? Lastly, from a completely selfish point of view, will those over seas d.USK shows include the New Zealand ones that were rumoured to be happening a while ago? A d.USK/INVERLOCH double header perhaps?

Matt: Yep – that is correct – the d.USK project will only play a small number of shows and then we will let it rest. There’s no point simply playing the old album over and over – there was no intention of it being an ongoing concept – or we’d have used a different name for a start! We only intended playing one show here in Melbourne. I honestly (and naively) felt that disembowelment was largely a bit of a forgotten relic of the past. I kept saying to Paul that I doubted anyone would be very interested. Well – the first show had an amazing response and before long we started getting some really cool offers to take the show to all sorts of places – globally! It was a trip! So we decided that we should keep it to one show in any given city – it could have gotten way out of control so we reigned it in and put the brakes on the whole ‘tribute’ concept. 

INVERLOCH was actually a name I was considering for the d. tribute band. 

As previously mentioned, we wrote ‘Frozen to give the set (as it was) some dynamic contrast – and live it works great as it contrasts with the old material nicely. Then Paul said he was sorry we didn’t do ‘Burial – early on I felt it was waaay to long for a live set – so we wrote a very doomy track, that filled that space. It’s a short one for us – 5mins! Ha! Anyway, with the band getting on so well .. a third song started to develop and so on – and we realized that there was something worth capturing here. There was absolutely no way we would ever consider releasing new music under the d.USK moniker – there’s already been a great DUSK (band), and our d.USK title was all about linking to the disembowelment legacy – so I suggested we simply create a new band – INVERLOCH – and we could then explore fresh ideas without worrying that we were denigrating the past. It’s been a lot of fun putting this together. And it gives Tony, Ben and Mark ownership of the new material. 

As for coming to New Zealand – well – we certainly tried and we will be trying again for late 2012 or early 2013 – probably as INVERLOCH – with some fresh songs to mix in with the best of the disembowelment material. I’m hoping that we can coerce Jay Kells to come and guest with us too – that would be killer. He seems keen, despite the difficulties of the distance. I know he still loves extreme music. It would be so awesome to have him in there slamming it down, too.

4 - Continuing with INVERLOCH, What will it’s key focus and goals be? What is the inspiration behind the name INVERLOCH? How does/will new material sound in comparison to d.USK/Disembowelment? Please name and describe some of the new songs. Are there any key themes in the music and lyrics that we can expect to hear? If so what? Do you have any releases or recordings planned? If so, when will they be out and how will people be able to obtain them?

Matt: The key focus with INVERLOCH is to refine that old-school ambient/death/doom sound we love – and be able to take it out live from time to time. It’s been a real pleasure to rediscover our musical ‘voices’ in this band – there’s no mistaking certain moments that will recall the past – but of course there are also key differences between my writing style and Jason & Renato’s. I like to push things technically at times – without trying to detract from the song. And I like to pay homage to my past influences – from the classic Thrash/Death Metal cross-over period. We have an EP coming out in April on Relapse – it is called ‘dusk | subside ‘ - the title reflects the moving on from one project to another.

There are three main tracks interspersed with ambience – the tracks are ‘Within Frozen Beauty’, ‘The Menin Road’ and ‘Shadows of the Flame’.

dusk | subside

I was actually going to include a track that was recorded for Trial of the Bow back in ’96 – I always wanted to release and will one day – but sonically it just didn’t sit quite right, so we left it off. There are little Trial of the Bow moments here and there – certainly in the ambience. Actually, the 7/8 intro to ‘Within Frozen Beauty’ is in fact an un-used riff that I wrote for ‘Trial back in ’98 I think – on the Arabic Oud! I love 7/8 – love the feel, the swing of it. It grooves so heavy. Sonically, Paul and I wanted this EP to sit between the old disembowelment demos (dusk EP) and the Transcendence album. I think we’ve achieved that. Our engineer (Joel Taylor) did an amazing job really – at first these songs were pretty much just quick demos with no intended release – but despite the easy-going approach to the recordings he managed to pull a killer, old-school vibe and sound. It’s completely honest – no triggers or anally-retentive edits – it’s our sound on the disc. I ended up engineering a bit myself on this too – which was fun. So it definitely captures the past spirit of disembowelment, with a big emphasis on the melodies (certainly in ‘Shadows) – but it’s a logical variation, too.

One thing I noticed as we went on with this recording was just how important Paul’s drumming style is and was to the sound and feel of disembowelment. It’s so utterly apparent – I think if it we had a different drummer the new songs would have an entirely different feel. From that point of view – there are some strong similarities to disembowelment. Plus he likes to get inside the riffs and composition – so there’s a lot of his input there. I suppose the musical language of d. is so ingrained in our psyche that little parts here and there really follow on from the past – it’s kinda cool. We were saying the other day that if Jason (Kells) wrote and recorded music with Paul today – we would expect a similar outcome as well. On a personal level, I think it’s disappointing that Jason and Paul are often not given due credit for the outcome of the disembowelment sound – I think time has largely allowed their input and ideas to become somewhat under-appreciated. They were instrumental in realizing what was, in many instances, a fairly motley collection of ideas.

5 - You and Paul Mazziotta are also involved in a Death/Grind project called “Pulgar”. What can you tell us about that? How can we hear it? What releases are available?  Where can people get hold of them?

Matt: Ah Pulgar .. haha – well – we actually have a recording all done with that just waiting for Ben to come in and do the vocals for it. It’s really old-school Grind/Thrash – not a serious project but we’ve had a lot of fun with it. Not sure who we will release it with – perhaps a local release? It was our way of staying in touch with extreme music while we were dealing with our young families in the early 2000’s. Pulgar was a real test-bed for defining our sound, initially. Oddly enough, Pulgar hasn’t actually played a show yet – though we would love to – and we will eventually – but the current projects have taken up so much time. We fit the music in around our careers and our families – so it’s pretty crammed! 

6. - Going back to Disembowelment, in Subcide Zine #3 (print version from 1996) I printed a post break up Disembowelment interview which I believe was answered by Jason Kells. In it he referred to some cover songs that Disembowelment had recorded which he intended to release on his label at the time “P.C. Entertainment. The Disembowelment wikipedia page also refers to “5 cover tunes for a potential E.P release”. What were these songs? Do the recordings exist? Will they ever be released?

Matt: The ‘cover’ EP – that was an interesting period. That was the point that I moved over onto guitar. The Necrovore demo (Slaughtered Remains) is from that period – that’s just Paul and myself on guitars – and one night after a few drinks at my place we goaded Renato into laying a Vocal down (he didn’t want to do it initially) – that version was certainly never intended for a release but it’s pretty wild so it ended up on the Re-release of a few years back. Some people love the rawness of it all. 

Basically disembowelment was out of ideas at that stage – even ‘Prophetic had been a stretch to get finished for the album – I know Jason came to the rescue with that one. So I think Renato suggested doing a 4 or 5 song EP of covers some time later – apart from the Necrovore track, it was going to include tracks from Therion (demo era) Bathory, Autopsy and possibly Crematory? We got as far as jamming out Necrovore, Bathory and Therion but that’s about it. Nothing was ever formally recorded or scheduled for a release. That Slaughtered Remains demo is all we have.

Said diSEMBOWELMENT interview from Subcide Zine #3. Click the images to read.

7 - Also post Disembowelment you were involved with a non metal ambient project called “Trial of the Bow” along with Renato Gallina. What is it’s current Status? Has it changed the way you (Matthew) create music? If so how? For those who are unfamiliar with this project, where can they obtain it’s releases or hear it’s music?

Matt: Trial of the Bow is fundamentally no more – although I have been developing new ideas in that style for some Documentary and Indie Film projects of late (as well as INVERLOCH) – so that might trigger some new music. I’m still fond of chasing the original ideal of blending musical cultures and ideas. Trial of the Bow basically burnt out in the late 90’s – Renato was struggling with his role a bit, I think. By the end of the album he declared he didn’t want to sing anymore. 

It’s tough – if you’re not really a practicing musician that style of music can become a big challenge. Some of the melodic ideas were still great though– it was a real challenge seeking our voice. Sadly, as we went along, it started to become apparent to me that the ‘look’ or fashion was overtaking the music – and I was really uncomfortable with that. It was starting to feel a bit ‘cool’ – a bit ‘night-club’ – then we were licensed to Rykodisc who, from when I spoke to them, were purely interested in sales, product, marketing etc. A complete turn-off. And there was zero money coming in. I was trying to live off music at that point. I became pretty disenchanted with the project.

Anyway – by the late 90’s both our families went through some enormous personal tragedies – we took time out from music and simply lost touch. 

It may come back – never say never. Not as a duo, though. 

Due to the fact that Trial of the Bow was so experimental, I learned an enormous amount – and it certainly figures in the way you compose/create. Working with someone who was essentially not a musician in the first instance – I say that with the utmost respect – taught me to simplify and be conscious of the importance and strength of simpler melodic concepts. Having been a student of composition with some pretty hardcore academics – it was a healthy reminder to utilize whatever skills I had but focus on simpler, more communicative ideas. Conceptually that has translated to heavy music, as well. Often, if I’ve been jamming it – if I’m still humming things in the car later or whatever – that’s a key indicator that we’re on the right path. Menin Road is a classic example of that. 

As far as I know the Trial of the Bow discs are still floating around – I’ve seen them on iTunes – perhaps Relapse/Release still sell them?

Matt.  Photo by Adam Preljevic 

8 - d.USK are going to be performing at Roadburn 2012 festival and playing “Transcendence into the Peripheral” in it’s entirety. Apart from the music are you doing anything special or different for that show? If so what? Roadburn shows are often recorded and filmed. Have you considered the possibility of documenting this performance as an official d.USK release?

Matt:- At this stage I am hoping to have Jay Kells join us for Roadburn – that would be brilliant. It is not confirmed by any means – but Paul and I are hoping he can come out with us – even if it was just for a few songs. We’ll have to wait and see. I suppose Roadburn might film the shows – but there will be no official release of any vision – it might be different if we had the original line-up, but in this instance I think it better to just enjoy the music. That’s what d,USK is all about – celebrating the music. Personally I’d prefer it not to be filmed or recorded.

(PostScipt - ) Roadburn and the visit to Europe turned out to be an amazing experience. It was a complete head-trip to fly all that way, run a tech-check and then hit that stage. It felt like it was all over in minutes! Quite intimidating too as it was our 7th show together, but I think it went well enough. The following short tour was so much fun, by Scotland we were really tightened up and they were a killer crowd – really passionate.

More importantly, it was so cool to meet so many genuinely nice people and bands – in some cases people had made a major effort to get to our shows, and of course some had been waiting a very long time to hear what the songs might sound like in a live context. And that made it a privilege to be there and perform the songs. I was really surprised by the positive interest in INVERLOCH, too.

Very cool.

9 - Melbourne has always been a hot bed for exciting new music, including underground metal, grind core, noise as well as other non genre definable sounds. Are there any up coming bands or acts that you are aware of that you think readers should check out? If so please give some names, descriptions and links (if possible).

Matt: Some bands we really dig are Nihilistic Front, and WURMS put out an amazing record last year that our engineer Joel Taylor played drums on. Highly recommended. I filled in with WURMS for a few shows, actually, and we played a show with a great band called Sons of the Ionian Sea. The new Ignivomous album is brutal as hell, too – highly reccomended! This question reminds me that I need to get out and re-discover a bit more, though .. Melbourne is such an eclectic art environment – living here, you can sometimes take that for granted.

10 - In closing, Disembowelment has had a huge influence in underground metal, Was this something you anticipated at the time? What are your personal thoughts looking back on that bands over all impact now? Apart from what has already been said, is there anything we may have missed in this interview or anything you’d like to say in closing?

Matt: Each of us seem to have a unique feeling for whatever legacy disembowelment may have left. A huge impact? It was certainly never anticipated – disembowelment was very much a reflection of what we were listening to at the time., and what we wanted to listen to. It’s interesting to note that back then the reviews certainly weren’t all favorable, either – but it seems to have stood the test of time. We are collectively very proud of the fact that people still enjoy the music, and I think it’s fair to say we all still love it. The recording process was really quirky and we produced it from a very different point of view – always pushing to be stylistically and sonically separate from everyone else. I think that worked!

It’s very different for Paul & I to see that band in the way that someone from the other side of the world might perceive it. Because we were so (seemingly) remote, it was one major release and then gone, there has been a bit of a mystique that has grown over the last 20 years that has really skewed away from the realities. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone – but we are often pretty amused or surprised by the perceptions people often have (of the band) when we meet. We feel it’s important not to get ‘sucked-in to’ or start believing hype – we keep it real and maintain our humility and respect for people that have enjoyed the music.

We have really enjoyed bringing the old music to life, but from here we are focused on INVERLOCH and the future that it presents, however that might manifest itself. I hope people will enjoy the new music – and look forward to taking it out live and mixing it up with the old material. Thanks so much for the time and interest … cheers.

Photo by
Adam Preljevic

Sabbatic Goat - Interview

Earlier in the year I reviewed the Sabbatic Goat self titled promo CD (Click here to read). As they were completely new to me I thought it would be worth firing off a few interview questions to Sabbatic Goat main man Nathan Barrow.  Following are his answers. 

1 - Unlike most of us crusty old bastards playing decent underground Metal in New Zealand, you guys are all quite youthful and about half our age. Exactly why is it that you are playing the quality underground raw Metal that Sabbatic Goat play and not Korn and Limp Biscuit covers/rip offs?

A. We have no interest in weak music such as bands like that. It offers no contribution to true metal what so ever. It dissapoints me to see how those sort's of bands are what most 'Metalheads' of todays scenes consider to be real metal.

2 -You recently sent me the lyrics for your song ‘Anemic Swine’. What exactly is that song about? What exactly is your inspiration for these lyrics? Are they reflective of your views of the world and society in general? Why/why not?

A. The song is a fictional idea of an apocalyptic extra-terrestrial event in which the human race and our planet is destroyed. I like to believe that there is some form of being or force unknown to us that would prove us weak and powerless compared to our idea that we are the superior race.

3 - You are currently working on a proper studio recording to follow up your self titled promo/rehearsal CD. Could you tell us about this? i.e. what will it be released as? what will it be called? What songs will be on it? When and how will it be available? What are your personal views on the s/t promo CD?

A. We are still in the process of writing at this time. We are possibly going through more line-up changes so no plans have been made yet for recording. It will feature Anemic Swine from the promo, plus another 3-4 new songs and will be released as a demo tape. As for the promo, i dont regret releasing it, but it was extremly rushed and more though, effort and time could have been put into it. But it has still done ok for what it is and helped spread our name.

Self titled promo CD

4 - I recently witnessed you play an awesome live set at the Rites of Abomination show in Auckland. What were your thoughts about your set that night and of the show in general?

A. I thouroughly enjoyed all the other bands at Rites. It was a memorable experiance for me and as a band we took alot from it. As far as our set goes i wasn't entierly satisfied. It was our first show in Auckland and i felt we were rather unprepared for it and my own personal performance i was unhappy with. But we recieved a positive responce so we can't have been as bad as i thought.

Sabbatic Goat playing Rites of Abomination

5 - Has the international exposure of other New Zealand bands such as Diocletian, Witchrist, Heresiarch etc inspired your approach to music? If so how?
Those bands definatly have an effect on us. I have been in contact with a few members from these bands and recieved plently of support and advice from them. Seeing Diocletian and Witchrist at ROA was definatly an inspiration to further ourselves as a band and to stick to what we are doing in hope of one day reaching the same level of international attention as them.

6 - What is your long term vision for Sabbatic Goat? How do you intend to get there?

Sabbatic Goat is mostly a project of mine so im always changing my mind on what i want to do with the band and where i want to take it. So only time will tell. For now all im focused on is achieving a solid line-up and releasing our demo.

7 - Any last words?

Keep your eyes and ears open. We have more to come.

N.B
Sabbatic Goat

Contact Sabbatic Goat Here

Nathan Barrow