Interview - Horseback's Jenks Miller

As I've said in my review for Horseback's Half Blood (and maybe even in the On The Eclipse EP review as well), Jenks Miller is easily one of the most creative minds in underground American music. Despite how much Horseback is referred to and takes influence from metal music, it is so much more than that. Jenks was kind enough to let me ask him a couple of questions and here are the results of such.

Interview - Melted Cassettes

Last year Melted Cassettes released their debut full-length album The Real Sounds From Hell Recordings and brought new life to spastic electronic noise rock. From those who heard it, it was definitely a breath of fresh air into the realms of noise rock and cybergrind and seemed to make me take an interest in cybergrind for once. It was honestly one of the most bizarre releases I had heard last year.

Ian: Why don't you tell us how Melted Cassettes came to be. What were your intentions when you first started the band?

Melted Cassettes: We had no intentions initially except for coming together to make music. Eventually, syncronicity led us to an autonomous intention for the band.

Ian: I curious how you would describe your sound since it is quite different?

Melted Cassettes: Intergalactic struggle jams or alchemical noise.

Ian: Who were some of your influences? You've been described by some as cybergrind, do you feel that is an accurate description?

Melted Cassettes: Creative pursuits as observed in the confines of culture often retain arbitrary attributes to explain what is most often ineffible. I never really identified too much with the cybergrind tag but people can call things as they do. I identify with bands such as Arab On Radar and Big Black and many others as well. Raw shit that sparks an interest and makes you question the sound/source.

Ian: What equipment did you use on the album?

Melted Cassettes: Hardware: Realistic moog, various yamaha synths, stringed instruments. Software: ableton live, fm7, Reason, Logic pro, Pure Data.

Ian: I personally enjoyed how diverse you made the album, it wasn't just going berserk all the time. When you wrote the album, what kind of ideas and concepts did you go into it with?

Melted Cassettes: Much of the concepts for the album were paranormal jokes as heard through a thick muffling veil. On our next album, that veil is lifted.

Ian: Did you mean to make it as diverse as possible?

Melted Cassettes: Diversity seems to be merely a side effect of our source of musings.

Ian: How do you view the connection between electronic music and rock/metal?

Melted Cassettes: Either a paintbrush or a pencil can be used to bring an idea to life. Both are tools that require patience and skill to get the job done. Sometimes you can use both for one project.

Ian: Despite your sound being quite unique, you often utilize sounds that wouldn't be out of the ordinary in club oriented dance and electronic music, what is it about those sounds that made you more inclined to use them on the album?

Melted Cassettes: Coincidence, perhaps.

Ian: How do you approach your vocals, they're quite different and they really stick out as being one of the defining factors on the album in my opinion?

Melted Cassettes: After a series of mutations, the vocals have 'self-actualized' through trial and error, crystalizing them into an identifiable character in the Melted Cassettes continuum. There is very limited lyrical content on real sounds. Alot of what you hear is struggle forced out of the body through audible fits and vocal experimentation.

Ian: I'm curious how you came up with some of the song titles for the album as they are quite bizarre? How do titles like Altered Beatststs or Xzrzrz reflect those songs?

Melted Cassettes: Inside jokes at times. Sometimes it could be based of an original file name or derived from lyrical content. Older material could have many howler and artiznoiz references.

Ian: What is your take on the whole cassette format? Are you favorable towards it and could you see releasing future material in that format? How do you think they compare to vinyl and CDs?

Melted Cassettes: Media format, like genres are just shades in the larger spectrum of given potential. Each has its own appreciable qualities. We'd like to think extraterrestrials could be jamming to us via telekinetic broadcasting frequencies, but tapes are fine as well.

Ian: I've read that you're already working on a new album? What can fans expect from this new release?

Melted Cassettes: As we said, a veil is lifted to reveal somewhat of a rabbit-hole and/or puzzle. One of the songs Body is already streaming online. There has been a lot of strange occurences surrounding the recording of the new album that we will reveal at a later date, hopefully.

Ian: Well, I guess those are all the questions I have. Thank you for your time and music, the last words are yours.

Melted Cassettes: Thank you for the opportunity to speak our minds, and the new album will be out sometime this year.

If you haven't heard Melted Cassettes yet, definitely seek them out, they're hard at work writing a new album for this year.

http://soundcloud.com/melted-cassettes

http://www.meltedcassettes.com/

http://twitter.com/#!/meltedcassettes

http://www.myspace.com/sportslazer

http://www.reverbnation.com/meltedcassettes

Interview - Ebonylake's Mass

If you're looking for one of the most intriguing metal releases from this year, you have to take a look into the new Ebonylake album, "In Swathes of Brooding Light." After over ten years of not making music together, their new album is easily one of the most experimental and weird sounding metal albums I've heard all year.

Ian: When Ebonylake first formed back in the mid-90s, what were the original influences and ideas for what the band would sound like? Are those influences and ideas similar now to what they were back then? How have your perspectives changed on creating music since you first started?

Mass: Back at the birth of Ebonylake we were mostly fuelled by our experiences of living in an old house with violent poltergeist activity, these events propelled us along with great enthusiasm and we wanted to reflect the random and sporadic nature of these happenings, which inevitably filtered into the music.
Our quest to make music that is genuinely unsettling with different sounds clawing at your skin from out of the darkness has never ceased, and our outlook as only become more fearless. Some of the most profound influences came from (and still do) the worlds of literature, poetry, art, contemporary music, film and classical music. Names such as Bram Stoker, Lord Byron, Sergei Prokofiev as well as films like The Omen, The Devils etc all got our creative juices pouring and . As ever within Ebonylake we strive for inspiration from the adrenalin of real life experiences whether that be hiking, ouija boards or seances, swimming naked in freezing sea's or countless countryside jaunts. Some of these endeavours nearly ended in the loss of life back in 1998 too with one member nearly drowning after jumping into the waves drunk on absinthe, another almost being crushed to death and another on life support due to blood poisoning. These were the first cracks in the inevitable implosion of the band.

Ian: Why did you decide to split after only one album and, as far as I know, little to no touring or live shows? What did you do in those ten years between releases?

Mass: At that time we were more of a secret society than a band, and when we got heavily into the ouija board paranoia ran through us and we felt we needed to step back. Even though we only did one album, music was only one part of Ebonylake. We did a handful of live performances some of which were mindblowing and that's one sea we wish to sail on again.
In the decade or so after the split we found ourselves in an endless labyrinth of caves eating rats and scratching at walls so to speak. We dabbled in things from independent film scores to brutal death metal, but eventually in one cave our paths crossed and there we were starving, deranged, depressed and hungry to return. We stepped out of the cave and saw a breathtaking red sky panorama. Without the band though we found ourselves in a world we didn’t understand and didn’t belong in, so it was only a matter of time before we stepped back into the theatre.

Ian: "On The Eve of The Grimly Inventive" has become something of a sleeper album since its initial release with it being much more popular and respected by the underground avant-metal fans than I'd imagine when it was first released. How do you see the record today? Is it a record that you're still proud of making? How have the reactions towards your music changed since when that album was first released to now?
Mass: “On The Eve of The Grimly Inventive” is something we will cherish forever. Because we poured our entire being into its creation it sounds incredibly authentic to us. Absolute raw art. If it was released today, thirteen years later it would still be cutting edge and we make no apologies for being so proud of it. As you can imagine the reactions to “On The Eve….” at the time of its release were so polarised we found people adored it or hated it but many were just left confused, after all what could they compare it to? We however received some astounding reviews and the reviews from “In Swathes….” could be the reviews from “On The Eve….” they are almost identical.
Around 98% of the reviews have been very, very good to date, although we have had a couple that slated it completely, but that is to be expected with this kind of music. We make no excuses for this, either people totally get it or they dismiss it as a horrendous racket. Without a doubt though there is a much more tolerant attitude than there was back in 97/98 to anything of an avantgarde nature.

Ian: What made you guys decide to reform now? How did the new full-length come about?

Mass: Our paths crossed again because we were both sending out the same signals, things tend to manifest if you want them to.
We had no contact in almost 10 years, not through any kind of malice or hatred at all, we just drifted apart and lead complete separate lives.
When enough positive mental signals are transmitted from within the being, it radiates with like minded individuals and brings them together eventually.
Separately we both felt a yearning that this work was not complete, and had to be fleshed out more than the original concept allowed us to.
It was apparent straight away that we both wanted to continue in this vein of cacophony, and after a drunken banquet to celebrate the rekindling of our friendship the seances soon began again, and plans were afoot to begin trying to fathom out the messages in our heads.
We talked over many brandy's about the concept and imagery that makes Ebonylake what it is, and the music tended to write itself, somehow channeled through us from several ghostly beings that dined with us late that particular evening.

Ian: What inspired the title of the new record, "In Swathes of Brooding Light"?

Mass: Visual imagery has always inspired us and our music has a strong visual element, so when it came to the title we looked inwards and the pictures that came to mind showed us the rebirth of Ebonylake in swathes of brooding light. An unsettling, but enticing haze in the summer evening sky that seems to hypnotize and provoke several emotional and violent reactions.

Ian: Who are some groups and artists that you're interested in and think are doing some creative and interesting ideas? Were they influences on the new record in any way?

Mass: We have always tried to keep any outside influences away from what we are working on, sure there are artists we appreciate but we do try to clear our minds in the run up to the writing sessions to keep it as Ebonylake as possible. We have been impressed by acts such as Perry Blake and Esben And The Witch recently, which in someways are the opposite to us but garner a similar philosophy of loss and tragedy.

Ian: Listening to the album, I only recently discovered it actually, I found a lot of early industrial kind of sounds in the percussion from what sounds like someone hitting bells to more metallic crashes. Do you take any influence from early industrial and avant-garde bands like Nurse With Wound, Coil, or Throbbing Gristle?

Mass: The sounds you mention are indeed bells, chimes and anvils. Though we never took any influence from any of the bands you talk of nor the early industrial scene. We can imagine those sounds being used in that context as they could be seen as primitive percussive instruments.
One of the cold autumn days when the sparrows attacked the nearby village, many were left dead or dying, the scene was horrific as per usual when this time of year comes around. The Bell Ringer failed to rise that morning and never sounded the alarm, and after days of gathering up the dead and burning them in the furnace these sounds harked back to the days when the village did prosper, before the dark times.

Ian: How do you write songs? Is it a collaborative process or does one member bring in an entire idea/song on his own? Is it any different from how you wrote the first album?

Mass: The ideas for the material seems to be coming from elsewhere as described beforehand. Once an initial idea is created it just goes in the direction it pleases, it steers itself and we try to hold on and make sense of it.
We tend to write the material together after a prolonged bout of meditation and conjuring communication with the ghosts. Identical to the writing process we used many years ago which almost lead to insanity and total mental breakdown.
These are the boundaries we wish to cross and yearn for a deeper vision beyond the norm , controlling these actions has become more fruitful recently and someone or something is watching with us, guiding us on the path.

Ian: A lot of the songs are very paranoid and schizophrenic sounding, what is the inspiration for the dense and very solid sounding composition of a lot of these songs?

Mass: The way we compose the pieces is very much like orchestral music with multiple lines playing different parts to create one entity. Even though some of it may sound random, each line does have its place and co-operates with the rest. For example the flutes may be following the pattern of the bass drum, the french horns maybe bouncing of the bass guitar in a kind of question and answer fashion, pizzicato strings could be stabbing out certain notes from the guitar lines, all this creates a certain sculpture which would then be garnished with vocals with chants following the pattern of the snare then quickly switching to the rhythm of the piano part. It is easy to think that it is all random but it is music truly entwined within itself and every note of every instrument has a part to play. Besides we like to be challenged by art, and things that are easy to swallow are gone in a second.

Ian: What made you decide to include the "As Ghosts We Dance In Thrashing Seas" demo songs onto the album? For myself, the transition between the album songs and these songs felt very seamless and natural, was that intentional or do you believe it was only by coincidence?

Mass: It basically completes the current circle of the Ebonylake world. Most people who pick this latest album up will more than likely have the old album, and it shows that the blood that runs through Ebonylake is still very much apparent now as it was then. We never fully released the demo back in 1997, and we have been inundated with requests for the demo tracks to be released. So a case of killing two birds with one stone comes to mind, it shows the thread running through As Ghosts/Eve/Swathes as a natural progression we feel.

Ian: During one listen to the album, I imagined that this is what it would sound like if the orchestra from any one of Dimmu Borgir's albums got together with a band like Gorguts and started jamming out to songs from Mr. Bungle's "Disco Volante" record. How would you describe the sound of the new album to someone who hasn't heard it?

Mass: The easiest way to describe the sound is violent, abstract, surrealism.
Truly gothic with multiple paths to follow. There is a strong spiritual thread but on the other hand it is extremely savage and bleak.

Ian: When I listen to your music, despite how complex and intricate it all is, I still get a very romantic sort vibe from it. Is that intentional or accidental? What do you think of romanticism and more gothic sort of artwork, musical and otherwise?

Mass: Romanticism is key to how we try and live in a ever increasing concrete world of materialism and consumerism where the cord that connects the soul to the body is slowly being severed so that all that remains is an empty vessel. We endeavour to live rich and diverse lives ever searching for that perfect moment, pushing at boundaries so it was inevitable that this would manifest in the music.
Ian: The darkness and the night are common themes in metal music, notably in black metal, do you feel you receive any inspiration from the night or the dark? What's your view of the idea of light and darkness within music?

Mass: The night is inspiring but so is the day in equal measure to us. A fresh spring morning or a blustery autumn afternoon is just as important in the world of Ebonylake. Within the music itself light and dark and all shades help shape the compositions and hopefully elevate them. Dynamics are often overlooked within metal.

Ian: To what extent is sex an influence on your music?

Mass: At last! This is the first time we have been asked this and you have hit on an important point. Sex is a massive influence on the music, the longing, frustrating, anxious, anticipation that leads to something that can be somewhat otherworldly. Like sex the music can be dominating, ritualistic, selfish, selfless, dangerous and often serving no other purpose than animalistic pleasure.

Ian: How do you feel about being lumped into the "avant-garde metal" or "avant-garde black metal" and genres like that? What do you think about the genre? Are you fans of the avant-garde music?

Mass: We are not sure about the term ‘avant-garde metal’ it seems to be a bit of a contradiction, if avant-garde means to be at the very cutting edge, then every so called avant-garde band would be at the very cutting edge, which they clearly are not. We do not like all avant-garde music because this can incorporate any style, we do however have a love for avant-garde classical and orchestral music.

Ian: How does it feel to have a group named after one of your songs? An Autumn For Crippled Children has recently been gaining praise, have you heard any of their work?

Mass: We did hear about the band and they sent us their album having contacted us. Obviously its always nice to have an impact on others especially when they are a class act. Needless to say we enjoyed the album.

Ian: Well that's about it from me, thank you for the interview. The last words are yours.

Mass: Thank you for taking the time to ask interesting questions, keep your ear to the ground a new movement stirs.
Obviously Ebonylake is an interesting group, and if you haven't heard the album yet, you are surely missing out. Definitely look into them if you want to hear some of the weirdest metal out there.

http://www.myspace.com/ebonylakeofficialuk
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ebony-Lake/367992431606

Interview - Locrian's André Foisy

If you're into underground experimental music, it's pretty likely that you've encountered Chicago's own Locrian. The trio has been pushing boundries for extreme music since their inception back in 2005 mixing drone, noise, ambient, krautrock, black and doom metal, and other genres into their own unique sound.

Ian: I know a lot of people ask the "how did your band form" question, so I'd like to ask what the starting point was when Locrian first started? Was the main intent to always do something as varied and non-genre specific when you started or was it stemmed from a more black metal, drone, noise realm?

André: Locrian really didn’t have a conscious intent when we started in late 2005. I wanted to experiment and push my playing to different places. I’ve succeeded. We have lots of interests in different styles of music. We’ve never tried to fit into any scenes. The way you describe our music makes me think that Locrian might be a prog rock band or something.

Ian: You guys release a lot of limited tapes, CDs, and vinyl, what do you see as the line between these more limited pressing albums and your full-lengths that are made, at least to my knowledge, more readily available?

André: Limited releases are a lot more personal. I think that they make the listener less alienated from the artist and I like that.
Our full-lengths are all albums that we intended to be more widely distributed.
Our intent on each release can be different though. The medium is part of the message. They are meant to be individually interpreted and felt.

Ian: Since Steven Hess joined the band, how do you think the dynamic in the band has changed? What do you think the biggest contribution he's made to the band so far has been?

André: Drummers have a tendency to play too directly. We’ve never intended our stuff, our music, lyrics, or artwork, to be straight forward. Steven’s a really unique drummer who gets what we do and helps us to do new things.

Ian: When you go into record a record, how prepared do you go into it? Do you usually go in with ideas and sort of work them out in the studio, are songs fully fleshed out, or do you often improvise off of a couple of ideas? How much does a concept for an album or song play into how it's arranged, if at all?

André: It’s always different. When we recorded “The Clearing” we had one song prepared for the session that made it onto the album and we had some ideas that we went for in the studio. We were prepared, but just not the same way that a band that has a bunch of songs that they try to play the same way every time would be prepared in the studio.
On each of our full-length studio albums, we’ve tried to make each one a distinct statement, but there are ties between them. For instance, we took the theme of Coprolite on “The Clearing” from the concluding melody of Obsidian Facades from our last album. There are little themes throughout out our releases that pop up in different ways on other releases.
So we typically go into the studio with a lot of ideas and not necessarily “songs.”
Ian: What was it about the Popol Vuh track, Dort Ist Der Weg, that made you want to cover it?

André: We are Popul Vuh fans and the “Letzte Tage – Letzte Nacht” album is one of the less well known ones. It’s also more rock oriented album which stands out in their catalog. Bruce at Flingco Sound System asked us to do a release for him so we decided that doing a Popul Vuh cover might be an interesting challenge for us.

Ian: For "The Clearing", what made you decide to work with Brian Ulrich?

André: Brian’s work has really inspired us. We’ve wanted to use one of his images for a long time so we finally contacted him and got his permission. Dead malls have been a theme on our releases, a theme that we strayed from in the aesthetic for the last album. Brian’s photos of dead malls and his dark stores series of photos really capture this feeling of alienation that’s rampant in our world. The themes in his work dovetail really nicely with the themes in our material.
Ian: You've said in the past the literature has been highly influential on your creative process, with JG Ballard's novel The Crystal Worlds obviously being a point of inspiration for your last album, were there any books that provided a similar source of inspiration for The Clearing?

André: I would defer any questions about the lyrics to Terence. Personally, I think that there’s a catalog of dystopian literature and films that have been really inspiring. Dystopian literature often embodies prevailing cultural fears, like the fear of nuclear fall-out, Cold War fears. To me, this album fits into that catalog. We’re releasing this album in the context of an environmental crisis. The planet is heating up! The world’s population is about to hit seven billion, or already has, and it’s increasing rapidly, but our patterns of consumption aren’t. There’s no simple answer to that problem, but I hope that listeners might contemplate such problems when they listen to our work.

Ian: For me personally, I found "The Clearing" to have some of your most uplifting, or brighter, sounding moments. How do you view "The Clearing" in relation to your past full-lengths? Would you say it was the logical next step after “The Crystal World”?

André: Yes, it could be the next logical step after our last album. We recorded some of this at the same time that we were working on “The Crystal World.” It was a really productive few months for us.
We really wanted “The Clearing” to be a very concise statement, on one LP. It’s really meant to be experienced on record with a side A and side B. On “The Crystal World” we started playing with these acoustic and heavy electronics kind of aesthetics and we continued that approach on this album. Augury in an Evaporating Tower is the only track on the album that doesn’t have some acoustic instrument. We took a very different approach to recording “The Clearing” than we did on our last album.

Ian: To me, and I mean this as a compliment, I can often hear Locrian as almost music to film. For myself, when I listen to certain pieces, like the title-track off the new one, The Clearing, or a song like Epicedium or Obsidian Facades, I could definitely picture films in the liking of David Lynch or stuff that David Cronenberg did in the 80s and 90s to accompany your soundscapes. Has film or film music influenced your approach to writing any of the music in Locrian or are there any film scores/composers that have influenced you?

André: Yes, we’ve been influenced by film composers, e.g., Popul Vuh, but I don’t think they’ve influenced our sound any more than music that’s very difference from typical music in films. I think we sound the way we do because we want to elicit some sort of feeling. Film soundtracks are there in order to help to capture your mood and perhaps that’s what our music does as well.

Ian: Locrian's music and artwork, more often than not, bring landscapes and portraits of vast portraits of the world, whether it be through nature or dismantled civilizations/broken cities. First of all, how much does the artwork of an album effect the overall listening experience for yourself? How much of a role does it have in Locrian? How much of an influence does your environment, the world around you in terms of nature and cities, impact how you write and perform?

André: An album is an artistic statement and the artwork is part of that statement. Why put your album in physical format if you can’t add to the audio statement with artwork.
Our environment influences my writing and performing a lot. If anything, it influences how I feel. We live in serious times and we’re in an environmental crisis. I love living in Chicago, a big part of me also hates the city. It’s great that I’m around a lot of great musicians, but on the other hand, Chicago has very little unspoiled nature around it. Illinois was once covered in prairie, but now there’s very little prairie left. The prairie that’s present in the city was put there by man, which means that it lacks the biodiversity of the native prairie. The nature around Chicago is manicured like a Victorian garden. The suburbs go on seemingly forever and once you get out of the suburbs you get into corn country, which isn’t the kind of corn that’s typically fed to humans, but to animals.

Ian: Since you run Land of Decay records, could you tell us about some of your past and upcoming releases? What do you look for in bands/artists in order for you to want to release them?

André: We started out the label to release some of our more private Locrian releases, e.g., a VHS tape and some and some loop tapes. We’re currently becoming more active with the label. I think the first release we did for someone else was a reissue of a very limited Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words cassette which we heard and loved. We later did tapes for Neil Jendon, Velnias, Ash Borer, and some others. We are keeping our tapes limited. We have a bunch of great releases coming up for artists like Number None, Wraiths, Detrivore, Servile Sect, and some others. We’re busy! We look for artist that we like and that are interested in a one-time edition. We’ll be doing limited edition vinyl soon.

Ian: You've collaborated with some really interesting, and very good bands/artists, how does your approach to writing differ when you're collaborating with others instead of when it's just the three of you in Locrian?

André: Yes, we’ve been able to collaborate with some great people. Unfortunately, whenever we record by ourselves or with others, we’re doing it quickly! We have very busy lives and it’s difficult for us to get together at all. Working with limited time has some perks, it also means that we can’t overthink things. We wrote and recorded the Locrian & Mamiffer album that we recently finished entirely in the studio. It meant that we tried out a lot of things on the spot; some of the things worked well and some ideas worked less well. It’s a very similar approach that we’d take to working on album that was just the three of us.

Ian: Do you think the collaborative work you did with other artists on Territories have an impact on how Locrian has developed since that/those recording(s)?
André: Oh yeah, I think we learned a lot from those musicians. One thing that we learned from that album was probably how to work on the spur of the moment. We had very few things written before we recorded “Territories.” We put those ideas together in about two-three days. There was absolutely no chance for us to overthink what we did on that album. I like how that contributed to the raw sound on that one. The ability to work intuitively and with little resources has been essential to everything that we’ve done.

Ian: What can fans expect from the upcoming collaboration with Mamiffer?

André: I think people can expect another record that a unique stand-alone statement. It’s a really strong record and I’m really happy with how it came out. We were able to record with more resources than are typically allotted to us which helped us out immensely. We got a great recording and there are many great layers. I think it’s the type of album that you can listen to repeatedly and always notice new things. One thing that we did was to create a juxtaposition between heavy electronic instruments and acoustics instruments. Like most of our albums, it’s very dynamic.

Ian: There's was a mention of maybe doing a collaborative release with Velnias, has there been any fruition of that? Is it something that could still happen down the road?

André: A collaboration with Velnias would be great in my opinion, but we don’t have any plans or resources for that at the moment. Terence lives in another city now so we haven’t played together since we recorded our album with Mamiffer over the summer.
Ian: I know you play a pretty wide array of instruments, does Locrian allow you to make use of most, if not all, of them? When you're playing live I assume you're making use of an electric guitar almost exclusively correct?

André: We don’t really put any limits on what we can bring to the table for Locrian. Lately, I’ve been playing electric guitar exclusively live. I like to bring new textures to the table for our music. For instance, the first track on the Locrian & Mamiffer album, I finger pick an acoustic guitar for the theme of the song. That’s the first time that I’ve used that technique for Locrian and I think it adds a new texture for us. On Coprolite on “The Clearing,” I play my guitar through a rotating Leslie speaker, which adds this great unique texture to the track. There’s no way that I would ever be able to use that speaker live since it’s so big and heavy.

Ian: I've only heard a couple of your solo releases, but I'm curious how the split with High Aura'd came about? Do you have any plans for other releases under your name?

André: John (High Aura’d) and I had been in contact a while before that. He heard some of my other solo releases and liked them and asked me if I wanted to do a split for Stunned Records. I think it came our nicely. At the moment, I don’t have any plans for solo releases though I do have some projects that I’m working on with some other people. The next solo release that I do will be a bigger statement, an album. I’m not sure when that will be though.

Ian: What's on the horizon for Locrian? I know that Terrance is moving so are you guys gonna go on a hiatus for a while?

André: We are currently finishing up another collaborative LP with Christoph Heemann for Handmade Birds. I expect that we’ll finish that in early 2012. Terence now lives in Baltimore. We won’t be able to play again until later in 2012. We don’t have any plans after we finish this collaborative LP.

Ian: Well, I think that's about it, thanks for the interview. The last words are yours.

André: Thanks so much for the great questions!
Locrian are obviously great and I have yet to find a release (of the one's that I've heard) that I don't think is absolutely amazing. Definitely check them out if you haven't already, if you like, or claim to like, experimental music, these guys should be at the top of your list.

http://www.myspace.com/thelocrian
http://locrian.bandcamp.com/
http://lndofdecay.blogspot.com/
http://www.landofdecay.bigcartel.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Locrian/119350991444335#!/pages/Locrian/119350991444335

Interview - Smohalla's Slo

In terms of forward thinking black metal, there have been a lot of newer groups pushing the boundaries out for the genre, but one of the most exciting and interesting groups currently doing this is Smohalla. Their debut full-length, "Resilience," was released last month and has really impressed a lot of people, not just me. I was lucky enough to get into contact with them and they granted me an interview.

Ian: I know you've said in the past that there really isn't any story behind the formation behind Smohalla, but how did the three of you come together, cause I think you started the band?

Slo: I don't even know if we are 3, 2 or just one haha. Who is in and out, who is a guest and who is a former member, and why and where... I'm not sure it's really relevant. Let's be focused on music and aura. I don't want to play a mysterious role, just that, I don't know what to say except for, 'we like to create music'. The band started in 2006 with our first release "Smolensk Combustion" then we released a concept mini CD about a Loveraft novel called "Nova Persei", a split with Immemorial, and some tributes and compilations appearances. We just released our first full-length called "Resilience", which is our first CD with solid adapted production.

Ian: The lyrics on your EP, "Nova Persei," were based on a story by H.P. Lovecraft, what is it about Lovecraft that inspired you to use his story on that album? Would you say his writings have influenced how you compose and arrange the music in Smohalla at all?

Slo: Yes, Lovecraft is probably one of the main influence we've got. Most of the people, even some of his readers, can't understand what a genius he was. Beyond all the words he assembled, and as others 'genius-artist', he succeeded to create alternative dimensions to ride on. It's like 'Ok guys, I will never be adapted to live normally here, I can't understand your rules, I can't follow your way of living. There's no way I can trust humanity. But it's ok cause my head is full of exaltation. And if I'm too fragile and too weak to travel this world, I will in my dreams, and it will be through time and space. On earth and elsewhere.” And I don't speak about fiction dreams but real astral traveling. He gave the keys to the great escape to a lot of people. Everyone has to follow his own path, under the light, in darkness, or both, and no one knows the Truth, but Lovecraft can be the guide for new states of conscience.

Ian: How does a song come to fruition, or how do you write songs, in Smohalla?

Slo: It depends. Most of our songs, since "Smolensk..", are based on drums improvisations I record. I like this feeling of vast freedom, just living the music, doing your best, not in terms of technicality, but of creativity, and predictions cause of course when you know you're recording improvisations for a real song, you have to keep this in mind, about structures, breaks etc.. You're just building your own monster, and you have to define its shapes. Of course, these shapes can completely be reconsidered, every layer you add will necessitate changes. Sometimes I add so many layers that it's like giving blood, muscles, hairs, scales and armor to the same deformed creature, passing from a skeletal snake to a 1000 armed giant worm. But sometimes, I get a precise idea in my mind, that I have to re transcribe, for giving it a concrete life.

Ian: A lot of people have told me that they've only first discovered you through this album, do you believe that this album has really brought you into the light more so than ever before?

Slo: Too short to say, "Resilience" is a 1 month old album so.. Fact is it's our first full-length, and the first time that production sounds really adapted to our style. Our music is still so complex, even more complex maybe, but now with attention you can hear all that you have to hear, discover new layers after several listenings, violent parts sounds now really violent and powerful.. Ok there's still this hazy feeling, which is part of our personality, but now it sounds as an army of disincarnate sinners whining in the face of the worlds, I spend so many times mixing it, a real nightmare and an endless introspection. So wait and see, but until now most of the reviews have been very enthusiastic with us.

Ian: How did you come to name the album "Resilience?" It's a very provocative and interesting choice for a title.

Slo: It's all about this word, Resilience, and how it can help you to find the right path. Keep your breath for a while, try to disappear in some imaginary fog. Try to escape time and flesh. Search for another world then develop it. Rebound on this interior landscape of whatever you'll find in your sick brain, and face reality. Overcome everything. This is not the state where I use to live but something I try to approach. Music, creativity, these are the main structures I have found to become wiser and stronger. In a way, there's a part of catharsis too in the concept of resilience, pouring out some inner demons and fears. Every song is a prayer trying to deform and mix reality and abstraction, to make them ours. We both are what we do, and what we think, flesh and mind. We have to try to find a compromise between concrete life and dreams. And every song is like a different step to escape earth until the final introspection. But we can also say, it's just music.
Ian: The album features quite a few guests on it, would you mind speaking a little bit about how you came to the decision to include guests and what you think they brought to the album?

Slo: From the beginning of Smohalla, we always been supported or helped by several people and friends. It can be about mastering, guest appearance or whatever, just spreading the word about us, I truly thank again all our mates. Nico & Pryapisme, Oscar and As Light Dies, Max Brigliadori, Iconoclast & Sael, Joseph and Vendlus, Arco, Way to End, Yann, and all everyone.. So precious help.
About the guest appearances and contributors on "Resilience", they all have been chosen because of their musical experiences, and they all created their own parts so that they could be recorded, except for lyrics. I'm so proud about all these contributions. Guitars sound [the way they do] due to Iconoclast and Echoes Studios fit so well, muddy and powerful. You should check what he record for other French bands such as Asmodée and his own project, Sael, both amazing black metal bands. Damien Luce, from Immemorial and Hky, he's so talented too. Seriously, I've heard this split CD he planned to release on Frozen Wing Productions soon. One of the best dark ambient songs I've ever heard, you will all die. Oscar and Nicolas are two great singers, as you can hear, creative and implicated... I'm so grateful to all of them.

Ian: "Resilience" is by far a more conceptual sounding record, with one track flowing into the next for a very cohesive and unified album. What sort of approach did you take when you were writing the album?

Slo: You have to know it took 3 years to record, complete and mix the whole thing. So, as you can hear with the various elements, different ambiances and lot of breaks gives a pluri-colored album. But all that lunatic mess, every part on it, every layer is a star from the same constellation. When I start to use my guitar or my drums for improve or to compose, I reach another state, another part of me is leading my brain and body. I'm not schizo and I'm not floating 3 inches up the ground but you know, some doors are closing themselves and some others are opening.
As we said, "Resilience" is a concept album built upon a will to overcome the great black shit of this world. Recording these songs has been the process to clean my head and my heart. I was lost, I surrounded myself with black curtains to regenerate through creation and now I'm ready to face, not the whole shit, but a part of it. I will always remember this composing, recording and arrangements sessions as a vast trip, far away from time and reality each times the Smohalla aura was launched in my head. That's one of the reason why I love to live.

Ian: Smohalla is a band that has always made use of symphonic elements, but with the album it really feels like you've pushed the boundaries for that genre, which is something that hasn't happened in at least a decade. When you're adding those elements into a song, are there certain atmospheres or emotions you try to capture or showcase?

Slo: I don't know, I hear my riffs and I just hear other layers on them, in my head. Sometimes it can be sympho elements, sometimes psyche or bizarre stuff.. I just want no boundaries from my head, hazard and his eternity, and the final result of one of our songs. So I don't really know what I am searching for here. I just know when I'm feeling something special listening to a part, I'm thinking, ok, this is mine, I created something, something particular and weird that does not include blood and semen affairs, let's be proud of it. The sympho parts result, like our metal or planey side, from so many different influences. From Philip Glass to Stravinsky or Bernstein, and I think most of the other sympho metal bands are always more influenced by older composers, you know, Wagner, Beethoven, Mussorgsky. Of course they're great too.

Ian: I'm curious who you would cite as influences of your more symphonic side? Does it come from more classic composers or more cinematic scores?

Slo: It can comes from first releases of Emperor, Enslaved, Limbonic Arts, Tartaros, Golden Dawn and a lot of very talented black metal bands from the 90s. It can comes from classic composers too as I said before, Stravinsky, Phillip Glass, Ohanna, Gorecki, Mahler or more experimental and prog bands like Geinoh Yamashirogumi collective, Univers Zero, Pink Floyd that used modern sympho parts in the 70s and after... Some movie ost? Probably, and not only about our sympho parts. Think to Phantasm, Midnight Express or Candyman ost, John Carpenter and so many others.

Ian: A lot of the songs on the record are quite layered and have a lot of sounds coming at the listener at once, how did you go about recording and mixing the complicated soundscapes and different riffing patterns that all occur at once?

Slo: I haven't created Smohalla for following someone else's way. I want to let flow out and share all these waves that makes me stronger inside. Everyone needs it, except for disincarnated pigs. Not necessarily through music, but for me, it's all about sound exploration, when I compose or when I just listen music. I get a ticket, and I ride the comet like a gay multicolored cowboy exploring the anus of a giant Cyclops. Every part of a song deserves his own life and senses so I stop working on it when it seems to be done in my ears. And I stop to work on a composition when every connection and correlation between parts are giving life and sense to the whole song.

Ian: When you look back at the "Smolensk Combustion" demo, how do you think you've grown since then?

Slo: Speaking about the production, the evolution is great. Compared to all that we released so far, "Resilience" sounds huge. Next one will sound better again. I learn from my mistakes. As I learn guitars and drums, no teachers, just you, the life, and the music. Some friends to play with, some bands to follow, some shit to let go out.. But evolution of our music is just natural, I never stop to record. You can't imagine all the stuff I've written that has never been finished and released. So all I can see is steps, coming one after one, slowly. I can't really say if it's a progression, a regression, or just nonsense and a futile fall.

Ian: You've participated on quite a few compilations and tributes, what kind of aesthetic do you take when you record a song for one of these projects as oppose to when you were writing for the EP or full-length?

Slo: Every recording session [has] got its own atmosphere and its own explorations. And it's something particular, I couldn't really speak about it, this is kind of abstract, you just wait to be touched by the appropriate mood, and you live it with passion. I try to get the main composition process the more instinctive I can. Tributes were just another ways to create, launching gates between bands we listened a million times and our world, not just playing the same parts with a poorest sound. About the two compilation tracks, and the split one, they're all long, very progressive, I see them like 3 different trips to 3 different places. And I don't know why but when I listen each of the 3 songs, I always imagine a crowd of faceless people. Landscapes and background are never the same but I can see them every time.

Ian: Do you have any updates on the "Toteninsel" compilation? There hasn't been any updates on it in quite a while. What can you tell us about the song you did for the release, you've put it on your bandcamp and it features Eleni on vocals?

Slo: Well I really like that song, that's just a shame production sounds so poor. Eleni's vocals on it are great, it's like hearing a beautiful siren calling you to a morbid cunnilingus. By the way, compilation [has] got some amazing tracks, apparently Vendlus will not release it but I hope this damn CD will be materialized one day...
Ian: It seems as though you guys in the band are very interested in the presentation and aesthetic of Romanticism through both the Lovecraft influence as well as the various covers that have been the face of your albums. What is it about that period and style that appeals to you, if at all?

Slo: In terms of visuals, I'm not sure about romanticism, cause curiously, romanticism appears to me like something too hermetic. You know 'I'm the hero, life sucks so I stand up on the roof of the world, all alone.' Something frozen, like in this so famous Gaspar David Friedrich painting. Maybe speaking about symbolism would be more appropriated, cause in terms of artworks and even music, I'm feeling more influenced by painters like Khnopff, Moreau, Redon, Toorop, Rops, and by surrealist explorations from Max Ernst, and so many others.

Ian: What place does dreaming, nightmares, and sleeping hold in the way you create music?

Slo: Hard to say, sometimes I get these souvenirs, and I can't remember if it was true or dreamed. Sometimes I dream about music and try to record what's in my head. Sometimes I'm just feeling between two states, conscience and inconscience, especially when I play music, a part of me is playing and creating, and another side is just listening and floating. Sometimes, I was somewhere in the outer space, my flesh was so heavy and something in me were just rising in strange and abstract places haha. Sometimes you're clear as crystal, and you discover a band or create a song that makes you fly away. Music can be magic, literally. My nightmares are rare, thanks to my dreamcatcher. Bizarre dreams, yes, nightmares, not often, thanks.

Ian: You guys all have various side-projects, what can you say about those bands and the status of them at the moment?

Slo: You definitely should check Camille's other projects, Stagnant Waters and Dreams of The Drowned. Brilliant, modern, and innovative projects, he planned to release full-length from Stagnant Waters soon, with members of Pryapisme and Fleurety/Umoral, and what I've heard of it is just crazy as fuck. And I used to play the drums in a slowcore/noise band called Divine Irae.

Ian: In another interview, you had stated that you feel the French black metal scene is flourishing. What are some cool bands in your opinion that we should check out? Are you proud of being from a country that is getting as much praise as it does in terms of the "scene"?

Slo: In fact, French black metal scene always been singular and flourishing. Gorgon, Blessed In Sin, bands from the légions noires in the 90's.. France always been familiar with this style. And we always had unique bands, Supuration, early Misanthrope albums, Elend. In nowadays French black metal you can search for Sael, Asmodée, Pensées Nocturnes, and Galvauder, this band I just discovered on youtube... Very promising. Not relevant to black metal but keep an eye on Immemorial, and Pryapisme, the surprise is always real with those guys. And not French but, check As Light Dies from Spain, their last album is just one of the best extreme progressive metal release of the last year.

Ian: Well, I guess those are all the questions I have. Thanks for the interview, the last words are yours!

Slo: Thanks a lot to you and everyone spreading the word about us. We are them. Stay all pregnant.
If you haven't already checked out Smohalla, do yourself a big favor and look into them now to hear some of the best black metal released recently. Do not wait!

http://smohalla.free.fr/
http://smohalla.bandcamp.com/
http://www.myspace.com/smohalla#!/smohalla
https://www.facebook.com/clairebufalino#!/pages/Smohalla/267240098282

Interview - Quaoar's Iñigo and Josu

Quaoar are one of my favorite bands coming out of Spain at the moment, with a sound that really blurs the lines between modern and retro. Their new album, "The River & The Soul," really peaked my interest and it lit a fuse in me that hadn't been lit in several years, it made me want to listen to my old hard rock records from the 60s and 70s, but also made me want to spin this record over and over again.

Ian: I guess for the most obvious first question, why don't you tell me about how the band first came together?

Iñigo: The band started as a group of teenagers covering songs of their favourite bands. Just as a hobby.

Ian: I've read that you cite bands as wide as Opeth and Dream Theater to Pearl Jam and Tool as influences, who else would you cite as some of your greatest inspirations?

Josu: The Beatles are, undoubtedly, one of our strongest influences. We should mention Jeff Buckley, Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree, Metallica, etc too. The curious thing about it is that Dream Theater isn't an influence when we write songs at all. We don't listen to DT's songs usually, but we understand that listeners tend to compare us with them because DT is a reference in progressive metal nowadays.
There are also other artists that inspire us so much, but it's very difficult to perceive it while listening to our songs: Tom Waits, Neurosis, etc...

Ian: I remember reading that when you started, you were covering Amon Amarth and Carcass songs, is that true?
Josu: Yes! hahaha. Quaoar began as a death metal band and we covered a lot of songs of the old times of Carcass, Amon Amarth, Sepultura... Our singer was a death metal singer and the band members were totally different except for Josu and Aitor, who was a guitar player of the band for the first year, then he left, and finally he came back seven years later as our bass player.

Ian: At what point did Iñigo come into the band? What did he add to it that you didn't have before?

Josu: Iñigo joined the band in 2006. After losing Txaber, our second singer, we started to search for someone who not only could sing death metal [vocals]. I mean, we wanted a real singer because our likes were changing and we needed to do something more melodic. Iñigo came into the rehearsal room, he played a song by The Beatles and we were just blown away. He was really better than we could have expected.
Without Iñigo, Quaoar wouldn't be what it is today. Surely, Quaoar wouldn't exist. Since he got into the band, lots of songs were redefined with his voice and got totally renewed. After recording "Man't", Iñigo has composed a lot of songs (in fact, more than a half of the new record) and his voice is the cornerstone of the personality of the band.

Ian: How did the band evolve from the Quaoar demo to "Man't" in your opinion? Were there any significant changes that took place?

Josu: The Quaoar demo is really a live recording. We sent it to some webzines but apart from that it didn't make a great impact.
The difference between the demo and "Man't" is total. It is like another band and the only thing that shares with Quaoar is the name and a band member: me. That's why the first reference of Quaoar is "Man't." We never name the demo as stuff of the band. It wouldn't make any sense.

Ian: What's the writing process like for you guys?

Josu: Until now, the compositions have come out from a specific person (usually Iñigo or me), but lately we are starting to compose more songs together. Iñigo usually takes everything defined, and when another one takes a song, Iñigo composes the vocal lines and the lyrics. In the rehearsals, more than composing, we put ideas together, because we take the riffs and the structures from home. It may happen that you are walking down the street and suddenly something occurs to you. Then you take your phone or whatever, you hum it and record it, and when you arrive home, you try to decode it hahaha. Iñigo, sometimes, has dreamed of a song and he has been able to remember it and record it (that happened with My Anger Runs's chorus). Since the first pieces of a song come out before the song is completely ended and arranged, it may take months. It's a hard process.

Ian: What was the concept of "Man't?"

Iñigo: "Man't" is a word that came out while writing the lyrics for the song. I wrote a message on internet to my friends and fans asking them for things that frustrate them. With some of their frustrations and
mine, I wrote the lyrics of the song "Man't". The word "Man't" comes from putting together the words "Man" and "Can't". The antithesis of Man.

Ian: "Man't" really showcased a lot more of a "traditional" progressive metal sound, while "The River and The Soul" feels a lot more hard rock oriented with more focus on songs, what did you do differently when recording the new record compared to the first?

Iñigo: The recording process was almost the same. Both times, we started recording the album without having completed some songs. That's not the way we'd want to do it, but otherwise we'd have never go into the recording studio.
In "The River & The Soul", we wanted the guitars to sound more powerful and louder, and we also wanted the bass lines to be less over-elaborate.

Ian: About how long did it take to write and record "The River and The Soul?" What goals did you have in mind when you started to write it and do you believe you achieved them?

Josu: The writing process took from 2007 to the end of 2009. The recording at Beard Studios (great professionals, great friends) started in the beginning of 2010. We spent 8 months recording because we all had to work at the same time (also because we wanted the songs to be perfect too, obviously). This is something that we can do thanks to the friendship that unites us with Javier and Borja from Beard Studios. They are very flexible with us and have a lot of patience.
Our goals were overcoming "Man't" and doing a great rock record, and we think we have achieved them amply. The sound is better, the songs are better, the whole record is more homogeneous and mature... We are very happy, our fans are very happy too and we are receiving rave reviews all around the world.
Ian: There's a lot of different dynamics going on throughout the album, and how the album's structured really enhanced the listening experience. Did you put much thought into how the songs were arranged on the album or did it naturally flow like it does?

Iñigo: Sometimes it flows naturally, but since the songs have many different atmospheres, we have to be very careful with a lot of parts. The most difficult song to be performed in studio was Absolutely. It's a very delicate song and it needed a lot of attention to perform it properly.

Ian: The new album definitely feels likes there's a lot more space in the songs, was it a conscious move towards songs that were not as instrumentally complex as the debut?

Iñigo: It was not conscious. In these 3 years between "Man't" and "The River & The Soul" we have changed as musicians and as people. These new songs fit with what we are and what we feel today. Besides that, it is noteworthy that all the songs in "Man't" were composed by Josu, while the songs in "The River & The Soul" have been composed by Josu, Hugo and myself.

Ian: The new record really has some of the best vocals I've heard all year, but Absolutely definitely stuck out to me with a big Jeff Buckley kind of vibe, how did that song come together, both musically and vocally?

Iñigo: Thank you so much! The first part of the song and the vocal melody came out at the same time many years ago. At that time I was in a very hard emotional situation and I discovered Jeff Buckley, who helped me to get out of the mud. Throughout the following year, I ended the music and the vocal melodies of the whole song (also at the same time - they came together naturally), but it wasn't until two years later that I met a girl who inspired me to write the lyrics of the song. She is not my girlfriend anymore, but I will love her forever for what we had and for what she awakened on me. Absolutely.
Ian: You guys have been labeled as a progressive band, but you guys really dance between being metal, rock, and just plain alternative, are there any lines between genres for you guys?

Josu: We don't see ourselves as a progressive band. If someone hears that Quaoar is a progressive band, they will probably imagine something totally different than what we are. On the other hand, we understand that sometimes people label us this way, because many of our songs are long and have complex structures in a way. But we just do rock with no limits or expectations. We make songs with no pretensions and without thinking if we are doing metal, progressive, alternative... We don't think it matters. The important thing about it is to create good songs honestly, not to create songs for a specific music style.
We feel good this way, and we achieve to do different songs that are coherent with each other. Songs with a spirit in common.
Without going any further, there are many different genres inside of many of The Beatles albums. They played folk, hard rock, pop, psychedelia... and all that in the same record without sounding incoherent, with lots of personality. We think that this has been lost nowadays. If you play a record (for example) of Swedish modern death metal or metalcore, you will hear only that style of music and only the frame of mind that that music style represents. How can you give room to all the emotions, perceptions, feelings... that you want to represent when you are creating art if you stick yourself to a determined music style?

Ian: I'm curious if there's much of a scene for you guys in Spain, because it would seem to me that you could play with all sorts of bands, so is there any real style or band that's more comfortable playing with?
Iñigo: There are many bands in Spain that make exceptional music. One Direction Drive, Last Fair Deal, & James Room ... These are bands that are really worth it. Although there is no other band similar to us here, as our likes are wide, we feel quite comfortable playing with all kind of bands like metal bands or rock/grunge/progressive bands.
Of course we have a lot of friends in other bands around here and every time we can we give a concert together, no matter the style they play.

Ian: As far as I know, you're still an unsigned band. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages to being an independent band?

Iñigo: We've had some offers to sign for labels, but we have not found what we think we need. We need a label that bets strongly on us. This is difficult because for some labels we are too light and for others we are too heavy... And we still have not found any medium/big progressive label that is interested in promoting our music.
Anyway, we feel quite comfortable being an unsigned band, because we can do things our way and we don't have to be answerable to anyone we don't agree with. But on the other hand, we know that we need a label to make progress as a band.

Ian: I guess that's about it, thanks for letting me interview you. The last words are yours.

Iñigo: Thank you so much for hearing us and for making a review of "The River & The Soul"! It was a pleasure.
If anyone wants to hear the whole record, just go to http://quaoar.bandcamp.com. If anyone wants to buy some stuff: http://quaoar.bigcartel.com. If anyone wants to know about us or our shows, search for Quaoar in facebook or go to www.myspace.com/quaoar.

We love you. Stay Rock!
As I've said before, I definitely recommend checking out "The River & The Soul," it's easily one of the best progressive/hard rock albums I've heard in a long while. If you like hard rock or progressive metal/rock do not wait to check these guys out!

http://quaoar.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Quaoar/147719487441
http://www.myspace.com/quaoar/blog/543308957#!/quaoar

Interview - Servile Sect's Luke Knkr

Releasing one of the best albums this year, Servile Sect completely blew me away with "TRVTH" and I just had to get in contact with them. Luckally, Luke contacted me pretty much within ten minutes of me sending an email to him and accepted my request for an interview.

Ian: Looking back to when you two first started writing music together, about how long did it take to really develop into Servile Sect?

Luke: We began playing music together with different projects in the mid 1990's. Servile Sect was our first time making music like this. Everything we did before was more typically metal. We began in 2005 and have remained somewhat active since then.

Ian: Back when you first released "Stratospheric Passenger" did you ever think that you'd get to where you are today, both musically and commercially?

Luke: We've never had expectations or made a real attempt to be a "band", so having anyone outside of our circle hear what we're doing always feels a bit strange and surprising. It's been great though, people have been very positive and extremely supportive.

Ian: When you look back at that album, what kind of memories do you have of it? How do you see the album today in comparison to how you saw it when you first finished it?

Luke: Our lives were very hectic and stressful. Meeting up to work on the album was the best possible vacation from the daily routines we despised. We still dig the record and are in the same headspace musically.

Ian: I remember reading a review for "Stratospheric Passenger" that compared you to Nadja, what are your thoughts on that?

Luke: No comment.

Ian: "Eternal Mind" felt like it was more of an experiment where you explored more musical territories than your debut. Would you say that this release made you more comfortable with exploring less aggressive sounds in your music?

Luke: "Eternal Mind" is a collection of recordings stretching from mid 2009 back to when we first started. The selection of songs fits within a theme and overall feeling. The first side consists of two old collaborations - one with our pal from back in Phoenix, Nick Phit (Graves at Sea), and the other with Luedke from Chicago. Side two is three tracks from three different time periods recorded in various places on random gear.

Ian: What made you release "Eternal Mind" as a free release after the original Senseless Empire release?

Luke: The Senseless Empire release was an edition of 80 copies that sold out very quickly. Most of the copies went to Canada. When Radical Matters approached us to do a web edition it was a good opportunity to make it more available. Eternal Mind is still on the Radical Matters website as a free download...

Ian: Though I still feel like "Realms of The Queen" is my least favorite effort from you guys, I feel like I am only now starting to actually grasp the sounds on it. What went into making that record, was it any different from the two before it?

Luke: "Realms..." was our first real bi-coastal effort. We met up in California for a few days and sorted through ideas. After we were back at home we exchanged recordings over the internet for a while and built things into whatever it became. The process was different than anything we had done before. We were struggling with a lot of new thoughts and information at that point and the album reflects it accurately.

Ian: I know a lot of the songs from that album in particular hold quite a place a lot of your fan's hearts. What do you think you grew with that release?

Luke: "Realms..." was the first time really stepping back and allowing time for songs to settle. Because of the distance things moved at a slower pace which let things become more refined.

Ian: How did you hook up with Handmade Birds?

Luke: R. Loren wrote to us in late 2010 wondering what we were up to. We exchanged a few emails and felt that our ideas about music were very compatible. He's doing some of the coolest releases around right now so we're psyched to be involved.

Ian: What is the "TRVTH" exactly?

Luke: None of us will ever know, but the process of attempting to grasp reality is what it's all about.

Ian: About how long did it take to write and record "TRVTH?" What kinds of ideas and concepts did you want to express in the album when you first started?

Luke: We worked on the album from mid 2010 until early 2011. We sent each other demo recordings fairly regularly until we felt like things were ready. In February we did studio recordings with some contributions from our friends Joshua Convey and Robert Nelson. The concepts deal with the strangeness of reality.

Ian: Before the release, and the month or two leading up to its release, I didn't really see all that much press for your stuff, but it really seems to have exploded with this album. What are your thoughts on this, to me, sudden burst of press for "TRVTH?"

Luke: We truly appreciate all of the support and enthusiasm. As of this past weekend Handmade Birds officially sold out of "Trvth."

Ian: I know that you recorded your parts of "TRVTH" while in Nepal and mixed it while in Rishikesh, how did the first half of the album, in your opinion, come to be shaped by the environments in those cities?

Luke: Creating music outside of the typical framework or comfort of a rehearsal space, bedroom or studio has been motivating for us and something we've been doing since the early stages. It's paved the way for new approaches we wouldn't have tried otherwise and injected crazy vibes.

Ian: Beyond sideB of "TRVTH," to what extent have you ever felt the need to really exhibit and showcase a more direct black metal sound in Servile Sect?

Luke: No comment.

Ian: "TRVTH" is one of the few records I would dare to call mind blowing this year, it definitely sounds like no one else. It's also one of the select records that I've actually been able to have an "out-of-body" experience to, would you say this is more of an isolated occurrence or have other people told you similar things?

Luke: Wow, thanks. A few people here and there have made jokes about "tripping out". We always encourage people to get extremely stoned, that will of course help.

Ian: I know that you've said that you both still try and keep a metal set of values, but the sounds shown on all of your recordings reach into realms that are far more abstract and out of "metal" boundaries. Is it intentional to push boundaries into new realms of experimentation, at least for yourselves, but keep the outlook focused on the darker portions of life?

Luke: As far as "metal values" go, everything we're about is based in self-empowerment. We're anti-establishment, anti-culture. We never set out to push boundaries and we're fairly intentioned so it's not so much experimentation. We're drawn to metal and that will always be our reference. We try to not over-think it and just play what comes naturally.

Ian: Are the topics of space and the cosmos as a whole what make up the concepts of Servile Sect or more the sci-fi and aliens aspect?

Luke: Everything behind SS is tied into the desire to understand reality. Those topics are all at the forefront of this.

Ian: The mixtape that you provided for Stereogum was quite revealing of some of your influences, but I'm curious what are some influences that are perhaps outside of the realms of black metal that you think are quite important?

Luke: We listen to all sorts of stuff. A few random non-metal records with some gems that fit into the theme: A.R. and Machines - "Die grüne Reise", Moon Duo - "Escape", Belong - "October Language", Tim Hecker - "Harmony in Ultraviolet". Books: Carlos Casteneda, Terence Mckenna, Aldous Huxley.

Ian: A lot of modern American black metal bands are tagged as "hipster black metal," what are your thoughts on that?

Luke: If it sounds good, awesome.

Ian: What are the differences in how you write songs for Servile Sect compared to Ithi, Sadness Saturn, and Ash Borer?

Luke: No comment.

Ian: What's next for you two, I know that Sadness Saturn is planning a reissue of the split with Utarm? What lies ahead for Servile Sect?

Luke: In late August/early September Land of Decay is releasing a C-30 cassette of Servile Sect demos from 2005/2006. We're doing a Golden Raven/Sadness Saturn split tape on Handmade Birds. He's also re-issuing the Utarm/Sadness Saturn tape in a very small edition. At some point soon we'll be releasing a companion to "Trvth". There are plenty of other things in the works. We'd like to start playing shows soon...

Ian: Well, I guess that it, thanks again for letting me interview you, it's been great. Thanks again for the fantastic album.


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