Endless Disappointment 10 - Forbidden Cats

Endless Disappointment Issue 10 Forbidden Cats September 2020

10th Issue Overkill edition Featuring: Wvrm / Venom Prison / Undergang Wallowing / Hellripper / The Infernal Sea Escuela Grind/ Sedimentum / Vacuous

For those reading this for the first time; I started this out in July 2019, with the intention of releasing one a month. Fast forward 13 months and I've managed to release *drum roll* 10 ISSUES So much for that target then... shit.

So there's this one, then there's 3 random issues about wrestling that'll come out at a later date (I interview a Dog in one of them, seriously), then I'm taking a break to work on some spicy record releases. Upside though we're getting nearer to returning to shows happening again (as well as the fabled practice of saying you'll go to a show, then bailing at the last minute).

ANYWAY To mark a year of Endless Disappointment Zine I've figuratively thrown the Kitchen Sink at this issue; this issue is utterly stacked. How stacked? So stacked I've had to include a bloody contents page it's that stacked. This is the first issue as well to have distribution in Mainland Europe too so that's pretty snazzy as well (shout out to Extremely Rotten Productions, who come up later in the issue anyway).

Got a bit of everything in this issue too, Grindcore, Sludge, Black metal, Death metal, Thrash, more Grindcore. I even threw in a tiny bit about South Wales bands I miss to keep myself grounded (it also took up one solitary page quite well).

So anyway, read and enjoy, or not, you've got a copy now you might as well do something with it.

IG: FuckHypeEndlessDisappointment https://www.facebook.com/FxHxExD/ https://fhed.bandcamp.com/

1 - wvrm 8 - Sedimentum 12 - wallowing 21 - Bands I miss: South Wales 22 - Hellripper 26 - The Infernal Sea 32 - Venom Prison 38 - Undergang 50 - Vacuous 52 - Escuela grind

I can somewhat relate to Wvrm's plight as a band; hailing from South Carolina, a general depth in terms of grindcore and powerviolence in the area required them to adapt and play more diverse shows so as to keep active as a band. A similar sentiment is seen in my hometown of Cardiff, where in the past bands on the fringes of certain genres piece together what they can in terms of opportunities and found themselves on all sorts of mismatched bills in the process.

Their latest full-length Colony Collapse came out a few months ago via Prosthetic Records; having had them fixed on my list of grindcore bands I wanted to feature for a while now, it was dead-snazzy to have a chat with them and see what was up.

So taking it back to the beginning, what was your musical background before forming Wvrm and what caused Wvrm to form?

Me (Ian) and Brett were in a Death Metal band for a few years before wanting to branch off to something a little more raw.

In previous interviews you've spoken about the individual members drawing influence from across a broad spectrum of extreme music; specifically where do members get their individual infuences from?

Well Brett (drums) definitely gets a lot of influence from Rotten Sound and other blast machines, Dylan (bass) comes from more of a hardcore punk background, Derick (guitar) has a pretty wide range from Death Metal to Industrial, and I just scream about nonsense Wvrm's sound is undeniably despondent and pissed off, who do you consider the greatest influences to Wvrm's overall sound?

The greatest influence is life and how shitty it is. But sonically we get a lot of influence from all the grind, death, and doom classics. We just try to make something that come straight from our hearts but is also familiar to everyone listening.

Your first release "Despair" came out about 7 years ago, since then you've gone on to write several EP's and Albums (as well as a few splits along the way too). How do you stay so productive!?

Derick having his own studio (DSC Recordings) helps a lot.

But also we love to write music. It's an amazing experience and we hope to keep churning it all out for many years to come.

Have you found any difficulties keeping momentum going with the band as the years go by?

Well life happens. Things can get in the way. But ultimately as far we're concerned the only thing that has fucked up our momentum is Covid-19.

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Your latest album Colony Collapse came out a few months back, with the songs having some fairly striking names for songs that touch upon a lot of hard-truths in the world these days. Could you walk us through the themes and influences for each song (in essence explain what each song is about track-by-track).

1. Walled Slum City: We wanted a fast and heavy opener. It’s about growing up and loving your friends while watching and experiencing the crumbling of society.

2. War Promise//Secessionville: We went for short and grindy on this one. This song is purely about rebellion.

3. Shining Path: We wanted to change it up a bit for this one. Mostly drum and vocal driven with fast grind riffs. This song is mostly based around the idea of Third Worldism. The name being derived from The Shining Path of Peru.

4. Anti-Democracy//Locust Breath: The thought behind this was a heavy opening scrawl and then change it up to some Napalm Death inspired punked our and fast grind. We wanted to give the feeling of troops and tanks barreling through a bombed out city. It's about the rise of Authoritarianism 5. Black Flags Toward Sodom (Me Ne Frego): Another fast and heavy. Wanted to throw a little more Death Metal in the mix with gutturals and slams. This song and Tank Reaper have basically the same theme. Anti-Nationalism 6. Tank Reaper: The idea with this one was what if we wrote a Death Metal song but centered around Surf riff. And I'm not joking at all btw. Again, definitely an Anti-Nationalist song but a little more bent toward the evils of imperialism and colonialism, especially it's affects on the indigenous.

7. Hands That Bear The Hive: We kind of like those chaotic dissonant chords a lot of Metalcore bands use so we wanted to write a little part utilizing those and then descend into some gravity blast laden grind. Maybe we became fashion grind on this one, but it's cool lol.

Honestly this one is about being woke to class consciousness and the traumatic affect it has on your mind.

8. Thorn Palace: The idea with this one was sort of the opposite of Anti-Democracy. Fast opener into heavy close. This song is completely about the end of civilization and a possible rebirth from it's destruction.

9. My Fucking Dixie (The New South): We thought why don't we write a Doom song but with blast beats almost the whole time. Sick idea, right??!!

This song is very clearly about the problems in the south, the need for class consciousness, and the solutions to turn the once vile home of white supremacy into a new utopia of equality and equity. Or we can just burn it all down. Whatever.

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10. Years Of Lead: We just really wanted a heavy as fuck song right here. It’s about the international struggle against all forms of domination and the anguish that comes from suffering under the boot heel.

11. Violet Nuclear: The main idea behind this one is that we wanted to have a song with feedback through the whole thing up until the riff changes up at the end. We even put in what we call a "Gothic King Cobra Solo" (you'll have to look that up on YouTube) We just had a lot of fun with this one. Lyrically it's about being in love at the end of the world and lamenting on all the things you couldn't have together. You could probably equate that to the end of any relationship.

12. Furious Movement//The Burning Tower: We wanted a fast grinder with dope riffs and another sweet noisey solo, so sue us. Another one we had a lot of fun with. It's generally about being disgusted with the western world but also hoping that all the deplorable things about it and the society and people it creates will change.

13. Colony Collapse: Speaking of fun...we really had a blast with this one. We really came out of our comfort zone and experimented with a lot of different noise instruments and drums. Brett's wife even contributed some violin. Lyrically it's just sort of a repeated mantra. I was just feeling it at the time.

14. Angel Of Assassination: We wanted to end the album in a big and epic way. Derick played a two string cello while I had recorded the singing bowl and prayer bells. We wanted a kind of haunting intro to go with the noisey chaotic close of the previous track. All culminating into a fast Deathgrind bonanza. Hope we did a good job. This song is just about the end of all things as experienced in a dream and upon waking you find yourself in the reality your dream sought to destroy. And the end is illustrated through begging the angelic (and feminine) destructive force from the dream to become real and bring true annihilation to the dark empire we have all been imprisoned within.

Thorn Palace utilised some very fitting samples at the beginning and midway through the song, where did you source them from?

The first is Fred Hampton. One of the founders of the Chicago chapter of The Black Panthers. The second is actually myself. I came up with the idea after reading "Ozymandias"

by Percy Shelley Being released whilst the world was knee-deep in a pandemic, aside from not being able to promote the album through shows, have you found current events inhibited the impact of the release at all?

I imagine the tour we had lined up with Napalm Death would of helped a good bit. I'm sure everyone has been hit hard by the state of things.

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seriously though, look how ridiculously good that lineup is. Another spicy tour ruined at the hands of Covid-19

I remember seeing a quote from the Wormwood Chronicles where they got ants in their pants over some of the social themes in the record, were you surprised to see someone so offended by your stance throughout the album and have you seen such feelings pop up across any other reviews?

Not surprised at all. But also not upset by it.

Good or bad that person was forced to think about something they disagreed with. And I think that's good for all of us. It's honestly kind of surprising there wasn't more of that.

There seemed to be a whole lot more praise than negativity.

On the subject of that actually, do you ever get tired of people saying music is "too political" whenever any themes of injustice or inequality is identified in music?

Music has always been this way. The best music throughout history has had messages. If you don't like it then don't pay attention to that part and just vibe, dummy Looking back now to some of your older material, on your "Can You Hear the Wind Howl" release, by any chance was the song Mountain of Dead Pigs a play on MDC (Millions of Dead Cops)?

That wasn't the thought at the time but I like where your mind goes I've read as well that it was one of the quicker songs for you to write too?

Well that whole EP was written in like two weeks. We had no idea we were going to record it. I finished the lyrics on the way to Boston, where we recorded it.

Given the current onslaught against American Law Enforcement and some of their more questionable behaviours, are you proud or concerned that the song seems to have aged impeccably well?

Extremely proud. I mean, this shit has been popping off for a long time. I have a feeling any anti-cop song will age well until we finally abolish the police entirely.

Can you Hear the Wind Howl had some fairly dark and gruesome lyrics at play throughout the album, what other subjects and themes did you want to touch upon in that album?

Yeah it's kind of a mix between mental health problems and political commentary. I believe the two go hand in hand. Fixing society will drastically help people with their mental health as well.

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I've read that the art to that release, designed by Connor Anderson, also holds some meaning. Can you expand on what the artwork was looking to represent?

We wanted something that represented where we're from and something that represented dark music from south. The Palm tree and crescent moon is taken directly from the South Carolina flag and the back ground is the Charleston coastline. Very on the nose, I know. The characters in the middle represent the legend of blues musician Robert Johnson and the mythos surrounding him allegedly selling his soul to Satan for The Blues. The name is actually derived from his song "Come On In My Kitchen" where he says "can't you hear that wind howl" between lines.

Looking at the recording process of that EP, I've seen that you recorded it with legendary engineer Kurt Ballou after winning a competition via MetalSucks, how did it go down when you tried to record an entire EP when it was only meant to be for recording one song?

Since we got it done in Two hours when they gave us two days, Kurt was actually kind of pleased he didn't have do too much.

Looking more to your local scene. Whilst the UK tends to have one unified collective of music scenes, in the USA it's easy to identify very distinguishable scenes based on certain states/regions. How is the scene like in South Carolina when weighed up against other parts of the USA? SC is small but very passionate. We may not stack up to others as far as the amount of bands or the size of scenes. But it's always been fierce and fiery.

What would you change about your local scene?

MORE BANDS! Looking forward, what does the future hold for Wvrm, and on a bigger scale, America?

Damn. You know I could of probably answered that with much more confidence a few months ago.

WVRM will keep grinding out what we feel like. America...Well that remains to be seen. In the end though I have faith that someday we'll get somewhere better for everyone. What that will take, I'm not exactly sure yet.

Colony Collapse is out now via Prosthetic Records for more information, followup the links below. https://wvrmgrind.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/wvrmgrind

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You can rarely tell whether you're onto something truly good when a new band releases their first material; some take a few years to develop, whilst some seemingly hit the ground running and nobody knows what hit them. Sedimentum, hailing from Quebec are a fairly strong example of the latter; their demo release being so well received that it got itself a vinyl-release and still managed to sell out several times over. It's not surprising either, whilst I can't put my finger on what makes their demo so unique, it' truly something special.

It also turns out they haven't partaken of any interviews before, so I get the cheeky accomplishment of being the first media outlet to chat with them.

As not many websites or publications have interviewed you, I have the privilege of being one of the first outlets to get to know the band better. How did the band come together?

The band was formed in 2008. Basically we are a bunch of friends who wanted to play old school death metal because it’s a style we all loved and felt was under-represented in Québec. Nate started playing drums with Ulysse and Alexis writing mean guitar riffs and then I (Math) joined on bass a bit after. Me, Alexis and Nate learned to play our instruments with Sedimentum (we usually play drums, bass and guitar respectively) so the raw feeling is real haha!

Were any of you in bands before forming Sedimentum?

Yes, Sedimentum was meant to be a side project that went kind of out of proportion to be honest! Bands in wich we play / used to play when we started are Outre-Tombe, KickAssViolence, Mortläch, Saccage, Albatros, Whitenails and Rope. We’re all big music enthusiasts so we like to always have a few projects going on.

Their debut has seen a CD release via Triumvirate of Evil Records, a Cassette release via Iron Bonehead and a 12" Vinyl release via Fucking Kill Records

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Despite being referred to as a Demo, which are usually rough recordings by bands that give an idea as to their style but aren't necessarily the finished product, I would go as far as saying your Demo was some of the best Death Metal I heard last year. Did you expect to receive so much praise/attention off the back of your first recordings?

Not at all! We recorded in our jamspace with our friend Alexandre Landry with what we already had for equipment in like half a day. We were about to self release 100 tapes but when we put it on bandcamp we got lots of offers from labels all around the world wich was really unexpected but pretty awesome.

Your demo has even been released on CD and Vinyl, the vinyl release being re-pressed several times over. Did you expect there to be so much intrigue worldwide with respect to your music?

Nope! I mean, we were pretty proud of what we had done with the demo and thought we were going to have a small buzz in QuĂŠbec since the scene is small but never thought it would be sold worldwide. We got to thank the guys from Iron Bonehead, Fucking Kill and Triumvirate Of Evil for doing such a good job for the different versions of the demo.

English-speaking countries are naturally lazy and, with the exception of Brujeria and a few other bands, fans expect bands to write music typically in English even if it's not their first (or even second) language. Were you ever concerned that fans would be deterred by song-titles they wouldn't understand and lyrics they would definitely not be able to understand?

It has not occured to us. We're all big fans of Rippikoulu who are singing in Finnish and never felt bothered by that. If people really want to know what we're talking about, they can always ask.

In your first new music since last year, you are set to release a split with Phobophillic from North Dakota, USA. How did you come to meet them?

We were looking for bands to do a split with and Alexis already knew about them. He was randomly talking with Vincent from Phobophilic and since we both had respect for each other's band and also had new stuff we wanted to release soon, here we are!

What made you go with releasing a split-7" with another band, rather than work towards an album or another EP?

We were (and still are) working on some stuff for an album that we want to put out in 2021 but we didn't want to wait that long before releasing something new. We decided to record 2 songs we had finished in february 2020. The first one is on the split with Phobophilic and we have another 7" split coming at the end of the year if everything goes well.

Horrific Manifestations, out soon via Rotted Life Records

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Given a lot of bands can wait months, or even years, before a release sells out, are you surprised that the split 7" is already sold out?

Yeah totally! We didn't think it would be this fast. It's really uplifting for us. Shout out to Jason at Rotted Life for doing a great job with this release.

The material was recording during a time when the world was suffering from the Covid19 pandemic, how did you record your song for the split-release, did you encounter any problems along the way?

We're really lucky because we recorded just a couple of weeks before everything shut down in Canada so we didn't have any troubles with that. It did slow us down a bit for the writing process of the upcoming LP but we're back at it now! Fun fact: we have a song on the demo that talks about a virus that decimates the planet.... oh well.

The Artwork for the split is intriguing, what led you to choosing Jois Cabe to do the artwork for the release and how much input did you have in what he drew?

Jois has a nice clean and fresh style, that's pretty much why we went with him. The drawing was something he had already done but we made 2-3 changes to it and it was perfect for the release then. Most of the time the artists are open to change so that was pretty okay with him.

Are there any other artists you would recommend or would like to work with in the future?

There is a TON. But just to name a few, I personally like Inklesions (D.M - David Mikkelsen ) Gutslaughter, BloodThrower has done a fair bit of artworks for us too that you will see soon enough, Necrofrost did our first demo artwork and Nightmare Imagery is on our list as well.

To date Sedimentum has not played live, nor has anything been announced for the future. Can we ever expect Sedimentum to play live or will you remain a studio-project for the forseeable future?

Actually, we did play live once back in december 2019. We were supposed to tour in the USA and play a few gigs in Canada this year but everything was cancelled. We're looking forward to start playing again when it will be safe to do so!

What are your plans for the rest of the year and what can we expect from Sedimentum?

We will keep working on the full length and we have another split 7" coming for the end of the year. I know one label is working on a final press of the tape version of the demo. We don't think we will be playing live in 2020 but as soon as we can we will hit the road.

To catch up on one of the most interesting Death Metal Bands of recent years, follow the links below https://sedimentum.bandcamp.com https://rottedlife.bandcamp.com

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A lot of bands dabble in concepts, be it through a concept album, or focusing their band around a particular idea or theme.

Whether it's Fast-Food characters playing Black Sabbath covers, or unecessarily theatrical Orthodox Christian priests, the theme that unites them all is that the gimmick will only get you so far, and to get people to really invest you're going to need the music to back it up.

Whilst Wallowing have the audio-arsenal to warrant attention on its own, their commitment to their creative concept is what puts them on a pantheon above anything else in the UK at the moment; implementing a merchandise strategy straight out the book of 80's toy companies. You may have seen in Issue 8 an advert put together in support of their small-run of action figures, that wasn't a joke, but don't get excited as there's only going to be 10 available and I'm going to do all I can to be one of them.

Anyway, I waffle too much: I had a chat with Wallowing to dig a bit deeper in respect to the band and what makes them tick.

So Wallowing was formed from members of a variety of snazzy bands, which bands do members have their roots in and what were the motivations behind forming the band?

T: Though Wallowing is its own separate identity, we are all incredibly creative people and enjoy having different creative outlets musically and emotionally. At the time of conception all us had different projects on the go including bands such as Prisa Mata, Surya, Aerosol Jesus, King Goat and Herd Mover. With us all coming from different heavy and extreme musical backgrounds, playing with a variety of different sounds and bands, it made creating the "PLANET LOSS" album a lot of fun as we all felt we could bring something varied and different to the table. The band was formed around a shared vision to create something entirely different that wasn't bound by genre, that could act as a creative 'free-space' for everyone involved where we could go as wild as we wanted. It was important to us to create something solely for the sake of enjoying ourselves - without any other motive aside from rad jams, good times and pushing ourselves and each other to play the gnarliest warped shit we could think of.

R: There's not much I could really add to Tom's answer here but me and him have been playing music together since we were about 15. So he asked me to jump in when Mark was unsure he could play the mad bass lines, do vocals and soundscapes all together (what a trooper for giving it a go though). I was very keen to join as I'd heard the riffs whilst Mark and Tom were jamming at our house, as well as some rough demos of songs Tom recorded with Charlie from Ill In Pain and knew the rough concept from when Tom had shown me some of his ideas. It made a lot of sense having played with him for years. I could decipher the erratic madness and knew what he was going for. That being said he gave me total freedom to make it my own like all aspects and members of Wallowing, which I think gives it that swirling maelstrom born from everyone pushing themselves to the absolute limit creatively.

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M: I was playing bass in Prisa Mata and Surya when Wallowing began but what i do in this band has its roots in a much earlier project. A decade ago (at least) i was playing in The Quatermass Xperiment. 2 of us with a mixer each and a pile of circuit bent toys and guitar pedals making weird out noisey jams with a live drummer. When we started discussing the whole sci-fi/soundscape side of this project it was an obvious influence in how to approach it all.

Starting out initially as a one-man project, what spurred you to forming a larger band around the concept?

T: I originally started what became to be Wallowing as a outlet for myself to write whatever I want, however I wanted it. I personally feel as if a load of bands these days go into a project with a set idea or style of music in mind (and im not saying that is a bad thing), but personally wanted to do something that wasn't tied down by genre and for me to able to play whatever riffs I wanted next to another bunch of riffs that may not be comprehensible when sticking to a specific style. So I ended up writing the rough drafts of 'PLANET LOSS' by feeling it out naturally, playing a sludgy riff 'here' and thinking 'fuck it, this could lead into this grindy section and then slap some prog rock at the end' because it felt natural at the time, without having to adapt my playing style to fit into any genre.

With the 'free' playing style, the drafts became more and more extreme and it dawned on me pretty quickly that it was too much of an undertaking for one person. Fortunately I found open minds and a shared vision for a creative free-space that wasn't tied down by genre in Zak, Mark, Rauiri and Jon, who for the most part were already in loop with the project through casual conversation. Once we all got in a room together it was pretty obvious to us all that we had created the kind of abomination that was too much fun and way too silly to keep to ourselves, so began working on the album and setting plans for live shows, and Wallowing was born.

Normally I would feel bad about bringing up a question you've probably had to answer a million times over, but I don't. I think it is important that the readers learn more about your stage attire (i.e. Bee-keeper outfits covered in LED lights).

R: One thing about us is that we're all incredibly up for any ideas, even if they have their inception in a bit of a laugh between us. At a practice someone made a joke about playing in beesuits after Jon was talking about a b-side record he was involved with a while back(I think he wanted to call it "Who let the bees out"). After the initial joke and some discussions we actually realised (in line with some of the grander theme) that they could make a pretty decent B-movie esque space suit so we dyed them black, adorned ourselves in LED's and the 'wobblenauts' came into existence. It was for sure the start of all our mad capped ideas and made us realise how insanely down we all are for developing not just the visual elements but all aspects of the universe we are creating.

Z: It's really funny to me that even when we first started wearing them we were like "Let's not wear them all the time cause they smell and we don#t wanna be known as just the bee suit band".

Fast forward to now and they're literally part of the whole thing. Feels like ceremonial garb at this point. Still smells though.

M: They are rather salty.

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Seeing as your identities are largely obscured behind the outfits, have you ever been tempted to have a set where all the performers are fill-ins and the band is watching from the crowd?

R: I think the fact our identities are left rather ambiguous to those who don't know us is great. It totally adds to the atmosphere and you can always feel the vibe of the room shift once the lights are out and the fog and lasers begin with the slow build up of noise. I would be very tempted to see it from the audience perspective given the chance. I thoroughly love the cosmic wobble, playing 'Planet Loss' is such a mad experience everytime we play it, and to be able to share and discuss some of the feelings conjured up by performing the whole piece with someone else who's experienced it would be fascinating. I definitely know who I'd pick to see performing 'Planet Loss' if this came to fruition.

Speaking strictly in hypotheticals here, should someone say... release a swarm of bees into the venue, how prepared would you be?

M: It's a regular topic of conversation on the road. We are ready!

T: I think for the most part we would be pretty fine, though knowing our luck this would happen at the peak of summer at the sweatiest basement show when we all decide to wear shorts, making a breach very possible. Here's hoping the sonic rumblings and the stench of five men swaddled in an unnecessary amount of cloth deters them.

R: Ah sorry Tom I'm gonna have to disagree big time on this one - we'd be fucked and up shit creek without a smoker!

We've got a couple of friends who have a few hives in their orchard that have a couple real bee suits and a couple spare ones that are pretty much exactly the same as ours. I was lucky enough to spend some time helping out with their orchard. I suited up to have a gander at the hives and was dive bombed and harassed by the bees - it was terrifying. They crawl upwards when they land on you so they'd get right in underneath. Also - Jons suit has a rip in the face mesh so he's gonna have a wickerman moment it will be chaos. Hypothetically speaking. Shout out to the boys from Spryder for being the first and only people to show up to see us in beekeeping attire.

T: There we have it - goes to show what I know! Although I am purely a beekeeper by aesthetic. I second that though - 'Spryder' Cider is the way forward. That stuffs brutally potent.

Z: I mean I fancy my chances relative to someone not wearing a bee suit?

Planet Loss, your debut LP, is a melting pot of different musical influences contributing to the overall dissonant reverb-drenched sludge sound. Whilst diverse sounds are often perceived as chaotic or confused creative processes, that's rarely the case at all and usually the band is just taking a very creative route to a very set goal. What sort of atmosphere or mood were you wanting to capture with the project?

T: I think because we didn't actively go out of our way to write in various styles, and the overall sound came incredibly naturally (as I mentioned above, the guitar parts were written in a very natural process, just feeling out the tracks based on what felt right for the next section) we managed to avoid falling into that confused territory. You can find some prog bands that feel as though they HAVE to include various styles to be progressive, so they force different motifs and riffs into their music to fit the criteria, when the music would have sounded fine if they simply just relaxed and did what felt natural - that is something we are 100% not about. Everything we do always comes from an organic source, and if we feel as though we are forcing something, we step back from it and come back to it with a fresh and open mind another time.

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Thematically "PLANET LOSS" is a reflection of the current state of Earth but set on a fictional planet. The album deals with a lot of current world issues that we are all feeling the burn from, so this album was a way for us to release a lot of the stress we feel in day to day life. The album covers topics such as the current political climate, living in a world that priorizes the economy over peoples welfare, racism, homophobia, classism and discrimination in general, as well as mental health and the stigma surrounding it. We tried to portray all of this through the four main chapters of the album via a story of a small group of rebels fighting for freedom and revolution as a last ditch attempt to save their dying planet.

Whilst the album and the individual songs are distinctly revolving around science-fiction concepts and themes, the lyrics themselves target real-world issues. How easy was it to strike a balance between Fiction and the real world?

T: Being honest - most of it IS the real world. It isn't difficult to write "science fiction" in this day and age. A lot of the science fiction theming comes from metaphors within the lyrics.

We talk of an evil overlord who controls the systems and the people living within them - America has a figure just like this, who dreams of building a wall around his "empire" to further create a divide. We talk of droids, robots and drones - mindless machines that simply follow the orders of their overlords without a second guess to their intentions. You could say we have people like this in today's society - people who put all their faith wholeheartedly into world leaders without batting an eye-lid, resulting in things such as the passing of Brexit for example. We also talk of lizardmen and pigmen which we feel need no explanation if you employ some creative thinking.

The unsettling truth is that the world has reached the point where science-fiction and reality are now blurred. The album was initially written as a "what if all these bad things in the world came to fruition", almost as a warning as to where the world is headed. This year we have received a load of messages saying how relevant the album actually is, and that's kind of scary, even more so once you throw the pandemic and its handling by the UK and US government into the mix.

To give readers a better idea of how the sci-fi / real world crossover concept comes into play in the record, could you break down the individual tracks and what they are about?

T: So the record is infact one singular track, and was recorded as such. But it breaks down into 6 chapters (think RUSH's 2112). Excluding the prologue and epilogue which set the scene for the record, the main chapters consist of -Earthless: Earthless really sets the scene for the record in the sense that we try to musically convey working in a broken system. The slow chug of the opening section is intended to simulate the tired march of the overworked populace as they head into the capitol sector of 'Planet Loss' to make big bucks for the galactic rulers whilst making very little for themselves and their families. The track intentionally starts slow and dragging to convey the exhaustion of the mindless grind these people have succumbed to - but gradually picks up and gets more intense as the rebel we follow throughout the record realises the truth about the system he is living within. By the end of the chapter, the rebel in question has 'woken up' to the truth and has begun to see the world for what it truly is.

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-Phosgene The second chapter 'Phosgene' builds upon the concept of our rebel waking up to the real world.

The character by this point has walked with his colleagues into the capitol sector of the planet and has managed to snap out of the daze that the galactic rulers and the evil overlord hold over the workers. The character is then washed over by anger as they come to terms with the poverty, classism and discrimination that runs amok throughout the Planet, that has been normalised by the populace through conditioning by the planets rulers. This track is important to us as a band as it is our protest against all the hate that dominates the earth, and serves us (and the rebel within the story) as a means of telling the world that we will not tolerate discrimination of any kind within our societies. The song is feral and frantic to reflect the rush of emotions the character is feeling, as well as the notion that the character is finally alive and thinking for themselves (not just another cog in the system). Within the story - the character by the end of the track has left the slog/march into the capitol sector and has hastily returned to their living quarters within the slums to prepare for rebellion.

-Hail Creation 'Hail Creation' serves as the 'soundtrack to battle', and mirrors 'Earthless' in the sense that they both begin with a slow march - but unlike Earthless, the march at the start of 'Hail Creation' is empowered and strong - a means not to be messed with. In this track we try to convey a rebellion (now formed by the rebel character we have been following throughout the album) retracing the steps that they made as pretty much brainwashed slaves into the capitol sector, but rather than mindlessly walking to serve the evil overlord they march to protest against their overlords running of the planet.

As the track goes on it slowly builds to reach the climax of the battle commencing - and ends when the rebellion has reached the gates of the government building & have been met by the opposing, ominous forces of the galactic rulers mechanical army of droids and robots.

-Vessel The final main chapter 'Vessel' begins almost as a breath of fresh air - it sounds almost serene but somehow twisted and warped. This is to lure the listener into a false sense of security and to create an almost 'calm before the storm' feel. This also reflects the rebel characters thoughts, as they wake up to quiet for the first time in decades after being knocked out during the battle. The character slowly wakes from their injury dazed and confused, initially thinking the war has been won (hence the eerie but questionable peacefulness of the intro to this chapter), but once they truly come to their senses they quickly realise that the main city of the planet (where the battle took place) is now destroyed and baron of life. The emptiness is reflected within the music by the spaciness of the riffs within the first half of the chapter.

The rebel (now heavily injured) stands up and looks around, then proceeds to walk the land in search of life, of which there is none aside from themself. You are left to assume the worst in this scenario - that the galactic overlord has wiped out the populace rather than work with them to secure a peaceful future.

As the character searches the city for life, empty war ships (wreckage from the battle) slowly appear within the rebels sight in the sky one by one - it becomes more and more clear to the rebel that the evil overlord has destroyed all life and the damage the planet has sustained is vast and irreversible (this realisation is represented by the building section in the middle of the track). Still searching for life, walking aimlessly throughout the rubble and ruin of the planet, the character struggles to see as more wreckage from the space vessels and ships builds up in the atmosphere and slowly blots out the daylight. The track ends as the planet descends into complete and eternal darkness with the our character realising that their planet is certainly dead - hence the final vocal line on the album "THIS IS PLANET LOSS".

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This is a bit of an "inception track" overall as there is a metaphor within the metaphor of the album. The ships that blot out the sun (initially overlooked by the rebel as the character searches for life) serve as the final nail in the coffin that stops the planet from ever being able to come back from the battle. The abundance of war ships that have been either disbanded or destroyed during the final battle have blocked out the planets sole energy source, stopping the possibility of vegetation growing on the planet and life being able to thrive.

The ships or "vessels" represent mental health as a silent killer, and an issue that is heavily overlooked. This is expressed heavily within the chapters lyrics, as a specific "vessel" takes the main focus as it drifts unnoticed and overlooked throughout space, alongside the other debris that eventually cause such a big threat to the planet.

The outro also touches upon the stigma surrounding mental health - detailing that the majority of the people who inhabit 'Planet Loss' were too mentally and physically weak to fight in the final battle due to the reality they have been living within, resulting in the galactic rulers actions - as the rebellion could not succeed with such a small and ill prepared army.

In short, the album is meant to convey the message that unless people start seeing eye to eye and trying to work together for mutual benefit and the betterment of the world and the human race as a solid entity, we will continue down the path to our own demise. No matter what side you are on - the side of the galactic ruler or the side of the rebellion - unless we start working together as a unit and learning to accept each-other we won't get off of the destructive path we are heading down.

Have you got any ideas of how you plan to flesh out Wallowing's concept moving forward? Are there any sounds you want to branch into? Any instruments you want to throw into the mix?

M: Well I just bought a synthesiser.. haha. So we shall see what new bleep bloops I can layer into the madness. With the noise/soundscape side of things it's been an ever evolving setup with this band. Working out quite where to take things sonically and also how to achieve it has been an endless ride that ain't stopping! My current rig is not actually what I used on the Planet Loss record and has become quite a bit more expansive so should keep things interesting for new material!

Z: Doing dual vocals in a band is something I have always wanted to do, but with it being something neither of us had done in this way before it's been a constantly evolving experiment really. Mark is an actual wizard when it comes to this stuff and it's always exciting to see what he’s been playing around with when it comes time to jam.

T: As a band we certainly don't want to pidgeon-hole ourselves and thoroughly want to keep people on their toes musically. Whilst we have firmly established themes, we are all about the unexpected so we intend to continue to shock people by staying just as unpredictable as we have been. Expect the unexpected.

Sidetrack: Favourite Science Fiction soundtracks. Go. T: John Williams Star Wars Soundtrack. All of it is incredible - especially Duel Of The Fates, WOW. Jeff Waynes 'War Of The Worlds' musical also personally played a huge inspiration on me in regards to themes for the record.

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R: Ooo shit... Bladerunner and Jerry Goldsmith's score for Alien are constantly battling for my top sci fi score. Bladerunner is like a lullaby to me, I'd watch that film all the time because the score puts me off to sleepy land but the bleak vibe goldsmith creates is almost tangible straight from the get go. At the moment Alien has been winning, probably from playing Alien Isolation on PS4 last year. Some honourable mentions go to 2001:A Space Odyssey, The Thing(1982) and actually The Shining(I know not sci-fi but the score from that is so abrasive and visceral it certainly crept its way into some of the harsh noise I make with Wallowing) M: HOLY MOUNTAIN (Alejandro Jodorowsky) I'm gonna say that it classes as Sci-Fi as it's probably my favourite film and the soundtrack is mad haha.

Also a big fan of the Alien OST, The Thing and many others that really help set the tone be it majesty or claustrophobia.

Z: I'm actually with Tom on this one, Star Wars man. Episode 1 in particular. Worst movie, best soundtrack. John mf Williams.

Revisiting the aesthetic of the band, Wallowing's visual concepts are very defined and channel through every element of the band from live performances to your releases. What influences did you draw from when defining Wallowing's visual concepts?

T: Its been mentioned as a sonic influence already, but also visually Bladerunner is a huge inspiration on our live show. That "retrofuture" industrial vibe is really dark and brooding and in my opinion visually captures sci-fi as its best. That, as well as ALIEN, with the pure darkness but odd streams on neon light.

We use the winning formula of lasers and smoke machines live as they capture that classic era of sci-fi, whilst also when used in complete darkness obscure the beekeeping outfits enough to warp us into interdimensional space travellers.

Of course with artwork as striking and bold as the cover of 'PLANET LOSS', we felt it made sense to try and capture some of that within our shows.

Luke Oram's art is particularly striking, his portfolio spanning horror, science fiction and fantasy in a style unique to his work. What attracted you to his work and how important do you think his contribution to the visual element of Wallowing's concept is?

R: Tom had commissioned Luke to create the planet loss cover quite early on in the creation of Wallowing I think it was pretty close to completion before we even had a full ensemble. But the way you describe his work is the exact reason Tom went to him. His style is so unique and striking and has spanned so many genres he was easily capable of pulling off the desired outcome. I think this move was super integral to the creation of Wallowing. Having that image and some of the rough concept art really spurred us on and helped everyone identify with the themes and create the vibe.

T: Yeah I spoke to Luke fairly early on as I figured having the finished artwork pinned down would be a great inspiration to finish the project - almost like a visual end goal or target to be progressing toward. It also helped me when taking the concept to musicians whilst forming the basis of a band, as it visually represented the sound I was trying to capture.

Luke is a truly amazing, versatile and talented person so I thoroughly recommend him to anyone in need of unique artwork.

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You've got a piece of merch that references the Bees-scene in the remake of the Wicker Man, can we take this opportunity to establish how ludicrous and unnecessary the Wicker Man remake was?

M: I knocked that design up under direction from Tom, I've never seen the remake though haha.

Pretty sure it'll just make me angry, big fan of the original!

T: It's an entirely unnecessary and ridiculous film, which made it perfect for a cheeky last minute tee-run for ourselves. Im a huge Nic Cage fan. I love his good films, I love his bad films even more, so when people started posting the "not the bees" gif. on our social media posts it would have been a missed opportunity to not do something with it.

R: We don't deserve the treasure that is Nic Cage, I could genuinely watch him lamp that villager in the face whilst wearing a bear suit over and over. Sure we didn't ask for it, we didn't need it but by god we should be glad he did that for us!

Side note-there's also a video of him and vince neil drunk as fuck almost fighting/arguing I'd recommend.

Z: Truly one of the great actors of our time.

Going off on an utter tangent, did you know when they filmed that huge wicker-man scene at the end one of the Goats had a panic-attack and pissed all over one of the film crew?

R: Amazing I did not know that. Although now I can't stop saying goat piss panic attack in my head.

J: I was about to answer "I knew that!", but then I realised I only knew coz I read these questions a week ago already.

Z: Lol nice Fleshing out on Wallowing's concept further, word on the street is you have some snazzy-ass action figures available?

T: We have been working behind the scenes with DIY artist and action figure bootlegger 'Delicious Again Peter' on a very limited run of 'wobblenaut' action figures based off our live show.

This was a stroke of luck as we stumbled across him on instagram and thought to spontaneously message him about working with us, thinking he would never reply - but he did and was very much interested, and the rest is history! We have really enjoyed working with him on this as it's a nerdy dream come true for us. Being a fan of sci-fi and retro/nostalgia toys it's going to be so cool to have our own Star Wars Kenner inspired figures. Even if no one buys them, the excitement shared between us all just to hold one makes it 100% worth while.

We recommend people check out Peter's page as it is truly amazing - he does weird Star Wars/ Hellboy mash ups, He-Man/Star Wars mash-ups - loads of really creative stuff that will speak to the inner child inside anyone.

Word on the street is you have a comic book coming out too. Care to give us some more details?

T: Ah, so this one is something we are keeping pretty under wraps for now. We are working on something real special with Luke Oram once again - which MAY be a full comic/graphic novel detailing the story of 'PLANET LOSS' - but you will have to keep an eye on our socials to find out the full score in due course. We intend to officially announce the project in all its glory soon though - it's a matter of getting all the separate pieces of the project in place so we can reveal it all at once as, in classic Wallowing style, theres a lot more to it than what we have let on so far.

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To compliment your merchandise, you even arranged a signup campaign that seems like a throwback to the days of joining fanclubs advertised in the back of magazines/comic books.

Given so many people are used to newsfeeds these days, what inspired you to go mega-obscure with this concept?

J: I think firstly, there was a feeling that something more personal and direct would match the throwback/retro feel that we've been cultivating with the Planet Loss comic book & action figures. It's better anyway, right? Why should our stuff be buried in between your aunt's holiday selfies on your Facebook stream? It doesn't really fit there. - so, it allows us to do more things in a more curated context, as well as making sure it reaches everyone (lately we've all been finding that band reach on various platforms is a lot lower than you'd expect). We've gotta do both, obviously - but we can do something better & more interesting this way.

Maybe that stuff is on the way out, too? I remember when MySpace stopped being the "place to be", and bands who were overly reliant on it suddenly found that they no longer had any way to reach out.

I signed up a few weeks ago and got a delightful postcard in return, can I expect any more surprises?

R: Your squad leader will be in touch. This frequency might be monitored by surveillance drones, we can't risk our communication to be intercepted. You'll know what to do when the time comes.

T: It's worth the sign up I will tell you that. We have some awesome stuff in store for the people who get involved - all set within the 'Planet Loss' wobbleverse.

Looking to your local scene, you hail from Brighton, somewhere I've never been but I've heard is dead nice. There's always a lot of different things going on in Brighton, how beneficial has it been to Wallowing to be in such a diverse and active scene?

R: Brighton has a great scene for music, when the country isn't in lockdown that is. I definitely think it's had a great effect on the way I approach music. Having so many great local bands and it being a pitstop for many others from round the UK or even further a field has really widened my perspective when it comes to heavy music.

We're really lucky to be in a place which is a melting pot of great people, promoters and bands.

I'm hoping once it's safe that the scene will bounce into overdrive to make up for lost time.

T: It's definitely a great place for creatives to live. To be able to go to shows as frequently as we do and network with like-minded people is a true blessing. The heavy scene comes and goes down here - but the output is always great. Bands such as Kalloused, Ill In Pain, Sunderer and Pascagoula really set the bar high for local heavy music, and we are lucky to be able to play alongside bands of that calibre. As Rauiri said - here's hoping things return to normal soon and the scene bursts back to life. I know us guys are raring and ready to go - LED's in one hand, botched space suit in the other.

Cheers to Wallowing for this most-lovely chat, which ties with Feminazgul for the longest interview feature in EndlessDisappointment. Planet Loss came out last year through Sludgelord Records, albeit pretty certain it has sold out now. Anyway, here are some super-crucial links for you https://www.planetloss.com (sign up today to join the rebellion) https://wallowingnoise.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/wallowingnoise

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For more information on their artist of choice, check out Grand Wizard of underground music Luke Oram via https://lukeoram.com/

Bands I miss: SOuth Wales So whilst you get used to decent bands in your area coming or going (or sometimes, never appearing if your scene is really shit), there are some which you either hope would come around again or have at least had a better run of the band first time round. There aren’t a huge amount to pick from in South Wales (i.e, where I’m based), but here are some that were dead good.

Ghast

Swansea-based (I think) Black metal project with huge doom overtones; I liked them for the same reasons I enjoy listening to Monolithian and sonically they're not too far apart. Black metal bands are were so infrequent in South Wales there wasn't really much platform for them to play in the area, also they just hated playing live so I only ever caught them like twice over a 4 year period. https://ghastdreaddoomruin.bandcamp.com

Pus

The first sludge/doom band I got into from the South Wales area; far nastier and vicious than anything else that has come out of the area since. A few of the members went on to join Spiderkitten, their artist went on to be my go-to for about 3 years. https://pus666.bandcamp.com/

Smiler

Fast as hell and never took themselves seriously; their bassist was/is hilarious and their guitarist is just lovely. Alas, the faster the hardcore, the quicker they burn out https://smileruk.bandcamp.com/

Judas Cradle

With the exception of Atomck, probably the only legit grindcore band ever to come out of South Wales; musically they were as tight as a drum and never did a bad set (regardless of what they think). Stupidly hilarious dudes, insane drummer. Everything about them was just great. https://thejudascradle.bandcamp.com/

Necrocest

Whilst Desecration will always be the best UK Death Metal band from South Wales, Necrocest came incredibly close and, when their lineup was stable, were playing all over the UK and getting a decent amount of traction in the process.

They were booked to headline a show I put on in 2012 when the lead singer decided to quit and it was downhill from there; their momentum tanked and issues with the new drummer not being local meant they weren't as active anymore. I put them on later in the year with their new vocalist and it was pretty cool but by that point nobody cared and the band just fizzled away into obscurity. Aside from that though, they were dead good and were around for quite a bit.

They aren't on bandcamp but I'm pretty certain their Prenatal Massacre album is on youtube.

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Whether it be because there's nobody nearby suitable for the project, or simply you're impossible to work with, sometimes it's just easier to go it alone with a project and bring people in to catch up when needed. Formed as a solo project somewhat out necessity, Hellripper, the brainchild of James Mcbain, has evolved over the years to factor in a full lineup for shows and is due to release their latest album "The Affair of The Poisons" soon through legendary record label Peaceville.

Maybe it’s because there is a lot of crossover between genres, but straight off the bat you can see a few different influences at play; whilst the Toxic Holocaust / Midnight vibe stands out above all, the nods to bands like Zeke and Discharge seem apparent too, as well as prominent Heavy Metal vibes too. When putting together Hellripper songs, are there any sorts of bands you look to emulate or draw influence from in particular?

I try to write songs that come to me naturally and ideally draw influence from a number of different bands to create something somewhat unique. All of those bands that you mentioned are big influences on me of course, as well as about a million others!

In essence, Hellripper is a one-man project that sources external members for live shows. What kickstarted you into going it alone and how do you weigh out the pros and cons of being a oneman operation?

I decided to go it alone because at the time, I didn't know anyone that was into this kind of stuff or that would want to be in a band. Doing things as a solo project has its pros and cons for sure. The main advantages are that I can do things without compromise and that I can write and record things when I want with no pressure/deadlines/interference. The downside to this of course is that it sometimes takes me more time than I would like to write and record music as I tend to focus on every little detail of the recording quite a bit.

Whilst Glasgow and Edinburgh get referenced a lot in terms of Metal in Scotland, Aberdeen perhaps doesn’t necessarily get the same attention; what was it like forming Hellripper with Aberdeen as the backdrop?

It was great! The scene at the time was growing (especially the punk scene) and there were shows happening regularly. Most people were really supportive of the band (and still are) so it was a great community to be a part of! I haven’t lived in Aberdeen for a little while now so I am not too knowledgeable on what the scene is like nowadays but there have been some cool bands over the years like Boak, Thrashist Regime, Wound and Bonesaw.

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Taking you back to the release of your debut EP "Manifestation of Evil"; being a new band can be a challenge given the amount of other bands vying for the same limited amount of attention outlets/promoters are willing to give them. What were your initial experiences with getting it out there?

I didn't really have a plan or any expectations for the release. I just wanted to record and release an EP and I thought that maybe a few people in the local scene would like it. I had no idea to promote a release or whatever! I released the EP on Bandcamp and I sent it to some blogs/ zines afterwards which is obviously not the best way to do things but it worked out in the end!

Because I couldn’t play live shows at the time, I tried to be quite active on Facebook in order to get the name out there which I think was important and helped quite a bit.

How hard did you have to hit the various social media channels before you started noticing that you were gaining some traction?

I was always quite active on the social media pages as I like talking to fans and it was a necessary means of promotion as the band didn't play live much in the first couple of years. It's been quite a steady growth I think, there wasn't a particular point where things "blew up" but I did start receiving more messages and likes etc. around the release of "Coagulating Darkness".

Whilst there’s no magic-wand approach to such things, is there any guidance you can give to people in a similar situation to you?

It depends what your goals are, what image you want to create and what style of music you play I think. There’s a fair few factors! I would advise learning to do as much as you can relating to the band by yourself. If you can record and mix/master your own stuff, you will save a lot of money on studio time that can be used for other things such as merch. Similarly, if you can do some graphic design, things will be a lot easier for you!

At the start, the most important thing is getting your music heard, so I would suggest uploading your music everywhere you can and making it free to download (or pay what you want).

You subsequently went on to release splits with the likes of Batsheva, Barbatos, Fetid Zombie, Acid Cross, Krieg Wasteland Riders, Dulvel and Nightrider, an impressive amount of splits and networking given you are but one person.

Weighing up the benefits, what persuaded you towards a series of split-releases over using the material for a further solo EP/LP? I like the idea of splits, you get to collaborate with bands that you like and you are exposed to each other’s fanbases. But there wasn't really a reason for doing splits instead of albums/EPs, I think it was just a way to release new music more regularly.

With Hellripper gaining more attention now, do you see yourself revisiting the idea of split ep's in the future?

I will definitely release more split EPs in the future but not for a while at least. For now the focus is on the release of the new album and writing for the next album.

The Affair of the Poisons, Out October 9th via Peaceville

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Whilst one-man projects can be an extension of the individual's will to maintain control over every element of the project from recording to releasing, you've sought to collaborate with record labels to get your music out there. To what extent do you delegate responsibility to the label and has it ever compromised how you've wanted to handle your music?

I always like to be heavily involved in everything even when labels are taking care of things.

The best thing about all of the labels that I have worked with is that they were always willing to collaborate with me, listen to my ideas and things would only be done when both I and the label had approved the final decision. The most important part to me is the music, and I have never had to compromise on that which is perfect.

Which brings you to your current label Peaceville, who are releasing your new album The Affair of Poisons soon; were you at all flustered at being pursued by a label responsible for some of the best extreme metal releases of all time?

It was a really cool email to receive, that's for sure! It's great to be a part of a label that has released some of my favourite albums of all-time and were a big part of getting me into extreme metal in the first place. I remember buying Bloodbath's "The Fathomless Mastery" around 10 years ago which was one of the first death metal albums I ever purchased, so it is quite surreal to be on the same label now!

Looking to the new album, did you change anything about the writing / recording process given the expectations of the label?

Not at all, the writing and recording process was exactly the same as it has always been. The label left me to do what I want and didn't try to interfere with the sound or anything which was great.

Every band has the songs they enjoy playing the most when releasing a new album; when it comes to shows happening again are there any you’re particularly looking forward to playing?

I'm really looking forward to playing a few of the new songs live for sure! I think "Vampire's Grave" will be a fun one to play, as well as "Blood Orgy of the She-Devils".

Starting out as a studio-entity, you eventually made the jump to playing live. What spurred you on to start playing live and how cautious are you when it comes to committing to tours and one-off shows?

I had a few releases out, and there was a demand for us to play some shows. By this time, I was also acquainted with a lot more people in the local scene and there were a few guys that were interested in being a part of the live line-up.

Yet another spicy tour thar Covid-19 sabotaged

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I doubt that Hellripper will ever be the kind of band that tours 6 months a year, it's just not something I am not interested in right now. If we get offered a good opportunity then I always consider it but there are always a number of different factors that determine if we can commit to something. Right now, the 4 members of the live band are based in 4 different cities, with myself being around 12 hours away from our drummer, so that makes one-off "local" shows very difficult to justify for example.

Our goal at the moment is to do a couple of tours each year, with some one-off dates inbetween too.

Throughout your releases you've sought to rely on Skaovaldur for the artwork for your releases. How did you come to use his services and what spurs you to continue using his work in favour of alternative artists?

I just came across his Facebook page while browsing one-day. I really liked the work he had on there and reached out to him. When I have a new release, he's usually the first person I go to because I think he will have a good idea for the artwork, and I think he really "gets" the Hellripper aesthetic. I am not opposed to using different artists in the future, and I do work with a lot of different people for t-shirt designs and things like that, but for the actual releases, I have been happy with what Skaovaldur has done so far and I think his work on "The Affair of the Poisons" is some of his best work to date.... although maybe I'm biased.

You briefly had another project in the form of Rats of Reality, which takes more of a blackened crust-punk sort of vibe. What were you looking to achieve when forming the band and what made you ultimately call it a day a few years back?

Rats of Reality was a band formed with the aim to record some punk songs initially. The first EP was written and recorded while we were learning how to do things properly, so it's a bit all over the place. We decided to go for a more blackened crust sound after this and tried experimenting with different things. I think our aim was to have an old-school sound influenced by bands like Amebix, Darkthrone, Celtic Frost etc. but have it mixed with elements of "newer" bands like Converge and Oathbreaker.

We called it a day a couple of years back primarily as I was moving away from the city, and we were all heading in different directions musically. I wanted to focus on Hellripper, while the other two guys went on to form Wound, and play a more grind/death metal style of music.

So your new album is out imminently, how are you keeping busy until shows can start up again?

I've been planning to upload more to the band's Youtube channel so there should be some new videos in the coming months. I have also been livestreaming on Twitch these past few months which has been fun! I've also been writing new music for another Hellripper album and have been writing for some other projects that should hopefully see the light of day soon.

The Affair of the Poisons is out October 9th via Peaceville Records. For more information following the links below https://hellripper.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/Hellripper1 https://www.youtube.com/c/Hellripper https://www.hellripper.com/ https://twitter.com/hellrippermetal https://peaceville.merchnow.com/

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When I first got into Black Metal, the state of it in the UK was fairly bleak; of course you had Hecate Enthroned and a few bands like that, but fast forward a few years not many of them stuck around (or were even that good). The UK contingent of Black Metal seemed locked into a set series of ideals that had them forever headlining the Purple Turtle in Camden and opening on Gorgoroth / Marduk tours and never breaking beyond that.

Anyway, fast forward a bit over a decade and we have a scene now where bands like Winterfylleth and Anaal Nathrakh are at the forefront of Black Metal in Europe, whilst bands like Necronautical, Wode and Burial are constantly pushing forward UK Black Metal's collective identity, The Infernal Sea are arguably sat between both sets of aforementioned bands; well-respected amongst the underground whilst also on the cusp of something truly great with their upcoming album "Negotium Crucis", out soon via Apocalyptic Witchcraft.

I had a chat with them to look back on the legacy of their breakout album, as well as a glimpse into their future.

To start off, what is the significance behind your name and what drew you to such an evocative title?

The name was inspired by the excerpt "From the eternal sea he rises, creating armies on either shore, turning man against his brother, 'til man exists no more". An extract from the biblical poem that Father Brennan recites in the classic 70's horror 'The Omen'. Because the poem is based on the birth & rise of the antichrist, we found this to be quite fitting.

Whilst you do have a new album out, I'd like to take the opportunity to go back a few years to your album "The Great Mortality", a standout album of the UK Black Metal scene at the time. The album's centred largely around the breakout of the Bubonic Plague in the 1300's, which extended into your stage attire at the time that centred around the Plague Doctor masks synonymous with the Black Death. What drew you to the subject of the plague?

The idea of a concept album for us is important, it's integral to our songwriting. We were naturally drawn to the subject through our vocalist's passion for history, especially that of the Medieval period. Humanity is vile, having committed unforgivable crimes. They blindly idolise false gods, living to seek redemption.

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The 1300's pushed mankind to the limit, devastating the population and exposing their selfish nature. There is a wealth of history to explore, and we intend on focusing on the macabre side of humanity.

Whilst popular culture has plenty of references to the Black Death, the prospect of writing a whole album dedicated to one singular series of events is daunting no matter how great a depth of knowledge there is available on a subject. How much research did it take to give you the influence you needed?

The research was extensive, our vocalist buried his head in many books, he wanted to approach the subject from a different angle, it was imperative that we themed the lyrics, so that they immersed the listener. Lyrically 'The Great Mortality' delves into the dark and macabre history of the Black Death that swept across Europe from 1348 onward. Each track explores the sadistic nature of mankind during this time of despair and the violent acts and atrocities they committed to their fellow man. The lyrics also explore the control that the Church had over the people and how they imposed fear that the plague was God's wrath.

Breaking the album down to the individual tracks, were there any key events of tales surrounding the Black Death that fuelled the songs?

Each track is linked to one overall theme, the control in which the Church had over its people.

For every crime commited, every act of murder, heresy or genocide, the church had been invlolved. The fear of God kept the people in line and allowed them to be brainwashed into acting 'in the name of God'.

Shortly after you released your Agents of Satan LP, which musically seemed to be less precise and followed a more Black n' Roll sort of vibe, with punk traits finding their way into the songs; in what ways did you want to try out new things with this EP and what elements did you want to continue on in these songs?

As the band continues to evolve, and as we get older, we wear our influences proudly on our sleeve. As a collective we are influenced by many genres, raised on rock, metal and punk it is only natural that we start to include these influences into our art. The Black 'n' Roll element has been with us since 'The Crypt Sessions' EP we recorded in 2013, it is a sound that has progressed with us over each new release, we are confident that our sound will always have that 'The Infernal Sea' feel, and we stand proud in the genre.

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Looking at your new album "Negotium Crucis" is out September 18th via Apocalyptic Witchcraft; having been a few years since The Great Mortality came out, what was the creative process like having spent quite a few years focusing on live performances?

We began writing for 'Negotium Crucis' whilst still in the final stages of The Great Mortality. Some of the songs have been around for the past 5 years, so it's been quite a lengthy process. We have had to overcome a few hurdles on the journey, but we wanted the best from this album, so the selection process was pretty brutal.

During that time since the release of 'The Great Mortality' we released the 'Agents of Satan' EP and focused on playing live.

We wanted to build up our reputation within the UK as a force to be reckoned with.

With the exception of your Agents of Satan EP, it's been 4 years between the two albums. Given what can happen in that time, 4 years can be quite a lengthy timeframe for new material to come out; were you ever concerned that momentum could run flat or where you happy to bide your time until the album was ready?

We've always kept battling forward, and tried to keep momentum up despite the toughest of times. Whether it be touring, writing, practicing or releasing new merchandise. With the whole pandemic situation, it was a little disheartening with the album release being pushed back.

But we have used that time to our advantage and we've been able to work on a few more surprises that will be announced soon.

I've already had a listen to the new album and it sounds absolutely superb; for the average reader who probably has only so far been exposed to the title track of the album, could you talk them through the album? What's changed since The Great Mortality?

Thank you. The main difference people will notice is that this album is much rawer sounding in its production values. This is something we've consciously aimed for with the evolution of our sound, more truthful to what we sound like in a live setting. It captures the "Black 'N' Roll" element that we inject into our compositions, it is savage yet melodic and sounds undeniably like The Infernal Sea. Do you remain close to the concept of the Black Death or have you sought to expand on this concept?

Visually the concept will remain close to us in regards to our stage attire. Lyrically we will not be bound by the restrictions of one subject, we shall continue to write about Medieval historical events until the subject can no longer be deemed worthy.

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History is often referenced in music; whilst I'm sure there's a plethora of instances, Primordial springs to mind primarily in their use of History to connect with their Irish roots. What do you look to uncover by referring to Historic events in your music?

It is more about educating ourselves. Our country is rich with history, something that is often neglected in our education system. We hope our music can be used as a window to view some of the most interesting, difficult and brutal periods of our history, to be held as a looking glass against our present, where unfortunately it seems not much has changed in terms of human interaction/behaviour since the 1300's. As a nation we have committed unspeakable crimes, but for the world to move forward, we need to learn and ensure that we never commit those crimes again.

Are there any other eras in History that capture your attention? Seeing as there have been outbreaks of the Plague since, what drew you to Medieval History above all else?

Medieval history is the perfect accompaniment to Black Metal, it is bleak, grim, violent and destructive.

Your live performances are also an important part of your identity, which have seen you share the stage with the likes of Abigail Williams, Anaal Nathrakh and many other standouts in the Black Metal scene. Do you think The Great Mortality would have had as lasting an impact on the UK scene had it not been supported with performing live every opportunity you could?

We would certainly like to think so. Having the album released to a wider audience via the infamous Cacophonous Records was very fortunate for us. We definitely saw an increase in the attendance at shows, and there was an aura of excitement surrounding the album. Touring with Abigail Williams was a great end to that chapter of the band, allowing us to progress onto the next stage in the band's career.

Starting out in fairly simple black attire with Plague-Doctor masks, over the years you've expanded on your stage attire to factor in a far more esoteric look, with extras being on stage for your performance at Damnation in 2019. What inspired you to evolve the aesthetics of The Infernal Sea's live performance and how integral is the visual element of your performance given the music is strong enough on its own?

The visual element of The Infernal Sea is very important, over the years, bands that have inspired us, all have larger than life stage shows. We endeavour to be a band that can give that same aura and bravado. With that, our stage shows will always grow, along with the music.

We want to encourage spectacle, inspire wonder, and to take the audience to a place unseen and unheard before - or something.

With the masks obscuring the identities of the various members, is there any intention to hide the identities of the various members, or is it just a product of the costumes you went for?

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We intentionally wanted to mask our identities, to allow the art to breathe. However throughout the duration of the band, off stage we have always been close to our followers, so it's almost impossible to hide our identities from that standpoint and is certainly no secret.

However on stage, we want to immerse ourselves in our sonic and visual nightmare as much as humanly possible. There is something powerful about donning the attire, especially with your face covered, you can become something else, an exaggerated version of yourself, somewhat fitting for our music.

Speaking from a strictly practical standpoint, does your stage attire ever become a bit stifling?

We would be lying if we told you no, however we have grown accustomed to it. It’s more of a cathartic experience whilst performing. We suffer for our art.

I remember seeing Batushka at Damnation and 15 minutes of their 40-minute set seemed to be lost to lighting candles and other amateur dramatics; when it comes to the finer points of Black Metal performance, do you think there's a line between creating an intense and esoteric experience, and over-the-top pageantry? If so, where do you think this line is crossed?

The line is crossed when you're not giving your all performance-wise, with the latter being almost swapped out for the gimmicks. We can safely say we give 110% with our performances, so the attire and other stage theatrics are added to create an experience. We're a heavy metal band first & foremost, and quite old school in our methods. So the music will always come first.

As The Infernal Sea grows as a band, both musically and in terms of following, are there any other elements you’d like to throw into your live performance?

Just to keep evolving the stage show. More smoke, more fire, and to make it bigger and more furious, louder, more aggressive, a bigger spectacle, more "Agents Of Satan" joining us. You know how Iron Maiden have a giant Eddie at the end of every show...?

Negotium Crucis, out soon via Apocalyptic Witchcraft

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Arguably standing somewhat at the forefront of UK Black Metal at the moment, how have you seen the scene evolve since first starting out as a band?

As a band we have evolved, along with our friends Necronautical, Winterfylleth, Burial, Crimson Throne for instance. But overall, we believe there is a certain essence that stays forthright within the community. And it doesn't really wither. It just keeps on burning. The scene is nowhere like it was in the mid nineties, but it is currently stronger than it has ever been in the past five years. UKBM carries a certain irreverence that is not so present in other Black Metal scenes around the world. This is refreshing and we wouldn't be without it. UKBM is thriving and there are a wealth of bands making waves in the scene.

Do you think there's necessarily anything missing from extreme metal in the UK currently?

Apart from any shows? We need more of it, that's for sure. More people need to stop being lazy & pick up an instrument. The desire to play music and to start a band has become a thing of the past for most. Hopefully things will change after this pandemic is over with.

Major festivals such as Incineration, Damnation and Bloodstock prove to be good hubs for extreme metal in the UK, allowing for greater cross-pollination between the various regional scenes in the UK; to what extent do you think the scene is supported year-round on the underground circuit?

The festivals you mentioned above are key to keeping the underground scene alive, they recognise the talent on offer in the UK and give bands the opportunity to perform to a larger crowd, without them it would be unbearable. We think that more UK bands should be considered for regional tours, allowing more exposure and experience gained. The industry needs to start supporting bands and giving them the necessary step up to the next level without the need for "buy ons" etc, which only helps to perpetuate garbage.

This is the point now in the interview where you can name drop any bands you think we should be giving attention to?

Necronautical, Burial, Winterfylleth, Wolfbastard, Wolvencrown, Sidious, Vehement, Old Corpse Road, Crimson Throne, Haar, Abduction, Aklash and many more.

Whilst I'm sure it's no secret that you plan to play shows once things return to a state of normality again (whatever that is), what else do you have planned for the foreseeable future?

We have plenty of releases planned for 2021, but we are remaining tight lipped about those projects.

The Infernal Sea's follow-up album "Negotium Crucis" is out soon via Apocalyptic Witchcraft; for more information follow the links below https://www.facebook.com/theinfernalsea/ https://theinfernalsea.bigcartel.com https://theinfernalsea.bandcamp.com/ https://apocalypticwitchcraft.co.uk/

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I remember reading about Gorerotted's attempt to encourage crossover been hardcore and death metal in the form of a co-promoted show with UKHC Heavyweights Knuckledust at the Underworld in Camden. It didn't work out well, with the two distinctive audiences leaving once bands of the opposing genre came on; in short, whilst feasible in principle, the ability to cross-pollinate Death Metal and Hardcore is difficult to theorise and even more difficult to implement successfully.

Yet here Venom Prison are, several years down the line making the merging of traditional Hardcore audiences and the new era of Death Metal fans look virtually effortless. I first saw them at Temples Festival 2015 (famous for Sunn O))) destroying the PA and lots of bands not getting paid until well after the festival), yet also saw them opening for Manchester Straight-Edge outfit Survival shortly after. Venom Prison are as comfortable touring with the likes of Code Orange and Powertrip as they are playing Bloodstock and headlining a stage at Damnation Festival.

I had a chat with them about the last few years, as well as a brief look to the future.

I can remember seeing you play early on the Sunday at Temples Festival and opening for Cattle Decapitation at The Moon a year later; whilst there's always a degree of taking every opportunity as they come, did you ever envision a future where you'd be touring with the likes of Parkway Drive and Trivium?

Ash: I can safely say it wasn't something I envisioned but certainly something as a band we've always wanted to aim for, we've done plenty of bands & projects before Venom Prison so this time round it really was to go full force with idea of pushing Venom Prison and giving it the time it deserves.

To put your metoric rise into perspective, in 2016 I saw you playing the 2nd stage at Damnation, only to go on to headline that very stage last year (a slot previously held by the likes of Vader, Cannibal Corpse, Enslaved and Agoraphpobic Nosebleed). Do you ever look back at the evolution of the band and marvel at it a bit?

Ash: Every now and then when things are busy in the band or we are very focused on certain aspects such as writing and touring that I do need those days where I look back and say to myself, we are progressing and we are improving.

Even before the high-profile tours came about, I'd consider Venom Prison to be one of the hardest working bands in the UK at the time alongside Ohhms and Conjurer; How easy was it to juggle such commitments along with full-time work?

Ash: I think like anything in life, if you want it then you'll grind for it. People have worked their lives around Venom Prison for around 4 years now and if I'm honest, yes I do and I believe the others do have those difficult days juggling around life outside the band but when I look at each member and where they are or what they've grown into, it's very impressive, we've found that balance. Between Venom Prison we've had university degrees, full time jobs, family to help but always given our time to Venom Prison and ourselves.

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To what extent do you think your collective experience with your former bands gave you the work-ethic to hit the ground running with Venom Prison?

Ash: Definitely a massive help, avoiding mistakes from previous bands, learning what works and what doesn’t but at the same time, Venom Prison has taught me so much and starting it from the ground up really did make me want to understand everything that revolves around us, so to this day I am still learning every day.

Larissa, prior to forming Venom Prison you spent a lot of your life in Germany, where you were involved in both Animal Rights and Anti-Fascist movements. What caused you to get more involved with them?

Larissa: Having been born in Russia and grown up in Germany, I got to experience what it feels like to not belong, to be excluded and being pointed at with comments like "look there's the Russian kid, she's weird". I think if you feel empathy it’s easy to get the basic understanding of how wrong and cruel racism, sexism, homo- and transphobia, animal exploitation and other systematic forms of discrimination are.

Being involved in punk and metal it was a given for me to dive into exploring anarchism, learning about the history of Germany and standing up against Nazism that was and still is very present in Europe today. I just had the strong beliefs that nobody is free until all are free. And I still believe that today.

You have Primeval coming out soon, an album comprised of re-recordings of your first two EP's with two new tracks. What was the mindset behind wanting to revisit your older material?

Ash: For me personally it's always about tying everything together, making sense of the bands progression and showing people what they may have missed in the earlier days; it's possible a lot of listeners became fans on Animus or even Samsara so introducing them to our earlier days but with the production that was desired from day one but simply wasn't possible at the time.

The two new tracks are really what ties everything together, hearing the past then the future (Post Samsara) each record always sounds unique from the other, we end an era then write a new record with new influences, more experimenting and progressing as musicians. Doing Primeval helped influence us with writing new material whilst always playing songs from Animus and Samsara on the road, it basically gives us every idea we've explored to date.

How do you think you've changed as a band since those recordings?

Ash: It's hard to pinpoint but really as people, musicians and a collective as a band everything has always needed to be more creative, progress and show we are capable of creating something special, obviously I care if people like it or not but at the same time this is very personal to myself and others members, it’s more about proving we can better ourselves.

The Primal Chaos, originally released in 2015 on 7" through Soaked in Torment

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There was a track on your last album Samsara called Uterine Industrialisation. Aside from sounding like a Cattle Decapitation song-title, the song itself a critique of the incredibly exploitative and dangerous practice of commercialised surrogacy that's present in today's society (or rent-a-womb to put a more crass term to the idea). Could you talk more about this?

Larissa: I actually wasn't quite aware of this whole issue before I listened to an episode of the Radio Lab podcast on tour when we were in America, that was when we were just finishing up writing the music for Samsara and I was in the process of writing lyrics. The things that were exposed on that episode were quite shocking and highly exploitative that I felt like I needed to write about it. I think what made it so interesting to me is the dynamic between this physical and financial exploitation of the surrogate women in India and the emotional and the mostly same sex couples who were striving for happiness and family. These people were paying big amounts of money to agencies without actually knowing how much of that money was going to the women whose "services" they used.

It's definitely a topic that is quite complicated as the affected women can experience health and emotional problems during and after their pregnancies. It also was common practice for the babies to stay with the surrogates for a few months after birth so they can experience that motherly bond and breast feeding which led to the women developing emotional connections. It’s very cruel in many aspects.

India has since made it illegal for non-Indian nationals to profit from commercial surrogacy instead of regulating it. I do believe that these women should be given a choice as to how they make their money. This whole thing has now been pushed more into the underground which will definitely result in worse conditions for everyone involved.

Your guitar-work was something special on Samsara, the solo's reminding me somewhat of Ralph Santolla's solos on Deicide's Stench of Redemption album (categorically some of the sweetest Death metal solo's ever and I do not wish to have this disputed), where did you draw your influences from guitar-wise?

Ash: Ben works on a lot of the solo stuff, specially Samsara but when we write records we normally go in with so much influence and ideas, I find if I fixate myself on a band or someone whilst writing it really puts me in a odd place and end up writing the same thing over and over which is completely the opposite of what I want to do with Venom Prison. Bill Steer from Carcass has always been an influence for me with metal, just purely on the tastefulness of everything he does.

Not shying away from issues you take umbrage with does make you a target for the more troll-like element of the scene, whose motivations could range anywhere between not like the tables being turned on them to outright misogyny. How often are you subject to such flack and how do you handle it?

Larissa: We usually just tend to ignore it. That is usually the way to make them stop instead of being provoked by them, which in return would make them go on and on and on. We had these issues when Animus first came out quite a lot but it has definitely calmed down now. This stuff never happens in person either, just online which says a lot about the kind of people they are.

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Whilst artists like Devourment can throw out all sorts of brutality and have nobody bat an eyelid, a few heads were turned at the prospect of, to put it in a reduced way, someone being fed their own genitals on the cover of Animus. Some may consider it testimony to how the genre can still shock people, others may look at it at the tables being turned somewhat on misogyny and are reacting off the back of that. How deeply entrenched is misogyny in music and do you ever see that changing?

Larissa: Misogyny is something that is very obvious in almost every genre of music. I think it's the verbal and visual language that sets death metal apart from everything else though.

Death metal pretty much traditionally victimises, kills and rapes women as a big part of its culture. It's not shocking, it's just awful. Not sure how someone can write a song that portrays them as a rapist or pedophile and think "this is sick, this is going to shock so many people" The real world is cruel enough, we don't need to phantasise about violence when we are clearly surrounded by it on a daily basis. If you're still writing songs about raping children and women in 2020 then you seriously need to wake up and educate yourself. Even the Devourment we have known for so long are not the same Devournment anymore and that says a lot about how the values and ethics of death metal are evolving into a more positive and inclusive environment and I think that’s great.

Elirin Kantor has been your artist of choice for both Animus and Samsara; despite being graphic pieces with a violent theme to them, they are quite tastefully done in a neoclassical style and step away from the conventional gore and viscera that often graces Death Metal album-art. What lead you to choose Elirin and what was thought-process behind each commission?

Eliran's work caught our eye straight away, we approached him and instantly we knew what our vision was and using song title and lyrics to combined an overall picture of what each album represents is how we work.

Animus, released February 2018 via Whilst I most definitely am not the first person Prosthetic Records to highlight the current crop of UK bands doing some really cool stuff, bands such as Dawn Rayd, Employed to Serve, Leeched, Svalbard and yourselves are arguably a bit more special as it's been able to translate into success over in the USA too. How special do you think the current crop of UK bands are right now, and is it nice to see that bands with strong agendas and beliefs are finding their way into the mainstream?

Ash: It's very cool, UK has always been producing incredible bands, it's just if they've had the platform or opportunity to grow or have the chance to be heard, which for me is the most annoying part, I listen to some bands from around the UK and think "Hell yea this band is incredible, I hope they'll grow and get what they deserve." then all sudden a year later nothing has happened to them, it's sad to see. Really not that many UK bands get the chance to go over to the US but I have noticed in the last 5 years the US has been taking alot more notice of what is going on over here so it would be nice to see more names from the UK pop up, tour and release great records.

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The aforementioned bands are a drop in the water compared to some of the other bands doing the rounds from the UK lately. Who would you all recommend us to check out?

Ash: Always such a difficult question as I never want to forget anyone but off the top of my head right now you've got bands like: Higher Power, Sludge, Cruelty, you've mentioned Dawn Ray'd, ETS, Leeched, Svalbard so that's already listed. Ithaca is another band doing the rounds and dropped a well received record.

Having played at the likes of Download Festival, Boomtown and Glastonbury, do you ever see a point where the heavier and more extreme side of music permeates the mainstream further than it has done so already?

Ash: 100%, more extreme bands are starting to break through and push harder for their growth which is reflecting well, I think it will become even more exciting for extreme music as time goes on.

Briefly sidestepping to discuss Boomtown, Earth Crisis played that year too. Did you ever find it odd that such a dedicated Straight-Edge band would find themselves at a festival where the a solid percentage of the crowd is reliant on drugs to enjoy music?

Ash: It's kind of cool, you could preach in front of a venue Glastonbury 2019 Poster filled with Straight Edge people, you're already preaching to the converted but having the opportunity at those festivals for that possibility of influencing someone and making that world become their lifestyle and passion is quite a statement.

Looking back to that ludicrously spicy Trivium tour where you were taken along as support with Code Orange and Power Trip, how important is it that the more-seasoned bands are looking to bring newer bands on the road with them in an industry where the higher-echelons still rely on the same tried and tested headliners to draw money in?

Ash: Trivium taking that package out was really eye opening, they know they can pull those caps at venues with or without us but it's not about that.

It's about the showing that they're aware of the music scene and what is up and coming then showing their fans and allowing said band to perform in front of them then you have that vibe of "Hey the support bands were cool right? We know how to pick them." it's important and makes me grow so much more respect towards bands like that.

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The video for Perpetrator Emasculation was shot in a terraced house in Roath, round the corner from where I lived at the time. Now I've been to that house before for shows and they could barely fit my backline in there (which was literally just a 4x12 and a 4x10), how in god's name were they able to fit yours in there!?

Ash: Skill level +18, Dexterity +10 and 50 hours per week of Tetris. Once you've done that then you'll know how. We did struggle and before the show we were even trying to fit strobe lights and smoke machines alongside 4 stacked cabs, bass cabs, vocal PA, it just got ridiculous but that night was worth every second.

That room used to get a bit hot and sticky even when nobody was moving about, how did you all survive? Good hydration and keeping near an open window at all times?

Ash: I think adrenaline was probably the only thing that kept me going just thinking 3 more songs left just keep head banging and pretend everything is fine then I'd get kicked into my cabs, my guitar would smash me in the face, all fun and games though.

You also played in Cathays Community Centre Practice Rooms (my favourite venue) last year, a room that can only just about comfortably fit a band in, let alone 20-30 other people. As a band that is somewhat removed from playing such surroundings regularly, how important is it to you as a band to revisit the smaller venues more typical of your early days as a band?

Ash: It's important for us to remember our roots, it's where we came from and it's where Venom Prison started. I can't just let that be forgotten, the day before we headlined a stage at Damnation Festival (Leeds University) completely packed, full production but having that dynamic the following day of just going into a practice room and plugging in and playing with just a vocal PA it keeps you grounded and tight as a band, I personally feel being able to deal with situations in any environment is great experience. Big venues and small venues are both unique in their own ways.

Now let's not pretend that anyone is going to get anything done before the end of the year at this rate; how have you all been killing the time though and how do you plan to make use of the downtime before bands start playing shows again?

Ash: We've been quite busy as a band, we've had alot going on with writing, releasing Primeval, sorting live streams which is coming soon for various festivals/shows, a few other pieces as well which will start to be revealed in the next coming weeks.

However I get that game time in even if I have to start playing at 1 in the morning, I've been playing Nioh 2, Maneater, Borderlands3 (DLC included) Mortal Kombat 11, Astral Chain, the odd game of Warzone or Fortnite but hasn't been as much time weirdly to lately which is odd to say in this current climate. Regarding the PS5... If it doesn't come in black in wont fit with the aesthetics of my living room then it's no go! I say that but I'll pick up a PS5 regardless even though I play on PC more than anything at the moment, I've committed to the dark side of gaming and it feels good.

Primeval is out in November via Prosthetic Records. For more Information see below www.venomprison.bandcamp.com www.facebook.com/venomprison www.venomprison.com

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So I have a habit of sometimes emailing bands that are arguably far too big for my zine just to see if I do hear back from them; it's not so much an "aim big" situation, I just simply reach out to who I want to feature and then realise once I've got in contact with them "right they may be a bit too big for my shitty little zine venture".

Undergang were very much one of those bands I figured were too big for my zine, yet they still took part like absolute champions. An examplary example of old-school death metal that has evolved for the modern day, they were originally planned for the last issue, yet here they are now.

I had a chat with David, the leader of the operation who also dabbles in various other Death Metal ventures outside of one of the biggest extreme bands to come out of Denmark as of late.

I hear that, at the first ever rehearsal for the band, two members didn't show up from the start. How did that affect the band long-term?

It didn't really affect the band at all; we just had a different start than we thought. It was the supposed original vocalist and bassist that never came to the rehearsals, so we just moved Kasper from rhythm guitar to bass and I picked up on vocal duties on the side of then being the sole guitarist. It turned out better anyway, as being a three piece certainly made a lot of things easier and cheaper to do as we had less people to move around for shows and less opinions when deciding on things, haha. Nowadays we're a four piece with the addition of a second guitarist since late 2017, which has been great for the overall sound and live appearance too, but for the first good 10 years we did well and fine and a three piece. But having two guitars certainly sounds heavier and thicker, so now I couldn't imagine going back to having only one guitarist.

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So Undergang is in its 12th year as a band; can you talk to us about the early days of the band how it formed, and to what you owe your longevity to?

I guess the very first stages was covered a bit above, but the band was created after I had been brewing on riffs and ideas for a few years and then finally feeling comfortable with playing guitar proper and finding the right people to get it going, we had our first rehearsals in the beginning of June 2008.

We had a quite fast start to the band, as I have a few songs prepared to get the ball rolling and we then after settling on being a three piece arranged and got the first songs ready and decided on the name and that being in Danish, we stuck to having all song titles and lyrics in Danish too. In September 2008 we played our first local show, which was a gig I set up in a basement "venue" here in Copenhagen and it was in support of the Canadian metal punk band LIMB FROM LIMB on their first and only European tour. I guess we must have had 6 songs or so at the time. Within the next few months we finished enough songs for what we wanted to be our debut album and we entered our friend Morten's "Studio", which was just a rehearsal room with a splitting wall with a window set-up for recording purposes. We had recorded a single demo song in the same set-up at the end of September 2008 and decided that it sounded good enough to do the album there too, so during the winter of 2008/2009 we finished up the recordings and in the summer of 2009 I made 100 promotional tapes to try to find a label to release our debut LP. But even before I got around to mail out any copies, we got a few offers thanks to online promotion, and the contact we had with Jesus of the then just starting up label Me Saco Un Ojo Records was good so we decided to work with him on the release of our debut LP, which would be only the second release on MSUO. Where we also struck a good relationship up alongside the music side of things and I now see Jesus usually several times a year, as well as we're working with MSUO for most of our vinyl releases from UNDERGANG. "Indhentet af døden" would then be released on LP in January 2010, where we also did a release concert her in town, where we invited our friends in the local grindcore band DEAD INSTRUMENT out to play too.

We had the same solid line-up of Anders Pedersen on drums, Kasper Husballe on bass and me, David Mikkelsen, on guitar and vocals between 2008 and early 2016. In the beginning on 2016 Kasper decided that he couldn't dedicate and enjoy investing the time needed for the band any longer and that after a few already agreed to shows, he'd retire from UNDERGANG. That meant that we since then have had a few friends filling in playing bass for various lengths of time and tours, etc. But the partnership behind writing and making the band what is that Anders and I have is a very well oiled machinery and friendship, so I think that we both have the respect and understanding of each other's ways of being and how we work and play our instruments has made what the band is and why we're still around and as active as we are today.

As well as your various EP's and LP's, you've also taken part in a series of split-releases with bands such as Dead, Anatomia and Funebrarum. How important are split-releases to you and what benefits to releasing records with other bands?

I wouldn't necessarily state any importance to split releases, though I'd never deny that split releases also means to you have the band likely more exposed to the fan base of the opposite band of the split. But more than that, split releases to me should be between friends and all the split releases we've done have been between bands we consider friends and/or in support of a tour or certain show, where we'd do a limited run of cassettes with songs for the bands sharing stage on the tour. So you won't see any split releases with us and a band that we don't have a personal relationship with also. We'll leave doing 154.938.726 split releases with any band in existence to AGATHOCLES, haha

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"Misantropologi" proved to be somewhat of a breakout album for Undergang, do you look as the album as somewhat of a breakout album or just a result of hard work and dedication?

It was just a natural progression for the band with how everything was at the time and what was going on around then. When the album came out in July 2017 we had been playing for almost 10 years already and we had been keeping a rather prolific live presence in the years leading up to that, having done several European and US tours yearly and the labels releasing the albums, Dark Descent Records and Me Saco Un Ojo Records, was also growing at the time and getting more exposure to their releases. So I think a lot of things played in.

Maybe that the title was a bit more English-speaking friendly too had a say in it, but what do I know? The album was the first album that we wrote only as a two piece, as our original bassist left the band early in the writing process, so we never had the chance to play any of the songs live before recording the album, where when we recorded "Døden læger alle sår" prior to Misantropologi, it was done after a 5 week US tour where we played the songs live every night of the tour to get them as good sounding and prepared as possible. So Anders and I had written and prepared all the songs just between the two of us and then in the studio I'd teach our new bassist at the time, Sam Osborne, how to play the songs one at the time for the recording of each song, which likely wasn't ideal, but he was a good bassist and a fast learner so it sounds good on the recordings still. We had just finished a month long US tour alongside our friends in the at the time new band SPECTRAL VOICE, so we were well rehearsed and in good shape, even if we hadn't been able to practice the songs during the tour. But besides all of that, the songs off the album were the first introduction to mixing a bit more faster songs as well as our more typical mid-tempo steady songs and a bit of a shorter running time with just less than 30 minutes length, which I think is a perfect length for a death metal album, enough to keep the listener entertained and not be fed-up with its length, so you might want to turn it over again and play it once more than stopping after side A and struggling through side B. It's still an album I'm very proud of, but I'm currently looking forward to sharing our new album with everyone, as I truly believe that we've topped Misantropologi on this one, both with song writing and production. Just you wait and see/listen!

Remember when amazing festivals happened and didn't get cancelled?

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You have previously toured the USA with Necrot; European bands typically have a nightmare of a time getting their Visas and papers in order to tour the USA, and even when they're fullyorganised bands run the gauntlet of being intercepted and detained at the airport; did you have any issues touring the USA and did you have to take any extra precautions?

I always feel uncomfortable travelling into the US, even though I'm not doing anything wrong, just because of all the preparations and precautions you need to do for your visas, etc. Going there as a band to play shows, is of course a more difficult matter and because of the high expense of getting actual work visas and the level of of our band, we've never applied to and gotten work visas but have always entered the US as tourist and if we needed to explain ourselves, we'd say we're there to play shows as an underground/amateur band, which is also allowed if you are only there to play music on a "hobby" level, which for bands in our position is truthful as well. Because of that, we never bring much with us, but have bought and borrowed musical instruments and equipment from the friends in bands we've been touring with, who thankfully have been willing to provide us with such services, just like we've done when we've been touring with oversea bands around Europe, where we'll lend our backline for them to play on; a sort of gentleman's agreement, if you will.

By now UNDERGANG has gone to the US to play 6 times, I believe, where 5 of them have been tours in 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 and a one off show in NYC in 2012, where we got a support slot opening for AUTOPSY. I've been pulled in twice by security in San Francisco now, one of them being when I was going on a 2 weeks West Coast tour with my other band PHRENELITH in 2017, because there was issues with me coming in on a tourist visa to play shows. After about 2 hours sitting in the back in an office being questioned and investigated, the officer dealing with my case called up a few of the venues we were scheduled to play, where people answering the phone at the venues/bars stated that we'd only get paid money made from the door which would basically be gas money, he allowed for me to be released and enter the US. It was a terrifying process where I feared that I'd get fined, never be allowed to enter the US again and that my band mates waiting on the other side of security would get the same treatment, so you can imagine the relief it was once I was released.

Returning for the "Misantropologi" US promotional tour with UNDERGANG later that year in July, I flew into the San Francisco airport again and was immediately pulled to the side and taken back to the back office by security guards again, where I was waiting for them to look through my papers and who knows what they have in the computers on me, before being released again after about an hour without any questioning.

A word of advice would be to never bring any sort of band related items or equipment with you in your bags when entering the US as a European band, but have everything manufactured or purchased over there and mailed over in advance. Unless of course you are a bigger band and can afford work visas, where you can expect to get the money paid back or have an agency and or management sort that out for you. Being an underground band like us, it always feels like a bit of a risk, but it is what it is.

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Being a relatively unknown band compared to Necrot, who at the time were hitting their stride with their Blood Offerings album, how did you find audiences received you?

Well, I think it was a bit the other way at the time, to be honest. We had been doing a few US tours at the time already, where NECROT was more coming out from the demo stage of the band and we invited them out on tour with UNDERGANG, because they were friends and we had known them for several years at the time and done a smaller West Coast tour with them before in 2013 and I had helped and supported them with releasing their demos on my label Extremely Rotten Productions in Europe since they started out, so a lot of the shows were with us headlining the billing. Both bands had new albums out we were out to promote on that tour, NECROT having just released their debut album "Blood Offerings", which had been well received, and us promoting the release of our 4th album Misantropologi, so there was a bit of a buzz oabout both bands going out on that tour and we did well and the shows were well attending overall. It was the 3rd time we had teamed up with Vinny of New Jersey based Signature Riff booking agency, who has always been very cool and supportive of UNDERGANG, and it was yet another full US tour he set up for us, where I believe the guys in NECROT helped out with their contacts for some of the West Coast dates on the tour. A lot of the cities we've been through on previous tours, so we had friends and followers in a lot of the places and we had good local bands playing in several cities too from networking over the years and good choices by promoters, so we got great gigs with bands around the US like CIANIDE, SPECTRAL VOICE, CEREBRAL ROT, FETID, HORRENDOUS and more that escape my memory right now. It was a rough time with so many shows in a row and often long drives in a van with both bands crammed into it, but a fun time and a good ride for the band nonetheless. I remember I strained my neck about a week into the tour, which was a real pain, and then got a cold from the varying temperatures all the time, so I had to deal with a fever for over half of the tour because of that too and no time to recover with only little sleep every night, eating terrible gas station food (which can be a bit of a difficulty even further so in the US when you’re the sole vegetarian in the travelling party) and likely drinking too much.

But looking back, it’s mainly fun memories from our various long US tours.

On your song "Det Gør Kun Ondt Til Du Dør" off the "Døden Læger Alle Sår" album, you have Eric Cutler from Autopsy contribute a solo; how did you cone to meet him and how did his contribution come about?

As mentioned earlier, we got to play a show in NYC with AUTOPSY in 2012, which was a favour granted to us by Daryl of FUNEBRARUM, as we had done a European tour with them earlier that year. So around that show we got to hang out with everyone in AUTOPSY too and they're all very cool and nice guys and we've met up every once in a while over the years ever since and Eric has been nice coming up to our shows in Oakland when we've been on tours since 2012. So I asked him earlier in 2014 if he'd be up for coming into Earhammer Studio in Oakland, California, to do a guest solo on a song with us, as we were going to record "Døden læger alle sår" in there after a month long full US tour in July and thankfully he agreed to doing so. In the end he ended up not being able to come by while we had the studio time, but then recorded elsewhere on his own and had the recordings sent to Greg Wilkinson in Earhammer, who then fitted it with the song. We had written the song with an extra long outro to allow for Eric to do whatever he felt fitting for an ending solo on there and he did 3 very cool solos for us to choose from; we went with the one we found the most fitting and that's what you can here there at the end of Det gør kun ondt til du dør! A true honour for our band for sure.

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At the risk of getting sidetracked; there seems to be a resurgence of top-grade Death Metal North America in the form of bands like Necrot and Blood Incantation too, as well as new bands such as Sedimentum; have you noticed this too?

Yeah, I definitely agree that there a whole lot of new death metal bands that have come out in the US the last few years especially, having been touring almost annually over there between 2011 and 2017, we've experienced the growing interest in underground death metal in the attendance at the shows and support of our band. While I also think that several great "newer" bands have come out of the later interest in death metal, I also can't help but feel that the market is getting a bit flooded with mediocre bands every month though and it's a bit strange to see several newer bands emerging that are heavily influenced by other temporary bands, but I guess it's always like that when someone strikes gold, that others will follow in their path. Of newer US bands I personally really like and would like to mention and recommend is TORTURE RACK, SPECTRAL VOICE, MORTUOUS, EXCARNATED ENTITY, MORTIFERUM, FETID, CEREBRAL ROT, MEPHITIC CORPSE, WITCHVOMIT, BLACK CURSE, PISSGRAVE, MALIGNANT ALTAR. Off the top of my head, I'm sure I'm forgetting lots.

Last year you toured the UK too, and I can remember you selling out the Bristol date of that tour; how did you find the UK audiences?

We've played in London quite a bit of times by now over the years, so it's always interesting getting out and playing other cities around the UK, though where we've been has been very minimal. People seem to forget that the UK is quite a big country for travelling too, so only playing London isn't enough, but I guess it can vary a lot as to interest and support for underground death metal shows too? But back to your question, I don't know if the Bristol gig at The Gryphon was a sold out show, but if it was I guess it didn't take too much as the place would have been packed with 60 people there, haha. We were doing 2 UK shows with our friends in DEIQUISITOR, with the help from Jesus of Me Saco Un Ojo Records who teamed us up with the UK based band CRYPTWORM, who are from Bristol. So we had that Bristol gig and a London one the day after. Both shows were good for us when it comes to being fairly well received, both having a bit of a wild time going on; the Bristol gig in a small room with no windows or air-conditioning on the first floor of the Gryphon pub was a hell of a sweaty time where the bands and audience got real close and the London gig at the Nambucca venue had the possibility of a bigger attendance and did well with maybe 200 people there and it felt like we'd been there a few times before and people were a bit more familiar with our band. Fun times, I always enjoy getting to visit the UK and see friends there too, so it's cool.

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I hear you'll be coming back again next year?

Yeah, at the moment, if the state of the world and the pandemic allows it, we'll have 2 UK shows in 2021; The postponed Sublime Terror Festival in London moved till October 15th-17th 2021 and before that we're to play our first show in Wales at the Eradication Festival in Cardiff on Saturday the 22nd of May 2021. Both should be fun, I always enjoy festivals for hanging out and getting to see new bands.

On the subject of playing, Undergang seems to maintain a fairly busy touring schedule, what's your worst memories/stories from being on the road?

Being on tour is always a bit awful to be honest, haha. Living quite rough often living for the most part off snacks and food off gas stations, sleeping very little, spending most of the days sitting crammed together with your band mates In a small van. You're basically just waiting around for 23 hours a day for the 45 minute set time you get to play every night, killing time while talking shit, taking naps and usually drinking too much every day. Some examples of lame experiences we've had could be travelling for +30 hours between two shows on our 2014 US tour to arrive at a venue where the promoter has done no promotion and the staff hardly being aware of the gig taking place, playing to only 10 people that all hated all 3 of our touring bands and then get paid what I recall as 50 USD combined and the promoter trying to blame us for the bad turn-up and low fee. Or a show we were supposed to play in Compton, California, on our US tour in 2011 where a pack of people at the gig starts to fight and are rolling around the floor leading to the owners of the "venue" (which was a Mexican restaurant) calling the police and them telling us to leave, just as we're getting ready on stage for our show, or we'd get arrested. So we packed down in a hurry and left. Or playing a 5 band billing in the middle of nowhere in America with not a single person attending the show. Or playing a show where I constantly get electric shocks from the microphone because it's not having the right grounding connection in the electric system, which has happened several times, last time around at a show in Odense, Denmark we ended up putting socks over the microphone to minimize the electric shock we'd get. The list of failures goes on, haha. It's not been a magical time all along, as any band would likely testify to.

Whilst Denmark is not considered straight-away as a hotspot for extreme music, bands like Hexis and Halshug, as well as festivals such as KillTown Deathfest and Copenhell suggest that there is a demand for heavy music. What are your experiences of extreme metal in Denmark and what do you think makes Danish life/music different from your counterparts in the UK / Mainland Europe?

I think Denmark has often been overlooked, partially for good reason, though there has always been plenty of bands playing and various gigs and festivals going on for extreme music. If you're into punk, there has been the K-Town Hardcore Festival going on for about 20 years now and there's several metal festivals that has been around for a while this side of the millennium still going like Metal Magic Festival in Fredericia, Aalborg Metal Festival, Royal Metal Fest in Aarhus and several others. Kill-Town Death Fest was something I was a part of founding too and we did 5 festivals between 2010-2014 and one more in 2018 and then I ended my partnership with the other remaining founding member and have nothing good to say about it any longer.

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Copenhell is nowadays more of a hard rock and metal festival and has grown quite big, I don't fully enjoy being there but I think it's great that it exists and that it has the support it has.

I'm not really sure if Denmark has anything specific to offer around extreme music activities any more than any other country would have . We're a small country in the North which most other countries consider a quite expensive place to visit, which is true for foreigners. I think we generally have a nice and quite easy going way of dealing with things and shows/festivals, but I don't see it as anything unique. Music-wise Denmark has the legacy of MERCIFUL FATE / KING DIAMOND when it comes to heavy metal, ARTILLERY when it comes to thrash metal and mainly bands I can't be bothered to mention when speaking of death metal, If you dig deeper some of the earlier death metal bands I'd recommend to check out from the early 90's would be EXHAUST, FALLEN ANGEL, INFERNAL DEATH, DETEST, DOMINUS, NATIONS OF DEATH, MORATORIUM and REVOLTING PHIMOSIS to name a few. Nowadays we have quite a strong death metal presence internationally too with bands such as DEIQUISITOR, TAPHOS, CHAOTIAN, PHRENELITH, HYPERDONTIA, ASCENDENCY, DEAD VOID, VOMIT ANGEL and more growing still. I'm currently doing a small series of concerts locally as an expansion of my record label / store Extremely Rotten Productions, that we call Extremely Rotten Death Metal Vol.1-2-3-4-5-etc. and there seems to be a decent interest in those gigs these days too, where we usually present a couple of local bands supporting a fly-in band or two, or friends being on tour. We've had between 100-400 people attending in average, so underground death metal is alive in Denmark, I'd say.

You made a very interesting point in your interview with Deadly Storm Zine where you mentioned that, especially in Copenhagen, there are so many shows happening that fans can get spoiled. Is this still the case and do you think this could on go on indefinitely?

I think that was more the case a few years back when I replied to that interview, which was very much the case them. We had mixed extreme music shows pretty much several night a week every week, so people had to choose what they wanted to and could afford to support and that lead to some good shows not getting the support and attendance it likely could (and should) have gotten. People in Copenhagen also tend to be extremely lazy, so if a show is not taking place in their part of the city, they won't go to it. Even though for a capital, Copenhagen is a very small city with well connected and affordable public transportation and even on a bike, you can get pretty much to any part of the city you'd want to be in 30 minutes or so. But the last few years it has certainly slowed down and I personally only attend maybe 5 shows a year now locally or so, which is of course also based on my extremely conservative and asshole-like taste in music, but there used to be more to my liking going on. Instead of complaining about a lack of shows to my liking, I just started doing my own concerts again with the above mentioned ERDM gigs. I've arranged concerts on my own on and off since 2008 and shows along with others some years prior to that too, so I have a bit of an idea about what to do, what to expect and also by now what I like, and what I don't like. I don't deal with bands consisting of people I don't know any longer, because I can't be bothered to deal with any "rockstar" mentalities, which has no home in death metal anyway, I refuse to cater to that and just want to have a good time with friends, seeing the bands I like, catch up with friends from close and far away and try to help and promote our local scene along with it.

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As well as Undergang, you also are an accomplished designer who has not only drawn a lot of Undergang's artwork, as well as the art for KillTown Death Fest; who inspired your artistic style and where do you draw influence from?

I grew up loving horror comics and anything macabre, so going back to my early school years you'd find grizzly mushroom shaped skulls and monsters on the side of the pages of my note books; after some years of not drawing much in my early teens, I picked up on it again when I got a bit more involved in the music scene, as putting a bit of my developing, dare I say, talent to use for concert posters and demo art seemed fitting. I've always been very inspired and influenced by the art of Bernie Wrightson (GOD!), Graham Ingels, the Gurch, Bruce Spaulding Fuller, Chas Balun and the Danish artist Paw Nielsen who did killer extreme music art in the early 90's. So it's really a mix of all of that, various more horror comic art and movies and seeing that bands with members doing some of their own art that I loved, like Jeff Walker/ CARCASS, Christ Reifert/AUTOPSY and Stevo / IMPETIGO being the sickest and embracing the idea to do the visuals for my own musical outputs too seemed fitting.

Horror movies and gore seem to be a recurring theme in your art, what are your favourite horrors to get ideas from?

As its likely most seen in my art, anything around the decomposition process if often a choice of artistic inspiration, haha. I love drawing melting things and it’s a perfect fit for death metal and the gruesome sonic picture we're trying to visualize with UNDERGANG's music. So it's often a simple scenario based around melting humans, but I do try to venture out to a bit different territories from time to time, but often it just either comes back to what I find the easiest and most relaxing to draw and with art commissions from outside my own band too, it's often what people ask for from me as well, as it's what I've been known for doing. I try to do a bit of social media presence with my art too, so if you read this and want to check a few things out you can find my art under the moniker of Ink Lesions on Facebook and Instagram.

You're also involved with Extremely Rotten Productions, which released some of the early Undergang Demo's and EP's; when did this get set up and do you have difficulty juggling your commitments to Undergang with ERP? ERP was originally created to have a base for promoting the promotional tape for the second UNDERGANG album back in 2011, before the release of Til døden os skiller in February 2012. We did about 8-900 copies of that during an 8 month period or so, so it got build up a bit from that and I started doing some more tape releases of our own doings with my own bands and some local bands. At the time I was working full time and had already be doing a distro since 2006 as well, so combining things and moving on from there with a small label on top too seemed okay, but even on that small scale is was a bit much to handle playing in several local bands, my regular loser job, the label and distro and having a private life on the side too, so the label came in last and was pushed a bit behind for a while. It wasn't really until 2017 that I really resurrected the label properly and got busier with releases, building up the distro, getting an actual webstore set up and not just have a document I could share over email and boxes I was bringing out to local shows, haha.

Extremely Rotten Productions - David's label that has released music for bands such as Cthonic Deity and Deiquisitor, as well as distributing Putrizine and merch for bands such as Undergang and Demilich.

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Since then we've opened up a record store here in Copenhagen too since June 2018 and we've now expanded to release cassettes, vinyl and band merch as well as doing our own in-house fanzine, along with my friend Søren from CHAOTIAN, that we call PutriZine. So Extremely Rotten is now behind a lot of various death metal activities with music store, music, written publications and concert promotions. I've worked part time at my normal day job since late 2017 to meet a bit of all of my death metal activities, and not lose out of a private life on the side too; since the summer of 2020 I'm currently self employed with the label, store, art and my bands. So seemingly the many years hard work is about to pay off, so I can actually keep up with things and do it as wholesome as I can. I hope.

Through Extremely Rotten Productions it appears that you embrace the old-school principles, selling zines and cassettes through the label and operating the label as a distro as well; in terms of the old-school principles of Death Metal fandom, compared to how it is now, what are the most notable changes you have seen and is there anything you miss from the days of tape-trading and fanzines being a primary source of information?

Being a younger guy myself still, I've only been involved in concert-going and more for the past 20 years, so for the most part of my experiences through and around the underground community there has also had the internet to help with contacts and promotions, which (with a bit of help from my partner and my band mates, as I'm a bit of a technological Neanderthal) I try to embrace and use too. I still make and print physical flyers and posters for everything I do, as I believe that is still an important aspect of promotion, but I also have been using internet forums and social media to get the word out on things and we're trying to have our releases available digitally also through Bandcamp (though I'm a bit slow with that too). I value a physical copy of anything I care about highly though, so releases on vinyl, CD's and cassettes as well as printed magazines are important and a necessity for me too, both releasing and for consuming/collecting myself. I'm no less of a sticky, greasy nerd than that either!

I do still trade and send letters to my contacts around the world too and try to keep the friends I've made in the underground community updated on my activities, sending them our latest releases from time to time as well as a bit of an update on what is going on. Emails are practical and all, but I don't really like spending more time behind a computer than I absolutely need to do, which often ends up being a lot when I'm managing the label and the band for the most part, so when I'm not working I do not want to be available and I can actually be off. People that know me can then just give me a call or send a text to my normal cell phone, but deep down I wish I didn't have a need to carry that around with me either, haha.

What other projects are Undergang members involved in?

Our drummer Anders plays bass in a punk band called DĂ…RLIGT SELSKAB and in a MISFITS cover band called MEAT FIST; I'm also trying to get him involved in a new death grind band I'm working on with some other friends. Our bassist Martin plays bass and sings in his other blackened death metal band STRYCHNOS also and some occasional assisting jobs in other friends' bands. Our other guitarist Mads is currently getting his own death metal band, that are yet to get a name, up and running. They've recorded 6 songs for a debut release that sounds great, a bit more "technical" than what we do in UNDERGANG, since I think he doesn't get the outlet for all of his ideas that fits within our range of audio sickness. I'm also playing in another local death metal band called PHRENELITH and some on and off international bands like WORMRIDDEN with Takashi from ANATOMIA, and ULCEROT with Tim from PISSGRAVE and Thomas and Henrik from DEIQUISITOR. Just some friend projects for fun that we work on when we're together, which is obviously not always too often.

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You are currently working alongside Dark Descent Records, the home of heavyweights such as Spectral Voice and Blood Incantation; how did you come to working with them and what is the relationship/support like given the amount of bands on the roster?

Our first dealing with Matt and Dark Descent Records was when he co-released a flexi 7" for us alongside Me Saco Un Ojo Records in 2011, something Jesus set up to help promote our first US West Coast tour in May that year. We then met him at the Denver show on that tour where he came out to meet us and hang out; he was a nice guy and I liked the idea of his label; for us to have a US based label to support us alongside Me Saco Un Ojo Records in Europe, we accepted his offer to work with us on releasing our albums once we were out of our 2 album contract with Xtreem Music at the time. When we had committed to what was agreed to, we started working on music for what would be our 3rd album and our return to working with Me Saco Un Ojo Records and our first album on Dark Descent Records. Since then Matt has been a friend to me outside being the owner of the label we're on and I very much enjoy having that relationship with people releasing our music; it's a different kind of trust you get. MSUO and DDR are the labels we like to work with and they're both friends and have been supporting us since the early years of the band. Being on DDR nowadays does mean that you drown a bit in the masses of bands on their roster now, but I still enjoy the creative freedom and support we get enough to not be interested in looking elsewhere. UNDERGANG is a Me Saco Un Ojo and Dark Descent recording band.

It's difficult to think too far ahead with festivals being rescheduled everywhere and no gigs happening, but how do you foresee the next year panning out for Undergang?

It certainly is a weird time at the moment and a heavy one too, but just speaking band wise things thankfully haven't been too rough for us, though it has been sad to see many shows and tours not being able to take place; thankfully a lot of things will hopefully just take place in 2021 instead.

We've been able to do a few live stream concerts online during the first months of the pandemic, mostly for fun but also to try to present a few new songs "live" and to let people know we're still here. We got a few Danish shows coming up within the year which can hopefully still take place. Things have loosened up a bit here so we've recently been able to do a few live shows, where the audiences are sitting at tables around in front of the stage, which granted is a bit weird, but nonetheless makes it possible to do a few shows.

Other than that we have finished the recordings for our 5th album "Aldrig i livet" which will be released in autumn 2020 by MSUO and DDR again and we've made our first promotional music video for that which will be shown soon as a teaser for the song "MenneskeĂŚder". At the same session we've recorded 3 extra songs that'll likely in early 2021 be released as a split LP/CD with our friends in the Japanese doom death metal band ANATOMIA. Once again to be released

by MSUO and DDR. There's also still a 4 way split LP in the works, that we recorded for back in 2019, which will present some of the current Danish death metal bands with exclusive songs from DEIQUISITOR, PHRENELITH, TAPHOS and UNDERGANG. It'll be released by Night Shroud Records and Extremely Rotten Productions. Other than that a few shows here and there hopefully, time will tell. We're already writing and working on new music too.

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Thanks for the interview and to the reader for making your way through this, I hope you didn’t feel like you’ve completely wasted your time and maybe found out something new about our band and if not familiar, maybe it has given you the interest in checking out what we do. Our releases and merch are available directly from us through the ERP webstore.

Support underground death metal, buy and read zines and help the bands you like continue to do what they do by attending their shows (when that's an option again) and buying their releases and merch.

Boiling in blood, DM / UNDERGANG August 2020

www.undergang.bandcamp.com www.facebook.com/undergangktdm www.instagram.com/undergangofficial www.darkdescentrecords.com www.mesacounojo.com www.extremelyrottenprod.com

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Holy shit. An actual new band featured in this zine? outrageous right? well, turns out after months of getting carried away featuring bands some people are already familiar with, I lost track of shining light on sick bands that are starting out. I caught onto Vacuous at the start of the Pandemic; classic example of a decent band that got a bit of a shit deal starting out at the beginning of a momentum-crushing pandemic; despite this, their debut demo has received a decent amount of buzz (I should know, I released it) and their eyes are firmly fixed on the future. So here's a few words with Joe to see what is up and what the future holds for them.

As a relatively new band we know so little about you; what were your music backgrounds prior to forming the band and how did the band come about?

I think I have a slightly different background than the other guys as I largely raised on Hip-hop: Wu-Tang, Three 6, that sorta thing but was always drawn to the darker styles of it anyway.

Eventually I found myself in Punk, Powerviolence, Noise Rock territory and I knew I wanted to drum like that so I just kinda went for it. Death Metal is relatively new to me but informs a lot of the bands I like in some way or another so not really a drastic shift. Some favourite bands new and old for me are Spazz, Dropdead, Dead Kennedys, Hella, Black Flag, OFF!, Bad Brains, Dystopia, Clipping, BLACKIE, The Haxan Cloak, The Bug, EyeHateGod, Portal, Trap Them, Vermin Womb, Primitive Man, all of Colin Marston's shit.

On the other hand Michael, who writes most of the riffs has a bit more of a traditional heavy metal background so that definitely balances out our sound. We actually came together as a band as a result of several half-assed projects falling apart. So this is us whole-assing one thing.

I had the pleasure of putting out your demo a few months back, and fairplay it really captures that scuzzy style that demo's have, that "this is what we do but don't quote us on it" sort of approach. Given there are a few ways of recording, how did you go about it?

I like that phrase, definitely sums it up. We were playing around with Punk and Death Metal riffs and were like we need to get something down, so we asked Engine Rooms if we could borrow some mics and we recorded the drums there through Dame (bass)'s mixer with the help of my friend Clive who has way more experience at this stuff than us. Guitars and Bass were DI'd and I managed to the vocals recorded through a USB mic Dame mixed in. Extremely patched together haha.

Word is an American label is picked up on the Demo and might be looking to release it in the US too?

Possibly, still in the works.

Given it's a demo and you haven't really had proper chance to put yourself out there as a band just yet, how pleased are you with the feedback?

Yeah pretty pleased to be honest. I remember us all being surprised that people wanted to actually listen to it haha! When we got a review on ToiletOvHell I was like "oh shit haha this is weird (but cool) as fuck". I personally want to prove we can sound as good if not better live so even though I appreciate the kind words and feedback we get, until we can put on a good show I feel like we haven't earned it yet, so to speak. That's just me though.

I quite liked the simplistic artwork to the demo, where did it come from?

Katie, Michael's girlfriend was kind enough to let us use that image. She's a great artist and designer and you should definitely check out her other stuff! The piece is actually a printed monotype.

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As a new band, the ability to get your name out there was somewhat obstructed by the fact that shows simply stopped happening; have you sought to change-up how you promote the band in light of this or are you just keeping things under-wraps until shows can happen again?

Yeah that was annoying. I think our promotion is pretty minimal compared to other bands, but we are trying to get better at it. It's mainly because we got three songs out at the moment totalling under 10minutes so it's like, what do we have to promote really? Once shows come back it will definitely give us more material to work with. Posting clips from shows, recording sessions etc could be cool.

With distance a factor during lockdown, how did you adapt to having to carry out the early stages of the band's life at distance?

So we already knew each other late last year. We were chatting in a group chat for a while and Michael was like "let's actually get some shit done". The demo was done basically just as lockdown started. We keep in touch pretty regularly thanks to the internet; album links are a regular as well as chats about films and whatnot. In terms of getting music done, it's definitely a less organic experience than being able to meet and jam once a week, but on the flip side it lets us write more complicated songs as we all have a lot more alone time.

Whilst residing in the capital comes with its advantages, it comes with its own challenges which makes the city unique compared to the of the UK. I find that a lot of the more prolific promoters in the city aren't necessarily in a position to afford opportunities to unproven bands, relying on bands that can draw a crowd in order to keep above-water in a very competitive market. Having not played shows in the area, but attended as fans, how do you perceive London as a hub for extreme metal bands starting out?

Yeah it's a tricky one. I think London has a lot more Punk/Hardcore oriented bands rather than extreme metal, when you have legendary venues such as New Cross Inn it makes sense. That being said London makes you spoiled for choice as a fan, since most of the big and interesting acts pass through here. In terms of up and coming London bands, it's definitely tricky due to the high cost of renting a space to practice and when you play loud shit you need that.

How accurate is the accusation that nothing happens in London without something similar directly clashing with it on any given night?

Pretty accurate. Some of the promoters band together and you end up with weekends full of great bands. The problem for me is when a non-metal show is going on, obviously they don't co-ordinate with metal guys and I often can't decide. I always wish I had gone to the one I missed haha.

Whilst people close to the Death Metal scene have noticed a huge surge of European and North American bands that have started gaining some traction, the UK doesn't seem to have caught onto that wave just yet as a whole. What is your experiences like with Death Metal in the UK? Bands like Bolt Thrower, Abyssal, Dragged into Sunlight, Grave Miasma are the first that come into mind when you say UK Death Metal so I think we are holding it strong so far! Definitely can rival anything stateside in my opinion anyway. Newer bands like Celestial Sanctuary are deffo continuing that legacy and I think that will have a knock-on effect and we will see more.

I have a sort-of idea of what might be on the horizon for Vacuous, but the readers don't; what can we expect from Vacuous in the future?

We have a new EP in the pipeline recorded and it's in the midst of being mixed and mastered so we couldn't be more psyched; it is definitely different from the demo in almost all aspects and quality.

Me, Michael and Dame love some of the same stuff, but we also like a lot of different stuff and that push-and-pull of what influences we want to draw from means Vacuous isn't going to sound the same from release to release and I like it that way to be honest.

For more information on the band, follow the links below https://vacuousdeath.bandcamp.com https://www.facebook.com/vacuousdeath/ IG - VacuousDeath

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So maybe it's something I said in a past life, or maybe I'm asking the wrong bands, but I have a devil of a time hearing back from Grindcore bands; as a result, I think the last one I focused was Crisis Benoit back in Issue 7 (and even that one was a last-minute addition after a lengthy delay which meant it almost didn't make the issue).

Anyway, onwards and upwards; I managed to sly in some Grindcore in this largely Death-Metal centred issue. Excellent. Whilst I knew of the name loosely through Grindcore pages on Facebook, it wasn't until a mate pointed me their way that I full acknowledged that this was indeed the good shit.

For those who are not overly au fait with Escuela Grind, can you give us a backstory of the band and the circumstances surrounding the band's formation?

We started Escuela 4 years ago in a small college-town called Ithaca, NY. Jesse and I met in Dallas, TX and we've been partners for seven years. We met Kris when she was playing a show at Pauly's Tavern in Albany, we kept in touch and when we moved closer we asked her to join. Now we all live and quarantine together in Massachusetts.

The band was formed somewhat in reaction to the lack of grindcore/ powerviolence bands in the Upstate New York area; given the lack of presence for the genre in the area at the time, was it difficult to get on local shows? Were there even any local shows to try and get onto?

Surprisingly, not at all. There's this local nonprofit called "Ithaca Underground" and they are very open to mixed bills. This is where we got used to playing with all different genres, from hip-hop to noise to indie to punk. Since there were not many grind/pv shows happening in our radius, we would travel often and we booked our own shows. Over the course of a year and a half we were able to bring many of our friends' bands to Ithaca, and had great memories.

Whilst it's 2020 and it would be a lot cooler that it was no longer an issue, unfortunately female representation in music is still something that needs a bit of work on. Whilst Grindcore and Powerviolence are typically very welcoming and embracing subcultures, it is still a relatively male-dominated environment; what have your experiences in the band been like and have you ever fallen short of any condescending or misogynist remarks?

People will talk shit behind your back. People will heckle. It's universal no matter what genre you're playing. In general, I try not to validate anything misogynist with a response and it seems to get the job done. At this point with our music we are really focused on building up our community and being a source of inspiration. It is far too easy to get bogged down by scene politics and honestly, you can't let negative people live rent-free in your mind.

You released the GGRRIINNDDCCOORREE Ep a few months back; was this material left over from previous releases or songs for a future release?

This EP is the second out of four, where we are focused on our influential genres. We wrote this with a very narrow, clear frame of reference. It was a stand-alone recording of all new material that we actually had been playing live for almost a year.

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There's a song on there called Crab Mentality. I'm assuming this is not about constantly scuttling sideways?

If you've ever heard the term "like crabs in a bucket", that's what crab mentality is about. When crabs are all caught up in a bucket, it is pretty easy for an individual crab to just crawl up and out.

However, the others will pull down any lone crab that tries, therefore ensuring a morbid fate for ALL the crabs. Sometimes people with the best intentions bring down those who strive to do better, or who strive for greatness. The song calls for an end to the "if i can't have it, neither can you" mindset.

The proceeds of the EP are being distributed across a plethora of bail funds, memorial funds and organisations centred around community and social justice; given the amount of funds that require support right now in the USA, was it ever difficult to determine which initiatives required funding sooner?

Yes, absolutely. Prescient response with community aid is very difficult, especially since we are quite isolated in location. Our solution is that every week, I gather the money, and we choose a cause that we need to support, or a need in the community that must be filled. We have directly responded to help individuals out of terrible situations, and whenever possible we donate locally to an Immigrant Center in our town. From our donations alone they were able to provide immigration legal counselling, in full, for two local families. I think that is really awesome.

Prior to your debut LP coming out, you also released splits with the likes of Disparo!, Reeking Cross and Violent Opposition; how did you come to get in contact with these bands and what do you perceive the benefits of a split-release being when weighed up against say a standalone EP or LP? We've had the pleasure of performing with these bands in our earlier days. It's totally worth mentioning that these bands have some of the sweetest, most posi musicians, and I personally look for that when deciding who to work with. Splits afford bands opportunities to create a collaborative release. This could mean creating the art together, splitting costs, cross promoting, setting up a release show, and so much more. If you have a good relationship with another band and extra material, splits are a good way to get your name out there. You also can get more experimental with a split, I feel. For example, our split with Violent Opposition was written and recorded in a few hours of downtime on tour.

You also released your debut LP “Indoctrination� out via Armageddon Label, To Live a Lie and RSR; in interviews you've been very positive about your relationships with the label, what has made it such a positive working relationship?

Our positive working relationship comes from being friends and having clear communication. In the past Ben of Armageddon and Will of TLAL have booked us, gotten us places to crash, and they are great allies overall. Sandro and RSR have an impressive catalog of releases and we are thankful for all that they are doing for us. Can't wait to meet them in Europe! These labels are professional and personable; we have a great deal of respect for what they do, and how much work they put into releases.

From the song titles alone it is evident there are politically charged overtones throughout this album. Can you flesh out some of the ideas that you put into the album and break it down track by track?

Sure thing. The lyrics are constructed from months of exhaustive note taking on things that interested me; random videos, a lot of true crime, historical references, personal references, etc.. From those notes I ascertained this loose theme of "indoctrination".

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Inspirational Significance: In the mid-2000's there was a secret prison system made within the existing system called CMUs. If a prisoner is deemed to be of "inspirational significance" to others with radical views then they can be thrown in this secret prison with extremely harsh, inhumane conditions. There are some really terrible people in these CMUs, but there are also activists who have been unjustly targeted and silenced.

Hyper-Victim: Everyone knows someone that is always exaggerating their misery and what the world owes them. I tend to keep my emotions to myself so it leaves me vulnerable to these types.

Even though I've overcome some gnarly hardships, I won't allow myself to be used or manipulated any longer by "hyper-victims" or to become one myself.

Private Vice; Public Benefit: I found this really interesting and clear poem called "The Fable of The Bees" by Bernard Mandeville. I took the line "private vices, beget public benefit" and ran with that phrase in my own politics. This poem comes back around later on in the album.

Zalongo: This comes from the story of the women of Zalongo. In the early 19th century, their town was taken over by Ottoman troops. The women were trapped, so rather than surrender they danced and sang off of the cliffs with their babies and children in hand. This scene has been permanently seared in my mind since I was a kid.

Incel Circle Jerk: Just a simple ditty about incels and how they should cut their dicks off.

Ladder of Seven Rounds: This song relates to being indoctrinated into a pharmaceutical dependency. This dependency is exacerbated by the amount of money said industry makes. Also, the end of the song points to this moment of clarity when a drug starts to wear off that you realize temporality and dependence.

These Leeches: Similar to Hyper-Victim, this song is about those people who just deplete you and leave you with nothing, not even a sense of self.

Your Beneficial Hate: Cowards who can't look you in the eyes, and spew their hate to your face.

Lines in Sand: Refers to the arbitrariness and the fixation with borderlines. A big fuck you to those who want to build the wall, and can't fathom how to be a good neighbor.

In A Locked Room: This song explores the relationship between the freedom of will and the freedom of action through an analogy Farinha: This song is about how my mom used to make me farinha. It's cheap and delicious, you can make it into anything and it goes with the flow.

To Live And Die In Shittsfield: A song about the town we live in, and the town I grew up in.

There's not a lot of hope here and people are just living to die it seems.

Million Year Picnic 2045: At some point in our lifetime I believe that we will be indoctrinated into a totally integrated society with AI. This song pulls from a Bradbury short story, some Ray Kurzweil predictions of singularity, and the anxieties we have about "becoming cyborgs".

These Insects Lived As Men: Remember "The Fable of The Bees"? Well, it's back and it makes up the majority of this song's lyrics! I don't know how others feel, but I really like using found text if the reference is on point. This poem really speaks to my political pessimism.

The political and socially aware nature of grindcore and powerviolence and the need to talk about issues is often at odds with how short grindcore songs can be; do you ever find yourself having to cut songs short or remove whole paragraphs of lyrics so as to fit them in?

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Absolutely. I always write the vocal patterns first, then I develop a concept, and later write

lyrics to those. My initial patterns almost always tend to be too busy, so I edit, and edit them down to the most essential. If you start with a concept though, it makes it easier to distill what you are trying to say into succinct lyrics.

Where do you draw your lyrical inspiration from?

For extreme lyrics I always gravitated towards the artistry of old Pig Destroyer lyrics, the catchy-ness and brutality of Cannibal Corpse lyrics, the earnestness of Infest lyrics, and the chaotic wordplay of early Glassjaw... There's always Noam Chomsky, Robert Anton Wilson, Kate Bush, and too much hip-hop to name.

On your Facebook page there is a wonderful picture of you all giving fuss to a delightful Dog. Tell us more about Dog That's Brewski. We all live together in a house and Brewski is always there and always the sweetest.

He's getting older now and we wish he had opposable thumbs to actually play bass for us.

Endless Disappointment will never stop shining

You've been booked for OEF next year, the ultimate a light on band members' Dogs. grindcore/powerviolence festival that most bands within the genre aspire to play; what are the odds that you'll be touring UK/Europe around your OEF appearance?

Expect a full Europe tour around the festival dates next year! We are very excited and we are all OEF virgins.

Have you seen any footage of OEF from previous years? I do wonder whether there is ever a way to truly prepare American bands for some of the weirdness that can exist in European grindcore/ goregrind e.g. Gutalax, Spasm and the various other bands heavily based around poop and butts.

Of course, OEF concert footage is legendary and has done so much for our genre! We've played frequently with pornogrind, mince, goregrind and noise acts before and it's always fun to see an extreme band push the envelope. Before COVID, we were going on many weekenders to the east coast of Canada and we played a variation of OEF called "Grind Your Mind" which was insane!

I've been to a few shows in Europe and I really liked the vibe so I am more than prepared.

Having not toured since earlier this year, the itch to get out on the road must be overwhelming. Assuming that shows aren't going to happen anytime soon, how do you see the next year playing out?

We are still staying as busy as ever (probably to distract from the fact that we can't play any shows). We have a lot of content in the works for y'all. Expect a new music video for three songs off of Indoctrination, our split release with Godstomper, a new website and full merch drop, recorded concerts, two more genre EPs with a physical release, and whatever else we can think of in the meantime! Also, we have started a marijuana grow op. called Grindcore Bud that we expect to expand over the year, and I am starting a music review/reactions channel on YouTube.

You can follow both of those on Instagram @grindcorebud and @lachefareviews.

Shout out to Katerina for taking part in this interview; I sort of feel bad for putting her on such a short deadline so 10/10 appreciate the grind (in terms of both music and turnaround sending answers back). For more information follow the band through the following links https://escuelagrind.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/escuelagrind

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