Endless Disappointment Issue 9 - Bird Seeds of Vengeance

Endless Disappointment

Issue 9 Bird Seeds of vengeance July 2020

Featuring: Necrot // Burial // Desecration Celestial Sanctuary // Gutslaughter Shit album art // Tales from the Road

What. Is. Up.

So after months of thinking about how to factor Death Metal into my zine, I ended up just abandoning incorporating it into other zines and just gave the genre its own issue.

Apologies to anyone who took a stab at this thinking it would meet their Death-Metal fix, or people who liked this issue and bought the earlier issues only to be REALLY . I would apologise, but to be honest I've seen how much some of these Death Metal zines charge in comparison, and how much some of you pay for beers at a festival. In fact, if this zine inspires you to set up a zine to fill the void I can't cover, DO IT.

This tour always confuses the hell out of me There’s no Manchester date yet one in stoke and another in Bradford As well as St. Austell I didn’t realise bands other than Cannibal Corpse and Bolt Thrower could do that fill up venues the size of the Astoria too. have immolation and massacre seriously played a venue in cardiff which is typically associated with orchestral performances and Rod Stewart concerts?

I bet it probably cost next-t0nothing as wel because it was the 90’s

Necrot Breakthrough albums are a mixed-blessing for bands, regardless of genre; upside is it opens up countless opportunities a lot quicker, the downside is expectation is so high the follow-up album can be a make-or-break moment for bands. For every band where a breakthrough album does them justice, there are just as many bands where their legacy is limited to that one release and they fail to capture that same energy and become stagnant.

Necrot, hailing from Oakland, took the world by storm with their debut LP Blood Offerings, and are set to keep momentum going with their follow-up LP "Mortal", due out later this year.

Things are looking up for Necrot, and I had the privilege of speaking with Chad Gailey about how life is treating them in the buildup to their new album coming out.

So we find ourselves in interesting times indeed, how are you keeping these days?

Things are good here! Just staying home and keeping busy. A lot have people have been buying merch from the bands and with my label (Carbonized) so the orders are keeping me busy. Other than that, I’m enjoying the downtime and actually having a break for once

Taking things back to a few years ago, after a few demo's you took the plunge and released your debut full-length Blood Offerings, which proved to be a breakout release for the band which saw you tour extensively and gain attention worldwide. What are your fondest memories that came with touring off the back of that album.

I think my favorite memories have to be from all the touring we got to do. We did some East/West Coast tours, four full North American tours, a forty day European tour, toured Australia with Faceless Burial, and played a ton of shows locally. Then we got to do a bunch of festival appearances as well which is always fun. It’s cool to see how much of an impact the album had worldwide

When writing new material, was there anything you wanted to do differently in terms of the follow-up or has the band found their groove in terms of the recording process?

We definitely wanted to make the second record as sick as possible. We didn't want to make "Blood Offerings II". I think all the touring and inspiration from bands we have crossed paths with really made us want to put everything we had into the next album.

Mortal, the followup album, is due out later this year. How excited are you to get it out there?

We are all really excited for it. The record is selling well so far just off of the first two singles we have released. The third single premieres at the end of July and then the album releases a month after that. I think people are really going to like it

With Blood Offerings gathering so much momentum, is there any pressure to make sure you don’t disappoint on the follow-up?

There was definitely a little bit of pressure. I know that we all wanted to kill it on "Mortal" so we made sure we were absolutely ready to record it before we hit the studio. We practiced for months in between touring to nail everything down and fine tune each song. I even practiced every week on my own to get all the drum parts mapped out the way I wanted them to be for the album. All the hard work is worth it when the album is done and finally out there

You've sought to release your album through Tank Crimes again, a label who is arguably best known for releasing records by hardcore/powerviolence bands like Fucked Up, Spazz and Iron Regan (not forgetting Ghoul as well). With self-releasing more viable in this day and age, what drew you to working with Tank Crimes over other labels that may have shown interest?

We always wanted to self-release our first three demos and then find a label to release all of them as a compilation LP. Tankcrimes expressed interest in doing it and we went with them. It's amazing working with Tankcrimes cause they're a local label, they actually give a shit about our band, and come from the same punk/diy background we do. Tankcrimes promotes us physically, digitally, and always makes sure to keep our records in stock as well so we are never running out of copies to sell on tour or at home. It's just cool working with friends rather than people we don't know.

Is it true Southern Lord have previously shown interest in working with you? If so, how did that discussion go?

Yeah Southern Lord asked us about possibly signing with them in 2016 at Power of the Riff but we already had the next album release confirmed with Tankcrimes. We have nothing against Southern Lord at all, it was just timing.

I'd like to shine some light on your lyrics too. The lead track of your latest album, "Stench of Decay" has very vivid lyrics which could be seen to connect to various issues within society at this time. Where did the influence for this song come from?

Luca: The world we live in is always the most direct inspiration for our lyrics. Death Metal is literally the soundtrack of the world, we live in a reality that is built on injustice and suffering and there is no other music that fits the scenario better. Men's greed and men's obsession with power is ultimately fucking everything up. Stench of decay is just the smell of reality.

Are there any other subject close to your heart that find their way into your writing?

Luca: Yes, death and all that comes with either accepting or denying our mortal existence. The way we fear the end and at the same time find comfort in knowing that in the end nothing will matter and all will be equal. That's also why our new album is called "Mortal".

In 2018 you had the opportunity to tour Europe around the ever-exquisite Bloodshed Fest; having toured regularly across USA on varying scales, how did your European venture compare?

The European tour was great! It was Necrot's first time over there so we didn’t know what to expect. We played in eleven different countries in forty days so it was rewarding but brutal at the same time.

Were there any nightmare dates or incidents where things went tits-up?

Almost all the shows in the UK were pretty whatever. We had good shows in London and Leeds but everything else was just really poorly organized. Had a dud show in France and in Italy but that's how tours go

You also had the opportunity to play with a lot of different bands from around the UK, did any catch your eye in particular?

Cryptic Shift, Lugubrious Children, and Skullfucked were the bands I remembered the most.

Cryptic Shift set up the show for us in Leeds so cheers for that.

Over the last few years you've had the privilege of being able to tour with some of the biggest names in Death Metal, from Cannibal Corpse to Incantation and Exhumed. Who would you recommend from the newer batch of bands that are doing the rounds lately?

Fetid, Faceless Burial, Funeral Chant, Cerebral Rot, Evulse, Blood Incantation, Ascended Dead, Mortiferum, Chthonic Deity, Warp Chamber, Hyperdontia, Taphos, Funeral Leech, Steel Bearing Hand, Superstition, Malignant Altar, Mortal Wound.

Whilst predominantly a Death Metal band that plays with similar bands, you have been on bills with punk, thrash and hardcore bands. Do you prefer there to be that mix of bands and crowds, or do you enjoy the vibe that comes with a die-hard Death Metal crowd?

I always think it's cool to play with mixed bills locally because it brings EVERYONE out and everyone's friends with each other so there's no bullshit. On a tour package it's difficult cause everyone might come out and clique up or just not even go at all.

Recently you donated to the Black Lives Matter movement in light of current events surrounding Police Brutality in America. Many other bands in within the scene have stayed relatively silent on the matter, in such charged and divisive times do you think it's feasible for bands to stay on the fence in respect to issues in society?

Bands can keep hanging on the Fence if they want to but there is no better time than right now to make a clear and direct statement on what is right. It's unfortunate people are worried about losing a fan base if they publicly draw a line on certain issues.

Did you get any shit as a result of it?

So much shit. None of us really care though cause we didn't do it for them and we're not scared about what they think either. Even though there's a lot of shit talking, there are still people who are stoked about us standing up for what is right.

To give the readers some extra-curricular work: The various members of Necrot have other bands and ventures outside of music, anything you'd want the readers to check out?

Luca and I play together in Vastum. Apart from that, I play drums in Mortuous. Luca also plays bass in Acephalix.

I'd like to talk about Carbonized Records too, a label you run which has released music from the likes of Funeral Leech, Hallucinator and DeadPressure. Do you have difficulty juggling your band commitments to label operations which require different skills and a lot of organisation skills in order to keep on top of things?

The bands always come before the label. The label works around my band schedule. I usually release records in between tours so I can properly promote them. It only allows me to release so many records each year but this is the only way it works for me.

As a label in an industry where the band/ label relationship is constantly evolving, what do you think is the biggest challenge your label faces moving forward?

The biggest challenge going forward is for people to continue to buy physical music. Everyone is either too particular on the format they like the most or just don't even buy physical music at all. There's also so many bands and albums already out there that it's hard to get people to buy what you release. I just know that what I put out there is good and hope people are willing to take the risk if they haven't heard it yet. So far most of my records have sold out or have been repressed which is awesome. I never expected the label to actually become this big

Looking to the future, you've got a new album out later this year, what else can we expect from Necrot?

We have tons of merch for sale on our Bandcamp to go along with the album release and will continue to make it. If touring is ever allowed again we will be hitting the road a lot next year.

In the meantime, we are going to keep promoting this album as much as possible.

Necrot's new album is out August 28th through TankCrimes; for more information follow the links below https://necrot.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/cyclesofpain https://twitter.com/necrot_official https://www.instagram.com/necrot_official/

Celestial Sanctuary I can't remember how I caught onto this band or how I found my way to them, what I did know was that I was onto something special and it wasn't long before I offered to put out their Demo on Tape. Wearing his Bolt Thrower influence fully on his sleeve, I had a brief chat with Tomas Cronin, the driving force behind Celestial Sanctuary.

So this interview is being conducted during a point in time where everything is a bit bonk at the moment. How are you keeping?

I'm Good man...despite everything!

Quarantine business has meant everything has been slowed down a bit as of late, how have you been passing the time?

Me and my partner are both creative people, so we've seized the opportunity to work on a load of projects we just hadn't had time to do. She's been painting pretty much the whole time, so our house is filled with beautiful paintings and I've just really knuckled down on getting a few musical projects finished....and started. Don't worry - I haven't made some avant garde noise project that the world doesn't need to hear ha!

When I first got into your debut demo, the similarities to Bolt Thrower made it instantly catchy material. Taking into account your name takes from a track on their Ivth Crusade album, do you ever think that Bolt Thrower's contribution to Extreme Metal in the UK is overlooked given the amount of focus that is placed on bands like Carcass, Napalm Death and Extreme Noise Terror?

You know what - now that you say that...maybe it is. I just started reading 'Choosing Death' and one of the first chapters is about the UK's contribution to grindcore and death metal, And I don't think Bolt Thrower are actually mentioned there. I mean yeah I get it - those bands you mentioned essentially CREATED extreme music as we know it today. But yeah, for sure - Bolt Thrower defo have their place and carved a path which definitely helped put UK death metal on the map.

I remember my mate arguing with someone in the smoker's garden at Damnation Festival one year (I think it was the year Electric Wizard/Enslaved headlined) who said Bolt Thrower weren't very good. Obviously this person was wrong, but an extension of this discussion was that nobody could seem to agree which Bolt Thrower album stands out above all. My favourite is For Victory, what's yours? haha no way!! I mean, the same could be said about Slayer right? With the odd exception - all their albums are solid and consistent, which to me is the sign of a great band. That's not to discount bands who try to push themselves with each album - because I love that shit too. But I think there's a lot to be said for bands who can nail a sound and keep up that energy over numerous albums without it getting boring. My favourite changes all the time, but yeah at the moment mines For Victory too. The album artwork for that one is sooooo dead though haha what were they thinking.

With Bolt Thrower no longer being active, how do you think Memoriam weigh up in comparison There is no comparison really. Their latest album is cool and has some great riffs n stuff, but I've not really gotten heavily into it.

Looking at Death Metal, particularly some of the newer bands that are doing the rounds, it seems bands are returning to a more primitive and raw sound, similar to the old school sound but not pegged down to some of the old cliches. What is your take on Death Metal these days and is there anything that excites you / bores you about the genre?

Death Metal is a relatively new genre to me to be honest - I'm not gona sit here and say "I've been into Incantation since I was in school" because that is the ultimate poser move. But since getting into it a few years ago, honestly - I think as a genre, it's on an upward trajectory, like it feels like we're reliving them early 90's glory days. New shit is getting released every week, there's a bunch of sick labels doing cool things and for the most part it is GREAT. I don't think I can get enough of it - it really takes me back to when I first got into Hardcore/ Metalcore in the early 00s y'know? (Fuck. Showing my age there haha) Like you just want to consume everything cos everything excites you. Yeah - a couple bands might sound the super similar, but who gives a shit? It's fucking sick haha. And yeah, I think its great things are more primal, raw and DIY - the tech/over produced and pretentious shit that was all the rage for a long time really put me off it as a genre. Again - going back to the hardcore thing, it has a real similar energy for me now and that's what excites me the most.

The thing that really bores me is them bands STILL writing songs about chopping up women and trying to be quirky and offensive. It's just cringey and more of a parody of what death metal is about. Plus I think the UK scene has gotten a bit stale. There's a handful of bands that excite me, but really I just think we have a lot of catching up to the rest of the world - so I look forward to seeing more and more new UK bands coming up and doing exciting, refreshing things.

Originally starting as a solo project, you've since expanded to include a full band (not that any of us would know as nobody can play gigs at the moment). What drove you to start it out as a one-man effort and what ultimately made you expand to include a full band?

To be honest - the way it started was probably (definitely) my impatience ha. I have an idea and I just want to move on it instantly. As well as that I just had a clear vision with exactly what I wanted to do and say - and when people are either like too busy to be starting a new band OR they're in 100 other bands, I think it just made sense to lay some tunes down and try and recruit that way. Expanding to a full band was always the intent as gotta play them shows...on a weekday...100 miles from home...to 4 people ha. But yeah - the band is now made of some awesome, creative people - so it excites me for the future.

The initial Demo is almost a declaration of intent than a fully-fledged release. Despite that, your debut demo sold out across two formats, with orders being shipped across the world despite minimal social media presence. What sort of spell was cast on that one?

I'm probably more surprised than you if I'm honest. But I think it has a lot to do with this infectious enthusiasm so many of these death metal heads seem to have for anything new. Its so great and its so refreshing to see the energy a lot of people put into this genre.

You've been in some bands in the past that some of our readers may recognise, as well as some currently active. Tell all.

Ha okay - so yeah I was in This Is Colour for many years. Those were some of the best times - got to see a lot of cool places and meet a bunch of great people that I’m still friends with today.

And I'm currently in a band called Road Mutant, which you should check out if you like thrash metal!!

Being around and active in the UK scene in the 00's, what did you think of the deathcore phase that was doing the rounds Hated it. haha. Just wasn’t for me at all. I think as a genre it starts and ends with Animosity.

No one ever did it as well as them and no one ever will.

To wrap up the interview, what bands would you recommend and which ones have you been listening to lately?

Ah fuck. There'd be so many. I've just discovered there's an actual Bandcamp app, so I'm addicted to so much good shit right now.

So I'll keep it as short, concise and as Death Metal as I can!

Ritual Of Decay! Vacuous! Cryptic Shift! Slime Lord! Soul Devourment! Kombat! Phobophilic!

Warp Chamber! Zous! Cryptworm! Sedimentum! 200 Stab Wounds!

disastour - part 2 People who read Issue 6 will remember a delightful piece from my mate Dicky, current bassist in The Drowning, Desecration and Extreme Noise Terror, where he talks about filling in on guitars for Extreme Noise Terror with minimal notice and is forced face-first into the world of unreliable band members and sloppy sets.

Well he came back with the rest of the story, exploring the remainder of the tour and the trials and tribulations that came with it.

The following words are very much his, not mine.

Those of you that read the last article, this pretty much picks up where the other left off. For those that need to be brought up to speed here's a quick rundown of events: I was asked with two weeks notice to fill in on guitar for Extreme Noise Terror for a tour of Eastern Europe, the first show involved nearly missing the flight, losing the only original member of the band in the airport for over two hours and having him so drunk that he spent the whole show either on the floor or being physically held to a chair.

The rest of the tour wasn't quite as eventful as that first day so I'm condensing the remainder of events into this one; there's still enough juice to make it a good story and to justify it's now infamous title, the "Disastour".

The next morning we get up feeling a bit hungover after hitting a bar to try and make some sense of the night's proceedings; we have breakfast, but there is no sign of Dean or his wife (who had joined us for the tour). When we get the call to get to the van to drive to Slovakia we go to his room wondering what on earth we're going to be greeted with. To our complete suprise he's up and completely fine. I guess when you've made a lifelong habit of pickling your body there's no such thing as a hangover. Maybe , we think, that last night was a one off.

The drive to Bratislava was very pleasant with good vibes all round and we get to the venue with plenty of time to kill. Now, what do you do in a sunny Eastern European city with hours to kill before the show? Of course, you drink, and so, the pickling continues....

If memory serves rightly at least a 70cl bottle of whisky was put away by the Jones', but nothing seemed to be up so all is good. It wasn't until just before the show that things seemed to start going weird. Now, those of you that are familiar with the various lineup changes of ENT will know that John Loughlin, formerly of Raging Speedhorn did a stint in the band after the passing of Phil Vane. Dean had somehow got it into his head that John had miraculously shown up in Slovakia on a Thursday night and wanted to fight him (for reasons unknown). None of us knew what the hell he was talking about and we played the show relatively ok (a million times better than the night before, but still a bit ropey). He still kept saying that John was there, watching him from the side of the stage, at which point we realised it was actually the guitarist from the support band, who happened to be large and bald.

After the show we load out and can't find Dean, so I ring him and he says he's lost and doesn't know where he is, and is terrified that someone is going to beat him up. We decide to spread out and have a look around thinking he can't of gone far due to his bad knee, sure enough we find him literally around the corner from the front door of the venue under a parasol. Panic over, that was a close one....

That was a fairly uneventful day compared to the first so with day 3 I had no idea what was going to be the case as we drive back to the Czech Republic, this time to Ostrava. We had an extra person in the van who apparently was at the show and lived in Ostrava so wanted a lift.

We then end up spending the afternoon at their parents house watching cooking programs in a lovely hilltop house in the countryside outside the city. During this time Dean finds a bedroom and sleeps for a few hours. It was at that exact moment I realised what it must be like to be a parent, actually having a moment's peace was heaven.

Later on at the show and we finally have a great show, everyone stays on their feet, we all play the songs properly and the crowd is great, that show was the highlight of the tour. After the show some guys befriend me and long story short, I drink a lot of absinthe so my memory is a little hazy after that.

The next morning we get up and knock on Deans door but there is no answer. Why, you might think? Gone for a morning stroll? Down in the hotel lobby already? Died of an overdose? Not quite, but he had managed to end up in hospital the night before, so we miss breakfast and get over to the Hospital as soon as possible to see what's going on. Now, on one hand the language barrier provided a problem trying to find him, but on the other hand, he's a very easy person to describe to someone, and sure enough we find him on a hospital bed with his trousers round his ankles crying.

He said that his balls were swollen and he was waiting for some tests to be done, it was all very strange. He said he was ok but would be a while, so we decided to grab some food. After finding a restaurant that was open and order our food, we then get a phonecall from the promoter in Budapest which was where we were going to be playing that night. He has seen a video of the first show in Prague (which had gone viral by this point and had racked up over 100,000 views in a day) and demanded we get to the venue as soon as possible, otherwise we would not get our fee.

That's the point we realise we not only have to drive 8 hours to Budapest, but also that Dean is still in the hospital, we then have to run from the restaurant having not eaten yet, but also not paid anything, so we get chased by a very angry middle aged woman yelling Slavic obscenities. If you have seen that episode of Top Gear where they are in America with slogans like "Nascar is gay" and they get chased out of the petrol station it was kinda like that. When we get back to the hospital Dean is still waiting for his test results, we tell him what the situation is but then he tells us that the hospital staff have his passport! We come very close to leaving without him and sorting him out an extra day at the hotel we were at, as at least there will be SOME sort of show that way. We somehow get the passport back and the diagnosis for his swollen balls? A fly bite.

8 hours later we get to Budapest, a cool 45 minutes before we're due on stage and I have one of those moments I'll remember for my whole life, the promoter comes up to me and asks what Dean needs to be able to perform. I then tell him "crystal meth, get him crystal meth, or if that's not possible, crack". 2 weeks previous I could not of pictured myself in Budapest asking for meth.

The final shows starts a lot like the first one, lots of feedback and waiting, but no Dean for a very long time. The promoter comes back to tell us that he refuses to come on stage and it all goes a bit Guns 'n' Roses. Theres an awkward silence from the crowd, then the booing starts.

Eventually the promoter convinces Dean that he doesn't have to perform but just to sit in a chair on the side of the stage and be visible to the crowd. This actually works and halfway through our allotted time slot the whole band is on the same stage! We start the set thinking it will be a four piece, but Dean leaps out of his chair in the first song and pulls it off, albeit holding his balls the entire time, but fair play to him, for the 15-20 minutes we play he joins in, but ultimately it's too little too late and the crowd is only a fraction of the size it was to begin with.

We head to a nearby bar to try and digest the past few days and very quickly get grabbed by our driver who informs us our flight is in 9 hours and it's an 8 hour drive to Prague. So all in all we spend about 2 hours in Budapest. That journey was excruciatingly painful as Dean was high on speed and just talked the whole way about the same two things, so not much sleep was had.

Nevertheless we made the flight so you might think it was all over but there is one more detail to point out. On the other side I was the first one through passport control so went to grab the guitars from the luggage and waited. And waited. And waited. It must of been at least half an hour before I see Andi pushing Dean in a wheelchair. As soon as Andi saw me and made eye contact he just stopped pushing Dean, walked off towards me, grabbed his case and said "he shit himself on the plane, I'm done, let's go home".

It's worth pointing out that I have done several more tours since then and that was by far the worst he's been, though there's always something, certainly more boring bands to be in.

Dicky continues his work with Extreme Noise Terror, as well as in his other bands Gorgantuan, Desecration and The Drowning.

Artist's cornerRahma Putri Murliawanti (gutslaughter) For a very finite genre, the Death Metal genre does have a remarkable way of expressing itself through art (contrary to the feature earlier in the zine that showed some outright shocking examples of album-art within the extreme-metal genre). Whether it's crudely-drawn zine covers and DIY cassette artwork from the 80's, poorly put-together images of crime scenes and autopsies, or intricate and colourful landscapes of gore and horror, it simply isn't possible to peg Death Metal artwork to one singular theme or style and it makes for some interesting art.

I discovered Rahma's work though a band they did a commission for called Inhuman Nature.

Operating out of Indonesia, their varying implementations of Black/White and vibrant/colourful palettes has got the attention of bands such as 200 Stab Wounds, Phantom Crawl and Soul Devourment, as well as Noxious Ruin Magazine and the all-mighty Killtown Deathfest.

I had a chat with them to get a better idea of their background and what makes them tick.

Extra-respect as well to Rahma as English is not her first language, her English being better than my Indonesian will ever be.

So let's get the icebreaker question done; can you introduce yourself?

My name is Rahma Putri Murliawanti A.K.A Gutslaughter , I’m a Female 24 years old

Where are you based?

Bandung,Indonesia

How long have you been active?

I've been active on the underground scene as an Illustrator for over 6 years ; my first interest was making art for the Punk and Hardcore scene, making flyers or propaganda art before I moved into Death Metal artwork about 2 years ago.

Do you have a particular style/color palette you like to work with?

For now I think don’t have a specific particular style for my artwork because i like to learn and upgrades my skills , but as you can see i often use a stippling , cross hatcing with glory gory death artwork , and for colours i’ll do it based on what’s my clients wants

Your work reminds me a lot of the death-metal art that was commonplace in Death Metal fanzines from the 80's, where a simple black/white palette allowed for far more detailed and graphic images to stand out. Are there any particular pieces of work or artists you would consider particularly influential to your style?

I've learnt a lot from another artist, always stoked to see work from Mark Riddick (Riddick Art), David Mikkelsen , Shaw Illustration , Matt Stikker , Skadvaldur etc.

So far, what has been your favourite commission?

I have two, Soul Devourment and Kill-Town Deathfest (to the right)

Being commissioned by artists / labels can be rewarding, but we've all had our fair share of experiences with clients that are an absolute nightmare. What are your pet-peeves when taking commissions?

I found the Kill-Town Deathfest project stressful; it was so much pressure for me personally as it was a greater opportunity for me as a new artist, but also took illustration work away from their original illustrator David Mikkelsen (Ink Lesions) who influenced by art so much.

There were 2 or 3 failed trials making the main art for the festival too; it was a wonderful experience but a nightmare for me.

Other than that though, everyone I work with is so nice to me and very understanding.

What is the music scene like in Indonesia?

To be honest we're all having a lack of Underground music show / concerts because some of them got banned in some areas, but yeah we can still find it and enjoy it . My plan is going to a different country, especially to Kill-town Deathfest in Denmark!

One thing that I do hate is we're not supporting each other, it isn't commmon but still happens, especially with artist who are in the same scene as me; I definitely think we should gather around together because this is not a competition.

Thank you to Gutslaughter for taking the time to talk with us.

For more information and to look at some of her other excellent pieces of art , follow her on Instagram using the IG Handle Gutslaugther

Original artwork by gutslaughter used For Soul devourment’s “Eternal Perdition” Lp

Original artwork by gutslaughter used For Phantom Crawl’s “Grotesque Seance” Lp

Burial Seeing that this was the first issue I delved into Death Metal in any real depth, I wanted to make sure that there was a focus on bands that have been mainstays of UK Extreme metal and could look back on how things have changed within the scene.

Burial, hailing from the grim industrial backdrop of Manchester, are a fairly solid example of a band that has seen things come and go within the UK scene. With 15 years as a band to their name, they've encountered all the highs and lows that have come with music and slugging out in the underground scene; it seemed a sound-enough idea to have a chat with them, so I did.

Whilst I'm hopeful that anyone with a smidgen of interest in UK Extreme metal will know your name, we cater to a broad church of readers so I'm going to have to ask you all to introduce yourself and give a brief backstory about Burial?

Hi there, I'm dez from Burial we're from Manchester and play raw, no frills black metal. We started 15 years ago by three friends and have stayed the same line up It turns out there's an unhealthy glut of bands that go by the name "Burial" or "Burials". What are the odds we'll have to resort to some sort of Thunderdome scenario to prevent any more bands forming under that name? Or maybe some sort of Highlander situation?

We will fucking shag them haha , yes unfortunately there are other burials but we're one of the first, when we picked the name we didn't have the internet / very limited internet and couldn't find any other Burials at the time, so if they read this were going to kill you haha.

So we've had a few months of no shows and everything grinding somewhat to a halt; how have you been passing the time?

Personally I've been working as normal as a heating engineer, gardening, washing the car, all the necro shit.

So Satanic Upheaval came out not long ago through Apocalyptic Witchcraft, your 3rd fulllength. Whilst it's nice to see that it's being met with positivity, does it suck that Covid-19 business ground your momentum to a halt?

Yeah its proper fucked it up for us, we can't tour the album - we had some amazing shows lined up which hopefully will be back on track for next year, its been shit haha It's your first full-length since, Unholy Sedition, which came out just over 4 years ago. Did anything change in how you approached writing the album? Were there any themes or subjects you wanted to make sure made it to Satanic Upheaval?

Song writing was the same really i think we know what we like and can do to push ourselves, I think nihilistic and more personal tragedy have seeped into the lyrics on this album giving it a more raw/desperate feel.

Whilst nobody's ever going to poo-poo their latest work, how do you think it compares to your older material?

I think the new album is our next step from unholy sedition especially with how we recorded this album. We definitely put a lot more time and effort into it, Rick and Dave sound amazing.

We're tighter and this album shows what we can do and what we can accomplish in the future.

With the relationship with Record Labels and Bands constantly changing, what drew you to working with Apocalytpic Witchcraft over other labels or self-releasing?

We got on to them from talking with other bands from the label and seemed to be a great label to work with and can push our band to a broader audience Tom and Conor are great lads.

You also play in the utterly magnificent Foetal Juice, who are arguably one of my favourite UK Death Metal bands doing the rounds. Were you ever concerned about being able to alternate between one band that is fairly grim and misanthropic in nature, and one with song titles such as "Service Station Masturbation" and "Big Trouble in Little Vagina".

I don't think i was, i think they are very far apart and i can express myself in different ways in each band and use my vocals in different ways for both As far as undeground bands go, by being around 15 years Burial has outlived many of their counterparts. What do you think you can credit your longevity to?

Being stubborn haha, i think being best friends has been key, to me being in burial is basically seeing my best mates and playing music we all like together Looking back to the early days of Burial, did you ever see the band being around for so long and is there any bands/venues/practices from the mid-2000's that you miss?

I do miss practising at the old practice rooms in Ashton-under-Lyne behind a pub/venue called the Witchwood where we would get pissed practice then go pub haha. There were some cool venues in Liverpool, for example the masque, we've seen plenty of bands come and go I wish Funeral Throne and Acral Necrosis were still around In your time as a band, is there anything you think has changed for the worse in terms of music and how we go about it all?

I think the internet hasn't been the best for bands in term of albums sold and generated income for small bands like ourselves where selling CDs would cover costs. People can just stream music for free now, but internet does get your band heard all over the world so its 50/50.

Whilst we're feeling nostalgic actually. Worst music tend of the past 15 years. Go. Black metal haha I'm not sure really, probably slam that got old very fast. I'd be lying if I said I was fully in-tune with UK Black Metal these days, with Wolfbastard being my immediate go-to which I rarely venture beyond.

Who would you recommend in the UK currently and who should we be checking out?

Definitely Wode, Old Corpse Road, Necronautical, Infernal Sea, Necronautical, Crimson Throne, Wolvencrown, Winterfylleth, Thy Dying Light, Darkher, ShadowFlag, Abduction, Aklash, Haar Barsaketh, a few more but i can't remember, but UK black metal is great at the mo Word on the street is you're an Oldham supporter; I admire anyone who supports their local team and doesn't just follow them for glory (i.e. any post-2008 Manchester City Fan). What's your take on the Premier League and Championship being so desperate to restart? I can appreciate the financial incentive for Premier League sides, but it seems a bit of a shot in the foot for Championship sides who heavily rely on matchday income.

I used to go Oldham home and away games all the time but being in 3 bands has put it on the back burner, I think the Premier League is a money-making, soulless enterprise nowadays; there's way too much money going about and i don't think the players give a fuck if they win or lose.

As for lower-league clubs like Oldham need games to happen just to survive.

Seeing as I haven't been able to have football bants since the issue where I interviewed Calligram, which teams do you utterly hate?

Rochdale, Chelsea, Manchester city.

Have you been watching the Euro 96 replays? That Gazza goal against Scotland is still class to this day.

Yeah caught that one, I remember that game when it happened! I was 10, running around my street screaming! Seaman's penalty save was boss Right, before it degrades into the magazine equivalent of Talksport, what is your vision for the rest of the year (so long as nothing else goes to utter shit)?

Get gigging ASAP try recoup the shows from this year into next year Hopefully get a vinyl version for next year, and start writing new tunes for a split with The Infernal Sea. For more information try out the following links. https://burial666.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/burialtheband/

artwork which should not have seemed a good idea at the time but definitely should not have made the final cut Is it really an issue of Endless Disappointment if I'm not ripping the piss out of something?

Short answer. No. Fact of the matter is there are some truly abhorrent pieces of album art that have made the final cut. It could be they rushed it through, it could be they had no real vision so they delegated it out to a mate and it was too far along before they realised it was crap (yes, I speak from experience when I make that statement), it could even be they liked the artwork and that was the exact image they were going for.

It doesn't matter, point is we've got some terrible artwork out there and I think it's important we shine a light on it all. I'm not talking Death's "Leprosy" art or the ones that frequent every "worst album art" rankings ever, I'm talking the ones that were obscure enough to fly under the radar.

Brutal Truth - Sounds of the Animal Kingdom First of all: I love Brutal Truth and was dead-chuffed that I got to see their last UK appearance before calling it a day. That being said, this is not the best way to make loose associations to modern-business life and the animal kingdom; albeit hats off to the guy who did their best to make it look like a man could actually open their mouth that wide; imagine how much easier it would be if they picked a Gorilla-face who wasn't mid-screaming.

Abruptum - Evil Genius So the main person looks like a Metalocalypse rip-off done by a 16 year old, the other dude looks like they were drawn in the rush before the guy had to go on Lunch.

I'm not sure what sort of image they were going for, but it doesn't look evil, nor does it portray anyone as looking like a genius in all honesty.

Morbid Angel - Domination The artwork itself isn't fundamentally terrible, the problem however is the god-awful colour scheme, a weird cacophony of purples, pinks and greens that resembles a bruise or psychadelic gangrene more than it does a Death metal cover.

Entrails - Rise of the Reaper Oh fuck me, where do we start with this one!? Whilst I'm sure there's some sort of charm in that pseudo- D&D / Magic The Gathering style of artwork, this shit looks like some god-awful shite that you see on the back of biker t-shirts (you know the kind, the super-detailed and ultra-garish shirts with skeletons and reapers on) that seem to always have their own stall at markets but you rarely see worn outside of wannabe biker-trash and people with anger-issues.

Xasthur - All Reflections Drained The art itself isn't so much bad as unfinished; the style of the art iself is quite cool, but there is some unfinished business all the same. Also, not sure what is going on with the dude's face.

Satyricon - Rebel Extravaganza You can never underestimate Satyricon's capacity to release either terrible merch or terrible album-art. This one stands true above all-else, as musically it's sound but visually it looks like they're desperately trying to fit into the nu-metal aesthetic of the late-90's, using an image and type-face typical of every nu-metal press-shot ever. So edgy.

Ragnarok - Blackdoor Miracle Fuck me there's a lot going on in this picture. First instinct is to start at the edgelord in the corner pointing the gun at the camera, but stare further and you can see a naked lady in some sort of saucy satanic ritual. The two images are clearly unrelated, and the only way they can blend the two is to have flames completely covering the edges of both images.

Undying Lust for Cadaveric Molestation Glory Hole Hallelujah Right, so I guess that pornogrind band artwork is somewhat like fish in the barrel, but this one is particularly terrible. So we have a women with uncomfortably large boobies that is partaking of a glory-hole whilst her hand is elbow-deep in an overflowing toilet (poop dripping out of said toilet) whilst a man sits on said toilet looking very relieved and proud of himself. On the other side of the glory-hole there is a dude in a tracksuit clearly enjoying himself whilst a dude sits there with a cup of tea enjoying the site of the man enjoying felatio as a guy peeps through an eyehole.

There are dicks and poo all over the floor.

Any I've missed out? almost definitely, there is so much shit art out there (or "shart" if you're lazy). Email me via worldofshit@live.co.uk for your recommendations.

Desecration So it turns out there are multiple bands that haved called themselves Desecration, let it be clear from the get-go we're talking the Desecration from Newport, South Wales.

Formed in 1992, the story that is ingrained in UK Death Metal folklore is their album Gore and Perversion being seized by Gwent Police under the obscene publications act, an act that not even Cattle Decapitation and Slayer have been able to achieve with their artwork. Aside from that though, Desecration's legacy is in their consistency and their ability to remain an integral part of UK Death Metal nearly 30 years on from their formation.

I checked in with Ollie, lead vocalist / guitarist and original member of the band.

I’d like to take things right back to the start. What was the scene like for Death Metal in Newport at the time, as well as across the UK? Well, metal was all the rage back then all over the world including the UK. Birmingham and London seemes to be the greatest places to visit for big shows but also here in South Wales we had some awesome shows in Newport and Cardiff. My local small club venue hosted the like of Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Nile etc and of course many times Desecration and the audiences were always great.

Given the internet was not a thing back then and primarily band-vacancies were magazine adverts and posts put up at shows, not forgetting as well that drummers have always been a rare currency, was there any issue sourcing band members?

Actually not for us. Someone would leave and immediately we'd have someone join. The only time we didn't have a drummer, I had a go. Never did it live but rehearsed drum and vocals together (autopsy style but with blasts!) and recorded the 'Murder in mind' album playing drums. As for gigs, yes it was all down to paper, flyers, fanzines and magazines. Poster in the record shops etc. It worked fine though.

What are your main memories of the early days of Desecration when the Demo had only just come out? What were the venues like? What bands did you play with? How were you received?

The 'Mangled Remains' demo was regrettably our only demo. I say that because we should never had gone in so early after it and record a whole album. We were simply not good enough haha!

We were just basic old school death metal with not much experience and not much recording knowledge. Our second ever gig was on an all day festival in London with Gorguts and Blasphemy and our third gig was supporting Fear Factory, ridiculous! Venues were as they are now but back then it was all about how things looked on stage like the amount of Marshall Cabs, you had to have a double bass drum kit too, it had to look impressive. We've played with all the top bands out there over the years, but we even did back in the early days too. Napalm Death, Vader, Deicide, all the bands I mentioned earlier.

It was only a matter of time until we talked about Gore and Perversion, the album that is synonymous with Desecration's history. Gwent Constabulary seized copies of the album and subsequently incinerated them due to their "explicit content", was it just the artwork that offended them or was there more to why they sought to remove the album from circulation?

The artwork and the lyrics. Probably nothing these days. Still extremely offensive to many but not to most fans of the genre.

As a relatively new band at the time of Gore and Perversion coming out, what was the feelings in the band about being flung into the spotlight, drawing the attention of the music press, as well as local media? Whilst we can look back at the experience and laugh, at the time what were the feelings within the band?

I have to be honest, at that age firstly it was unbelievable and we immediately thought of the band gaining publicity, but when it kicked in it was pretty scary thinking of possible outcomes.

Considering that far more explicit releases were in circulation in stores across South Wales at the time, what value did you think the Police saw in taking action against a local band knowing that far more extreme releases were just as accessible?

Oh there was nothing more explicit back then that's for certain. They thought we were monsters until they actually realised it was a form of 'art'. The way we explained it and compared it to other stuff and films and books you can purchase. Laws are in place though and here in UK at the time censorship was a lot tougher.

Did you or the label ever have to be questioned by the Police? What were the discussions like having to explain a genre of music to people who had no awareness or interest in the subculture whatsoever?

Yes we had a proper questioning, but there was no label. It was self released so we made up a label name. Anoxic Records I think it was. The police has never heard of the type of music, they couldn't believe there was a following for it, they guessed at us having like 10 fans haha!

Pretty scary moment was when I called the pressing plant to ask why it was running late!

The original artwork, and to think Pornogrind pretty much gets a free pass these days

After releasing several other albums, you subsequently re-recorded the album and released it under the title Gore and Perversion ver.2. What inspired you to revisit that album years on?

We were always wishing we waited until we were better. Only two of us ere in the band, me and Mike (drums) and we were recording 'Pathway to Deviance' in real good time for Copro Records. We jammed some G&P stuff in the studio and we discussed recording two albums at the same time as we were all set up and warmed up etc. We knew the album anyway so we did it straight after finishing 'PTD'. Saved time and money for them; I think it got released like 6 months after 'PTD' (on Copro obviously).

Now that the original artwork is available on releases of the original records, have you ever considered sending a copy to the Gwent Constabulary for a laugh?

Uhhh no! Wouldn't wanna go there again.

There is another EP, Stillborn Climax, which is also cited as being a banned release, what happened there?

Err that was actually gonna be released as a 7" for Trauma Records in Columbia. The guy was (and still is) a great fan of ours and we sent the stuff but it never materialised. I'm not sure whether it was banned. The cover was pretty grim. I don't think it made the light of day. If it did, I WANT ONE!

Years on and extreme graphic songs and videos from bands like Cattle Decapitation, Cephalic Carnage and Necrophagia circulate with minimal resistance despite their material being far easier to access. How do you think attitudes have changed in respect to such material? Are people desensitised to it now or do you think bodies that resisted such material couldn't hold back the deluge any longer?

Yeah a bit desensitised I'm sure. You can't shock anyone anymore since the internet has come along.

Throughout Desecration’s discography you’ve managed to keep the themes within your music from going stale, where do you draw your influence from in terms of lyrics?

From reading about serial killers and also more recently from my experiences of working in a morgue. It has got more difficult to think of ideas for songs which haven't been done before by us let alone the thousands of other bands who have.

Having been around for nearly 3 decades now, with members coming and going and having to juggle family and work commitments around the band, what do you attribute to Desecration’s longevity?

Both dedication and the enjoyment it brings. Everyone in the scene would like to be part of a band playing live and recording. Mostly the members have been friends and got on very, very well which obviously helps a great deal. Me and Mike have been at it for most of those decades.

We are best of friends and the band wouldn't continue if either of us didn't that is for sure. We gel really well on and off stage which is such a good thing when you have to spend a lot of time with people.

You've had the privilege of touring Asia as well, playing parts of the world that not every band gets the privilege of playing. What were your favourite places to play and memories from tours?

Yes we have played some exotic places. That's probably the most enjoyable thing about that, the experience of being on stage the other side of the world, and people are wearing your shirts, have had their leather jackets painted with your album cover etc wow.

Got any nightmare gig stories you'd like to share with us? I'm not talking poorly-attended shows or ones where you didn't get paid, I’m talking utter shitshows.

Yep, our very first time we played outside of UK. We visited Czech Republic and was headlining a festival. WE turned up late as we got lost on the way. Those days there wasn't the option to fly cheaply. We drove for probably 24 hours and got there, straight on stage and we were terrible.

People left as they didn't know us. God knows why we headlined. Only because we were the band from abroad I guess. It was the worst show we have ever done. There were a lot of people attending and we did a couple of numbers and emptied the place haha!

Aside from your work with Desecration, you also have a long run with crust-punk pioneers Extreme Noise Terror. How did you come about joining them?

Desecration were to be support for them on a UK tour so we met up, got along really well and then later played together at Obscene Extreme festival. I got chatting to Dean the vocalist and at that time they only had one guitarist. I had a jam with them and that guitarist had a wrist injury and I filled in for a couple of shows, big ones too. I think one of them was one of the biggest festivals in Europe. I was pretty chuffed to have done those, I was asked on stage if I was in the band by one of the guys and told 'consider yerself in', yeah it's been like 15 years now.

Not long after, it seems the rest of Desecration joined the band, how much easier does it make things knowing that the ENT band dynamic is largely just the Desecration dynamic plus two vocalists?

Well when musicians are needed and there's the attraction of good shows around the world, who doesn't want to do that? A drummer was needed so Mike stepped up, and then bass so Andy stepped in. Andy is no longer in either band now so has kinda been replaced by Dicky (permanently for Desecration and live member of ENT for now at least).

You also spent a brief period of time as the frontman for South-Wales Death Metal outfit Sodomized Cadaver, what intrigued to join another band with arguably less experience than the likes of some of the other bands you have played with?

Basically, I've known the guys, the opportunity came up, I was asked. I did it because I wanted to do more stuff and I liked their music. It was strange for me not having a guitar in a band but that's how I started shows with Desecration also.

Dean Jones, a core member of ENT and the last remaining original member, has a reputation of being quite a handful on the road (to say the least), as has been documented in a previous issue of this zine. How do you manage on the road with his exploits and has he ever got you in trouble?

Err, mainly by keeping distance and drinking so therefore remaining chilled. Yeah he is our pain in the arse but never got any of the members into trouble, only himself haha! He's a really nice bloke I have to say though at the same time (not just saying that cos this is a publication!

We have been friends a long time and he does have a heart of gold).

You also have played with Amputated in the past, who were one of the more seasoned bands in UK Death Metal before calling it a day; how was your experiences playing with them compared to your experiences with Desecration?

Well I think more alcohol was consumed with Amputated as they were a proper bunch of idiots out for a laugh, not saying Desecration aren't but when you gotta play guitar to some passable level and do vocals too which can be tricky; you gotta be on it (not the booze). I hit the booze with all bands I've played in but depends on how ya gotta be. Amputated played in B tuning to start with, which means you can barely make out the riffs.

Last year you recruited Dicky to Desecration, an old friend of mine from when we were in Uni and one of the more interesting musical minds I've had the privilege to know. Years before his work with ENT and Desecration we constantly pointed out that he looked eerily like Andy, the bassist of Desecration at the time. What drew you to his work and has anyone ever mistaken him for Andy, your now former-bass player?

Yeah it wasn't looks. He does look like we went for a younger model haha. That's something you would have to ask him. I think the answer would probably be yes. Again though he was an available musician who was up for it. He's a nice guy, has the gear, wants to gig and is a good player (guitar/ bass player!)

As a band that doesn't like to rush releases, can we expect any new material from Desecration in the future?

Yes, we have skeleton tracks written, but not near finished so in the future yes but not for a while. Saying that we don't wanna leave it too long either. Wanna get another album out while I still have my own hair and teeth!

What else is in the pipeline for the band?

This lockdown has been a nightmare for everyone. I guess bands have been writing new albums.

There's gonna be a lot of new releases coming out I expect. For us we have just halted. Most if not all of our writing comes together when we get together which we haven't been able to do yet.

We've been revisiting 'Gore & Perversion' album for our next shows. They should be fun to play live again after all these years.

Cheers to Ollie for taking the time to partake. For more information, follow the links below https://desecration.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/desecrationuk

puzzle corner So going to start off with something you hopefully should find dead-easy: Metal / Grindcore bands with weird gimmicks attached, some better than others to be honest.

Also, anyone who talks shit about 5 Down and 6 Across is not my friend

Now for something a bit more divisive. BANDS THAT SUCK LIVE. Also, yes I know 4 Across is ok when they actually play, but any band I can recall no-showing or cancelling 4 tours within my lifetime alone sort of deserves that reputation to be honest.