Interview
Interview
Formed a good 13 years ago, Swiss folk-metal band Eluveitie has known more international success than any other band from the country (in the genre). They’ve been named the ‘New Wave of Folk Metal’, and are now out with their sixth release, Origins. We had a chat with founder and frontman Chrigel Glanzmann when they headlined the O2 Academy Islington in London last year, about the bands origins, priorities and their new album. Since founding the band in 2002, how would you describe your journey with the band so far?
“When I formed the band Eluveitie 12 years ago, it was very clear to me that we were supposed to become a project where everybody works hard to get as far as possible. It actually has been a lot of work and it has been an incredible journey as well. Quite an intense time. That’s what we did over the last 12 years and what we are still doing today.” Eluveitie are pioneers within their genre, being the first band in history to combine melodic death metal with classic folk. What inspired you to venture into this?
“That was a personal dream I had for a long time. I’ve played death metal for a long time; I formed my first death metal band in 1991. I had always loved Celtic folk music, and I’ve always been active in the folk scene a lot. It was always a kind of dream to combine the two kinds of music that I loved the most and loved to play. That’s the reason why I formed Eluveitie.” Obviously, death metal and folk are very different genres that don’t necessarily go hand in hand. How did you go about
the band picture. Afterwards, it was easier to find people, because a) I could show them, ‘look, that’s what it sounds like’, and b) I could show them, ‘Okay, look, it works. We’ve got a lot of live requests and the CD got sold out immediately and got great reviews. So it’s not just a crazy idea, it works’. So it was easier to find people then.” What inspired the making of this record?
“It’s kind of a concept album on, in short words, Celtic mythology. In particular it retells etiological tales from ancient Gaul, which means origin myths and legends about where the Celts came from and foundation. Basically, that’s what made the Celtic mythology. Every human culture had that kind of story. And Origins retells those stories for the Celtic culture. That’s basically what it is.” Scottish actor Alexander Morton feature on the band’s two most recent releases, doing the narrative bits. How did you get him to do it?
“I asked him! He was working with us on our last album, Helvetios [2012], and back then I wrote these intro and outro pieces I had done myself, to show what I had in mind atmospheric-wise. It took me a long time. I was looking for a voice over artist to do that, and it was hard
words: Hilde Chruicshank
Eluveitie Genres: Folk Metal Melodic-Death Metal
finding the right musicians for the project?
“It was pretty clear what instruments I wanted to have (the traditional instruments for both types of music), but it wasn’t very easy to find people to form a band like that. Especially because back then there wasn’t a folk metal scene or anything. To be honest, I originally tried to form a band like Eluveitie almost ten years before it finally happened. I just kept on trying, and failed miserably time and time again. I had formed a few bands that all kind of ended up as pure Celtic folk bands, no metal. I don’t know. “But yeah, it was difficult, because back then both scenes were kind of afraid of each other. You couldn’t just go to some bagpipe player and ask them if they wanted to join a death metal band, they probably didn’t even know what death metal is, and vice versa. That’s why, originally, I formed it as a studio project. That was actually kind of my last attempt, and I thought, ‘Okay, apparently it’s not possible to find people for a band like that’. But I decided to make it a studio project, so that all the multi musicians could just come to the studio and record, and leave again without any obligations. That’s actually how our first release got recorded. The only time all the involved members met was actually for
Zurich, Switzerland
to find just the right person. I had one, originally, from BBC Scotland, I believe, who he recorded, and it just didn’t feel right. And I kept on looking. One day, actually by accident, I watched a movie called Valhalla Rising, and I saw this elderly guy and he started talking and I was like, ‘Damn it, that’s the one. That’s exactly who I was looking for’. Then our manager On the future... just contacted his agency, and he loved the idea. Since, he and I became “I really want to get another album done as soon as we can and just friends, and he kind of became a fan or something. He’s a cool guy. see what happens. What’s done is done, and we move onwards and A really, really cool guy. It was a pleasure to work with him. After upwards:no medals to ‘til the battles done!.” Helvetios, I wouldn’t know why we would go for someone else. It’s just awesome to work with him.” Plans for touring in 2015?
“Everything, everywhere. This is the second leg of the Origins world tour cycle, and all I basically know is that it will take around two and a half years. I don’t know that much concrete about it. We’ll finish this European leg and then we’ll have a break for two-three weeks and then there’ll be South America, Asia, Eastern Europe, Russia and all that.”
The Swedish death metal crew are finally out with their much-anticipated fourth full-length album, Grand Morbid Funeral, after it was revealed that Paradise Lost frontman Nick Holmes was taking over the vocal duties earlier this year. We had a chat with guitarist Anders ‘Blakkheim’ Nyström about the past, the present, and going after the holy grail of sound.
Interview
words: Hilde Chruicshank
live situation while performing old songs. Old Nick’s gonna do it his way, just as Mike did his version of the songs with Peter on.” Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth) and Peter Tägtgren (Hypocrisy, PAIN) handled vocals on the band’s previous albums. How does it feel to have a Brit on the team for the first time; how did you decide on Nick Holmes, and what made him say yes?
“Well, we must have struck a nerve with him and maybe the timing and climate was just right, you know. Also his bandmate Greg was doing death metal again with Vallenfyre, so our proposition must have opened a mental door that it would be exciting again to go back in time and revisit the days of death metal glory! Vocal wise, he was very much chosen due to his work and status within the death metal history. Having put out classic albums like ‘Lost Paradise’ (1990) and ‘Gothic’ (1991) it’s fair to say that any death metal fan should be familiar with who he is. “On top of that, there was also the social criteria to consider, because we like the guy! Nick’s a fun and easygoing fella. I can’t stress enough what an important factor that is when you’re looking at writing, recording, playing live and hanging out together. Everyone should be comfortable and have a good time, or it defeats the whole purpose of doing Bloodbath as a group effort. Nick was pretty much back in biz already last year, as Paradise Lost rerecorded their old songs ‘Gothic’ and ‘Our Saviour’ for their 25th anniversary best of compilation last year, and when they toured for that they played those songs live every night as well. He also put down some growls on some older Bloodbath tracks that served as his official “audition”, so I guess it’s like riding a bike, you don’t forget how it’s done just because you haven’t touched one in decades.
“When death metal was new and fresh it was more than just music to us, it was a bloody lifestyle, and certain things you experience at a young age just keep pounding deep within. It’s planted in your soul! There might be periods we do not actively involve ourselves in death metal music, but we will be death metal fans until we die, regardless of what our other bands are going for, and sound like.
This record is slightly heavier sounding than the band’s previous, and recent efforts. What inspired this album and how did you go about the song writing?
“We came to a crossroads where no one felt motivated, nor intrigued, to continue further down the path where the last album was heading. We discussed all the styles and attributes we’d previously touched upon and realized there was one last angle we hadn’t fully explored - the filthy rotten old school approach!
Anyways, the door to become Bloodbath’s new vocalist was pretty much shut and locked for the guys without any history. I know that “With that in mind, we decided to take a steep might sound arrogant, but Bloodbath always turn and go all the way back to the beginning, ranked a creditable singer with a death metal and actually even a bit further than our original legacy, so that’s a tradition we want to keep starting point. This decision brought back a going. However, hypothetically speaking, if long lost magic and newfound excitement into Bloodbath was set out to be more successful the making of the album. Also considerably, and to move up to become everyone’s main both a new challenge and a familiar comfort band with serious touring activity, then at the same time, so on this album, we decided circumstances would probably be different. that nothing on the guitar front was gonna be I’d say that would open up for the thought held back or compromised. We’ve actually and possibility of getting hold of a “no name” used and featured the HM-2 pedal on every singer, as long as he was an aspiring talent single album (except the first EP) up until the future... and a killer frontman. ButOn then again, that’s not now. In the past, the guitar sound has mainly where Bloodbath is going... We went been trimmed and as toned where “I really wantfor to Old get another album done soontoasthe wepoint can and just Nick because he’s gonnasee sound Old Nick, the done savage and extreme have been whatlikehappens. What’s is done, and wedelivery move onwards and and that leaves you pretty much withmedals a “taketoit ‘til sacrificed a more all-round and safe sound, upwards:no the battlesfor done!.” or leave it” scenario. to achieve something more “pro”, except for the guitar sound on our debut album which It was never our intention to alter him, or push him to into a clone of Mike or Peter. It wasn’t was really one big HM-2 massacre and this even relevant to try any of that because the new album is heading right back there but music and attitude on this album demanded doing it even heavier and more organic. something different. Since Old Nick had the rotten and raw vibe come naturally, that’s firstly why he’s on the record, and that’s secondly why it will also be no different to the
“This time we topped our chainsaws with an extra layer of barbed wire, drenched in blood, and eager to draw some more ha-ha! Drums are all natural, and just bang and ring like
they were supposed to. Technically, it’s all more human and less software oriented. Everything is really pushed towards both the extreme and organic at the same time. Entombed’s ‘Left Hand Path’ was obviously the Holy Grail both as a reference, and for a musical guideline. Another crucial album was Autopsy’s ‘Mental Funeral’. That album really set the bar for the whole attitude and atmosphere about this album. Personally, I’ve been digging up a lot of old Bathory again and I think that rubbed off. I also know Jonas mentioned Morgoth numerous times in the same sentences when describing his ideas and I know he carried a Celtic Frost influence that really showed in one of his tracks. Sodomizer’s Morbid Angel influence is, once again, also blatantly present as ever. At some times, I’ve had the intention to smear the borders between death and black metal and just throw things back where you wouldn’t be able to define that other than dark, evil and extreme.” The album features guest appearances by Autopsy’s Chris Reifert and Eric Cutler. How did this come about?
“Well we figured that if this was ultimately gonna be our one and only chance of really diving all the way down to the bottom dungeon of death metal, where the truly rotten and raw style dwells, why not ask Autopsy - the masters of the genre themselves if they wanna appear on the album as guests. “It was an honor for us to hear that both Chris and Eric loved Bloodbath and were happy to
contribute. Eric put down 4 solos on different songs and Chris is the madman ending the whole album on the title track by covering the mic with vomit!”
When are you coming to the UK?
“Depends if we can get a UK festival squeezed in for 2015, otherwise I’m afraid it might be a very long time, if ever…”
A closer look at the brilliant cover takes you even further from that. What does the album title mean to you?
“Well, with the imagery of Virgin Mary giving birth to death it can only be seen as a ‘grand morbid funeral’! We wanted the album to carry that vibe and by the first second you would be looking at the cover artwork you’d be faced with a bad omen. I want the beholder to get a creepy and ominous feeling that there is certainly nothing pretty and relaxing about this release, at all!” In 2015, Bloodbath could almost be considered veterans of the Stockholm DM scene. What are your thoughts on today’s heavy music scene?
“Always trying to keep an open mind. I do enjoy some of the contemporary young bands of today’s scene, but to be honest I’m mostly impressed by their musicianship. I rarely find myself drawn to a new band these days because they offer a unique sound. Too much just sounds the same but of a most varying quality. It’s a saturated scene so it’s hard to keep track. There’s so much being released that you have to constantly filter it. Having that kind of talent and vibe integrated with your music easily overshadows the technical aspects of it for me and I guess that’s one of the reasons I tend to stick listening to the old classics over and over...””
Bloodbath
Grand Morbid Funeral Out Now! Peaceville Records
Interview
“I’d say so, because ‘Monnos’ came out at a stage when people hadn’t really heard of us. ‘Blood Eagle’ was done in the same vein but, because we’d found a big label, we kindof subconsciously upped the ante a little bit. Maybe we’ve made the new stuff a little more varied. “We definitely wanted Blood Eagle to be an even heavier album, without diverting too far from the path where we started. We didn’t want to make any changes just because it was on a big-label though.” Would you say the changes between albums, such as more variation, came as a result of any change in musical inspiration?
“Yeah, I think it’s maybe because we’ve spent so long touring. We spent about two years touring in support of ‘Monnos’ and obviously we’ve got onto a thing where we’ve just gotten better at what we do (such as our technique and equipment). “Blood Eagle is more complicated in parts, which I wouldn’t have been able to come up with a couple of years ago. Touring has helped, inspiration has stayed mostly the same.”
words: Dan J.G Mitchell
Do you think that the success of debut ‘Monnos’ affected your approach to songwriting with last year’s successor ‘Blood Eagle’?
Do you think the experience of playing live has affected how you write and record?
“I’d say so, yeah. We use the same equipment live and in the studio, though we experiment more on stage. When you listen to our albums on record you know that you’re getting exactly the same tone and amplifiers as if you saw us live. Obviously it isn’t going to be as loud!” Do you take all of your equipment on tour?
“Yeah, all the amplifiers that we have, cabs, etc. We’ve got a Mercedes Benz sprinter: a really great van, and we get everything in there no problem. “I bought that myself with my own money. I saved up from the usual bit of graft and that, it was about £2600 which is a lot of money for me, but it was well worth it! Especially when you’re on tour for 2 weeks, you’d spend more money than that on van hire. It’s saved us a lot of money already, it was a no-brainer.
Have you invested a lot of personal money into the band so far?
“No, not a lot. All the money we’ve made on the road from merch-sales, we’ve reinvested into the band but I haven’t invested much personal money directly into the band itself. I do have a recording studio in my house which is in its own building, a converted coach-house in which I’ve invested a lot of money, but not in the band itself.” The popularity of doom, sludge and stoner subgenres has been growing a lot recently – do you think it is at risk of oversaturation?
“There are a lot of bands. All that’ll happen is that people won’t pay attention to the bands that they don’t like: there might be a higher number of bands that don’t get anywhere but the bands who are worthy of taking the next step and getting established will come through the system anyway.”
We Spoke to
Alan Averill Primordial Genre: Historical/Extreme Meta l
Skerries, Ireland
Interview
Interview
hell
n J.G Mitc words: Da Averill th photo: Gare
The new album Where Greater Men Have Fallen is arguably more stripped down in its sound.
Bucharest. The direction was more or less done by me, and I’ve always liked the aesthetic of neo-folk, old Goth, you know?”
Would you agree to this at all?
As far as inspiration goes, would you say that you are inspired by the music that you listen to, or do you draw your influences from elsewhere? Folk or historical?
“Yeah, I suppose so. We wanted something a bit more direct maybe. As for the production, we’ve tried to go back to some 70s ideas with the sound and try and make it a bit open, with a bit more separation between the instruments. It definitely seems to be a bit darker, a bit grittier.” Was this a decision or the result of an organic process?
“No, we don’t really plan things in Primordial: we don’t sit around and go ‘let’s make a record that sounds more like 1974 than 84’, The songs are what they are, you try and learn a little bit more every time you’re in the studio. “I went into the studio with something of a game-plan with (Jaime) Gomez (producer), which was to come in with some different gear, and maybe some different attitudes to the recording, you know? I’m not a fan of modern, Pro-Tool’d, and compressed heavy-metal productions with trigger drums, it’s just not my thing, so it makes sense for Primordial to try and sound like this, you know? Would you say the ‘darker, grittier’ aspects represented in your production, comes through in the lyrics also?
“I suppose so. They’ve always been pretty dark but with the last album there was a bit of reflection in it, a bit about the passing of time, about getting older, themes of mortality, about our relationship to faith, and things like that so perhaps it was a little bit more abstract. “This one is a bit angrier in some places, a bit more desperate. It’s kind of like almost admiting the war is over, and the only thing left open to you is maybe to win your own particular battle. It’s kind of resting on an ideal of shattered hope.”
“For a start the word folk is uncomfortable with me, I have no interest in Irish traditional music whatsoever generally. You know, the tourist version of Irish folk music makes my skin crawl. “Also, the association with folk metal is uncomfortable with me. Folkmetal generally has mythological themes and I’ve worked very hard to smash that. Primordial is about real historical events, and real cultural reference points. Nothing annoys me more than when people use the word ‘Celtic’ to describe us: its not real. “You can hear elements of Irish traditional music in, for example, the song ‘Born to Night’, and the other guys [in the band] are into traditional music more than me, but we always wanted to represent the dark underbelly of that thing, and not take the superficial elements. “Of course what you consume and what music you engage with influences you. I mean, I am quite influenced and inspired by Wovenhand, or Nick Cave, or Leonard Cohen; sometimes you might lift things from Bauhaus, or Joy Division, or The Cure. These are just as important to me as obviously the original blueprint of Bathory, Celtic Frost, Black Sabbath, Venom, and [Iron] Maiden, and stuff. “You can’t escape being influenced by the stuff you adore.” Have you found it difficult to differentiate yourself from Folk Metal bands in the past, due to the term being used somewhat ‘catch-all’ sometimes?
Why did you decide to make the change?
“Hey, you know its lazy journalism. To be honest people say to me ‘blah blah blah, Celtic mythology’ - and I respond ‘Is the famine mythology to you?’ There are elements, for example the song ‘Children of the Harvest’ is about the children of Leah, which is a Celtic mythological tale, but it’s really about immigration. It’s about people leaving Ireland and coming back home to a changed landscape.
“I just think that too many old bands get settled into routine, and routine is often the death of creativity. Too many old bands just settle for the comfort of what they know, so I think every two albums you need to shake this up. It was nothing against Chris (Fielding) and what he did in Foel [Studio] at all (he knows this).
You’re using using mythology as a metaphor for something that has a cultural reference point and that sometimes gets lost on people. Generally ‘To The Nameless Dead’ is about nationhood, statehood, the building of empires after the first World War. There’s no mythology in that: It is what it is.
“It was just an idea to try a new studio, a new producer, a new set of ideals, a new way of mixing, you know. Trying to challenge the Primordial constitution a bit.”
“That’s what kind of annoys me, cause by and large folk-metal is a byword for shit music. It’s just power-metal with furry boots, you know?
In terms of working with producer Jaime Gomez: was that a decision that you had known a while ahead of time.
Who worked on the artwork for this one?
“It’s a guy called Costin Chioreanu, a Romanian dude whose done quite a bit of work for Roadburn [Festival] amongst other people, and I’ve been working with him for Dread Sovereign. He’s a cool guy. “Again its part of the ideal of changing things up, adding some new fresh ideas (nothing against Paul who did the last few). We just wanted to try somebody new, and also I really wanted a photo this time. I didn’t want it taken from artwork: its a photo of a mausoleum just outlside
“It’s also a generational thing. We come from the old school of paganmetal. Bands like Einherjer, Hades Almighty, Enslaved, and Drudkh, who wanted a cultural framework placed upon where they came from in the second wave of black metal. Whereas most modern ‘folk-metal’ is taking up the reins from bands like Hammerfall. “There are positives to be found still in young people listening to music that is about mythology or folklore, or culture in some respect. It’s gotta be better than listening to songs about killing prostitutes!” WHERE GREATER MEN HAVE FALLEN IS OUT NOW VIA METAL BLADE
Interview Job For A Cowboy Genre: Death Metal Arizona, USA
Having released their latest full-length Sun Eater just last month, we got in touch with bassist Nick Schendzielos (also of Cephalic Carnage fame) to talk about the new album, line-up changes, plus what the future may hold for the band... Sun Eater features Intronaut’s Danny Walker on drums. How do you know him? Is there any chance he could be a long term collaborator?
“We’ve actually known Danny for a very long time (at least I have through Cephalic Carnage). He’s such a killer drummer, and we knew he would be an absolute perfect fit for this material. Getting to work with him was truly an honor: he’s one of my favourite drummers of all time! “We are intending to tour with Danny. We don’t want to step on Intronaut’s toes, so we have to work the scheduling out, but we really feel like we want to present this material to the world with the guy who wrote all those drum parts you know? It feels right.” The artwork is very eye catching and vibrant. Who designed it, and how did the idea come about. Is it linked with the lyrical content?
“It is! The character on the cover is the Sun Eater. The lyrical concepts are all tied in with the artwork. I’ve come to the realisation that explaining every aspect of your art can diminish the connective experience the listener/viewer of the art has. “I would strongly suggest people to buy the album and read the lyrics as you listen through, and look at the art. Then you can draw your own parallels to them, which will give you a stronger connection to the album.” How do you approach creating a new full length record in comparison to an EP?
“Much more conceptualization goes into the full length. The EP’s were sort of banger-out things, you know?”
You’ve been working with producer Jason Suecof for a great many releases now. Is it a source of comfort? What would it take to make you change?
“Man, it’d have to be like Rick Rubin or something. Even then, I don’t think he would get it. Jason “gets” us. He knows exactly what we want, even when we don’t! We’d all miss Stinky (his dog) too much as well.“
Are there any side projects you would like to discuss? Or any other activities surrounding Job For A Cowboy?
“Cephalic Carnage of course for me, then I have a YouTube channel with whacky bass videos. “http://youtube.com/bassfordays”
The new album Sun Eater arguably incorporates more progressive elements. Do you agree with this, and is it something you expect to stick?
“Hell yeah, we agree. Love the new style and we definitely will go further down the rabbit hole with it.”
words: Dan J.G Mitchell
How did the name of the band come about, and what is it referring to?
“Jonny (Davy, vocalist and founding member) wanted to get work on a cattle ranch. He loves cows, horses, and the old west way of life; but with the industrialization of the beef industry, with CAFO’s and everything, he couldn’t find any work. Hence there is no, ‘Job For A Cowboy’.” What are your next plans for touring in Europe?
“Really hoping for some rad European Festival offers to come through. Hopefully Wacken again, Summer Breeze, Brutal Assault, Bloodstock, etc.”
Sun Eater Out Now! Metal Blade Records
Interview
We Spoke to drummer
Santos Montana
Genres: Doom Metal Hardcore Progressive/Experimental Massachusetts, USA.
words: Dan J.G Mitchell
The Ape of God (I), The Ape of God (II) Out Now! Profound Lore
Old Man Gloom
The band’s latest record The Ape Of God was revealed shortly prior to release to actually be two identically named, yet seperate albums. This happened after the press recieved a ‘fake’ album for review Did you anticipate the response you received from the media?
“We always want to mislead and confuse people. It’s honestly one of the best things about Old Man Gloom, there’s really nothing to lose by acting the way we act. Our scope is so narrow and specific, there’s nothing that could really go wrong. “In other bands, there is the goal of productivity or momentum, leading to further success. We don’t require that. Old Man Gloom has existed with no effort almost at all, so we continue to work within this framework, and it’s going great! So really, more than anything, this was purely done to be tricky and confusing. That’s it. There wasn’t EVER, for ONE SECOND any thought that it would create more buzz, or anything like that. “We’ve done this stuff for every release. We released two albums at the same time in Seminar II and III. People were annoyed with a 28 minute long song on one album at the time, but it’s one of our most liked albums at this point. Then there was the trick with NO, where we kept it a secret. So this seemed like a fun idea, and it has been pretty fun. I think most of the press, whether they’ll admit it or not, thought it was a pretty good move, after they realized the fake album was actually the bulk of both albums.” How did the label react to the idea of keeping it a secret?
“They were on board. When you agree to work with us, I think you know what you’re getting. Again, is anyone surprised when we do this shit? We’re an alien monkey themed noise sludge band. It’s as ridiculously specific as can be.” In light of the numerous musical outlets of the other members, such as Nate Newton, have you considered taking on additional
projects?
“No. I have a very different path than any of the other guys. I never put a ton of energy into music. I love it, but it just wasn’t my life like the other guys. “I work in the movie business, and worked really hard to get to where I am in that world, so when I’m home, that’s where my head is. In that regard, Old Man Gloom is perfect for me, because when it comes up, it’s super concentrated, so there’s never much of a conflict. “It’s kinda funny, but I’ve worked on the show ‘Girls’ for the last few years. It’s like the most un-metal show imaginable, but I love it. My ‘Girls’ family know nothing of my secret life in ‘Old Man Gloom’, and the ‘Old Man Gloom’ show goers probably actively hate ‘Girls’. “That being said, I do secretly wish for a New York based musical situation that could be casual. It’s not that easy though...” Do you have a favorite disc out of I and II (of The Ape of God)?
“I’ll be honest, I’m still thinking of the whole thing as one block of music. I’ve obviously had these songs for a long time, so they’ve just existed as one mass. I’m starting to get them differentiated though, and at the moment, I’m beginning to lean towards the Ape with the shorter songs. Mostly because a few of my favorites landed on that one.” What can fans expect from upcoming live performances?
“Well one thing’s for sure, we’re sick of our set. We played pretty much the same set through the last 2 years, and we’re bored as hell with it. I also know we’re going to play a lot of the APE. So brush up, folks. One problem with the way we function is that we’ve literally not played the bulk of our songs anytime but in the studio. So we just don’t know how to play them, and playing them live means starting from scratch.
“Relearning the structure, figuring out who sings, learning the lyrics, etc. It’s tricky. We’re also constrained by the amount of time we spend together, which isn’t a lot. We’ve done well though, our last set was really fun, and we’re just ready to freshen things up. Don’t worry, we’ll still play the hits... “Our London show was fucking bonkers, probably the best Gloom show to date. On a side note, I’m a huge English football fan, so next time we’re there, someone should take me to a match. I’m a Manchester United supporter though, so please don’t punch me in the face.” What was the most commonly reoccurring
-drink or foodstuff in the rehearsal rooms? “Old Man Gloom take breakfast really, really seriously. We will arrange our whole day around finding a kick ass breakfast spot in whatever town we’re in. Nate in particular is serious about this.
As far as drink, Nate and Aaron are total squares and don’t drink, but me and Caleb get really shitty. We prefer cheap beer, and bourbon. In France, they gave us a box of tiny bottles of green Chartreuse. That was awesome. I got really into it, sipping from my little buddy, mon petite Chartreuse every night. “ Being dubbed as a ‘supergroup’, do you feel it’s safe to say that OMG is a different beast from the sum of its parts?
“Absolutely. The proof is right there for all to see: we don’t sound like any of our respective bands. It’s its own animal for sure, and there’s nothing any of us can do to change it. Even if we tried to alter its course, it seems to just drag us all along in whatever path it chooses. We don’t try to change it. When we’re in the room as Old Man Gloom, we just let it happen. We honestly never say no, or try to change parts in rehearsal. Almost everything you hear on our albums is what happened immediately. We’ve become really good at just conceding to the beast.”
N‘ WHISKEY LONDON’S BEST BEER ROCK N’ ROLL BAR
LATE-NIGHT IN THE HEART OF SOHO OPEN UNTIL 3AM MON-SAT. ENTRY £2 AFTER 11
BOURBON AND MIXER £3.00 ALL NIGHT MON-THURS
Interview
Interview
Genres: Modern Thrash Metal Reading, England.
We Spoke to
Josh Middleton It’s been three years since your last studio album, the longest time between studio albums you’ve had so far (3 years).
kind of recognition, press wise. It seems that we’re sort of on our own in that respect, in that sort of genre.”
What can people expect compared to your other releases?
“It’s a lot darker, and a bit more varied than before. There’s a lot more variety in terms of the types of songs and stuff like that, in tempos and stuff. The foundation of our sound is thrash, and we’ve always had a lot of really fast songs: there’s still tonnes of that on this one, but we just tried to break it up a bit with different tempos. Groove, or kind of doomy vibes, for example. It’s very dark, probably our darkest album to date.” Could this have come from any change in influences over time?
“It’s not really a change in the sort of stuff I’ve listened to or anything, but I tend to gravitate towards doomier bands or bands like Pallbearer and stuff like that; a band I’ve listened to for years, but only now bringing it out a bit more in our influences. Or there’s bands like Black Breath and Trap Them, with a raw and kind of punky vibe to it.” “I just find a lot of modern music so sterile that I sort of just have a knee jerk reaction to wanna do the opposite, or listen to the opposite kind of stuff and try and find out, seek out the most, kind of raw and organic sounding music I guess.” What’s changed and what’s stayed the same on Dormant Heart?
You’ve got a new drummer now, Ali Richardson (Bleed From Within). Do you think he might have an influence in the future on any songwriting?
“Yeah, definitely. He’s a very enthusiastic person, coming up with ideas and a very enthusiastic drummer in general. He’s just constantly playing and practising, and he teaches drums as well. “Very much looking forward to seeing what kind of stuff he comes up with for the next album.” You played with him for a while then before actually deciding on him to be the new drummer?
“Not quite. Basically we recorded the album in March, in late March we had a tour with DevilDriver coming up and our drummer Rob at the time said he couldn’t do it because he had some interviews and stuff lined up.” “Ali learnt the set within two days and filled in for the whole of the tour. We’d played with him, but we didn’t think he was going to be in the band or anything. It was later on after that tour where Rob was like ‘actually I’m going to quit for good’ so when we did know that we needed a new drummer, the easiest thing was just to ask Ali!
“On this album we’ve been bringing out more doomy vibes, and slower Crowbar-y riffs. I’ve always been a huge fan of Crowbar and stuff like that. Pantera has always been a huge influence on us: I think we can say between us as a band if we had to pick a favourite album that we could all agree on, it would be ‘Far Beyond Driven’. We’ve not had too much of that kind of groove in there in the past, so there’s a little more of that I guess. Just adding more groove and adding some slower doomy elements.
“We’d already toured with him, we’d known him for years and years, knew he could play all the songs already, so it was very easy.”
“This time around, it’s more about making this album its own thing; we wanted to go for a really dark, sinister kind of vibe, so it suits this album, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re going to keep adding more doomy stuff and keep getting slower and slower. I think we’re always going to be a fast band at the core of things. Fast and technical. Sometimes you just have to go with what you think’s right for the album or what’s right for the individual songs.”
“He breezed through it. Neither of us obviously were doing headline sets, DevilDriver were headlining, so it’s the equivalent of doing a headline set with a half hour break in the middle. So he was fine, he was completely warmed up by the time it came to play with us so it was cool.” On the future...
Do you follow the other UK modern Thrash bands at all? Such as Evile?
some of your earlier tours. Can we expect anything similar again?
“Yeah, sort of. I’ve literally just been speaking to their old guitarist, Ol (Drake), literally just a minute ago. Yeah I love Evile. They’ve gone a bit quiet recently, since he left. “Other than that, in all honesty, I’m not too hot on upcoming UK bands, but I don’t think there are any that are really breaking through at the moment, so it’s kind of a shame. I mean, I’m sure there’s tonnes of bands all over the UK playing great music, but few break through to get any
Bleed From Within were also on that tour weren’t they?
“They were the first band on yeah, they played every show. So he’d play with them, go off for half an hour, and come back on with us.
“I really want to get another album done as soon as we can and just see what happens. What’s done is done, and we move onwards and You’ve played relatively intimate venues on upwards:no medals ato few ‘til theshows battles at done!.”
“Yeah, well we’re doing The Black Heart as a release show in London. I’ve never been there, hadn’t even heard of it until we got booked for it. I think it’s around 100-150 capacity. That’s the only one we’ve got lined up at the moment.” “As for a complete UK tour, I’m not too sure what we’ll be doing. Europe and the UK will be the first places we intend on touring, but nothing is confirmed yet. I reckon it’ll be around March or April.”
How is your popularity internationally, do you find?
“It’s a good, steady rise. We’ve been getting more and more attention from America and offers to go over there which is good, and our fan base seems to be growing over there. It feels good. We’ve never been an overnight hype band or anything like that. It might be slow building for us but we tend to find we get a more kind of grass roots solid fan base as opposed to people jumping on a hype thing then leaving after a while. So it’s cool, no complaints.” Do you find, with having a more engaged, ‘solid’ fan base, there’s more riding on the new album, in terms of people’s reactions?
“Maybe, yeah. You can’t really write for the fans I guess. That to me is kind of selling out: if you’re writing for other people or wanting to please other people. You just have to not really think about that, and just write the best music that you think you can do. That’s when you get the best results, ‘cause it’s what you wanna do, and you’re gonna be more enthusiastic about it. Obviously we respect our fans. We want them to like the album and everything, but you just can’t write with other people’s opinions in mind because then you can’t really judge it very well, as it’s not what you’re really wanting to do. “We’re very confident our fans will like it. I think the two singles we released first, ‘Mercy’ and ‘Leech’ are the most straightforward, stripped back, and melodic songs on the album. If it was our choice they wouldn’t have been the first to come out, they would obviously have been the singles, but we’ve always had slow songs. We’ve always had simple stuff and melodic stuff, it just happens that they’ve come out first, so I think some people are worried ‘ah no they’re going all slow and straightforward’ but it’s no different to any of our other albums: there’s still tonnes of fast stuff, tonnes of variation in that respect, loads of technical guitar playing. Most of the press that we’ve done so far and that I’ve spoken to have been saying it’s our best album, or their favourite to date so no real worries to be honest.
Are there any songs on the album that are sort of ‘out there’ or something you’ve never done before?
Interview
“Yeah, I think the first track. It’s not really that out there, but we always opened our albums with something fast and thrashy because we wanted people to get that what the band is all about. The Thrash thing is the main foundation of our sound. Now that we’ve established ourselves and people know what kind of band we are, we felt we could do something a bit different with the opening track; so it’s a really slow, doomy, but epic song. It’s kind of like an intro track, just two minutes or three minutes long which is really short for us. It’s really cool, it’s got like a Crowbar, meets Metallica, meets Enslaved, kind of feel to it. That’s one of my favourite ones and I can’t wait to play it live.“ “The closing track is something pretty different, well, we’ve never officially had anything like it on any of our albums before. It’s an acoustic track, and it’s really inspired by a lot of 70s Prog Rock stuff like Pink Floyd and early Genesis. It’s a big, long, prog-rock song, and it gets really heavy towards the end. An official track unlike the bonus at the end of Monolith. “On Monolith, the last album, we had the last song finish, then there was loads of silence then there was a hidden track which was acoustic that most people will have heard by now. It wasn’t listed as one of the tracks on Monolith, so in that respect it wasn’t officially an album song but this time round it is. It’s not that different but it’s the first time officially on the album and not hidden after it’s finished.”
words: Dan J.G. Mitchell
Dormant Heart
Jan 12th 2015 Nuclear Blast Records
LIVE REVIEW Live at The Underworld, Camden. 14.12.2014. with ORIGIN, EXHUMED, and MIASMAL The Swedish death ‘n’ roll of Miasmal opens the show, rousing the rabble with heads banging at the front, and nodding from the middle to the back. Despite being less extreme than the rest of tonight’s bill; their more traditional, no frills approach to Death Metal is well received by those who arrived early. Next up is Californian gore-grind merchants Exhumed. They only have 40 minutes tonight, but they manage to tear through a 13 song set spanning over two decades of material. This, in addition to the usual theatrics of their guitarist being killed by their mascot Doctor Filthy who then revives him with a beer bong, albeit sans a guitar solo. The aforementioned surgical scrubs wearing maniac appears on stage sporadically throughout the set, brandishing a chainsaw and latterly a severed head from a blood spattered microwave sat atop an amp, straight from the cover of their debut full length Gore Metal. Origin up the ante even further with breakneck speed and technical Onamazingly the future... playing. While each member of the band
is accomplished, the bassist Mike Flores really stands out. Finger picking, tapping, and even a bit of slap at blistering speeds, it’s breathtaking. Sadly it’s very hard to hear for the most part, but when you can, it’s fantastic. As the mosh pits become more prolific, Origin’s frontman Jason Keyser calls for a wall of death, but not a standard one. This is a ‘silent’ wall of death, without music. “We’re not going to start the next song until you go, you’re our cue...” Keyser announces in an unorthodox band/crowd role reversal. It’s hard to do something truly different or unique these days, but Origin manage it here and it’s definitely fun. Finally, it’s time for Aborted to take the stage. They’ve brought a little bit of production materials in the form of additional white lighting either side of their banners, and some CO2 cannons at the front of the stage which add to the atmosphere of their set. They play a set comprising primarily of more recent material, with a few classic cuts thrown in for good measure. Guitarists Danny Tunker and Mendel bij de
“I really want to get another album done as soon as we can and just Leij trade solos with a sense of banterous see what happens. What’s one-upmanship. done is done, and we move onwards and Frontman Sven de Caluwé upwards:no medals to ‘til thebounces battles done!.” around the stage as usual,
delivering vocals at times very directly and personally to people down the front. He picks up people who land on the stage before diving back into the pit, which is now encircling the pillar on the floor – a telling sign of an especially heavy evening of music at this particular venue.
words and photo: Tamar Elderton
Reviews | Relapse Records
Abysmal dawn
symphonic black metal, Aversions Crown tear into tracks like ‘Vectors’ with an almost pure black metal fury. There are also small wisps of melodic leads and licks weaved throughout, and even elements of electronica during breaks in the likes of finale ‘Faith Collapsing’. The use of 8-string guitars are also a relatively new addition to the genre, further enhancing the inherently percussive nature of deathcore’s syncopated riffs and rhythms. It has certainly enabled the band to find their own niche within the genre. It’s a furious, bludgeoning, and low-strung niche, but it’s Aversions Crown’s greatest claim to uniquity on ‘Tyrant’. Lee Carter
Obsolescence
After a steady climb, their fourth album ‘Obsolescence’ is sure to set the way for Californian death-metal warmongers Abysmal Dawn to finally plant their flag at the top of the Death Metal mountain. A cataclysmic array of molten metal riffs, explosive drumming artillery; and ferocious, throat-rending vocals, this is an album about as far from obsolescence as you might find, with the band absolutely firing on all cylinders throughout. Whether it’s the rampant blast-andburn assault delivered by ‘Perfecting Slavery’, the pneumatic, punishing crawl of ‘Loathed in Life – Praised in Death’, or the bleak and post-apocalyptic melodies of ‘By My Demons’, this is an album that’s never afraid to throw in a new twist or turn in its quest to devastate, desecrate, and dominate the listener in a remorseless display of brutal efficiency and savage intensity. Andy Walmsley
| Nuclear Blast
Aversions crown Tyrant
Deathcore comes with a certain level of expectation: syncopated riffs, offkilter rhythms, br00tal vocals, (and crab dancing). While the latter is an optional, though common, addition to a band’s onstage presence, it nevertheless further demonstrates the stigma that surrounds deathcore. Australia’s Aversions Crown are partial to all of the above (the latter judging by the video for the album’s opening track ‘Hollow Planet’). However there are some noticeable innovations that the band sprinkle throughout the album which serve to add subtle differences to them and their peers. While fellow Aussie metallers ‘Make Them Suffer’ opt to utilise elements of
Some people say a hiatus is bad for a band, and leads to them making over hyped comebacks followed by boring new albums. Arguably, it’s a good thing for the veterans of music – and Carcass are shaping up to be prove that that with this new rarities EP. With Carcass written all over it, Jeff Walker comes in sounding just as aggressive as on Heartwork, and the songs contain plenty of their melodic death metal style as well as early deathgrind blasts. Carcass are one very intelligent band and it seems that being away from the studio for 18 years has made them mature into something better than in their heyday. Demitri Levantis
| Peaceville Records
Bloodbath
Grand Morbid Funeral Swedish death metal supergroup Bloodbath are out with their fourth fulllength album, and the first to feature Paradise Lost frontman Nick Holmes on vocals, as Mikael Åkerfeldt’s successor. Holmes brings his deep growling voice and rare ability to articulate the words to the table, something that gives an extra punch to the lyrics. The sound is somehow different on this release. The guitar solos are more stripped down and melodic, and the verses seem more doom-influenced than before, only to break out in bestial thrash worthy riffage. The record also features guest appearances including Autopsy’s Chris Reifert and Eric Cutler. The title track, which starts off as a slow tempo funeral dirge interspersed with interesting elements of chanting choirs; a nice contrast to Holmes’ brutal growls, and culminates in a cacophony of blasts and signature riffs, concludes the album.
| Relapse Records
Cretin
Stranger
The eight year gap between albums clearly hasn’t mellowed or softened Cretin in any way, shape or form. Their second album ‘Stranger’ is as visceral and aggressive a record as any I’ve heard this year, every single song a short, sharp, shocking assault on the senses. From the punk-thrash-grind attack of ‘It’, to the savage Death Metal blitzkrieg of the title track, to the maniacal (yet utterly infectious) conclusion of “How To Wreck Your Life In Three Days”; it’s an album that shows no mercy and takes no prisoners. The band seem dead set on absolutely punishing their listeners with a nearrelentless series of nasty, brutish riffs, feverish blast-beats and vile, suppurating grooves, all painted in shades of blood and bile by Martinez’s utterly venomous vocals. An ugly, uncompromising masterpiece of Hilde Chruicshank torment and torture. Andy Walmsley
Carcass
Surgical Remission/ Surplus Steel | Nuclear Blast
| Napalm Records
The Flight of Sleipnir V
Colorado’s The Flight Of Sleipnir return , hot on the heels of last year’s ‘Saga’ with their fifth album. Showing the absolute bare essentials of what makes a good, solid folk-influence metal album, ‘V’ is focused, emotive; and finely balances the more aggressive blackened doom metal with delicate folk. It weaves its way into your brain, firmly lodging itself within your memory. The mix and production on ‘V’ is both finely balanced, but also softly mastered (this won’t be causing an early onset of tinnitus, and mercifully so). From the delicate ambience of ‘The Casting’ and the female vocals on ‘Archaic Rites’, to the crunching finale of ‘Gullveig’, this softer approach serves only to nurture the nuances sewn into the fibres of these songs. Listen out for them, as they only add more sparkle to an immensely pleasing album. Lee Carter
If you like your sludge metal nice and groovy, and want something with plenty of rhythm that’ll keep you in time as you work out in the gym, then look no further. Lord Dying return with their second album and arguably you know what you’re getting when you dive in. Quite a lively piece of aggressive sludge, and the drums, bass, and guitars are all enjoyable with the odd step into more thrash territory. Not their best release, but a solid effort. Demitri Levantis
| Peaceville Records
mYSTICUM
Planet Satan
| Season of Mist
Ghost Brigade
IV: One With The Storm
This band identify themselves on their Facebook page as ‘genreless’. I’m not sure if that really is appropriate or possible, but what I am sure of, is that Ghost Brigade have delivered one of the most surreal pieces of metal I’ve heard all year with this, their fourth album. While I usually like to sum up an album by describing it as a mix of other people’s work, there are so many influences present on the band’s fourth album that it’s hard to decide which is most appropriate. I was reminded a lot of Paradise Lost in their Doom days, and there’s pieces of post-metal here and there that anyone who’s into Alcest might like. Ghost Brigade are doing their best at standing out from other metal acts by fusing together pieces from all over the spectrum. Something that breaks the mould of most metal releases.
Demitri Levantis
| Relapse Records
Lord Dying
Poisoned Altars
themselves to release a double album of the same name, but with contrasting music on them. Odd? That’s to be expected. Whether it’s any good is another matter entirely... I had the pleasure of receiving a hybrid promo – a single record containing a mix of tracks from both albums. The songs selected from each album were edited and mixed up in a specific order for the promo, including four tracks from the actual final version of the albums not included on this promo version. Old Man Gloom certainly like to cause some confusion! Fortunately, the version I heard will whet the appetite of many a doom metal fan – this is crushingly heavy, bristling with feedback and noise (see the brutal ‘Predators’ for low groove and coarse vocals). It also breaks it all up with more melodic pieces, like the soaring ‘Simia Dei’, which features swirling chants and a pulsing beat. This may not be THE actual album(s) released, but from the mix of it, you’d not know the difference. This is doom metal as it should be done. Lee Carter
If you’re one for scratchy black metal guitars with relentless speed, and a dash of electronics thrown atop it, then Mysticum’s second album ‘Planet Satan’ may be your cup of pig’s blood. This is a release of unbridled fury, in traditional fashion for black metal. Listened to at fullblast (as most bands would recommend you do), this ballistic missile of an album will knock you sideways. Unfortunately, this is where it comes unstuck – the pace never alters: right | Season of Mist up until the final track, more-or-less, it’s at the same tempo. The drums are programmed, and the snare is absolutely Citadel hammering, which nigh-on bludgeons your ears to a bloody pulp, whilst the The first album by artistic Australian bass guitar harks back to the old-school sextet Ne Obliviscaris ‘Portal of I’ pretty black metal – virtually non-existent. It is a much came out of nowhere, making a shame, as it would really help to balance huge impact immediately upon its release. out the scratchy, braying guitars and This resulted in a veritable tsunami of critical adulation and popular acclaim, electronics. Shortcomings aside, I’m sure black metal which led many to predict that the band purists with a penchant for electronics might well represent the future of metal and pulverising pace will very much enjoy as we know it. With their new LP ‘Citadel’ they’ve proven all those predictions to be a trip to ‘Planet Satan’. Lee Carter entirely true. The meat of the album is made up of three grandiose, exceedingly ambitious compositions (the shortest of which is a mere 9:50 in length), interspersed with a series of intricate, fluidly melodic | Profound Lore instrumental interludes. Blast-beats and scything tremolo riffs sit smoothly side-by-side with weaving violins and rippling bass-lines, topped off with some brilliantly evocative interplay of clean and harsh vocals, ebbing and flowing with blistering power and elegant grace. ‘Citadel’ sets a new standard for metal that’s both effortlessly extreme and potently progressive.
Ne Obliviscaris
Now this album has been causing quite a stir, or should that be albums? Old Man Gloom have this time taken it upon
Andy Walmsley
...
HeavyAl t Roc k, Gr unge
Choice cuts from 2014
BLOODBATH
MYSTICUM
The new death metal masterclass featuring Katatonia, Opeth & Paradise Lost members.
The highly anticipated new studio album from the Norwegian black metal pioneers.
Grand Morbid Funeral
Planet Satan
www.peaceville.com facebook.com/peacevillerecords twitter.com/peacevillerecs youtube.com/peacevillerecords instagram.com/peacevillerecords
UNSIGNED
Interview
Liam: “Ben and I had played together for a while as a band called Sweet Men of Hell, then we got Neil to play with us when we were called LTNT. It’s been three years now. “We chose the name LTNT because it’s like, to hold a position. And we didn’t really care, because having a band name doesn’t really matter. The logo came up because I had this sketch book ages ago, I had this weird little room that had these plants growing in the window, all over my bed at the top of this town house near Camden Square. And I was trying to write down the band name for ages one time, and when the logo came up I just didn’t question it. It was like someone said, ‘Here you are, it’s got to be spelled like this’.
Genre: Alt-Rock, Grunge London, England
Once in a blue moon you come across a band with such an intense stage presence, sense of intent, and heaviness, that you just know they’ll go on to do something big! London based trio LTNT (Lieutenant): consisting of Liam Lever (guitar/vocals), Ben Clarke (bass) and Neil Hunt (drums), is one of those bands.
Their immaculate blend of alternative rock, grunge and all-around heavy is something to keep an ear out for, so to speak. So just who are they, you might ask? We had a chat with them after their gig supporting German band The Picturebooks at The Black Heart in Camden.
“I think it’s hard with us because people don’t know what our name is, because it’s written stupidly. And people don’t know, even if they’ve heard about us, they’re not sure what to make of it. But I feel like after a lot of people have seen us live, they get it completely. We get a lot of positive feedback from people who have seen us.” Style
Liam: “We get our inspiration from loads of stuff, but I think there are some really obvious ones. In terms of riff wise, I’ve listened to a lot of Pantera and Faith No More. I’ve always loved Mike Patton, vocal wise. But then, for other things, like general groove and stuff, it’s really more open minded. Anything that works. “Even though metal is one of the most ‘do what you want’ kinds of music, it’s actually the most
bullshit at the moment, because nobody does what they want. As soon as you’re of a genre, everyone turns their back to you. The problem we’ve had, even though I think we’re a really standard riff rock band, just with some interesting aspects, we’re in between so many worlds so it’s almost impossible to fit in anywhere.” Performance
Ben: “It’s a double-edged sword, really. It’s easier if you are, because then people can go, ‘oh, this band is like this and that’. I’d rather be weird than ambiguous.” Neil: “It’s a problem sometimes, when we play small clubs. We just played a show recently where they threatened to cut us off if we got too loud. At the end of the day, it’s not that we’re making noise for the sake of making noise. It’s that if we can’t go full out, then we can’t let everything go on stage. It also makes it a bit harder to let the adrenaline take over. You run into problems when you don’t play music the way it’s intended to be presented. If you have to turn it down, you’re not playing the same, you’re not playing with intention. I feel that is difficult sometimes. We are a loud band, so it’s always about finding that weird balance. “We’re a heavy band for what we are, you know, but when we’re in a room together we’re not gonna force anything like, ‘Oh, no, it’s not heavy enough’, we’re just gonna see what comes out. If it sounds good, it sounds good. Not everything sounds good is heavy, and not everything that is heavy sounds good. We’re always gonna be a heavy band. We always hit hard, we always play hard, and we always turn it up. What comes out is what comes out, and we’re gonna get experimental. Not everything’s gonna work there and then, but we’re gonna try everything and keep going.” Liam: “I feel like with us, the bigger shows we play: the better we are. We’re definitely a big venue band – not by choice, it just seems to be going that way.” DIY
Neil: “When you do things yourself, you get used to being self-reliant, and I think we’re happy with that. If that’s the way it has to be for ages, or forever, f**k it, we’re just gonna do it that way. If someone wants to come up and give us a platform where we can expand according to our ideals, meaning that we don’t have to compromise any aspects of our music… and t could be a while. We’d be perfectly happy that way.” Liam: “We’ve got a record demoed. We don’t know if we’re gonna do a full record, or like a mini album. We’ve got a lot of material, we feel good about the direction, we gig a lot of it. That’s the main focus for us in terms of being creative at the moment. “I’d wash an old man to make a record. I’d do much more than that, to be honest, I want to make this f***ing record. Either way, it’ll come out. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Everything that we have wished for in this band seems to have happened through a lot of f***ing hard work, but it definitely always happened.” Neil: “Until then, DIY for life. We’ve just been out on tour, man, we’re broke for life. […] Everything we do is for the live show. Everything.”