Sacred Mother Tongue - The Ruin of Man

Sacred Mother Tongue’s “Ruin of Man” release has surely one of the most amateurish and worst album covers I’ve seen in recent memory, the kind that seems to have been drawn by a ten-year old kid and could easily be overlooked at the record stores shelves. Fortunately, the music contained herein, though nothing groundbreaking or outstanding, is way better than its artwork. “Ruin of Man” is the group’s debut full-length work and it veers unconvincingly from a pounding metalcore to a slightly palatable rock-metal affair, a combination between heavy, hard-hitting moments and more melodic, softer ones that sounds a little unfocused at certain points. Sacred Mother Tongue certainly seem to be proficient and gifted musicians, but have yet to refine their song-writing skills and trim down some superfluous and insipid arrangements that go nowhere and prevents the songs from being truly memorable. They’re able to hold their own on each of the different genres of music they try to poke in. Be it in the power-metal driven “The Man You Tried to Hide” and “The Suffering” leaning slightly towards someone like Annihilator, the Swedish death-metal styling ala In Flames explored on “Anger on Reflection” and “Talking to the Ears of the Deaf”, or the metalcore affections revealed on “The End” and “Wake Up Call”, but as a whole it sounds a bit messy and confused.
These guys are touted in UK press as the future of British metal, but I guess it’s too premature for such bold affirmation considering they still haven’t got what it takes to make into the premier league yet. (5.5)

Band info: www.myspace.com/sacredmothertongue
Label info: www.transcendrecords.com

Switchtense | Interview with Hugo Andrade

Touted as one of 2009’s biggest and most promising acts rising from the Portuguese metal scene, Switchtense are five friends who came together in 2002 to play heavy music due to a shared passion of bands such as Pantera, Lamb of God and Slayer. Released earlier this year by independent label Rastilho Records, their full-length debut “Confrontation of Souls” magnificently melds crushing and infectious riffs with Slayer’s razor-sharp leads and stands head and shoulders above the rest of their homegrown competition when it comes to talent and musicianship.
Scratch the Surface approached Switchtense’s vocalist Hugo Andrade through e-mail to learn more about an act clearly destined for big things.

Following the release of the EP “Brainwash Show”, which garnered very enthusiastic reactions, Switchtense have decided to channel all their energies into the writing of their debut full-length record. Did the band had some type of preconceived ideas of how to make the record sound or “Confrontation of Souls” is majorly the spontaneous result of countless hours working at the rehearsal room?

“Before I answer your question let me just thank you for the chance to speak about our work to your readers.
‘Confrontation of Souls’ is the record that we really wanted to make! It was thought and worked on during about one year and throughout this period we were perfecting all the details that we wanted to be the most professional as possible.
We pre-produced the entire album at our rehearsal-room/studio and that was without a doubt of great value for the end result, because without this exhaustive pre-production that we’ve made, we wouldn’t be prepared at the time we would enter the studio, and our biggest concern was exactly that, to enter the studio with the conviction of what we’d make.
However, things flowed naturally… There are a lot of spontaneous things in the composition of the songs since some of them had been written just weeks before going into the Ultrasound Studios, and if we add the fact that our drummer Xines joined the band when we already had a hand-full of themes prepared, to which he added his personal touch with the instrument he plays, I can say that it is an album with a brain, but it also has a lot of heart!”

With a magnificent graphic work developed by João Diogo/Comavisions (Echidna/Bizarra Locomotive) and a powerful production job handled by the band and the increasingly influential Daniel Cardoso at Ultrasound studios, the debut full-length work from Switchtense, definitely wasn’t relinquished in any aspect and the reactions to the album have been unanimously positive. This gives you the sensation of a mission accomplished, are you completely satisfied with the work developed in “Confrontation of Souls”?

“Lots of times we hear musicians saying that if they had the chance today they would change some things in the way they had made the record, but we wouldn’t do that regarding this album. It represents exactly what the band is nowadays and we want to mark this phase in time! These are the Switchtense of 2009 and therefore the record sounds the way it does. We have enough time in the future to make things in a different way.
By handling the record in a very professional manner, we didn’t leave anything to chance and everything was scrutinized and revised to the smallest detail so that we could do a work that we’d enjoy listening to. Above all we have to like what we do! We didn’t wanted, after the record was made, to say ‘damn, this scene doesn’t sound too good here!’
All things considered, I can say that it seems that the mission was done and well fulfilled! We’ve made everything in our reach to make a good album, since it’s our debut, and it wouldn’t make sense to do it in any other way! We really want this life for us… we breath this during 365 days a year and as such, we gave everything we could from ourselves for this record! We cannot forget the excellent work of Daniel Cardoso and Pedro Mendes of Ultrasound Studios… they’re monster machines and understood perfectly what we wanted to accomplish.
João Diogo added the visual aspect of the artwork, and in our perspective have done it in a perfect way! There’s an excellent symbiosis between the artwork and the record, and of course the role of Rastilho Records is also vital, so that we can go as far as possible with the album! We’re very grateful with the commitment of this entire people!”

Featuring eleven themes, “Confrontation of Souls” presents a robust and sharp sonority that moves through diverse musical trails such as thrash, death and hardcore, possibly suggesting that the musical influences of the five elements that comprise Switchtense are varied and diverge between them. The song-writing work is a collective effort from a team with diverse musical tastes between them or someone usually takes over a lead role in this field?

“The composition of ‘Confrontation of Souls’ started in June of 2007. After Neto joined us at the end of 2006, we started to count with two guitars… we made a good number of concerts with two guitarists in order to obtain a strong tightness in this aspect which was new in Switchtense. Later, during the writing of the album, we switched drummers and Xines stepped in and added more heaviness and dynamism to the drums, which was something it was lacking in our sound. We already had 6/7 songs written for the album when Xines joined us, and then we started writing the remaining songs with him on board. So there isn’t any particular member taking over the song-writing in Switchtense. We work very much as a team and since we spent a lot of time together without actually playing we usually take that opportunity to define ideas for the songs. Normally Neto and Pardal present us some guitar riffs that later Xines puts a beat over it… sometimes it’s the other way around! Other times I also make a riff, program a drum beat in the computer and develop some ideas… ‘Confrontation of Souls’ was conceived like this, with a great will to exchange ideas or influences that directly or indirectly have inspired each one of us. All of us are great consumers of music, metal and other styles… There are bands that are a common reference to us all, while others are more personal things!"

One of the references that occasionally appears associated to your sound is metalcore, a musical style that fell in disgrace in the last few years, very much due to its saturation. Does it bother you in someway these types of associations?

“Answering directly to your question. No! It doesn’t bother me at all because we have nothing to do with that style or with that tag. Normally, these bands are much more melodic than us, with clean-sung chorus, so there’s nothing in common! Sometimes these associations are made with a depreciative intent, normally people that doesn’t like these new sonorities. However, we think it isn’t our framework. In Switchtense nobody is fan of a metalcore band, which I usually associate with names like Caliban and Killswitch Engage for example. We like other types of bands more…the classics! We vibrate with Slayer, Pantera, Sepultura, Dew-Scented, Hatebreed, Exodus, Hatesphere, Testament, Dream Theater, Lamb of God and much more… We have a very different type of approach from the bands that are labelled as metalcore!"

It’s difficult not to notice that Switchtense has a great involvement with their listeners and value a lot their opinions as well as the critics from the press.
What kind of relevance does the approval of the press and general fans exerts over the band?

“I’m answering this interview during a time where we have been playing a lot live and since the record came out in February 2nd, I think that we’ve only failed two or three weekends from playing live until today. This is only to say that such issue is very fundamental for us.
The public and friends we’ve been making all the nights (which in almost all the cases extend into the mornings) where we play live are without any doubt a great value to us. The dates that we have made of our ‘Confrontour’ have been fantastic at this level…We have had an excellent reception at the concerts and to the record, and I can say that it has surpassed all our expectations, and to us that is an extremely important issue. We value each person that goes to see us play live. We make sure to have the most direct contact as possible with someone who cares to attend a concert, purchase a CD or a t-shirt, or simply sends a mail or comments our MySpace… We are not a group of five narrow minded individuals only looking into our own bellies, quite the contrary. The idea that we have of music and our way of life won’t allow it! We have the biggest pleasure in knowing and hang around the people that surround us.
It’s extremely important that we share opinions with someone who has made contact with the band at any level since it will make everything that is part of the Switchtense universe grow… We take every critic, opinion, incentive from the public and the press very serious...it’s what makes us evolve and since we are very social persons, we can’t live without that! To us playing live, besides being a passion is also a party and it doesn’t make any sense if it isn’t like that!”

There was a time when a good portion of the Portuguese public frequently used an annoying expression that was in someway diminishing of the value of a national musician/artist, the already known: “for Portuguese this is not bad at all”. Have the band been reading or hearing such type of commentary lately?

“This is a phrase that people have been saying a lot less… because the level of the bands has raised without a question, and this makes people less surprised each time they hear a Portuguese band doing something with quality and professionalism…
As in all places, we have good and bad things, regardless of the country in question! This phrase demonstrates the mentality that some people have in relation to what is produced in Portugal, and it’s up to us, Portuguese bands, to contradict this ridicule affirmation, showing that our records are becoming more professional and that our concerts sometimes attract more public than some foreign bands! I still think that many promoters in Portugal have that stigma and in the universe of metal music it’s even more evident!”

The lyrics of the album seem to reflect ideas of personal affirmation and revolt against the malicious values of modern societies. Is there any lyrical concept underlying in “Confrontation of Souls”?

“The thematic of the record was constructed as we were composing the new songs. The lyrics were all written by me and I had a lot of time to prepare them! I can say you that I was writing as the songs were being finished. The title of the record was already chosen and judging by the base of what we’d deal with in our lyrics, it made all the sense to include such title! I mean the corrupted values, such as egoism and individualism, the constant ruptures and collisions at personal level that we are living nowadays! I think that we live in permanent confrontation with the world! Sometimes with catastrophic results, other times with results that allows us to evolve and to give one step forward. This entire thematic is imbued in our lyrics and I think it was done in a very direct way and without great detours!"

Switchtense are committed in promoting the album beyond their nation’s borders, having already done some dates in countries like Holland and Germany.
So I can safely say that the internationalization of the band is definitively one of your ambitions?

“As I’ve answered before, we live for this! We have an ambition to build a serious career and as such, it would be pointless to think about that if we wouldn’t have objectives to take the band outside Portugal! We have made everything that was in our reach to take the name of Switchtense as far as possible… We are very thrilled with such opportunities!”

More info at: www.myspace.com/switchtenseportugal

The Cleansing - Poisoned Legacy

Featured in our recent coverage of the fast growing and spine-tingling Danish death-metal scene, The Cleansing is a promising new death-metal group comprised of former and current members of well-known Danish acts like Usipian, Iniquity, Corpus Mortale, The Arcane Order and Submission. Just like their partners in Corpus Mortale, their brutal and smashing approach to death-metal is easily recognisable as more entrenched in old school North-American standards than European ones. Almost every song featured on “Poisoned Legacy” is centred on a vicious, groovy and demolishing musical attack that bents on bands like Morbid Angel, Immolation and Hate Eternal.
Right from the opening song “Architectural Infinity” you can tell that the Danes are skilful musicians and their vast experience behind other death-metal groups have allow them to have a fine understanding of dynamics as this song and the remaining ones attain a well-measured balance between a captivating complexity and a reasonable simplicity, between a relentless and furious speed and a slow burning pace. “Architectural Infinity” opens with a barrage of unrelenting and rabid riffs backed up by an astonishingly deranged and precise drumming courtesy of the electric and omnipresent Morten Løwe, before slowing down to a more groovy stomp with a strong Immolation bound. The vocals of bassist Martin Rosendahl (Toke Eld is actually the band’s vocalist, but was unable to attend the recording sessions) are of a deep growling nature somewhat reminiscent of Morbid Angel and Immolation and perfectly suits the scorching and vile guitar riffs cast out by guitarists Jeppe Hasseriis and Andreas Lynge. There’s also a staggering guitar solo that is tastefully inserted and totally complements the song.
“Poisoned Legacy” is a solid, enjoyable debut that will certainly please anyone who likes their death-metal dynamic, brutal and downright vile. (7/10)

Band info: www.thecleansing.net
Label info: www.deepsend.com

Buried Inside - Spoils of Failure

Four years after their benchmark work “Chronoclast”, Canada’s Buried Inside are back with another awesome record entitled “Spoils of Failure”, which was masterfully produced by Converge's Kurt Ballou (Genghis Tron, Misery Index, Torche). Despite the extensive time distance separating the two records, “Spoils of Failure” doesn’t stray too far from the emotionally-engaging and dense atmosphere explored on their previous release. The Canadians are definitely musically superior and improved on some issues with “Spoils of Failure”, though it seems they’re basically picking up where “Chronoclast” left off. So the chances of anyone enamoured with their previous work being disappointed by the new record are pretty low, its eight tracks are brimming with sludgy, melodically dark and heavy-riffs that are constantly building up waves of sonic tension and emotional agitation, a trait that made “Chronoclast” such an incredible listening. Their songs possess the extraordinary ability to absorb our senses to the fullest and transport us to a diverse and disturbing amalgamation of feelings and emotions, ranging from a melodically-charged serenity to a cataclysm of anger and inflamed revolt.
There’re no song titles here, the songs are simply referenced with Roman numerals and “V” is definitely my favourite track of the whole album. It starts with an intense and loud barrage of heavy-riffs and powerful percussion for its first three minutes before meandering into an epic and reinvigorating guitar line that will settle into your mind for weeks. Add the caustic vocals of Nick Shaw screaming thought-provoking lyrics that denunciate the flaws of society and you’ve got a demanding yet extremely rewarding sonic experience. And that’s exactly what can be said of the remaining songs as well! (8/10)

Band info: www.myspace.com/buriedinside
Label info: www.relapse.com
Distributed in Portugal by www.majorlabelindustries.com

Impending Doom - The Serpent Servant

As Darth Vader so eloquently stated in “Stars Wars: Return of the Jedi”, trying to manipulate young Luke Skywalker to join the dark side of the force: the dark side is where the true power lies. Well, in the world of death metal and extreme music in general, it’s definitely where the most powerful and fearsome music is made. We simply can’t argue with the fact that negative energies such as anger, evilness and frustration are responsible for fuelling the most brutal and merciless sounds ever made.
There’re some exceptions of course and Impending Doom, a US Deathcore group whose Christian beliefs have lend them the Christian metal tag is one of them. They might not worship Old Nick, yet they play their instruments with a fierce and raging intensity like the best and most brutal Satan-worshipers out there.
Greatly produced by As I Lay Dying's Tim Lambesis, “The Serpent Servant” offers 36 minutes of brutal and low-tuned chugs with a slight Meshuggah bound coupled with a rabid and precise drumming occasionally peppered with furious blast beats and guttural monolithic vocals. Nothing wholly original or dissimilar from a myriad of bands that play in this league that’s true, yet the California group adds their own groove into their tight and catchy songs that prevents “The Serpent Servant” from sounding too derivative. The title theme for example truly summarizes the whole vibe of the record, bursting forth with unrelenting fury and sharp precision, only reprieving midway from such intense assault to offer some groovy breakdowns and a Fredrik Thordendal-style solo.
Bottom line is that although “The Serpent Servant” doesn’t present anything remotely original or innovative in a genre that is full of derivative and uninspired acts, it is still a solid and interesting record that should warrant a few listens from fans of Meshuggah and Despised Icon. (6.5/10)

Band info: www.myspace.com/impendingdoom
Label info: www.siegeofamida.net

Callisto | Interview with Markus Myllykangas and Arto Karvonen

Finnish group Callisto has evolved considerably since their formation in 2001. Their first record “True Nature Unfolds” from 2004 was consensually pigeonholed into a sludge/post-hardcore tag with names like Neurosis and Cult of Luna as the closest reference points. Its successor, “Noir” released in 2006 is however, a far more challenging and difficult record to categorize since it saw the Turku-based act branching into the fairly wide-ranging post-rock genre, combining dark-sounding and elegant harmonies with furious bursts of aggression. Now surges “Providence”, an audacious release that definitely marks a new and even bolder chapter in their ever-changing and unpredictable career. With a new singer named Jani Ala-Hukkala fully integrated into the Finnish-collective, “Providence” marks a departure from the band's more instrumental-driven style and sets out to break away from any genre standards exploring a wide array of sonorities ranging from progressive-rock to experimental jazz.
We’ve approached the band thru e-mail to ask them what kind of intentions and inspirations were the driving forces behind the creation of their latest work “Providence”. Both guitarist/vocalist Markus Myllykangas and keyboardist Arto Karvonen agreed to shed some light on the subject.


I’m curious to find out if the notorious changes that occurred between “Providence” and Callisto’s previous work “Noir” were a conscious move on your part?

Arto: It’s hard to say how conscious the changes are. We just write the songs and try be as open minded as possible. The new album is different from its predecessor but still we don’t find the change as huge as everyone else does. For us the songs are pretty much similar as they were in “Noir” but now we have a new instrument, the vocals, in the band.

Callisto has always manifested their reluctance to fall into genre patterns or stereotypes, always trying not to go back and repeat themselves or others over and over again. I assume this is kind of a guiding principle for the band whenever you start writing a new record right?

Arto: Genres can have a very limiting affect on music in general.
Music and bands should be considered as individuals and not members of some post-prog-sludge-etc-etc group. Art shouldn’t be branded! Ok, you need some kind of adjectives to talk about music and to describe it but the big downside of genres is that artists might be afraid to extend their art because of the limits and rules what you can do in the particular genre. I still wouldn’t say that this "genre avoiding" is intentional for us. We don’t write songs thinking that we have to break stereotypes as we just write the songs that we want and see how they sound trying to be free from limits.

I see that you’re all long time friends with some mutual interests and objectives, which is a rare thing in modern music, where it’s becoming incredibly common to see band members composing and recording individually and only getting together to play live. Do you think the interpersonal relationships in Callisto are important to bring out the best of you as a collective? Do you guys see a lot of each other outside of band duties?

Markus : When we started this band back in 2000/2001 we spent lot of time together outside the band, I think it was natural thing to share the music that we loved and of course we liked to spent time with each other because we had so much in common back in the days. We moved in 2002 from our hometown Kokkola to Turku where we all live now. I was living with Johannes for over 3 years together until I got married, we actually composed majority of the "jemima/Klimenko and "True nature unfolds" material with Johannes in our apartment. Those were good times indeed.

Yes, I believe that our good relationships have helped develop our music how it sounds today and I think it was really important and still is.

We see each other in free time but not that much like we use do maybe 2-3 years ago, 2 of us have a child, almost every guy is married now, we have our daily jobs and our hobbies etc, etc… but I think the friendship that we created in the beginning has kept us together, that’s for sure. We have played together for almost 8 years and we have had only one line-up change, so it speaks something? Ok, no more nostalgia :)

The addition of saxophones and mellotrons into their songs gives the album a truly captivating and authentically dark atmosphere, sounding almost cinematic at places. “New Canaan” for example transports me to one those noir and crime melodramas movies with a surreal and dreamlike ambience. Callisto’s compositions have undeniably a cinematic quality and as a matter of fact their song “The Fugitive” from “Noir” appears on a 3D animation film “The light at the end of the world" from a UK-based director by the name of Teemu Erämaa. Do you have a desire to write or at least would like to compose songs for a movie soundtrack?

Arto: That would be great! As quite fanatic movie geeks we’d really much like to find us composing a soundtrack for a film or that one of our songs would end up on a soundtrack. As for "New Canaan", it almost should’ve been on "Noir" and not "Providence"... ;)

“Providence” has been available through Fullsteam Records since February 18, what kind of reactions are you getting on the album? Do you read your own press or hear it second-hand?

Arto: The reactions were pretty confused as everyone was expecting a "second Noir" if you know what I mean (back to genres again). The normal reaction from old listeners has mostly been of shock at first but then they get used to the idea and start to dig it.
Some of course don’t like the new stuff as much as the old and that’s ok too. There are also listeners who start fresh with “Providence” and then start searching for older stuff too.

Callisto’s lyrics have always contained Christian and spiritual themes and just like its title suggests “Providence” seems to be no different with several references to God and divine guidance. Do you see Callisto as a part of the Christian musical subculture, what kind of messages are you conveying through your lyrics?

Arto: Almost all of us are Christian so it’s kind of natural that the lyrics contain those kinds of ideas. The lyrics are pretty much personal so we definitely are not pushing Christianity into anyone’s face, but still it’s almost impossible to leave it unnoticed. It’s actually a kind of a dilemma because when you write something that hints even a little bit to Christianity, listeners can take it as preaching and can get offended by it, but if you leave it out they’re not your lyrics really. It’s different with metal compared to reggae for example. In reggae you can praise Jah all you like and no one really cares. In metal, you mention God and everyone’s asking about it all the time. I totally understand the negative feelings towards Christianity as there has been and still is so much shit done in the name of it so I can’t blame anyone for criticizing it and that is actually what we did in “Noir”, where the lyrics were pretty much critics towards phony aspects and the misuse of Christianity and religion. I guess you could say that “Providence” is not that negative but maybe bit more personal and spiritual.

We do not see Callisto as a part of Christian subculture. We don’t play shows in Christian happenings and usually try to avoid in being labelled as a Christian band. I personally don’t have anything against that subculture, but it’s just something that we don’t really fit in. We’re a band where almost all members happen to be Christian and that’s it.

More info at: www.callistochaos.com

Ramp - Visions

Ramp is a five-piece thrash metal band from Portugal that have been around for nearly twenty years, constantly evolving and crafting strong material with unabated enthusiasm and vigour, despite all the recurring adversities that have been crossing their path. Their influence and importance within the context of the Portuguese metal scene cannot be denied, though outside the nation’s borders the band has been criminally neglected and have failed to achieve the same level of success.
Regardless of where their popularity lies, every album they’ve done has shown some signs of progression and refinement, which is why I can’t exactly tell why “Visions” sounds a bit lacklustre to my senses.
Taking six long years to materialize, “Visions” unfortunately sees the Portuguese quintet sounding too comfortable in rehashing most of the ideas explored on previous work “Nude”, dabbling with electronic elements and overusing catchy choruses to give a sense of immediacy to the songs. They certainly understand the concept of writing some killer riffs and catchy choruses and the first three tracks are all excellent examples of such approach. Opener “Blind Enchantment” has a musical structure that brings Disturbed to mind, firmly built around a skull-crushing staccato riffing and a memorable, yet awfully banal David Draiman-styled singing on the refrain. “Single Lines” follows the same pattern, with a punchy and catchy guitar work and vocalist Rui Duarte nicely detouring from his enraged growls to deliver a powerful and captivating clean singing on the chorus. “Amnesia” also meddles with such melodic hard-hitting formula with fairly enjoyable results, but doesn’t manage to distance itself from a sense of predictability that settles in half way though.
Elsewhere, besides “The Cold” a surprising theme bordering on a melodic Swedish-style riffing, there’s very little that stands out and forces you to sit down and pay attention. It’s replete with ordinary fillers, showing a band worn out and lifeless at times, stripped from fresh and interesting ideas. Personally, I think the band is much better than this so let’s just hope that “Visions” is just a less inspired record in their career and they’ll able to rekindle the creative spark that have made their previous records so damn worth listening to. (5.5/10)

Band info: www.myspace.com/rampmetal
Label info: www.metronomo.net

Tombs - Winter Hours

Formed by underground veteran Mike Hill (whose past credits include Anodyne and Versoma) less than two years ago, US trio Tombs has already made a reputation for themselves as one of the most interesting and audacious acts of today’s post-metal/sludge scene. “Winter Hours” their Relapse Records debut will surely do nothing less than strengthen their rise in popularity as it will hardly disappoint anyone already familiar with their sonority.
The ten tracks on “Winter Hours” contain a much broader range of textures and pace than their self-titled debut, resulting in a more entertaining and eclectic sonority that owes as much to Neurosis-inspired hypnotic heaviness as to raw and filthy Norse black-metal. It’s exactly here that relies the most striking change to the band’s sound in the new album as there’s a wealthy dose of black-metal riffing permeating Hill’s guitar playing that gives “Winter Hours” a whole different and malicious atmosphere than Tombs has ever exhibited before. Second theme “Golden Eyes” is a shinning example of such heightened emphasis on black-metal with drummer Justin Ennis firing away furious blast-beats and Hill adopting a more caustic and faster riff-style that perfectly counterbalances his denser and Godflesh-influenced playing.
As stated before there’s a great diversity of style here and “Merrimack” my favourite song from the entire album sees Tombs leaning towards a more harmonious and hazed atmosphere, with a warm and haunting tone creeping in the guitars that brings memories of Justin Broadrick’s work with Jesu.
Another noticeable change is just how diverse and interesting the vocal performance of Hill has become. The inclusion of a deep, almost clean vocal-style close to Jaz Coleman from Killing Joke (clearly apparent on “Divide”), in addition to his more typical enraged roars and screams makes the whole experience a lot more interesting and compelling.
Tombs is definitely a band on the rise and although “Winter Hours” is not a perfect album it clearly proves that the best of them is yet to come. (7.5/10)

Band info: www.myspace.com/tombsbklyn
Label info: www.relapse.com

Mumakil | Interview with Sebastien Schacher

In the acclaimed J. R. R. Tolkien’s fictional tales of the Middle Earth, the mûmakil were described as pachyderms akin to mammoths, beasts of gigantic proportions with blood-red eyes and monstrous tusks highly feral and nearly indestructible in battle. In the realms of Grindcore, Mumakil are a four-headed collective from Genève - Switzerland, nowhere close to resembling the creatures imagined by Tolkien, though perfectly capable of storming a similar havoc and mayhem with their ultra tight and ferocious grindcore onslaught.
While I’m obliged to concur that it’s a pretty fitting name that somewhat summarizes the band’s sonority, it’s nevertheless a bit strange to see a Grindcore act picking a name from one of the tales of a fantasy author like Tolkien. Does drummer Sebastien Schacher better known as Seb with such observation?

“Eheh thanks for this description! Well yes the name ‘Mumakil’ is a good image to represent our music, that's why we chose it. Grindcore bands usually take gore, brutal or anti-politically-oriented names, you're right. But we simply have nothing to prove with such a name… It's just like, take this huge Mumak on your face and goodbye eheh.
We also chose that name because actually the Swiss Government secretly possesses several Mumakil as weapon of mass destruction...”

Up to this point you should have guessed that Mumakil is not an ordinary Grindcore act. While many grindcore bands of today deal with tales of zombies and gore, the band prefer to express their disgust and rage at today’s sickening and decadent world. A more thoughtful and down-to-earth approach to their lyrical content, definitely closer to bands like Napalm Death and Nasum than acts like Carcass or Regurgitate.
What can you tell us about the lyrical subjects Mumakil is dealing with on the new record “Behold the Failure”?

“As you said, we prefer dealing with political or social problems through our lyrics. We don't have any interest in gore lyrics. For that you just have to see the latest "SAW" movie and you can get your daily gore dose. It's ok for us. "Behold the Failure" is an insult to a lot of things or persons we dislike: war (Parasites), cops (Pisskeeper), apathy of the masses (Brothers in Slavery, Whip Reward) and more…”

“Behold the Failure” is the band’s debut for independent label Relapse Records, following their relatively unknown work “Customized Warfare” on a defunct label called Overcome Records. What were your first reactions when Relapse approached the band with a record deal?

“We were very excited of course. Relapse is the biggest name in extreme music and released such sick bands as Nasum, Brutal Truth, Dillinger Escape Plan, Dying Fetus etc. We're really proud to be signed to this label but there's still a lot of work for us to do like promoting the new album with tour dates, etc. We like that. It's an extremely motivating challenge.”

What’s been like since you signed up with Relapse, have you noticed a surge in interest in the band since that?

“Yes we did, mostly on internet supports like Myspace, Facebook, which is actually normal because Relapse works a lot on distribution and promotion. We also have a really positive feedback from fans about "Behold the Failure".”

Do you think it was a bigger challenge for the band this time around to write and a record this new record, knowing that it would have the Relapse stamp on it and consequently a bigger exposure?

“Of course yes. We worked very hardly at the studio to produce our best album so far. But the writing process evolved naturally. We didn't change anything in our music just because we're a Relapse Band. They were waiting for something that sounds like Mumakil. We remain free in our writing process, that's a really important point.”

“Behold the Failure” was recorded at the band’s rehearsal room located at guitarist’s Jerome house and it seems to favour a more Crust and Punk approach to Grindcore in detriment of the more Death-Metal tendencies that characterized the band’s previous work “Customized Warfare”, do you agree? What have you guys done differently with this new album in comparison to its predecessor?

“Yeah, but ‘Customized Warfare’ was also recorded at the same place. We just evolved in our musical approach of grindcore. I mean, we pay a lot of attention to all the details through our tracks and we devote the necessary time to get the result that we expect. Our music came more grind than death-metal because we like even more the punk approach of grindcore, it's more energetic and goes straight to the goal. We're also big fans of death-metal bands like Morbid Angel, Behemoth, Nile... Maybe in the future we'll add more brutal death-metal elements, I don't know. "Behold the Failure" is just the result of our current inspiration.”

Do you guys still have a very independent DIY attitude towards their music and the things surrounding it or you’re letting Relapse stepping up to help the with some issues like promotion, booking and so on?

“Relapse takes care about everything around the new album regarding promotion, distribution and also gives us a hand for the booking. But we're still doing the booking by ourselves, for now it's easier for us to deal with it in that way.”

So what kind of roles each of the band members have besides playing their instruments to keep the engine functioning and running?

“Tom (vocals) and I are taking care about the booking. Guitar and bass players bring beers to the practice room. And oh sorry... They’re also responsible for the riffage in Mumakil.”

Tombs | Interview with Michael Hill

Lavishly acclaimed by fans and media, “Winter Hours” the debut full-length record from Brooklyn-based trio Tombs is unquestionably one of the most gratifying listens you’ll experience during this extremely productive year of 2009.
Displaying a compelling amalgamation of a wide variety of sounds and textures, which makes it excessively hard to pigeonhole into a category, “Winter Hours” sees band founder and underground veteran Mike Hill reaching the zenith of his song writing abilities.
It seems like after all these years spent laboring in bands like Anodyne and Versoma, the guitarist and vocalist is finally getting the recognition he deserves. Are you surprised with all the amazing reactions garnered by “Winter Hours”?

“Yes, I’m extremely surprised that people are so receptive to the record. You never know if anyone is going to be into what you do so, we’ll all overjoyed by the amount of positive feedback we’ve gotten so far.”

As stated above, Tombs haven’t been thrown into a spotlight position overnight and anyone thinking that is either a fool or completely ignorant of Mike Hill’s background in noise-hardcore act Anodyne and hardcore-shoegazing project Versome. Throughout nearly two decades, Hill has played in those two underground bands, the criminally underrated Anodyne formed in Boston in the early 90’s and the short-lived project with members of Lickgoldensky, Versoma.
Although it’s perceptible to hear some influences from his earlier projects throughout “Winter Hours”, Tombs is supposed to be completely different proposition. What were your first intentions and what paths did you wanted to explore musically when you first started this new band?

“There was a kind of overlap between Tombs and Versoma. When Jamie told me he didn’t want to continue doing the band, I was working on material for Tombs less than a week later. Some of the early Tombs material has a similar feel to Versoma because a lot of the riffs were ideas that I had been working on for Versoma.
As the years go by, my involvement with music has become increasingly single-minded. I don’t really collaborate well with people so my goal with Tombs was to follow my own instincts and create something that is true to who I am.”

“Winter Hours” was met with tremendous enthusiasm from a vast number of old and recently converted followers, and to a certain extent their record label is partly responsible for pushing Tombs forward, it’s a fact that any release branded with the Relapse Records stamp is bound to turn quite a few of curious heads towards its direction. How did Tombs ended up signing with one of the most respectable and independent record labels of today and have you noticed a surge in interest in the band since that?

“I’ve know Gordon Conrad for almost a decade. The early Anodyne records were released on his label Escape Artist Records back in the late 90’s. We’ve maintained our relationship and I’ve more or less kept him in the loop with what I’ve been working on for the past several years. Tombs was preparing for a short tour after the release of the first EP; we had demoed some new material so I sent a copy down to the guys at Relapse who seemed interested in seeing us live. On tour, we played in Doylestown, PA which is nearby to the Relapse headquarters. Gordon came to the show and within a few months we were signing a contract.
Having Relapse on board has definitely helped raise the profile of the band. Being a music fan myself, I pay attention to labels and what new releases are coming out etc. So being a “New Relapse Band” probably put us on the radar of some folks.”

I’ve read somewhere that you’ve started writing this new album from scratch, without rehashing old ideas or sketches that might have been laying around. Did this type of “tabula rasa” method kind of give you the opportunity to explore new sounds and new possibilities for this new record?

“Definitely; at this point, I feel like Tombs has a distinctive identity and focus. On the first record I was wrestling with the ideas of being “melodic” or being “brutal.” The solution is to be both at the same time.”

It’s hard not to notice that you’ve incorporated a more black-metal riffing into the new songs and that your vocalizations are more diverse and dynamic than before. What made you go even further in this direction than in previous works?

“I’ve always been a huge black metal fan so some of the elements have crept into the songwriting. I’m really into bands like Leviathan, Lurker of Chalice and the more atmospheric artists. In a lot of ways, those bands have more similarities to My Bloody Valentine, Death in June than the typical corpse-paint bands. That’s not to say that I don’t love bands like Watain, Horna etc. The main element that I respond to in black metal is the emotional feel to the music and the central theme for Tombs is emotional expression therefore it makes sense that I steel from black metal.
As far as vocals go, I just want to continue to grow as a singer and push myself as much as possible. I just want to be versatile.”

With “Winter Hours” Tombs have obtained an excitingly dynamic and unique sonority, clearly drawing influences from a wide variety of genres and artists, that’s extremely hard to determine the best and most suitable description.
What is the most laughable and erratic description you ever saw used to define Tombs’ sound?

“I find it funny that people compare us to Mastodon. We’re not blues-based at all nor do we have any Thin Lizzy guitars riffing going on.
One clever writer for the Village Voice once described us as “Sky-Gazing-Life-Metal”; I guess that’s what you get when you pay somebody by the word.”

The lyrics on “Winter Hours” are no less important than the music and in fact I’ve read that the words for the songs come first and the music later, is that right? What ideas or messages are you conveying through the songs?

“The lyrics come first because they are derived from journal entries and notes that pre-date the composition of the songs. The lyrics for ‘Winter Hours’ dealt mainly with dear and anxiety mostly inspired by the last 8 years of living in a country being ground into the dirt by an idiot.”

Hill always was very active within the music scene and currently besides fronting his main band also maintains two side-projects going, namely King Generator and Vasilek, and a record label called Black Box Recordings. What’s happening right with these two projects and the label? Are there any bands out there that you want to record?

“King Generator is kind of on hold until me, Dave and Jamie can clear our schedules to record some material and play some shows. It’s hard because we all live in different cities and Jamie lives in the UK. When Tombs were touring in Europe, Jamie told me that he had some new riffs so I’m ready to roll when those guys are. Vasilek is still developing. I have about four songs in various stages of completion. My goal is to have something out this summer, maybe a cassette or some kind of limited release. I don’t imagine that there will be a huge demand for the Vasilek material.
The latest release on Black Box Recordings is the TOMBS / PLANKS split 12-in repress. The next release is the DEAD IN THE WOODS / DIET PILLS split 12-in. I’m working with this loose concept of doing a series of split 12-in with mp3 drop cards. My long term plan is to get away from cd’s all together.”

More info at: www.myspace.com/tombsbklyn