Reino Ermitaño isn’t exactly the most prolific band in the world; Veneratión Del Fuego is only their
fourth record in 10 years of existence, and it’s the first one since 2008’s Rituales Interiores. But again, who really
needs an album every year, since now we all have around 100 “favorite bands”?
And Reino Ermitaño isn’t just another retro-doom band. There
are several reasons for that; first, a lady handles vocals: Tania Duarte does an
excellent job behind the mic, with that epic desperate feeling. Second reason, Reino Ermitaño come from Peru, not the first South American
country you think of when mentioning Metal.
And the awesome thing with Reino Ermitaño is that they do not just
rely on these "labels" to claim they're special, they utilize and exploit them perfectly.
The Spanish vocals sang by Tania Duarte fit the music perfectly and add some
mystique to the music.
Veneratión Del Fuego, kicks off in a very typical manner: “Quimera” and “El Sueño Del Condor” are two classical and very fine pieces of doom rock,
played the old-school way, with a very fuzzy and gloomy sound, as if you were
listening through a thick layer of smoke.
But things start to be really exiting when third track “Sobre Las
Ruinas” starts. That’s another classic doom song here, but it ends in a
fantastic psychedelic orgy of guitar solos and keys. That's probably a contribution brought by
new guitarist Eloy Arturo.
And things just keep on getting better, especially when the 9-min epic
“Cuando La Luz Te Encuentre”, comes in with a violin that pops out of nowhere in the exact right moment. But that’s not all, since the song also contains
what appears to be a drum solo in the middle of it, before a totally
psychedelic finish. Amazing song!
The rest of the album is just as fantastic, with some classic
songs like “Soy El Lobo” and “El Rito”. These tunes are just a lesson of what
traditional doom should sound like; they have the perfect sound, the cool
riffs, the killer breaks and the psychedelic solos all over them. The ending of
“El Rito” really reminded me of early Sabbath. Can't really think of a better influence!
However, there is one more track that needs to be highlighted here; another
9-min epic song: “Sangre India”. This one displays some cool traditional elements that prove how much Reino Ermitañoperfectly use their heritage. That folk moment in the middle of the song is just AMAZING. Not to mention
that it is probably the first time I appreciated listening to pan flute. Guys;
believe me, nothing to do with the boys coverning Celine Dion songs in the
subway halls. This cool folk moment transforms into another acoustic
psychedelic part, before the electric guitars start roaring again. This song is
one of my favorite ones on the record, and one of my favorite songs this year !
Reino Ermitaño is truly a fantastic doom band; that managed to
combine some very classic doom with elements from their Peruvian roots.
Nothing too flashy or progressive here, just some very fine doooom.
I probably keep on repeating that but I totally believe in what
I’m saying: stop accepting what important metal labels keep on feeding us every
month (although they have a lot of good stuff, no doubt about that) and go
looking for original and different bands! I Hate
Records is probably a good place to start if you're into doom: last year the label released the
fantastic Wounded Kings
album In The Chapel Of The Black Hand. This year however, their highlight album is clearly going to be Veneratión Del Fuego!
Summer has
finally arrived and I bet all you wanna do is listen to cool hard-rock and
chill around with a cold drink. Or even worse: you wanna listen to the
radio and put your brain on hold with some easy-listening stuff.
Well, to
counter that, here are 3 different yet coolish BRUTAL releases that will remind
you how much heavy is good, and how much you can’t live without heavy.
The artwork is basically as awesome as the music: typical nevertheless amazing.
I really want to start with the newcomers CHAOS INCEPTION. In fact, they’re not exactly
newcomers since “The Abrogation” is their second LP, but that is the first time
I hear about the Alabama-based band. This record is Lavadome Production’s third release; and man, what a release! The Abrogation is an
impressive Brutal-Death record, with all the necessary ingredients the genre
requires: extreme brutality, technicality, smooth songwriting and that boiling
sense of urgency that will hang by the skin of your teeth all along these
insane 30 minutes.
Obviously,
you’ll need to enjoy brutality to appreciate such a record. But if you do like
your riffs fast, sharp and technical, there is no way you can miss Chaos
Inception. Their music reminded me of old-school acts like Morbid Angel, Krisiun and Incantation. The riffs are fast, brutal, technical and they just keep on
changing! I also need to underline the top-notch production; crystal clear yet
very organic and “warm”. Really appreciated that release although I can’t
pretend I’m a specialist when it comes to Brutal Death Metal. Songs like
“Hammer Of The Infidel” and “The Exterminati” (so heavy with a fantastic
melodic lead) stand out, as their songwriting skills are definitely one of the
band’s top assets.
Everything is
very typical here, but this is some very fine piece of work, done with passion,
dedication and truckloads of talent.
The second
record I’d like to mention today is a reissue out on the LOVELY I Hate Records. Horror Infernal is a compilation by Sweden’s Hypnosia. This
release comprises “The Crushed Existence” and “The Storms” demos, plus “The
Violent Intensity” mini-album from 1999 and 3 bonus tracks (“Outbreak Of
Evil”-Sodom cover, “My Belief”-Possessed cover, and a live track). This
Scandinavian Thrash Metal band has split in 2000, after the release of their
only LP “Extreme Hatred”. I hate
Records have remastered these songs and the result is really outstanding;
powerful and totally rough, exactly what you need for Thrash Metal. I’m
actually not surprised to see I Hate Records releasing that material, since
this is typically the music label founder Peter Lindén loves (just listen
to his band Terrorama and you’ll understand). This is
furious Scandinavian Thrash Metal (see my blog about Nekromantheon for a
definition of Scandinavian Thrash), driven by unbelievable riffs. Hysterical,
fast, furious, heavy, punk, aggressive, harsh; it’s all in there. You like
Thrash? Then you like Hypnosia, Period. Check out the songs “Undead” and “Haunting
Death”, probably some of the best Thrash songs you could imagine
Nice
Interview with the band on Voices From the Darkside Webzine right here.
Although I'm a bit late, I couldn't miss the reissue of Massacre’s ultimate Classic “From Beyond”
out on Earache. This edition comes with a red version of Repka’s sublime artwork,
a nice poster (so old-school to insert a poster in a CD!) and
most importantly, this release comprises the 1992 “Inhuman condition” EP, that
has become pretty hard to find.
What could I
possibly say about this record? It’s a classic, no doubt about that and about
the fact that it has definitely been underrated. The line-up still looks like a
supergroup today, with Terry Butler on bass, Bill Andrews on drums, Rick Rozz
on guitar and Kam Lee for the screams. Just go to Metal Archives and look at
these guys Curriculum to reconsider your definition of “super-group”.
Anyways,
here’s a fantastic collection of old-school Death Metal; that simply crushes
all the new bands that are trying to recapture that specific sound. I just love
the riffs, the crazy rhythm section -technical yet so instinctive- and
also the lyrics, so typical of the 90s! There is an immense amount of classic
songs here, like ‘Biohazard”, “Chamber Of Ages” (coolest intro for that one,
with those cheesy effects), “Corpse Grinder”…
The “Inhuman Condition” EP is no
exactly as impressive, but it does contain some awesome tunes, like the title
song or the Venom Cover “Warhead” featuring guest
vocals by Cronos himself.
All in all,
that is one essential release that you must posses if you like Death Metal.
Also note that the band has actually reunited and is currently touring with
Rick Rozz, Terry Butler Mike Mazzonetto on drums
and Edwin Webb on vocals.
The Great Old Ones really surprised me with their first record,
Al-Azif. At first sight, this record looked like the typical “first album”
coming your way with all the clichés you can imagine: “ the boring concept, the
crappy sound, the bad musicality and the feeling that you’re listening to a
bunch of teenagers who had nothing better to do than practice their instruments
every other rainy weekend”. Of course, these records usually come out on new
and elitist labels that thought that THEY would find The Next Big Thing while
important labels manage to feed us crap every week claiming it is the real Next
Big Thing.
But The Great Old Ones crushed these clichés (that are not always
meaningless) in a blink of an eye. This band is formed by very talented and experienced musicians from the French Metal scene. Their
first album is ambitious indeed but they managed to do things perfectly right:
from the fantastic artwork to the great sound and of course the unique
personality they demonstrate all along Al-Azif. The young label doing the best
they can to promote their potentially Next Big Thing is just the icing on the
cake. Interview with bassist Sébastien Lalanne.
The Great Old Ones is a new band on the French Metal scene, could you
introduce us to the band members? Especially if they played in other bands
before!
Well, Benjamin Guerry handles
the guitar, and he used to play in Day Of The Fisherman (HXC
band). Xavier Godart also plays the guitar in our band. Léo Isnard is our
drummer, and he’s actually a drum teacher, (plus half a dozen very different
bands!). Jeff Grimal is our singer, and he is in charge of our artworks as
well. He’s played in several bands like Tormenta and
Absurd (not the hideous fascist one) and Let Jesus Bleed. As you know I’m
Sébastien and I handle the bass, I used to play in My Sovereign
and B-Side Box.
Who was behind the creation of the band, was there a natural leader in the
first place?
Yeah, Benjamin wanted to form
the band back in 2009. He actually started composing on his own and collecting
ideas. When he realized the ideas were pretty strong, he started to imagine this originally personal project as a real
band, with specific themes linked to Lovecraft’s stories. And last year, he’d
composed 5 complete songs when he came out looking for musicians. That’s when
we met and we started out pretty quickly because much of the songs were ready!
And how did you guys meet Les Acteurs de L’Ombre Productions?
We had pre-produced the album
and we were looking for a label, Anthiétic Records, Les Acteurs de l’Ombre, and
2-3 other labels contacted us. We knew that LADLO were doing a great job with
their other bands and honestly we just had a good feeling and said let’s go! I
want to thank Gérald from the label because he immediately gave us his total
support and confidence.
I suppose that things are going great so far since all of the feedback
on the album is tremendous.
Yes! We are overwhelmed. I mean
it’s pretty surprising too since we expected some guys from the “orthodox”
Black Metal scene to give us a hard time but so far, everybody seems to like
our record.
And what does such a positive feedback induce? More sales? Lots of media
solicitations? More touring possibilities?
Well right now, all of this is
still too fresh, I can’t really tell, we’re still actually promoting the
record. As far as I know, the sales are pretty good, and LADLO are really doing
the best they can to give us maximum visibility. As for touring, you probably
know how much times are rough, but hey, we’ve done our best and now you gotta
cross your fingers and hope some good opportunities will come along!
All right, let’s talk about Al-Azif more specifically. You told me a
minute ago that the Lovecraftian theme is completely part of your music.
Yeah, Benjamin literally
conceived the band with these stories, and everything is linked to them, even
the production of our sound and Jeff’s artwork.
And is there a specific concept linking the songs?
Not really. Each song is about a
Lovecraftian character or story. The album name Al-Azif is the name of the
famous Necronomicon (the fictive novel imagined by Lovecraft and that is
referenced in some of his novels). It’s also the name of the insect sounds you
can hear when it’s absolute night in the desert.
And are these specific themes really part of The Great Old Ones? I
mean is there a possibility that one day the band composes songs about different
subjects?
For now, we are 100% focused on
Lovecraft, but I can’t say we’ll NEVER compose about anything else… There are so
many fascinating authors out there with a million possibilities we could
explore.
Music-wise, how would you describe The Great Old Ones? That one
gave me a headache!
Ok, you’re mentioning Wolves In The Throne room, just like the promo
sheet I got, but I think you’re much closer to a band like Lantlôs…
Well that’s a very fine
observation as we are definitely fans of Lantlôs. But their intentions are a
bit different from ours as their sound is much brighter and not as dark as
ours.
And they are referenced as a Post-Black Metal band, which is also the
label you guys are given.
It’s a pretty good label I guess,
since we did keep our Black Metal roots, especially when it comes to drums and
guitars. And I think we're also close to the “post Metal” scene because we play with the
same kind of atmospheres. So yeah, call us “Post-Black Metal”, its totally
fine with me!
I also love the fact that your music is extremely visual, like a
succession of abstract paintings, very colored but mostly dark.
Well if we managed to make your
imagination paint these images, then I suppose we accomplished our mission!
Out music is extremely complex and has many sound layers. Each person will
perceive different sounds depending on your sensitivity and of
course you musical background. Some other reviewer felt our music was like
Funeral doom! What the hell, I say why not??
And how did you guys build this complex music? Did you work like
traditional Metal bands, based on good ol' guitar riffs?
No, we really consider the songs
in their entirety, not just like the addition of different riffs. We
specifically try to avoid the classic composing method, like coming up with a
riff and building a song around it. The idea is to build sonic-layers that will
evolve through the songs, and off course the traditional Metal riffs help us do that, among
other elements.
There is an entire Black Metal scene that considers things that way,
like obviously Wolves In The Throne Room and Lantlôs. Do you guys feel related
to that new way of playing Black Metal?
Of course we are. Just like the
bands you mentioned, we have “digested” all the traditional Black Metal
influences , and we play outside the usual limits of that scene by integrating
elements from other musical styles. And yes a new scene might be emerging, I
guess we’re part of it now.
Something really impressed me with Al-Azif: it’s the fact that everything
is so professional, the artwork, the awesome sound, and I mean, there are no
visible flaws here, everything is so coherent!
Thank you for the compliment,
really. The thing is we all had other experiences before joining the Great Old
Ones and on the first day we decided that this album was going to be EXACTLY
the way we wanted it to be, so that we will not have any regrets. It’s so
annoying when you have to put an album out there and immediately start
regretting you didn’t invest more time and money because this or that element
is not exactly the way you wanted… So frustrating we never want to feel
this again.
What are you upcoming plans ?
Right now we’re working on a
possible European tour, and we’ll try to play as many shows as possible in
France by the end of 2012. We’ll be playing on June 30th in Nantes,
July 1st in Paris and on the 29th of September in Lille.
Otherwise, we also are working
on a split CD that should be out in 2013, and guess what, the second LP is
already on track! We’ve already composed a bunch of new songs.
Thank you Sébastien and thanks to
Ronnie and Gérald from LADLO productions ! !
There is an unbelievable amount
of records issued every single day, all over the world; and if you take 10 to
15 minutes every morning to read some webzines or blogs, you’ll notice most of
them are “good”, “awesome”, “revolutionary”, “interesting”. At the end of the
day, if you have a “wish list”, the thing would be huge, because
you’d be adding like 15 new records every week.
Who cares anyway, since people
seem to be downloading the music, not buying it, and when it comes to
downloading, you can get 15 new records every day if you want!
And that’s when the trouble
starts, at least in my opinion: you listen to each record once or twice before
switching to the next one. There is no pleasure whatsoever in that, just super
fast consumption, which is EVERYTHING Metal bands used to denounce in their
lyrics; remember?
Anyways, in that sick system,
some bands seem to keep it the old way, totally focused on writing quality
songs, the type of music that will stand the test of time, and the
California-based power-trio High On Fire
definitely are one of these high quality bands.
De Vermis Mysteriis (“Mysteries Of the Worm” in Latin),
their new record, is one gem I’ve had for a while now, and one record I’ve
been listening to a lot these past months.
High On Fire seems so brutal and "in your face" at first sight, but only to show unbelievable musical sophistication
underneath. Look at the concept: some story from H.P. Lovecraft’s Chtulu Mythos
about the Christ’s mysterious twin brother. The brother dies at birth to give
his life to The Christ and becomes a time traveler. De Vermis Mysteriis is a
sort of concept narrating the adventures of that twin.
Musically speaking, same story:
the power of Kurt Ballou’s production (member of Converge but also becoming a very
highly appreciated producer) and Matt Pike’s caveman voice shouldn’t obscure the
fact that these guys are geniuses. Every song is so perfectly balanced, filled
with epic melodies, fantastic riffs and UNBELIEAVABLE rhythms. Really, the
rhythm section here needs to be highlighted, as I’ve never heard anything like
that: so instinctive and yet very technical. “Bloody Knuckles”, “Fertile Green”
and “De Vermis Mysteriis” are all about Kensel’s drumming.
Of course, the other thing that
needs to be highlighted is Matt Pike’s fantastic performance. His singing just
keeps on getting better, more melodic and more diverse. The song “King Of Days”
is the perfect illustration of his unbelievable progress and of the infinite
possibilities for this band to grow even stronger. And I’m not even going to
mention this guy’s guitar technique, as in my opinion he’s one of the best
guitarists out there, probably playing the heaviest and most powerful riffs in
the world. The “Madness Of an Architect” main riff alone should easily convince
you of that fact.
Last superpower High On Fire
obviously possesses: the chemistry between the musicians, something really
specific to power-trios, established upon years of common live shows. And that
naturally gives them, as I just mentioned, lots of possibilities. De Vermis
Mysteriis is such a diverse record; it’s 100% Heavy, it’s Metal Music at it’s
best, it's so epic and complete, it has the heavy riffs, the melodies and the traditional instrumental song
“Samsara” lead by Matz’s wild bass.
"Fertile Green" alone should make you run out and go grab this record.
Everyone knew High On Fire was a
fantastic band, but these guys keep on getting better, and this new record is
clearly their best to date. It’s naturally one of 2012’s best releases and
probably my favorite this year.
And please, do think about all
the records you read about being “awesome”, “fantastic” or
I-don’t’-know-what-other-cool-stuff: they stand NO chance at all next to this
masterpiece. It’s time to review your standards my friends, because High On
Fire have just set a brand-new scale of awesomeness!
Music is only about energy traffic between
the performer and the listener, nothing else. That energy is supposed to
transport feelings and emotions.
Most of the time, the performer decides
which energy to transmit and how to do it. When you’re listening to a record at
home (or anywhere else except on stage) you just receive that energy; it’s a one-way
traffic. But some exceptional bands like Ufomammut somehow manage to create two-way
emotions traffic, even when you’re listening to their music on CD or vinyl. In
fact, it might also be a one-way traffic, only this time around; these guys
TAKE your energy and crush it, just as if you were sucked into the ultimate
abyss of the Black Hole itself. You can’t do anything about it; they set the rules and
you let it go.
And the comparison with outer-space is
obviously very opportune as Ufomammut are a psychedelic band overall, even if
here and there you can underline some pretty heavy traditional doom elements to bring you back to Earth.
Opus Primum is the first part of a double
album initiated by Ufomammut. Once again, the artwork is amazing, which is not
surprising coz’ as you probably know, Ufomammut are part of the Malleus Art Collective.
Artwork is fantastic, and the special LP edition includes a bonus DVD. VERY cool packaging.
This new record is a blast; Poia (guitars,
syncs), Urlo (bass, FX, synths) and Vita (drums) know how to play with your
nerves and they master the art of energy traffic I just told you about.
Most of the time they suck your energy, all you have to do is sit back and feel
it leaving your body, and then suddenly, they'll throw one killer SUPER heavy
riff, like on track 2 “Aureum”.
The thing just fills you back with energy, so
it can empty it back a moment later, particularly when the very psychedelic
and freaky melody from the opening track comes back and then degenerates into -one more- heavy and deadly riff.
"Irresistible!"
It’s really tough to describe this band's music, as
you really need to feel the thing to understand it. What I can tell you however is the way I feel when I listen to it:
First, I wanna press replay.
Second, I wanna go out and buy these guy’s entire discography!
Ufomammut is often labeled as a
psychedelic/sludge band. I’d say they are above all a Psychedelic band with a slice
of doom, making it a unique energy-devouring
entity, the kind of Black Hole you desperately want to be sucked into and
resurrected; only to be doomed back into again.
Over the past couple of years, Abyss Records have become one
of Metal’s best underground suppliers of new bands. You know, the kind of
label that will make you discover unknown and interesting acts, no matter how much time you spend on reading underground 'zines. And as
people seem to be fighting globalization, one must admit that in this particular case, it’s a blessing. What a pleasure to discover a new
Stockholm-based band on an American label!
May seem like a detail, but this fine logo immediately made me want to hear that band.
And obviously the pleasure is even more
intense as Desultor are a very promising band. There are 2 guys presented as “permanent”
band members here: Markus Joha handles guitars and vocals and Michael Ibrahim
takes care of the drums. They describe their music as “Murder Metal”. Could someone please tell them that this label is already used by Macabre – the US funny -but not so good- Death Metal band??!!
Anyways, forget about the damn labels, since describing Desultor’s Metal is one nasty challenge. I often like to
look around the web and read reviews for records I listen to; especially when a band is that difficult to characterize, I like to read about other reviewers opinions.
In their case, Desultor are mostly
described as prog’ or technical Death/Thrash Metal. Why not? The thing is,
although they seem to be a pretty technical band, their songs are very catchy
and built on a very “classic” extreme metal scheme. The best way to describe
them is probably to mention 2 other bands: Nevermore and Into Eternity. From Nevermore, take the
vocals; as they really remind me of Warrel Dane's style. There’s this intensity and the
constant melancholy in the clear singing, and even though Markus doesn’t have
Warrel Dane’s untouchable talent, he does a really great job transmitting dark
emotions. They big “chunky” riffs also reminded me of Nevermore but the Extreme
Metal (meaning very fast riffing and drums) mixed with the melodic singing; has to be credited to Into Eternity, one of the first bands, if not the very first one, to use clean and high-pitched vocals on insane blast-beats.
However, make no mistake, this very young
band has it’s own personality, and definitely displays a huge ambition and
talent. There influences may seem obvious, but they really don’t sound like any
of the bands cited above.
Masters Of Hate is a brilliant first record
from a band that sure is going to shine in the near future. I’m not sure you
understood what the music REALLY sounds like, which is a good thing, because it
shows how original Desultor are. The best way to discover these guys and to
fall for their charm is to click on this link and to listen to some songs online.
Cool cover that perfectly illustrates the music on the album
One last thing I need to mention: there seems
to be a concept on Masters Of Hate, something complex and that nicely suits the
cover artwork and the band’s image. Some of you guys probably already know
how much I LOVE bands that kind of define their own universe or world to
explore.
This is clearly the best song on the record & the easiest way to convince you that this band is brilliant.
Hungary isn’t exactly your biggest Metal supplier. However, there are some great bands that have managed to export their good quality Metal, like Ektomorf (did I just say “good quality” Metal??), Wall Of Sleep (did I just say “export” their Metal??). In fact, no, there are VERY few famous Metal bands from Hungary, and Superbutt is probably the most exiting one of them. Their new album, Music For Animals is a damn fine piece of heavy rock that sounds like nothing you’ve heard before. Think Ozzy-like Metal; made of insane heavy riffs and super powerful vocals. Fantastic singer András Vörös tells THE METAL BLOG a little more about Superbutt, it’s new record, and truckloads of other interesting things.
Music For Animals was released a couple of months ago in France, although it’s been out a long time in the rest of Europe, what happened?
Andras: Nothing special, just simple practical reasons. We have a new upcoming label (Sonic Attack) with their headquarters in Berlin, and first they wanted to focus on the territories which they are more familiar with, so it took a couple of month until the physical distribution and promotion could start in other important countries, like France. But then again, does anyone really care about physical distribution in the 21st century? Whether you can buy Music For Animals at record stores or not, if someone is interested, they can get it through the internet from anywhere around the world anyway, so I guess the official release dates don’t really matter anymore.
How’s the feedback already? I read some pretty nice reviews in Germany for example…
So far, we can’t complain. Indeed, we received some very nice critics from Germany, UK and other countries and it always feels great to find people who appreciate what you are trying to do. These kinds of things prove you that your efforts are not for nothing, and if we can make some people happy when they put our records on, that makes us very happy too.
The record surprised me because it sounds so heavy! Was it something you specifically focused on?
Surprises are always good, aren’t they? On the other hand, no we didn’t focus on anything specifically; this is just what came from us naturally. You probably know that almost the entire line up of the band changed in the last few years, and with the current line up, we sound more complex, more deep and more heavy. It was also a natural development, because ideally, you are constantly moving towards something through your career and life in general. In our case, this move is not towards being more commercial or successful as it sadly happens to many bands, but towards being able to express our feelings in a more and more sophisticated way. This is where we stand right now, and I’m sure it’s still far from the end!
Do you have the same problem understanding that cover??
I also noticed the tremendous melodies and your awesome performance András; sounds like a lot of hard work…
Well, thank you very much! I have to mention here, that Adam, our great friend who plays drums on Music For Animals and whom we wrote the album together with helped a lot with vocals. He was there with me at the studio almost all the way and supported me with lots of great ideas, plus did some pretty awesome background vocals himself too. What you hear is the product of our work together and I’m glad that it seems to catch other people’s attention too.
Does this “heaviness” represent something specific as well in the “concept”? Is their any “concept” at all by the way?
If a concept means that we decide in advance that we want to write an album that will sound like this or that, then no, there is no concept. All we focus on is writing music that each of us will like in the end, no matter if it’s a fast paced rock song like Cleaver or a darker, more complex track like The Murder Of Socrates. All that matters if we can all approve and feel good about each number that’s on the album, we don’t care if it fits into a concept or not.
Your music really reminds me of what Ozzy Osbourne likes to compose, very heavy stuff yet with a lot of melodies and cool hard rock songs…
Yes, I think you got a point there! That’s how it all comes together in the end. Our guitar players are into very heavy stuff, Attila is a real black metal guy and even if he listens to something more digestible, it will be still complex like Pink Floyd or Peter Gabriel, while Tomi listens to anything from Lamb Of God to Slayer. They are responsible for the musical background, and I’m trying to put something on top of that, which matches more my own roots, which could be anything from Ozzy to AC/DC or the 90’s rock and metal from Faith No More to Monster Magnet. And Music For Animals is what you get as a result.
And what are the lyrics about? The “Music For Animals” title sounds very sarcastic…
Yes, it does indeed. We’ve always been sarcastic, I guess that’s justthe way how we are trying to survive the world around us. Other than that, it’s very hard to describe what the lyrics are about. God forbid that I want to compare myself to your great poets, but just for the sake of the example: can you tell what the poems of Rimbaud or Baudelaire are in general? I guess not. Each one is different and each one has its own story. Also, I guess the best is not to try to explain what I was thinking when I wrote the words. I’m just trying to “paint pictures” with my sentences and I hope that they will induce some thoughts in the minds of the audience too.
Is Superbutt a “political” band?
No, we’re not political because we believe in the supremacy of art over politics. As an artist, I resent the idea of wasting our time and energy on getting involved in subtle fights for money and power. Politicians and their parties come and go, music and arts are forever. On the other hand though, there are certain traditional values that we are always proud to stand for, and thus we were happy to play a big anti-racism festival in Budapest two years ago and supported Amnesty International in one of their campaigns too. But I think promoting the cause of “liberté et égalité” should be natural to any civilized human being, so I wouldn’t call ourselves political, just because we do it too sometimes.
Do you think music has the power to change things? I mean on the field?
Yes, it definitely has and that’s why you have to be very careful not to use this very powerful weapon for the wrong purposes! And there’s one more important thing to remember: who are we to tell people what to do or think? What should make us believe that we are the possessors of some kind of truth that we have to preach to people? We’re not prophets (but then again, who is?), we’re observers trying to describe what we see around ourselves, and thus hopefully help people to form their own opinion.
And a brand new video, for your pleasure
What’s going on in Hungary by the way, people here are very concerned about your new government and some of its decisions…
Oh, don’t even ask me, I’m embarrassed enough… Anyway, let’s just say that our politicians are nothing but a shame, but they will soon finish their course because these kind of people are always bound to fail. They will too. But well, like it or not, it’s nothing new in history, sometimes narrow minded and power hungry people get behind the wheel (look at George Bush in the US back in the day for example), but sooner or later they prove how incompetent they really are and they will be forgotten as quickly as they came.
OK, enough said about politics: are you going to play some live shows in France to promote the record?
Yes, hopefully we will. As a matter of fact, we just played tow shows the weekend before I got your questions and we had a great time as always, so we are looking forward to going back as soon as we can.
And how would you describe Superbutt on stage, in 3-4 words?
You see, that’s a very hard question to answer for me, because I can’t see it from the outside… To me, being on stage is the most intense experience that cannot be compared to anything else. I guess “catharsis” is the right word, isn’t it? Well, let’s hope that it comes across the same way to the audience too, but you will have to ask them about this, not me…
Do you think it’s necessary to see the band on stage to fully understand its music?
I certainly do hope that our live shows are more than just simple presentations of the songs you already heard on the albums, so yes, I think we can say that whoever likes our music from the records, won’t regret if they come out to a concert too.
