Jungle Rot I Birth A.D.

II Klatus I Masquerader I q[T]p

Five long years after their last proper release Trivmvirate, Dutch industrial
death metal horde The Monolith Deathcult finally drops their new release
in Tetragrammaton. We catch up with the band, and realise that these are
just regular, funny guys doing extraordinary stuff with t heir music.
TheMonolitt!Deathcultstartedln2002asa
brut.ll deatllmetalact,butoverthe yearsh.as
growntoinmrporah!fTIOf'l!!industrialandat-
mospheric overtorleS. How did the QJrrent
50\lndofthebcondo;omeabout7
carsten: Ontheflrstcoupleofreleases lwasn't
realfyatumdmember.Duringtherecordingof
thefirstEPandTheApotheosis,Michiel askedif
l'd liketodropby lnthestudiowithrnysynths
andjustjams.omeadditional"te>eture!I'. Nothing
fancv.realfyasanaflerthought(mostofthe

ButwhenthebandbeginwritlngTheWhlteCre-
rnatorium, Midliel invited meal ittleearlier ln
thewritingprocesssothatwewereabletornake
rnoreroomforsynths,samplersandorchestra-
tjons. With Trlvmvirate, Wf! figured that this was
thewaytogo,andbythenlwasaful l touring

Wlththis latestalbum,wtivereallytakenthatto
theextreme.Synths,samplesandorchestratlon
arenrN/somuchapartofthemuslcthatyou'll
miss them If you don't hear them (which could be
done with TWC and earlier). We started U5ing
these sounds in a W"f a film composer would
scoreamovie:thesoundsreallyaddtothestory
ofthemusicandarenotjusttextures".
The band re-recorded, re-mixed and re-
mastered TheWhlteCtematorlumln2010,What
wa$thereasonbehindthis?
Robin:Thereasonwasjustasmudlpragmatlcas
.,
it was artistic. We had actually sold out all our promo trad< (Aslimu, hence the oldest trad< on
coplesoftheorlglnalpresslnsoflheWhlteere- Tetragrammaton) and, characteristic of the
matorlum and our former label wouldn't press French, he surrendered Immediately to the
another batch, so we decided to regain the overpowering awesomeness of the Deathcult
rights to thiltaltrum and do it ourselves. Hmm, if and we w..re signed. Our former label Twilight
we're soi'"4! to reiUe this album, we thought, Vertrieb by that time were absolutely coopera-
whynotpatchupsomeofthevocalsweweren't tive in lettins us go (you'd be absolutely coop-
veryhappyabout7Surebutlfwe'resoif"4!tOSet erative in parting ways with a leper, wouldn't
a full voc;a l recordltlll booth up. we might as well you?), so we parted ways amicably.
re-doal l voc;als.Say,rvesotthlsnlceshlnynew
bass ... Maybe we could re-do some of the bass Working with Season of Mist is great, but what
track5, too? Well, one thins led to another and me amazed methemostisthatyoucansendan
we basically re-recorded the entire album, apart e-mail to every European sounding name before
from the dn.Jm tracks. So if you want a short the domain name season-of-rnist.com and you
reason why we did ij, I suess the reason Is "be- will set a reply. They must have more than
cause we can". I think tloth versions have their lOO,OOOpeopleworklngfortheml
charm,act.ual ly,ldon'thaveaclearpreference
foreijher.ltwasprettyconfusingre-doinsthe Andtheyhaveguts,becausetheydaredtore-
songs we'd already written because we found lease ll lud Divinum lnsanus & signed The Mono-
outthatA)wecouldn'trememberthe lllll:'sto lithDeathcult.
someofthesoogsand B)wefoundoutwe'd
been playlf"4! them the wrof18 way live for years Tet1111ramrnaton once ilil ln sees the band fur-
ther musical boundaries. Compared to
Is t he band's first release Trtvmvlrate, what can fans expect from The
under Season of Mist. How did ttlis deal wijh Monolittl Deathcuit ttlls time round?
the label coml! about, how has ij been
worki"'! with them50 far? Carsten: Crnziersyntns, huge epic orchestras,
mangledsamples.fieldrecordedsounds,sound-
Michie!: It is for us the first time we work with a
blg label likeSeasonofMist.Sincewe'vestarted
In 2002, all our labels have pul led down their Michie!: This album is In my opinion more a
flags.FirstColdBioodlndustrles,thenKarma- punchlnthefacethenTRIVMVIRATE.Therlffs
geddon media, then Twi light. Even some labels are more thrash-orientated( palm mute) and the
whowerethinkinsofworkif"4!withushadgone overall atmosphere;,. more lndustr1al-laden.
just to be sure. I suspect we leave a TMDC he Strapping Young Lad of death metal
trallofflnandaldevastatloninourwakeandl'm wll.houtatalentedvocallst.BUTifyoustaystuck
sure that It won't be long before Season of Mist at our first 2 albums you wi ll hate this album to
wi llflnandallycollapsetoo. thebone.
it"sactuallyaniceanecdotetotellyouhoww.. What wasit thattookthe band so l""ll to re-
gotto Season of Mist: Morbid Angel had just put lease new album?
outll ludDivinumlnsanusandSeasonofMist
waspromotlnsthlsalbumasagroundbreaking Robln:Durlntttherecordlf"4!andwritlngprocess
mllo:t.ure between deathmetal and oftheprevlousalbums,almostal lofuswerestu-
techno/dance/etc. I got Irritated and shot Ml dents. We had plenty of time to, wel l, not study
chael Berberian from SOM an e-mail telling him and get Important stuff done, like writing music
we'dbeendoif"4!that(onlyinfinitelybetter)than andlyrics.Thesedayswe'reaUborif"4!guyswith
MorbidAngel sioce 2008,and Michael's reply dayjobssothere's.Tmply les.s timetogetthings
wassomethingintheveinoftoputyourmonev done
where your mouth Is. So we slapped together a

With
whin wasthesorcwrltlng process llke7Thls
belng EUitarlst lvo'sflrststudlorelease, howdld
ltaffectbanddynamks ln t hecre.attveprocess7
llecome lessoomplex, butcer-
tainlynot lessepic.Thebiggestckangelorme
was: Michie! involved me much, much earlier in
the process. That meant working with extremely
roush.. unfinished demo's 31. first which we
fleshedootmoreandmore.lt alsogavemethe

aboutthetopi<:."; and kind of
soundswouldsuittheso'1g5best.
Mkhlei:OUrmusklselCtremelylayered.Some-
tlme when I am working on dicktracks I hear
Carsten'sorchestrationssolo.Somepartsareso
rool youcanrelea5eitonlywithdrums andor-

we bangouttunesbythedoren; a song starts
with anidea,acatchylyricalhookorathemeand
then gets worked, re-worked, re-reworked,
scrapped,resurrected,deconstructed,recon-
structed,movedaroundandpoli shedendlessly
unti l al l members arehappy.lthi nkeach and
ewrysonginTetrngrammatonmust haveover
S0or60demoversion,eachofwhichdifferent-
ranginglromslightchangesonlyl heartooom-
plete overhauls. Some S0'11r5 are four themes
thatuitlmatelyendeduplnfourdifferentsongs
aitogether.Somesongsarequiteoldandhaven't
changed in a majorwayforal most2, 3years.
"Todesnacht von Stamm helm" was pretty much

But the rlffswerealreadywritten In 2008. Even
the vocal themes forTodesnacht were pretty
muchsenled.Thevocalsfor"Aslimulli-AII slaln
those who brooght down our highly respected
symbols to thelowerstatus ofthebarrenearth"
(don'tyoudare abbreviate that)were"'ttled ln
October 2010, because we needed a track lor
Seasono!Mist.ThethrashythemelnQilsrAI-
Ni haya was an obsolete riff I once wrote lor
Deadheildln2002.1tw.asn'tcoolenoushfor
them In those years.Anoo 2013 they will "'II
theirsoulstolet mecontributearifftothem.
1vo stepped in when the main songwriting was
alreadydone,butoutofthebluelhadtheavall-
abilityofaguilarist wlthaverysood"tone" and
capableofpliJVIngueatueatsoloslnthevelnof
Slash, Kee Marcello, Riehle Sambora, Skid Row
and KlrkHammettlntheBiackAibum era. His
rontributions:Tvesme theopportunity torepeat
patterns I wouldn' t repeat without soloing.
lvo'ssolossavemethelastpushtofinali:ethe
album.
Who are t he Influences when writllli the music
toTetragr.lmmaton7
Carnen: Nowadays I only occasionally listen to
metal (Meshusgah, SVl. various BM). Devin
Town5end'swallsolsoundmight influencedme
somewhat, but I think film score
(Goldsmith, Zimmer, Williams, Herrmann) played
a bl88er role. Also styles of electronic
music (Skinny PupfJV, Trentemoll er, Aes Da na,
Qntal).
Michie!. Oemanulacture, Strapping Young Lad,
Psalm69,Lalbach,TypeONesatlveandVemplre,
OuskandherEmbraceandCrueltyandtheBeasL
Tellusmoreabout the undertyingcanceptsin
t he lyritsof Telr3f:rllmmaton. Apartfrom the
M!efl"llnefyheavy Mlddle.fastemlnfluence on

t racks like Todesnacht von Stammhelm that
bring in a somewhat different theme.
Mkhiei:First lmusttell you tt-..reisn' ta underly-
ingoonceptl n thelyrics.AII Iyric:sstandsontheir
own.ThereareindeedheavyMiddle-Eastern in-
nuencesonthlsalbumtlecausewereadalotol
books and watch m011les and documenterles
about middel east subjects.. After 9-11 the lows
lnthemediawasthelasttenyearsontheMiddle
East.Aighanistan,Qsama Bin litden ,lraq.l ran,
Ubia and oow Syria. And we always wrote lyrics
about weirdsubjectsandintheMiddleEast,with
TheAyaytollahsln
Iran and oompletely lucked up Arab
there lsplentyto wrote about. HumanW;we
Attildr.lsaboutthelranianchildren(cal ledBasij)
who were brai nwashed in Qur'an schools cal led
Madras.sas The poorly trained Basij would
launch the human wave assaults to swamp the
weakerportionsofthelr.oqlllnesandwouldbe

followed up by the more experiencedflevolu-
lionaryGuardmemtlers.Theyhadakeyonthelr

they were blown to pieces. So no typical al l
Arabs are biid" lyricsbutaveryweird observa
tionofthehumiinmind.A..Iimu isaboutthe
birt h ofAIQ<IidabasedonlawrenceWrisht's
The Loomins Tower and Qasr Af-Nihaya is
abouthUdaySaddam Husseln.GIYF.
TheldeaofTodesnachtvonStammhelmc.ame
up when I watched the Oer Baader-Meinhof
Complex movie. outrageous

thescenewhereaAAfterroristisonthehoodof
acar,shootinahlsrlfleemptyonthep.assenaers,
llmmediatelyknewthatweshouldwrlteasona
aboutthefloleArmeeFraktion.
Anditisalwil'f'coolto slnainGerman.itis a no
nonsense languagewhlch isperfectforthesub-
jectoi TodesnachtvonStammheim
Thebandtookonanlmagethatlsrattlercon-
trastlnatotheseriousthemesonthealbum.
What was the rN5on behind this?
Carsten:Welook.deadseriousonthosepicsiSe-
riously, a lot of people thousht we made a
movie or somethlntt (whlcb Is cool). Maybe we
shouldwriteamovlescoreonce, li kelaibachdid
forlronSky.

causeitlsfun.Wearen'tpreachersl ikeU2or
flageAgalnsttheMachlne.OUronlymessageto
theworldisnopeoce".
When we started TMDC we decided NOT to
writestupidlyrics.Mostofthe inspirationfor
lyricscomesfrom total lydilferentbooks,docu-
mentariesandmovies. Todayyouneed50me-
thlnsextra as a band to set attention. Plus we
havealotoltalentedpeoplelnandaroundthe
band who have the skills and know-how to
deepen our Image. As. TMDC we try to learn
fromthewaybisBiockbustermoviesare pre-
sentedtotheaudiencebytrailersandposters
OUrpromotional picturesandposterstookalot
more attention than the standard brick wal l
Whatwastheouttakeonthecloslngtrack
about?!
Michie!: Optimus Prime, with al l his knowledge
aboutthe"ancients" blab lawasn'tcap.ableof
pronouncinathealbumtitlesowehadtonsof
(mis)takesolhlsefforts.llseemsthattheCyber-
tronlantonguedifferstoomuchfromtheEnttlish
tonguetosetitdonein1-2takes. Neishbours
st..rttocomplain becausePrimeseveral times
ravagedtheirflowerbedswhenheleftthestudio
complexafterafewfuckups.Wedon'tcareilhe
ispissedoffaboutus.Hehasmorelmportant
thlngsonhlsmlnd. UnlcRonlsonltswayand
soonthlsplanetwl llbedarkforever ...
Woulditalsobepossibletotellusmore about
theconc:eptbehindthealbumartwork?
Michiei: Wel l,t he tn.nhistherelsn'tanyconcept
behlndthealbumartworlc.Foralmosttwoyears
before the album was made we had a number of
conceptsforthecoverthatwe'vewantedtodo
for years. We tried to work something out with
HRGiger, buttheplandidn'tcometofruition
andthecurreotcoverwasalast-minuteGoosle
search -litera lly (the album was already
Wefoundthelmageuncreditedonsomecom-
puter deslctopback&roundsiteandstarteddis-
sJngaroundtollndtheorisinal artistandsethls
permission lousetheartwork.Theartwork is
doneByAndrewNAndroid" Jones who worked
with Soulfly and Exodus. We always for
massive powerful covers and this one fit well.
Thebandtakesarathertonsue-ln-cheekap-
proachtothlngsllkeonyo..-Faceboolcpage,
such as comments made about the album.
Whatmadethebanddedde todoso?
Carsten:Honestly,lntheendhowcananvbodv
beserlousaboutanythlnglnllle,especlally
abouttheheavymetallifestyle.Life'sajoke,but
tomelt'sagoodone.ldon'twanttoklllmi ne

Tetragrammaton is now out via
Season of Mist.

i:a;gei"Yc:OnS;[de;;;(j scene,
Jungle Rot this year releases their seventh futllength album, Terror Regime,
along with the reissue of their 1995 demo, Skin the Living. Vocalist James
tells us more.
Thebandwasfonnedallthewaybackin1994,
andhasbet!npla'f'i"'aBoltThrower/Ob1tWiry-
drfvenstyleofdeathmetal.19yearson,the
band contlnl.leS rewrdl"' ;md releasing new
material. When the band was firs! started, did
youeverexpecttostlllbereleaslnadeathmetal
extremitytoday?Howdoesltfeelfol'theband
tobealrnost20ynrsoldnow?
Jarnes: lhiweonlybeen in thebandalmostlO
years, but I'm still eKtremely proud of our
outiJU!.Iwasplavl081notherbandsandlalways
foi iOWfldJungleRotsolt'sgoodthattheband ls
stillgolngstrongaftersolong. flel l,we'restron-
ger thaneverl
Theb;md'sname,JU"':Ieftotlslnrefereno;etoa
medk:alcondltlonalsokroowniiStroplcalulceJ.
While obviously Influenced by the 1/letnam
War,whychoosethlsc:onditlonastheband's
namelnpartlcu4ar?Howdidttlelnterestlnthe
Vietnam War in particular came about back in
theNrlydaysoftheband?
James: Actually the name was part of a multiple
cholt!!questlononetheguvshadback lnhigh
schoolandthel\amejuststudt.lthinkwiththe
1\ame the desire to move t he tJar>d in a war
themewasevident.l!justfits.
Thebar>dri!CefltlyreleasedltsS!!Venthfull
lensthstudiol!ffort,entttledTerrorReglme,and
lstheband'sSI!COndfulllengthreleaSI!under
VICtory Records. How did this deal with VICtao'y
Reconlscomeabout,andwhypickVictoryRe-
wrds.seelnstl>itdeathrnetallsn'treallvttle
labersspedaltv7
James:Jtwasaneasycholce.WehadKII IOnCom-
mandflnlshed,we produc-
tion,artworl<,everything.Then wesottoshop-
pinsforlallels. Tony,theownerofVictory,has
beenafrier>dfora longtimear>dhewantedto
check out what we had. We wem to the office
ar>dhungoutar>dhe listenedtherecordandsak:l
hewantedtoputltoutar>dworkwithus.Weac-
tuallyweregonnasign withVtCtorybacklnl997
forSiaustrterlheWeakbutthatfeDthrough
somewhere. We kindofli ke thatdeath metal
isn't the la bels specialty, bealuSI!westickout.
We aren't competing with 200 other death metal
bandslorattentlonfromthe labei. Theyaaually

about,andwtrythls trad<lnpartlaUr?
betnrt. fansofthebandforalonttlme.
let"s-talkaboutthemi.GkonTenot
Recime. Unlikethebanot'seatlief dloyswhere
thenl-safocl.rsonasl,.-tormofdeath
meu.I,Tarrorllelirnes;owthebandlncor'pocn
1111oomerous other elements .swel l, most
promlnentlyasnctmvPollshrtyleonBIIndDe-
vodonandanoldsdlooiSWedllhdeathmetal
sl'/4e on _., like Pronounced Dead. How did

Jllf1lle llolcome 1ntobelrc?
hlmeJ:Thos.ehavo!alwilvsbeenlnfk>eras.We

theilssofthisbandrlghtnow.We'vealwayshad
the Swedish death metal influence along with

nothirc new. We Influences proudly
onoorsleeYes.Welll"o'ee'tointowrftinswlthi
notion toSOllndicertalnwrt. itcamnverv
nall.rllt1fotustowrtteliblh!J.Welvvetogive

whoca.rnetothebandwithasparltindenergy
wed!!speratelyr.eed..dlna verydownti""'for
the band.
Te<TOt R.,.ls also dRimmer JesWs second
sti.Odloappearancewiththeband,andhlsef.
1ec:ts on the band's musk are rather cleat with
the lnduslon oftedlniquessudlasblastbem
thatwereprev;oustyratherunne..rdofon
Juflllello(s releases.How lshe flltlnclntothe
band,andhowhashlslnduslonlnthebandaf
fededbanddynamlcs?
James: Jes.selsl)f'rfecl.foriiS.He lsyourosand

wheflhejolnedheu-wt.athewasgettincin
to.Heu-there...-asa.lungleRo!'sound' th<lt
we weren't Jl!lirctod!!Yiitelrom too mud\. We
give .le5se a cetUin ilmount of freedom to do his

armochneed<!do:t,>namlctotheband.
James: OUrlrc our !OUrinc for Kill On Command



a COYer and the list was quite iof!llaStowhlch
oneitwouldbe.Wethought'IDon'tNe<!dSod-
etY was veryfttttng tothe wholeldeil of the
aiDum. The lyrlcs fit with wflilt the album Is

tenins to for manyyeafl. why the hell not awer
it?Wethlnkwedidigoodjob,youcanttllll's
DRisorcbutllsoundslikelllnglrRot.Jesse
addedtheblilstJ;attheend,andltworlledout
n!allyweM.
The bandalsoreleasedamusicvideofor811nd
Devotlon,whlchshowsstudlofoQI.apofthe
band..-.:Jrrcthetrxk.Whyplckthlstract.ln
partlcular,andwlwltwastheiOfiiW'klrcnd

James:Wedidn'tpid<thetrack.Thetabelhada
""""'ri aew In the studio with us to rerord
some and the crew whlp!)ed up
thevTdeofor fun. ll ameOIJ!prettycoolandwe

labeiW1!1'1twithllartddecidedtorelenell.l
thirtkit'sklnd.ilcoolbecauselt lrulydoeslhow
us doirc what we do In the ti.Odlo. There Is no

Thelyr\QforJuncJellolhascomiJW:I'IIIyre-
wlved around social commenlary, lrtdudTnc
politlaland ntiiiJIOtl-n!latedthemes,ilndtllls ls
rta dlffefel'll on TI!ITOI' Regime, v.ith ionP like

Wht:re do you dr- lnspntkm wtlen wrltlnc
lhelyrics fofTI!ITOI'Re&lme,and-il any dif-
ferentlhl$rlmemmparedtopriW:Iusre-
...... ,

!ndofhlsrop!.AII thedisdainandcorruption
goircon In t he world and people arestl llcon-
lnduded on Terror Relime Is also the D.R.I. rerned with their personill poSses$1onS and
cowr,IDon'tNftdSodety,v.iththeband
lhllntll8rtillmostplnck:ore touchto1hesonc. andpeOplearelfllsostlldonGOO.rt'ssofuck-
Howdldlhldedslonto wv.rlhl$trad<come Inc stupid.. look at the sky, do you ttOHESTtV

THINK A CELESTIAL CASTlE IS FLOATING UP
THERE?Ugh. ljustcan'ttake iLWatchanynews
pr"'!ram, and ym/11 ""' my inspiration. Your gov-
ernment Is wrruf!L All. GOVERNMENTS ARE
CORRUPT.Wekavelessthan l %ofthepopula-
tiontrylngtocontroltheother9!m,andpeople,
namelymaterlaiAmerkans,justdonotcareas
lol"6astheirshiplsn'trocked.Thlsworldlsgoll"6
toshll.andhumansaregoingtobetestedvery
soon.Yougetsomeonewhosrlilpsandfinallyre-
IIOits,and a ll ofas.uddenhe'sa'terrorist'.
Changeandrevolutionlsn'tgoingtohappen
wlthoutcasualties.Oavejokesthatl'maCom-
munlst,butl'mnot.rvelostlalth lnOOmanltyal-
ready.Fuck'emall.rdhavetosayl'mmoreofan
Anaro:OO-Nihillst.
The album a rtwork was aka one thina; that
caught my attention. The wncept Is straightfor-
ward, but would It be possible to tell us more
abouttheartlstbehindtheartwork?
James:Thetankls 'governmental oppression',
crushing al l whooppose.Theb.ld<roveris....,ry

vancsakandhealsodidthe last2albums.
verytalentedanddoesartworkformanyb.lnds
like Destruction and Annihi lator.
www.hiules.com
UnderVICtoryRemr<b,thebllndalsoreiosued
Its l99S debut demo, Skin the Uvlng. What was
the reason
demo,andwlllfansofthebllndseeotherearty

James:WegetaskedaOOut'Skin TheLMn.g'alot.
Our fansrouldn'tfindil.lt'sbeenlongoutof
print. II staned as a demo, and then was re-
leased as a lull length album in 1996 under
Jamev Jasta's PURE DEATH Record label and
hasn'ttleenavallabll!slncethatprlnt.Wetalked
aboutgett11"61toutonelasttimeforthosewho
hiwen'tbeenableto findii.Victo rywasdown
withtkatidea,sowewentwithitiWe'ddefi-
nitelyliketoreleaseEVERYJungleRotalbumon
vinyl sometime soon, some albums we don't
owntherlghtstothough,sothlscouldprovedlf-
llcult.
The blind wll be embarking on a Amerl-
cantourthlsAprllwltt!Suffocatlon.Aftertllis
lour,wtlat.aretheplansofJuongii! Rot?
James:Thetourwentotfwithoutahitch. Wehad
agreattimewithourfriendson the road and
e-very show was kmerl We are home now and
Wf!' ll take a two week break or so then re-

havemmingup.WeareplayingChicagowiththe
legendary BOLTTHROWER in June. We wi ll also
stan writing some new materi al and we are going
toEuropelnAugustforfestlvals.Wewillbeatthe
Getaway Rock Fest In Sweden, Into The Grave
FestlnHolland,MehSuffMetai FestlnSwltzer-
land,andBrutai AssauitlnC2echRepubhc,there
wTHalsobesomedubdatesaroundthefe.stswith
our buddiesinOecrepitBirth.
We have come to the end of the Interview.
Thank youfortaklnE the timetoanswerol.W
questlons.Wewlshyouallthebestontheup.-
comlngtourl
James:Thankyouforyours.upportiSorryabout
my delay. We hope e-veryone wiU ched< out
TERRORREGIMEandcomeseeusontheroad!
OPENYOUREYES,PEOPLE!
Terror Regime is out now via Victory
Records.
Asian Spetligflt Masquerader
;
metal, especially with bands like ChthoniC gaining international reputation,
thrash metal is starti ng to get a foothold as well. Masquerader is one such
band, with their old school brand of thrash. The band tells us more.
HI guys, tlwlnlr. yoo for taking tile time to form In Seoul with brutal death bar.d Seed,
answeroorquestlonsabouttheband. Before whlchwasourflrstforelgnexposure.ln2012Wfl!
webqintheinterviewproper,giveus ahistory beganoursecondEP"SingularPoint"withthl'
oftheband. Howdidthebandfonn? help from BloodyTyrantguitarist.t;Wi''liand
ChthoniCKeyboordistCJKaotocompletethere-
Westartedln2008whenhl8hschoolfrler.dsgul- cording and mbdng. However,
tarlstGoatandbassistRogerformed OUtsk:ler Andrewleftusandtocontlnueourmuslcaljour-
(prewrsor of Masquerader) ar.d found drum- ney he was replace with current Tan
mer Ron ar.d e!<-iuilarist Jeff from Internet Hsiao (Bloody Tyrant's singer). In December
forums.Ex-vocalistAndrewjoinedusafterbeing 2012, Masquerader completed the second EP
Introduced by friend of ours. At. that time, Met with the art Wl.lrks completed by Goat and it was
alcoreispopularinTaiwan,thusWfl!startedtcN- release In Hong kong. OUring this time, ex-
erlngandwrltifl8songsthatWfl!restronglyin0u- guitarlstJeffleftduetopersonalconslderation,
enced by Lamb of God, Trivium ar.d M3Ch1ne helped with the release tour. Cur-
Headar.dperformedafews.mall gigs.Lateron rentgultarlstWaynejoinedusafterwardand
durif18mid-2008, weWfl!reexposedtoThrashvla becameoneofourpermanent members. After a
classics such as Sl....,..r, Sepultura, Sodom and big line-up change, Masquerader has metamor
they inspired us so much that we decided to phosed Into a form that we are el<lremely ex-
changeourcrearivedirectionandchangedour citedabout.
name from OutsldertoMasquerac:ler.ln2009
wereleasedoordebutEP"Masquerader"and Slnceyourlnceptlonln 2009, thebandhasre-
afteratourinTalwan,wewerefortunatetoper- leased2EPs,wtthtllelatestbelngthlsye.ar's

SinSI'iarPolnt.Howl>asresponsebeenfofthls
release, andls thebandSiltlsfledwtththere-
sl.lltsoftherelease?
To us, EP Sinsular Poi nt received reactions
andresfJOnsesbeyondour imagination,after al l,
it is just a and produced
work with 4 songs. Besides the
In Taiwan, we also many reviews and at-
tentlonsfromforeignlabels.Whatlsmoreinter-
estlng Is that American Sd-Fi thrash lesend
even us on tt-..ir Face-
book. It so much to us and we were really
gladthattheyenjoyeditsincethey areamong
one ofourmajorlofluences intheSd-fitnrash
style. In addition, the Chilean metal lesend
Crlmlr.arsvocallst AntoRelseneggeralsolntro-
ducedandrecommendedourmusictobeaired
on tt-.. local metal radio. In all, we were extreme--
lyhappywithtt-..result.
ThemuskonSinsularPolnt ls stralght--1-lp,sood,
oldschoolthrashmetalplayedwtth reckless
abandonandltlsdf!flnitelyextremelyenjoy-
ablefoffans of old school thrash. What are
some oftheimportanlinfluences onthebllnd
when it came down to the writins of Si"'ular
Point?
Actually,manyofthesongs inthisEP is finlshed
before recording, Atomic Funeral, S.A.T.A.N,
Thrash Commandos were creatively motivated
and ins.pired by dasic t ftrash legend.They are in
the contextofnudear energyconcems, sarcastlc
Siltanism and praiing the Thrash sub-nllture.

creativeturnpolnt.ln2012,wewereelq)Osedto
many SdFi oriented and technical thrash like
Vektor,Volvod,Coroner,etc,andltchareedthe
way we """' thrash. With t he help with many
Sci--Fifi lms andgames,our foruseswouldso to-
wardsconceptualilingSd-FII'iaour music. The
songSymbioslslsasongwrittenbasedonour
l'isionoft heluture,leadlngthe llstenerslnto our
worlds.AhhoughthisEPdoesoothaveacentral
theme, It serve-s as a summary of our work from
the p.asttransitioning into thefuture.
Also, whatwasthesongwrlti"'PI"OCesslikefof
Slfl&UiarPolnt7
UsuallyguitaristGoat,e>c-guitaristJeffandBassist
Rogerwouldstanwithriffandldeas;afterwards,
allt heotherbandmemberswouldjolnthedls-
cusslon.WerarelyJamthesongoutbecausewe
hopethat asongcanbe l<ept initsmost organic
form from tt-.. listener. This also
p.-.::Ned to provide more emotional and struc-
tured songs.
Wouldltbeposslbletotellusmoreaoboutthe
lyricalthemesthatrevolvethemuskofMas-
querader7 Where is inspiration drawn from
when writin8 the lyric$ to the mu$ic of the
"'"'"
OUr earllerworklsmostlyabouttherealand
Imaginary world. The first EP has stories from the
Pacific warfare Wrlns the Second World War,
brutality ofcapital ismandposse5Sedtruck driver.
ThesecondEP,SingularPoint hasstories about
nuclearenergyconcerns,praisinsthelt!rash
sub-nllture, mocking Satan ism and the future of
mankind. Baslcally,our earlierworkdrawslnflu-
encesfromreadings,newsandpersonal li fee>c-
perience,nowthatwehavt!aspecTIIcdirectionto
headto, wewill story tel li ngideas that wehave
for human-kind"luture,so we hopeeve')lone
canstayedtunedtoour nextrelease.
Thebandalsodearedupamlsurderstandlnc
regardins some lyric$ on the tradr. Thrasher
Commandos. How did that wt.ole Issue come
about,andwf-latdoeslt!e bllndthinkaboutlt!is
In seneral. we understand that musical reviews

onourlyricsdidmal<eusalittleDituncomfon-
able.lfsomeonehasreadandunderstoodour
lyrics thoroughly, notin parG, then itshould not
be toohardtounderstand that there are nodi
criminating inferences towards homose>cuals,
slncethewordlnnowaymeanshomosexualln
such context. Akhoughthlsollenslverevlewdld
not agitate us too much, we did contact the
author,butnoreplywasgive.Wedidpubllclyad-

hopes to d ear this misunderstanding if t here

After the release of Sl"'!lular Point, vocalist Thebandrecentlyhildthehonourtoopenfor
Andrew left the band, beln&: replaced by legends Destruction, Napalm Death and Mep-
blac:k/deatt! metal band Bloody Tyrant's vocal- deth. What was it like playing alongside these
1st. How did this come about, and how has It bands?
beenworki"'withhimsofar?
Andrew leftusi)ecauseofnisattiludeandcre-
attvebellefs,thusbreakingofftheco-worklf'6
bond. our new singer, ian joined us because
MasqueraderandBioodyTyrantareclose al-
readywithafairundernanding of eachoU"'r's
workhabits;aiso,l an l011esthrashandwi.tlesto
be a part of the thrash scene. Therefore, we
havehlmjoinedtheband inno-tlme.Hishlgh
anddrlftyvocal styledidbringMasqueradera
lotmorecreatlveposslbll ltlesandanold-school
taste.Theco-workircsituatlonisgreat,andwe
hopetomaximizethepotentialwithhisvocal
ab; li ties andourfuture musicaldirections.
While Taiwan ilnd Asia In general have wme to
be known for the extreme black ilnd death
metalacts,thrashmetalactshave keptarather
lowptoflledespllethequalityofthemuslcthat
has been wming out from t he regK!n. What
was itthat ml<ie the banddecidl!toplaythrash
metal Instead?
Webellevethatpeopleareprobablylooklnsfor
muslcthat sir.gstotheirmind,regardlessofthe
malnstreaminfluences. Pius,wethinkthatour
di rection inThrash isour discoveryofthe
modem metal history. This is the sound that we
foundmostcoherentwithourmind,andtobe

Banclssudl as ChttloniCareknowntobeheav-
lly lnvoh!ed lnttle politk:sofTalwan. lsttlis a
trend inTaiwan....e met.al scene,and are youor
anyofthe bandmembers pi!Qonllllyinvolved
lnpolltkal<ho;ussionsofthecountry?
itisdeflnltelynotatraditlon;ChthoniC'ssuccess
ismorethanpolillcs.Theirworkisphenomenal,
sowethlnkitstiHhassomethTnstodowlththe
music.WithmHband,vocalistlanisthemost
octive in social causes andpolitit:al.....,nl!;,but
tnis has to do with the environment he was
ralsed.Wedonotthlnkthlshilstoomudlrela-
tlonshlpandlnfluenceonMasquerader'smuslc .
Wewereextrernelyei<dtedwithloadsofpres-
sure;afterall,weilrethewarmupbandsthat
cancountasrepresenllnsTaiwan.Espec!allythe
Mesadethshowwaspackedwithaudlencethat
broug:htshivertoourspins, but that moment
andexcitementissomethin.swecannotforget.
Masqueraderalsoperformed lnThalland re-
_,tly In the Asian How did it
and are there any memorable Incident!;
fromthetrlp?
food is a must mention, it is cheap and
goodiAhhoush thepricetopayisgetlnthe
washroom i)ecause it is way too spicy! Also, the
promoters, who were also the editors and writ-
ersolthelargestmetal magazlnelnlhalland,ln
toThePitwereverykindtousasweii.Theytook

and CD, as well as taking us to enjoy Thai-

tripfromSiln.skoktoPhltsanulok.thepromoter
sentustherewithaspecialpolicel:>us.AIIofthe
othervehldes havetosetoutofourwav. and
thatwas a verylnteresllnsexperience. Wedld
notgettoomanychancesandmuchllmetoex-
plore thenightlile,whichwasapity,sincethe

Wrth the new lineup, gn filns of the band
expectafulllength release anytlmesoon?
GuitarlstGoatandBasslstRoger wlllbecomplet-
in,sthemandatorymi lltarydraftlorayear,thus
duri n.sthistime,Masqueraderwil l havelessex-
posure; however, the preparation on the new
albumhasbegun.Wehopewecanftnlshrecord-
lngandproduclnetheneKtalbumbytheendof
neKtyear.Thenewalbumproducllonwil l bean
experlmentalardcross-ienre largeproject. We
a5S!He you, our audiences, this album will
chal"@edthewayyouseeus andtumyourmusi-
calmindaround,pleasestayedtunedtothenew
Masquerader!
...
Delivering their social commentary in style, Birth A.O.'s
debut I Blame You is a fun album through and through. Bassist/vocalist Jeff
Tandy tells us more about the band, and their new album.

nlty to talk to you. Birth A.D. was formed In
Z008 while Jeff and Mark were still wilt! the
blackmetaloutfitAve.-seSeflra.Whenyouflrst
formed BirthA.D.,whatwasltle intentianof
the band, and what message did vou intend to
spread with Birth A.D.?
Jeff:lwasalwaysafanofhardcoreandcrosso\ler
fromthellmelgotlntometal,andlwasreallylr

mentstartedup.itwasallgoofy andsteeped in

pa1Wasteblewahugeopportunitvtorebootthe
movement and tum it Into something viable
agaln,buttheyonlyseemedlnterestedlnrecre-
allngparty-llmepluathrash, sofuckthatand
fuckthem.lfelt likearesponsewaslnorder,and
lhadatonofriff'istockpiledthatlcouldn'tuse
wlthAve,.;eSelirn,solforcedthels.sueand
made it happen.
What Is the meaning behind the band name,
and how does It relatetotheoutputofBirtll
A.D.?
J: It's funny how the band name has raised so
manyq,...tiono;.lt'sbasicallyaninte,.;ectionof
ldeas-myveryfirstband(acrossoverband,as lt

somethlreofaresurrectionoflt.ldidn'twantto
reuse the name, but when I was writing the ma
terlallusedtheMisfits'EartllAD"asacomposJ..
tional map(Giennwasamasterofcompactideas
badtthen),andthenamevariationstrur.kme.lt
would noel to the aforementioned album and
presentanoldnameinanewwav-BirthA.D.
Slgnifiesaneweraof Afterblrth(AnooDomlnlor
AfterDI'ath,whateveryouprefer).
ThebandreleasedibfirstEPin2009withStill
birthN.ation,and4yearslllterllllame Youwa
flnallyreleased.Howhasreptionbeenforthe
...
release,andlsthebandsatlsfledwlttl there-
sultsofthealbum?
J:Thereceptlonhastleenfantastic,betterthanl
evenexpectedtobehonest.ltseemslikeev-ery-
one completely understands what we're about

lng.lwlshwecouldhavehadthealbumoutln
2012, which Is when we recorded It, but It was
betterforustoftndagoodhomeforlt.l'mglad
we wailed, and now that we' re on t rack I think
t n.. followupwillcertainly comealol"@faster.
Whlle l llliorneYou ls theband"sflrstfulllength
release,ltcontalnedacoupleofsorogsfromthe
Stillbirth Nation EP. What was the reason
behind this?
J:ltcontained everythil"@fromtheEP, actually.
My reasoning wa5thatthe EP was really meant
asjustaproofofconcept morethan anything
else.Westartedtreatlngilasanofflclal release
duetotheoverwhelmlnefanresponse,butthe
band was only 3 months old when we recorded
it.ldidn'lwantto mis5 t n..chaoce tore-reoord
t OOsesongswithAiexPerialas,sioce myinten-


because oow the songs sound like I always lmag-

meaner. This is also why we will never
"Sti llbirt h ofaNation ,whichsoldoutlast year.l
am proudofthatrelease,butl want "' Blame
You" to standalone
lthlnkttlemalnttllncthiltcatdlestheattentlon
ofthelisteneris theenergyttlatisln t lleband"s
muslc,wtththefuslonof crOSSOYf!l"tendendes
wchas punkishrift. andvocabwith,._.,
deathmetal/grindcon!ariented df\lmmi11Jof
Mark. How did the current sound of 8lfth A.O.
come about, and who are the main Influences
behlndtheband"smuslc?
J:Thealphaandomega of our influences are
SODandDRI,thoughplentyofotn..rbandsof
theeraare presentaswell.lwouldn'lagree that
we' rereally employi.-.ganydeath metaldrvm-
mlng,becauseifyouremember,evensongslike
"Mi lk" had blast beats, and that was 1985.1
madeapolntofnotemployi.-.ganytechnlques
that weren't present bad then, because I wasn't
lnterested increatlngsomekindofmodemtake
onthesound.Whatyouhearlspurecrossover,
andlhaveBillyMilano'ssealof approvalon that

OneotheJfunpartaboutBirttlA.O.'smuslcls
also lnttlelyricaldepartment.rarclnc from se-
rlousSCJdo.polltlcallssuessuchasonBringBadc
theDraft,tomore person.alones sLd!as Wrong
Apin (labN>Iutelylovedthe spokensample in-
dudedonthetrac:k). Wheredoyoudrawlnspi-
ratlonwhenwritlngttlemuslc:?
J:lt'sthedailydlalogue lnmyheadforthemost
part.l'mkindofamil<edbaginthatl'mactually
averysocialperson,butatthesametimeaver
agepeoplefrustratethehelloutofme.ldon't
large part of the generation, I
boomers, GenerationXerscangoto
hell ... everybodvsucks,baslcally.Thislswhyl

al l apartoftheproblemlnonewotforaoother.
Charles Schull once said,"' love mankind, it's

otn..rwavaroundforme;mankindisawlul,but
thereareplentyolpeoplelreallyeojoy.
Besidesthat,l'dsaythatmylyricsareobserva-
tional,muchlikethewayacomedianwrites.l' m
aiway-.;lookingaround and asses.si11Jthe 5itua-
tion,thenlgetpissedoff and writeilalldown.
Aswlthanvtlme ln history, the world ls w r-
rently full of social and political problems.
Whatdoyouthlnk ls of t hemosturgentcon-
cetn, and why?ls there any hope for mankind?
J:Thi5mightnotbe a popular response,butlfeel
likeglobali5mandoverpopulatlonhavecaused
anlncalculableamountofdamagetohumancui-
ture. Everything Is becoming a miasma where
soclalandculturalldentltlesaresuWertedlnthe
name of creating a new and awful lowest
common denominator. This is very visible in
America, butil'shappening allover theplace.
l'magainst imperialism,l'magainstauthoritari-
anlsm(whlchlnthlscountrylsfueledby llberals
more than conservatives, Ironically), and I' m

thlnkit'SIOii\IIIOhaYetosetworwbe/oreiiSflS


someiiCCOfdin&fvbrul.illwarstosnappropleand

workMew. 1 5i1V digging 7 billion graves"
for a good Less people means more
""'
lM-'CinJYrtlwlarthatdrewmyattentlotl


think this . _.. hilS ;ony o;mrq ofulvatloo1
J: lwroteltalmostasajolcebec:au5elf'6uredil
wouldprovoUpeople,butilactuallyprDVI"dto
bequlteauniversalsentlment. l was proud of
myself when Morgan Hakilnsson from Marduk
called me after 1 mailed him the EP and Silk!,


loallsunesare falr1\'weak.We\oeatw.ysbeen
thesumofourparts,whetl!peopi!Jhareldeas
CM!I' 1ont1 dilanc.es to il common Identity
This Is why metal is the most pervaW! form of
musiconearthbutwetan'tmanagemore than
SOpeopleatanao;erageloc:alsnow ln anvcitv

tokeeppromotlngthegood,lgoort,.thebad,
andactu;lllysupportlnglnsteadofjust!Mngllp

IBiameYOAJWMreleasedL>I!d!rUnspeakilble
Axe, the sutHilbelofb;lrkD!scentR:ords.
Wlthtlwl numerousdlffltultles tllat tile band
bced uptothereleaseof thtlalbum,howdld
tills o:IPI come about, and how hal II been
--w,.wilhtht!label7
J:Thereweren'tmanyciftku111!5 tospeakof,il
just took awMe for us to find someone we
_..tedtoworttwilll.rllbehone$1.theblsger
labeblgnoredus,andthen!he$ITI.illlerlabels
couldn't offer me anything I hat would h;we been
betterthan self-releaslnsil. Matt at O;irlr.De-
sunt apprOiiChed me atJout the new Unspeak

portunity. rm really pleased with how Eric and

wor1t with peoplfl who really care about the
rnusk:andthe1hts.TheyjustwanltoputOill
goodre!Nsesforgoodbands,which inmymind
holklatw3ysbeat thelopofanylabel'sacendil
(eventhougtlthat'srarefvthec::nethese:davsl.
Thebiond startedaKidcstarterprojettforthe
mastert111 process of I Blame You. Howdklthlt
tumout,andhowcloesthebandfeel aboutthe
re,sponsethat hMbeenpmeredlnthepro-


pon,.andwemMourgOilllnshortorder. lf any-
thlrc.ltshowedthatwehildtwnmortf-
thanwethoushl,andltseneratedalotr:A inttr
estlnthealbum. llwa"''teasyformetoeven
takethat lnltiative,butl""lf-flnancedthepro-

hildtobedont.

whatar.W.nt.arfutun!plansofthebancfl
J:We'llkeepdoi"'more 5how.and seewhere

seassoon,butlwantthealbumto beOUiforablt

reildystartlrctowarmupsomenewrnatetlal,so

Birth A.D.
l8li11111!YOU(2013J
i (Uno>peakabii!Axe]
Unspea!Qiblt
Axe'sflrstreleil"",and
this aboutthepotential
OYerhert,eons.ider'lr4!;DDR'stlildcrecordofput

debltlalbum,a..twflhSIIUiifthofaNallonbelrc
.uc:h an e-njoyable the band doesn't
haw any Intention of slowing down at all. In fact,
thenewertracksseethebandgolnamoreeK-
tremedlrectiol\wlthblastbeatsandcatchyrlffs
allemulrrct"'t181ameYoulsi130-oddmlnute
fist-pumping. and
F15 d Municipal Waste and the

Sounds of the Underground: I Klatus
i 1 brandofat mospheric
sludge/doom metal to another level, leaving the listener in a state of
unease and confusion throughout t he album. Band mastermind Tom talks
to us, and has us discover the dement ed st ate of mind while writi ng Kether.
the one. Awareness, rebenion, ttreogth, the
pOttunfty to talk to you.. 8efote we move on future, the !JaSI, poteotial executed and unreitl-
and u.lk about the band's ,_album, Kether, lzed all tOilleKe Into a delicate
wouldltbllposslbletotell us moo-. aboutthe tieslnwhk:hchOKI!Isthekeptln liS(!Uare box.
hls1oryoftheband?Howdld the fonnatloflofl llke tlow a Jud&e Interplays with the co,..
Kl.lurs-about, andwNt llthe meanlr'll
behirldtheiNnd's name?

1$Urtedltwtlilelwasina>legeln2001.1WO!Ad
dtar buements wlth one rNn clrone: and noise only a fu\o;n.lm of temperance toone: whole.
lnsplrtdbyMertboandTribesofNe...rotandes-
sentlall yNeurosis.Eventuallypeoplegot hlp toit Betweentht blnd's lastalbum,Survellancf!
andastrall(lenoise baOOdeveloped.lneld tne and Worship
tOfCh after fmm uniYersltv and therewan 5 yearJap. What was l't that AUK<!
formedl'lwilh""'fsouth$ideolehkilcobuddies

we_.-ewrltl,.andrecordl,.thilttnllrellme.
SparUeus"notion,inwhlchaM!Ifliberatedslave WestilrtediS_as_!Oiftdonthefele;nof!
There Is a ofSurwllanc:eand.-rstopped.lt]ust\ookLI5
sdenceflction'>l:orywhl!reKlaall!lsanallen
fmm tne future weaponized with the power to that the son(IS -e evolved PnOUgh and com-
de$troy worlds and chilrged with tne task to plete to release. We would step away for a few
eometoearth to judge ITiilnkind's worth ilf!ilinst months at a time but we would $1111 be wol'ldr
complete e>CiefTninatlon. 5o I klilluSis the eo- anOIA" OWl\ retumlrto the -.p.withfresh
coOedpMcipll!sOIIbothOIIthesenoOons,thlsis peBpeCI:Ives;ondldeaswhlchlfeelllftdedlhit
whyltlsWlgulilraswellasplural,thernanyare
...

IJMiewlllallforttlat.
Ke!Nr ls thetldeoflhebind"l-albut\,lnd
dilplrtltheband"sKabbllahtflditioninlhe

onthealbum..Would itbe p0$Sibletotell us
more det11lls about the concepts behind
Kether?

rnysticlsmcalledtheKabtNiah,itsthe/IChesl<5-
mensionoflheTreeofthes.ephiroth.Thistreeis
I map of miAtiple levels of evolution of con-

system,thetarot,thesuperconsclou5,asweHas
t hehlddencr@ator. Most.oft helyriQirlltilluslrc
aGnostlclansuagetoexpresswhatsdentifically
boiisdown toSimuLiltloo Thl!ory.Thlsbeinsthe
tl'loU8htttlatlifeisanelabor.ltehokl&nophic

wtllchwearelmmersedecperiendrc theplao,-er


Esoteridyweare talkingaboutwaklrcupwithin
the dream, lucidly realizing that we wme
howtonnectedlntimatelywiththeae.atlonand
development of this holograpnic simulation
whlehweall"waklngllfe".lvlewltasasiog\Jiif

ltself,whereits.phsit'siiWarenesswithalthe
differentd>ar;actii!<"!;Oihiltitcane>cperlenco:othe
pme

atorawilll!ofalltheworiUngs.lt translatestous
belnsl'.ereknowi nsthat weirealsoereatil"@our
own experlo!nce and taklna: that res,.onsibmty
with sirius discipli ne.

-rallyricalconeeptsbehlndKettlet"?
Wearescrnmlngabouteledrons..-ldquantum

to go ludd within this prosramable
projectlonwecallphysicalreality.Wehope thill
thrOU(Ihourartempl!;tousesound>Atlriltionand



their own slmutiotlon and ll!<lgagl:!. This would

withthepidofsubconsdousofhumanltyasa
wholo!Thl!pu-poseisto_,...,,.oonsdousness

keepusasleepwithin asynthetic:matrtlt E:s;le
di ll yiJUdibleln.tSOI"@Iiki!"PiLilrolfloaz'wesee
theadversa ry,thereptllianaspectofmlndwhith
obsturesthero;odandkeep:suslostwilhlntho!ll-
lu..>on, aslavetoourlower""t..-es,lmmersed
withinthelabvlinthofdislr.K:tionsfromthlsat



theseilndeot Gnosncprlnclplescanbeapplltd
aswegently,.erturbthewatersofourmlndto
"""'through the vei l and mal<!! contact with
thTnssaboveandl:>eyond.Thelntent lstolnspl re

ptherrlde thlsspi!Ceshlpearth throushthe
great of spKll! spiraling tO\IIIilol"ds .-pte-



toexplalntheconc;eptandme.tnlnabehindthe
albumlrtwotltofKethef?
lwasreallylnte<esttdlnconveylrcthlsleellnsof
belrconthearidandsee\nitheelectromaenetll:
seometrkenerJVe<Msionsfromthif"Csllkl!cell
phone towen and electrical lines. We arne up

hlklng and we c.me to a pass where 1 mnsNe
ilrrayofpawerllnesstretchedlntothehorlzonas
thesunsetbehlndthem. They appear as de
monk itOJTielrk: giants with Inverted pentaeles

thi"' vey Intentional by is
andlmpiemenrinepowerlinesiiOYtr thewcnd.
Thesethin&semittembleelectromllnetltffe-
queociesandaousecancerandblrthcltfectsin
people who live In theYicinlty. Also 1\Ch oo;ur-

an.reparttdneilrthesehighpoweredeellphone
towe<S. The artwork on the Inside Is
thlswebofblitcknegativeenerJVII"Iatemanates
tromoneofthe$etowersinageometrk:mann.
ltheorlrethatthesenegatlwenerJVfltidsculmt-

....
sdousneulntootherdimeoslons..Con$CIOUS-
nHScanalsocorroelntoourrulitythrOIJ8hone

llrws bMcpofUis wi!IS of
thl!anwor1t.TheGeomPtryoothl!backsumsup
thewlloleldeilofllumansbuildlrclt!ls syn!hetic
grld of mind and bodypollutins elearomacnetic
vone>elnduclrctechnoloslestooverlapouran-
dent un<lerstandlngsand
plao!lnthetrMof lifeandourpathtoawaken-

held down by thew 'V"':he!lc forces.
Wlth!NmiM!tsplrituallyrk:llt"--and

when It comes down to thlnp $udl as rell-
glonandllfe, andhasthls.tf<tdt1Miyr1cal

lholdaGnosticperspectlveofrealily,theslmu-


toruofaoMrsltyisthl!stlmukrsfofthisetpan-

waters. Asaband,wo.grrNup togetherlnthl!

50UihsldeofChicago.Asasroup,wedlscovered
Vedic, Gnostic and Alcheml(lll mysticism and

aPI)Ivlrc thee techniques of lllbratiONI exis-
tence. l-us all growlrc lnleaps.,.;tbounds,

perspectille wtW;to Sl!l!'s the human as an Infinite

ad'llewmanygoals,thal theEanhisaschool,
oneofrtUiny,allvii'@Oflilnlsmwhiehweare lntl-
matl!lylnvolved wlthPVSChldy and electromag
nl!tidy. lflndsuchldeasupllftlng.

.... blend of elemenb from. pretty wide
-.ofaenres.fromthedoomofSiobbW!to
more $tonl!f and sludcY momtnU. and l!'lll!tl
someethnlcfeelth.atemllrYtefromtradcslike
thi!lnterludetoModl!l Prtsoner..,d album

h;wlngatrlbalsorcwherewo.juoltfreakout,ora

._aksynth$fotanhour.TheneYONI!ourlni!YI
recordn&sovertlmo!'.ThebandmstslnChltaaa,
but t liYI!and wort< in lA Weare oonslantly
--.dlrcriffsbad<andforth toeildlothet .Then
when we get together it all just culminates Into il
studiodayonesorcatatime.Thenthosesongs
evotvelayersoftweaklnsandmoditlcatlonover
a five year period . BeciiUSI! HorH Drawn Pro-

tothl! studioto apoimwherewo.areedt1!11and

be<:ome the llnl:lhed album verWn 5D1'C'- Allot

sculptures one liiVI!f" of dmll at a time wllh a
flrYI destination known and reYeiled through
cari!lul wori<lngs.
Theband alsofu:wsralho!rc:almlntll!f"''!nts
withmorechaoticandoppruslvolones,and
tHsiso!Mousfictlt fromtheopenlrcttadl;
Johnoftnei'Wiwoo1t.W1!A!thl!reanypartkulilr

c:onceptu.lisebeforethewrttlrcaftMmuslc.
ordldsuthmornentsaccursponlilni!OUsly
durinl the songwritingprocessitsl!lf?

sonofunfoldwhenweputDI.W"m!ndstogether.
Allofthesongshavedeeppl!fSOilallmentand
concepiUillly ".ToM of the Nl!lworlt" is the -*'
story of the band's family memOO who's life was
takenbyapowerllne.Thesongwaswrtnento
thl! stages of what In our minds was
the l;ost moments of John. who worl<ed lor thl!
power compny deslsnlrc electrtc.. l systems

anceofsud'!anamountaii!IKtrlcltybeingc;l-



sdousenergygrlc:lwouldllli!Yitablyldenttfyw!lt!
Its own "cmtor" bl!ll'@ John thl! who
deslgnl!dltsvery lifenetwork.Onl!stormynlght
John lostcontrolofhls vehlde anddrovel nto a
NON. What w illS the sonprltlrc process like power line after It rolled .....,ral times and shot
fotsuchildyrYmlcsoundlncll'INM?

wewrlll!oursongsqulddybiised onldeas like
...


gfthl!windowandS\A"VIvl!d only to run across
t h<! strl!l!ltowhathi!thoushtbesafetyonlyto


fatillistil;rendeliiOliS.AIIhi!opportul'ityolthl!
electridtybelngable to connect with ltserutor
1s when thi! nll!llow poort tomi!:S In, where thi!


to "MERGE" with its peroeived "creator" and
becomeONE.Thisw""f,lhe\ttouldfindthelrw""f
Into in eve<y T.V. In home
acrosstheentlrenatlon.thethunderous(:Uimi.
nallonat t heendolthesqwhi!feliat>tninCis
hooting out gf peoples toasters and mlc:ro-
waves;r;the televisiont:woadcast:showsTHEEYE

-
Also, how did this curr.nt style of mU$1C oil
come about, and who iiA! some gf the
band'slllaestlnfluenc:eswhenltcotrii!$10the
'Mitq: of the music, apeciillly In the
ethnic/folklsh soundirc moments on the
SomethlrcandentwithlnU$,weilllhilve""il'



en<:f'.Theywetl!thl!flrstlhi!ard comO!ninl
metalwithatrlbaleleml!ntswhid>llindinll!nse-
lysignif'Qnl.

thf'OIIIhoulltsrecordlrcpnxes:s,lndudi,.

hur.WhMWiiSthereasonbehindhavlntlol.d>
large olpoesl m1.1sldans. ind how did
thilt workoutfortheband?
Wet.ke t o....,grt.withculriends,weiffl!leall;lf

creation olsonss.Everyonel:>rlngs a unlqueand
awesomo!!elenll!nl,themostintlOY<Itloncomes
lromcollabofiltion,whl!nartisu....,grt.tosether
thl!reuttisalwaysknpreulve.Wo:.wninl
KlatusbeforeheJolnedlillrl;lftheMinot&ur.
, ....
Kether(lOU)
(lbMOrawnProdi.IC-
tions]
Partkul.lrtylnterestlrc,illalreao;tymentloned,
weretheethnicsoundircri'IIDII'>ellbliloeon
Model ""->er lnte<ll.ldl!.. Wlvt were the pur-
posesofthnetradlslnthel"'nd sdlemeof
Kether?
To setatone,amomentum.lt keep$ a pace with

listener. ltaddresses somethircandentand

ikeastoryte!lerwithpio(araandsuspense.tts



chaseolthevinyi.INhywasthllthecase,and
wlll followersofthebandsee,coreleaselnthe
1\Jture?
ln t hlsd'raJ!alace,.....,want<!o:IIOueatesome-
thi,. more tanafble and aesthetic. T1w! vlnv"s
canyaunl'l""ness,atypeofsoul lhatonly ana
Iogue can posses. Tlw!re likely wont be any CD re-
leaseeYer,asthatteclmolot!vlsgonetheW""!of
8tr1dcs 1nd fuu busters In my opinion_
we have oome to the end of the lnti!I'VIew,
thilnkyouonce.,alnforukl,.thetlme to
__,.ourquestionJ.W...mhyouandiKlltvs
;,II the best In .n upoornlrc enctNwursl


record.Wearealmostflnlshedwithournextre-
lease wNd'lwe hop! will be oomplged by !he
eodofttlisyear.Wedopl""fshows attimesand
Information an be uncover<!d at
www.lklatus.oom
1 Klotus is out now via HOfse Drawn
Productions
their demo in 2011 with their futuristic style of sci fi themed black metal.
This year the band returns with their debut album, U.M.A. , and we talk to
the band to learn more about what excites them.
GreedngsqTp,

talkaboutthenewalbum,wouldltbeposslble
totellusmoreaboutthe band's history? What
was itthatinspirt!dthe bandtofonnbackin
"'"'
Howdldthenameoftheband, ProcenleTer-
restre Pura come about, and wtlat are the
me.anlngsthatarebehlndthebandname7

theEarth"(nothingtodowithracismandthings
likethatllj;thlsnameconcemsourconcept - in
short: the Interaction between miln and
technology/machines- and it symbollleS the
"natural" state of humanity (as we are now
cal lyj compared to those who in the future will
behybridizedwiththete<:hnology.tt'sactually a
morecomplel<discourse,sincepracticallya lot
ofpeopleare alreadynot"pure":doesapace-
makermakeyouacyborg?Ofcourseitdoesn't
thaflleyourhumilnattitude,buttechnlcallythe
answerlsvesl
The band's 20tt demo managed to capture the
hearts of many, and Instantly ilmassed the
bandqulteafanbasewlththeratherunlque
form of blad: metal that the band has pro-
duced, elements of black metal
with electtonlcand ambient music. How did
therrMJsicalstyle ofqTpcoml!about?
Hl,firstofallthanksforyourcofllratulatlonsand
yoursupport. Well.ln2009Eon[O]wantedto
startaprojectonstyleofWolves lntheThrone
RoomandDarkspace,thesetheflrstnameshe
had in mind, Dan "Atmospheric Black Metal
project". Arryway, he found almost Immediately
and with a voice arrived aT"' the ideas
forthetypeofatmosphere thatq[T]pcould
have, beyond the "dasslc" ambient parts. A
great ah:hemy did such a way that the most lm-
portant t hingsonthe vision of project wereim-

mationofq[T]pare really simple: miikegreat
music.Shareitwithpeople,leaveasignifpor
slble.wenketheldeathatourreleases(phvslcal
Tfpossible],area "tlook" whereonecanfinda
story,divelnit, llstenlt,readit,watchit.We
the type of group that think to make
music for liveshows,milkemoneywithit,etc.:
we make music l:>ecause we like it. 6ecausewel istentomanytypesofmusicand
...
we want to SO<II@thlrc we
... Ustenlrctoalotofmuslchelpsusto
maintain our minds, espedilty NMfl );



own and It h;ts reKI"Ied many
50M with a two-tracks promo. Anyway, hon-
estly, we don't sef'm tMt up to few months ago
wehadso manypeopletoft>lowus
lhebandthlsye .... fiNollyrele-.edlbciebut

t1MIIbumlndudes3.wwti'Kksontopofthe2
that were on the band's demo In lOlL Whit
-ltthit made the binddecldol tolndudethe
2oldertracksonthealbum"well?
Tht!twotnocbofProrno201l MY!!beenwritten
for the album. We worked on the debut album
slnoetheprofectformitlor\.butwededdedto


come. So, SO
promocds,but'Progen>e TerrestrePu-a' and
'SinapsiOivelte"havealwaysbeenpartsofthe
alb<.lm.
WlthtiMmuslcofqTpbelnfsounlqueandpro-

the m!MMI! and -.-mr. ptOCeSS of the
musk on U.M.A.? How ls the muslccono;eived,
andwhatare-ofthemostdlfflalltaspeds
alwrillnlthemuslcfotqTp?
Tht!muslccanbombyasuit;! rp;ortoransynth

musk:wlthwriousimtrume-nts.Tht!lyrics,sen-
erally,lrf!Ye;ofter,buttheyassumeabiginft.J-
en:elntheK!"':wecant<Mallycharceapan.to

don betwftn music and lyrics Is

to bore: we don't MY!! a dauk our
compositions a"" Ions journeys In pr08ression.

llyfollowthelyrlcs and describe thlsjourney

esbbllshedpanem,ll<ldyoucan'tdoicopy-
Also, with
lntermsofrtytlstlcs,whatM!SOflllloflhtmajor

musk:onU.M.A.?
Some name tl\ilt we remember durlf'oll the writ-
Ing al U.M.A.: WaNes in the Throne Room and
Dark$pace (m;onypeople compare us to them,


whill!composl,.thesefivetrad<s:8urrum,Aute-
dve. Grtdlodt, N"Urn Bunaet..
Omega.SolatNelds,Ge<:n!atic.Pinkfloyd,AII;Ir
of Plasues, some lnillh/modem bind as Meshug--
ph and thier sons, and many more.

mayt!ebecauselt's lnsplredby toomanythlf'oiiS.
I.Dokirc a11he aesthetics of tlwl bind, from the
lototothealbumartworkai U.M.A.,aloncwlth
themuslcalstylorolthebMII,thelnfl-of

wfthrno$tolthebind'slyncslnlti1Lan,.-..ldlt
bepos$1bletolellusmorelboutthetyrkal
lhemesofthesorcsonu.M.A..7Arethereany
main storylines, so to speak. for tlwl sonp on
U.M.A.?
As mentioned urill!-r, the maln concept Is !he 11">-
huminlty-machlnes, then there M!
the evolution


the tensionbetweenbeirc"pure"andevol'o'e
lntoSO<II@thlngnew(thefinitudeof "n.atural"life
In comparison with the of
ogy);theseooodtrao:es therelationshlpbetwftn
manandrobot,thefactthattechnolosYcanalso
beposl!ille (lntheend,ourbodlesarealre<ldy


indltsneoeuity,eventultur.tl,toopen.wwhor\.
ronsforcu$peeles;SinapsiDiYI!Iteconcernsthe

betausedbytechnology.
\Nhit iilboul the instrument;lltrltk, LITerra
RouioDIMiorte? Whatlstheslcnlflcanceofthe

...
tt'sabreak butalsoaconnectlon:unlikethe
othertrackstt's lnstrumental,butitattachesdl-
rectlytoDroniandbasicallyantlcipatesthe
theme of space exploration, since It concerns
thelandingonMars.Wemadethischoiceboth
tocreatethisbreak inthecenterof thealbum
andtohavethepossibility to experiment more
wlthelectronicmusicandwlththesoundlngen-
eral.
Wheredoesthe banddrawinspiraiionwhen
writingthelyriatothe sonponU.M.A..?
We are big fans of scHi literature/dnema, we
likethe"ratlonai"AsiiTIOII,theroughnessand
concretenessofcyberpunk,butalsocomputer
science, blotechnology,etc.Ot:rviouslyweare
notsdentim,Outweoften read andfol lowde-
veloprnentsofsdence andtechnologythrough
essays/artides of disclosure. These
topic:s/narrationssuchasneurallmplantsand
spaceexploratlonaresetlnthefuture,butall
thlshasaconnectiontothepresent: right now
there arl! people who are worki ng on these
thing;(brain-to-brain interfucesbetweenrats
for eJ<ample,orworkingwiththeKep!erSpace
TelescopetodiscoverEarth-r.ke planets].
Whatareyourvlewsonthefutureofsdence
andtechnology? Wrththeraplddevelopment
ofsdenceandtechnologyhavlngnegat!Yeslde
effects at t he $011111! time, i humanity doomed?
We think that humanity is architect of its own
future: technologybringscomfortandenriches
life,howeverit'salsoapotentlalsourceofrnany
dafllers,alienatlon,destructlon,evenextlnc-
tlon.Technologybringsphyslcalchanges,tan-
gible improvements, what does not automati-
cally change is the mindset, the culture of
people: thisistheaspectonwhich humanity
must work on itself, must form Itself for the
future.q[Tlplsnotaprojectfororagalnsttech-
nology,it'smoreareflection abouttechnology
Tngeneral;ofcourse lt'sanabstracttoplcfor
now (but not so much!), but sooner or later
surely humanitywlll face U>eseissues andbuild
its own future.
One thine that caught my f!>fl! as well wtlen I
firstrecelvedU.MAWilsthealbumilrtWofl<.
Couldyoutellusmoreabouttheconceptsthat
undertle theartwork, andalsotheartlstbehlnd
thlsmasnfflcentartwork?
The""""'art(and alllmagesofthebooklet] was
designedbytheGermanartistAiexander Preuss
(WINW.abalakin.de];the lmageisanabstractrep-
resentatlonofmanlnfrontofthetechnology,a
mansurroundedbyfuture.Unl ikethebooklet
wlthlnwhk:hthereisarepresentattvelmagefor

thiltrepresentthelmaginaryandthesoundof
theprojectq[Tlp:thereisnothingviolent,darl<
oranyt hing,butit's li keavision,anlmmersionin
thefuturl!.
qTpiscurrentlyatwo-plece, andllseemsthat
thebandhasn'tbrougtlttheexperienceto ive
perlormancn yeL Will there COIIII! a day when
this would come trve, and what are the possi-
bilities?
Wecansaythat lt'sadoseddoorfornow,but
notwithkey.Theliveaspectit'sdifflcultforus,
manythlng; toorganize,findtheright people
(onlyforliveofcourse], a lotoftime toprepare
al lthii"@S,moneytospendand,espetially,itisn't
a priority for us. Ot:rviously, we hope to bring
q[Tlponlewstagebefoll!todosethispro]ect.
but, for now, we can only evaluate what is pro-
posed, if Is proposed.
What do..s the nearfutureholdforqTp?
Recordotheralbumsforsurl!,lt'stheprlorllyfor
us,andspreadthenameq[Tlpevery,vhere
We have come to the end of the Interview.
Thankyoufortakingthe timeto answerour
qut!Stions and we wishyouallthe bestinall
yourMureendeavoursl
Thankyouforthesupportthatyouhavegivenus
sincePromo2011,andgreelingtoallfansthat
are li:steningtous.AIIthebest.
U.M.A. is out now via Avantgarde
Music.