With only 2 sleeps to Roadburn it'll soon be time for me to start counting the days to my next planned weekend of debauchery. Sure, I've got the Enforcer tour coming soon, hotly following by Armageddon Festival and then, eek, Hellfest, but towards the end of the summer I'm set on going giddy over Live Evil, an amazing 2-day event at The Underworld in Camden (with planned aftershow madness at The Dev). Curated by current Terrorizer coverstar Fenriz this fest brings together the best of his Band Of The Week blogees [I made up a word] alongside one of his fave bands; Angel Witch. But in the midst of the already killer lineup there is one band I'm desperate to see: OBLITERATION. And luckily, to whet my appetite, Live Evil promoter Marek Steven got to chat to Obliteration, exclusively for this blog. AAarrrgghhHH.
Fully obsessed with your new album 'Nekropsalms', such a great mix of the best elements from metal in a cohesive whole. Congrats! You must be happy with it?
"Fuck yes. We are extremely happy with the album, we've taken some time from our debut for this, to put it all together and to find our sound. We've recorded everything ourselves at our own studio in Kolbotn this time, so the sound is organic as hell, how we like it, and it suits our death metal mix perfectly. We also think we've captured something interesting on this album, an ancient feeling you don't find anymore, and the mix of elements from punk, doom, black metal, thrash and death metal just blends in so well. This album is a tease of how we think metal should be; raw, organic, horrid, and with soul, that'll make your spine go cold... So it's safe to say that we're happy with 'NEKROPSALMS', but I can promise you that there is more twisted sickness to come."
You're from the same town in Norway as black metal (and general heavy metal) legends Darkthrone. Did they have an impact on you growing up?
"Not at a very young age, but when we started to get into metal when we were 13-14 years old, we soon discovered Darkthrone, and other bands from the around here, and Norway in general. And it had a HUGE impact on us, and our music from an early age. Next door to me lives Apollyon's (Aura Noir, Lamented Souls, Cadaver, Immortal among others) parents, and he gave me a Cadaver album early on. This also had a HUGE impact on us, and how we and our music tastes turned out. That the Darkthrone guys supports us so much as they do is insane, and we love'em for it. Total respect."Your list of influences cites some of the best (all early) doom, death, classic rock, thrash and black metal bands ever. I can hear this broad knowledge in your riffing too, were you guys always metalheads?
"Well, Arild (lead guitar) and I grew up together and in our childhood we were skateboarders. We watched lots of old skate movies and there we found lots of cool punk and hard rock music. So at the start we were punks I guess, and when Obliteration started back in the day, we were playing punkish music. But Didrik and Kristian (bass and drums) were into some metal at the same time, and when we heard Slayer for the first time (also through a skate movie) we were sold, and it kinda evolved from there."
"Well, Arild (lead guitar) and I grew up together and in our childhood we were skateboarders. We watched lots of old skate movies and there we found lots of cool punk and hard rock music. So at the start we were punks I guess, and when Obliteration started back in the day, we were playing punkish music. But Didrik and Kristian (bass and drums) were into some metal at the same time, and when we heard Slayer for the first time (also through a skate movie) we were sold, and it kinda evolved from there."
Are you looking forward to playing Live Evil Festival in October?
"FUCK YES! It will be one of our definitive highlights of 2010, together with our gig at Maryland Death Fest. Live Evil gives us the chance to come back to the UK, which was a insanely cool place to play the last time we were there. And LIVE EVIL is perhaps one of the coolest initiatives EVER in the music world, spawned from pure idealism and a genuine love of music - a festival with ONLY killer underground bands that hold the flag of raw, old school metal HIGH! Great! And this is also a great chance for people all over to get to know all thise great bands. And Hooded Menace are playing their first gig, that's gonna be SICK"
"FUCK YES! It will be one of our definitive highlights of 2010, together with our gig at Maryland Death Fest. Live Evil gives us the chance to come back to the UK, which was a insanely cool place to play the last time we were there. And LIVE EVIL is perhaps one of the coolest initiatives EVER in the music world, spawned from pure idealism and a genuine love of music - a festival with ONLY killer underground bands that hold the flag of raw, old school metal HIGH! Great! And this is also a great chance for people all over to get to know all thise great bands. And Hooded Menace are playing their first gig, that's gonna be SICK"
And what else have you got coming up?
"We've got our EAST COAST HOLOCAUST tour in US/Canada in may/june(see our myspace for info on all dates), witch is gonna be sick. We're gonna play with Autopsy, Sadistic Intent, Nirvana 2002, Pentagram, Possessed, Stormcrow and many more. This is our first time in the us, so it will be very special for us. Nekromantheon is also joining the tour. Aafter this we have more gig's in Norway, and it looks like we're doing some more dates around Live Evil as well. Nekropsalms are beeing released on vinyl / LP in may with a bonus 7 inch single, that will be sick. And we're working on more music for our next album as we speak, so it woudn't be long 'til the next Obliteration release."
Finally, what are five of your favourite riffs of any (metal) genre.
"Holy hell, great question but hard. Most likely gonna regret some of my choices since there are so many great riffs out there, but a great riff is just a great riff without the proper sound - a fantastic riff on the other hand, has both. Here are some riffs that have it all."
Black Sabbath - Under the Sun
Black Sabbath has TOO MANY F A N T A S T I C riffs, Tony Iommi is the riff master of all time. Period.
Autopsy - Retribution for the Dead
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7LwxtsOU44
Fantastic riffs and leads. A favorite in the Obliteration camp.
The feeling in this riff is soulful, bluesy and just perfect.
Second riff/verse riff. This is what black metal is all about. Great cold feeling that just keeps on going and going. From the Filosofem album.
From where the legend begin album. the two riffs that starts around 03.50. Those riffs fits TOO well together and everytime I listen to that song, I get the feeling that this is the best riff ever. A true epic classic, and an unique album.
Obliteration's second album 'Nekropsalms' is out now
Live Evil Festival is at the Underworld on 23/24th October. Limited £20 early bird tickets on Ticketweb now
Killer!
ReplyDeleteFuck yes, these guys rule.
ReplyDeleteSaw them live last summer in Oslo.