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<< Interviews deze maand
Underlord
Was ik vorige maand even zo onder de indruk van de oldschool klanken van Underlord, dus besloot ik ze maar eens even digitaal op te zoeken om de heren in de gelegenheid te stellen hun geweldige debuutalbum 'Rise Of The Ancient Kings' toe te lichten. Hoe anders te beginnen dan met een vraag van levensbelang?
Text: Arjan
Is there a vinyl version of the album?
Hellfiend: No... I wish there was, but for now I'm just satisfied to have had it released on CD. I'm still a huge fan of vinyl -- mainly the physical aspects of it... you know, big artwork and lyrics you can see without a microscope. Though I'm not crazy about how my 'Welcome To Hell' LP sounds after 20 years of abuse... in some ways CD is better, I guess.
And what do you think of tapes?
Hellfiend: I never bought many albums on cassette because of the abysmal sound quality. I have a lot of stuff that I've taped from other people over the years, but now it's just a lot of garbage... tape's far too fragile for my liking.
Please tell something of your history. I am especially interested in your other releases and demo's/rehearsals.
Hellfiend: I've been playing and listening to metal since the early eighties, though I was always into more obscure stuff like Venom and Witchfinder General... Mercyful Fate and so forth... I wasn't really into 'mainstream' stuff like Priest and Maiden. I must admit that by the end of the eighties I thought metal was completely fucked -- with all that shit Florida Death Metal floating around, and it wasn't until I started hearing the "New Wave Of Black Norwegian Metal" that I began to get excited again, though I think that scene's maybe getting a little silly these days... As far as Underlord goes, I guess that started in late '99... I was playing guitar in Demon Skull at the time, which was sort of a musically inept version of the Misfits (for want of a better description). That was okay, but I really wanted to do something a little more 'serious', so I started messing around with a drum machine and had the first Underlord single put together in a weekend. The two songs were 'Black Storms of Chaos' and 'Dark Oppressor' and they sounded like a very bad Hellhammer rip-off. I think I sold two copies of that one and gave away maybe a dozen, so it's not likely that any of your readers will come across it...After that I recorded material for the 'Triumphant Battles' mini-album, which took about three days. It's really bad, but some people seem to like it... personally I can't listen to it all without getting a migraine... There's also a 4-song 'demo' available from SkullFucking Metal Distro (on the web at http://www.angelfire.com/punk3/skullmetal/main.html) that has alternate version of songs from "Rise Of The Ancient Kings"... it's maybe a bit heavier than the final mix, but not really well produced. And finally there is ‘Rise Of The Ancient Kings’ which was put together over most of the summer of 2001, while I was getting Unemployment benefits and had nothing better to do. I'm pretty happy with how that one turned out.
Is the 'Triumphant Battles' still available? (I like migraines)
Hellfiend: Yes, you can still get it from DarkBlack MusikProduktion, which is my own 'label'... it's at www.dark-black.com.
How did you get in touch with the English label Rage Of Achilles?
Hellfiend: Like just about everyone else on earth, I had posted my songs on MP3.com... Rage of Achilles contacted me just before Yuletide and offered to release the CD for real... I'd never given much thought to looking for a label, so it's a good thing they came to me... so far they've been great to work with.
But since Rage Of Achilles is a label with varied metal bands aren't you afraid Underlord doesn't get the attention from the fans it deserves? (as it does, imo)
Hellfiend: I don't know that I want that much attention... but I don't see a label's roster as being really all that important. I've never understood the way some people look to a particular record company to dictate their musical tastes -- I don't think that kind of herd mentality would apply to anyone who appreciates Underlord.
Aside from that, it seems that ROA is doing a pretty fine job of pushing the disc, so I'm content on that score.
Why are there no lyrics in the booklet? We need them to sing along while headbanging and for the Underlord tribute cd.
Hellfiend: The lyrics are missing because I designed the artwork myself and was too lazy to type that much text... I'll be posting them on the 'official' Underlord website eventually, but since I am very lazy that probably won't happen any time soon... and (by the way) if you're headbanging properly it's really hard to read a lyric sheet. Personally I hate tribute albums...
How and where is the album recorded? I don't think you have to buy expensive instruments like Gibson (like it says in the booklet) because the sound is excellent this way or don't you agree?
Hellfiend: The whole album was recorded on computer (Cubase 5.0 on a G3 iMac DV, for the technically-minded)... I like recording digitally because it's so versatile and cheap compared to analog. Also, since I have a bad habit of writing songs while recording them, it would be insanely expensive to rent a studio and pay an engineer to watch us fuck around As far as the instruments go, it's all shite... no, I'm not really concerned with high-quality gear -- what's the point when it just gets beer spilled on it anyway... my current rig is an Epiphone Flying-V (nice, but not too pricey) through a Fender DeVille amp (tube with spring reverb)... I don't use any pedals, just turn everything up and let rip.
You are 100% retro; please comment.
Hellfiend: No, I am 100% old... I think being 'retro' requires some distance >from the 'original'. Since I've been listening to Venom, Hellhammer etc all my life, it just seems natural to play that way... I guess my point is that I don't feel I'm trying to 'mimic' like Warhammer for instance (that's no slag -- they're awesome!!!), instead I see it as following similar influences to a similar conclusion.
Aha, in that case I’m sorry. But in your case it takes 15 years, so are you just slow?
Hellfiend: Cheeky sod! Actually it's taken this long because I have no musical ambition in terms of making a career of it, and I guess it's been hard to find other musicians who are really into the old school (especially living in the isolation of the Canadian Prairie). Also, as I mentioned before, I'm very lazy...
What do you think of the fact that Hellhammer/Celtic Frost and Venom regret, feel ashamed and even take distance of their 'Apocalyptic Raids' and 'Welcome To Hell' past?
Hellfiend: It's understandable, I guess. It's hard to listen to those albums and imagine they were 'meant' to sound like that. Still it's sad that those artists can't hear their music through someone else's ears. I've always been interested in what happens when you attempt something you're not capable of... it seems like really interesting things always happen by accident -- it gives the demons a chance to sneak in and fuck around with things.
What do you think of the later Celtic Frost, Venom and Bathory albums?
Hellfiend: I thought 'Possessed' was a shitty album when it came out, so I didn't bother listening to anything after that, though I have the latest one (‘Resurrection’) and it is killer. Seems to me any band would be smart to put out three albums call it quits... until recently I hadn't heard the later Celtic Frost, but I have to say I don't mind it at all (yes, even Cold Lake is kinda cool...). I really don't understand the direction Bathory went in, so I won't comment.
Have you heard any killer stuff lately? Are you familiar with Apocalyptic Raids (the band) or DeathHammer?
Hellfiend: No, I haven't heard either of those. Actually I have to confess that I've been obsessed with Apocalyptic Raids (the CD) and The Best of Lynyrd Skynyrd for the last month so my opinions are a bit fucked lately.
What are your favorite punkbands? How important do you think is or was the punk movement for metal? And since there are some punk influences on the 'Rise...' album, how important is or was the punk movement for you?
Hellfiend: That's a very long question! I think punk was a lot more influential to metal than a lot of people (back then) would like to admit. Obviously bands like Motorhead, Venom, Warfare and (early) Iron Maiden were very 'punk' in their approach. I always found the distinction a bit artificial as Punk and Metal were essentially after the same thing. I'm not speaking of mainstream metal here, but the 'real thing'... I think punk was very important to me mainly because it achieved in music much of the chaos and horror that metal generally only hinted at in the lyrics back then. And you're absolutely right about the punk influence on ‘Rise...’. Obviously being musically inept, I have a natural tendency in that direction. As far as punk and hardcore bands that have influenced me, the main ones are Personality Crisis (greatest unknown Canadian punk band), the original Misfits, the Exploited, Rudimentary Peni... a lot of obscure Eastern-bloc H/C from the early eighties...
What can we expect from you in the future?
Hellfiend: After all this typing I'll be unable to play guitar for a while (haha)... actually I'm starting work on a follow-up to ‘Rise...’ which will probably not stray too far from the formula -- though I have been reading "Lord of the Rings", so don't be surprised if I try my hand at some Epic Prog-Metal... I'm kidding, that would mean learning to play. Seriously, I'm looking at having the next Underlord album completed by the Autumn 2002 and it looks like Rage of Achilles is interested in future releases, so hopefully that will work out. Time will tell...
Yes but don't forget to include some techno and hiphop influences!
Hellfiend: Yeah, maybe I'll try for a top-ten hit.
http://www.dark-black.com
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