Interview with Samu Salovaara of Swallowed

Swallowed are one of the best death metal bands out there right now. Alongside some of their Scandinavian counterparts—think Obliteration, Diskord etc.—they're kind of reinventing death metal, or rather, redefining it. I spoke to guitarist and scribe Samu Salovaara, earlier in the week.

AFITFOG: Your sound has evolved since your first demo in 2007, would you say this is due to the additional members or just an obvious path for you as musicians?
Samu Salovaara: Both. It was clear what the primal emotion that we wanted to carry was, but of course the pathway is not always so clear. The songwriting is still basically done by me and Ville, and so are most of our rehearsals, as it has been since 2008s "Epitaph Of Nauseation" demo. There hasn't been any major influence from other members in that respect, but it builds a different atmosphere when we all play together.

Your style, in the beginning, was heavily influenced by Autopsy, would you say they are one of the main reasons you started the band? If not, what was your motivation?
It's not as blunt as WE PLAY AUTOPSY, but mainly the spirits were so in tune with made it inevitable.

You have moved onto a more stripped down sound, with more black metal influences, what are your influences outside metal/music? Drugs, movies, nature, etc.
Yes, we've stripped away everything useless. Drugs as gateways into the primal matter, yes. Paintings, nature, movies - every higher action tells us something about our own music.

Will you continue this sound into your forthcoming LP?
This sound will go on, however it's clear that development will be towards ever more subtle planes.

Where will you be recording this album?
Undecided, as yet. We've been thinking of an analog studio outside of Helsinki, but no decision's been made. Of course, the temptation of recording it by ourselves in peace and quiet away from a sound guy sounds very pleasing.

Who is your chief songwriter?
I build the pillars of the song with riffs, after that there might be the contribution of additional riffs from other members too, or just basic ideas. Structures are more Ville's forte, but they are worked in co-operation. Basically, it's me and Ville doing all the composing.

Do you have any rituals to uphold when songwriting?
The urge to conduct a black mass prior and post has not yet materialized.

You played this year's Kill-Town Deathfest in Denmark alongside Miasmal, Maim, Putrid and Obliteration, to name a few. How was it to be asked to play this prestigious event?
It was very cool for a festival. Very positive atmosphere. We had some problems with our soundcheck and the sound wasn't as good as we'd hoped, but it still sounded pretty necro.

What bands are you interested in at the moment? Anything new from Finland we should be keeping an eye on?
Just the same - Beherit.

Lastly, why the name Swallowed?
The alchemical stage between Solve et Coagula.

Swallowed (Finland) Epitaph Of Nauseation (2008)

1.Coffin Slumber
2.Epitaph of Nauseation
3.Horrifying Visions
4.In the Grip of Winter (Autopsy cover)

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Demo Attack!

Spectral Birth (Australia) Raze (1990)

1.Incarcerated
2.Bodies Crushed By Tanks
3.Carnal Butchery
4.Yellow Tears
5.Frog of Fear

Okay, so it's been a while since I posted any demos, and yes, I know I posted Spectral Birth's first demo last time but hey, this one is even better! To me, this is PERFECT SOUNDING thrash in terms of guitar sound, aggressiveness etc. And good to see fellow Aussie's Vomitor continue these ideals. I know I keep banging on about it, but the new record, Devils Poison, is so fucking brutal.

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Doomed (US) Haematomania (1992)

1.Haematomania
2.D.D.D.H.
3.Witches
4.Twelve Prophecies

Doomed are another 90s Chris Reifert project, similar to Autopsy in ways, maybe a little 'groovier'. Arild of Obliteration put me onto this one when we drove to Kanalrock festvial for their performance there this year.

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Aura Noir (Norway) Dreams Like Deserts (1995)

1.The Rape
2.Forlorn Blessings to the Dreamking
3.Dreams Like Deserts
4.Angel Ripper
5.Snake
6.Mirage

This is about as black as thrash metal has ever been. Apollyon told me their logo came from rotating the letters of the latter-era Celtic Frost logo, and it can really be seen on the cover of this release. The version of "Mirage" on this release is the original and not the one with Fenriz on vocals. Apollyon destroy!

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Deathroner (Canada) Deathroner (2007)

1.Evil I
2.Blitzkrieg
3.Führerprinzip
4.March to War

Wow, this one is a scorcher. Canadian black/speed metal band whose myspace tagline reads, "An ironfist in the face of god!" You know what to do. Thanks to Kick et al for turning my ears to this on my trip to Kolbotn in the summer.

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Antichrist (Sweden) Crushing Metal Tape (2008)


1.Intro
2.Coven of Evil
3.Metal Attack
4.Torment in Hell

Antichrist are one of the best thrash acts out there right now, alongside Deathhammer and Nekromantheon, making perfect 80s thrash. This is less black than the two previously mentioned, more out-and-out 80s thrash fucking metal, in the vein of early Slayer, if you must. Their new tape, Put To Death, is maybe the best thing I have heard all year and it's been quite a year. The title track is still blowing my mind just thinking about it. Anyway, this one is also excellent, I ripped it from my own copy of the cassette, #76 of the Zombie Ritual pressing. "This one's for you Satan!"

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A Fist In The Face Of God presents... Live Evil Mix 2010

Live Evil festival—curated by Fenriz's Band of the Week picks—is almost upon us Londoners and to commemorate this I have made an unofficial mix featuring all the bands performing. Deciding who went first on the mix etc. was somewhat a daunting task, so instead I split the mix into two halves; Saturday and Sunday, in order of how they will appear onstage. Sadomancer of Deathhammer was kind enough to donate a so-far unreleased track of theirs, as did Tom Swine of Salute, who sent me a demo of a new track they're working on. So, if you're a metal aficionado, there is still something in it for you, and if you are curious as to who some of these bands are, well, you lucked out too.

For those attending the festival, there will be an official mix on sale too, featuring mostly exclusive tracks and is a vinyl-only release.

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If you're in London tomorrow, don't forget the pre-show at Catch, Kingsland Road, featuring Salute, Natur and Deathhammer, plus myself and a few others DJing. It is going to be a blast.

Shores Of Orion

Altered States (1980) Ken Russell (UK)



I got tipped about this movie from an article in the recent Vice. Basically, Gaspar Noé said that three movies had inspired him to make his latest movie, Enter The Void. The three movies in question were Videodrome, 2001 and Altered States. I hadn't seen Altered States, but given that the other two are maybe top 10 of all time for me, I felt it compulsory to check it out and it did not disappoint. There are scenes in it that are so close to the hallucinatory visions you see on shrooms etc. and other than one scene in the amazing Rush, I've never seen it duplicated well onscreen. In fact, the finale (akin to the end visuals in 2001), makes your mind almost FEEL like you are tripping, without your body following suit. Okay, I was pretty high, but regardless, it is exceptional. Shame is, if it was made today, the special effects would be done with CGI; movies equivalent to modern metal's triggered drums. In short, fucking wack.

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Interview with Sadomancer of Deathhammer

Deathhamer, if you have been following my advice, are one of the best thrash bands out there. Not just of the new crop, ever. Why, just this month I gave them a 9 for their new record, Phantom Knights, in the most recent issue of Vice. It also made Cover of the Month, to which Sadomancer—one half of Deathhammer—said, "Ah, that is cool as hell! Can we drink Champagne with Katy Perry now???" They are coming to London to play Live Evil festival real soon, and also the pre-show at Catch, where he's looking forward to meeting some "drunk sluts". Anyway, I caught up with him for a full interview. Well, actually, I sent the questions about two months ago and got it back recently, but it was worth it.

AFITFOG: How does it feel to be a part of the Live Evil festival?

Sadomancer: To share the bill with some of the coolest underground metal acts around like - Körgull the exterminator, Ghost, Salute, Natur, Speedtrap, and our friends in Obliteration and Nekromantheon - is something I look forward to with great joy. Also, seeing Vulcano is gonna be a memorable event for sure. We planned to go to Live Evil anyway, so it was perfect that they wanted us on the bill.

What bands are you psyched to see?
I think ALL the bands have something great to offer (not ONE bad band on the bill!), but I am dying to suffer a sonic metal overkill by Körgull The Exterminator because that's probably my favourite newer underground band nowadays. Their Dogs of War album is pure metal essence. Ghost and Vulcano is also gonna be very exciting.

What would you like to tell the people of London prior to your first shows here?

Expect nothing but total destruction! I have switched from drums to guitar (bored of playing drums live) and Kick from Nekromantheon is gonna destroy the drums (he is Norway's answer to Gene Hoglan), so it's gonna be even MORE violent than before! Prepare to be crushed under the hammer of death.

Where did the concept of Deathhammer come from?

The desire to play this music came from our pounding metal hearts. The "concept" of playing true metal comes from within and should not come from anywhere else. This is our call.

When did you decide to start the band? Was it because of the then influx of bad thrash bands that became to flood the scene?

We started the band in fall 2005 because we had some songs which we thought were good enough to release. I was only 15 years old so we hadn't heard that many other new underground thrash acts at the time, we only listened to the good ones anyway (Witchtrap, Sauron etc). Basically, we just wanted to play like Celtic Frost and Kreator. We noticed some Norwegian bands around at the same time as us which quickly found out playing thrash wasn't the cool thing to play anymore and broke up. Such trendy bands should never pester the scene in the first place, so it's sad they got to release demos and play gigs, but what can you do (except for wait and see who stands when the smoke clears). I didn't hear about bands like Municipal Waste until a couple of years ago and I don't care about them at all 'cause I'm not very into that kind of thrash (for crossover-thrash I'd rather listen to Wehrmacht or D.R.I.). I like my thrash to be about violence and destruction, not Turtles and toxic baseball hats!

I know this is a fairly generic question, but what is your inspiration?
Our inspiration comes from living a life of severe intoxication, listening to metal and banging our skulls, obscure voids, the Japanese black metal Gods Sabbat, movies like The Beyond (horror/macabre movies in general) and everything evil and morbid. The most important songs for Deathhammer's sound I guess would be "Total Desaster" (Destruction), "Tormentor" and "Bonebreaker" (Kreator) and "Sacrifice" (Bathory). The Bathory feeling is the holiest of all there is.



Which bands do you think are bringing the right sound to the table nowadays?

There are plenty of great bands around nowadays, luckily. Bands like Körgull The Exterminator (which we will release a split with in the coming future), Vomitor, Ghost, Witchtrap/Nightmare, Natur, One tail, One Head, Black Majesty, Obliteration/Nekromantheon, Obsidian Sea, Demon's Gate, Slingblade, Negative Plane, Rust, Salute... Well, too many to mention actually. Long live the new flesh!

Where the FUCK did you get that wailing banshee shriek heard on the new album?

Salsten always drinks a lot of geitemelk (goat milk in English) before the vocal sessions, so maybe that's the key.

The album took a while to come through, but at one point last year you were said to be releasing a full-length titled, Onward To The Pits, is Phantom Knights the same project renamed?

No, this is a another recording. We recorded Onward to the Pits, but we will re-record it soon with the equipment we recorded Phantom Knights with. We'll also add more songs we didn't manage to include on the old recording. We had some problems with the mixing of Onward... so we thought it will be best to just re-record the whole fucker. We also have a bunch of old and new songs ready for a third full-length assault and some unreleased old recorded songs which we will use for some selected splits. Hell awaits!

The album in parts has a more black metal sound than on your previous releases, was this intentional?

Not intentional as in "let's make this release more black metal than thrash this time", but when we had recorded all the songs (10 in total) we had one called "Supporter of the Cause" (which will be on the "Nekrothrash" 4-way 7" split on Duplicate soon), which we left out because it is more traditional thrash than the dark vibe present in the other 9 songs. I guess we were determined to make this release a hellish one. Our next attack will probably be a mixture of both thrash and black metal though, like on the "Savage Poser Hunt" demo tape.

What bands/records/songs were you looking to emulate?

Our gods are Sodom, Kreator and Destruction! But we don't imitate other bands or rip them off, that would of course be a losers thing to do.

Who does all the songwriting, and when and where are the songs written?

We both write songs and we make them separately on electric axes in our homes. We usually write lyrics to our own songs but on Phantom Knights I wrote the lyrics to a couple of Salsten's songs too. Anyway, the credits are written inside the booklet for those interested.

What are your thoughts on the current music scene, metal and otherwise?

There will always be good stuff if you really have the interest to search and dig deeper, but I'm not finished with searching the 70s and 80s yet, and that's my main concern for now. Darkthrone and Burzum released the best metal albums this year and I'm also expecting the new Körgull album to destroy everything. I don't follow any music scene except for the metal scene, but I just heard the new Lady Gaga single and I have to say, it's pretty good.

Tell me where you see the future of Deathhammer heading?

Heading out to the highway! We will release more albums and desecrate more stages hopefully. I'm really eager to record a new album, so let's hope it doesn't take forever.

What other projects are you guys working on (Ghoul-Cult, Black Magic, Faustcoven etc.)?

Ghoul-Cult was never our band, but me and Salsten joined the live line-up for a few gigs, which went great. There was some talk about Ghoul-Cult releasing a new 7" with a old song re-recorded that never got released called "Bulletbelt Blitzkrieg" and maybe a cover, but it's probably never gonna happen. About Black Magic, I was up at Jon's place far up north last month and recorded our debut album called Lucifers Legacy. Expect nothing but total evil! We are not involved with Faustcoven, but I think they maybe will record their new album in my basement (where the Deathhammer records and the Black Magic demo was recorded), so let's wait and see. I have heard some songs and it sounds really gloomy and heavy. Salsten is involved with a obscure band called Goofer, and they recorded a demo at my place a while ago. Myself, I'm involved with a couple of projects which I have worked on for some years now and will finally record something very soon.

Below is my own tape rip of The Rotting Demos comp from last year, comprising all the demos plus two new tracks for the release that aren't on anything else. Scans of the sleeve etc. are in the folder too.

Deathhammer (Norway) The Rotting Demos (2009)



1.Blasphemy
2.Deathbangers
3.Graveyard Necromancy
4.Evil
5.Return of the Hammer
6.Tormentor
7.Demonz in Leather
8.Witchfukker
9.Possessed
10.Metalattentat
11.Bestial Slaughter

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Only Death Is Real...

Celtic Frost – A Dying God (2008) Adrian Winkler (Switzerland)

Okay, so for my first post on here (thanks again to Sean for the invite), I bring you a documentary about legendary Swiss black metallers, Celtic Frost. This was actually aired on Swiss TV almost two years ago now, but I only recently unearthed it.

Directed by Swiss journalist and documentary filmmaker Adrian Winkler, Celtic Frost – A Dying God follows Celtic Frost on their farewell Monotheist tour, between 06 and 07, across Europe, Japan (with a nice cameo from the Gallhammer girls), the US, and various festivals. This was actually aired on Swiss TV almost two years ago now, but I only recently unearthed it.

I will be the first to admit I am not a big documentary fan, however, this is excellent stuff. It chronicles the history of the band, from their early days as Hellhammer, right up to their hair metal phase in the mid-90s (their most extreme of all phases, ha!). Tom G. Warrior and Martin Eric Ain speak frankly about their relationship, and their almost constant fall-outs, their beginnings, and why they have a problem with Hellhammer. Basically, if you love either Hellhammer or Celtic Frost, this is for you. If you don’t, consider this a lesson in the roots of black metal…

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It is in German, with English subtitles, for the most part. However, it is in English pretty much throughout the sections in the US. This is actually a repost of my first entry for the excellent RockersNYC Blog, incidentally.

A Fist in the Face of God presents... Fenriz a.k.a. DJ V.K.O.M. -Trapped Under Vice, Vol. V

It's that time again, folks. Yep, the latest in the Trapped Under Vice mix series from Darkthone's Fenriz a.k.a. DJ V.K.O.M., is here. And it's about as speed/heavy metal (in the purest sense of the term) as you will find anywhere. As always, I will leave the talking to the man himself.

BEWINGED HEAVY METAL GLORY

Mostly speed metal tracks, in the easy simple way that I use the term - fast heavy metal tracks. The ice breakers in between are slower heavy metal tracks - namely heavy metal.
BTW this time I DIDN'T include a tough cookie as the first song, no, it's a 'fenomenal' song instead!
Fenriz, summer of 2010.
TRACKLISTING:
1. Limelight (UK) "Metal Man" (1980)
2. Hiroshima (Sweden) "Soldier of the World" (1983)
3. Universe (Sweden) "Stories from the Old Days" (1985)
4. Kraze (USA) "Land of Sorcery" (1985)
5. Brainfever (Germany) "Capture the Night" (1984)
6. Puls (Czechoslovakia) "Trhaná Tvar" (1986)
7. Merlin (East Germany) "Excalibur" (1986?)
8. Dark Heart (UK) "Don't Break the Circle" (1984)
9. Gotham City (Sweden) "See How it Flyes" (1984)
10. Deaf Dealer (Canada) "Caution to Kill" (1986)
11. Griffin(USA) "Curse Be the Deceiver" (1986)
12. Harbinger (USA) "Morningstar" (2009)
13. Enforcer (Sweden) "Walk with me" (2010)
14. Sonic Ritual (Sweden) "Shark World Deceiver" (2010)
15. Savage Grace (USA) "No One Left to Blame" (1985)
16. Witch Cross (Denmark) "Alien Savage" (1984)

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If somehow you missed the previous four mixes, links are here;
Trapped Under Vice, Vol. I
Trapped Under Vice, Vol. II
Trapped Under Vice, Vol. III
Trapped Under Vice, Vol. IV

Interview with Matt Mendoza of Bastard Priest

Bastard Priest are about to unleash their debut album, Under The Hammer of Destruction, so I caught up with vocalist and bringer-of-thunder Matt Mendoza to talk all things Bastard Priest.

AFITFOG: Hey Matt, I just want to begin by getting this one out of the way—where did you get the name from?
Matt Mendoza: Well, me and Inventor [Bastard Priest guitarist] talked about getting together doing a heavy metal band and I think one time we talked about all the bands out there having a name with the word “bastard” in it. I can’t remember how really, but we settled for Bastard Priest after a while. But it’s just a name, you know.

So what made you decide to start the band? Was it because when you started in 2007 it was a reaction to all the bad, generic-sounding thrash and death metal bands around at that time?
No, not really. I mean, Bastard Priest is not some crusade against bad music. I have no real problem with bad, or what I think is bad music, I just don’t care about it. As long as I can do whatever I want, I don’t care for what others do. But of course I have opinions on the generic or “modern sound” of today’s metal and heavy music. I think the sound on a lot of modern metal or punk is just without a soul and has no personality. Me and Inventor often talk about good/bad sound/production, in the sense that you have what most people would consider “bad production”, but for us that’s the thing we find good about it.

Which bands do you rate?
Well, the first that comes to mind is the Norwegian band Obliteration. They have a very dynamic, cool sound, and they make incredible songs. Their take on death metal is pretty different from ours, but I just love ‘em. I like the sound on the stuff that Death Breath has done. Morbus Chron from Stockholm has a good thing going, also. Another cool band is Maim from Sweden, they’ve just recorded a new album. I got to hear two songs and it’s gonna kill! If you’re into punk stuff, check out Warvictims from Sweden. They do the most perfect 90s Swedish raw-punk. Their split with Flyblown is highly recommended. The state of punk/hardcore is kinda stiff and uninspiring right now, I think. But it all goes in circles, you know, and right now it seems to be at a low. I try to keep up to date with what’s going on with the bands I’m into. I really don’t pay that much attention to any of the big bands anymore, except for AC/DC. I saw them twice on the tour they just did.

You have a fairly unique style. Did it take a lot of practice to achieve this sound, or did it just come naturally?
No, we just sound the way we sound. We were brought up on heavy, fast music of all kinds. So I guess all those years of listening to everything from the Rolling Stones to W.A.S.P to Koro to Kuro to Darkthrone, and so on, has a lot to do with how we sound. Me and Inventor come from a hardcore-punk background when it comes to making songs and playing music—and that’s a big part of the songwriting. No long extensive parts with “challenging” guitar solos or technical drum solos, you know. We just try to keep it short, fast and loud. The music is what’s comes out of our minds and so are the lyrics and artwork.

Were you trying to emulate some of these sounds/bands with the new record?
The album that we’re putting out now spans a fairly large period of time. The oldest songs on it are from 2007 and among the first ones we ever recorded. I remember trying to do really easy songs and focus on it being more hard-hitting and memorable than technical or weird or anything like that. We listened a lot to old Master, Autopsy and Possessed when doing the songs, and also a fair share of Crow, Anti-Cimex and Discharge. On the B-side of the album you have our “Merciless Insane Death” demo from 2008 in its entirety. It also features two or three new songs that we did early in 2009. So this release is more like a collection of what we’ve done so far.

Who does all the songwriting, and when and where are the songs written?
We both write the songs. Usually we sit at home and record stuff and write down arrangements and then we meet up and lay down the songs and structures. We usually record whatever we come up with and listen to it afterwards to come up with additional arrangements and/or corrections. Songs usually start off with just a riff or two, and then we build them up from there. Most of the solos and additional noise is developed when we’re recording stuff.

What are you hoping to achieve with this record?
I don’t know really, we haven’t thought about it like that. It’s cool to get a vinyl release of the demo and the songs we did before that. It’s also good that hopefully more people get to hear our stuff since the demo’s been sold out for a while now. We’re currently working on new songs for a new release. I think we’re halfway there, and we’re hopefully recording later this autumn. I have no real details for any of this right now, we’re just making new songs. They sound the same as the old ones.

Are either of you guys working on any other projects?
Right now all my creativity goes in to making songs and stuff for Bastard Priest. I have a hard time doing more than one thing at a time so right now I’m working hard to have nine or ten new songs ready for recording. Keep on keeping on!

The LP is available now on pre-order from the excellent Blood Harvest Records, here.

Straight Outta LA, Pa'tner...

Straight Outta L.A. (2010) Ice Cube (USA)

Ice Cube directs, and stars, in this ESPN documentary about the Raiders' stay in LA between 1982 and 1994, and their influence on the rising rap scene in the city, during those years. If you are/were into either N.W.A/West Coast hip-hop, the Raiders, or Raiders gear in general, this is unmissable. Snoop, Ice-T, and Raiders' the highly-entertaining owner, Al Davis, feature.

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I made this 10-track mix to accompany the documentary for no reason other than these are some of my favourite West Coast tracks. Tracklist in order of release date. Enjoy.

1. Ice-T (USA) "Colors" (1988)
2. N.W.A (USA) "Gangsta Gangsta" (1988)
3. Eazy-E (USA) "Boyz-N-The Hood (Remix)" (1988)
4. Ice-T (USA) "Drama" (1988)
5. Ice Cube (USA) "The Nigga Ya Love to Hate" (1990)
6. N.W.A (USA) "Niggaz 4 Life" (1991)
7. Dr. Dre (USA) "Let Me Ride feat. Jewel" (1992)
8. Snoop (USA) "Gin And Juice" (1993)
9. Eazy-E (USA) "Real Muthaphuckkin G's feat. Gangsta Dresta & B.G. Knocc Out" (1993)
10. Dr. Dre & Ice Cube (USA) "Natural Born Killaz" (1994)

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