Abruptum - 1990-2000 (FLAC)



"Abruptum is a Swedish black metal, dark ambient, and power-electronics project band. It is run by 'Evil' of Marduk, but the band was formed in 1989 by 'IT'. IT was one of the leaders of the True Satanist Horde, part of the Swedish Black metal scene. Euronymous of Mayhem described Abruptum as 'the audial essence of pure black evil'. IT had already planned to create the band in 1987, but it was not until 1990 that he found the right members. That same year they recorded their first two demos. After the release of the first demo, they fired their bass player. After the release of a 7" in 1991, another member named 'All' began to drink heavily and was also asked to leave (but reunited with IT to form Vondur). IT then found a new member in Evil.

Abruptum was signed to Euronymous's label Deathlike Silence Productions, on which they released two albums. IT considered Euronymous "a true ally". After his murder, Abruptum contributed the opening track to the compilation album 'Nordic Metal: A Tribute to Euronymous'. It has been wrongly rumored IT left the band and black metal scene following numerous threats made to him and to his family. According to IT, that was not at all the reason for his departure from the scene, as he had simply been wanting to move on for some time. He joined an industrial band called '8th Sin', and was briefly involved with '(Total) War' along with All. All worked with IT again in 'Ophthalamia', but that group also disbanded. IT eventually died on 8 February 2017, aged 44. Evil brought Abruptum back in 2008.

While Abruptum is classified as a black metal/dark ambient band, the group took a different approach to their music. They did not focus on creating any structured songs, and mostly just made noise. Earlier material had shorter songs but their later releases typically included one or two tracks with more than forty minutes of music. They primarily used standard drums, guitars, bass, keyboards and other various instruments, but what stood out even more was the screaming, as the band supposedly tortured and cut each other during their recordings. Whether this is true or not has never really been verified. After IT left the band, Evil changed the band's musical style to more dark ambient/noise and dropped most of the metal sound."



Interview With IT For Petrified Zine 1994...

Hail IT, so what is the current line- up for Abruptum?

IT: I hail you Jon...The Line-up is as follows: Evil - guitars, piano, effects, torture. IT - drums, screams, torture & hell. Whatever other forces have to do with our recording sessions they can not be mentioned here.

Why have "Ext" and "All" left the Band?

IT: "Ext" was afraid of the pure evil that lurked behind our backs all the time...Being a member of Abruptum is no childs play. He heard the result of the first demo and got so afraid that he joined the nearest church - idiot!! "All", on the other hand, left me shortly before the recording of our EP...He couldn't handle the alcohol and he couldn't handle himself so he went for a long journey...to find himself...It must have surely been a journey in darkness...However, he has now returned stronger than ever doing the vocals in Opthalamia and Vondur. He lives at my place here in Stockholm and shares his thoughts with me...He is surely a great brother...

What has been released so far through Abruptum?

IT: 3 demos, "Evil" EP, "Obscuritatem Advoco Amplectere Me" CD/LP, "In Umbra Malitiae Ambulabo In Aetemum In Triumpho Tenehrarum " CD , some t-shirts. Now we'll do a picture EP, a picture LP of "In Umbra...", some more t-shirts, of course our new album. Also a re-release of the "Evil" EP on vinyl and a release with first two demos and the EP on a CD is planned. We will also be on the Necropolis Records Compilation.

Tell us how you go by recording the album? 

IT: Its true ritualistic and tenebrous/torturous music! Whatever happens in the studio while recording is both too painful and too private to discuss, those fuckoffs out there who do not believe in our torture: go and die! Abruptum are original and we are the superior ones so everybody spreading rumors are just jealous and have to he killed for that.

What is the reason for such hateful and sick music?

IT: We are the chosen ones to do this, we are the most hateful and sick persons ever, That's why.

"Evil" stated that the new recording will have lyrics, is this true?

IT: We have always have some amount of lyrix in our music more or less, that will also be the case this time.

What will the new CD he titled and what will it be comprised of?

IT: I'm still working on it...so you'II just have to wait for it, but I 'm absolutely sure that the new album will crush everything in its way.

What do you do in Ophthalamia? What will the title of the new album be?

IT: I do all the music and lyrics. I play the guitars, do whispers, vocals, screams and keep the band together (which is not always the easiest thing to do). What I hate though is that everyone seems to think of Ophthalamia as a hobby band. This is absolutely not the case! Opthalamia is a band that is fighting hard and you can hear that on our new album. We are not taking this lightly, Opthalamia belongs to the elite of Sweden. The new CD is titled "Via Dolorosa".

I have heard of your solo-project "Vondur ", What is this like?

IT: "Vondur" is not a solo project. "All" has joined so now Vondur consists of the two original members of Abruptum. Vondur are about to sign to Necropolis Records for a full-length CD and just like Abruptum & Opthalamia, Vondur is very original & hateful and very hard to describe. Just buy the fuckin' CD when it is released and you'll see.

Can you now tell us about the "True Satanist Horde" and what it's about?

IT: I formed it back in 1990, it's an organization for black, Satanic warheads, people who live on the edge, on the warpath and live only for Satan, our goals I won't discuss but they are hardly not that difficult to guess.

I heard that the Norwegian Black Circle was a part of or formed because of the True Satanist Horde, is this true?

IT: Yes, Euronymous and Cunt Grishfuck were members in the organization and after awhile they wanted to call it the Norwegian Horde, something different. So they did. I guess that is the big problem, breaking up, going own ways, being too proud hen we should stay close.

I have also heard that you were a true ally of Euronymouse, how did you get to know him?

IT: First I was in contact with Dead from Mayhem but suddenly I did not receive anymore letters from him. Anyway, I got a letter from Euronymous instead where he described Dead's suicide in detail. I am a true ally of Euronymous as I know he was a true ally of me.

Count Grishnackh is not your ally, why is this?

IT: I think everyone can find that out themselves. The cunt must pay for what he did.

What will happen to him if you ever meet-up with him?

IT: He will meet his end.

Whats your opinion of the Black Metal scene now?

IT: Opinion? It's only stupid to bother that much about the scene of today. I haven't got the interest to build myself a opinion about it, I could care less.

Black Metal once brought fear, now it's a huge trend scene, in your opinion, what do you think will happen in the future?

IT: Yes, the future is nice to wonder I about...I do it everyday...but I only think about things that are of great importance to me and not about stupid things as the future of Black Metal. Black Metal is the greatest music, but I concentrate my thoughts on Satan instead.

What bands do you hate?

IT: Hmmm...I think it will be easier for me to tell you what bands I like instead...or the bands I hate would take the whole space in your mag. I enjoy the four bands of Abruptum, Marduk, Opthalamia, and Dissection. I also think Satanized, Dark Funeral and Vondur is ok. From Norway comes three great bands, namely: Mysticum, Mayhem, and Enslaved. I also enjoy Darkthrone and Isengard, besides that...well...

Thanks for your time, comments?

IT: Thank you. I would like to say that I hate you all and that we are the superior humans. Everybody else should kill themselves or we will do it for you. Soon the great 4th Reich will rise. You're probably stupid enough to buy our new album as well. Fuck You! Darkness it'll be.


From "Lamentations Of The Flame Princess" Zine 2002...

I’ve never heard any of the ABRUPTUM stuff because from all descriptions, I just had no interest in it. Is it true that they were cutting and burning themselves in the studio and recording it?

That’s really true. I recorded everything with ABRUPTUM. I am the one that made them sound evil. They were really bad. They played like assholes. They sounded horrible. I took the reverb unit and cranked it to
eleven and made it sound like it was recorded in a fucking church. The biggest reverb ever made on an album. That made it sound, even to me, really fucking evil. Imagine standing in a school or something that is totally silent, then all of a sudden you hear something really disharmonic and weird echoing throughout the halls. I get goosebumps talking about it. It’s weird. This sound coming from somewhere, very distant, very evil, very eerie, strange. It’s not here. Where the hell does it come from? That’s the sound of the ABRUPTUM demos, that’s what made people freak out. This is the most evil recording. There’s something in the ambience of that. They played like crap. There were no songs. They just tuned down the guitars and I played drums for a few songs. All of a sudden, they were not playing, they were out cutting themselves in the arm and smearing blood all over them and just whipping the guitar with something they found on the floor. It was this big jam session, with the lights out of course. Just this one candle so I could see the recording unit. It’s true, they cut themselves real bad. I remember one really fun thing about the ABRUPTUM sessions. Tony was a pretty small guy. He wanted to crawl under a sofa, put a microphone in there, we would put the sofa over him and sit in it, so when he had this panic attack, it should be recorded on tape. It was so really really funny. And he never got the panic attack! It was hilarious! But they were really cutting themselves with the knives I had around the studio. The knives were from like 1970, they’d never been sharpened, and I used them to cut metal stuff and whatever. Your average scissors were a lot sharper. They were trying really hard to cut themselves. It didn’t work, so they’re biting each other, “Get some blood here man!” So they start burning themselves. “Ow! That hurt!” It was not what you imagine. It was fun. There was a lot of blood. It was hilarious. For the album recording, there were tons of people coming down to the studio. I can’t remember, like ten people just hanging out. Weird times. The classic was the recording of the second album, I just soundchecked one guitar and one drum kit. “That’s good. I’m going home now, and I’ll be back in 45 minutes.” So I got in my car and went back, I had to wait a few minutes, out of tape, turn on the lights, bye then! The fastest album recording in history. In real time! I recorded them to DAT. No mixdown, no nothing. I just recorded to the master tape live. That’s the second album. Really funny. Didn’t cost them many Swedish crowns, I can tell you! It must have sold 10,000 copies! Remember the movie Prince of Darkness? There’s something about that movie, even just looking at the poster gives me chills. It inspired the hell out of me. Tony was into similar stuff. He wanted to sense the evil. The soundtrack to Omen is one of the most evil recordings ever made and it’s just strings, you know? This feeling you get in your body when you hear it, and I admit that I don’t care for the albums of ABRUPTUM, they’re just a lot of reverb. But the first demo, there was something happening in the rehearsal room, in the studio, whatever you want to call it. It was a really evil feeling in the air. I was pretty close to Tony around the time and I remember going to the gas station to buy the tapes to copy the demos, I helped him to copy the tape cover. Of course it was all black. I distributed it to some friends, I sold some. You and I could easily do something that sounded similar. Just a bunch of banging with effects. There was something, it was an accident in a way, that sound that came up. It was unique. No one had ever heard anything like it. More related to industrial music than black metal. It took everybody by surprise because there was a weird ambience in the music. That’s what got them signed.

For OPHTHALAMIA’s Via Dolorosa, is OPHTHALAMIA studios Unisound?

Yeah.

How’d you get the name ‘The Skull’ for that one? They credited you Dan ‘The Skull’ Swanö.

OK. The skull was my stage name for a band I had together with Tony. He was It, and I was The Skull. That album, the reputation he’s got from everything else he’s got, he’s got Lenny Kravitz licks all over that album! Bizarre. I listened to the first OPHTHALAMIA demo the other day, I was going through a bunch of DATs the other day, the old Digital Audio Tape format. Really small cassette. That’s when I found the first mix of the Light’s Bane and I found all this other stuff. Then I found the OPHTHALAMIA demo with the stuff from that album called Journey in Darkness. It’s excellent! The demo is ten times better than the album. The guy from DISSECTION is singing on it, but Tony himself is singing on the demo. But Tony never had the guts to sing on the albums. I don’t know why. He’s got an excellent growling voice, really deep. That’s OPHTHALAMIA. When this guy from DISSECTION is singing, it sounds too much like anything else. On the demo, It was singing, and they mixed the growls with whispers. It was pretty unique at the time and then everyone started whispering.

That’s an interesting trend for extreme metal. About that DISSECTION guy, with the time you spent around him, was there any sign that he was the kind of nutcase that was going to go out and try to kill people?

Nope. I didn’t know him. I didn’t know him in person at all. I knew he was just a little kid, really, I think. He was very influenced by stronger personalities. When he hooked up with this Vlad guy, who was not a musician at all really, just an evil dude, he just bonded with him in a way. I remember being in Gothenburg a few years ago, just before they did this horrible thing. I was at a pub hanging out, and I saw him there. I went up and said “How are you?” There was a sparkle in his eye, and he looked like he was happy to see me, it was nice. Then all of a sudden this Vlad guy came up to him, and just one look, the spark was gone, and Vlad just left. No bye bye, he just left. What was that? “Oh, that’s the Vlad guy.” It’s hard to explain. I’d never experienced that before, I was totally lost the entire evening. Did I say something? What happened? They say he was totally obsessed with this Vlad guy. He was obviously something he’d wanted to be, that kind of evil character. Not a musician, just evil. He was a bit weirder when he was drinking. We were at this party, and he just started banging on doors and people would open the doors and he would just start screaming in their face. Really weird behavior. I don’t know if he was trying to be funny. I thought it was irresponsible, a childish act to do something like that. This is not fun, it’s just upsetting his neighbors. His idea of having a good time was not my idea of a good time. He just got carried away with this other guys. I guess it was one of those “Show me what you got. He’s a fucking faggot, kill him!” Just under the influence, he just did it. He could be influenced by group pressure. And he did it, and destroyed one of the best careers ever in this genre. Everything would have been so much different if DISSECTION would have continued putting out albums. They’re already started marketing his return, because apparently he’s going to be out of jail in the not far future. Rumor going around is that he has two albums written and ready to go. He’s got plenty of time. Talking about some of these characters we’re talking about, I can see why people can grow out of metal if that’s the kind of metal they’re into. But finishing off the Tony subject, I know his sister’s husband. He’s the guitar player in BRAINDEAD. We’re also connected in the selling stuff industry. I speak to him sometimes on the phone, and I tell him to just say hi to Tony. I haven’t spoken to him in years and years. When they killed this guy in Gothenburg, he just snapped from the whole industry. He moved away. He doesn’t have anything to do with it anymore. He doesn’t play, doesn’t do anything. He’s just a normal guy. He just came to his senses, I guess. “This is too much, I quit. Bye bye.” Broke all the bonds with the scene. He’s just somewhere in Stockholm being a normal guy. It’s such a weird thing to go from one extreme to a different extreme. He’s totally out of the whole thing. That’s just me filling in, it’s better off to just leave the shit. Two dead and one in jail from the most influential black metal band… and I never saw BURZUM as being influential. He was quite a character. But Euronymous was very important for the current sound of black metal. He was a lot older than the other guys. He was very mature, he introduced new concepts in this genre that would never have existed if not for him. He never got the credit for it. But I hear what he did, it was all over all the albums from the Swedish bands. Before they managed to get this Mysteriis album out. Once they chose these weird vocals for it, it destroyed the reputation. Imagine classic death metal growling and black metal vocals on this De Mysteriis album. It would have been a killer, even to me.

Alcaloide Labelography 2001-2009


Apocalyptic buzz-bounce and dark-techno EPs from Irreversible, Kanibal Unit Sound System,
Galax, Krazy Killer & Billx, Moebius, Cemtex, Psiko, DJ Mutante, and D32...

"Punk Is..." - Xcentric Noise Compilation Tape 1982 (320)


3rd release by one of the very earliest exponents of interconnected/interconnecting world hardcore...

Merzbow - "Merzbox" 50 x CD 2000 (320 / 7+ Gigs)







"'Merzbox' is a box set compilation by the Japanese noisician Merzbow (Masami Akita). It consists of 50 CDs spanning Merzbow's career from 1979 to 1997. The label's original plan was to reissue Merzbow's collaborative LP for them as a tenth anniversary repressing. There was then talks of repressing even older recordings, with that idea ballooning from a 10 disc set to the final number of 50. It was made available for preorder in late 1997, but kept getting delayed until an official launch on June 16th 2000 in Barcelona (where Merzbow also performed). In April 2002 it was exhibited in its entirety in Vienna, with Merzbow performing opening and closing concerts and webcast live for the duration of its run. In December 2002, Georgia Tech's student radio station 'WREK' also broadcast the complete set without interruption. A local magazine article described the marathon as 'what may be the most obscure and counterintuitive move in the history of radio'. Masami Akita has stated in a 2009 interview that he has enough unreleased material for another 50 CD set."

Viletones - "A Taste Of Honey" CD 1994 (320 With Scans)



"The Viletones are a punk band from Toronto, led by Steven Leckie on vocals. Other members from the original line-up were Freddie Pompeii on guitar/vocals, Chris Hate on bass/vocals, and Mike Anderson (1955–2012) on drums/vocals. The original line up was active in from 1976-1977, and thereafter featured Leckie as the only original member (with various backing musicians). They were one of the first generation punk bands in Canada, even appearing on the front cover of various magazines, like Record Week and Fanfare.

In july 1977, the group joined The Diodes and Teenage Head at a CBGB showcase billed as 'three outrageous punk bands from Toronto, Canada'. The rock critic Lester Bangs described the show as 'This guy 'Nazi Dog' (Leckie) hung from the rafters, crawled all over the stage, and hurled himself on the first row until his body was one huge sore'. The concert was spoofed in an early episode of the television comedy show 'SCTV'. Also that year they self-released their first single 'Screamin' Fist'.

In 1978, they released 'Look Back In Anger', then Pompeii, Hate and Anderson abruptly left to form another group, 'The Secrets'. That year, the new lineup of the Viletones appeared at the concert 'The Last Pogo', which was filmed as a documentary. At the 'Rock Against Radiation' concert in 1980, they shared the bill with DOA, Stark Naked and The Fleshtones, Forgotten Rebels, and Joe College and The Rulers. In 1983 they released their first LP 'Saturday Night, Sunday Morning' recorded live at 'Larry's Hideaway' in Toronto. In 1994, the record label 'Other Peoples Music' released the retrospective 'A Taste Of Honey'."

Missbrukarna - Live 8-15-81, Live January '82, "Krigets Gentleman" Demo 1984, Live Studio Demo 1987, Interview 2005 PDF

Terror Against Terror (Lustmord) - "Psychological Warfare Technology Systems" CD 2002 FLAC


"Conceived as an exercise in sound and rhythm, and as an alternative evolution of ideas explored on the first Lustmord album. Although recorded in 1989, the two labels involved with its release had to cancel due to financial problems...so it didn't see an actual pressing until 1992, by which time the ideas and techniques incorporated were in many ways out of date."

Death Sentence - "Until The End Of The Sentence" Discography CD 2007 (320) & Rare Pics / Interviews / Scans




Interview with guitarist Gary by Sean 2003...

Wotz poppin' Gary? First off, though it may embarrass you somewhat, I'd very much like to say that it is an extreme honor to be given the opportunity to conduct this interview with you. Why dont we start by introducing the readers to who you are, age, and some of the bands/styles of hardcore you've been involved in both prior to Death Sentence's formation and after it's demise. You seem to have an affinity for Anal Cunt and C.S.S.O. now!

Well, my name is Gary James McGillivray, I'm 40 going on 12, and I've been into what I'd like to call extreme styles of expression for the past 25 years. I left Death Sentence sometime in 1986 and reformed for a really bad tour of Adelaide in 1988 which was a mistake. The first band I attempted to play in was Zyklon B (a bit of un-PC name maybe, but it was 1980), then a Stooges cover band called The Hogheads, then the Bader Mienhoff with Scott before joining Death Sentence. Sorry to disappoint but I'm not totally into grind, gorecore or whatever as some of it I've heard really lack a bit of guts and it's really methodical. But bands I have heard that I do like are CSSO, Brodequin (probably metal really), Warsore (from Australia) and Basket Of Death (who scare the shit out of me). I liked A.C. when they came out because they really went over board and took the piss.

Death Sentence played ultrafast hardcore that gave your peers (Larm and Siege) a bloodsoaked run for their money. Playing at such brutal speeds, while not entirely uncommon around the globe, was still a bit of a novelty in the early 80s. Why the decision to play ultracore, and did you guys realize how fast you were playing at the time? Did you just consider yourselves a standard hardcore unit ala D.R.I.? Who was in the original lineup of D.S.? 

The original line up was Peter - vocals, Con - bass, Matt -guitar, and Izzy (I think that was his name) - drums. Matt and Izzy were in a band called Permanent Damage (kinda meat n' potatoes hardcore). Matt and Izzy didn't have the time to do both. Peter had heard of Scott and I trying to get something together (though we'd never really met) and decided to give it a try out. Scott and I were just into playing really fast. With Matt and Izzy it wasn't very fast. When Peter and Con showed us the riffs I remember Scott and I just saying "yeah that sounds great, lets just speed it up by a factor of 10". So I guess we weren't that conscious of any influences per se just playing what we wanted a band to sound like. Our first gig was with I Spit On Your Gravy. We were on first. Because Scott and I were outsiders we hardly knew anyone and some of the more fashion conscious punters said to Peter we didn't look very "punk" (!?!...I've never been into the fashion thing although I've had tattoos since I was 15). So anyway, there was all these punk rock type I Spit On Your Gravy crowd watching us setup. We had five songs: Balance Of The Nation, Air That We Breathe, Christian Fanantics, Moral Majority and Death Sentence. The set went for 3 minutes, I Spit In Your Gravy went for 2 hours. The first song was Balance Of The Nation and Peter vomited up baked beans right at the end. No one said anything. There was just stunned silence. Then we went into the second song and the whole place just erupted!!! So we did our set again and by the end the place was just about trashed. We did the set again after I Spit In Your Gravy with even more chaos. After that we built up a following.

Honestly, hardcore was a real bitch to track down in the early 80s, yet members of D.S. seemed to always be on top of the most cult and extreme records from around the globe. How the fuck didja score (especially so quickly) crazy shit such as Headcleaners EPs especially in an often ignored (by the punk community) country as Australia? And speaking of lovin' hardcore, why the decision to not include (the most amazing cover I have ever heard of) Negative Approach's "Nothing" and SSD's "Glue" on the "Ryan" EP?

During the late 70's and early 80's I was heavily into buying punk records. Some of my favourite bands were (and still are) The Saints and The Leftovers. I've got a live Saints EP from 1977 which is brutal as fucking anything. Did you know that Black Flag used to do "Nights In Venice" an awesome Saints song? The Leftovers have an EP called Cigarettes Et Alcohol from 77/78. Two songs Only Panic and No Complaints are total thrash. (I think Peter saw them a few times, he's from Brisbane). Apparently the fans from these two bands used to have pitched battles. I think they call some of this stuff Killed By Death. I also liked early Damned, Dils, Maus Maus, Negative Trend, etc, etc from this period. In the early 80's I moved to Melbourne (I was born on a farm in a place called Wannambool). I really didn't know anyone. There were few punk gigs except by maybe Corporate Body and The Sick Things (awesome band, Mick Turner from indie hand Dirty Three used to play guitar for them). Anyhow, there was a record store called Missing Link who got some of the classic records in such as the Discharge singles and Black Flag Jealous Again', etc. One day I picked a magazine for 10 cents called Discords which had the Void (top 5 all time fave bands) Faith Split, SOA EP and Minor Threat 1st EP. It cost me $13.00 in total to send for them. This was around 1982, this stuff blew me away. Anyhow, Maximum Rock 'n Roll started coming out which had all these reviews of bands etc in it. I was working shift work 13 day fortnights, etc and making good money. On night shift all I'd do was sit down and write to all these band labels and began ordering records as soon as they came out. I also started trading with a guy called Tos from Holland who played guitar in Agent Orange and Cory Rusk from The Necros in the US. So basically I was able to get nearly every thing I wanted in exchange for obscure Australian stuff. Headcleaners, Neos, Shit Lickers, Mob 47, Terveet Kadet, The Eu's, Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers, Pandemonium, Indigesti, Raw Power, etc, etc. I didn't know Peter at the time but he was basically doing the same thing. I guess we decided not to do any covers for the Ryan EP because we may have been a bit embarrassed as to how they would come out. Scott and I joined the band in early November 1984, our first gig was on the fith of December and the EP was recorded in January. So it happened all very quickly. 

Have you heard of Seven Minutes Of Nausea? You do know they formed (in '85) solely from being inspired by seeing D.S. live right? (They actually played real proper ultracore at first and were seriously damn good at it!). How were crowd reactions to D.S.? It seems from listening to the "Waldo" promo that the crowd was really into you guys! That was your very first show correct? Being Australia's fastest band (and I say that with truthful recognition!) how did the other Aussie bands of the day take to you?

I've heard some of their stuff, although it was years ago. They used to do ultra fast 10 second songs and stuff - is that right? I didn't know they formed after seeing us live. The crowd reactions were great, especially with the first proper lineup! Although some people said that our songs should've been longer to give them more time to get into it! The Waldo tape would not have been our first show. A lot of bands did not really like us at the time. I could put this down to three reasons: 1: Jealousy, especially after the rave reviews we used to get. I rememebr the original bass player of Vicious Circle calling us un-musical in a Maximum Rock n' Roll interview once. Although I take it as a compliment. 2: Peter had a reputation for being quite violent (I know he'll probably read this interview but I know he won't mind). But in retrospect he never beat up on anyone who didn't deserve it. 3: The association with drugs. (for a while there we were referred to as "Drug Sentence").

Speaking with other Aussie bands and individuals it seems to are that you are a people of above-average intelligence and wit. I know that statement sounds like a huge ass-kissing fest, but it's reality pal! Have you noticed this trend yourself, and does it have something to do with a possibly more advanced educationtsocial system? This isn't the core question though, wot I'm really getting at is that why is your nation so well educated/worldy yet balanced with an attitude of TOTAL FUCKING NIHILISM!!! No shit, your people (in the various scenes at least) are serious fucking misanthropes! This may seem humorous to you, but to a foreigner it is a certainly lucid detail!

Great question, I've got a degree in political science and a masters degree in environmental studies ("Environmental Politics") which the state paid for. I could talk politics for ever and ever. But more to the point the state paid for my university education when I think in the USA everything is down to the market, I.E,: you have to pay for it yourself. While I'm not sure whether we are more educated than anyone else, Australia certainly looks pretty lucking stupid at the moment. If you do think there is a dose of nihilism it would come from the geographic isolation. This is especially so with bands like the Saints and the Leftovers in the 70's because they had no contemporaries in sound. "I'm Stranded" by the Saints came out in June 1976, the first Independent punk record, 5 months before The Damned! The channels of communication then were very limited. With the advent of the internet information is at your fingertips so it's not too hard to be influenced by different sounds. Twenty years ago you had to be dedicated and persevere if you wanted to find something worthwhile. Um, I guess I didn't answer your question, maybe we're misanthropes because we're from convict stock.

Why was the band so fixated on Ronald Joseph Ryan (the last man hanged in Australia), a man who had been dead nearly 20 years when D.S. formed? I did a few internet searches on him and managed to find an Aussie anti death penalty site citing Ryan's story and eventual demise. His tale honestly moved me, and I am curious if you lot were maybe paying tribute to his name with the EP? Was there a growing pro-death movement in Australia at the time the band formed, hence the "Ryan...Thanks for The Support" title? Ryan was wrongfully hanged for being a supposed cop-killer, right?

I really do not know the fixation about Ronald Ryan. It is a question you would have to ask Peter. I can't quite recall if there was a growing capital punishment movement in the mid 80's but nowadays it is a completely dead issue (no pun intended), it's highly unlikely it would ever be reintroduced. The sentence was carried out for political expediency for the current Victorian Premier (Henry Bolte) to be re-elected. Ryan supposedly shot a prison guard in a failed escape attempt. It has since been proved that he couldn't have done it. I don't believe in the death penalty because I think all criminals especially ones who commit heinous crimes so they can be made to have it on their conscience for the rest of their lives. Mind you if someone did something to my family, especially my young son, I would want to extract vengeance as I see appropriate.

Why the name "Death Sentence"? Were you aware that there were already British and Canadian D.S.'s as well? Did people ever confuse all the D.S.'s? Obviously you were the BEST of the bunch!

Peter came up with the name Death Sentence which I believe would have been connected to the Ryan fixation. It is a pretty standard "punk" name so when I joined I wasn't surprised that others existed. I don't think anyone ever confused us except maybe in British and US fanzines (maybe).

Did the band ever climb into different kangaroo's pouches and play demolition derby with the 'roos?

Never had any Kangaroo Derbies, although Peter was tripping once and broke into a factory and went for a joyride on a forklift and demolished the insides.

The band certainly had a firm grasp on living the "chaotic life",  I understand that all of you had/have a STRONG affinity for alcohol and that it got all of you in trouble on occasion. Amongst the stories are crashed tour buses, jail time, and lawsuits. How did all this hard living effect the band? Did it drive a stake between you all or bring you closer together? When I used to drink I always had a fucking blast getting loaded and talking about hardcore! How did Peter reconcile drinking in his personal life and an anti-alcohol song on the 12" entitled "Alcohol"? There's a soundbyte on the 12" that sounds as if Peter was going apeshit at a show cuz he was so tossed and everybody was trying to get all involved to kick the fuck back.

Yep...drugs and drink drove the band so to speak. I used to smoke a little, pills, whiz, etc but mainly drank. My only vice now is alcohol and I'm still in love with it! I think in the end our indulgences drove us apart. There were a lot of fights with the Paul, Davo, Peter and myself line-up (don't know about the other line ups). I think the most out of it time was when Paul was living with a bunch of alcoholics above a bottle shop in Queensberry St. Carlton. No one had much money, so any acohol was a godsend (it was torture having a King Solemons hoard of alcohol underneath, we always debated as to whether to try and break in, but it would be so obvious who did it). One night a miracle happened. It was at the start of winter and one Sunday night a truck overturned out the front doing deliveries. Half a load of fruity elixir wine (by the cask) was wrecked because of the damage to the packaging, but it was still drinkable. Rather than have it removed we convinced the owners to dump it in the courtyard/ garage and we'd take care of it (which we did). So if you can imagine it, here was this foot high mountain of fruity elixir to be drunk The place became one long winter party house (and vomit pit). I'm not sure how Peter reconciled the "Alcohol' song and his personal life. I think it was just an ackowledgement of his own personal demons. The person on the front who is losing it is not Peter, it is a now deceased guy called Borgie.

Why weren't you asked to join the 3rd lineup? When I discovered that you were no longer involved with the band by the time of the recording of the unreleased "51st State Of Amercia" MLP I was really shocked! The band was rocking harder and heavier than ever and back to form, and from hearing those trax I could have swore it was still you pulling duty on guitar! What were your views of the band with the 3rd lineup and was your split amicable?

The third offical line up was Jackie, Peter, Simon, Paul and John (I think). After the "Pain..." recording things were really beginning to strain. Opinion started to diverge and I got asked to join S.T.P. which were guys I hung around with more than the D.S. crew anyway. I joined them and suggested Peter start looking for another line up. Davo moved to Queensland. The split was amicable. I think Peter and I have always had an unstated respect for each other. The 3rd line up was much better than the "Pain..." line up as they were really getting a great sound together. I remember seeing them play with DRI, they nearly blew em' away.

Why was the 12" so decidely more "artsy" and rockin' than the previous straight-forward ultracore attacks? I'm not saying the 12" sucks,  but the change was an abrupt one. I'm completely infatuated with the trax "Anti Apartheid" and "Sweet Thing of Innocence". How did the band as a whole feel exploring the 12"s many nods to lost love? Why the title "If Pain Mends My Mind?"

With the 12 incher we really tried to do something different, which didn't quite work. I think if I could digitally re-mix it (as I said before) it would sound like a completely different record. Initially, I thought the "lost love" thing should have shelved, but with Peter singing it he kind of infected it with bitter irony. I think the title "If Pain Mends My Mind" sounds fairly straight forward at first, but it is totally ambiguous. That is, on one hand if you suffer you'll be better for it, or on the other hand it may pay homage to self mutilation, I.E. cut yourself up a bit and you'll feel all the better for it. Or it could even mean if you do what you're told you won't get hurt yet you'll be going against your convictions...but if you do decide to suffer the pain at least you're following what is on your mind.. A bit like you'd "rather die on your feet than live on your knees". It's all a bit confusing really. 

Why did D.S. break up? I really love you guys, and as obscure as you were there are a few other thrashers 'round the globe who found you killer enough to bootleg the first EP and select trax from "51st State." Do people still come up to you and give you "props" to D.S.'s legend, and how do you feel about the boots (they're very well done, though the "Needle Park" one was produced from a shady label called Sludge)? I know reformation plans are absolutely out of the question, but ya seriously touched enough people that much mate!

The last official line up was complete crap. The line up consisted of Jim (great drummer), John, Peter, myself and another guy who was a tanker who part owned Dreamtime/Funnel Web. He had absolutely nothing to do with what we were trying to do, which was to play good fast hardcore music. A total straight arse. If this line up played now he'd be trying to get us to be like Good Charlottee or Blink182 or some other crag The point was that the sound became really formulized merely by this guy playing and directing the sound because he part owned the label. I re-joined for about 2 months. We played one Melbourne gig then toured Adelaide. It was really fucked. Peter arrived the day before and started raking up a bar tab (would you believe the arseholes at Dreamtime convinced Peter to register D.S. as a business...this is where it was heading) thus everything was "charged" to the band. Anyhow, we headed over in a commuter bus by a Hell's Angel called Rasputan whom we paid in illegal substances. Apart from the shows being crap a guy from Adelaide asked for the keys to get his wallet from the bus. We thought he meant on the bus, but he actually drove about 10 miles pissed out of his brain to collect it from his house. He crashed it into a Jaguar car and together with a bar tab that wouldn't get paid the arseholes declared Death Sentence (as a business) bankrupt. Thus D.S. disbanded. I left before this event happened, not to play hardcore again until seven years later. I've no problem at all with bootlegs, someitmes its the only way you can get hold of the music. Now and then people bring up Death Sentence but not a great deal to me as I live in Adelaide which I have done for the last 9 years and all the D.S. people live in Melbourne. I have not lived in Melbourne for 13 years. However, I will be moving back to Melbourne at the end of this year (2003) which will be kinda strange but almost like a home coming. Reformation? I have not seen Peter since 1991, but Sean has kindly supplied me with his e-mail to contact him. Id be interested in what he is up to. I'd love to do a reunion show with Davo, Paul and Peter, who knows?

D.S toured the states???!!! That's wot it sez in the EP...how was the Yank reaction to the band and was there anybody notable that ya played with?!

DS did not tour the states. We were going to do a tour with Adrenalin amongst other's, but Peter and Con had a big falling out and line up 1 ended. The reason it is mentioned on the EP is because by the time it came out we thought we'd be in the US.

Please describe what you've been keeping yourself busy with since the end of D.S. (kids? cthulhu? public service? model kits?) and please give us a little info on your involvement with the recent Gacy's Place and your new "kinda fucked" band (more lawsuits eh?)! Are you in contact with any of the old D.S. members? It seems from our short contact that you've gravitated towards harsher forms of hardcore (I.E. keeping all your Fear Of God records but selling off Anti Cimex), so as a quick note, when grindcore made it's first waves what did you think of it (since you'd been breaking velocity barriers for years prior to that genre).

Since D.S. I've gotten educated, started working (which I don't want to do anymore), worked in the Northern Territory for a while, etc. etc. and have a 10 month old son. Also lived in Warrnambool for awhile and played in several hands (mainly Loudmouth and Slugfelcher). Gacy's Place were the most fun band I've ever played. We've had so many funny experiences that I'd need to separate interview to cover them all, it's a band that never had any real malice between members. We even had a farewell gig which included a get up on stage and do the foulest thing possible to win a prize. That was in 1999. Dick, the lead singer, is the total showman, manic, craziest, funniest performer I've ever had the pleasure of doing shows with. He's also my best drinking buddy and a total gentleman, He has a Z-Grade movie company called Cheesy Knob Productions and makes crazy short films. He has also run several short film Z-Grade film festivals, from coming out dressed naked with a 2 foot piece of kabana taped to his cock to blowing up a PA after chain sawing in half a giant effigy of Santa stuffed with offal and blood and shorting out the foldback, he does it all. Anyhow we now have a new band called the Kamikazes that plays dementedcore. I've no contact with old D.S. members and no idea how they are. Hopefully I'll catch up when I relocate to Melbourne. I'm not sure what I thought when I first heard grind core. I first heard Napalm Death on a shitty tape deck and thought they were pretty awesome, all those blast beats. However, I think the first Carcass album is what really blew me away. I only glimpsed at the cover and thought it was just pictures of vegetables, not bodies. I think what we were doing was a lot different to grindcore though.

I have a very young friend who happens to be named "Ryan" (really!). He's enamored with the fact that guys "our age" are still active in varying degrees in our scene (hey Gary, bet my wheelchair can outrace yours!). As a personal favor, could you publically lend any advice here for how he and others his age can persevere in "keeping it real 'till the grave"?

Please don't take the points below as gospel, god know's I've fucked up a lot in my life. Okay Ryan hear goes: DON'T TAKE HEROIN, keep asking questions, don't model you life on your parents (no matter how cool or uncool they may be), play an instrument and keep playing it, if you don't like your job leave immediately, if you don't like your town leave immediately, if you don't like your girlfriend leave immediately. If you have depression or anxiety see a doctor (I mean this truly) because you don't have to feel like that. Get a pet but treat it as an equal for life, respect those of the opposite sex, make sure you have a good shit in the morning (and don't eat until you do) I really mean this, it makes your day go right and you'll avoid bowel cancer. DON'T TAKE HEROIN. Get interested in politics and talk about it with your friends, it's good to see where people are coming from. Don't sell your records, they are your historical documents. As you get older stay interested in things you liked when you were younger even if it doesn't seem right amongst your peers, don't take shit from no one no matter how much it hurts (except if they have a gun). DON'T TAKE HEROIN. Finally, if you have to believe in a religion or theistic deity, believe in yourself first.

Well Gary, I could ask you 16,000 more questions, but I think we've covered all the basics for those not in the know. I'd very much like to thank you for all your time doing this interview, and especially your wondrous legacy! This is one thrasher who will certainly NEVER forget Death Sentence! Leave all shout-outs and hails here for those who deserve it, and last minute answers to questions I never asked. Take greatest care pal and expound further on whatever you wish! LONG LIVE DEATH SENTENCE!!!

It's an absolute pleasure doing the interview Sean. It was a good mental exercise to purge those old memories.

The Angelic Process / A Lifetime Burning - 2001-2007 FLAC




Interview With Kris By 13th Apostle Winter 2001 (questions redacted)...

K. Angylus is an insomniac who lives in the same house as his studio and spends the majority of his time recording, reading, and listening to/researching music. As far as what The Angelic Process is...well, it is my attempt to create music with some depth and an experimental attitude that hopefully will have some merit and be important to music as a whole. The initial purpose of The Angelic Process was to create music based around dynamics and flow within a song-based structure. I wanted the music to be epic and vast and encompass a huge sound range and that could be emotional and cathartic.

I record everything in my own studio (AngelCage Studios). I have a small house and when I moved in I renovated it and put in a pretty comprehensive studio, based around my desire to record everything by myself. I record and mix everything at AngelCage, and in the past have mastered at a place called VSM Mastering. While I'm recording I tend to work from the ground up. I'll usually start by tracking several drum patterns, then adding guitar, bass, and feedback/noise. I never do demos and instead start with something and just re-record parts until everything is right. I record into a PowerMac G4 running Cubase VST/24. This allows me to record and re-record, keeping everything I've done so I can change things around as needed. Vocals (if there are any) go on last and in the beginning were distorted and mostly textural, layered into the music to give it more density. But lately I have been experimenting with using both textural and cleaner vocals. Sometimes I have lyrics, but most of the time I use the vocals as a sort of tonal painting, using the sounds of my voice to aid the songs mood. For the next release I will share vocal duties with The Angelic Process' new female vocalist Natalie Dempster. Big P.S. on my sound.: That huge, "deep choir" sound as you put it isn't synth at all. I get that sound by playing my guitar with a violin bow through a special combination of effects. That is a sound I have had in my head since I was about 16 and only recently found out how to realize it. That sound is the heart of The Angelic Process...the first recordings using it just came together into what was the self titled debut EP. I also have spent several years creating custom effects on digital effects processors to give me a broader sound spectrum with the guitar than most have. As far as when I'll get signed, who knows.

I was in a lot of bands in high school (I was one of only 3 good vocalists) and I could play quite a few instruments, so I would spend my time writing songs only to come back to a band that would rather sit around pretending to be a band rather than actually work. I became really frustrated with this and after high school I just decided since I could play any instrument I needed played, it would be easier to just figure out a way to record everything myself. I started to become interested in recording at about 16 (not soon after I wrote my first song). I bought a cheap 4-track and messed around with it, recording other local bands just to figure out how to do it. After that I spent a lot of time reading interviews with artists who talked about their recording techniques, and on the internet I read everything I could find in relation to recording. After high school, I started engineering local bands' demos and eventually moved into producing and mixing. But at this time I also started gravitating toward noise recordings and my production started to reflect that, so most bands started shying away from me. By this time, I had all the knowledge and experience necessary to really go it alone and record and produce my own material. I started "Artwrek" and began releasing that material on CDR. 

And you want an equipment list, huh? Well, as I said above, I record on a Mac G4 running Steinberg's Cubase VST/24. I have a 16 channel Berhinger mixer that goes into a MOTU 2406 72 input soundcard (then into the Mac), Berhinger Quad Limiter/Compressor, tons of out-board effects (old stuff like an Alesis MidiVerb II and the fucking awesome Fender Blender). I put just about everything through the filter inputs on a Korg MS2000R, various stomp boxes and digital effects processors, a Line 6 Pod, I have a Fender Stage 112 Amp and a Peavy rig consisting of a 5150 II head and 2 4x12 5150 cabs, a cello, synths, the Alesis Andromeda, Roland JP-8000, Korg N364, various waveform synths, an old Crumb analog string emulator, Guitars: I bow an Ibanez Talman (great guitar, amazingly warm sound), 2 Fenders, a Strat and a Jazzmaster, Ovation electric/acoustic, Washburn Acoustic and a Washburn Bass, an Ebow, various slides, and other objects (knives, metal strips, nails, paint scraper, etc), several drum machines (an Alesis SR-16, Boss Groovebox, several broken ones), a 6 piece drum kit , and a customized Roland V-Club electronic drum kit. I have 3 samplers: an EMU ESI 2000, an Akai S20, and a Zoom Sampletrack. All samples are usually thru'd on Minidisc then inputed into the sampler or I will input something into the Mac and manipulate it with plug-ins as it goes into the sampler (thats how I get some of the weird bits). I also use various tape decks/cassette players/microcassette recorders to create and manipulate tape-loops. Mics: several Shure Sm57's and 58's, several cheap mics, and an AKG C 3000 condenser mic. Lots of patch cords. I think thats about it. All of this gear has been accumulated over about a 7 year period. The only reason I gave such a detailed list is because when I read interviews trying to figure out what to get, hardly anyone ever really mentions specific gear. At some point or another just about everything has been used on an Angelic Process song (I'm really bad about floating in short texture loops made up of a combination of instruments). 

I first started getting into music when I was 15. I started out rather late and got into guitar music and then into things like Nine Inch Nails. Thats what initially got me interested in technology. When I was 18 I was in an extremely bad car accident where I had some bad head trauma and broke my right hand (which hasn't been the same). For some reason after the accident, things had changed in my head. The sounds I had heard before got louder and I couldn't sleep as much and my general interest in the music I had been listening to started to wain. I think everything started to change for me when I read a review for a Merzbow album in some magazine. I was just intrigued with the idea of noise as music. It would be a year or so before I would actually hear a Merzbow album, but when I was able to record again (about 6 months after my accident) I stated putting everything through distortion pedals and just became fascinated by how it changed what I heard. 

Everything really changed in my head when I first hear Swans' Soundtracks For the Blind, I was really struck by how everything flowed into everything else and how their songs were more transitions than verse/chorus stuff. By now I'm about 19 and I just spend all my time researching all these bands and how they record. It was at this point that I started Artwrek. Several all noise recordings were issued over the next few years culminating in The Angelic Process' self titled EP released earlier this year. Specific bands I like and that have influenced me: Swans (especially "Soundtracks For The Blind"), Merzbow (I have the 50 CD Box Set from Extreme in Australia, it is an absolute education in sound),


Neurosis (especially the "Sovereign" EP), My Blood Valentine's "Loveless" (an absolutely amazing album, get it now if you don't have it). Not much new music does anything for me...I really like the new Neurosis album "A Sun That Never Sets", M.Gira's Angels Of Light as really good. I am huge fan of Japanese noise artist Masonna, Isis, a mostly acoustic/atmospheric band called "SoulWhirlingSomewhere" does some amazing, emotional stuff, Deftones, Tool/A Perfect Circle, Sigur Ros are cool (the guitar player bows his guitar too). The Angelic Process' name comes from something a girl I knew who died recently once said. She said that creation was an angelic process. That just stuck with me.

How the Crucial Blast release came about was Adam Wright of Crucial Blast happened upon my website. At the time I didn't yet have mp3s, just a description of my sound. He emailed me and asked for my previous releases to see if he liked it and I sent him my debut EP and single (both issued on my label). He liked what he heard and offered to release a limited cassette to see how the response would be. So far response has been positive and I am very happy to be working with them. 

More or less, I live in a small town and am surrounded by smaller towns. I live right between Birmingham, AL and Atlanta, GA, but I really have nothing to do with the music scenes here. It's cheap to live here, the people (can be) nice. Its clean and I live out in the country, so no one ever bothers me. There are a couple of good records shops here, the best being "Slip Disc" in Anniston, Alabama. The owner is a cool guy and has always sold my releases there. They also sell weird music in addition to the typical stuff...so its all right. As far as work, I do Internet stuff (basics for websites, etc) to pay my bills. I own my house and car and this covers my bills, so I don't have to make a living off my music (although that would be nice and I hope that happens someday). I'm just in a good position where I can make less accessible music and not have to worry about being able to feed myself. 

I hope to be doing The Angelic Process for a long time. I view the music/my art as a progression. I guess I would ultimately like to have a career that spans something like Swans did (in that they constantly pushed things forward and progressed and changed...not the whole be totally under appreciated and broke part). As for new releases, I am currently recording new material at AngelCage for an EP to be entitled "Porcellina". This EP will contain the first songs featuring vocals/vocal-textures and lyrics from Natalie Dempster. The idea and overall mood for Porcellina was inspired by a poem of hers and her lyrics thus far have been truly stunning. We hope to have a recording completed by the end of the year, with a release in early 2002.

The Fits - "The Fits Punk Collection" CD 1995 320


"The Fits formed in Blackpool in October 1979, with an initial line-up of Mick Crudge (vocals), Andy Baron (bass guitar), Kev Halliday (drums), and Bill Hughes (guitar). They played their first gig only four days after forming. After four gigs, Bill was replaced by Steve Withers. Their first release was a tape called 'You Named Us', which was really a rehearsal recording with an interview tagged on at the end. Their first single 'You Said We'd Never Make It' was recorded in June 1980, and was sold through the used record store of Barry Lights. When the initial run of 1,500 had sold out, Lights repressed it on his own label 'Beat The System', where it eventually reached number 2 on the 'Sounds' punk chart. 

Increased exposure saw them supporting more established punk bands such as the UK Subs, then signing with the Rondelet label in November 1981. Rondelet issued their second single 'Think For Yourself' on New Year's Day 1982. In March 1982 they entered the studio to record the 'You're Nothing, You're Nowhere' LP. They were collectively disappointed with the record, enough for Kev and Andy to leave soon after. Tez McDonald of One Way System and Ricky McGuire of Chaotic Youth stepped in to replace them. The new line-up had immediate success with the 'Last Laugh' EP, which entered the 'UK Indie Chart' in December 1982, peaking at number 44.

McGuire left in February 1983, his eventual replacement being Gaz Ivin. The band then released the 'Tears Of A Nation' 7" through Corpus Christi. The success of that record as well led Crudge and Withers to relocate to London. McDonald remained in Fleetwood with his family, and did not travel to all of the band's gigs, so Ogs from 'Peter and the Test Tube Babies' would stand in. A split EP was then issued on Test Tube Babies' 'Trapper' label. Trapper released two more singles, 'Action' and 'Fact Or Fiction', both of which again sold well, but the growing violence at gigs of the time affected the group too much, and they split up in November 1985. In 1995 'Captain Oi!' records released a 27-track retrospective, simply called 'The Fits Punk Collection'."
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