Emeth
Wywiad przeprowadził Wouter Roemers
One of the most forceful new entries in the brutal technical death metal scene is Emeth. Hailing from Belgium this trio has persevered after dwelling 7 long years in the local underground, the album "Insidious" is the result of their collective creativity. After successfully completing a 2 week touring campaign through out the US with label mates Incinerate (US), Stabwound (SE) and headliners Internal Suffering (Colombia) guitarist Matty Dupont was prepared to tell us everything about the band`s recent undertakings.
Hi. Thanks for taking the time to answer our interview. How are things with the band?
Great! We certainly can`t complain with all those nice things we`ve done this last summer. It`s sure is nice to see people getting interested in our music after nearly 7 years of hard work. First of all our first full length CD "INSIDIOUS" was released June 30th. After that we had a lot of gigs scheduled in the summer. We started the INSIDIOUS promo tour in Europe with playing at some Fests in Belgium (Brame fest, Deathmetal.be), Czech Republic (Obscene Fest), The Netherlands (The Mezz). After these European dates we went to the USA where the Brutal Domination Tour kicked off at the end of July till mid August. At the moment we just got back from the BDTour, we`re gonna take a few moments of rest. But in a short while we`ll be hitting the road again as a lot of (European) gigs are coming up. We are still searching for possible concerts and small tours throughout Europe to promote the INSIDIOUS cd, so if people want to help us with that; feel free to contact us and we`ll work something out.
"Insidious" is out by now if I`m not mistaken. Did you get any feedback from the press yet?
Yeah, the album was released about 1 1/2 month ago. The responses we`ve got so far are really amazing! Belgian and foreign reviewers are really surprised that a Belgian band could deliver such an album. We`re getting great compliments not only about musically but also on the production, the artwork, ... in short the album as a whole. It pays off well, each week more and more people are getting interested in Emeth. Some of the nicest feedback we got so far is people who by mistake think we are a brutal US death metal band.
Emeth recently completed their first US tour. Under the banner of the `Brutal Domination Tour` you hit the road for a full two weeks with three other death metal formations, namely Incinerate (US), Stabwound (SE) and headliners Internal Suffering (Colombia). How did the tour go and how the audience react to your devastating complex death metal?
It was an amazing adventure! It was an experience we will never forget. You never know what to expect when you put 17 people on a bus for nearly 2.5 week. I can assure you there are nicer things in the morning than the odour of 17 3-days smelly asses, haha!! Anyway, all in all it was a good tour. There are always things that could be done better, but everything worked out OK. The audience really digged Emeth big time. It didn`t matter if there was a huge crowd or just a small bunch of headbangers... we played each show if our lives depended on it paid off very well! Each show we did we get incredible reactions, each time we sold a huge amount of merchandise. During the tour Emeth has started some negotations with several promoters to return to the US next year, to play another 2-3 weeks tour which will be hitting fests like `The Gathering of the Sick` in Albequerqe NM, Texas, Arizona, the Westcoast some and some fests in Mexico !! Check out our website www.emeth.be to stay informed on this as soon as there is more information available on this subject.
Originally you started out as a hardcore band, put out some smaller releases and then dissolved. Later the band re-formed as a technical brutal death metal formation. What brought on this drastic change of musical course?
Yeah the first four years of the bands existence it was more metal - death core orientated music. After a few years some people in the band wanted to evolve in to a more technical and faster death metal band. Due to these musical differences the band parted with most of it`s original members, leaving Matty & Tom K with the task of finding new bandmembers. Both had a good idea of where they wanted to take the music and kept working on new ideas. After a non-active period of nearly 2 years they met Tom A. who formerly played drums in a local band called `Necrodochion`. He was looking for a band and we started jamming and his drumming capabilities matched perfectly with what Emeth was looking for: fast and technical. So his joining with Matty & Tom K really was a new start for the band. His kind of playing does have a major impact on the bands direction cause the band was now able to play a musical style that was always intended but could never be played due band members who didn`t have the technical skills.
Brutal Bands is your current label. Are you satisfied with the work they put into promoting, marketing and distributing the bands on their roster?
Hell yeah!! Scott - the guy behind the Brutal Bands label - really believes in Emeth`s music and supports the band 100%. He really puts in a lot of effort to get our band around and our music out there. For example the Brutal Domination Tour was completely organised by this guy. He really knows how to run a label, he knows a lot of promotion is required. It might be a small label but he does do a lot of work to get us promoted and distributed all over the surface. He sure is doing a hell of a job. And we can`t say that it doesn`t work cause we are getting more and more interviews and reviews. Our webvisitors (www.emeth.be) are from all over the planet and they keep checking back and people from all different parts of the world are ordering all kinds of merchandise.
When I first heard the promo for "Insidious" you gave me I was really impressed. For being a relative small Belgian band Emeth really sounded mature and utterly convincing. If I never had heard of the band before, I`d say you were another strong US death metal band. Did it take a long time to compose and arrange this album?
Thanks for your positive words on our music. All music on the INSIDIOUS Cd is written by Matty (gtr) & Tom A (drums). We wrote the INSIDIOUS cd in nearly one year and half, starting from nothing but some musical ideas. After Tom A joined the band we tried a lot of ways to write songs until we found the way that works for us. This process hasn`t been an easy one, as none in the band wanted to play music that doesn`t arouse the feelings we want to have playing music.
There`s a lot of trail and error involved in our writing-process. There are many ways to approach a new musical idea we start with. We just try several variations on it until we have that "YES" moment and we`ll go with that. But often there will pass several rehearsels until we get it like that. So every time we start writing we try to make some original music and hope that the songs will evolve to a new level of intensity due to a more sophisticated approach of composition and structure merging technicality with utter brutality.
Can you tell us something about the lyrics of "Insidious" since my promo didn`t contain any?
Most of the lyrics are written by Matty although Tom K & Tom A. also wrote some for the Insidious album. None of us writes the usual gore or hate everything kinda lyrics. It`s not that we write conceptual lyrics but there is a kind of similarity throughout the lyrics. We like to write lyrics in which the subject isn`t very clear so there is a huge freedom of interpretation. If one does take the time to read the lyrics the readers own interpretation of the lyrics will define the written subject.
Recordings were done at the Excess Studios in Rotterdam (Pyaemia, Disavowed) resulting in a modern, meaty death metal sound – how did the recording sessions for this effort go?
At the end of 2002 we had a couple of complete songs and we were searching for a studio that would perfectly display our sound and our vision on music. Our main goal has always been trying to create some intense music. Music that we like to play and like to listen ourselves. For the recordings we wanted to get a heavy but yet defined sound, that would have enough balls and drive without sacrificing 
the bands intricate detailed music. The recordings went very well, but due to the fact that everyone in the band was constantly supervising upon every musical detail to push the boundaries of the record, we had some delay. The latest adjustments were made in December 2003. But in the end we are of course very pleased with the result we got there. To record the next album we surely will go back to the Excess Studios so I guess that says enough about the level of satisfaction!!
For only being around a short time Emeth has already done some noteworthy festival appearances. You were both part of the Obscene Extreme fest in Trutnov, Czech Republic and the Central Illlinois Metalfest with a.o. Incantation and Fleshgrind. Tell us something about that.
Well, first of all I have to say all this wouldn`t be possible with out our label: Brutal Bands. If it wasn`t for all the promotion made Emeth probably would have played on these fests. You really need all the promotion you can get to play outside the Belgian borders.
Anyway, playing at the Czech Obscene Fest in front of several hunderds of people of which most didn`t know Emeth - but responded utterly crazy to our music (during and after the show) was one hell of an experience - is probably one of the most rewarding feelings one can get as a musician.
CIM was a bit different. A lot of people there already knew Emeth, again thanks to the wonderfull promotion made about the fest itself and the bands playing on it. We also got a great spot to play. We played on the second day around 21.00 in the evening, just before bands like Lust of Decay, Gorgasm, Mortal Decay and Incantation would hit the stage. It was an amazing show, a lot of energy from both sides, the band gave all it had and the people responded with a moshpit, headbanging, some crowdsurfing... After the show people gave us the most positive comments we did hear in a long time. So we are really happy that we recorded the entire concert for the upcoming "Brutal Domination Tour" DVD. So watch out for that one, it will be the next release on the Brutal Bands Label. To end the story with: If bands like Brodequin, Lust of Decay, Gorgasm, Mutilated, Lividity, Internal Suffering, Incantation, ... give you superb positive reactions and invitations to join them on their possible future European tours, I can assure you, it is one of the most rewarding experiences a band can have.
As far as technical death metal goes, there isn`t really a scene for it in Belgium. Actually with Prejudice, In-Quest, Orb Of Torture and yourselves that`s about it. Is there still an audience for underground metal in Belgium or is the majority of youth into mainstream, pre-fabricated music? I might be biased, but from own experience I`d say the big festivals (X-Mass Fests, Graspop, etc) draw an audience, but the underground scene is rather scattered. Do you agree?
In my opinion there isn`t much to tell about the "technical death metal" scene actually, cause it`s not such a big scene. There are only a few bands in Belgium that really stand apart from the mediocre. Most bands are in my opinion just copycatting their examples... They all sound more or less the same, after nearly 15 years of moving through the Belgium underground scene I somehow lost most of my interest in it mainly after hearing too much (melodic death metal) bands always playing the same identical things. Maybe it`s just because I am too critical. But you are right! A good example of the fact that there isn`t a real scene over here are the appearances on underground gigs. We`ve seen it happen so many times: a underground gig takes place and there are more musicians (from the bands that play) than visitors who come to see the bands. It`s has gotten a bit better over the last few years but still Belgian people are more interested in seeing the major foreign bands. I guess that says enough.
Fact is however that extreme metal in Belgium is getting better and specialized support. DeathMetal.be and Lugburz (black metal oriented) are the two cornerstones of the Belgian underground scene, supportwise. We, here at Masterful Magazine, have always fully respected and supported their cause. Anything you want to comment on this?
Yes, there is a slight change in the underground scene in Belgium. A lot of that has to do with the organisations you mentioned. They do a hell of a job supporting the Belgian underground bands in different ways. They organise gigs (and make huge promotion for them), put out compilation Cd`s, provide several services to the bands,... I hope they will stick around for a long time cause the Belgian scene really needs them!!!
Emeth is still on the look-out for a second guitarist. Here`s the place to announce what you are looking for, since many death metal loving people all over Europe will read it. So folks, take notes and get in touch with this incredible band.
Yeah, we are still looking for a suitable second guitar player who isn`t playing in a band (eventually a choice would have to be made) and who is looking for a motivated, dedicated brutal & technical death metal band. Candidates would have to have own equipment, transportation, ... Have some decent working knowledge of music and have enough technical skills, as the guitarriffs are often heavily fusion-jazz inspired. And last but not least: be dedicated to rehearse several times a week, play gigs & tours, record albums, ...
Seems I`m out of questions here. Thanks a lot for your time.
Band information.
Site: www.emeth.be/
Info/booking: info@emeth.be
