Abysmal Torment
Wywiad przeprowadził Wouter Roemers
Last February "Epoch Of Methodic Carnage" the full length debut of Maltese violent death/grind formation Abysmal Torment hit the shelves worldwide. The quintet presented 10 tracks of relatively fresh sounding death/grind that contains enough breakdowns and groove to appeal to both ends of the death and grind audience. Talking to us is vocalist Gordon Formosa, who found some spare time in his busy schedule to answer a number of questions about Abysmal Torment, the new record and how it is for an extreme metal band to live and operate from an isolated island as Malta.
Hi guys! How's everything in the sunny Malta at the moment?
To tell you the truth, it's too sunny for my tastes, everyone tends to stink like a goat in this sort of weather especially while playing death metal in a small garage were each one of us can have an even more compelling experience of our armpits! At the moment everyone is fine...inversely proportional to the rising temperature skirts getting shorter by the hour and soon Malta will be swimming in an ocean of titties. It's a pity that we play brutal death grind because the chances we have to get some pussy are equal to those of a fetid toilet seat in a gay bar. Seriously now, at the moment we are quite damn busy with school, work, writing new material and preparing ourselves for our upcoming US tour with Neuraxis, Victimas and Beneath the Massacre.
Last February you have seen the worldwide release of your first full length "Epoch Of Methodic Carnage" through US label Brutal Bands. Are you satisfied with the reactions it has been getting in the last weeks and months?
So far the reaction in response to the new album has been great. All of us are very glad with the sort of feedback we are getting, I mean, we got positive comments about "Epoch" from all over the globe, spanning from Canada to Japan. Probably right now the Dalai Lama is banging the living crap out of his orange hat while listening to "Epoch Of Methodic Carnage". I think so far so good, now we'll just continue to write new material and see what happens next.
"Epoch Of Methodic Carnage" is your second release through US based label Brutal Bands. Are you satisfied with the way Brutal Bands have been going over things, as far as promotion, distribution, touring possibilities and such goes?
Very much so, Brutal Bands has been our turning point, I think. Since we signed the contract Abysmal Torment's name has been spreading like a head lice infestation in a primary school. We are very pleased with the promotion campaign on the part of Scott of Brutal Bands especially for the new album. As for touring possibilities, we have had quite a few offers as well but it's a bit difficult for us to tour much hailing from this wretched island! In fact, our up coming tour in July will be our fist one so as you can see touring is a totally new ground for us.
Abysmal Torment is one of these bands with two vocalists. Bands like Carcass, Exhumed, Goratory and Dying Fetus made this particular element popular in extreme music. What would you consider a distinct advantage of having two guys behind the mic?
We are very much into all the bands you just mentioned here. The thing is not that we thought it's advantageous to have two vocalists. It's just a thing which was decided at the very beginning of Abysmal Torment back in 2000 and it stayed that way. But definitely with two vocalists there is possibility for more dynamics, a thing we are going to explore more in future albums. Also when playing live it's a lot more aggressive and fun to watch and a lot less exhausting on our throats since we sort of share the load, hehe.
The new album is a major leap forwards from the "Incised Wound Suicide" EP. What are the points of progress that the band is most proud of?
First of all the songs on "Epoch" are more individual than 5 tracks on "Incised" and we are very happy with that. Most of the people who gave me some type of feedback with regards to the new album have commented about the better structuring of the songs when compared to the "Incised", but I guess that's only natural when a band is evolving. Overall, we are very satisfied with the way the sound came out although there are a couple of aspects which could have turned out a bit better. Oh well, we'll fine-tune them next time round. One thing I am very proud of is the artwork and packing of "Epoch". The artwork was done by Tony Koehl who did a damn good job! Nicky and myself spent a shitload of time playing with the layout design but it was worth it. Also, this time we could print the lyrics, one thing which "Incised" lacked and I hate albums without lyrics but at the time we couldn't print them because we lacked funds. Now that we are rock stars (hold on I'm vomiting, hehe) we could afford to print them. By the next album we will be able to rock out with our cock out on MTV :)
Besides becoming better musicians and songwriters, did the band grow on a personal level?
Thanks for that comment, man. Yeah, I think we have become better as a band and there are many areas were we can progress further. We are always striving to find a distinguishing style for this band. On a personal level I can't really judge for myself, since the start of the band we certainly have matured in some ways. For example, we are much more relaxed with each other now and rarely have any major conflicting opinions. Don't get me wrong - we're not one happy gay congregation, all of us having very different personalities arguments are bound to arise but nowadays we solve things with much more ease than when we were younger. Man, we're getting old!! I'm the oldest fucker in this band and I have more pressing matters than divergent musical opinions to worry about, like for example the prospect of a prolapsed bladder or arthritis, hehe
How do you write songs, is there a central songwriter in the band or does everybody contribute something to the process?
The major contributor of song writing in Abysmal Torment is David our guitarist. Usually Dave and Wayne (drummer) meet to jam and he comes up with the riffs and structures. But all of us have a say on what stays and what doesn't. Over the years we scraped so much stuff that we could have material for a couple of other albums but that's the way we work; if some thing doesn't sound right we discard it like a used tampon (which we haven't actually used).
When you write such extreme and relentless music, you'll have to be on the same level in the band, I guess. Perhaps everyone wants to put something in it, but where do you draw the line so that the insanity will not come out overdone in the music?
I don't know how to answer this question. It depends on what kind of tastes the listener might have. There where people who said our music complex while others said it is too much confused... We don't really bother much about such comments, we'll continue write new material like we always did.
Together with Beheaded you have put Malta on the extreme metal map on an international level. How would you describe the metal scene in Malta at this point in time?
Let's put it this way, imagine a cage (a very small cage) crammed with angry, hungry and rabid dogs, that's what the Maltese metal scene looks like. One major draw back is that it's highly unappreciated scene, especially when we are talking about extreme metal. Like anywhere else the Maltese scene is made up mainly of bands playing mainstream metal but in the last years things are changing for the better. We have new death metal, death/grind and also black metal acts like Erythuria, Putrid Birth and Thy Legion, among others. 7 years ago or so, the only established death metal band we had here were our fellow grinders Beheaded, the rest where all bands who came and disappeared after a while. A damn pity because some of these bands were really good bands. Geography does pose a major problem to the scene. We are all bottled here and if a band wants to get known internationally it has to spend quite a few bucks from its own pockets to get started.
How was it working with David Vella and Temple Studios again – was it better than with your "Incised Wound Suicide" EP?
Yeah, it was better as a studio experience than that with "Incised". It was better and more stressing at the same time. "Incised" was our first experience in a studio so we didn't quite know how things worked while recording, but it taught us a lot. Temple Studios is by far the best place to record here in Malta. David Vella isn't that familiar with death/grind, he usually works on different, more mainstream kinds of music. Nonetheless, he is always very patient and helpful throughout the whole recording which lasted one week.
The band's music is meant to be played live, in my opinion. I take it you'd rather be on stage than in the studio?
Definitely! I think playing live is the single most important thing of having a band. We all look forward towards the prospect of recording an other full length, but as you've said we'd rather be an stage giving a good show and pounding the living shit out a crazy crowd. Music should be experienced - not just listened to.
As far as touring is concerned is Malta able to offer up a lot of local gigs, or are you more dependent from costly undertakings such as touring Europe and the States?
As I said before, till now Abysmal Torment hasn't sat foot on a stage abroad. We have always gigged here with local bands and on some occasions with foreign bands that came to play here. We never had any big problems with finding venues and organizing gigs here in Malta but hopefully we'll haul our asses to play abroad soon! Living on this island our only pain in the ass with touring shall be travelling expanses.
If I'm informed correctly you'll be touring the US this summer and Europe is planned towards the end of the year. Tell us something about that.
Yeah we will be going to tour with, Neuraxis, Victimas and Beneath the Massacre. This will be the "Trails unto to Sick" tour. We should be playing be playing with great bands such as Vile, Decrepit Birth, Severe Torture, Deeds Of Flesh, Cephalic Carnage, Devourment, Origin amongst other many other great bands which we are all looking forward to meet. We will also be performing at the Central Illinois Metal Fest and Gathering Of the Sick Fest.
Is Abysmal Torment more of a hobby or are you guys willing to give it all you've got?
Hmm let's put it this way, we take this band seriously, if it wasn't so we wouldn't have recorded anything in the first place! If we have the chances to do more or actually make a living out of it we will definitely give it a try but for now we are just taking it seriously as a band, keeping our feet on the ground.
What are your ultimate goals with Abysmal Torment? What else is to expect in the near future from you guys?
In the near future there is the US tour! Since it shall be our first experience we want to make out of it the best we can.
Thanks for the interview. If we may have forgotten something you hereby have to opportunity to say so. Furthermore the last words are completely yours!
Thanks to you for the support and interview! Keep in touch and visit www.abysmaltorment.net and www.myspace.com/abysmaltorment
Band info:
Site: www.abysmaltorment.net
Info/booking: nckfarrugia@yahoo.com
