Emeth
Wywiad przeprowadził Wouter Roemers
Two years ago Belgian trio Emeth released their critically acclaimed debut "Insidious". Now, some two years later and expanding to a quintet the band released their second recording "Reticulated" last April through US based extreme metal label Brutal Bands. "Reticulated" improved the debut on every aspect and an interview with guitarist/main songwriter Matty Dupont was in place. Despite being active in Belgian brutal death metal institution Aborted and his own Emeth, Dupont found time in his busy schedule to fit in our interview. As always, Dupont doesn't shy away from providing in-depth answers. 
Your new album "Reticulated" was released recently (April 30) through US based label Brutal Bands - how have the press and fan reactions been thus far?
We are still waiting for more reviews of the album but I can so fat that the responses have been very, very good. The music-press is calling it "an impressive album", "Musically it's a masterpiece of the genre" and that "Emeth has compositional abilities that may carry them among the best in Metal". So, that kinda sums up what the reactions are so far.
Since your debut "Insidious" you have enlisted two new members, filling the bass and second guitar slots. Can you tell us how and why you recruited those specific people?
That is correct we added Peter on guitar and Kevin on bass. We've added them because they are good musicians and their musical abilities added a lot to the Emeth sound in a live situation. They did not really partake in any songwriting nor will they do in the future. They are, so to speak, solely added to the band as live musicians. This is working out great for the band and gives us the possibility to perform in the best circumstances, and provide the fans what they expect: Extreme Belgian Sickness it its best.
"Reticulated" seems to be a lot more natural and varied, vocally, in comparison to your debut. What brought on these changes - a lot of bands in your genre aren't known for interesting vocal patterns to begin with?
I never wanted a band that keeps doing the same thing over and over again. When I started writing the "Reticulated" material it became pretty obvious that the new songs incorporated a lot more melody and dynamics. Using only the guttural grunts flattened out the music just too much. We tried out several new things and finally decided to change the vocal approach in order to emphasize the dynamics and aggression. Compared to the first album -which was mainly focussed on brutality - "Reticulated" has a more aggressive straight into your face feeling.
"Insidious" was released in June 2004, which is 2 years ago now. Despite the extensive touring in both Europe and the US, the enlisting of two new members - you have fluently delivered another 10 slabs of highly proficient technical death metal. Emeth doesn't seem to rest on their laurels, does it?
No, not at all! Apart from playing in the band all of us have a full-time day job because every month we have rent and bills to pay, families to feed, etc. Opposed to what people sometimes expect we are not making money by playing in our band. We are happy if we can sell some merchandise and get paid at our concerts, so we can cover our outgoing expenses. But what can I say? It's something we love to do. A band has got to do what a band has got to do. Playing in a band and being a musician is one of the most important things in our lives, so it's normal that we want to make records, do gigs all the time, etc.
When working on "Reticulated", were there any elements from your debut album that you wanted to keep and were there any particular things you were looking to improve?
Due to the extensive touring and playing in a live situation one surely discovers the strengths and weaknesses of the songs you play. Which was a good thing for me personally as a songwriter, but also a good thing for the band to experience. It made us more conscious about certain important aspects both band-wise as music-wise. I tried to incorporate all those lessons into the new songs without loosing that what Emeth has become know for: extreme Belgian sickness!
With regards to creating music, how do you usually go about writing songs? Do the ideas begin with riffs, lyrics, or a mix? Does any member take the lead role over another?
All music is written by myself, Matty. I write a complete song and bring that to the rehearsal room. From that moment on we try to play the song all together. It's evident that arrangement changes occur every now and then. Everyone in the band puts his own identity into the song by learning and playing his own musical part.
Emeth seems to be able to retain some melody, yet also drives things forward with speed and power. Do you have a set formula for the band's sound, or are you trying to keep all options open so as to not become an "every song sounds the same" band?
There is no set formula to the songwriting. I just try to write good songs. All things that are going on in a song are there because the demand for those particular things. I am not going to add something to a song just for the sake of adding it or showing that we can pull it off.
The production is really nicely thick and pristine this time around. Once again Excess Studio in Rotterdam was used to record. Mixing was done at Dug Out Studio and mastering was done at the Cutting Room in Sweden. I guess Emeth is a priority band for Brutal Bands?
Yes, we decided to record again at the Excess Studio because of its professional attitude. All the people who work there really know what they are doing at all times. Also the fact that we recorded the first album there provided a good basis to go back. The engineers knew us and the music we make. We are always staying in contact with each other. When the time came to record again they had a fairly good idea about where I wanted to go with this second Emeth recording. The mixing was done at the Dug Out Studio by Daniel Bergstrand. The mastering was indeed done at the Cutting Room.
I understand that metal mastermind Daniel Bergstrand did the mixing on the past Emeth album. What is it like working with Daniel at the Dug Out Studio in Sweden?
It was a great experience for me - as the main songwriter - to work with Daniel Bergstrand. He came with an open approach to the album and brought in a lot of his own ideas while we were working on the mix. The best thing was that he didn't use any set formula for mixing our album. He really wanted to display that Emeth is a band that wants to evolve and does not want to sound the same over and over again. I think the "Reticulated" album really benefits from his many years of experience with bands like Meshuggah, Dimmu Borgir, In Flames, etc. I hope the future will bring more opportunities for Emeth to work with Daniel.
How is your relationship with Brutal Bands? Do you feel they have helped you a lot in making Emeth a household name in the international scene?
Well, still being a fairly unknown band from little Belgium isn't the best position to get yourself some widespread attention in the media. But we have got a great deal with BRUTAL BANDS and they really believe in Emeth's music and support the band 100%. They really put lots of effort in it to get our band around and our music out there. 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. We can't say that it doesn't work because we are getting more and more interviews and reviews. Our webvisitors 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.
As far as touring is concerned, I understand Canada and Mexico are next on the map. Who's putting these tours together?
Yes, that's correct. At the moment we are negotiating with several agencies to see who will be putting the tour together. So, at this moment it's hard to say who is doing what exactly concerning these tours. These things need time to be set up in a decent manner: promotion and advertising. There is no use in going to these countries when it's not in the best possible conditions to get the band promoted over there.
Matty, since a while you also are also active full-time in acclaimed Belgian death metal combo Aborted. Won't this cause scheduling conflicts with Emeth, since Aborted have a pretty exhausting touring schedule lined up?
Haha, everybody keeps asking me this. Well, let's say I have a good agenda that I always have around. That's a real must for me, I should say. Secondly, it helps a lot that both bands work in a professional way; all time available is well used. Plus, both bands perform on such a frequency that one can easily maintain a 'routine'.
Now that we're talking past and present bands - tell us a bit about your brief stint with revered Belgian cult grindcore formation Agathocles. You were with them for 5 years or so, I believe.
Yeah, that was like 8 or 9 years ago. I had some good times with them back then, but through out the years I found my own way in music. Which is pretty different from what I did with Agathocles. None the less it was a good experience to play in a band with such international activities.
What are your opinions on the current day Belgian extreme metal scene? Things are finally looking up, it seems. There are a few very promising acts working the underground circuit. Share your thoughts with us about the domestic scene.
There are some good bands around in Belgium: Aborted, Leng Tch'e, Suhrim, etc to name some. It's good to see that there is a good positive vibe between most of Belgium's bands. That's all good because it can only help putting Belgium on the international music map.
People criticize death metal as a music genre with pointless views, where the band is only hitting people's neck with riffs, drums, bass, etc. - but on the lyrical side it contains nothing at all. Has the underground dumbed things down to an extent, with bands writing excellent music, but failing to deliver on the lyrical/content part?
The lyrical content is important to me, I think it can add a lot of feeling to a song. With Emeth there is an inward-looking, introspective, self-referential exploration wherein the main movements of metaphor and transgression/transcendence happening on a subtle, finely detailed plane, rather than a projecting outwards of openly emotive/evocative themes. The importance to the reader depends on the reader because the subject isn't always very clear if you read the lyrics, so there is a huge freedom of interpretation. If one does take the time to read the lyrics the reader's own interpretation of the lyrics will define the written subject. In this sense one could say that my lyrics are a paradox. They "refuse" people's attempts to empathize with its true subject, yet it is needed to read them and think them over to interpret them.
What is on the agenda next for the band? A tour? Working on a new album?
Well, there is lot happing at the moment. The release of the new album surely brings a lot of requests for performances along. We will be spending a lot of time on stage again through out the upcoming months. If people are interested to have Emeth playing a show, fest, etc in their area they are encouraged to contact us at: booking@emeth.be . We are negotiating with several tour-promoters, so hopefully we will be able to join a good tour package and tour Europe. Actually, the upcoming months Europe will be our priority to play. 2007 will probably bring another US tour and a Canadian & Mexican tour.
Site: www.emeth.be
Booking: booking@emeth.be
