Lair Of the Minotaur
Wywiad przeprowadził Wouter Roemers
Imagine of you will a band that has the epic songwriting skill of Metallica in their Cliff Burton-era, add a shot of Slayer's blistering first two records, mix it up with some classic early Celtic Frost and finish it off with a sludgy heavy bottom-end groove not like High On Fire. If this sounds anywhere near your liking Chicago hopefuls Lair Of the Minotaur will without doubt be the band you need to hear. Coming to us by way of Southern Lord, the doom/drone specialist label ran by Sunn O))) founding members Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson, Lair Of the Minotaur are bound to make waves in the future. The band's latest offering "The Ultimate Destroyer" hit the mark and I caught up with guitarist/vocalist Steve Rathbone to talk about the band's swift rise in the international metal underground.
Thanks a lot for talking to us. How's everything in the Lair Of the Minotaur camp as of late?
The new album is doing really well. We're currently looking for a new drummer. Larry recently moved to LA. We were going to do a long distance thing, but we decided it would be best to find someone locally. Besides that, we are writing new material for the 3rd album.
Can you give me a brief introduction to the band...how it all got started, that kind of thing?
It was an idea I had been holding onto for a long time. DJ (bass) played guitar in my other band 7000 Dying Rats with me. Larry (drums) was an old friend, we used to work together, and we met up again at 7000's last show. Pelican was playing and I was blown away by them. I knew that he liked Slayer, so he was the first person I asked to play drums.
Describe the thoughts you had in conceptualizing the kind of band you wanted Lair Of the Minotaur to be.
The original LOTM demos were written with the intention of making pure and simple bad ass metal. At the time there were a lot of bands that we're calling themselves "metal", but it didn't sound like it to me. So I wanted to make something pure. Using sword and sorcery type lyrics and imagery, and headbanging thrash music.
Congratulations on the new album "The Ultimate Destroyer". I'm assuming you must be pretty pleased with it?
Thanks. Yes, I'm extremely happy with how it came out. Raw and aggressive.
How do you feel the new album stands up next to your back catalogue? Where would you put it?
Well, I think it's much better than "Carnage". Six of the eight songs on "Carnage" were from our original demo, so it's different to me. The songs are better. I wasn't really trying on "Carnage".
Are there any songs on the album that you particularly enjoy? Any interesting stories related any of the tracks or the concepts/thematic of the album?
'Horror' is my favourite. It's pretty much the essence of what we're trying to do. Simply pounding the listener to death.
Were there any tunes that you really wanted to have on the album that didn't go on it?
No, everything made it on that needed to be on it. There were some things that maybe started as songs but got phased out during the writing process - if it didn't belong. All the songs were written together, with the intention of it being a complete work.
You're coming to us by way of Chicago, home of such illustrious old school genre fiends as Usurper, Cianide, etc. What is it about Chicago that makes it produce such utterly crushing and relentless extreme metal acts?
Not sure. I'm originally from Detroit. I hear Chicago is one of the biggest metal markets in the US. It's the Midwest mecca, and metal speaks volumes to Midwesterners. I'm a huge fan of both Usurper and Cianide. Good guys.
Greek mythology is the central influence in the band's lyrical content, alongside classic '70-'80s horror movies – where does this fascination originate from?
Well, probably from playing Dungeons & Dragons. I was really into The Aeneid by Virgil, Dante's Inferno, Robert E. Howard, etc. The lyrics are like little horror movies. They're intended to be over-the-top and gory. The way metal lyrics should be.
I take it you are well read on the subject matter, unless you do a really good job of fooling people.
Yeah, I can read. Ha...
I love the sound mix on this album: so dark, so dense, with a thunderous rhythm section. How much work went into getting just this really old school, bass-heavy sound for this album?
That is also intentional. We play in B, and push the lows pretty hard. I don't like metal guitars that sound like they're in a tin can, and kick drums that sound like taps. I want it to 'grind'. It was a mixture of our natural sound and Sanford Parker's engineering.
Is that whole natural, organic approach essential to capturing the trademark Lair Of the Minotaur sound?
Yes, that's it. No triggers or click tracks. No excessive overdubbing. Raw and punishing.
Most of the band's albums have been recorded by Sanford Parker. How did this working relationship come to be?
Sanford had recorded Pelican's first EP. I loved the sound on it, so we decided to use him for our demo (which ended up becoming most of "Carnage"). We've recorded with him ever since. He has a great ear and knows what we're trying to do.
Was your approach to the writing and recording of "The Ultimate Destroyer" much different than the approach you took with the previous releases?
We had a budget... that helps. And the first stuff was written and recorded with no pretence beyond playing a few shows and passing it around amongst friends. The Ultimate Destroyer was more of a honed vision.
Do you find it challenging to make this type of extreme music as a power trio?
No, it works just fine. Plus, the less people there are in the band, the fewer problems you have with scheduling tours, practices, etc. More room in the van...
You're currently being hailed as a fresh wind in an otherwise quite stale and generic music scene. I guess it must be artistically fulfilling to see that all the hard work is paying off?
Thanks. Yeah, it's nice that people have responded the way they have to us. I didn't think people would like us at all. So everything that has happened in the past 2 years has been a pleasant surprise.
"The Ultimate Destroyer" is your third release on Southern Lord Records. How has the relationship with them been up to this point?
Really cool. We were big fans of the label before we got signed and still are. Honoured to be in such good company.
Quite an unlikely partnership for Southern Lord, they usually sign extreme doom metal bands. What led to the decision for Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley to sign Lair Of the Minotaur to their label?
It was all due to Southern Lord's web designer. He had ordered a demo from us and was really into it. He kept telling Greg Anderson about us and finally Greg asked him to send him a copy of our stuff. He got a hold of us after listening to it and offered us the deal. We had only been a band for about 6 months at that point.
You've been quite productive as a band with respect to releasing albums on a fairly regular basis. Are you a band that likes to stay busy? Can we expect this level of productivity in the foreseeable future?
As long as there are all these riffs in my head, we'll keep doing it. I would never want to force it. I never force myself to write, I only do it when it haunts me.
Are there any plans at this point to take "The Ultimate Destroyer" on the road across Europe?
I'd love to. Possibly early next year.
Thanks a lot for taking time out to talk to us. Closing comments are yours... Cheers!
Thanks for listening. Look out for the next album, so far the songs are FUCKING SICK!
Site: www.lairoftheminotaur.com
Info: lairoftheminotaur@hotmail.com
