Lividity
Wywiad przeprowadził Wouter Roemers
For almost two decades now Decatur, Illinois death metallers Lividity have been perverting the underground scene with their patented style of groovy death metal. From the earlier records with Matt Bishop behind the microphone to the more recent blastfest that was 2006's "Used, Abused, And Left for Dead" Lividity never compromise. "To Desecrate and Defile" - released on the tall end of 2009 - is no different, although it sees the band returning to their more classic sound of old. Dave Kibler (vocals/guitar) was eager to talk to Masterful Magazine about this new record, their new label contract and the band's current line-up.
To tell you the truth, I have known your name for years. Yet only recently had the opportunity to check you out. 2010 marks Lividity's 17th year of existence on the global extreme metal scene. Are you planning on doing a special release of some kind once the second decade approaches in about three years?
Dave: I don't know if that is good or bad, that you just hear us for first time with the newest members. You may go through the Lividity catalogue and wonder what all the hoopla was about. You will not understand the progress album to album. May be disappointing. I hope not... As for your genius idea of having something special planned for the Summer of 2013 for our 20th anniversary of existence, I like it, and maybe we should plan some kind of recording, special edition anniversary shirt, tour maybe... My wheels in the brain are working now!! I can visualize it. I would think we are fat losers if we didn't, so watch out!! I have to say, I am as hungry today and want to crush a stage as much as I did in 1993 when this started as a one man operation. I'm still here enjoying myself and writing some of the best music with Von (vox / guitar), Garrett (drums) and Jake (bass)!!
Compared to other long-running American death metal acts like Cannibal Corpse, Immolation, Incantation, Malevolent Creation, Suffocation or Vital Remains - Lividity has always been considerably more underground and not nearly as visible in the press and such. You've been touring steadily in North America and Europe for a number of years now. To what would you contribute Lividity's general lack of attention in the specialized metal press?
Dave: Well, for starters, I am pretty sure that gutting whores and masturbating in their oozing organs and faeces are pretty disturbing and maybe borderline juvenile for such press to accept what we are singing about. I guess that is the beauty of it all. Still doing our way, no compromising. Each album is more sick, more disturbing, and voluptuously delicious!! The musicianship is well-crafted and each member feeds off each other real well when creating and the live stage. Maybe a lot of the inconsistencies in the early stages of not touring consistently, and through each album and tour there were new members. Always a rotation of flesh blood occurring, that would hold us back maybe, where there was old songs to teach and new songs to create so we can get an album out. We are our worst enemies, believe it. At the same time those bands you mentioned were paving the ways of death metal and Lividity was very influenced by those bands and we weren't groundbreaking, just in your face aggression and hatred, playing everything we could mixing it up with grinds, grooves, break downs, chorus', cover tunes, old school!! We are definitely a peoples' band and we are not an industry band. That is very cool with us.
"Used, Abused and Left For Dead" ended the band's contractual stint with German label Morbid Records, who released "...'Till Only the Sick Remain", the "Live in Germany" DVD and "Live Fornication". What events led to the band's eventual departure from the label?
Dave: Actually, "Live Fornication" was released by ourselves with Von's label (Epitomite Productions). However, we had a 2 CD deal with Morbid Records, "Used, Abused..." album was the 2nd one. They also produced DVD of Lividity split "Live" from / Waco Jesus The Commerce Fest 2005. The albums were 2002 and 2006, so quite a substantial time apart from creating the 2nd album. Everything was great for a couple years with Morbid. Lots of interviews, merchandise, hooked up with the tour agency that brought is over to Europe 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009 (we had also been there 1999, 2004, 2008 and will be there again August 11 - 21, 2010). Communication slowed down, Carsten lost a great soldier who formed his own Viking Metal label, and we got impatient and frustrated with certain situations. Was ready for some new scenery.
"To Desecrate and Defile" is currently out on two labels. In North America Von Young's own Epitomite Productions is marketing, distributing and promoting the record, while in Europe German label War Anthem Records is responsible. How is this working out for you - was this to retain as much control over the product as possible?
Dave: Actually, War Anthem Records in Germany is our main label that we are signed to. Von does handle the North American side of pressings with his label and together we are plaguing the world!! So it is a great team. Wasn't to gain control, but one things we noticed with Morbid Records and the release of "...Til Only The Sick Remain" that it wasn't getting any USA press and distribution. We had bought a couple times from Morbid (our own albums) and it was tough, so with that 4 year break and not existing in our own country, with the hiring of Von Young, he was already in the process of getting his label up and running and now everything has been available through us for nearly 2 - 3 years. War Anthem Records granted us the same request and we are able to push our own as well and with us doubling up and nearly 5000 copies pressed at once that is a great start. There were also pressed CD / DVD digi pack special edition from our Live set at Party.San Open Air Festival in Bad Berka, Germany 2008. That was our last show with our last bassist, Chris Campbell (2003 - 2009) and we have our newest bassist on the album, Jake Lahniers (Jan. 2009).
Compared to a lot of other contemporary death metal acts Lividity has always written heavily structured songs that have a recognizable beginning, middle and end section. Despite playing at steady speed you fear not to slow down every once in a while to let the songs (and listener) catch a breath. Playing at high speed constantly can get a band only so far, would you agree?
Dave: Yes, I think doom pace and break downs are great to keep a song interesting and the listener hooked. Maybe you have not heard "Used, Abused And Left Dead" 2006 when we had Jordan Varela in the band. That was a great psycho ride of an album!! Very fast and stepped the bands integrity up quite a bit. So working on "To Desecrate And Defile" 2009 album, we have the hooks back and had to keep it all stepped up a notch to be as intense as the previously mentioned album. I think we achieved a great balance on the new material. It was a lot of fun to create and all members contributed in making either a full song or collaboration. You can hear all of our background if you are familiar with the early Illinois bands of Corpsevomit (Chicago) [yes, they had a great Autopsy vibe, ed.] and Deaden (Champaign) plus I pull out some familiar formula to it.
This new record is more of a return to Lividity's groovier sound of old. "Used, Abused and Left For Dead" was blast-oriented and somewhat of an exception considering Lividity's knack for writing albums that combine equal amounts of groove and grind. Are you happy the way this new record turned out?
Dave: We are very happy and feel we have justified the perfect blend of speed and groove with this new album. We had fun creating it and everything came natural, as it being the first time that the 4 of us could write together and it was an amazing experience. When Von joined in 2005 to hit the studio for "Used, Abused..." album we had written all the material and most lyrics, so he wrote one song (Seven19), and learned the rest. Jordan was a demon on the kit and to this day we still respect his domination and execution on that material. I can't picture those songs any other way. I think we could have left the two older cuts ('Stench of Virginity' / 'The Urge To Spurge') off, a little confusing to the listener, and took a bit till curtain parts came up that those were the songs. But we had full participation on "To Desecrate..." and each of us have a similar background in music and the scene. Even Jake, being the "kid" of the band at ripe age of 25 is familiar with the old school. Jake wrote a song called ('Orgasmic Flesh Feed'), writing all the riffs, a lot of the ideas he came up with while on the Europe tour of ours April 2009. Came home and we hooked it up. It is really in vein of Lividity formula and very appealing. So, we all took part! Best time ever writing an album and I guarantee you hear that connection in this new material. We recorded the two Blood cover songs for a special tribute album coming out on Texas label, Burning Dogma Records, which is ironic that we are working together on this tribute. First off, Blood are great friends of ours. Have influenced Lividity from the beginning and some of the newer songs are evident as we also put the two covers on the album as well. It completes the material and compliments a full circle of underground activity through the years. I love it and can't get enough of it. I had given Ricky Lockett (label owner) his first taste of Blood back in the day. Maybe somewhere between 1996 - 1998. Great honour indeed to be a part of it.
Once again you recorded at Mercenary Digital Studios in Zion, Illinois with producer/engineer Scott Creekmore. I must say the production is absolutely phenomenal. Utterly massive and crushing but crunchy and clear at the same time. I take it you're happy the way the recordings sounded at the end of the day?
Dave: Thanks so much for the killer words and opinion. That means a lot to us and after every listen I realize we came out with a really professional yet underground styled release. Still pushing the boundaries but with more discipline now and the motto has never changed... "The faster of riff, the tighter we execute, the slower the riff, the heavier the chord". It's a punishing album in every degree to me. I am listening to 'Adapting the Flesh' / 'Surrounded by Disgust'. Brutal!! Scott has a great ear for death metal and finding the tight spots efficiently. Scott has my vote for "independent recording studio of the year" in my book.
The artwork of Isis Design Studio is also quite the revelation. It continues the band's long tradition of combining perversion and sex with gore and splatter. I take it you are satisfied the way Isis Design has translated your ideas into this cover?
Dave: It is a perfect revelation, tribulation, honoring sickness to its fullest. Isis Design only did our layout of MySpace profile and we took his files and made the album layout coincide with the MySpace so it all worked together. Jamali of Metal Artist on MySpace had done the cover art. He is from Singapore and does great work, and he worked with us and our ideas, painstakingly I believe, and it is the best it can be. We have a chick doing the crazy deeds and she is riding that corpse in the morgue and you sense the lust she is going through and the orgasmic pleasures she feels. It's a beautiful thing.
By now Lividity has amassed as much live recordings as studio albums in their discography. Is this a tradition of the old days of releasing a live album around each studio recording an its subsequent touring campaign?
Dave: I think listening to Lividity live is as enjoyable, if not more, than studio technology. You get the band at its finest. Raw, aggressive, aural assault and tongue lashing!! I think we rip it up live real well. It does make for great filler work in between studio albums. Vinyl is always a plus as I love vinyl and is true underground style! It helps tour campaign as well, when folks can relish the live recordings and make them want to come out and witness the madness. I like it, we won't stop doing the special underground series of material. In a few short months there will be 2 - 3 new items for the die-hard Lividity freak. 3" mini CD split with Necrocannibalistic Vomitorium (Ukr), split CD with Flesh Grinder (Br) and "Cumplete Demography 1994 - 2005". Keep in touch.
In August this year you'll be embarking on a short 10 date European tour to promote this new record. Any chance that you're booking a show in Poland on this forthcoming trek? We love the brutal stuff over here.
Dave: I am not sure if Poland will be on the list, the days will be short and 4 of the dates will be festivals. We haven't all the dates posted yet as we are still collecting. Seems like the trek will take us more towards the south like Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and we end at the North Germany on the Baltic Sea at the Barther Open Air Fest. Going to be a short trip this time around. We did play Poland for the first time last tour April 2009 in Warsaw and Poznan. Great country and I have been wanting to see Poland for quite some time now. Now I hope we can get to the Scandinavian countries as well like Sweden, Norway, Finland, etc...
What's your opinion on the American death metal scene of today? In the late-1990's it was really stagnating. Luckily, some veterans have returned gloriously (Obituary, Suffocation) and there are promising new acts working the club scene relentlessly. What's your opinion on all that?
Dave: I think we have great fans in the States. However, touring is not real good in USA unless you are playing the bar scene. Or a major act like Nile, Behemoth, or Morbid Angel comes through on a weekday it will be OK, but for underground music, you need to stay as weekend warriors to play and succeed. I live in a city called Peoria, Illinois and in my area of Illinois, there is an old bar with new owners (The Brass Rail) and this place has become a great little metal house!! They have radio advertisement for each show (every weekend), and the place packs. Even for the local home town bands. I like it there, good people. It's all about exciting others and great promotion / word of mouth!! Still the old school ways. Bands that rely on computer and MySpace to advertise for them, then they wonder how come the 200 invites to Germany didn't get them a crowd. Hell I make no less than 200 heavy posters 11 inch x 17 in. and plaster them everywhere (as well as the extra push on the MySpace and bulletins)... The Brass Rail have started booking bigger acts as we will play with Cattle Decapitation / Enfold Darkness / Revocation / Heavy Lies the Crown & Vagivore on Monday, May 10!! We are stoked for this show! The place will be packed! You are right about the veterans coming back stronger than ever. Prime example is Kreator! That band is stronger and hungrier today than ever before!! Their music is getting more hateful, demonic, crushing anthems of speed metal. Testament, another band and of course Obituary, Destruction, Suffocation, Nile and more... I will finish up this question by saying that I try and find a way to get to Europe at least once a year. That is home!!
The music business in deep trouble, there's no doubt about that. Illegal downloading is killing smaller record stores and decent small labels are going bankrupt every single day. The sales of physical CD's is falling drastically each year and not only due to the recession of the last years. What's your opinion on all this, has Lividity suffered the consequences from all these events?
Dave: Yeah, you are right. We are our worst enemies. Humans that is... because we build this technology and shove it to the kids! People wonder how come we are hurting for money and in the recession that we can't dig out of! We keep alienating the middle man (small business / distributor) and that breaks the income chain that makes the world survive. Nobody ever has to leave their homes anymore. Everything at their finger tips. This however has not damaged Lividity in any way with sales. I believe getting the CD package is needed to get the full imagery of the band. They are always so graphic, it pleases the masses dark souls.
You went through quite a lot of line-up changes since the band's origin back in January 1993, with Dave Kibler being the only remaining original member nowadays... How did you manage to keep yourself motivated all the time? Has there never been a time of frustration, when you were almost ready to quit as well?
Dave: Yeah, definitely!! Nobody knows the background of Lividity with all the work and discipline needed to keep moving forward. Maybe this is why we progress slowly, or slower than other bands. From day we have always had distance between band members. So travelling and wear and tear have always been a part of the system. So that alone can be frustrating trying to keep schedules locked in. Gas out of pocket, going to other towns that band members live and pick them up for rehearsal and it is out of the way to do so. That was between 1995 - 1998. We changed drummers (Nick) and then he moved (for a job) three hours away, one way... We would practice there. We had a blast but long trip. Started to tour Europe at that time 1999. So the opportunities are growing, didn't want to stop doing it. Still hungry to see more of the world. Nick had a fatal accident in July 2000 and we fumbled around with some more distance of drummers, and it was moving to slow. We found a local drummer (James) and the other two guys still had to drive to us. James was with us 2001 - 2004 and had some issues he wanted to resolve, then I officially quit that October 2004 from the band. In maybe the following two weeks I get a call from Matt [Bishop, former vocalist now booking agent with CIMbat bookings, ed] and he says this dude (Jordan) wants to jam Lividity and keep it going. He lives in North Carolina (1000 miles away from Illinois). So we give it a shot and split airfare plane ticket 4 ways with Jordan and he would fly in for 3 - 7 days at a time and we would go to the studio with him and he played his first show in Germany Fuck The Commerce Fest. Jordan was with us 2004 - 2006 and from that point on we have Garrett in Chicago (still 2.5 hour drive from anybody in the band), but this is most mature the band has been and we get together and do full-weekend rehearsals one time a month, two times if we are lucky. We are having a blast right now and opportunities are still there for us. Throughout all of this with drummers, we were doing the same with bass players and 2 singers. So I have seen every angle of frustration throughout the 17 years.
Is there anything you want to hand down to all the die-hard Lividity fans in Poland which have been anxiously waiting for this new record "To Desecrate and Defile"?
Dave: Be prepared for Lividity at their peak! We are firing on all cylinders now and the new album will contain all the ideas from each studio album, and has a great thick tone and back to the old school ways of jamming. In my book, the best music written so far. The live performance is still sick and crushing for a great visual to watch and participate with. So we are excited to work these new cuts into the set. We played four of them on Europe tour April 2009 before we went to the studio. A lot of fun. Thanks for all the great brutal support through the mail, labels like Mad Lion Records, bands like Damnable, Putridity, Dead Infection, Gehenna, Vader, Behemoth, Hate, Parricide, Incarnated, Dies Irae... The fans through the years, you have helped us keep it fucking sick!!!
Thanks for the interview! Good luck with all your future endeavours. I would like to extend my praise for your a killer and menacing fourth album. The last words are yours.
Dave: Thanks my friend for the killer interview. Great support and spreading our sickness through the vast lands of Poland and beyond! Support the bands that support the scene... SEE YOU SOON!
Info: www.war-anthem.com/
Booking: www.myspace.com/lividity
