KORRODEAD
The
prologue belongs to the band itself... "Deep Seeded Hate for Humanity's
Filth": Korrodead illustrate how low we can go as we psychoanalyse their
"Acts Beyond the Pale" split CD. ...So does the interview that follows...
1.TELL US IN A FEW WORDS THE MOST IMPORTANT
MOMENTS OF THE BAND'S HISTORY. WHICH IS TODAY'S LINE UP?
April/May 2000 (six months after
the release of our demo) was a crucial period when we were offered a place
on the bill of the UK's original "Day of Death" event. Within one week
Alex joined the band and gave us the foundation we always wanted to bring
our creative ideas fully to life.
Line-up: Lee Langley, Mike Reeves,
Justin Whittle plus a drum machine in Alex's absence!
2.WHY HAVE YOU NAMED THE BAND THIS
WAY? WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
The name is a distortion of "Corroded".
The fusion of filthy oxidised metal, the Kreator-style "K" prefix and the
"dead" suffix tells people what we represent without being too orthodox.
3.HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU BELIEVE IS THE
CORRECT CHOICE OF A BAND NAME?
The perfect band name should be
both an identifying label for the musical genre and should be unconventional.
"Nile" is an unusual choice of name that indicates the Egyptian content.
"Meshuggah" is a distinctive Hebrew/Yiddish word meaning "crazy" and indeed
they are. In contrast, "Theory in Practice" would have greater recognition
if they had picked a better name.
4.WHICH ARE THE BAND'S MAIN INFLUENCES
(SOME OF YOUR MOST BELOVED ALBUMS)?
We try hard not to sound like others
but when we are compared to our favourite bands we do not complain! The
first five albums that inspired us were Atheist "Piece of Time", Nocturnus
"The Key", Carcass "Necroticism", Death "Human" and Dismember "Like an
Ever Flowing Stream", all of which still sound amazing now. Deicide "Legion",
Bolt Thrower "For Victory", Deranged "Rated-X", Meshuggah "Destroy Erase
Improve" and Suffocation "Pierced from Within" turned up the extremity
in different directions. Recently, Gorguts "Obscura", Nile "Amongst the
Catacombs of Nephren-Ka" and Theory in Practice "The Armageddon Theories"
demonstrate incredible guitar playing in unique contexts.
5.GENERAL INFO ABOUT "ACTS BEYOND THE
PALE"?
The CD is a concept mini-album
dealing with five serial killers. The lyrics emulate the inner thoughts
of these men and the music is the horror soundtrack to both their actions
and the consequences. We wanted to produce tracks that sounded harsh and
unpredictable, but with an overall structure that reflected the complete
personality of the subject matter. We neither defend nor oppose the killer
mentality, we merely state its existence by laying bare human frailty and
distilling it through a barrage of hostility and darkness.
6.ARE YOU STILL SATISFIED WITH IT OR
IS THERE ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO CHANGE?
The remixed version on the split
CD with Obsecration has better instrument separation without sacrificing
too much heaviness from the original cut. The main problem is that the
original recordings were made on old equipment. To keep up with the expectations
of listeners you have to get the best quality recordings to bring out all
the dissonant harmonies and the full tones. The best results harness both
the raw energy and the professional delivery. Our emphasis has been too
much on expelling our hatred and bile, but this is the toughest thing to
balance in any music, particularly in death metal.
7.WHAT MADE YOU WRITE ABOUT THESE GUYS
IN PARTICULAR?
Typical of many serial killers,
the five subjects were not motivated by material gain. Chikatilo's actions
were a result of hydrocephalus at birth combined with the frustration of
sexual impotence in later life. Fish was a sadomasochist fascinated by
sensations of extreme pain. Berkowitz lacked so much confidence that he
drove himself inwards and became his own destructive puppeteer. Ramirez
was brutalised and developed sadistic tendencies as a child, culminating
in dominant acts of violence. Sutcliffe's detestation of prostitutes made
him the modern-day Jack the Ripper. We chose subjects that disturbed us
the most.
8.WHICH WERE YOUR SOURCES?
Lee has been collecting books and
encyclopedias on serial killers for a while, but special TV documentaries
were most useful. Most of our samples come from either the mouths of the
killers or psychologists from those shows. In the fictional world, authors
like Poppy Z Brite have researched killers and produced some inspiring
and poetic insight into the mind of the serial murderer.
9.HOW ARE YOU PLANNING TO PROMOTE YOUR
WORK (DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR THE FUTURE)?
We are poor salesmen and prefer
to let the product sell itself! Creation is still our motivating force
but after the next release we will target fans outside the UK because that's
where our best responses have come from. We don't like the merchandising
side of extreme metal but we will produce T-shirts to support the next
CD, purely because we have had a lot of requests for some. Be sure though
that we will put nearly all our efforts where it counts - into the music.
10.YOU TOOK PART IN THE "DAY OF DEATH"
CONCERT IN LONDON, SHARE WITH US YOUR FEELINGS AND EXPERIENCIES YOU GAINED
THAT DAY?
Our 30-minute performance on the
prestigious "Day of Death" included early versions of two tracks from "Acts
Beyond the Pale" and our first drummer's most confident performance. The
response was very positive and we gained some die-hard fans that day. Our
choice of Death cover ("Born Dead") proved popular, too. We are proud to
have been involved in the UK's first money-raiser for the late great Chuck
Schuldiner. Korrodead translates well in a live environment because our
sound is consistent with our recordings. No live performance has been as
exciting for us since but we always give maximum effort nonetheless.
11.WHICH SONG OF YOURS DO YOU THINK
IS THE MOST IDEAL TO REPRESENT YOUR WORK?
"Demonic Disciple" was the first
song that we wrote with Alex and it started a creative leap in which we
were trying more unorthodox song structures, sounds and techniques that
continued into "Coagulate" and our recent material.
12.IF YOU HAD A HUGE BUDGET TO MAKE
A PROPER VIDEO CLIP FOR THIS SONG, HOW DO YOU IMAGINE IT TO BE?
Lee is a huge fan of horror movies
and would request someone like Jorge Buttgereit (Nekromantik, Schramm)
to direct a video for us. It would probably follow a Ramirez attack and
depict his monstrous defiance at his trial.
13.WHAT MADE YOU INVOLVE WITH MUSIC
IN THE FIRST PLACE?
We all started listening to eighties
thrash metal due to its speed, energy and aggression. We liked the way
the musicians tried to push back the boundaries of extremity and naturally
we followed the rise of death metal and its mutation over the years. Our
appreciation for the music led to us starting to invent our own material.
We would probably have never bothered learning to play instruments if it
wasn't for our obsession with extreme metal!
14.WHICH IS THE BEST PART IN YOUR MUSIC
AND IN THE BAND IN GENERAL AND WHICH THING DO YOU THINK YOU SHOULD CORRECT
(WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU NEED IMPROVEMENT)?
The best parts of any band are
usually those things that are rarely heard elsewhere. The harmonies between
the bass and guitar are often unconventional, using polyrhythms and dissonant
chords to weave a murky web of heaviness. We adopt the modern approach
of mixing speeds and varying complexity. We use detail, manipulation and
technicality at a subtle level that enhances the music rather than dominates
it. Our sound itself has been described as "incredibly heavy" by Terrorizer
magazine but we try to use only riffs that sound good whatever the sound
setup. We need to explore our unorthodox approaches more to gain individuality,
as Cryptopsy have done recently with their own idiosyncrasies. We also
need to make Korrodead a tighter unit, smoothing out chaotic bloodrush!
15.HAVE YOU READ ANY INTERESTING BOOKS
LATELY?
"The Demon-Haunted World" by Carl
Sagan. It attacks everything that is truly annoying and illogical about
human beings.
16.HAVE YOU WATCHED ANY INTERESTING
MOVIES?
"Memento" is a unique film about
a guy with no short-term memory who fools himself into killing out of false
vengeance.
17.WHICH WERE THE REACTIONS OF THE
FANS AND PRESS FOR "ACTS BEYOND THE PALE" (ARE YOU SATISFIED BY THE FEEDBACK)?
Nearly all reactions have been
positive, and we have taken note of the constructive criticism offered
for future reference. Our morbid and inventive style has given us a cult
following of die-hard fans who demand merchandise and want to hear more
material. We value these fans very highly and will never forget their generous
words. The UK's Terrorizer magazine described the CD as "incredibly heavy"
and a "frightening eruption of misanthropy". Most importantly, we agree
with most of the feedback and will develop accordingly.
18.ARE YOU ANNOYED BY THOSE GUYS WHO
JUDGE THE ARTISTIC VALUE OF A RELEASE BY THE NUMBER OF COPIES IT SELLS?
Yes. To quote Napalm Death: "Mass
Appeal Madness eats your brain"!
19.WHY DO YOU THINK THERE ARE MANY
BANDS IN THE EXTREME METAL GENRE THAT EXPRESS RACIST IDEOLOGIES (WHICH
ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT)?
The quality of the music must take
precedence over the ideologies of bands. However, bands can devalue their
music by using it to spread a political message, whether good or bad. Like
religion, racism is a tribal influence from the past. Both are hypocritical
and demean our intelligence. At least misanthropes treat all of humanity
with equal disgust! Racism incites anger and hatred. Many bands try to
use this to give their music more power. This is particularly true of early
black metal, in which the evil image was used to attract a tribal following.
This approach works, but bands that achieve these emotional levels through
their music alone deserve much greater credit.
20.WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WEREN'T
ABLE TO COMPOSE MUSIC?
First we'd get really depressed
then the killings would begin! Seriously though, we'd replace it with something
creative. Lee would probably start making his own horror movies, and maybe
one of us would start to do artwork (inspired by Damon Green, who has contributed
to Korrodead artwork).
21.WHAT PROLOGUE AND TITLE WOULD YOU
LIKE THIS INTERVIEW TO HAVE?
"Deep Seeded Hate for Humanity's
Filth": Korrodead illustrate how low we can go as we psychoanalyse their
"Acts Beyond the Pale" split CD.
22.THANK YOU!HAVE I FORGOTTEN TO ASK
YOU ANYTHING AND YOU'D LIKE TO MENTION?
Our new material includes a song
called "Roaring with Bestial Depravity", detailing Peter Stump, one of
the oldest documented serial killers. Thanks for taking an interest in
the band. I hope these answers are satisfactory for your magazine.
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