Bring On The Brutality

I remember, as 2008 was coming to a close, a brutal band by the name of Grim Demise added me on MySpace. Having such a wanky sterotypical metal name deterred me from listening immediately, but a few days later I decided to investigate. As the music was loading, I noticed they were from Newcastle, for some reason this sunk my spirits lower still (if you’re from Newy, and offended… move) but then the first track kicked in and BAM like a limbless antelope being mauled by a lion, I was swatted around the room in a ceaseless musical barrage the likes Australia has been failing to produce for years. What these guys were doing was not revolutionary in any sense, it was something far simpler than that – they were sticking to a proven formula and they had the dedication to make it sound good.

So, sitting there that lazy afternoon, I though “RIGHT! If these guys keep moving along at the cracking pace they’ve obviously been going, Australia’s in for a good kick in the pants next year.” But, alas, my gluteol predicitons were shattered. Half the band dissappeared, all hope seemed lost, for months, I sat there as they begged for members, hoping and praying that Newcastle had someone that could strum six strings and sound angry. And I would be praying a while.

Jump to now, and the band are doing the odd show around town, but are still down a serious vocalist. Hindering them from progressing any further than what they did initially, and it’s monumentally painful to sit here and watch all that potential slowly evaporate into contempt, boredom and an addiction to one or more brands of fast food.  All this is ultimately stopping a proper release, and ultimately a support slot and/or tour.

Australia hasn’t produced a decent death metal band that was worth a pinch of shit for nearly countless years (except Chaos Divine), I don’t care if you disagree with me either, you’re probably a prick. And when a band finally surfaces, demonstrating the skill, determination and love of the music to pull this fair country out of the heavy metal toilet, they can’t even find a bloke willing to scream into a microphone and have some fun.

Mentioned fleetingly in the previous paragraph, Chaos Divine are proudly wielding the mighty sword of death metal and have been slogging it out for a few years now. And low and behold, like a pack of hungry dogs swarming an unguarded pack of sausages, the Australian metal public have embraced them – leaving them with a record deal and a slot at the Perth BDO (if it finds another venue). This is proof that death metal isn’t just for Norwegians and kids who like their black lipstick, it’s an art form for the intellectual and bogan alike to enjoy. And if you’re a person who doesn’t like death metal, chances are you haven’t heard any, and these two bands are perfect to set you on your way to listening bliss.

And yet, with all this potential for Big Day Out appearances and fancy indie record contracts, Grim Demise still can’t find a vocalist. Highlighting the ridiculous “can’t be fucked” attitude in relation to music that seems to riddle a lot of places (Canberra being a strange exception, along with the more predictable Melbourne). Making this predicament even more baffling is the relative ease of being a death metal vocalist – no lessons, no equipment, no strings to replace, no amps to buy, just get up there and scream your head off.

Regardless of their vocalist predicament, Grim Demise have been working on new material and have still got some old demos up for streaming. Donate your listening time to a band putting in the hard yards for the music they love, and doing a stand up job of it (they’re far more deserving than Fall Out Boy, anyway) And if you know someone who can scream and/or yell their head off living in Syndey or Newcastle, point them in Grim Demise’s direction, and you may help start something amazing.
www.myspace.com/grimdemise

And you can’t forget the jaw-dropping, fist pumping Chaos Divine. Serving up their distinctly different approach to death metal, while retaining all the elements that makes the music great. If you’re in Perth anytime soon, check these guys out live and prepare for one the best experiences of your life; or if you’ve got a couple of spare bucks, why not pick up their album – 10 tracks of mind-altering intensity for $20 (they’ve gotta make a living).
www.myspace.com/chaosisdivine

Hello Sane Age Sins

Forming in Brisbane in 2005, Adelle are quickly making a name for themselves. After independently releasing their debut EP “When Your Voices Aren’t Vices” in 2006 and touring extensively on the back of it throughout 2007, Adelle are back with “Hello Sane Age Sins.” Mission #1 caught up with Michael Parker, Vocialist and guitarist for this unique quartet.

How did the band form?

Adelle was formed in late 2005 during the moments of darkness that define the most interesting part of a solar eclipse. It was exhilarating but over much too soon, observers on the day used adjectives to the likes of captivating and mesmerizing when describing the unison. By late 2006 we had gathered enough intelligence and appropriate auditory material to reproduce discs in sizeable quantities. This first “hearing” was aptly named “When Your Vices Aren’t Vices” due to our large number of personal defects and an even more personal choice to disregard and ignore them. We toured compellingly on this release throughout 2007 assimilating fans in an assortment of environments and realities.

Is there much sadism in the Adelle camp?

Not really, we’re more about creeping you out. Inflicting pain or humiliation on someone is likely to trigger specific predictable reactions in return (namely fight or flight) and predictable equals boring. When threatened or engaged in conflict our actions are designed to induce that uncomfortable sinking feeling in the pits of our rivals stomachs. In fact the trick to this is sexual masochism.

How are you guys looking forward to the upcoming tour? Anything you’re particularly looking forward to or dreading?

The only thing we dread about touring is the fact that we can not log into Second Life every few hours to cause havoc on the B&D rooms with our clown hats and water pistols. Apart from that it is like a party 24/7. My average day on tour consists of waking up, drinks with lunch, chill, play a show, free drinks at venue, chill, party in the room, round of Ouija board then a cooked breakfast about 2-3am before bed. Please note, on travel days all of these event still occur to an absurd degree while in transit.

Tell me about recording Hello Sane Age Sins…

We recorded the tracks with Guy Cooper of Serotonin Productions [A Secret Death, The Combovers, Driven Fear]. After exhaustively doing all the production and recording on “Vices” ourselves this was a welcoming change. Working with talent like Guy and the new crew at Darther Music has not only made the whole project more professional but has given the rest of us a lot more time to lurk the Internet for things like the leaked Veronicas pictures. Words still out on whether they are real or not though. On the more professional note I mentioned above…

“Hello Sane Age Sins” LP is a rendering of raw sound with cunningly astute production, the songs have groove with thrashings of rock and moments of calm, the lyrics are clever yet sharp with shades of malevolence. To me this disc is an anti-movement, awe-inspiring insubordination, like dancing in the underworld, defiance personified.

What were some of the main ideas/themes/inspirations behind the album?

This CD is about doing whatever we feel like providing the vibe is right. However this is simply a reflection of how we write music. You get the feeling a lot of bands write songs and if they don’t turn out enough like their favourite songs at the time they scrap them. This results in a battering of standard sound upon my ear drums neither impressing nor upsetting me, just leaving me speculating about what it feels like to be a drone. In stark contrast to this we let everything fly in all areas of songwriting from pre to post production. Try everything, say anything; if you think it might work it probably will, if it doesn’t use a crazy effect and see where that leaves you. I guess if I had to cap it off it in a statement I’d say open your mind, awaken the senses, be well read and versed even better, don’t follow, thinking for yourself is a choice and you’d be sensible to make it sometime.

Tell me about the voice-overs you use in your songs…

I assume this question pertains to the “new” song on the myspace. Scott recorded this song titled “The Big Picture” using Reason and his laptop; essentially it is a bridging track for between now and when the album is released. It goes well with long winding roads at night or banned substances. The voice over your referring too is that of Edgar Mitchell who is an astronaut that walked on the moon. In this particular snippet he is discussing the occasions when he was briefed by NASA about the existence of extraterrestrials.

Plans for the rest of the year?

When we get home from tour we will be finishing up three new motion picture projections for the album with possibilities for a fourth somewhere in the stratosphere. There are tour follow up shows in NSW planned for October, a weekend up north in the works and a big 2 week tour in Nov/Dec right round to Adelaide. As far as SE QLD is concerned there is a whole stack of shows planned across the city and the coast when we are once again blips on the radar. On the song writing front we have started pre-production on the 3^rd album and are due to start recording later this year. Meanwhile we are shopping “Hello Sane Age Sins” LP to labels and promoters domestic and abroad before its release.

Anything else you’d like to talk about that I haven’t asked?

Sure, at our shows you can get free download cards. You receive a username and password off the card (emblazoned with the CD artwork) and are directed to www.thoughtcoercion.org where you can download 2 unreleased songs off the new album… You can also get them by becoming a field representative; contact us via myspace www.myspace.com/adellegroup for more information.

Adelle are on tour now, hitting Newcastle, Sydney, Canberra, the Central Coast and Brisbane. For more information hit up their myspace,   http://www.myspace.com/adellegroup