Tunguska interview & download

The following is an interview with Kyle Shaw, vocalist for Indianapolis sludge metalers, Tunguska. The band released a 3-song demo in 2008 and have been slaying live since.

1. Who are the members of Tunguska and when (and under what circumstances) did the band form?

Tunguska are myself on vox, Justin Rea on guitar, Roy Hayes on bass, and Eric Unger on drums. It looks like we will be adding this dude, Damon, on second guitar now.

Tunguska was actually birthed from tragedy. Unger had been doing vox for a death/grind band called Means of Terrorism. It was basically Blokhed with a more grindcore approach/aesthetic and a better name. Anyways, their guitarist/main songwriter Shane Barnett had passed away due to a heat stroke in the summer of '07, thus disbanding the band.

I had met Roy just by going to shows. I remember booking a show for Merciless Death at Rippy's house, he thought it was pretty rad, and wanted to help get the word out. Which, I thought was cool. Justin is a good friend of Roy's, and was kinda just hanging out with the guy. Eric and I have been friends for roughly 8-9 years now, and I had always wanted to do something with him. Eric had people over one night at his house, and Roy and Justin were there. Which was funny to me, because at the time, I had no idea they even knew each other. This was all when Shane was still alive, and MOT were working on material. By late winter of '07/early '08, Justin, Roy, and Eric were all working on doing something doomy/sludgy. I always wanted to do vocals for some sort of band, usually in the sludge/grind/HC realm, and figured this was as good as an opportunity as any. So I asked if I could at least try out, and I've been with the band ever since.

2. Although the similarities to such sludge greats as Eyehategod and Iron Monkey are obvious in your songs there's a fresh quality to the writing and execution. Sometimes I hear it as an undercurrent of "darkness" in addition to the usual "turn it up, get fucked up" ethos of the genre. Do you agree and could you talk a bit about how you guys honed your sound, as well as the musical and non-musical elements that shaped it?

Yeah, it's good to call a spade a spade. We are all fans of bands like EHG, Iron Monkey, Sleep, Dystopia, and honestly, we have a lot of similarities to these bands. When we recorded the demo we were only a band for a few months and were generally excited, enthused, and confident about recording and playing shows.

The "darkness" that you speak of is by no means accidental. We all love a lot of death/black metal, and want to incorporate some of those influences in our sound. On the demo, I think there are hints of it, but it's more pronounced on some of the newer material we are working on. I also like a lot of hc/punk and try to convey some of that in our work. Since I'm not really a musician, explaining some things can be difficult, but luckily Justin is a great guitarist and understands stuff like Minor Threat, Discharge, and Misfits.

A lot of compliments we hear is Justin's tone. He can tell you a bit more about it, but he doesn't use pedals. I tried to talk him into using a Boss HM-2 for the buzzsaw tone, but was only into it for a few practices and a show. The distortion is coming straight from the guitar amp! He just used a Hughes and Ketner head, and was using a Sunn beta lead as well. I don't think he's using the Sunn anymore, but using a Laney instead. Roy just uses a big muff pedal, and if I remember right, turns the treble on the amp off, and the bass all the way up. Not sure what he does with the mids.

3. Since the demo didn't include a lyric sheet, what is the nature of the lyrical content? I know you pay attention to politics, both domestically and globally. What role do the vocals take in the band (are your lyrics specific to any particular ideas throughout your songs, ala a unifying theme)?

Well, the main reason why there isn't a lyric sheet is because we didn't want to pay extra money, haha. On the demo, I wrote 2 out of 3 songs. Eric wrote All That is Wrong With This World. All That is Wrong has a strong conspiratorial vibe, whereas mine was more politically charged. Almost everything I have written has had some sort of political undercurrent. Some of it is painfully obvious, some more subtle.

Lately, I've been wanting to go into a more interpretive style. I feel art should be up to whomever is digesting said piece, and can come up with their own conclusions. More and more, I get really bored when listening to a band with an "agenda" be it political, satanic, sXe/vegan, gore, drug/alcohol abuse issues. I'm more interested in lyricists/songwriters with more esoteric ideas. I love films from directors like Lynch, Cronenberg, Park Chan-wook, Miike, where contents aren't so obvious, and the audience is challenged to do some critical thinking. So, while there may be a politcal undercurrent regarding newer material, I don't want to preach, I want people to think.

4. Expanding on the topic of lyrical content, I was wondering if you could give an explanation of each song on the demo?

Sure. With newer material, I probably won't explain what each song's lyrical theme is or will be. Since there is no lyric sheet with the demo, and there's been a bit of a shift in this department regarding content, I feel like it's owed.

Psychocivilized Society-I got this idea from a Spanish physiology professor in the 50's, who more or less introduced the idea of neuroelectronics and brain chips. He called this the idea of a "psychocivilized society". Since then we have seen this idea evolve into RFID chips and ubiquitous camera surveillance which I think is a very scary thing.

All That is Wrong With This World-Again, this is Eric's baby, and my favorite song on the demo. Which is funny, because it used to be my least favorite. We've been talking about scrapping all the '08 demos from our setlists, but I still want this to be a part of it. Here's to fighting, ha! Anyways, it's basically a lot of conspiratoral ideas, and how, well, it's all that is wrong with the world. Everything from masonic rites to illuminati dealings are included in this. It's really a fun song to perform.

Arm Thy Adversary-This is really about how western governments, most notably the US, has no problem arming dictatorships, guerilla factions, only to go to war with the very same people who were propped up with US tax dollars in the first place.

5. What plans do you have for future releases?

We plan on recording for another demo this year. Might be as soon as this month when we start recording. We also plan on doing a split with Coffinworm. It's been talked about for almost a year, but it will happen eventually. After we get those two out of the way, we want to record a full-length, hoping a decent respectable label will put it out.

6. You guys have been rather quiet lately on the live front. Awhile ago there was mention of Tunguska possibly adding a second guitar player to the lineup. Any truth to this, and if so why the decision to add another guitar in the mix?

The reason why we haven't been playing live a lot lately is just to concentrate on newer material. Eric is getting married in the fall, and that has been occupying a lot of time and energy on his end as well. I think we're adding Damon on second guitar. He lives with Justin, and has been friends for a long time. I really wasn't asked about including the guy in the band, I don't even know his last name. It just kinda..happened? We'll see where it goes. He's written some riffs, come up with some ideas that work pretty well, imo. I think the reason to add another guitarist was for more wattage, more ideas, and another rifffinder general.

7. Finally, how can someone outside of Indianapolis get a copy of your demo?

We have a few demos left, like less than 10. If someone would feel so inclined, they can just get in contact with us. We don't have a paypal account made yet for the band, but someone wants to send me/any of the other dudes, a check, money order, or even paypal, to just send us a message via myspace or an email.

******

Tunguska can be reached via email at tunguskaband@gmail.com, or through Myspace at http://www.myspace.com/tunguska317. With the band's permission I've posted a link to download their demo. Enjoy!

Tunguska - Demo 2008: http://www.mediafire.com/?nziqmojmiym

Update - 1/20/08

I have been extremely busy with many things over the last couple of months, which has prevented me from adding new content on a regular basis. Back on track now, though. In light of the lapse of updates, I wanted to thank Chris at Profound Lore Records for being kind enough to send me a few record to review and Dave at Earsplit PR for always keeping new records coming my way.

More reviews to be posted over this next week including some more recent releases from Southern Lord Records, Crucial Blast, Hydrahead, and At a Loss.

Also in the works is a post-studio interview with Karl Simon of The Gates of Slumber, who recently completed work on their upcoming full-length 'Conqueror', set to be released in North America by Profound Lore Records. Look for that to post in the next month or so.

Portal - Outre

Portal – Outre
Profound Lore Records

Strange personalities and extreme ideas are not in any shortage from within portions of the metal community. However, it in the case of Brisbane, Australia’s death metal unit Portal, mystery and weirdness are taken to another level.

Upon hearing their previous full-length, 2003’s Seepia, I was floored. Portal has managed to capture concentrated ugliness and coupled it with brute force, forging their sound into a very original style of death metal. Trying to find out any information about the band in particular is just as mysterious…nothing seems to be revealed, which makes their music all the more intriguing. The imagery used both for their records and live performances play out in a cinematic fashion, exposing horrific visions in black and white and emphasizing the feel of the music quite effectively.

Portal’s latest release, entitled Outre, takes all the horror-like feel of their previous releases and concentrates on a more focused version of itself. The swirling, manic guitar lines are still present and the drumming is still just as incredible, but the arrangements hold a bit more clarity and repetition. This approach works well, as Outre sounds darker and more fucked up than Seepia and gives more of a platform for vocalist The Curator’s growls and raspy lines. The effect sounds like a series of invocations given over a death march. While the production is maybe even less crisp than Seepia, I can’t say this is a bad thing. Overall, I’d say this is Portal’s best effort to date and by far worthy of picking up (as well as the re-issue of Seepia, also on Profound Lore Records). Those with adventurous tastes or a need for real brutality will not be disappointed.

Atavist - II: Ruined

Atavist – II: Ruined
Profound Lore Records

The sludge and doom genres hold a slippery slope in the realm of talent and personal style. Any asshole can write slow riffs or stand in front of a full stack, shoving a guitar into the speakers and ‘utilizing’ feedback. With the increase in popularity of slow arts (just like with any sub-genre or musical faction), every now and then there’s an equalizer that sets the bar. Crushes the bullshit. Pulls all the punches there are to pull. Ave Manchester, England’s Atavist.

II: Ruined boasts some of the most fucking painful sounding guitar that it’s hard to imagine what it’s like to stand in front of these guys in a live setting. Each note might as well be like having rocks thrown into your face, over and over again. The bass drives the lows so heavy that the mix seems to clip at times. The vocals are a throaty scream that don’t sound contrived, nor do they provide a huge contrast with the sounds of the instruments – all of the elements utilized are very well placed and effective. Within II: Ruined’s duration the band also incorporates acoustic guitar passages accompanied by piano, crawling tempos, effective use of feedback, and plenty of space to let atmosphere build before incorporating vocals. By far, my favorite track is 'V.' (total running time of 16:53), which begins with a short build that sounds like a His Hero Is Gone riff before suddenly crawling through a long dirge and continuing to evolve through mid-tempo grooves and haunting passages, all before crushing your ass and ending with a staccato guitar piece.

The North American version released via Profound Lore Records boasts six original compositions, simply titled in roman numerals, of depressive and extremely slow sludge/doom metal. Also included is a bonus track, a cover of Grief’s ‘I Hate The Human Race’. This record is solid from start to finish and if it sits filed away after a few listens that’s your own goddamn fault. Atavist has conjured up something worthy of continued listening without having to rely on antics, the ex-members/former bands ‘thing’, or incorporating anything unnecessary into this slab of heaviness. Hails!

The Howling Wind - Pestilence & Peril

The Howling Wind – Pestilence & Peril
Profound Lore Records

This is the first release for this post-Thralldom project from guitarist/vokillist Killusion and drummer Parasitic Nex. My expectations prior to receiving this disc for review were shattered upon first listen, as this effort is much more raw than I had expected!

Pestilence & Peril begins with Projections, a darkened and gloomy track of churning noise, cavernous whispers, and massive atmosphere before you’re hit with the first riffs of Sin Continuum. The guitars kick out a very old school, straightforward fast progression with Parasitic Nex furiously bashing away behind the drum kit. Killusion has definitely carried over much of the Thralldom atmosphere/vibe to this new project, however the music is far more to the point and less experimental. The riffs are very focused and generally-speaking the arrangements are more of a traditional approach, but the execution seems much more venomous than Thralldom to me. The sound is pure hate distilled and laid to tape! Virulence 33 continues the journey with a more doom-influenced main riff before suddenly switching the tempo up with a battery of blast beats. There is no shortage of dynamics within the album, yet each scream, riff, and beat are focused and voracious.

Pestilence & Peril contains much to be desired and doesn’t seem to limit itself to one particular persuasion. The music is blackened, yet not strictly or necessarily black metal. It’s doomy, yet not necessarily doom or sludge metal. In that respect, Killusion and Parasitic Nex have succeeded in not only creating a potent collection of aural violence, but kept from limiting The Howling Wind to falling in line within trends or genres. Fans of Killusion’s work in Unearthly Trance and Thralldom will find just as much delight in The Howling Wind as newcomers searching for a new and original slab of darkness. Kudos, gentlemen, and please keep it up.

Every track upon this album is a highlight. To give more than a small taste of what you would hear when listening to this record would be to spoil it. Get it immediately and listen to it in its entirety under the influence of your choice. Darkness only improves the experience.

Glorior Belli - Manifesting The Raging Beast

Glorior Belli – Manifesting the Raging Beast
Southern Lord

I’ve been sitting on this record for quite awhile (long past it’s actual release), listening carefully and intently to the masterpiece that vocalist/guitarist/composer Infestvvs, bassist Dispater, and drummer M:A Fog have created. I was struck by the huge leap in maturity and originality Manifesting the Raging Beast has been crafted with in comparison to Glorior Belli’s first full-length, O Laudate Dominvs. Earlier Glorior Belli material is by no stretch of poor quality regarding musicianship or writing (on the contrary, the band has always slayed), but when listening to O Laudate Dominvs it’s not hard to liken the album to other’s in the ‘orthodox black metal’ genre. However, Manifesting the Raging Beast bursts through the speakers like a blackened punch to God’s dick, and all done with no shortage of well-honed dynamics and melodic guitar parts. This record smokes their previous effort easily, and anyone even remotely sympathetic to this style of black metal (or appreciators of metal in general) will most likely find themselves pressing the play button again on the cd player after the last track is over.

Opening the album is “From Darkness There Springs Light.” Beginning with a few moments of silence and swelling noise, a crawling guitar riffs drops out of the speakers before Infestvvs snarls “Light is sour blood spilled from pregnant skies. Frothing and turning, ignoring dead wings as they drift by, it reveals blood and rust from twisted faces,” then later “And now, from darkness there springs light.” The lyrics are written in an almost wholly poetic form over the course of the album, shrouded in cryptic personal meanings but all pointing to Him.

To give a song-by-song breakdown and description of the rest of the eight hymns contained on Manifesting the Raging Beast would be pointless. This is a work that should be heard in order to truly understand the feeling and craftsmanship. This is black art of the highest order and absolutely essential.

Monarch! - Dead Men Tell No Tales

Monarch! – Dead Men Tell No Tales
Crucial Blast

Dead Men Tell No Tales is a 2xCD collection of France’s noise/drone/sludge terrorists, Monarch!, the songs originally released as two separate full-lengths: 2006’s Speak of the Sea and 2007’s Die Tonight.

Fans of crawling, suffocating heaviness should take note. Monarch! tread the waters of previous greats like Khanate, Burning Witch, and Corrupted, but with a much more blackened and desolate atmosphere. The majority of the space in these sprawling 5 songs is constructed of droning guitar and bass chords. Vocals are sparse, alternating between soft whispers and wretching, powerful screams. Emilie’s vocal talents are vast and she fits the mood perfectly with each drawn breath or scream. Songs stretch anywhere from 11 to 26 minutes in length and sound like the apocalypse in slow motion. Ruling, and highly recommended!!!