THE AMENTA

Experimental and extreme

-So far your music has been generally described as extreme metal and “Occasus” is without any doubt an extreme metal album, while on “n0n” you incorporate more industrial elements, electronics and so on. Some people feel that it’s beginning of something really new, a turning point for this band. How do you respond to it? What kind of music will you be playing in let's say- four or five years?
I completely agree. We always wanted to make an album that was different to ‘Occasus’. I think it’s all too easy to keep churning out the same tired old bullshit but I know I wouldn’t be happy to do so. I can honestly say that I would dissolve the band rather than stagnate. There is too much of that in the music scene anyway. I don’t want to add to the morass. I don’t know what kind of music we will make in the next four or five years. Hopefully we can get a bit quicker with albums and get a couple out in that time! We approach each release as a stepping stone. They have to move us forward and they have to be interesting for us to write and perform at the time. ‘Occasus’ has more of a Death/Black Metal edge because we wrote a lot of that album when we were young and that was what was exciting at the time. ‘n0n’ is more electronic because that is what we found exciting when we began writing ‘n0n’. I don’t know what will excite us for the next few albums. I know it will be different as it is the difference that makes it exciting but I don’t know what form it will take. If I was to write an album now it would probably be based around delays and reverbs to create musical spaces. At the moment I am interested in the idea of spatial manipulation. But who knows where I will be for the next album?

-How do you see THE AMENTA in 2008 compared to an ordinary metal band?
I know we are different in the sense that we don’t define ourselves as a metal band. So we aren’t limited like other bands are. We are also the antidote to the decline in progression in music. We believe in forward movement. Not many other bands are flying that flag these days. Ideologically I think we have more in common with the first phase of Post Punk bands than with most metal. We are interested in experimenting with sounds and form. I think a lot of metal bands are still caught up in the “traditional” idea of metal and are scared to stray from that dogmatic path. There have been a couple of releases this year that I have enjoyed and there are some bands that I would be happy to be grouped with in a comparison but I think the large majority of metal is redundant.

-What are your general thoughts on the current state of metal music scene? Do you feel that THE AMENTA have something to contribute and there’s a place for this band in the overall scheme of today's metal music?
The current state of metal is dire. But it has been for some time, this is no new situation. I can count the truly interesting and forward thinking albums of the last two years on the fingers of one hand. Most music being released and getting the good reviews is either a nostalgic throw back or a by the numbers modern metal album. I realize that I have become cynical and bitter in my old age but I don’t get excited by most music now. I remember when every new album I got was something different. Now I could buy ten albums and swap the CDs in the covers and not notice a problem. There is definitely a place for THE AMENTA. There is always room for an agitator. And while we might fit in with what’s around us we wills till throw light on the garbage and make it look poor in comparison. We may piss people off, we may challenge people’s ideas but in the end we will always be interesting and we will always offer something new. There is always a place for that.

-In 2006 you parted ways with your previous vocalist known as Cessium 137. It was a painful loss for you I guess, since he was a great performer and had a very distinct vocal manner. Where did you find your new frontman? Was it hard?
It was very hard to find a new vocalist. We advertised world wide for a vocalist and we got plenty of responses. I think we made it difficult for ourselves in that we weren’t sure of what we wanted. We didn’t want a carbon copy of Cessium 137 and we certainly didn’t want a typical grunting, screeching metal vocalist. We wanted someone who was versatile and intelligible. Which, I am sure you can understand, was a difficult task. We eventually found Jarrod [Krafczyk, Vocals] through a friend. Jarrod recorded demos for all of the songs for us in a week and his range was excellent so we knew we had found the guy. It’s hard replacing a member of the band but I know we ended up with something that was definitely more interesting and with greater potential for growth.

-You've also changed band's image. Any particular reason for that? BTW, where are your cool latex uniforms known from photo session for “Occasus”? Do you still have them somewhere?
The band’s image was never a concrete thing. With different albums will come different photo shoots and different ideas. This album is about media manipulation and reaction to stimuli. The old image doesn’t fit with the themes of this album so we came up with something different. Just like music, the more visual aspect of art should be changeable. We will constantly be updating, changing morphing and tweaking all aspects of what we do. It makes it exciting for us and for the listener as well. I think it is dangerous to rely on one image. We are a multi-faceted entity and we want to express each facet at appropriate times. We still have the outfits but I don’t think we will be using them again. They are impractical for live and I don’t think they represent ‘n0n’ nor will they represent what we will be in the future.

-What is hidden behind your new album's title and its concept? How would you describe the general theme of “n0n”?
One of the major themes of the album is that people tend to think primitively when they claim to be evolved. They approach a situation in binary terms i.e. Black/White, Yes/No, On/Off. Essentially this means they are making snap decisions based on pre-formed prejudice and a general laziness. Only truly evolved people are able to approach any situation and truly apply thought in order to unlock the myriad shades of truth. There are as many truths as there are people. People tend to allow themselves to be categorized under great sweeping generalizations when every person is unique. This is analyzed throughout the album through various contexts; media saturation, prostitution and most prominently politics. The word non in English is a prefix which means nothing unless it is connected to another word. By itself it’s a void. So you can’t approach it from a binary standpoint. Eventually we realized that the word non actually contains three different sides to three different binary thoughts. In ‘n0n’ you can find no, on and finally the zero in the middle which is the most obvious example of binary.

-The lyrical content of your newest effort is full of negativism and nihilism, showing the shit around us, religious conflicts, suicide bombers, media manipulations and finally, weakness of mankind. What does that huge dose of negativism come from?
I think our lyrical standpoint comes from frustration. I think most people, if they are honest with themsleves, can see that the world is dominated by stupidity and laziness. People aren’t the gods that they like to potray themselves as being. People are vermin with briefcases. They have the same instincts of fight, fuck or flee. There is very little intelligent thought in the world. People en masse buy into a hive mind. They would prefer to be spoon fed, they don’t want to have to think for themselves. All I need to do is interact with people on a daily basis to get inspiration for lyrics.

-After your first album you have been labeled many times as a black metal act. Does it bother you when people attempt to label THE AMENTA that way?
It used to bother me when people would label THE AMENTA. Not just as black metal but also as industrial death metal, cyber-grind or whatever other bullshit people pull out. I know we aren’t that and it used to grate on me that people couldn’t look past surface things. I realize now that as long as the band doesn’t label themselves then there is no real harm. People will always categorize because it’s a sort of descriptive shorthand that allows a reviewer or interviewer to quickly build a rough picture of a band in a readers mind. It is only a problem if a band starts to refer to themselves as a particular genre. When you define your art you limit it. We are not a black metal band, though we share aspects. We are not a death metal band though we share aspects. We are not industrial. We are merely THE AMENTA and that can encompass any sound or “style”. We are not limited in how we approach music so we will not limit ourselves in description.

-What do you think about people having that uncontrollable need, I mean to label bands, not just label them but label them usually incorrectly?
It’s human nature. And no matter how puerile, lazy or just plain uninformed people are human nature can’t be changed. People will always approach a something new and try to reconcile it with their experience. I do not have a problem with this per se. I do have a problem with people who defend a genre like it’s a country’s borders. Those internet kids who define and redefine black metal make me laugh. People need to be able to let go of genre. You can use them as initial signposts or descriptors but you need to know when to let them go. They are just words. Words shouldn’t truly define or restrict art.

-In January you'll come to Europe, appearing on tour together with DEICIDE, VADER, SAMAEL, DEVIAN and ORDER OF ENNEAD. What can we expect from THE AMENTA? Have you prepared something special for your European fans?
We are really looking forward to this tour. We have been rehearsing very hard to make sure that we can bring our best show to Europe. It takes a lot of technology to bring the detail of ‘n0n’ to the stage but I am confident that we are playing the best we ever have and I know we will blow people away. I think we are a lot more aggressive on stage now, musically as well as personally. It’s a great tour to be on, with some great bands but I am very sure we will give the more established bands a run for their money. I think our European fans will be impressed with the detail and depth of the new songs live. ‘n0n’ is a very dense album and it’s complex on record as well as live. I think people will be blown away by how many different sounds we can pull with our equipment. Just from my side, playing samples, there is so much going on. I don’t think Europe has seen a band like us.

-Is there anything specific you wanna achieve, playing with THE AMENTA? I suppose it would be hard or just impossible to make living off the band. So, what are your ambitions?
I don’t think it’s impossible to make a living off the band. Hard yes, but certainly not impossible. We are very extreme but other extreme bands have done very well. It’s just a matter of the zeitgeist swinging our way. SLIPKNOT are, to all intents and purposes, a Death Metal band. They have blast beats and harder vocals. Yet they had a number one album in Australia. Nothing is impossible and we go about our band like a business. Nowadays you can;t make money off recordings because people just download them, it becomes about merchandise. It is certainly possible to live off music and, now that the balance of power has swung from the record label to the artist, it’s become much easier every day. That said, my ambitions with THE AMENTA is to continue to make music that I find interesting. I won’t to make music that challenges myself and challenges the listener. I want to get out and play in as many countries as I can. I would love to get to the US. I want to explore more of the ugly, experimental side of THE AMENTA.

-Last words are yours... so feel free to spread the word! Thank you very much for the interview!
Thank you very much for the interview. It’s always a pleasure to answer questions that make me think! ‘n0n’ is out now in Europe and February in the US. Buy it now. It is one of the few truly unique albums you will hear this year.

www.theamenta.com

Line Up:
Jarrod Krafczyk- vocals
Timothy Pope- samples, programming
Erik Miehs- guitars
Dale Harrison- bass
Robin Stone- drums

Discography:
Mictlan (EP 2002)
Occasus (2004)
n0n (2008)