An Interview with Jef from Moss Upon The Skull by PVDW
I was
totally blown away by the 7” of Moss Upon The Skull so I decided to do an
interview with their guitar player Jef about their past, future and general
outlook on live. Enjoy and check them out.
Introduce the band. How did Moss Upon The Skull form?
The foundation of the band was made up of Tristan (guitar) and Jense (drums) who contacted me (Jef, guitar) in early 2010, after their previous project had come to an end. Our views on metal and music in general corresponded quite well, so I decided to join them , knowing that they are gifted and dedicated musicians. After writing some material as a three piece, we had started looking for a bass player and lead singer, and found solid members in Mathijs and Jo respectively, who share our passion for heavy and experimental music.
You all play(ed) in several other bands in different styles. What did you all learn and bring into Moss Upon The Skull?
I guess all of our past experiences allow us to cooperate well in a band context, which is far from evident for some people, as our past experiences have proven. We all had our share of encounters with slacking band members not pulling their weight and gave all kinds of excuses for lack of dedication, but I'm really glad that we all are equally dedicated in the current lineup.
Musically, I think the Orb of Torture influence remains present, but all other musical influences come from outside of our past experiences. Practically though, like in the studio or on stage, I think we all have learned a lot from our previous projects. It's important to have a plan before actually going to the studio, so you don't waste time and money, and it's equally important to think about your set list, stage presence, etc. when on stage. Those are typically things one learns with age and experience.
You recently released a 7”. What were the reactions to that?
Very good, in general. Some people mention the "odd" production; we are aware that this is not what people might expect in the context of death metal. Of course, the dry and organic sound was a conscious decision. We want our music to have a very natural and realistic sound, in contrast to the contemporary tendencies of using tons of gain on the guitars and having a typewriter-kick sound, or the complete contrary; vacuum cleaner sound, submerged in reverb with no definition at all. We're convinced that 'less is more'; less gain means more clarity and more focus on what each instrument is doing, a bass drum has a natural low end punch to it and it just seems ridiculous to leave that out. It seems like a lot of recent death metal productions focus more on the technicality or on atmosphere than on the music itself. For us, the music is the main focus. Aside from band practice we all practice a lot individually, to further improve our skills as musicians.
We're also seriously considering recording our first full length as a whole band, and not track each instrument separately in order to emphasize the natural aspect of our sound even more.
You speak of a full length. Are there concrete plans for that already? What timeframe do you have in mind for this release?
We have enough material for a full length, we're actually already writing songs for the second album. We had plans to start recording by the end of this year, but due to circumstances beyond our control, we will have to postpone this project to hopefully the first quarter of 2015, so releasing an album by summer 2015 would be more or less realistic.
Don't you fear that the more organic sound could be holding you back? A lot of the current Death metal fans like and expect the flat, high gain, very compressed production.
We know that this choice might not please some people, but we write music mainly for ourselves, to get certain emotions out of our system, and we feel that this sound complements what we are trying to express. If people are put off by the sound, than that's their loss. We could even interpret that as a compliment, as it could be a way to set us apart from the majority of death metal bands and could actually turn out to be in our advantage. Seriously, do we really need another wave of triggered-to death drums and ultra-compressed and gated guitars? We invest a lot in our music, so it would be a shame to take the easy way and to copy what so many bands have already done. The music and the production are part of the whole package and it would be a bit contradictory to our purpose as a band to get a 'standard' production for our not-so-standard music.
Why only 100 7", this way you'll never get rich.
The limitation to 100 copies is because we wanted to release something exclusive for people who are still dedicated to buying music in physical format. We, ourselves, are also avid music collectors and understand the charm of owning a complete piece of art. That's why we absolutely wanted something that could stand the test of time aesthetically. And I believe we have succeeded. If one day we run out of copies, and there is a demand for it, we might consider a repress.
For the new generation of listeners, we are also streaming the two tracks of the 7" on our bandcamp page.
What are the lyrics about? Are there themes, ideas or messages you want to explore through Moss Upon The Skull.
The lyrics come from Tristan. He is an adept of ancient knowledge and all sorts of mythology, philosophy, astrology, tarot, ... and all of that reflects in his lyrics. Applying this knowledge in daily life leads him to come up with these lyrics about life, death, wisdom, mysticism, good vs. evil and that kind of universal themes. We want people to think independently and beyond whatever touches only their lives. There is more to our universe (or multiverse?) than our insignificant existence. Every one of us has to discover for themselves what lies beyond, we can only point in the direction that seems right to us.
What can people expect from a Moss Upon The Skull live show?
Twisted riffs and beats, atmosphere, insight, catharsis.
What would you consider your influences? What band would you love to play with. Are there bands you admire that we don't hear in Moss Upon The Skull?
Our main influences as far as the music goes, lie on the weirder side of death/black metal; think of the first At The Gates record, early Immolation, Gorguts, Ved Buens Ende/Virus,... death metal talks about the obscure and ugly side of existence, so it is only fitting that the music also expresses this ugliness. Our drummer is a huge 70's prog fan, and I guess that influence is also clearly present in his approach towards playing the drums. On the production side we are huge fans of late 70's, early 80's bands like Rainbow, Judas Priest, Mercyful Fate, but also of contemporary bands like Stargazer or Howls of Ebb, you know, the bands that step away from the 'standard'.
Most of us are also great fans of classical music, ambient or other electronic music, jazz, hardcore, and many other styles of music. However, with the exception of maybe some rare classical or hardcore influence, these styles will never be clearly heard within Moss Upon The Skull, because they do no suit what we want to convey. We are a metal band and want to stay creative within the metal style. Instead of delving deeper into the craft of writing good metal riffs, a lot of bands seem to resort to just throwing in some jazz chords or hardcore breakdowns... Mixing a lot of styles is not necessarily equal to creating something new.
We'd definitely kill to play with the following bands if they come on tour again; Absu(!), Suffocation, Immolation, Stargazer, Virus, Gorguts, ...
The death metal you play is rich in atmosphere. Was that a conscious decision?
Or is this the natural outcome of you 5 creating music?
I'm glad you brought that up; we work hard to find parts that work well together in order to give each song a particular atmosphere. It will be a hell of a job determining which tracks to put on the full length and in which order to also give the album as a whole a consistent flow. When writing, we tend to use a more narrative approach, to develop some kind of a storyline throughout the songs. It's not that we never have any parts come back within a song, but we try to elaborate on previous parts, so you hear an evolution and hopefully a cathartic conclusion. It requires more from the listener, but also allows him to get more out of it in the long run. We look up to bands like Burzum, Absu or Suffocation who are masters on this subject within the metal genre. Three entirely different bands, but all of them highly influential on our way of writing narrative music.
Don't you get bad reaction from death metal puritans on drawing influences from black and prog bands? or is the death metal scene not that close minded?
In general, I think a lot of people who are truly into metal are quite open-minded. You can't be heavily into music, limit yourself just one style, especially as a musician. However, that doesn't mean you have to like everything. The influences which we include into our music are compatible with death metal, as long as they are put in the right context. Obviously, you can't just take an idea and copy/paste it into your songs. I believe this is what a lot of newer metal bands are missing; they have some good ideas, but almost no focus on songwriting, so they end up with a mixture of a lot of different styles and parts, but not an actual good metal song. A good metal song should have a consistent flow and storyline to it in our opinion. If the music does not translate this, we look further until we achieve this goal. Our influences come from a wide range of music, and the listeners will have to discover where they originate from and how we adapted them to fit into our work. After all, aren't the best albums the ones where you keep discovering new layers, details or nuances, even decades after they were written? The puritans can keep listening to Bathory or Slayer for all I care, there's too much good dark music left for us to listen to and to be inspired by.
There seems to be a new and fresh death metal scene in Belgium. What is your take on that? What other Belgian bands should we really keep an eye on?
There is definitely an old school death metal revival going on in the last couple of years. It's cool to see that not all youngsters were corrupted by the wave of nu-metal and American metal core! Bands like Bones, Disinterred, Torturerama, Goat Torment, Possession or Dehuman are definitely making heads move throughout the country and even the EU or further!
Introduce the band. How did Moss Upon The Skull form?
The foundation of the band was made up of Tristan (guitar) and Jense (drums) who contacted me (Jef, guitar) in early 2010, after their previous project had come to an end. Our views on metal and music in general corresponded quite well, so I decided to join them , knowing that they are gifted and dedicated musicians. After writing some material as a three piece, we had started looking for a bass player and lead singer, and found solid members in Mathijs and Jo respectively, who share our passion for heavy and experimental music.
You all play(ed) in several other bands in different styles. What did you all learn and bring into Moss Upon The Skull?
I guess all of our past experiences allow us to cooperate well in a band context, which is far from evident for some people, as our past experiences have proven. We all had our share of encounters with slacking band members not pulling their weight and gave all kinds of excuses for lack of dedication, but I'm really glad that we all are equally dedicated in the current lineup.
Musically, I think the Orb of Torture influence remains present, but all other musical influences come from outside of our past experiences. Practically though, like in the studio or on stage, I think we all have learned a lot from our previous projects. It's important to have a plan before actually going to the studio, so you don't waste time and money, and it's equally important to think about your set list, stage presence, etc. when on stage. Those are typically things one learns with age and experience.
You recently released a 7”. What were the reactions to that?
Very good, in general. Some people mention the "odd" production; we are aware that this is not what people might expect in the context of death metal. Of course, the dry and organic sound was a conscious decision. We want our music to have a very natural and realistic sound, in contrast to the contemporary tendencies of using tons of gain on the guitars and having a typewriter-kick sound, or the complete contrary; vacuum cleaner sound, submerged in reverb with no definition at all. We're convinced that 'less is more'; less gain means more clarity and more focus on what each instrument is doing, a bass drum has a natural low end punch to it and it just seems ridiculous to leave that out. It seems like a lot of recent death metal productions focus more on the technicality or on atmosphere than on the music itself. For us, the music is the main focus. Aside from band practice we all practice a lot individually, to further improve our skills as musicians.
We're also seriously considering recording our first full length as a whole band, and not track each instrument separately in order to emphasize the natural aspect of our sound even more.
You speak of a full length. Are there concrete plans for that already? What timeframe do you have in mind for this release?
We have enough material for a full length, we're actually already writing songs for the second album. We had plans to start recording by the end of this year, but due to circumstances beyond our control, we will have to postpone this project to hopefully the first quarter of 2015, so releasing an album by summer 2015 would be more or less realistic.
Don't you fear that the more organic sound could be holding you back? A lot of the current Death metal fans like and expect the flat, high gain, very compressed production.
We know that this choice might not please some people, but we write music mainly for ourselves, to get certain emotions out of our system, and we feel that this sound complements what we are trying to express. If people are put off by the sound, than that's their loss. We could even interpret that as a compliment, as it could be a way to set us apart from the majority of death metal bands and could actually turn out to be in our advantage. Seriously, do we really need another wave of triggered-to death drums and ultra-compressed and gated guitars? We invest a lot in our music, so it would be a shame to take the easy way and to copy what so many bands have already done. The music and the production are part of the whole package and it would be a bit contradictory to our purpose as a band to get a 'standard' production for our not-so-standard music.
Why only 100 7", this way you'll never get rich.
The limitation to 100 copies is because we wanted to release something exclusive for people who are still dedicated to buying music in physical format. We, ourselves, are also avid music collectors and understand the charm of owning a complete piece of art. That's why we absolutely wanted something that could stand the test of time aesthetically. And I believe we have succeeded. If one day we run out of copies, and there is a demand for it, we might consider a repress.
For the new generation of listeners, we are also streaming the two tracks of the 7" on our bandcamp page.
What are the lyrics about? Are there themes, ideas or messages you want to explore through Moss Upon The Skull.
The lyrics come from Tristan. He is an adept of ancient knowledge and all sorts of mythology, philosophy, astrology, tarot, ... and all of that reflects in his lyrics. Applying this knowledge in daily life leads him to come up with these lyrics about life, death, wisdom, mysticism, good vs. evil and that kind of universal themes. We want people to think independently and beyond whatever touches only their lives. There is more to our universe (or multiverse?) than our insignificant existence. Every one of us has to discover for themselves what lies beyond, we can only point in the direction that seems right to us.
What can people expect from a Moss Upon The Skull live show?
Twisted riffs and beats, atmosphere, insight, catharsis.
What would you consider your influences? What band would you love to play with. Are there bands you admire that we don't hear in Moss Upon The Skull?
Our main influences as far as the music goes, lie on the weirder side of death/black metal; think of the first At The Gates record, early Immolation, Gorguts, Ved Buens Ende/Virus,... death metal talks about the obscure and ugly side of existence, so it is only fitting that the music also expresses this ugliness. Our drummer is a huge 70's prog fan, and I guess that influence is also clearly present in his approach towards playing the drums. On the production side we are huge fans of late 70's, early 80's bands like Rainbow, Judas Priest, Mercyful Fate, but also of contemporary bands like Stargazer or Howls of Ebb, you know, the bands that step away from the 'standard'.
Most of us are also great fans of classical music, ambient or other electronic music, jazz, hardcore, and many other styles of music. However, with the exception of maybe some rare classical or hardcore influence, these styles will never be clearly heard within Moss Upon The Skull, because they do no suit what we want to convey. We are a metal band and want to stay creative within the metal style. Instead of delving deeper into the craft of writing good metal riffs, a lot of bands seem to resort to just throwing in some jazz chords or hardcore breakdowns... Mixing a lot of styles is not necessarily equal to creating something new.
We'd definitely kill to play with the following bands if they come on tour again; Absu(!), Suffocation, Immolation, Stargazer, Virus, Gorguts, ...
The death metal you play is rich in atmosphere. Was that a conscious decision?
Or is this the natural outcome of you 5 creating music?
I'm glad you brought that up; we work hard to find parts that work well together in order to give each song a particular atmosphere. It will be a hell of a job determining which tracks to put on the full length and in which order to also give the album as a whole a consistent flow. When writing, we tend to use a more narrative approach, to develop some kind of a storyline throughout the songs. It's not that we never have any parts come back within a song, but we try to elaborate on previous parts, so you hear an evolution and hopefully a cathartic conclusion. It requires more from the listener, but also allows him to get more out of it in the long run. We look up to bands like Burzum, Absu or Suffocation who are masters on this subject within the metal genre. Three entirely different bands, but all of them highly influential on our way of writing narrative music.
Don't you get bad reaction from death metal puritans on drawing influences from black and prog bands? or is the death metal scene not that close minded?
In general, I think a lot of people who are truly into metal are quite open-minded. You can't be heavily into music, limit yourself just one style, especially as a musician. However, that doesn't mean you have to like everything. The influences which we include into our music are compatible with death metal, as long as they are put in the right context. Obviously, you can't just take an idea and copy/paste it into your songs. I believe this is what a lot of newer metal bands are missing; they have some good ideas, but almost no focus on songwriting, so they end up with a mixture of a lot of different styles and parts, but not an actual good metal song. A good metal song should have a consistent flow and storyline to it in our opinion. If the music does not translate this, we look further until we achieve this goal. Our influences come from a wide range of music, and the listeners will have to discover where they originate from and how we adapted them to fit into our work. After all, aren't the best albums the ones where you keep discovering new layers, details or nuances, even decades after they were written? The puritans can keep listening to Bathory or Slayer for all I care, there's too much good dark music left for us to listen to and to be inspired by.
There seems to be a new and fresh death metal scene in Belgium. What is your take on that? What other Belgian bands should we really keep an eye on?
There is definitely an old school death metal revival going on in the last couple of years. It's cool to see that not all youngsters were corrupted by the wave of nu-metal and American metal core! Bands like Bones, Disinterred, Torturerama, Goat Torment, Possession or Dehuman are definitely making heads move throughout the country and even the EU or further!