I still remember
my first melting-crushing towards the creation of NEFARIOUS, I read some review
about NEFARIOUS debut demo and suddenly few days later, some friends of mine
sent me a link about the stuff. I thought this is maybe the miss conscious
autopsy nailed deepest from Illinois gravetombs. The flavor of Old School Death
Metal and crushing Thrash tunes been mixed with a pure ugly screaming-growl
will hit and smashed my dead-brains. And I'm really enjoy listening all the
tracks from that demo, the crunchy riffs and raw sound definitely will
accompany you thru the survival on river of death. Follow me and Julian Walter
festering the carnalfication of NEFARIOUS and some old stories how that disease
began. Ugly death!!
MIKA ROTTEN - Greetings Julian! Before we heading towards into the gates of hell, can you brief us what happened around your places rite now? Still a lot of Underground-gigs / concert been held on this places?
JULIAN WALTER - Hey!
Thanks for the interview! Things are going very well for us! You can always
find great shows around here. We live about 40 minuets away from Chicago, where
there is a really enthusiastic metal scene. We often get a good amount of
big-name metal acts that come through, and a lot of great DIY shows. There
couldn't be a better place for us to spread our revolting noise than here!
MIKA ROTTEN - Therefore,
you, Slaughter and Aaren joining hand in VESICANT, and it's also the mostly
eternally continental what do you loved to play, a mix of Death/Grind in old
ways! To tell you the truth, I didn't know how much I possessed and digging
into your stuff and been trapped in the heavy-ripping and catchy tunes on
VESICANT demo's. So the bands already official disbanned now?
JULIAN WALTER - Yes,
VESICANT is no longer active, sorry to say. After the departure of our
drummer Aaren, the band had run it's course. VESICANT was a growing period for
us. It was the first step we took into the darker side of the metal spectrum.
We learned a lot about ourselves from VESICANT, and I think we have definitely
grown as musicians and songwriters because of it.
MIKA ROTTEN - I
don't remember when the first time melting on your stuff, I read some review
from your debut demo and suddenly few days later, some friends of mine sent me
a link about your bands. This is a miss-conscious autopsy I was thought?
Firstly, let speak deepest about the creation of new bands in Illinois played
the old school way of Death / Thrash, NEFARIOUS!
JULIAN WALTER - The concept of NEFARIOUS had been kicking around for a while prior to the demo being released. I don't care much for the overly technical and “brutal” direction that most modern metal bands are taking. It sounds sterile and void of any aggression. I like that raw unhinged sound that was present in the 80s and 90s. I wanted to approach our sound from an almost juvenile perspective, with “tongue in cheek” horror and occult themes and thrashy bare-bone song structures. Raw, focused, devastation!
MIKA ROTTEN - NEFARIOUS,
successful throwing and vomiting the debut demo last years, it’s still sounds
fresh, with a lot of interesting song composing and doses of crushing riff’s
and mangled solo guitar contained and combine. Yeah! It’s totally raw, but what
make I think it’s really worth to someone who loved the old tunes in raw and
ugly way. Can you imagine now, how your
debut demo give a impact to UG-metal listener?
JULIAN WALTER - The
demo laid the foundation for us to build our macabre vision. If you like your
music raw and relentless, you will not be disappointed!
MIKA ROTTEN - Some
old tunes from the SLAYER / POSSESSED / HELLHAMMER / CELTIC FROST can’t be
faded away through your debut demo’s at least in my ear, this is the major
influences the existence of NEFARIOUS?
JULIAN WALTER - We
love all those bands! Those and many others such as Nihilist, Repulsion, and
Bathory, to name a few, have paved the way for all extreme metal now and
forever! I find inspiration in other genres and forms of expression as well.
From the crust ridden sounds of AMEBIX, to the blasphemous ramblings of CHRISTIAN
DEATH, and the nightmarish illustrations of Zdzisław Beksiński, you can find
NEFARIOUS.
MIKA ROTTEN - And,
it’s really good and always be good to release your stuff on tapes, the analog
still fvcking rules! I also must say, you’re one of the analog collector also,
can you remember what first demo tape did you digging back in your early days?
And how much copies actually for your debut demo tape crushing into the
UG-world? I must say thanks to you for
the delivering this good shit to my hands. Really loved it’s!!
JULIAN WALTER - You
are welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed it! We made 50 tapes of our self-titled demo.
Each one was photocopied, hand cut and numbered, the same as the VESICANT demo.
I have always had a fascination with analog and vintage forms of media.
Although the digital age has made music very accessible, in the form of
downloads and mp3s, you lose the tangible and intimate experience of owning a
band's release as it was intended to be. To me, it's like owning a piece of the
artist haha. I collect vinyl records a lot more than I collect tapes though.
First vinyl LP I ever bought was diSEMBOWELMENT - Transcendence
into The Peripheral. The first cassette I ever bought and still cherish to this
day is the crushing MORBUS CHRON - Sleepers in the Rift. Great band! Sadly
disbanded.
MIKA ROTTEN - Let
the NEFARIOUS raw-crushing debut demo laying alone in our cemeteries, so this
is the right time for us to speak about the latest madness NEFARIOUS already
unleashed. The final hell awaits for the new EP’s, “Death Beckons” finally reveal by the Headsplit Records. This
is a turning points for all of yours and it’s like more sick stuff will be
featured in the future?
JULIAN WALTER - The
reception from the demo was overwhelmingly positive! I never thought it would
have interested anyone outside of our immediate scene here. We have had people
from all over the world, like Germany, Australia and Japan ask for demos. So I
can't lie when saying there was a good amount of pressure on us to make “Death
Beckons” the deadliest it could be! I feel a lot of pressure from myself as
well. I'm my own worst critic haha! I can write and rewrite a song a hundred
and one times and still hate it. But I usually get a vibe or an image in my
head and I try to capture that with my music. That's the direction I took for
“Death Beckons”. It's too soon now to say what direction it will eventually go,
but we will continue to tread deeper down the winding corridors of NEFARIOUS
and find out!
MIKA ROTTEN - Almost
14 minutes + + contained a lot great music arrangement, tons of
anger-aggression and stunning-brutality atmosphere I found on the “Death
Beckons” EP make me choked in halfway of the EP and sometimes it’s like I
been tie within a tight and strong of song decomposition on the first
impression towards the opening , examples for the opening tracks “Usurp The
Throne”. Crushing riff’s and crazy fast “Skansk” D-beat. I thinks it’s a good
choice to put this song on the first track on the EP. This is the 14 minutes of
hell from NEFARIOUS ?
JULIAN WALTER - The
EP didn't need to be any longer, nor any shorter than it became. It's always
been about quality over quantity for us. I'm proud to say we gave our all with
this release! As for the track listing, during the writing process, I try to
figure out what the song order will eventually be. I think the order of which
the songs on a release are arranged can greatly impact the listener. Each song
is like a short path on a longer road. “Usurp The Throne” is a song that “goes
for the throat”. No samples. No clean intros. No bullshit.
MIKA ROTTEN - And,
I must say the tracks called “Malodorous Miasma” totally caught my ear with a
heavy-catchy-brutal riff’s. What actually the “Malodorous Miasma” gonna tell
us, I mean from the lyrical approach?
Can you speak and give us more light about this song, and I must say this
tracks are one of my favourite song on this EP. No doubt!
JULIAN WALTER - “Malodorous Miasma” was written by Aaren so lets ask
him! (Aaren - “'Malodorous Miasma' is simply about the festering
stench of decay. You know, the sweet smell of death in the morning!”)
MIKA ROTTEN - Seem,
NEFARIOUS was dwell with a Horror / Occultism / Death topic on the band themes
/ lyrical , any classic book that you always refer to make a ugly
gloomy-darkness atmosphere beyond the creation of your new EP?
JULIAN WALTER - The last horror book I remembering reading was Dracula by Bram Stoker. Great read, although I don't think it directly influenced my writing. I think the lyrical subjects in NEFARIOUS are more inspired by horror films and folklore. Horror classics such as Cannibal Holocaust, Black Sunday, The Evil Dead and many others have inspired us both lyrically and musically.
MIKA ROTTEN - “Death
Beckons” also the fast answer to all sick DM-lover, it’s totally bring us back
into the primitive days of Death by Metal glorious time. “Death Beckons” also
was like a time capsule for us going back into the time what some bands left
back the years. From year to year many new underrated bands nailing with a sick
stuff / tunes, how do you see the revival of the old tunes and any idea what
actual places for “Death Beckons” spread the ugly madness without any regret
like some bands releases from the past?
JULIAN WALTER - I
think the old-school metal revival is fascinating movement. From the nostalgic
old-schoolers, to the pubescent 'stached kids who were not even born yet, it
gives fans the chance to keep the old ways alive. We will always be fans first!
Though I think newer bands are sticking too close the “rule book” so to speak.
Back then bands had to really push themselves to stand out among their peers.
Bands took more risks. Most importantly, bands had more fun! What was original
and spontaneous then, has now become formulaic. As for NEFARIOUS, I feel we are
in a sort of “embryonic” stage. We are still growing and trying to find
ourselves.
MIKA ROTTEN - In
terms of sound producing, I think “Death Beckons” EP probably different from
your previous release, in terms of sound quality, but all the rawness, stink
and putrid sound feel still same as before. No one can’t deny, how good
NEFARIOUS broke up the wall to created their own styles. If you didn’t mind,
can you list up or tell us the story beyond the final mixing/mastering on the
studio, and the man that nails out NEFARIOUS’s sound on the mixing/mastering board to complete the creation of
“Death Beckons” EP.
JULIAN WALTER - Both
the demo and the EP were recorded on our own, although we had help from some
people. Joesph Walter helped with the recording of the drums on the demo. When
the time came to mix, there was a specific sound I wanted to achieve. So I
decided to take on the headache-inducing task of mixing it haha! I had no previous
recording experience other than the VESICANT demos, which were crudely recorded
and mixed. It was something I had to dive in and figure out for myself. It's a
tedious but very rewarding process hearing the pieces fall into place, and
become a living, malevolent entity!
MIKA ROTTEN - As
usual, any tour been arrange rite now after the awakening of “Death Beckons”
EP’s ? Some bands can’t do a ‘long’ tours, seem their always trapped with their
work jobs or maybe family. Did you see
this a ‘little’ wall to any of band should broke after this?
JULIAN WALTER - There are no
tours planned as of now, but if the opportunity arises, we would give nothing
short of 110% of ourselves! I think it is hard for bands to make a living
solely off their music these days. People are tied down with jobs and other
obligations like you said, making touring difficult. We do have a show coming
up in August with Sadistic Ritual, Nemesis, and local heroes, Reign and
Savagery! It's going to be sick!
MIKA ROTTEN - To speak to our DISCARNAGE readers thru this dirty and ugly web-blog, here I wrote some little highlights from the new NEFARIOUS stuff that you can find thru the EP :
I)Crunchy, brutality and heavy-crushing riff’s
II)Most solid in terms of sound arrangement / production / song composing
III)Horror / Gruesome artwork that turn up the feel towards EP’s atmosphere
IV)Total chaos-energetic from instrument handle by each of the lineup
V)Crazy fast “Skansk” D-beat and anger-ggression from the scream lead us into the special places when nobody can’t stop us to play our beloved tunes
Do you wanna add something, maybe why the ‘corpses’ out there should grab and dancing on their own funeral with NEFARIOUS “Death Beckons” EP ?
JULIAN WALTER - “Death Beckons”
is the next step in our musical journey through the morbid landscapes of the
mind. Take the plunge and open the door into darkness!
MIKA ROTTEN - We’re
heading toward to the end of this interview, and let play some games before
we’re heading out into our coffins. Can
you list up 10 favorite song’s that
totally give you a huge inspirations and towards the creation of NEFARIOUS!
JULIAN WALTER - 1)HELLHAMMER
“Satanic Rites” (1983)
2)SEPULTURA
“Bestial Devastation” (1985)
3)MORBID
ANGEL “Thy Kingdom Come” (1987)
4)MORBID
“Wings of Funeral” (1987)
5)NECROVORE
“Slaughtered Remains” (1987)
6)DEATH
“Denial of Life” (1987)
7)MERCILESS
“Pure Hate” (1990)
8)REPUGNANT
“Premature Burial” (2004)
9)VAMPIRE
“At Midnight I'll Possess Your Corpse” (2012)
10)EXCORIATED
“Stench of a Rotten Face” (2014)
MIKA ROTTEN - So, 15th
are the end of our festering towards our severed dreams, thanks for your time
to answering this interview. Any words that you feel do you wanna throw up on
this ugly / dirty web-blog before we go? Catch you later Julian!!
JULIAN WALTER - Thank
you for the interview! If you don't have it yet, pick up our new EP, “Death
Beckons” out on HEADSPLIT RECORDS!
“Death Beckons” is the next step in our musical journey
through the morbid landscapes of the mind. Take the plunge and open the door
into darkness!"
