The Ancient
Returns! Apart from being the title of one of their songs, it's a good sentence
to introduce Occult Burial. This young Canadian band based in Ottawa have just released
their debut LP “Hideous Obscure”, and the following interview was answered by Joël
[vocals/bass]. The grave has been dug,
witness the burial…
How did you start the band? Can
you share the full story?
Joël: McLoud and me have been
playing music together since about 2009. We were playing with more of a second
wave Black Metal flavour, influenced by Dissection, Mayhem, Peste Noire and
Bathory. I played drums and McLoud played guitar. We had a third member,
but the band crumbled and we never played any shows or anything. A couple of
years later I met our drummer Dan Lee when I was checking out a new record
store in town and he was working behind the counter. I didn't talk to him the
first few times I went, but eventually it became clear that he was the one
responsible for all the cool Punk and Metal records in the bins, so we struck
up a conversation. Soon after that the three of us were often going to shows in
Montreal together, and we became good friends. I don't remember exactly how it
happened but eventually the idea of forming a band came about. Dan Lee had been
a drummer when he was younger but hadn't played in years until he picked up the
instrument again to play in Iron Dogs. I was also a drummer, so I picked up the
bass instead, and I ended up taking over vocal duties. I guess we aimed for
more of a primitive, first-wave Black Metal sound because Dan Lee and I were
still getting adjusted to playing our instruments in a semi-decent manner. I
have some early rehearsal recordings of our first songs and it was so
awful, especially the vocals because I was still figuring out how to do them.
So we rehearsed weekly in my parents' garage for the first year, put out our
demo and started playing a few small shows here and there. Not much has
changed, really, except that we've gotten slightly more proficient at our
instruments, and we pay for a rehearsal space like a real band.
How did you come up with the
band´s cool name? Would you describe your own vision of an Occult burial?
Each of us
has a his own take on what the name means, but I remember distinctly how we
stumbled upon it. McLoud and I were watching Suspiria one night and were making
fun of how one of the characters in the movie was pronouncing the word
"occult". But after repeating it so much we became interested in the
word, because at the time we were wracking our brains for a band name (every
one knows choosing a name is the most grueling part of being in a band). So we
tried to couple "occult" with a few other words, and eventually we
chose "burial", a word that had fascinated me for a while, because of
the imagery it invokes, a death rite so commonplace yet also immemorial. We ran
it by Dan Lee, he said it invoked a sufficiently ancient and eerie aura, and that
was that.
Some
people might think we take ourselves for occultists because of the name, but
frankly, for me the name has nothing to do with hokey occultism, rather it has
everything to do with "occult" in the sense of hidden, clandestine,
secret. Like the strange antarctic burials of the elder beings in At the
Mountains of Madness, for example.
“Occult Burial" was your
first demo tape, released in January 2013, I haven’t heard that demo bur I did
heard “Demo MMXIII” released a few months later, besides the inclusion of “Necromansy”
[Bathory cover] what differences exist between the two demos?
Musically,
there is no difference other than the inclusion of that Bathory cover.
Visually, the Invictus version is red while the band version was mostly white.
Some early copies of the band version
had our first, atrocious logo on it. As soon as we received our current
logo [drawn by Rob Vomitor], we replaced the old one on all subsequent copies.
The influence of Bathory can be
perceived in your sound, totally into 80s’ tradition with elements of other cult
bands like Venom, early Slayer, German thrash like Sodom and Destruction, and
maybe some of Canadian speed metal. Am I right? Does the entire band share the
same influences?
We do all share essentially the same
influences - mainly, I'd say lots of first and second wave Black Metal,
Death Metal, Hardcore, 80's Heavy Metal, 70's Rock. Like I mentioned
earlier, our primitive style was not entirely by choice because, but all the
bands you mentioned are indeed key influences. For the Canadian influences, I
suppose the most important one is Razor, others being Slaughter, Sacrifice,
Inepsy.
How were the demos received
locally? As you look back, are you satisfied with how they came out?
Locally, people really liked the
demo, even though there is a limited amount of people who are interested in our
kind of music in Ottawa. We were surprised to receive requests for a demo from
international headbangers as well, mostly Europe and South America. Overall I
think it was very well received, which gave us a lot of encouragement. That
being said, we hated the sound of the first demo for a long time. I think now,
with the passing of time, we've come to appreciate it a bit more, but we didn't
like it at first because the studio we recorded in was geared more towards more
modern Heavy/Stoner bands, so we ended up with a big, fat, "heavy"
production, and had to do so much tweaking of the sound to get it to sound
right to our ears [which of course sounds NOT right to the ears of any studio
engineer]. So, the point is we like the demo, but our album is a much better
representation of what Occult Burial should sound like.
Before releasing your last demo, “Promo MMXV”, you were featured on
the Evil Spells Vol I compilation [released by Electric Assault Records] with other
great bands. How did you receive the proposal to take part with a song? Is
there any band or song that you like particularly in this compilation?
We were approached by the labels
Electric Assault and Stygian Black Hand, both friends of ours who have booked
Occult Burial in New York City a few times now. Again, we are very unhappy with
the production of the song that appears on the compilation, but people seem to
enjoy it regardless. My favourite song on that compilation (and I think my
bandmates would agree) is the Spite song, Countless Blasphemy.
There is a lack of cool compilations nowadays on vinyl like the
classics Metal Massacre, Speed Kills,
Warfare Noise or Death is Just the Beginning
released nowadays? What do you think about it? Do you own any of these compilations?
Yes, we all have a few compilations
that we really enjoy. My all-time favourite compilation is actually not Metal -
it's Punk and Disorderly Vol 3. I agree that compilations are very cool,
but I can see why they have fallen out of fashion - after all, they are just a
promotional tool, and I suppose the internet has rendered them obsolete from
that point of view. That being said, I've seen a few newer compilations emerge,
for example Well 'Eavy Vol. 1 or Evil Spells. So I think people are getting
interested in compilations again, but I doubt there will ever be more
compilations of the same caliber as the Metal Massacres or the Punk and
Disorderlies.
The sound of the promo shows a big improvement from your previous
demos, How did you achieve the sound,
did you focused on the guitar sound mainly? Did you achieve this raw and
primitive sound at first or did you work long time rehearsing before being
totally satisfied with it.
The
version of Hades Son that appears on the promo is the first thing we recorded
with the 8-track recorder that we eventually used to make our album. It had
that organic, analog sound that we knew was better suited to our sound. We
didn't spend that much time figuring out a more specific sound - we just threw
up some microphones and hit record, because that is the way.
Hideous obscure is your debut full length, the photo of the cover
of the album is like a time machine that takes me instantly to 80´s, and I´m
sure that nowadays there are not many band that use a photo instead of a “nice”
and devilish drawing on the cover, can´t think of any album released recently
with a band photo on the cover, how did you came with the idea?
I agree that there is an
over-saturation of demonic, skull-laden drawings on covers nowadays. We went
with a photo because it did indeed remind us of some of our favourite albums,
such as Destruction's Sentence of Death or Motorhead’s Ace of Spades. We also
had a limited budget, so it was more affordable to simply take a band picture
in a basement than to commission an artist. Also, we are all handsome devils -
but unfortunately our bewitching countenances got cloaked in mists and fog on
the cover.
The album includes new tracks and old demo tracks re-recorded. I guess the new tracks follow the same style
of the old ones. Are there any new
arrangements on the old tracks?
Jackal Head, Ancient Returns, Occult
Burial and Black Adoration are all demo songs that were re-recorded for the
album. The only one that we tampered with structurally was Ancient Returns - we
actually did a complete overhaul of that song and both versions sound
significantly different from one another. But the other songs are all
essentially the same - just performed better.
I´ve listened to two songs from the album, regarding production,
it sounds cleaner than on the demos but it still raw primitive and “dirty”.
What are the points you focus while recording and producing?
We just wanted to capture the sound
of our drums and amps - no direct input, no triggers. We didn't couldn't really
focus on much else because we were not very experienced with the functions of
the 8-track we purchased - we learned as we went along. It was stressful enough
just getting our songs to tape, we didn't really have time to worry about
getting a specific sound. We researched basic microphone placement for
recording, and then we knew that as long as it transferred successfully to
tape, we'd be happy.
You posted the song “The bleeding spectre” on your soundcloud page
a couple of months ago but it´s not included on the album, will you keep it to
use it later, maybe to be released on a future EP or 7”?
We recorded that song for a split
with Whipstriker, Blackrat and one other band. I'm not sure when the split will
see the light of day, but The Bleeding Spectre will definitely be re-rcorded
and included on our next album.
How did you get linked with Invictus Productions?
Our good friend Annick from the band
Cauchemar recommended us to Darragh, who runs Invictus. He then re-released our
demo tape, telling us he'd like to work with us when we had an album
ready. A year later when we had our
songs recorded and album art ready, we sent everything his way and he has
handled the rest.
How may shows have the band performed so far? You played at Wings of metal festival 2013
with great bands such as Voor, Piledriver, Megiddo, Satan, Manilla Road…How was
the experience? I guess with those bands the crowd must have gone crazy…
We've
probably played somewhere around 30-40 shows since we started in 2012 - some
bigger, like Wings of Metal, others just small basement shows. The first Wings
of Metal in 2013 was a great experience. We were still very new as a band and
had only played 3-4 shows, so to get up on stage in front of 150-200 people was
a bit daunting, but we played well enough. Honestly by the end of that second
night (when we played), I was so exhausted that I was semi-passed out during
Satan's set. But the first night was the highlight for me - sharing a joint
with Mark from Manilla Road before their set, and then when they played,
hearing the whole crowd chanting along to Necropolis. Wings of Metal is always
a blast.
I saw a video of a show where you [Joël] were playing drums and singing, tell me about that
particular show, did you play drums in other band before Occult Burial or you do it nowadays?
That video is from a show in New
York City. The show was booked but Dan Lee had to cancel for some reason, so
instead of cancelling the show outright we just decided that I might as well
hop on the drums and we could just forget the bass for this one show. Like I
mentioned earlier, drums is my main instrument so it wasn't too difficult for
me to adapt. Before Occult Burial, and to this day, I was playing drums in a
D-beat/Hardcore band called Asile [French for Asylum].
Your drummer Dan played drums on Iron dogs [know now as Ice war] is he still playing with them?
No, Dan Lee parted ways with Iron
Dogs after the second album. While he holds fond memories of making those first
two albums, he is no longer involved in any way with Iron Dogs or Ice War.
What´s the strangest place and the most shocking one that you´ve
been?
I´m not sure if you mean this question for me personally, or for the band, so I'll
answer from both perspectives.
For Occult Burial, I suppose the "strangest" show we played was a
Halloween show in Philadelphia last year. It was held in the basement of this
old manor. It was a cover show, and the crowd was more punk-oriented. Bikini
Kill and Dead Kennedys played before us, and then it was time for Occult Burial
to take the stage. We played a few originals that no one seemed to really care
about, so then we played our Misfits covers and everybody was into it,
including us of course. The last band to play was Iron Maiden and they played
excellently! That show definitely stands out as one of the more unique ones we
have played.
As for the most shocking place, any show we've played where the promoter has
done an awful job promoting the show, or refuses to pay us decently, or
anything of the sort - the lack of regard that some promoters have for
the bands they are booking is often enough to shock us.
Now, to answer personally, when I was 18 I had the opportunity to visit the
Middle East [Lebanon, Jordan and Syria] - I was staying with my friend whose
father was a diplomat for the Canadian government. During that trip we had the
opportunity to visit a Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan, guided by one
of his associates. Seeing how cramped and squalid it was, with power lines
hanging in jumbles throughout these narrow walkways, it was probably the most
shocking place I've ever been. As for the strangest place, on that very
same trip, in Jordan, my friend and I visited the Petra valley. After passing
the treasury, and near the monastery, we climbed a dune where we were afforded an
excellent view. I picked up a pretty-looking rock, and was immediately scolded
by a little bedouin girl who told me it was hers and to give it back. [The
bedouins scoured the valley for the most appealing rocks to sell to tourists].
I remember arguing with her a bit, saying that I had found it, but I don't
remember what I did with the rock. Later on, we stayed in the valley until
nightfall and walked back through it with a narrow strip of stars shining
between the two rock walls of the valley.
What are your current future plans? Is there a chance to se
Occult Burial touring Europe soon?
A short European tour [France,
Belgium, Germany, maybe more] is planned for autumn 2016 with our good friends
Cauchemar. Other than that we are busy writing new songs - we have been feeling
very creative lately, and almost have enough material for a second album
already.
Thanks for your time, Is there anything else you would like to
add?
Thank you for your questions.
