From the Depths
Innsmouth
M[m]:Hello, and thanks for agreeing to do an interview. To kick this thing off, let’s talk about the single greatest source of inspiration for this project: the writings of H. P. Lovecraft. What was it about his work that attracted you so much as opposed to other authors like, say, Tolkien? And is it safe to assume that all of you guys are fans of his stories?
Bea I first discovered Lovecraft in ’91 after reading an old Metallica interview in which Burton cited H.P.L as one of his favourite authors as well as providing the themes for several Metallica lyrics; being a Metallica maniac at the time I knew I had to read this stuff. I managed to track down a dusty old paperback in some grim and decrepit second hand bookstore after a while. I remember the first story I read was “The statement of Randolph Carter”. I quickly became hooked and went to great lengths to track down as much of his fiction as I could. Around the same time I first discovered Death metal and as some of the earliest bands I heard were stuff like Morbid Angel and Massacre I quickly associated Lovecraft and the metal of death as two peas in a blackly dripping pod. I’ve always had the idea of using a Lovecraftian theme since; it just seemed that my previous bands weren’t the right vessel for this until Neil and I one day decided to make some ancient sounding death metal and the time was right. I guess what initially attracted me was the ability of his stories to actually scare my young self. As for Tolkien; well I’ve always been a massive fan of his work but the world needs another Tolkien band about as much as it needs another Lovecraft band, right? Haha. We all appreciate the works of H.P.L, I guess you could say it’s a prerequisite for being a part of Innsmouth.
M[m]:Do each of you have a particular favorite Lovecraft story?
Bea I’m certain the others probably have their favourite tales but speaking for myself I honestly couldn’t pick one although “At the mountains of madness” has always been
one that strikes me a major blow. I would also say his more Dunsanian tales like “the Doom that came to Sarnath”, “The Cats of Ulthar” and “The Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath” are favourites as they have always struck a chord in me. I like it all though damn it!
M[m]:Is the plan to keep your lyrical influence the same? One could argue that might be restrictive, limiting yourself to one author’s literary realm, though a band like Summoning might prove otherwise. Bea I don’t imagine our lyrical influence will stray too far anywhere in the near future. The truth is though that as much as Lovecraft is a prime influence he’s definitely not the sole one. Other authors have influenced my lyrics such as Clark Ashton Smith, Brian Lumley, Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen as has a certain area of Greek Mythology concerning a Goat-Footed God by name of Pan! I don’t think our lyrical direction is too restrictive really if one has an active imagination. You’re right though as Summoning have certainly done pretty well in terms of their heavy Tolkien themes but given that Tolkien’s world is such a dense mythology in itself why shouldn’t they!
M[m]:So Lovecraft and death metal to fit really well together. What other topics go well with the genre? And are there any lyrical themes or topics that will instantly put you off from listening to a band?
Bea I don’t think there really needs to be any limitations on subject matter except for the fact that death metal lyrics should be morbid, dark, ghastly and horrible. This sort of music demands ghoulish lyrics in whatever form they may take. Real death metal is meant to be dark and disturbing and so any life loving, positive affirmation, dance around the rose garden lyrics should fuck right off; there’s a place for these sort of lyrics and it’s not here...............any sort of political lyrics put me off as well; if you don’t like the system go and hold a protest or some shit. This being said I do like to find some intelligent dark lyrics to go with a death metal band...........throwing dead babies around a room, or necrophilia just doesn’t cut it with me anymore.... unless the lyrics are really clever anyway.
M[m]:Ok, in terms of influences, your musical ones are a bit more difficult to pin down. Your take on metal isn’t all that similar to some of Australia’s more famous acts like Portal or Antediluvian. I might draw some similarities to bands like Bolt Thrower at times or maybe Necros Christos, but that doesn’t quite describe you either. Which bands have been the most inspirational for you?
Bea Bands that have inspired us are many and varied and cover many styles of metal as well as other genres of music entirely and I wouldn’t even know where to start. Bands that have influenced us more directly are fewer in number though I suppose and are bands like (though not limited to); Samael, Armoured Angel, Grand Belials Key, Cemetary (an evil shade of grey), old Asphyx, Grave and Unleashed, the Hearse (U.S) demo’s, old Rotting Christ maybe..............you get the idea, there’s actually probably truckloads of stuff that influences us if I were to really think about it. We do try and retain our own sound although being completely original was never really our goal. In the end we’re just a bunch of old death heads throwing our voice out into the death metal wilderness....................
M[m]:It’s really unusual to come across a band in this age without a web presence – no Facebook, website, Twitter, etc. Is it just hard to come by good internet connection in Arkham, or is there some other reasoning behind this?
Bea Even Arkham has internet connection these days I’m afraid; the web now has a long arm indeed! Basically we’re not the most social of animals and 3 out of the 4 of us (yes we have a new member) don’t use facebook (or twitter) at all so I can’t see any reason to use it for the band either. We are after all a death metal band not a fucken social group. While we’re not really against making some sort of strange website in the future I really don’t see any reason to have a facebook so people can “Like” my inane comments and give the “thumbs up” to a picture of one of us eating a bloody fish dinner or some such shit. Would such things help to spread our music faster? Most probably. Do we fucking care? Hell no! In the end we like the relative anonymity and obscurity this path presents to us and it let’s our music do the talking so to speak.
M[m]:You guys are getting pretty well known despite the lack of a Facebook, and, apart from a couple idiot reviewers who don’t know what they’re talking about, have been getting a warm reception. Is this roughly what you were expecting?
Bea Not sure of it’s what we were expecting but I guess it’s what we hoped for haha. The name is slowly but surely snaking its way through the underground and seeping into some far flung places. We knew it would take a while for our stuff to get around without a strong web presence but we’re in no real hurry to become the flavour of the week nor will we, I’d imagine, playing this sort of stuff. There have definitely been some bad reviews as you mentioned, quite often by people who really don’t know what they’re talking about for sure. This doesn’t bother us though, there’s been some damn fine reviews too and our music’s not for everyone; which in my book is a good thing in itself! If all the internet warrior kids liked our stuff we’d be doing something wrong and would have to pull our own fucking limbs off wouldn’t we? That could be decidedly unpleasant for all involved.
M[m]:This question is more for Neil and Beau, but I’d be interested in hearing Todd’s thoughts: is it difficult to work so closely with your brother?
Bea Todd actually parted ways with us shortly after the album was released last year as he moved to another state; about 800 kms away and had other things on the cards besides. He has been replaced by Travis; a long time friend and fellow maniac as well as the addition of a vocalist by name of Mark who also happens to be an old friend and also the man who provided the artwork for our L.p. (just to fill ye in on the happenings in old Innsmouth town of late). But now back to the question – Working with Neil can have its moments but we’re very likeminded in our metal pursuits and have played together in various bands for long years now so it works for the most part. Although when he hurled that cymbal at me a while back, during a show, and severed my left arm, my nose and took out one of my eyes he was really starting to rock the boat!
M[m]:Thanks for filling us in on the goings on; it’s hard to keep on top of things when you don’t have a Facebook… But that sounds like a gruesome wound! Glad to see you’ve recovered enough to at least do an interview. I’d like to take a moment to talk a bit about these new members. I’d imagine they’re fans enough of the current sound given that they’ve joined the band, but do you think these new members will steer Innsmouth down a different path musically or is “full steam ahead” the name of the game?
Bea I don’t think Mark and Travis will steer Innsmouth down a new path more so I think they’ll help widen the current path and add their own darkened currents to the ocean we’re floating through. Regardless of the fact that they are our friends, they were only asked to join Innsmouth as they would bring something to the table that was needed. If they weren’t the sort of people they are Neil and I may well have carried on by ourselves as a two piece................they’re currently adding coal to the fire, so full steam ahead is where this train is going.................right off the rails; to wreck and to ruin. Praise their names............the four goatsmen ride forth!
M[m]:Your earlier stuff is getting quite difficult to get hold of. Tracking down your demo for a decent price took almost a month for me! Are there plans to reissue your earlier material?
Bea We’ve talked about releasing the demo and 7”s on a c.d or maybe the demo on a 10” vinyl or something but nothings confirmed so far. I guess we’ll see what happens but we’d definitely like to if our older materials getting hard to find and people would like to get hold of it. We don’t like the idea of people having to pay too much for any of our releases that’s for sure.
M[m]:So, the question on everyone’s mind: Are you guys working on new material?
Bea The answer is yes! Slowly but surely new songs are taking form and the form they will take will be a Mlp; expect something as big as a Lions heart and as cold as a Witches tit!
M[m]:Excellent! I suppose this is a ways off, but are there any plans of playing a few shows in the US or Europe? I’d be particularly keen on seeing you guys make a Maryland Death Fest announcement…. Bea We’d definitely like to get over there for some shows mate. I’m sure we will at some point and hopefully that point will be next year some time if we don’t tumble down into an abyss in the meantime…………….first though we’ll do our next recording and hopefully it’ll crack a few more misshapen skulls and further spread the sounds to a wider audience so more than 3 or 4 people turn out to our shows.
M[m]:What has been getting heavy rotation in the Innsmouth camp? And do you have any early contenders for “Album of the Year”? Bea Not sure what the others blokes have been spinning but I’ve been listening to a pretty diverse range of stuff of late, though maybe not too many newer albums so it’s a bit early for an album of the year for me yet. Been listening to a fair bit of dark ambient stuff like Atrium Carceri , Wordclock and Draugurinn amongst others. I was listening to the Beastmilk album a lot until recently but I kind of wore that one out. Really liking the Ithaqua- “initiation to obscure mysteries” demo (for some classic Rotting Christ worship) and the latest Stargazer album is a winner as well. Also been listening to the first 2 albums by 16 Horsepower a lot recently and some Abigor and Blut Aus Nord, I guess that’s about it; for repeated plays anyway.
M[m]:Thanks for awakening from your eternal slumber for a moment to take part in this interview. It’s been an honor to speak with you. Do you have any closing words? Bea Never a problem and my thanks for some entertaining and interesting questions. Anyone wishing to make contact with the fell beings of Innsmouth can email Nightgaunt7@hotmail.com and make sure to include stamps or an I.R.C for a sure reply haha. Later!
Thanks to Innsmouth for agreeing to do this interview. Like all of you, I am looking forward to the release of this new MLP. It’s rare that a band blows me away with each of its releases, but Innsmouth have joined these (un)hallowed ranks. Those of you who have yet to delve into Innsmouth’s mighty depths are in luck, because the album is still available from Abysmal Sounds on CD and vinyl, as well as digitally. With any luck, this new material will manifest soon, but in the meantime, there’s no shortage of quality on the band’s other releases.
Photo credits: pics used through-out the interview are of the bands previous line-up( as no pictures have been taken of the new one yet)- all pics are by K. Mayo