The Monomaniac interview vol.1
Three days ago I posted a review of the first volume of the Monomanic compilations series by Blastbeat Mailmurder.
Here is this review.
And here is the Monomaniac page on the Blastbeat mailmurder website :
MONOMANIAC
I asked Panos Agoros, the man behind Blastbeat Mailmuder a few questions about BBMM, the Monomanic series and its first volume (I also recently posted his answers about the recent record of Dephosphorus for which he sings, you can read my review of the excellent Dephosphorus record, Nightsky transform, and the interview with Panos about it
at this location).
read below the Monomaniac interview :
-how
did you get this idea of the Monomaniac compilations?
Panos:
That was while I
was hearing a new song by a local brutal death/grind band, Atavism. They are friends of mine, and have been really slow at
releasing new music these last years. So, this new track was a surprise because
I didn’t expect anything new from them, as well as because it had a better
sound than their previous releases.
I started to brainstorm as per how
I could include the song to a future release. I first thought to use it as a side
to a split-7”. Then I realized it was just one minute long! It would be a waste for a 2-way split and even for a
4-way split - since you can fit at least 10 minutes of music at good sound
quality to a 7 incher… That’s how the idea occurred to me of compiling several
one-minute songs to a 7”!
In order to get all the
background, I must mention that ever since I started collecting vinyl I particularly
loved 7”EP’s that featured more than 2 songs. I have always felt some sort of
weird satisfaction when a 7” featured 3, 4 or more songs. I don’t know why.
-how
did you choose the bands?
P.:
I started asking
to friendly acts and bands that I have been in touch with. In the meantime,
Andrew Childers from the excellent blog Grind & Punishment
really liked the idea, and volunteered to help me out and ask to a few good
grind bands that he was in touch with. That’s how Cloud Rat, Detroit, Thedowngoing and Body Hammer signed
in.
-how
the bands reacted to the idea of writing songs around one minute long? Most
bands on the compilation are used to write short songs, but others usually
write longer songs, did they took it as a cool challenge?
P.:
The first most
interesting thing about the Monomaniac series is exactly that, getting
non-grind bands to follow the grind methodology and write a really short song!
Some musicians really like the challenge of concentrating their band’s music
and style in 60-90 seconds.
The second most interesting is
getting together those short songs written by bands of different style and
background, but all sharing a common passion for intense, unmitigated
underground music and the associated culture/aesthetics.
I hope that if the series go well,
the whole concept will get so infectious that eventually I will be receiving
spontaneous submissions even from bigger bands (like say, Napalm Death,
Immolation or Dark Throne) who will write saying “hey, we think that the Monomaniac series are cool, take this new song that
we wrote exclusively for you!”.
-something
to say about the order of the tracks on the compilation?
P.:
The running order
is always extremely important but in the case of a compilation it is
crucial in order to maintain the listener’s interest and an overall cohesion.
To start with, I decided to group
the grind-ish bands on one side and the black/death ones on the other. This
helped assure a stylistic cohesion but on the other hand I hope that most of
the people who will buy it will listen to both sides, and not just to side A if
they are grind freaks or to side B if
they’re black/death fiends…
In the future this might change,
but it will depend of the tracks at my disposal. A blackened grindcore song can
be squeezed between a death metal and a black metal song, and vice versa…
Now I will detail a little bit the
choice of this volume’s running order.
Side I:
- I thought that Cloud Rat were perfect in order to kick off side A and this
whole volume 1. Their song has a thick, metallic sound, some really
powerful screams and a seamless flow. I thought that both the grind and
black/death audience would like it.
- Style-wise, Thedowngoing were the obvious choice to carry the torch after
Cloud Rat. They also have some ear-piercing screaming vocals and offering in their minute 3 tracks, they
are relentlessly hammering the listener making him realize what he got
himself into. We’re not kidding here. This is extreme deathnoise for the
most vicious of audiophiles!
- Detroit’s powerviolence/hardcore with
its raw and gritty production was chosen next in order to give a break
from the grind onslaught of the first two bands. It’s still brutal of
corpse, but in a different way. Like if we got from nuclear bombing down to
street fighting level!
- Sete Star Sept are next and their
avantgrinding noise violently erupts making the listener wonder if his
equipment just broke! Both the mastering engineer and the pressing factory
personnel have inquired whether so much distortion was normal! Anyway, I
wanted the overall flow to have some powerful dynamics and a track like “Why Not
Intersect” serves exactly that purpose. Body Hammer’s cybergrind tune is also in these veins with some
effective dynamics, so it was cool to have it next, letting Head Cleaner close the first side with
a more straight-forward and catchy style.
Side II:
- Diocletian were meant from the
beginning to open the black/death side of Monomaniac vol.1… “Traitors
Gallow” was one of the first tracks to be submitted, and it was
also the first excerpt that was offered from very early on to the
audience. Its inhumane, take-no-prisoners chaos perfectly represents what
I like best about underground metal. Diocletian were the flag bearers of
Monomaniac vol.1, a band which has trusted me and signed in instantly
eventhough they did not know me very well. Being one of my favorite bands
of these last years and with such a monstrous track, they just had to go
first…
- The Howling
Wind have
initially surprised me submitting an instrumental song. It’s an awesomely majestic
number with a lot of eerie stuff going on, so it was perfect after
Diocletian…
- Sempiternal
Dusk is a
new death metal band from Portland-Oregon with an extremely dark and
menacing sound. Side B featuring two regular songs and two instrumentals,
the righteous thing to do in order to maintain dynamics was to alternate
them. That’s how This Is Past got
the opportunity to close Side II and Monomaniac vol.1 with some ritualistic
bombast.
-two
tracks by Thedowngoing are also on their latest record, it’s an exception isn’t
it? The other tracks are exclusively featured on Monomaniac?
P.:
Good question! All
tracks submitted to Monomaniac must be unreleased and somehow exclusive.
Demo/live versions or remixes might fit if they are relevant and of good
quality.
In the case of Thedowngoing there is one song on
Monomaniac that they have re-recorded for their “Athousandyearsofdarkness”
EP, “Floorboards”.
I realized this a few weeks before the release of Monomaniac vol.1. I could
have asked them to pull it down, but I didn’t because I guess that they’ve
somehow missed the exclusivity part of Monomaniac’s concept. Plus it’s a
different version than the EP’s and only 1/3 (20 seconds) of their
contribution, so I really don’t mind!
The other TDG song that you’re
referring to is “Hikabusha
(reprise)”. Like the title clearly suggests it’s a reprise which means
(quoting Wikipedia’s article):
“(…) repetition or reiteration of the opening
material later in a composition (…)”. The full “Hikabusha” song
that is featured in the EP is 34 seconds, while the reprise is 15 songs long,
so it’s definitely not the same song!
There is another similar case, DETROIT’s
“Birthday Party”. It’s still unreleased/exclusive to this moment but they
have re-recorded it for a future split-LP with Dysplasia (that is going to be
an excellent release, by the way). I heard the new version and it’s quite
different, having a different sound and more/different vocals/lyrics. I must
say thay I prefer the original version though!
Anyway and in order to recap, the
vast majority of the songs featured on Monomaniac are new/exclusive material.
There might be a couple of exceptions over time, but I am 100% committed in
maintaining high quality standards and not including any fillers.
-do
you know already which bands will be featured on the next one?
P.:
I know some of
them and have already a few tracks ready!
The bands that have already
submitted material are:
- Mutant
Supremacy:
excellent death metal from Brooklyn,
NY. You are already familiar
with them since you’ve reviewed their “Rotting
Season” 7”EP, as well as having done an interview with them.
- Burial Hordes: brutal black metal from Greece
with Dead Congregation, Enshadowed members. Shiteater, the drummer playing
on this track is the last drummer we’ve played with Thanos (Dephosphorus) back at the
Straighthate days (2007-8), he’s also playing with Embrace Of Thorns,
Necrovorous, Resurgency.
- Gods Of Chaos: chaotic hardcore/grind from Croatia.
Excellent band, still relatively unknown which is something that hopefully
will change…
I’m expecting in the next few
weeks tracks from:
- Ravencult: awesome thrashing black
metal from Greece.
- Skullshitter: old-school grindcore from
N.Y. featuring Robert Nelson, Mutant Suppremacy’s drummer.
- Progress Of
Inhumanity:
grindcore from Greece
featuring another ex-Straighthate drummer, Nikos Prapas.
- Priapus: grindcore from the states.
- Haapoja: blackened metal/hardcore
from Finland.
-do
you already know how many monomaniac compilations there will be? Maybe it
depends on the success of the first ones?
P.:
I will keep
releasing new Monomaniac volumes as long as there is enough interest for the
series, and as long as I have the time/money to do it… But I like to take one
step at a time. I hope vol.1 is going to do fine and in the meanwhile I am
preparing vol.2. Support Blastbeat Mailmurder and we will carry on!
-what
can we expect from Blastbeat Mailmurder in the next few months
P.: Next release in line is “The
Mignola Split”, the ever-delayed split-cassette between Kommpound,
my personal field recordings/noise/drone/ambient project, and Hellboy
106, a local comrade doing noise. It is a tribute to Mike Mignola and
his legendary Hellboy series. It will be Blastbeat Mailmurder’s first cassette
release, limited to 60 red tapes.
I guess
that if things go well, Monomaniac vol.2 should be out early next year (after
the end of the world, that is). I will also release at some point two 12”LP’s,
and this is a scoop!
The first
one, is the self-titled MLP of Injekting
Khaos, which is the black metal band where Nikos played prior to
Dephosphorus. It is their final recording, and you can stream two out of its
five tracks from their bandcamp
page. The format will be one-sided 12”MLP
with an etching/engraving on the other side, and it is going to be a co-release
between Blastbeat Mailmurder, the band, Temple Of Flesh, and Order Of Theta.
I will
also (co-)release at some point the final recording of another now defunct
band, Kvazar. They were one of Greece’s
finest grindcore offerings, as well as friends of mine. I have committed not
only to release it, but also to lay down the vocals! It has the length of an EP
and most likely will be released as a split-LP with a foreign band that has yet
to be determined…
That’s
all for now. Thanks so much for your support Dennis, it is appreciated and good
luck with Blasting Days!!!
Stream/download
Monomaniac vol.1 now from Blastbeat Mailmurder’s bandcamp
page! If you don’t have a turntable please consider buying the digital
version for the amount of your choice. That will help us finance the next
volumes!
Last but
not least, we don’t yet have a fancy web store featuring all the titles that we
distribute but we’re working on it! Until then, please check
out our online catalog. It’s full of killer items. Make your choice
then drop us an email. We’ll get back to you asap with the postage cost to your
location. If you support us, we’ll keep bringing you inspiring underground releases!