It's not because T.O.P. is asleep that I won't post my usual Best-Of the year !!! there's a few pieces here that came out late in the year (November/December), so it took a few supplementary weeks to get into everything and give those the great place they were deserving... No order of preference, just ranked by alphabetical order ! cheers (Steph) APOSTLE OF SOLITUDE "Of Woe and Wounds" (Cruz del sur Music)
8)It
was a really productive year for me as I was able to release two new albums in
total: Funeralium “Deceived Idealism” in February and Ataraxie “L’être Et La
Nausée” in September. That’s always frustrating to have your albums delayed
again and again. Regarding gigs, I particularly enjoyed myself playing at
Killtown Deathfest as I saw lot of cool bands and met some cool people there.
As for other gigs in general, that was also nice to play again with Mournful Congregation,
Mourning Beloveth, Ophis or Marche Funèbre as they now are long time doom
comrades.
As for
what happened in 2013 in our world, we were one more time overfed with sterile
and nonsense debates. That’s what I call the culture of VOID! Media know too
well how to manipulate the mass so as avoid REAL debates and help politicians
to keep on getting more and more from us without facing any trouble. Anyway,
don’t hope for any better things now…
I saw some amazing shows this year and it's tough to
pick the best, but I think I would have to say that one night - April 20th at
Roadburn - will always be a memorable one for me. I saw High on Fire
sound better and rock harder than I've ever heard them sound before and I also
got to see Elder absolutely destroy as well. In addition to the great
performances by the bands, the vibe at Roadburn with the crowd and fans was a
transcendent experience for me. Awesome, awesome experience that
I'm thrilled to have been a part of.
The other absolutely epic show I saw this year was
Sleep in Denton, Texas.
Best Album Cover
Earthless "From the Ages"
Best Songs of 2013
1. Egypt "Ancient Enemy"
2. Earthless "From the Ages"
3. Black Pussy "Galaxies"
4. Church of Misery "B.T.K."
Most Anticipated Albums
The new Blood Farmers record
The new Las Cruces record
Personal Thoughts about 2013
2013 was a great year for me. We did our first
European tour and got to be a part of both Roadburn and Desertfest London,
which were among the coolest shows I've ever gotten to play. I also saw
so many great performances and got to see some of my favorite bands live that I
thought I may never get to see. Some of the kick ass sets that I saw this
year were Sleep, Orange Goblin, Church of Misery (who finally made it to
Dallas), Ufomammut (at Desertfest), Egypt, Kadaver, Lowrider, Saint
Vitus, Ape Machine, Freedom Hawk, Dark Earth, Black Pussy.... So many great
bands, so many great shows.
2013 also was a landmark year for me because myself
and Michael and Tim from Wo Fat bought the studio that I have worked at for
many years and that all of the Wo Fat albums were recorded at.
For me that’s the“Dale” EP by Aleph Nullwhich came out in
January of 2012 – seriously overlooked and far better than a lot of the full
length albums released last year. This didn’t miss my attention in 2012, but
given how great it is the lack of attention it received was criminal!
7) MOST ANTICIPATED ALBUMS OF 2014
Yob
Crowbar
Elder
8) This year in Australia – seeing live shows from Sleep, Church of Misery, St Vitus, Kadavar,
Blues Pills, Kingdom of Sorrow, Red Fang, Orange Goblin, Vista Chino, along with some seeing some amazing
Australian bands in Child and Horsehunter take shape (these bands will have
some impressive albums out in 2014!), a new album from Clagg was a highlight
also.
Hoping to hear some new tracks from Yob and Crowbar at Roadburn, and
Elder at Desertfest Berlin as well as getting to see all three of these bands
live for the very first time. Cannot wait to meet Windhand and see them live at
Roadburn and Heavy Days in Doomtown. And am very much hoping to see the amazing
Aleph Null perform live at some point during April when I’m in Europe.
Only
heard two: Guided by Voices – Down by the Racetrack
Guided
by Voices – Glue On Bicycle
3)BEST
LIVE PERFORMANCES OF 2013
In no
order: Killing Joke The Musical Box Goblin
Vektor Toss-up between The Zombies or The Monkees 4)BEST ALBUM COVERS OF 2013
In no
order:
Circus
Devils – When Machines Attack G
uided by
Voices – English Little League
I want
to say Ice Dragon – Born a Heavy Morning but instead I’ll go with: Realmbuilder
– Blue Flame Cavalry (though I haven’t heard the album yet) 5)
5)BEST
SONGS OF 2013 Wouldn’t know where to begin. I hardly ever pay attention to the names of songs so I wouldn't be able to tell you anyway.
6) BEST OVERLOOKED ALBUM OF 2012 I’m still discovering stuff from the ‘60s and ‘70s; I’ll get to 2012 in fifty years.
7) MOST ANTICIPATED ALBUMS OF 2014 In no order: Guided by Voices – Motivational Jumpsuit
Guided
by Voices – Cool Planet Whatever else Robert Pollard puts out
8) I feel good about the music we made this past year, as Ice Dragon and in our other guises. I look forward to recording more music in the coming year.
FUNERALIUM - Deceived Idealism KRYPTS - Unending Degradation DREAM DEATH - Somnium Excessum ONIROPHAGUS - Prehuman ATARAXIE - L’être et la Nausée ABYSMAL GRIEF - Feretri GRAVE MIASMA - Odori Sepulcrorum SHADOW OF THE TORTURER - Dronestown ILSA - Intoxicantations
BEST EPs/DEMOS OF 2013 BÖLZER - Aura SHEOL - Promo MMXIII PRAISE THE FLAME - Profane Cult DEMENTIA 13 - Tales for the Carnivorous NECRORITE - In Death’s Certitude
BEST LIVE PERFORMANCES OF 2013 I couldn’t attend barely any show this year. Budget’s tight and I chose to invest most of my money on the label.
BEST ALBUM COVER OF 2013 AUTOPSY - The Headless Ritual
BEST SONG OF 2013 SHADOW OF THE TORTURER - Indianapolis/Ukiah
BEST OVERLOOKED ALBUM OF 2012 SINISTROUS DIABOLUS - Total Doom//Desecration
MOST ANTICIPATED ALBUMS OF 2014 The new TRIPTYKON and the debut full-length by SWALLOWED.
8) It was a pretty rad year labelwise, with great releases such as
Uncoffined, Symptom, Solothus and Chalice Of Doom that I didn’t mention on the
“best albums of 2013” list out of a -most probably- stupid sense of modesty.
Ahem. And regarding 2014, I just can’t fucking wait. We’ll be putting out more
releases than ever before and I’m really anticipating them all.
-Sendelica “The
Kaleidoscopic Kat And It’s Autoscopic Ego”
-Peacemaker “Cult.45”
2) BEST EPs/DEMOS OF 2013
1. The Moon Mistress
“Shimla”
2. The Grand Astoria “Then You Win”
3. Arkham Witch
“Hammerstorm”
4. The Curse of Wendigo
“Wild Honey”
5. Nonsun “Sun Blind Me”
3) BEST LIVE PERFORMANCES OF 2013
-The Moon Mistress and
Talbot gig in Saint-Petersburg. Even though I don’t remember a half of that
evening.
4) BEST ALBUM COVERS OF 2013
Ocean Chief “Sten”
The Grand Astoria
“Then You Win”
Talbot “Scaled”
5) BEST SONGS OF 2013
-Moss “Horrible Nights”
-Stangala “Konk Kerne”
- Plöw “Captain Gungus”
-Castero “He Must Rule”
-The Moon Mistress “Shimla”
6) BEST OVERLOOKED ALBUM OF 2012
-Realmbuilder “Fortifications
of the Pale Architect” (it was re-released by I Hate Records in 2012, so it
counts)
7) MOST ANTICIPATED ALBUMS OF 2014
-Realmbuilder “Blue Flame
Cavalry”
-Jack Frost
-Echthros
8) On a more personal point of view, please give us your own appreciations
about this year and - if there’s any particular - your expectations for 2014?
There was enough of doom in
2013 and there will be even more in 2014 as well there’re always a damned lot
of opportunities to find perfect balance and harmony. Ohm shanti ohm.
Albums 1. Black Sabbath -13 2. Cathedral- The Last Spire 3. Goatess- Goatess 4. Age Of Taurus- Desperate Souls Of Tortured Times 5.Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats- Mind Control 6. Curse The Sun- Psychache 7. Clamfight- I Versus the Glacier 8. Devil To Pay- Fate Is Your Muse 9. Weed Is Weed- Blunt Force Trauma 10. Admiral Browning- Give No Quarter Demo/EP 1. Heavy Temple- Unholy Communion 2. Doctor Smoke- Doomo 3. Black Blizzard- Broken Hands, Broken Hearts 4. Slagstorm 5. Second Grave- Antithesis
Best Live Performances of 2013 1. Hammer of Doom! 2. Stoner Hands Of Doom
Most Anticipated Albums for 2014 1. Blood Farmers! 2. Pilgrim- Void Worship 3. Serpent Venom- Of Things Seen And Unseen 4. Sigiriya- Darkness Died Today
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Check out PTI herew/ Huata, Electricjezus, Hollow Leg, ITCOS, Napalm Christ, Spiral Shades, Tombstones, Steve + Ulla &Steph from T.o.P., etc...
My first encounter with EGYPT was in the beginning of 2010 when I got just another package from All That Is Heavy. Inside, along with the stuff I had ordered I found a
simple black and white cover CD with a stylized
falcon and the back of it said “EGYPT was Aaron Esterby/ Chad Heille/ Ryan
Grahn”. It turned out to be a bonus item (oh, how I like presents!), an EP by a
band that had split a few years back and I absolutely loved the music that was
on it. No wonder I got super excited when I heard last year that EGYPT was going
to release new material. “Become the Sun” and “Cyclopean Riffs” (split with WO
FAT) followed the good news, both are excellent records and received due
attention from the fans of the heavy and the slow. Now the band seems more
active than ever and is preparing to record more material but more on that you
can learn from Aaron….
It has
been (almost) a year since you released your first full length album “Become the Sun”, as far as I know it
got very positive response. The same for your split with WO FAT….. What has changed for the band since
you resurrected EGYPT?
The response to the new stuff has been extremely
positive for the most part. Some people were a bit disappointed that “Become the Sun”
wasn't the S/T EP part 2. We're really proud of “Become
the Sun” and “Cyclopean
Riffs” (WO FAT
split). We've grown a lot as a band and cover more ground musically. The main
thing that has changed for us since we got back together is there is more
dedication. We are always rehearsing and writing. Working on becoming the best
we can be.
Do you approach music and creating music
the same way you used to, say 10 years ago?
When we started back in 2003, all the songs we
basically just jammed out. Someone would come up with a riff and we would jam
on that until something would happen. Kind of let everything breathe until
changes occurred on there own. Our approach now is a bit different. There are a
lot more formed ideas being brought to the table. Sometimes even complete
songs. Everyone is contributing riffs and structure. We still jam some tunes
out, but the songwriting and the way that is happens is a bit more mature.
Do you have other musical projects that kept you in shape during the years?
Not really. I go through phases where I absolutely
do not want to pick up an instrument or have anything to do with music. The way
the first incarnation of EGYPTended
bummed me out and I had little interest in playing. During EGYPT's hiatus, Chad (drummer) played
and recorded in a few projects. He recorded an album where he played all the
instruments. The project was called EL
SUPREMO
and it's worth checking out if you can get your hands on it. Our guitar player,
Neal Stein, had a bunch of bands we was involved with. One of which is GORGATRON. An absolutely killer death metal band.
Everyone should check them out. They rule.
What inspires the lyrics in your albums?
Mostly science fiction and lore. I usually will try
to tell some kind of story. I have a hard time sitting down and writing lyrics.
For the most part, the lyrics kind of come to me when we are jamming on new
ideas. A lot of the songs seem to end up being about the Sun dying for some
reason. Probably because that would be pretty bad...haha
You are already planning
your next record. Tell me in
what direction are you going this time musically?
We are planning on heading into the studio in
January 2014. We have a TON of new material. We been playing quite a few of the
new songs live and people seem to really dig them. There is not much of a
direction change. Some songs are heavy and slow, others are heavy and groovy.
It's a pretty mixed bag. I think the tentative idea is to release the new
material as 2 shorter length records. To try to keep the running time 40
minutes or under for each record. The idea is in it's infancy so we'll what
materializes. We're excited to get in the studio and start working.
“Become
The Sun” and the split with WO FAT “Cyclopean
Riffs”were released throughTotem Cat Records and Doomentia Records.
Are you going to release the next one withone of these
labels or you have
something else in mind?
We're not sure what we are going to do. Both Totem
Cat and Doomentia are great labels that are awesome to work with. They both put
the music first and really care about putting out a product that looks and
sounds killer. We'll see what happens when we are finished with the sessions.
We would work with either of them again.
Playing live or just picking up the fruits ofyour work
in the studio?
First and foremost, we are a live band. That is what
we do best and what we enjoy the most. The studio is fun but there is nothing
like playing a show.
Tell me about your local scene.Do you have the chance to play live
often?
We play quite a bit locally and regionally. We'd
like to get out and play more on a national level. It can be pretty tough to do
when you have families and full time jobs but it can be done. We are going to
really try to tour the States in 2014. We would also love to get to Europe. We
are hoping to do that in 2014 as well. As for our local scene in Fargo, I'd say
it's pretty good for the size of the community. We have some great bands here.
I'm a big fan of Shit onTop of Shit (SOTOS), and the death metal crushers
Gorgatron that I mentioned earlier. The biggest issue we have around here is a
lack of good venues for original music. Also, show attendance can be a problem
but I think that's a problem everywhere.
In another interview from about a year
ago you said that exposure isn’t that important to you. Is it still so? Is the
hype good or bad thing?
Well, exposure is never a bad thing. The more people
that listen to your music the better. What I meant is, that it isn't important
to what we do. It isn't going to change anything we do. We would play in a
garage for 3 people. We just like to write and play music. We are humbled that
people dig our stuff. We certainly never expected when we recorded the S/T EP
in our practice space years ago that it would be heard by anyone. And we would
have never thought we'd be writing and recording a third album 10 plus years later.
We are very grateful to the fans of our music.
Thank you for taking the time to do this!
Is there anything else you want people to know about EGYPT that I didn’t asked you?
We have had any amazing year. We've played with some
awesome bands, WO FAT, WEEDEATER, ORANGE GOBLIN, and CHURCH OF MISERY to name
a few. We would like to thank everyone that came out to shows, bought merch at
shows or online, bought us drinks, shook our hands, and had a floor for us to
crash on. Thank all of you so much. For real. We hope to see a lot of you in
2014. Cheers. Interview by Vania Yosifova
