Right from the very beginning, Tasmanian act Psycroptic
set a high standard for themselves within the death metal scene.
The quartet's independently released debut 'The Isle Of
Disenchantment' (released in 2001), although recorded on a modest budget,
was a particularly brutal affair that showcased the band's technical
prowess and song writing skills, and one that inevitably earned them
a favourable reaction from both the Australian and international press.
It was another two years before the band (who were made
up of Matthew 'Chalky' Chalk, guitarist Joe Haley, bassist Cameron Grant
and drummer David Haley) returned once again with their follow up release
'The Scepter Of The Ancients', but the wait proved to be worth it. Not
only was the album viewed as a step up in every respect, it was also
the band's first release to be distributed overseas (through US label
Unique Leader Records), which earned them a national support slot with
Deeds Of Flesh (who were also on the same label) and helped the band
make inroads overseas on their European tour with Swedish death metal
legends Dismember.
Although the tour was a huge success, it wasn't without
its problems. Prior to leaving, Chalk made the decision not to follow
the group on their overseas jaunt, which left them in need of a suitable
replacement. Jason Peppiatt (ex-Born Headless/M.I.A.) was brought in
to fulfil their live obligations, which inevitably earned him a place
within the band upon their return home following Chalk's official dismissal.
Australian fans witnessed the remodelled line up when
they supported Floridian death metal giants Hate Eternal on their national
tour in June 2005, which eased fan fears that Chalk was an irreplaceable
member of the Psycroptic sound. All the while, Psycroptic kept themselves
busy with work on their third release 'Symbols Of Failure', which was
finally unveiled this month on Dutch label Neurotic Records.
After having a late night celebrating the release of their
third album, I caught up with a very tired, but enthusiastic David Haley
to talk about the split with Chalk, the addition of Peppiatt, their
new label home Neurotic Records, the cover artwork and the feeling from
within the band about their third, and most devastating release to date,
'Symbols Of Failure'.
"We worked very hard to get all the songs on this
album up to a level that we were not only just satisfied with, but extremely
happy with. It helped heaps that Joe (Haley) actually recorded the whole
album himself at his home studio minus the drums, so we had a lot of
time to really get things right and be totally happy with what we came
out with. I can't speak for the rest of the band, but there have been
moments with our past recordings where I've thought to myself, 'Damn!
I wish I had done this rather than that!' But I suppose the recordings
we did in the past were the best we could have done at the time. Of
course there are a lot of things that I would like to go back and change,
but that was simply the best that we could do at that moment. They say
hindsight is always twenty/twenty vision, but I would say that we're
ninety-five percent happy with the new album. We're pretty stoked with
it."
Although there's been a lot of talk about the new album
'Symbols Of Failure', one subject that can't be overlooked is the introduction
of new vocalist Peppiatt, who replaced Chalk as far back as June 2005.
"I knew that this would be coming up! (Laughs) It
was a complex situation. Chalk turned down a European tour for reasons
perhaps best left known only to the band. We didn't feel that those
reasons were valid, but he obviously did, and therefore he decided to
stay behind while the remainder of Psycroptic went over to tour with
Dismember. That was his decision. We respect him for his decision, but
having said that, we simply weren't prepared to sit around and wait
for someone to let us know when they're ready to go. The opportunity
was there, and we had to take it. We didn't feel that it was a fair
decision on his behalf, so it was simply a case of getting a replacement,
and when we got back, trying to forget certain events. But forgetting
things is impossible when certain issues kept cropping up, so we simply
had to ask him to leave. The change was essentially a matter of necessity
in the end. I would say that it's only now that we realise that the
band dynamic is a lot more positive and enthusiastic than it was in
the past. There were elements that we couldn't work with anymore, and
they simply had to change. Of course, we all get down about things not
working, about the break up of the original line up and how people are
going to take it, but we really put that in the back of our minds because
in the end it's our band, and we do it, not in an effort to impress
people, but because we simply love the music."
Although having been inducted into the band midway through
2005, his involvement on 'Symbols Of Failure' is limited due to most
of the album already having been written at that point.
"Peppiatt joined the band around the tail end of
the writing sessions. Musically, on this album he didn't have too much
input, but then that's always been the case in the past, as Chalk didn't
have any writing input whatsoever in the musical sense. It's always
been Joe (Haley), Cameron (Grant) and myself doing everything there.
But while Peppiatt was a late introduction to the process, I would dare
say that in the future he will definitely have some input as he's quite
a good guitarist and a talented song writer in his own right. I mean
he's been in bands such as Born Headless and M.I.A. in the past. In
fact he recently split from M.I.A. so he could devote his time fully
to Psycroptic."
Along with a change of vocalist, Psycroptic has also changed
record labels; with Dutch label Neurotic Records (who also house Prostitute
Disfigurement, Visceral Bleeding, Arsebreed and Spawn Of Possession)
releasing 'Symbols Of Failure' worldwide.
Your debut was independently released, and 'Scepter' was
licensed to MGM Distribution in Australia and Unique Leader Records
for the US, but this time you've moved onto Neurotic Records. How did
that come about?
"The deal we have with Neurotic Records is a two album licensing
deal. We cover all our costs here, and license the album to them over
there. It sort of takes the risk away of taking any money away from
the label itself and having the label having to recoup those costs through
sales. So that means from day one, every copy that's sold means that
we get some financial benefit, which is ultimately a plus for us. When
it's your own money coming out of your own pocket, you tend to be a
lot tighter on budget constraints in the studio. You tend to work a
lot harder because you don't have this big cheque from the label with
a note saying, 'Here you go. Go record an album'. Well I should say
that we do at least! (Laughs) So it was a case of our beer drinking
money being used to get us in the studio. In the long run, it just worked
out a lot better for us to cover the initial costs, and just get it
back from sales of the album through the label."
Prior to the move, Psycroptic second release 'The Scepter
Of The Ancients' was released through US label Unique Leader Records.
"Unique Leader Records is a great label, but I guess that with
the line up change, we wanted to make a fresh start as well. So we just
decided to totally change everything. When we put the offer out there,
there were a couple of labels that were pretty interested in us. I suppose
we just decided to go with a smaller label like Neurotic Records because
we would ultimately get more priority through them. There were a couple
of larger labels that were sniffing around, but nothing was set in concrete
with any of those. In the end, Neurotic Records ended up bringing to
us an excellent deal to the table, and we decided to take the risk and
jump at the chance with working with them. We can only hope that it
pays off because we have high hopes with these guys."
Another persuasive argument in favour of the move towards
Neurotic Records was the fact that they had released Haley's other project
Ruins' debut release 'Spun Forth As Dark Nets'.
"That was a definite influence, and another reason
why we decided to eventually go with the label. We had seen what they
did with the Ruins release, and it sort of took away some of the unknown
away from the label. We all know that labels will promise one thing,
and deliver another. There's always a difference between saying something
and actually doing it. Neurotic Records actually did everything they
said they were going to do with the Ruins release, so we knew that we
could trust them to do what they promised. Neurotic Records actually
treat every band the same. They don't put out releases on top of each
other, but rather allow them a space to breathe. There's something like
a six to eight week cycle in regards to releases from the label, so
every album gets priority at the time of its release. Obviously Ruins
is not a household name, although I think Psycroptic helped the album
with their more widely recognised name. That's a release that's probably
going to take off a little more with the release of Psycroptic's new
album. I would say they will given an equal priority, but I think Psycroptic
is certainly the more well known of the two."
If early reports are anything to go by, then Psycroptic
needn't fear, as the press in Europe seem to agree that 'Symbols Of
Failure' live up to the high expectations expected from the band.
"The reviews we've seen so far have been excellent.
They've all been extremely positive, and we've seen a fair amount of
reviews from Europe. We've only seen a few here in Australia so far,
but they seem to echo the European sentiments - which means that it's
all very positive so far. It's good to know that people seem to be getting
into this new album, and all our hard work is starting to pay off. Of
course there's always going to be people that aren't into 'Symbols Of
Failure', but that's just the nature of things. Some people are going
to prefer 'The Isle Of Disenchantment', while some 'The Scepter Of The
Ancients', and then there are some that will favour our latest release.
But then on the other side of the equation, there are some that are
going to think that we're shit altogether! (Laughs) We're just happy
and confident that people who like the Psycroptic sound will get into
'Symbols Of Failure'. Ultimately it's up to the listener to decide what
they do or don't like."
Aside from the music side of things, one of the biggest
standout features about 'Symbols Of Failure' is the amazing artwork,
which was provided by Pär Olofsson.
"The cover artwork is amazing. Olofsson has done
work with bands like Deeds Of Flesh and Spawn Of Possession, but I think
that a lot of his work is more commission based, fantasy type of artwork.
We simply came across him on the internet, and sent him an e-mail. What
really surprised us is that he actually got into our music. That was
actually a real bonus. We put it to him about doing three pieces for
us, and all he asked for was the lyrics I wrote for the new album. At
the time I only had around half of them written for the album. We just
gave him free reign to come up with anything that he liked, and we're
pretty glad that we did that, because it's pretty out there. We're very
happy with what he came up with. Since the album's been released, we've
had a chat with him, and he's asked us whether we would like to work
with him again in the future. We definitely will! (Laughs) He can do
all our album covers."
Although it's a well known fact that Psycroptic's lyrical
base is founded upon themes of fantasy and science fiction, the band
aren't sure themselves of the conceptual theme Olofsson has based his
work upon.
"Olofsson just read the lyrics and came back with this piece. He's
Swedish, so his English isn't all that fluent, so understanding what
any particular concept he was trying to relay through to us when we
spoke was confusing at best. He initially came to us with a rough idea
in three days after reading the lyrics. He actually liked his own idea
so much that he finished the piece and then gave it to us for approval
as soon as possible! There were a couple of slight changes that we suggested,
and then over the course of another couple of weeks, he came up with
another couple of pieces for us. It was all very quick. I think a lot
of people are going to start using him once they see his crazy work."
Wasting little time, Psycroptic have already put together
a national tour to announce the release of the new album, followed closely
by a European tour in support of Floridian death metal kings Hate Eternal.
"We're pretty much playing every weekend here on
in until April here in Australia. We just started the tour last weekend
up in Brisbane. We did two shows up there, and they were awesome. We're
really looking forward to this tour because it's been a while since
we last did shows around the place. There's not going to be anything
too special in regards to pyrotechnics or anything like that! (Laughs)
We just try and get up there and play an intense and as tight a show
as possible. We try to keep the set varied with the song selection,
so we pick songs from all of our releases, along with some stuff that
we haven't played for some time. We just try and keep it interesting
for people. We're also doing our longest set that we've ever done as
well. People often complained that we didn't play as long as they had
hoped, so we've added a couple more into the set! (Laughs) Peppiatt
really does the older material justice as well. He really nails it.
He's probably a little more aggressive in his vocal style, so he's basically
screaming at the top of his lungs all night. After this run of national
dates, we'll be heading out with Hate Eternal. We're totally looking
forward to that tour. We're good friends with the Hate Eternal guys,
and having toured Europe once before, we kind of know what to expect.
This tour goes to a lot of countries that we've never been to before,
so we've very excited. Last time we toured Europe, it was a massive
shock, and we were left wondering what we were going to do next. This
time we're a little more relaxed about it all. Well, as much as you
can be about touring Europe! We'll be playing every day for a month,
so we'll be loving every minute of it."
I would like to personally thank David Haley for his
generous time, and Darren Cherry (Stomp Records Distribution) and Kelli
Wright for making the interview possible.
For more information on Psycroptic, check out -
http://www.psycroptic.com
© Justin Donnelly - justindonnelly@ozemail.com.au
