A few questions - interview with old school death metal band from United Kingdom REPULSIVE VISION.
1. Can you introduce your band to our readers? - When was it founded and what style of music do you play, etc?
Repulsive Vision are a four piece old school death metal band from Barrow in Furness, Cumbria, UK.
Formed in late 2010 by main songwriter, Matt Davidson, the band are heavily inspired by extreme metal pioneers such as Obituary, Death, Carcass and Napalm Death, affecting a relentlessly aggressive sound that is prominent in this subgenre.
Despite several lineup changes, Repulsive Vision has evolved gradually, maintaining a strong current lineup consisting of Dan McEwan (Vocals), Mark Kirby (Bass), Gary Young (Drums) and Matt Davidson (Guitars), proficiently improving both stage presence and musicianship while striving to create worthy material.
Over the past few years, the band have performed all over the country with a number of high profile underground acts such as Discharge, Hecate Enthroned, Desecration, Destroyer 666, Benediction, etc as well as joining countless other rising bands in many of the country's major cities (with aspirations to tour further afield in the near future).
The band have recently signed to German extreme metal label, Bret Hard Records and will be releasing their long awaited debut album (entitled 'Look Past the Gore and See The Art') on Friday the 13th of January 2017.
2. Where and under what conditions were you recording the new album? Who was in charge of sound, production and mastering?
We recorded our album at First Avenue Studios in Newcastle in the Summer of 2015 with the help of Dave Curle (Engineering). After a year of preparation (with the exception of our bassist who had only been part of the band for a month at the time), we were able to record the entire full length within a weekend. Having received the initial post-production mix, we discussed what to do next and after showing it to our friend Dean Thompson (producer of Avenger's last album, he offered to complete the mix. His final mastered version is, in my opinion, the best it could have been.
3. How many copies were released and which medium was used for this new edition (CD, digital, vinyl, cassette)?
The album will be released on CD via Bret Hard Records on Friday the 13th January 2017. We are considering a vinyl release very soon too.
4. Who is the author of the lyrics and how were they created and about what do the lyrics deal with?
The lyrics are written by Matt (Guitars) and Gary (Drums) and largely deal with real life subjects as that tends to be the inspiration behind how we write. I tend to use a lot of documentaries and horrors to build up a catalogue of subjects that invoke a sense of anger within me. One of the more prominent subjects used in our lyrics is that of anti censorship, particularly regarding video nasties, extreme music, etc. Even our name is inspired by Mary Whitehouse and her tirade against horror/exploitation flicks in the 80s. Other subjects we've dealt with include religion, the crushing weight of societal expectations, the afterlife and war.
5. Who created the logo of the band, and who took care of the graphics and the website? What about you and social networks? Do you consider these things important?
The most recent logo was created by Luciferium War Graphics this Summer. Its a lot more of the old school style that we were looking for with the right amount of 'repulsiveness' to match our style. From there, Ive done most of the graphic work for the facebook/bandcamp/bigcartel. I find that having a strong online presence is essential in this day and age. There are tens of thousands of metal bands worldwide, all fighting for the opportunity to be heard in a vast sea of mp3s and URLs. To have any chance of standing out, any band needs to utilise every means of advertisement to spread the word. We largely use Facebook and Twitter to keep in contact with promoters, zines and fans. We havent yet created a website but we have been considering it in the future.
6. Which label did you choose for releasing your album and why this label? Are you satisfied by how your label represents you and takes care about you?
We chose to work with German label Bret Hard Records (www.brethard.de) as they simply offered the best deal out of all of the offers we had received. So far, the support and patient understanding they have shown is incredible. Their roster is one that we are proud to be a part of (including bands like Sabiendas) and look forward to working with during the album cycle.
7. Which bands do you idolise and where do you get your inspiration?
Our musical influences are largely based around old school death metal bands like Death, Obituary, Carcass, Napalm Death, Entombed as well as a lot of punk influences like Discharge, Driller Killer, Nausea, etc. I find that the energy and aggression of punk matches with the power of death metal very well.
I find that aggressive music is hard to create with any honesty or conviction unless it is written with real aggression in mind. As such, I tend to find inspiration in inflammatory material in social media, things to purposefully anger me and give me something to anger me. One of my biggest influences in this sense is James Randi and his fight against psychics and other people exploiting vulnerable people's beliefs for power and control( etc Credophilic). The real world is far more terrifying and surreal than any fiction.
8. Did you send your record to some labels - which are the labels? How was the response?
When we were looking for a label, we sent to every label we could find. We had a few interesting offers but we found that Bret Hard Records were the ones offering by far the best option. Since our signing, we've been very impressed with their understanding, support and interest in progressing our career forward.
9. How many gigs have you played? Which type of gigs do you prefer, whether its clubs of festivals and which of your performances would you consider as the best?
We've been an entity for a few years now so we've played quite a lot of gigs around our home country of the UK. We love playing whatever gigs we can. Its the best way to present your work and as long as there are people there to check us out, we're happy to perform to our best ability. We're starting to play a few overseas gigs in 2017 including festivals in the US, Czech Republic, Germany, etc.
Its a hard decision to choose which is our best gig but one of my favourites was when we played in London this Summer alongside our friends in Repulsive, Cryptic Shift and Live Burial. Incredible turn out, insane crowd and intense atmosphere. Another great one was when we played with Benediction in Birmingham last year.
10. What about your plans for the future? What do you want to achieve with the band?
We have aspirations to tour throughout the UK, Europe and the USA in 2017-2018 including confirmed slots at Las Vegas Death Fest and other extreme metal festivals. We have also been in discussions with an influence of ours regarding a UK tour next Summer.
We have nearly completed work on the writing stage of our second album and are slowly starting to introduce our newer material into our live performance.
We are also in the process of making a new music video for our track 'Premature Burial', with the help of local independent film makers, Signal Films, to coincide with the album launch on 13th January. This has been a big undertaking for both the band and the film makers to create an 80s horror vibe complete with Fulci-esque sets and gravedigging sections.
In the long run, we wish to evolve and progress with every new situation, presenting our material to more potential fans and working with more people in the underground metal scene.
11. How and where can your fans contact you? Can you provide some contact info?
Please get in touch with us via our facebook (www.facebook/repulsivevision) or via our Twitter (https://twitter.com/RVDeathmetal). We're more than happy to respond to any queries you may have.
