Interview - DRAWN AND QUARTERED - Our new record The One Who Lurks has some dark and cold atmosphere! ~ DEADLY STORM zine

Interview with death metal band from USA - DRAWN AND QUARTERED.

Answered Kelly Shane Kuciemba.

Questions prepared Jakub Asphyx.

Translated by Duzl, thank you!

Ave DRAWN AND QUARTERED! On July 27, 2018, a new album titled "The One Who Lurks" will be released. I have been listening to the album for some time now and I consider it excellent, being, dark, sharp and uncompromising. How satisfied are you with the result?

Kelly Shane Kuciemba - Hails!!! Today is July 27th; “The One Who Lurks” is officially out today! It has come together very nicely. It is a really heavy sounding record. It is different than anything we’ve done, yet still recognizable. The record has some dark and cold atmosphere. The art work is amazing. This project went through many stages. It has been in the works for about two years. It has been fully recorded for almost a year. I really thought it would have ready a long time ago. It was a very spontaneous in its conception. It is our first record utilizing our own recording console. It was a great experience. The record has some depth and texture but remains easily accessible. It displays new influences and still remains true to my overall approach of crafting catchy songs you are compelled to listen to more than once.

The Cover for your new album is painted by Gabriel T. Byrne. To be honest, for a long time, I haven’t come across a cover which so accurately captures what was happening on the CD. How did you actually choose a theme for the novelty?

KSK - Typically we explain our lyrical ideas with the artist. There might be a few sketches or studies of the subjects that we give feedback about. The artist will then goes back and paints the cover art. When some significant progress has been made we will finalize details, give approval to the finished piece. Gabriel has painted all of our official full-length releases. He knows our band; we have known him personally for 27 years or so. He is very talented, creative, and knowledgeable. He uses a lot of classically inspired symbolism, images and ideas. His work is very important to the record. I spent more time with him on this one. In the past I might have had more or less input into the art.

How was new material created for "The One Who Lurks"? How was DRAWN AND QUARTERED actually composed?

KSK - This record materialized in a strange way, unlike any before. It started off as an experiment. All of our records before, including the 10 song PROLIFERATION OF DISEASE recording from 2016 were constructed in the typical fashion. The band members would meet for rehearsal. Some sort of idea, riff or song structure would be constructed, refined and shaped into a song. Early on we spent a lot of time with this, trying to remember what we agreed to from memory. It took a long time. Later as we got a little smarter we would record ideas and work on them at home or in rehearsal. Eventually we figured out to use a white board to write down the arrangements so everyone had a visual reference, speeding up the process significantly. After we recorded ‘Feeding Hells Furnace’, we did some shows and festivals. Eventually we started writing songs; we had a good part of an album written to some extent before we lost our drummer of 10 years in 2012. A few months later with the help of our friend Beau Galloway who helped on drums and later guitar. He provided a rehearsal spot and introduced us to our current drummer Simon Dorfman. We re-worked some of the songs we had on hand and began composing more. We soon began performing and had about 10 songs for a recording. I even recorded all of my rhythm guitar parts for the record. Sadly we ended up not finishing that project. Due personal issues and personality conflicts we ended up a three piece again, and began rehearsing in my basement. Once again we re-worked all of our songs and added a couple more. We then recorded most of them for our PROLIFERATION OF DISEASE demo. In 2016 I wanted to experiment with my TASCAM 4 TRACK CASSETTE Recorder. I had recorded and mixed PROLIFERATION OF DISEASE with it. I wanted to do one last recording with it and use the recordings for an EP and a split, or maybe our full length for VAULT OF DRIED BONES record label. The idea was to spontaneously learn and record the songs in one session, instead of spending 6 months to 2 years writing and rehearsing. We did this for the song ‘Age of Ignorance on our PROLIFERATION IOF DISEASE sessions. In about 20 minutes turned some song ideas into a song and recorded it on the spot. We already had 2 songs from the previous sessions that didn’t get recorded. The rest we learned spontaneously and recorded in one take. I wanted to use no bounces in an effort to get the best quality tracks I could from the CASSETTE 4 TRACK. To make it easy I would play this distorted, old-school sounding bass live with Simon and mix it down to one track, and then I’d have 2 tracks for guitar and one for vocals. We did this on the first 4 songs; it went quickly and was a lot of fun. I decided that this might be the basis for our next full length so we recorded some other song ideas I had. The concept behind ‘The One Who Lurks” was inspired by a trilogy of antique movies I discovered. I would therefore write a trilogy of musical pieces utilizing musical and conceptual ideas thus influenced. I had written some music in a dropped tuning, for use in a side project or for D&Q; I wasn’t sure because it was a little different than usual. Also I didn’t feel like writing bass parts for this, and needed to do my parts in guitar, so I had Herb learn and record the bass parts live with us on the second half of the record. Unfortunately the 4 TRACK wasn’t able to complete the project. So we purchased a 32 TRACK TASCAM Recording console. We ended up having to re-record everything using the demo as a template, giving organic feel compared to our previous two official records (Feeding and Merciless) that utilised click tracks on most of the music.

Who is the author of the lyrics and what they are discussing? Where do you get inspiration for themes?

KSK - Herb is the lyricist for DRAWN AND QUARTERED. I had written 3 sets of lyrics for the PROLIFERATION recording; the de-tuned songs (drop A from B standard), ‘Dispensation…’, ‘Divine Splendour Fallacy’, and ‘Goatstorm’. For ‘Lurks..’ I wrote the lyrics for the second half, all the detuned songs again. The songs describe rituals that morph an entity, and it remains as a guardian to a gateway to another dimension. Herb has songs like ‘Ravage the Cadaver’ and ‘Nefarious Rites’ that are pretty obviously about certain topics. We write about the classic DEATH METAL topics, and continuously attempt to re-interpret these ideas and refine them. Mainly they are inspired by real events and people. There are some songs that have inside meanings we leave open for interpretation.

The sound of the whole recording is great. It's dark, cold and sharp at the same time. Where did you record the album? Did you speak as a band to the final sound, mastering?

KSK - We recorded everything but the drums in our rehearsal spot in the basement of my house. Simon and Chris Manino recorded the drums at his rehearsal room. L.F. and KRUCYATOR worked magic with the tracks and are responsible for the sound. We did extensive back and forth on the mix and mastering.

The new album was released by French Krucyator Productions. Why did you choose this label and how satisfied are you with their work?

KSK - We are independent of Labels and are not signed to any exclusive deals. KRUCYATOR has helped maintain this independence and put a significant amount of work and investment to make this project a reality. We are very pleased with the results. I ordered a tape from KRUCYATOR, we discussed some re-issues and he offered to help with the ‘Lurks…’ project in its earlier stages.

You've been playing since 1993. That's a pretty long time for the band. You could say that you have become a legend. Do you remember your beginnings? How was the band founded and what was the first impulse to start playing death metal?

KSK - I’m definitely not a legend, but it’s an honour to be recognized for our efforts. It seems like yesterday when I met up with Herb to discuss recording the ‘Bubonic Death’ demo in 1993. I had been working on a project, had some line-up issues. I met Herb and we began working on some DEATH METAL, we had some other friends who helped record the first demo. Since then I have continued working on the band, sometimes as a small business, sometimes as a hobby. I grew up on Hard Rock and watched HEAVY METAL evolve. DEATH METAL was a natural evolution for me from SLAYER, POSSESSED, DESTRUCTION, SODOM, VENOM, BATHORY and DEATH. I like the vibe of INCANTATION and MORBID ANGEL a lot. And the ideas of IMMOLATION were inspiring. Those are the foundations our style, after BLACK SABBATH.

Your guitar style is unmistakable. DRAWN AND QUARTERED is a clearly recognizable band among others. I wonder how often and how long you practice. When did you actually start playing the guitar and who were your biggest idols? Our website reads a lot of musicians and they would definitely wonder what kind of guitar you are playing and what gear are you using?

KSK - I’m glad it comes across like that, I feel like I’m finally starting to sound like myself. I don’t practice as much now, due to so many distractions and obligations. It I’ll work on difficult sections or work out keys for scales. I mainly just need enough practice to warm up; our music is not that technical. It took a long time to develop physical strength, after that you apply that to the type of thing you’re attempting to play and work on the appropriate scales and chords. I use to be somewhat studious playing and jamming various styles. Now I only play the death metal. I prefer writing songs to practicing. My sound is based on a Tube Screamer driven Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier, using reverb, delay and phasing provided by a ZOOM G3 played with a Infernus Style BLACKHART guitar with SEYMOUR DUNCAN BLACK OUT pick-ups using improvised tapping and whammy bar solos with a few melodies thrown in.

DRAWN AND QUARTERED is often defined in the texts against the Church, many of which are blasphemous. Have you ever had problems with this as a band? In America and Europe, we have a certain healthy outlook, but what about other countries?

KSK - We’ve flown in under the radar on this subject, to small and insignificant to generate much flack, so far.

What about DRAWN AND QUARTERED and concerts? Will we ever see you in Europe? Do you like playing live? If so, do you prefer small clubs or big festivals?

KSK - We are doing some tour; Japan this year, Mexico in January and more to come. I like traveling to do shows and touring when we can. Playing one off local shows is kind of a pain in the ass, actually. Usually you still have to work before or after the show. I would prefer some more big festivals, but all shows are fun.

Are you watching the scene, discovering new albums? If so, which last releases do you like?

KSK - I like DILAPIDATION, OXYGEN DESTROYER, EFFLUVIA, PETRIFICATION, GLOAM, DIRE OMEN.

Thank you very much for the answers, you are my „heart band from your beginnings and I was honoured to have an interview with you! I wish you a lot of success in personal and musical life, crowds of honest fans and a lot of sold music.

KSK - THANKS!!! HAIL INFERNAL DARKNESS!!!666!!!!

about DRAWN AND QUARTERED on DEADLY STORM ZINE:

Recenze/review - DRAWN AND QUARTERED - The One Who Lurks (2018)

Recenze/review - DRAWN AND QUARTERED - Proliferation of Disease (2016)