A few questions - interview with death metal band from United Kingdom - VACUOUS.
Ave, can you introduce your band to our readers? – When was it founded and what style of music do you play etc.?
Hello! We are Vacuous and we are a death metal band from London, UK. We officially formed in January 2020. For the past year, the band has been myself (Michael/guitars), Jo (drums/vocals) and Damiano (bass). We all met through mutual acquaintances in the music scene. We each have very different musical backgrounds, from punk to grind to more traditional metal, but we had enough in common to work together and found that death metal gives us enough artistic freedom to mix and incorporate these different elements, while still remaining coherent. We recorded a demo quite early on to solidify these different influences and used that as a basis for moving forward.
Where and under what conditions were you recording the new album? Who was in charge of sound, production and mastering?
Katabasis was written and recorded entirely during the lockdown period earlier this year. Luckily, we each had the equipment to record our parts independently and send them back and forth until we were happy with it. Obviously, a real studio would have been nice but this gave us the luxury to really take our time.The guitars ended up getting re-amped by Tom Dring (Corrupt Moral Altar) and it was then mixed and mastered by Ben Jones, an engineer based in Leeds.
How many copies were released and which medium was used for this new edition (CD, digital, vinyl, cassette)?
The initial pressing was on CD and cassette via the label F H E D, who are based in Cardiff. I can’t remember the numbers off the top of my head, but it’s fairly limited, which is fine. There will be a repress in early 2021, but I can’t announce that quite yet.
Who is the author of the lyrics and how were they created and about what do the lyrics deal with?
Jo handles vocals and de facto, the lyrics. There’s an element of improvisation to the vocals, given that they’re used as an additional instrument as much as anything else. The overall concept of Katabasis is the exploration of the „depths“, whether it be a physical descent into an oppressive underworld, or into one’s own psyche...The songs tie in to this overall idea. There’s an element of horror and maybe even sci-fi to it, but we also want it to feel quite real and harrowing.
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 logo was designed by an artist called Rotting Earth, based in the US, who specialises in abstract death metal visuals. We got some additional help with layouts etc.. from my partner, who is a professional graphic designer. Aesthetics are definitely important to us – it’s the first contact most people will have with your music and they will absolutely judge you by it. We wanted to go with cold, dark imagery that tied in with the overall theme of the EP and matched the serious tone of the music. One thing we agreed on was avoiding the stereotypical violent imagery which is generally associated with death metal and has been completely overdone but can be frankly quite cartoonish at times.
Which label did you choose for releasing your album and why this label? Are you satisfied by how your label represents you and takés care about you?
The EP was released via F H E D, a one man label based in Cardiff. I know Jim, who runs it, from years back and he approached me after we put out our first demo and asked about doing a cassette release. Working with someone you know and trust is really helpful at our level so we decided to go with him again for the EP. We’ve had other labels contact us since then, so we will see what our options are when we record a follow up to Katabasis, but right now we are happy with our current arrangement.
Which bands do you idolise and where do you get your inspiration?
We all have very different influences but here are some of mine: Autopsy, Incantation, Zhrine, Dead Congregation, Deathspell Omega, Bölzer, Spectral Voice, Demilich, Paradise Lost, Napalm Death, Converge, Darkthrone, Celtic Frost, Morbid Angel, Carcass, Crowbar, Infester.....
Did you send your record to some Labels - which are the labels? How was the response?
We’ve worked exclusively with F H E D for Katabasis. As I mentioned, a few other labels have been in touch since we released the EP, which is nice to see and really flattering. So hopefully, we will have some different options to choose from on our next release.
How many gigs have you played? Which type of gigs do you prefer, whether it's (clubs or festivals) and which of your performances would you consider as the best?
Unfortunately zero! Covid has ruined any chances we had of playing live this year so that will hopefully be for next year. Hard to say, but we’ll definitely want to start with small shows. As a fan, those are the types of shows I prefer anyway.
What about your plans for the future? What do you want to achieve with the band?
We’ll hopefully do some more recording in the first half of 2021. Our plan is to release a split with another UK death metal band and then work on another EP or full length. As I mentioned, we also look forward to making our debut as a live band, once Covid restrictions have been lifted.
How and where can your fans contact you? Can you provide some contact information?
All our music and merch can be found on https://vacuousdeath.bandcamp.com/
We are also on Instagram and Facebook:
We are also on Spotify and all those other streaming platforms!
Thanx for the interview.
Thanks for the questions! I come to the Czech Republic every summer to attend Brutal Assault, so hopefully see you there one day! Cheers!
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