A few questions - interview with death thrash metal band from United Kingdom - TERRIBLE CLAW.
Answered Paul Harrington, thank you!
Recenze/review - TERRIBLE CLAW - Disaster Catalyst (2021):
Ave, can you introduce your band to our readers? – When was it founded and what style of music do you play etc.?
Me (Paul harrington – guitarist) and Stu (Pendergast – drummer) started the band back in 2017. We’ve been listening to death metal since we were teenagers back in the early nineties and we wanted to write music that was influenced by all those great bands. So, in essence, we play death metal heavily incluenced by the floridan bands of the early nineties.
Where and under what conditions were you recording the new album? Who was in charge of sound, production and mastering?
The album was written and recorded in our various homes. Paul H started writing it probably back in late 2018. We’ve all got busy lives and families so it’s not a quick process normally but then COVID hit. In some ways that probably helped the writing of the album as all of a sudden we were stuck at home for a long time. It also provided Dan (vocals) with some more lyrical inspiration.
The writing of the album was finished in early 2021 and we then set about turning the demo material into properly recorded songs.
Stu then took over editing, mixing and mastering duties. So it’s all been done by the band at our homes. No professional studio or professional engineers involved.
We were trying to get a sound that isn’t the ultra produced sound you tend to get with metal these days but somewhere between the raw recordings from morrisound in the nineties and what you can do with modern digital production and tools. Hopefully we’ve struck the right balance. We’re really pleased with how it’s come out.
How many copies were released and which medium was used for this new edition (CD, digital, vinyl, cassette)?
The album is only on streaming platforms at the moment but we’re soon to be putting it out on CD. We hope to get it out on vinyl eventually but thats a costly endeavour so we’re going to need to build our fan base before that’s a possibility. Of course being able to play live shows helps with that side of things so we’re hoping 2022 is a better year for gigging.
Ultimately vinyl is the main goal if for no other reason than the graet artwork can be showcased in a large format.
Who is the author of the lyrics and how were they created and about what do the lyrics deal with?
Dan wrote the lyrics for the album, with a few lines on a song or two coming from Paul H. The lyrics were written when each song had been finished structurally. The lyrics cover a variety of political and social topics, and some that cross over and blur those lines (Pyrrhic), as increasingly it seems that politics has divided us socially. Anyone who reads the lyrics for a song like At Any Cost, especially people from the UK, will probably recognise the topic fairly quickly. Other songs like Arrogance Incarnate or Self-Sabotage Continuum explore whether it’s human nature to become our own worst enemy and ruin our own goals and personal relationships in pursuit of short term gains.
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?
Paul H came up with the band name and logo. All the art was done by Mortuus and Paul did all the layout. We love the linework Mortuus does and he’s a great guy to work with.
Social media is, unfortunately, a necessary thing for bands now. We don’t like it but we have to accept it. If you’re not on social media these days you can pretty much forget about anyone having a clue about you. That said, it is a great platform for getting stuff out around the world easily and quickly and much better than the small flyers we used to give people in local pubs in the nineties. Its just a shame that it’s also so locked down behind monetisation now.
So, go follow us on facebook and youtube!
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?
At the moment we don’t have a label, so we do everything ourselves. Ultimately it would be great to have a proper label behind us and, who knows, maybe one day we will, but its a very crowded market these days.
Which bands do you idolise and where do you get your inspiration?
So many. Mostly the old albums from the classic bands like Death, Malevolent Creation, Suffocation, Morbid Angel, Pestilence, Loublast, Gorguts, Cynic, Entombed, Dismember, Hypocrisy, Gorefest, Sepultura.
Also some of the more modern DM bands like Obscura, Necrophagist, the faceless etc.
Did you send your record to some Labels - which are the labels? How was the response?
Not yet, we will eventually but as said earlier, it’s a crowded market and labels are only going to be interested in bands they can make some money from so for now we need to build our fan base.
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?
None so far. We had some booked in 2020 but for obvious reasons those were cancelled. We have 2 in October this year and plan to be out on stage a lot more in 2022. We’ve all been in bands before and have played tiny shows in pubs through to festivals like Summer Breeze, Brutal Assault, Hellfest and Bloodstock. Playing to 10,000 people at a festival is great but the massive stage and distance from the crowd makes it a very different experience from playing a pub or a club to a small crowd. Usually smaller shows make for a better sound on stage and that can really make a difference to your performance.
So playing live is universally great as long as the crowd are into it and the sound is decent.
What about your plans for the future? What do you want to achieve with the band?
Mostly to enjoy playing and writing music. That’s the important thing. We aim to get out live a lot more and hope to get some decent shows under our belt in 2022 and just build up the terrible claw name. We’ll almost certainly start writing a 3rd album in 2022.
How and where can your fans contact you? Can you provide some contact information?
Through our facebook page at Terrible Claw | Facebook
Thanx for the interview.
Recenze/review - TERRIBLE CLAW - Disaster Catalyst (2021):
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