Interviews: ANGELIC DESOLATION

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Death Metal/Thrash Metal band ANGELIC DESOLATION from the USA. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, did you plan it, or came out just like that?

I (Matt) wasn't actually around for the creation of the band name as Jay is the only original member left. However, the idea more or less is that we're just trying to earn our parental advisory stickers. And we'd argue that religion is the beginning of all things terrible so we figured that's the best place to start.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

I think it's really about the energy of the music and the ability to express whatever you want, loudly and aggressively. Realistically, anything goes in death metal. The only thing that makes something "death metal" is the vocals. If you're growling and screaming, you've cemented your genre so that kinda lets the rest of the band get as crazy as they'd like.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

Most of us grew up together from middle school on. Even though Leonard is the new guy, Jay and I have known him since we were in school. We didn't know Max growing up but he fits right into the picture.

4. Each band member's favorite band?

Me (Matt): Psycroptic

Max: Rush

Jay: GWAR

Leonard: Decapitated

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

All the things in day-to-day life that make you mad and/or absurd ideas we come up with while smoking copious amounts of weed. We've got songs about religion, homeless people, killing babies, and zombie hippos, we're all over the place. The only caveat is that we inject some subtle humor if you're reading along.

6. Where was your last gig?

The last gig was just the other day in our hometown of Denver. We provided support for our homies in Gorgatron who are on the road right now. Check them out and catch them live if they come through, you won't be disappointed.

7. Where would you like to act?

Whiskey a Go Go would be a cool one to check off the bucket list for America but, recently we've been eyeing Obscene Extreme fest in the Czech Republic. That would be amazing.

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

Honestly, anyone in the genre would be really cool to work with but if I had to choose one, I'd probably go with Corpsegrinder.

9. Whom not?

Any EDM artist. I have no gripes about anyone's music but I'm not a fan at all of that genre and there are some bands that are mixing the two. That's a double-no for me.

10. Have any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tip for beginners on how to beat that?

I don't think any of us deal with that. We're all pretty good about our stage presence so it's never really been an issue. As far as advice goes, I'd say just really believe in what you're doing. If you get on stage with music that you wrote and during the writing process you're thinking "I hope my fans like this, I'm gonna utilize time-tested song structures to guarantee sales, etc" then you're doing it for the wrong reasons. I'd be willing to say that most of us in extreme metal just write music that we think is cool and if you're good at it, you will attract fans.

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

With all of our tastes combined, we've created a sound reminiscent of Aborted, Cryptopsy, and Revocation. Vocal stylings are 50/50 Corpsegrinder and Oderus.

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

This one time, we decided to actually meet a fan in a parking lot to give him a pre-order bundle prize. Jay and this "fan" really kicked it off, he went to the dude's place to talk about the horror movie stuff. The rest of us went to grab food and afterward, Jay's phone was turned off and we couldn't reach him. A few weeks go by with police looking for Jay and we finally get a call from the FBI. Turns out Jay was at the bottom of a well, being fed scraps, in some serial killer's house. When he was rescued, he was emaciated and very weak. He eventually made a full recovery minus his right ankle which he broke when he fell to the bottom of the well. He can still walk though so at least he's got that.

13. What do you think of your fans?

They're the best! When we abort babies on stage and throw them out to the crowd, they'll be using them as weapons in the pit, using the umbilical cords as belts, etc. The amount of things you can do with our dead babies grows by the day.

14. What do you think of our site?

You all support underground music so we're on board. The underground scene, regardless of genre, has some of the best-kept secrets in music so when someone puts all of that on display to get more eyes on this realm, it's always appreciated.

15. Something to add?

Our new full-length release on March 31st of 2023. 7 all-new tracks and our cover of Cattle Decapitation's "Forced Gender Reassignment". The first single drops on Wednesday, December 7th and if you hit any of our socials you'll be able to find a link to pre-save that song. Thank you for having us!