1) Cult Burial started sometime in 2020. Was Covid involved? Why this name? Is it very difficult to work from London on the one hand and from Alamada (Portugal) on the other?
Covid did not create the band, but it released time—no commuting, fewer distractions—so songwriting sped up, and there wasn’t much else to do at the time. The name Cult Burial wasn't symbolic, but it felt heavy and was appropriate for the tone. I'm in London, César is in Portugal. I usually send him finished pieces; he composes and sings there. It's easy and maintains the artistic choices, and it probably helps that neither of us really gets involved in what the other is doing. There’s no overcrowding and no overthinking.
2) Once Sorrow was out, the reception was enthusiastic. Did that take you by surprise or change how you wrote?
The early positives came as surprises. I got a few reviews when I was not anticipating any, so that encouraged me to cut a whole album. The first album reviewed well, and even got a few album-of-the-year listings, but did not sell much. That still motivated a second record; I was not happy with it in the end (mostly production-related—I didn’t think it did the songs justice, and it could have been a better record), which is one of the reasons why I cut a third. I’m not really planning beyond this one.
3) Collapse of Pattern, Reverence of Dust (September). How did you write/record this, and how is it different from Reverie of the Malignant? Any gear notes?
These songs took a couple of years to gel—having a child kept the pace slow, and that probably made the edits snappier. This album is more in-your-face and to-the-point than Reverie of the Malignant—fewer meandering sections and maybe less atmospheric material in favour of more aggression. Guitars were mostly an Electrical Guitar Company baritone and an ESP MH-400 baritone; Collapse was played on a Hapas baritone. Bass is a Dingwall. Greg Dawson recorded at BWC; Brad Boatright mastered at AudioSiege.
4) You combine black and death metal with dark hues. How would you classify the sound and influence of the new record?
Blackened death metal. Hard to quote specific bands; it's just where the writing went this time. If there’s an influence, it’s probably frustration—more than any specific band. My life was wild around the time this record was put together—lots of personal upheaval and things falling apart—and that has come through in the music.
5) Lyrical themes—why these particular ones, and where do words and music meet?
Decay, fixation, the head unwinding, and a final acceptance of that process—those are the strands that run through the record. We’re lyrically documenting a psychological collapse. Some lines that sum it up:
"A marionette strung between a scream and a sigh— / To want is ruin, to cease is a lie."
and
"Sounds, a spinning knife between the ribs, / Cutting out hollows where the heart once had to endure."
6) You worked with Greg Dawson (BWC) and Brad Boatright (AudioSiege). What were you seeking, and what did they contribute?
I liked Greg's Panzerfaust work, so I asked him to mix the record. He sharpened things out, added in some guitar (a dissonant line in Collapse, in particular), and cooked the mix heavy without making it into mush—it’s a dense mix. With Brad, it was a question of a powerful, no-nonsense master—impact without obscuring detail. Together, the record stayed hostile but readable.
7) No guest players here. Tighter or more personal?
There are a few guests, but I kept the credits minimal—it’s more about the shape than the contributors. I only credited the artwork and the audio engineering.
8) You've stayed self-released. Choice or circumstance?
No approach from any label, though we've asked. We don't tour and we're not a commercial venture, so I can see why they're not keen. That doesn’t change the music—it just limits its reach.
9) Non-metal that revives you?
Portishead, the whole thing. Had Them Crooked Vultures playing again recently. Having watched Glastonbury on TV, I remembered how much I love The Prodigy, so I’ve been listening to them a bit again too. However, none of this really comes through in the music of this album. I loved British hardcore and punk bands like Gallows, Ghost of a Thousand, and Million Dead—anything fast and screamy. That probably shows up more in Cult Burial, especially on this record, which is faster and at times a lot more chaotic than anything before it.
10) Artwork by Legerdemain (LGRDMN). Why him, and what does the cover mean to you?
I found him through Mo'ynoq—I think he did their cover (though I could be wrong on that). I sent demos by email and let him have a free hand without a brief. In my head, the image is between ritual and erosion: the brain crumbling, but with a strange respect to it. That's how the album sounds. He has always understood the tone without explanation.
11) How is London's extreme-metal scene? Any tips? Does the city affect your sound?
I don't go to all that many shows and I'm not plugged into the scene at all, so I'd only be making an educated guess. The tempo of the city has to seep into the music—there's a tension there—but that's as far as I can go.
12) Live plans, or studio only?
Studio only, probably. The logistics aren't attractive and I don't have the stomach for building a live unit right now.
13) How did it start—first concert, first album, when did you realize you wanted to make music?
First concert I remember: Smashing Pumpkins in Rotterdam. First album I bought myself: Portishead's first album. The switch flipped when I went to a new school—I walked into a room and three guys were playing "Aneurysm" by Nirvana. I asked my dad for a guitar that day.
14) Album that you think most accurately represents black metal; recent buys?
The Akhlys album Melinoë came out around the same time I started Cult Burial—I remember listening to that and thinking that’s what black metal should sound like. It was like being trapped in someone else’s nightmare. Recent purchases I'd recommend: Serpentes, Dormant Ordeal, Abigail Williams, Patristic, This Gift Is a Curse.
15) Final thoughts on Cult Burial listeners
Collapse of Pattern, Reverence of Dust will release 5 September. Pre-orders are available now; the first 100 vinyl pre-orders come with an LGRDMN poster. If the record speaks to you, I hope it stays with you. If not, thanks for giving it a shot.
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Misanthur – Ephemeris 37,99 €
2 × Vinyl, LP, Album
