Good evening, thank you very much for answering these questions, how is everything going in Columbus?
A: Thanks for inviting me to do this interview. Things are… about as you would expect in Central Ohio haha.
1. Around 2015, you started Invultation, why did you decide to create the band, what does the name Invultation refer to and why did you decide to use it?
A: At the time I wanted to create music that had more aggression and a violent feel to it. The only project that I had been working on was The Wakedead Gathering, which is a more mid-paced OSDM style of project. I knew I wanted to shift to a different direction, but that it wouldn’t fit under that name. Invultation refers to the act of inserting pins or generally causing harm to a small effigy or doll of a person in order to cause the actual person harm. Kind of like a voodoo doll. I thought this term applied pretty well to the overall theme of witchcraft and trying to indirectly cause harm to others.
2. You are part of bands like Acrid Tomb, Echushkya, Longbarrow or The Wakedead Gathering, related to styles like death, doom or black, how important is Invultation among all your projects and what do you want to express with this project? relative to the others?
A: I feel like Invultation has had, surprisingly, the most positive attention out of all of my projects so I tend to give it more attention than the others, just out of necessity. It’s my main outlet for anger, aggression, virulence, etc. Every project I do is an extension of some part of my personality, psyche, emotions and whatever else makes me who I am. I think each one holds an equal amount of importance, though I will admit that Invultation is higher on my list of the projects that I enjoy writing music for.
3. "Feral Legion" will be released shortly, a third album that always shows a somewhat innovative character compared to past works, how have you faced the process of writing and recording this new album? What brands of instruments have you used? in the process and how do you think your sound has evolved?
A: The album was recorded a few years ago, not long after Unconquerable Death was finished so it’s somewhat difficult to put myself back into that period of time and remember everything. Typically I use only one or two guitars to record everything and in this case I went with the Solar I had recently purchased. Most of what I do is recorded direct so I don’t have to spend a lot of time fucking with mixing and trying to get the right sound. As far as writing goes, I just let inspiration come to me when it does. I’ll be sitting there and come up with a riff or section and when I get a chance to sit down and write it out I’ll try to recreate what I had thought of earlier. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. Mostly though, I just have some ideas for riffs and try to piece them all together in a very linear fashion. If something doesn’t sound heavy or aggressive enough I will usually cut it from the song altogether.
4. In a way the sound of the new album could be described as beastly death metal, with elements of black or doom if you rush me, with clear influences from the sound of 90's bands like Blasphemy, how would you describe the sound of the album for Who hasn't heard it yet? What bands and sounds are an inspiration for you when it comes to composing?
A: The main influences for this album and basically everything I do under Invulation are Archgoat and Incantation. Incantation, especially their early material, just has the perfect rough mix and ability to go from chaotic, heavy death metal to this crawling, bludgeoning death-doom and I’ve always been a huge fan of that style. I think you can hear a lot of Archgoat influence in the slower parts of this album. The way they slow it down is a bit different in that it kind of has more of a black metal feel to it. Someone recently described the new album as sounding like, “drums falling down the stairs” and that it gave them a headache haha. I would say if you like a lot of riffs with your chaos then you’ll enjoy it. It’s not a typical “war metal” album, I’d say.
5. The sound of the album is overwhelming, dark and rotten, even suffocating at times. What sensations do you want to convey to people who come to hear this new album?
A: I want people to hear it and want to tear someone’s throat out. It’s an album that rarely ever gives you a rest and it should be played as loud as possible. I wanted to convey full-on aggression on this one.
6. Could you clarify the theme of your lyrics a bit, since in them there is an approach to lycanthropy and Luciferanism, at least in the past, as well as death and destruction, I think more present today?
A: Sure. The common thread throughout all of the releases is the duality of man: the ability to think intelligently and logically and then the urge to revert to a primal, animalistic state. I think this is parallel to the core belief of Luciferianism that there should be a balance between dark and light within each of us and to ignore either is to your own detriment. A lot of the lyrics involving lycanthropy also depict a sort of revenge tale upon religious or other authoritarian powers that be. I took a slight detour on “Unconquerable Death” where I really just spent a lot of time thinking about the fragility of human existence and life in general. Another dark and light parallel as you cannot have death without life and vice versa.
7. The album cover design was done by Nether Temple Design, why did you decide to work with them? What does this cover represent and how does it relate to the content of the album? Is there a connection between the wolf on your first album and the werewolf from the new album?
A: I’ve worked with Alex (Nether Temple Design) on several releases before. He did the cover for a split between The Wakedead Gathering and Ecferus and also the cover for “Unconquerable Death.” I’m drawn to his personal style and I think it fits well with the black/death genre. For “Feral Legion” I gave him just a few detail requests and he came up with the rest. On this cover you see a single wolf, but it is implied that there are many more that you cannot see, and that is the “legion.” There is no connection between this art and the art from Wolfstrap or the demo.
8. The process of writing, mixing and mastering the album was done by yourself. At what point did you decide to face this process? What knowledge do you have about the entire recording process and which parts are more difficult for you to carry out? ?
A: I’ve been working alone for over a decade now and for various reasons like finances, time and lack of a shared vision, I decided to learn how to record and mix on my own. I am by no means an expert or even that great at it, but over the years I’ve learned from my mistakes and taken criticism and advice from people I trust and, at least I think, gotten better at it. Everything I know I learned from a friend who actually works in the industry and through a lot of information online. Also just trial and error. I find that the recording portion is the trickiest part. You can mix and master (at least on an amateur level) fairly easily nowadays with the software available. But getting the recording right from the beginning is an art all on its own.
9. Sentient Ruin Laboratories had already reissued their second album and now they are collaborating again for the release of “Feral Legion”, at what point did they decide to work together to release the Invultation material? What is your opinion of a format like cassette or vinyl?
A: Sentient Ruin contacted me a little while after “Unconquerable Death” had been out and let me know that he was interested in a vinyl release of the album and wanted to collaborate further after that. I was already familiar with the label and a fan of quite a few bands he had signed so it was an easy decision for me. The working relationship has been great ever since then and I hope to keep working together into the future. Personally, I find myself buying more CDs these days as I mostly listen to music in the car but I think there’s something nostalgic and special about tapes and vinyl. Tapes, I think, appeal more to those of us old enough to have grown up with them as the main music format and vinyl just offers such a rich sound and better experience with the artwork. You can do so much with the presentation of vinyl.
10. The United States for some time now has been developing a very eclectic scene within black metal, somewhat abandoning the weight of death and invigorating it with a good number of one man bands. What is your opinion of the scene in your country? How would you describe the extreme metal scene in your hometown?
A: The United States is so huge that I wouldn’t even begin to know about the scene as a whole, but I think the output from my country is on par with the rest of the world. There are so many one-man bands that span across every imaginable sub-genre of death or black metal that, at times, it seems pretty watered down. But, for every mediocre project there seem to be a dozen that really stand out. Columbus doesn’t have the same scene that it did when I moved here in late 2015 but there are still a number of great bands that are active. I haven’t been as active in the scene recently but there’s a good core of people who are very passionate about it.
11. As a musician involved in various projects, have you considered going live with the proposal of Invultation, for example, considering the participation of other musicians? Who would you like to share a mini tour with?
A: We actually played a show back in February as a three-piece. The support was great and it went well for our first show. As of now we aren’t playing together anymore due to our personal schedules but it’s something that could happen again in the future. I think we all agreed that we would love to share a tour with Crossspitter, Antichrist Siege Machine, Vile Ritual, and if possible, Gravesend.
12. How were your beginnings in music: first concerts you attended, first albums you bought? What event in your life pushed you to want to be a musician?
A: I learned how to play guitar around the age of 11 or so and from then on I was hooked. My mom had a bunch of hair metal cassettes from the 80s and early 90s so I grew up listening to that type of stuff and then got into thrash and then death metal in high school. I remember buying the early Slayer albums and being obsessed with them. Later on I bought some Darkthrone albums and that was what turned me on to black metal.
13. What album represents for you the essence of black metal? What last albums have you bought?
A: That’s a tough question. I think I’d have to go with Bathory’s “Under the Sign of the Black Mark.” Most recently I bought the new albums from Vile Ritual, Disimperium and I’m really looking forward to the new Gravesend album that was just announced. Aside from that I just want to highly recommend Savage Necromancy, Abhorrency, Profane Order and Prehistoric War Cult.
14. Thank you very much for taking the time to answer these questions for Black Metal Spirit, if you want to add something for Invultation fans this is the place. I hope the questions are to your liking.
A: Thank you for inviting me to answer these questions. Be on the lookout for all of the physical versions of “Feral Legion” to pop up in the Bandcamp store sometime this month, hopefully. Also Iconoclasm Conqvest will have a re-issue of the demo on cassette and some new merch soon as well. Thanks to everyone who has supported the project and hail death!
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Suidakra – Wolfbite 26,99 €
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