Albums of Purgatory interview Skaldic Curse

What’s the band up to right now?

Writing and rehearsing hard with a view to putting out a new release in the coming months. Much of last year (2002) was spent gigging/promoting the ‘Hated by Matter Itself’ CD and now we feel the time has come to unleash a new recording. While ‘Hated…’ has done well for us, the band was never entirely happy with the production feeling that it lacked a bit of punch and atmosphere. Much more effort will be put into the next release to ensure that it is as powerful, hate-filled and unpleasant as possible.

How would you describe the Skaldic Curse sound?

Hateful, despairing, cold, atmospheric and deeply, deeply unpleasant extreme metal.

How did you get involved with the band?

I was actually one of the founding members of the band along with VX, our other guitarist. After having both played in bands for a few years that had failed to fully satisfy our musical interests, we decided to form our own project with the intention of creating intense Black Metal with an emphasis on atmosphere and song structure. The concept swiftly evolved from a bedroom project to a fully fledged band and Skaldic Curse was born. This was in the late spring/early summer of 2001.

Can you remember your first gig (how did it go?)

Yes, I can remember it clearly as it was only about a year and a half ago. We were opening at the Dublin Castle two days before Christmas 2001. There was quite a good vibe and I think people were a little bit taken aback as no-one had really heard of us before and were not prepared for the cold fury that this bunch of slightly nervous newcomers unleashed.
It was rather amusing as after our soundcheck there was a slightly shocked, vaguely appalled silence. The gig really helped generate interest in the band as quite a few people were there including a number of high-profile individuals in the ‘scene’ (a deplorable but sadly appropriate term).
In my opinion we put on an adequate performance but were still very much in the developing stages. Now we have truly found our voice and more recent live performances reflect this - icy hatred literally pours from the stage. We revel in creating as much sonic havoc as possible.

Are you involved in any other projects and if so how do they compare to Skaldic Curse?

I also front a new band called Deviant. If I had to pigeonhole the sound, I would describe it as atmospheric and emotional Death/Thrash. The music is perhaps more conventional than Skaldic Curse, with less abstraction and blastbeats with the focus more on deceptive simplicity and grove. However, atmosphere and intensity is, as always, of paramount importance.
There is also my solo project, Tomb, torturous necro-black metal. The first demo Enter the Tomb is now available. In addition to this, I am also working on a project with some close friends which is much more firmly entrenched in classic metal, such as Judas Priest and Manowar.

What are your favourite Skaldic Curse tracks?

‘Drowning in Emptiness’ is what I would consider to be our best track and fully represents the Skaldic credo. A newer, as-yet unreleased track entitled ‘Vermin’ is also pretty damn nasty. We played this for the first time at our most recent gig, much to the dismay of the aurally punished audience.

What are your favourite all-time songs?

Hmmmm, very difficult to answer. This changes day-to-day. However, at the moment I would say Mayhem’s ‘Freezing Moon’, Katatonia’s ‘Brave’, Immolation ‘Close To A World Below’, something off the first few W.A.S.P. albums (maybe ‘Show No Mercy’). There’s too many for me to list here.

What was the first record you ever bought?

I don’t really remember. I must have been about 3 or 4 years old. I think it was Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s ‘Relax’ 12”. Then again, it could quite easily have been Rolf Harris’s 20 hits for kiddies or something equally ludicrous.

Which album got you into metal and can you explain why?

At the risk of looking foolish, I’ll give you an honest answer - Whitesnake’s ‘1987’ album. Up until the point when I first heard this, my ears had not really been opened to Hard Rock/Metal and I’d been listening to all sorts of early 90s chart shit. I first heard this tape and it kicked my ass. I realised then that I had discovered a style I truly connected with. You’ve got to realise, to the ears of this naïve 13 year old who had spent years meekly accepting utter BILGE like 2 Unlimited, the beefy riffs of ‘Still of the Night’ was like thundering lava from hell. I literally couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Within a year, I was listening to Machine Head, Paradise Lost, Cannibal Corpse and never looked back.

What would be your dream band line-up?

Right. A 5-piece. It’d be Dead on vocals (naturally), Rob Vigna (Immolation) on guitar, Chris Holmes (WASP) on guitar, Martin Mendez (Opeth) on bass and of course, Mr Christopher Refiert on drums and backing vocals. Imagine the fucked up nonsense those boys would create.

If you could do a cover for a tribute album to any band, which song of which band would you pick and why?

I’d like to do a thrashed-up, apocalyptic version of ‘Hail and Kill’ for a Manowar tribute, purely for the barbaric, primal adrenalin of it.

What do you think of the position of metal and music in general today?

Well, metal seems to have clambered from out of it’s trough of popular derision in which it languished for most of the last decade. In the wake of nu-metal’s commercial success (I might add that I do not consider this music to be metal, rather ‘metal flavoured’), bands once considered ‘extreme’ such as Opeth, Dimmu Borgir and In Flames are gaining genuine mainstream acceptance. Is this a good thing? Who can say? If just one out of a hundred trendy fucks that pretends to be into these bands just because Kerrang has told them to goes away and genuinely feels moved, digs deeper and hears the music, that is great. People need a foothold to get into genuinely extreme music.

However, I do appreciate the argument that this popularistion of extreme metal cheapens the music, tarnishes it with the stench of trend. To that though, I would answer there will always be an underground, it’s just that what you once may have considered to be ‘your’ underground may no longer exist and you will have to look elsewhere.

Which other bands stand out for you at the moment?

There are so few new bands that excite me it’s depressing. There are some older bands that are going from strength to strength - Immolation are on a roll right now and Opeth continue to do their thing. Meanwhile, on the Black Metal front, I’ve more or less given up on the Scandinavian big names. However, there does seem to be some interesting stuff emerging from the (sadly politically-reprehensible) NSBM scene. I have been enjoying the music of Hate Forest a lot recently and intend to delve into this style a little more.
I’m also really into Primordial at the moment. On the subject of Ireland, I saw an unsigned Irish band called Hexxed a few weeks ago who were very good. Crap name but quality music. But generally, I’ve been wallowing in old-school thrash these past few months (Agent Steel, Holy Terror, Exodus, e.t.c.).

Do you have any funny stories about the band you can share with us?

No.

And finally, what do you see in the future for Skaldic Curse?

Darkness and misery. We desire only to cause as much distress to human beings as is possible. Our music will only get more twisted. Not for us the relentless, lifeless blasting that so many imagination-free black metal bands peddle. Instead, we will be exploring different speeds, textures, atmospheres, all with the singular goal of creating extremely depressing music.