10 Questions With Plague Patrol

In November of last year I reviewed the debut demo from Czechian death metal band Plague Patrol. After much slackness on my part, I managed to put some interview questions together to send to the band. Guitarist Radek was kind enough to answer my questions and provide an insight into the band, and the scene in Czechia.

1. Who is in the band and where are you from?

Hi James, thanks a lot for you interest in our small miserable band. We are Plague Patrol from Prague Czech Republic and we play old school death metal. We wanted to steal riffs from Incantation as well as Tomb Mold, but we suck at it. I am Radek and I play the guitar, also bass in studio. There is Slavek, a singer, and Zubar on the drums. We are just a trio.

2. What is the history of Plague Patrol? When and how did you form?

Plague is a product of covid era started in October 2020. I wanted to write some proper death metal songs for such a long time and one day I asked Zubar to try something together. Thanks to all those lockdowns we have spent most of our evenings in a rehearsal room working on songs. That’s how the demo was done. During the recording session Slavek joined us. This is it!

3. Have any of you played in previous bands and are you in any other bands currently?

Well, we have tons of different bands haha. I play also in Decultivate (chaotic hc/crust), Skiplife (powerviolence), Controlled Existence (grindcore) and some other projects. Zubar is a member of Sick Destroyer (grindcore), Controlled Existence (grindcore), Rato Triste (sludge) and some other projects as well. Slavek also sings in Morkhimmel (metallic crust). The list of bands we played in is looooong. Obviously, we are bit old for a cult of youth.

4. You released your first demo last year. Are you pleased with the way it turned out and the what was the reception to it like from fans?

Yeah, we are totally overwhelmed by positive reactions. Actually, I didn’t expect much. I just wanted to release some proper death metal music done with a proper sound. Because it was on my wishlist for so many bloody years. The reception is cool for a band with no single gig played. Especially US death metal geeks are into our music. Endless gratitude to all people around the world supporting us! You all fucking rule!

5. What are your thoughts on the extreme metal scene in Czechia at the moment? Is the community strong there?

I guess so, we have bunch great bands and people doing things helping underground to stay alive. Hard to explain within few sentences, but I got a really great feeling about the scene right now, so many inspiring people doing inspiring things. Just one band: check a new album by Lycanthrophy. Their sound became unique. 

6. Are there any bands that have influenced you?

Definitely Incantation and some other classical stuff like old Deicide, Demigod or van Drunen stuff. And among those hyped new OSDM bands I totally adore Tomb Mold because their riffs are bit different but still slimy enough and with kinda punk attitude. Great band. I also love Mortiferum, but mostly their first demo, great riffing… These are the biggest influences for my guitar work, but you cant hear it in our music, because we can play only what we play, we suck at ripping off other bands haha.

7. What are your favourite albums/EPs at the moment?

Pharmacist – Flourishing Extremities.. because their music evolution is sick as fuck

Bandit – new album not released yet, crazy chaotic grindcore from the US

Kreator – Endorama …because they released it again on vinyl recently, not a typical Kreator album, Sisters of Mercy vibe with Mille’s vox basically haha

8. Do you intend to play live with Plague Patrol?

Yeah, there might be something in 2023, not earlier. If we play live, it will be a special occasion for sure. Cant say anything else right now.

9. It is early days I know, but how do you see the band evolving?

There is no other plan than creating some good death metal music. When a song is done, the world makes more sense. It's all about this, no popularity bullshit.

10. Finally, what are your thoughts on the music industry as a whole and where do you see it’s future?

It will be the same crazy rollercoaster powered by nostalgia. For example current death metal hype is nothing but a cry for times we have never experienced. So many shitty bands are on big labels, meh… But I can live with that haha. Thanks for your support!

You can stream and purchase Plague Patrol's Demo 2021 digitally via bandcamp below:-

Tape copies are sold out from them but you can still purchase physical copies from the labels below:-

Psychocontrol Records - https://psychocontrolrecords.bandcamp.com/album/demo-2021

Psychocontrol Records - https://www.facebook.com/PSYCHOCONTROL-records

Dry Cough Records - https://www.facebook.com/DryCoughRecords

Gutless Productions - https://www.facebook.com/gutlessasia

Headsplit Records - https://www.facebook.com/headsplitrecords

10 Questions: ERICBANA

I've often said despite not calling myself a "serious music journo", that the most pressure comes from writing about bands whose members I do know as opposed to the ones I don't know. That's true of London-based punks Scum, who I interviewed a couple of months back and that statement also applies to fellow Harrogate punks ERICBANA. They were one of the very first bands I wrote about on this blog, way back when I really had no idea what I was doing. Fast-forward five or so years and I felt it the right time to not only try and do some more interviews but also to contact the band again, in a bid to coincide some coverage with the release of their split cd with Scum. Here's what they had to say...

Who is in the band and where are you from?

Drums - James Astin

Vocals - Chris Cooper

Guitar - Toby Matthews

Guitar - Jamie Bramhall

Bass -  Mike Gowland ( at the time of recording the split with Scum )

All pretty much from around Harrogate.

What is the history of ERICBANA? When and how did you form?

We started up maybe 8-9 years ago but its been that long we can’t remember. I think it came about from 3 of us ( Cooper, Mike and Jamie ) wanting to play in a heavier band as we all started out in a punk band called Old Youth. We then somehow convinced Toby ( from Fuck with Fire fame ) to join, then Astin joined and subsequently quit after two practises then came crawling back 6-7 years later after our old drummer Tom quit.

Have any of you played in previous bands and are you any other bands currently?

Chris played in two previous bands called General Waste and then Old Youth

Toby is currently in Fuck with Fire and Croakditch

Jamie is also in Croakditch and The Chris Bramhall Experience

Astin used to play in Toy Shelf, Shark Bait, the 7ups and probably 20 other bands like a

typical drummer!

Who write’s the lyrics/music? Is it collective? 

It’s always a collective usually its music first then lyrics written over or existing lyrics made to fit.

Someone will usually come in with a riff or beat and we take it from there. Everyone brings their own style and piece of fun

What subjects do you cover in your lyrics?

Mainly horror influence lyrics but few are about ex girlfriends or mental health. Its can be tough writing angry lyrics when you haven’t had any bad shit happen to you!

Are there any bands that have influenced you?

Black Flag, Cancer Bats, The Bronx, Crowbar, Pantera, Sick of it All, Mastodon, Misfits,

Fucked Up, Ghost. Basically anything that has good riffs, beats or lyrics!

What are your favourite albums/EPs at the moment?

Scum - Null

Spelljammer - Ancient of Days

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Blood Lust

Charlie Parr - Dog

Neil Young - Tonight's the Night

Bob Dylan -  The Rolling Thunder

Martha - Courting Strong

Bridge Burner - Mantras of Self Loathing

PCP Eagles - I Hate the Mall

Beastwars - The Death of All things

The Bronx - V

Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes - Modern Ruin

Basement  - Promise Everything

Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run

Johnny Flynn - Sillion

Ghost -Prequelle

What is your favourite gig/tour story?

Never really had anything to crazy happen on tour although we did manage to sleep 12 people in the back of a Ford Transit with all the equipment which was interesting. Oh and our old drummer ended up snogging the male singer of another band for a bet ( The other bands bet ).

What is your local heavy/punk scene like and who should we check out (band-wise)?

There used to be a really good Punk/Hardcore scene in harrogate where we’d have lots of touring bands from all the world play like Fucked Up and Trash Talk which isn't too bad for a small posh town like Harrogate!

Nowadays it's a lot quieter, there are still bands going like Fuck with Fire, Croackditch, 7ups etc but the gigs are few and far between. There's a music night once a month called Regency Live at The Regency pub in Harrogate which is great, it’s a good mix of all genres of rock really.

Also every so often Mike ( the old bassist ) puts on gigs but again they're few and far between.

What is your favourite beer (if you drink)?

Jamie - Coors Light

Chris - Double Brown

Toby - Aldi Saint Etienne lager ( 2.79 for 4 cans )

Astin - Just had a kid so he’s not allowed to drink!

I will have a review up of their split cd with Scum in the near future, but for now you can stream and download it here:-

ERICBANA - https://www.facebook.com/ericbanahc/

10 Questions: Campaign Committee + Bill Of Rights EP Review

(Photo Credit: Smoke & Honey Photography via Campaign Committee)

It's been over a month since I last published one of these interviews (because I didn't have any others to publish) and I'm kind of feeling as though I should change things up a bit in terms of my "interviews". I use that term very loosely as you might have guessed. Anyway, this one features Campaign Committee, who're a hardcore punk band from Boston (Mass, US). They also sent me a link to their most recent EP, so I've tagged a review onto the bottom of this peice.

Who is in the band and where are you from?

C. Kobialka - drums, G. Garogosian - vocals, A. Simpson - bass, B. Strout - guitar/vocals.  We’re from Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

What is the history of Campaign Committee? When and how did you form?

Four years ago Strout and Kobialka’s band were invited to play a basement show. Their third member couldn’t make it work, so they decided to whip up a couple of tracks for fun and ended up enlisting Strout’s longtime friend Garogosian on vocals and found someone to play bass for the show. Like most good things, we decided to try and run with it longer. A couple shows, bass players, and a year later, our EP "Let’s Die" finally materialised.

Have any of you played in previous bands and are you in any other bands currently?

Strout and Kobialka played together in a band called Heel and Arrow up until last year. Simpson has played in a band called Das Muerte.

Who writes the lyrics/music? Is it collective?

Less of a collective and more like one person having an idea and 3 other people ruining it for them with their own. Go Team.

What subjects do you cover in your lyrics?

We were recently asked for a lyric book… probably won’t happen.

Are there any bands that have influenced you?

Many, however, not all of our influences are mutually appreciated, nor are they all worn on our sleeves.  Blood Brothers, Today is the Day, Refused, Starkweather, Small Brown Bike, and Cave In are a few significant ones.

What are your favourite albums/EPs at the moment?

Well, this might be a bit fleeting and totally off genre, so instead we’d rather have you focus on checking out our answer to #9.

What is your favourite gig/tour story?

You always remember your first.  We have yet to tour.

What is your local heavy/punk scene like and who should we check out (band-wise)?

Psychic Weight, I Am Become Death, Martyrs, and Aneurysm are nice humans and we enjoy playing shows with them.

What are your favourite tipples/foods?

Strout really likes Palomas, and Garogosian likes calling Simpson “Clam Chowder”. This is as about as useful of an answer you’re going to get from us on this one.

Labels: Self-Released

Formats: Digital

Release Date: 22 Jun 2018

Tracklist:

1. Let's All Say We're Nihilists Then Cry When No One Likes Us

2. Three Haikus And A Tangent Thought

3. Desperate Places

4. Souvenir

5. Fledgling

Here goes with five sharp hardcore-punk songs. Initially Campaign Committee strikes you as a another garage punk band and their music does feature elements of that, but the vocals on Let’s All Say We’re Nihilists Then Cry When No One Likes Us tell another story. They’re screechy and extreme (but not in the same way as The Body, for example). There’s also the more straightforward hardcore punk shouting going on and Campaign Committee does have a good sense of humour. The music is great and Three Haikus And A Tangent Thought is a mix of all kinds of elements from punk and even emo-violence/post-hardcore in parts. It may seem like I’m over-analysing this all slightly, but I can’t change who I am or how I perceive things. It’s good, which is all that should matter.

Desperate Places sees the band experimenting with more off-kilter tempos and slow/fast parts. There’s a sense of rousing creativity flowing through it and some nostalgia too. The bringing together of chaos and cinematic melody goes further on Souvenir and might remind you of the likes of Glassjaw, Cave In and Time In Malta, which aren’t bad comparisons. EP closer Fledgling highlights a band that are clearly very talented musically and  in the song-writing department and while it might have been easy to write them off at first listen, you’d be an idiot to have done so. Coming into this review I was feeling quite a large sense of ambivalence but that’s gone and it’s been replaced with a feeling of excitement and a rush of energy. That's about as positive as it gets!

Stream and purchase "Bill Of Rights" here:-

Campaign Committee - https://www.facebook.com/campaigncommittee/

10 Questions: Pohjamuta

In March I reviewed a tape release featuring three sludge/heavy bands from Finland. They were Rutsa, Cicutoxin and Pohjamuta. After the review I contacted Pohjamuta to ask if they'd like to participate in an interview and luckily they said yes. Guitarist/Vocalist Lauri kindly answered the questions on this one.

Who is in the band and where are you from?

We are a three-piece-band (Lauri / guitar & voc, Otto / drums, Tuomas / bass & voc) formed in Jyväskylä, in the middle of Finland.

What is the history of Pohjamuta? When and how did you form?

None of us originates from Jyväskylä. At the time of the formation of Pohjamuta, we were studying there and somehow we connected and thought it was time to form a raw sludge band with hardcore punk influences because we all were in love with that kind of stuff. It was January 2012 when we started playing together.

Have any of you played in previous bands and are you any other bands currently?

Yes, we all played in a hardcore punk band called Ydinmätä together before the formation of Pohjamuta. Beside of Pohjamuta we all have some projects. Our guitarist Lauri has some noise projects for example, noisecore band Kolumbia to name one.

Who write’s the lyrics/music? Is it collective? 

It's collective pretty much. Sometimes one brings a prepared song to the rehearsal and sometimes we build up songs by jamming together. Same with the lyrics pretty much.

What subjects do you cover in your lyrics?

Pohjamuta means the mud in the bottom of the sea/lake. We have a political approach to that term and in our songs we raise up the concerns of the people who live in the bottom of the society, like alcoholism, drug addiction, violence etc. Lyrics of Uhrimiekka deal with arbitrary right-wing extremism and its’ urge to instigate fear & xenophopia.

Are there any bands that have influenced you?

Some of us are more influenced by metal bands (especially death metal) but I personally have grown with hardcore punk and that's how I found sludge at some point. Along with the iconic big US sludge pioneers, we all are heavily influenced by Finnish sludge bands, like Hebosagil, Stumm, Loinen, Frogskin, Usko and Viisikko. Also hardcore punk and black metal mean a lot to us.

What are your favourite albums/EPs at the moment?

My personal favourites at the time are:

Nightslug - Dismal Fucker LP

Everything from Moloch (Moloch/Thou LP and Moloch/Disrotted 7" to name a few..) and from Disrotted too,

Medicine Noose 7" 

and I just can't hype too much our own Finnish Slave Hands - World Rid of All Living LP

What is your favourite gig/tour story?

Hmm maybe our trip to Estonia to name one. We were playing two gigs, in Tallinn and in Tarto, and the whole trip was like straight out the movie Spinal Tap. Our car was almost dying since the very beginning of the trip and our drummer was almost dying from the hangover. The first venue was a local biker bar and we weren’t sure what to expect and what would happen, but eventually everything turned out fine. We even almost got kicked out of our hostel room in the middle of the night (actually for no reason, but we think that’s because the Finns don’t have a very good reputation in Estonia). The gigs were nice and the best moment was when we were driving peacefully through Estonian countryside enjoying some calming 80’s radio tunes like Madonna.

What is your local heavy/punk scene like and who should we check out (band-wise)?

My favourite Finnish sludge bands are Cicutoxin (Jyväskylä), Taser (Lahti) and Slave Hands (Helsinki).

What are your favourite tipples?

We are primitive rural guys, so it's gotta be traditional Finnish booze, Koskenkorva, served warm straight outta your pocket.

You can stream Pohjamuta's song from that split and the music from their previous releases below:-

All of their music is available to download from their bandcamp page as well.

Pohjamuta - https://www.facebook.com/Pohjamuta/

10 Questions: Scum

This interview was going to form part of a larger article; however, I've decided to post it up this evening so that I'm not keeping Scum waiting any longer. Scum are a London based hardcore band with links to links to Harrogate, where I reside. Those links have seen them release a split cd/digital EP with local hardcore band Ericbana (who I'll be featuring in the coming weeks). They came up here recently to play and EP release show alongside Ericbana, Leeds punks Strong Boys and fellow Harrogate band The 7ups. Thanks to Scum for taking the time to answer my questions. 

Who is in Scum and where are you from?

Scum is a four piece from Harrogate and London, Ross Lilley is our vocalist, Ash Merritt on guitar, Jamie Lyons on drums and Alin Lordache on bass. We're essentially nasty fellows who play something resembling metal/hardcore with a bit of thrash and grind thrown in for good measure. 

What is the history of the band? When and how did you form?

Scum was started by me (Ash) and Lyons around 2014 as a way to let off steam and exercise our musical muscles outside of the more straight ahead punk bands we were playing in around the time the band started. It didn't take us long to come to the realisation that we way preferred the musical freedom and heaviness of playing in a band like Scum, it quickly became both of our main gig! It took us a little bit to find Ross and Alin, two years in actual fact, we're still trying to get rid of them. Initially we started off a little more techy but as the band progressed, the groove became king, more extreme elements of punk seeped which takes us up to where we are right now. 

Have any of you played in previous bands and are you in any other bands currently?

Lyons and I (Ash) have played in a bunch of bands together over the years, we've done everything from hardcore to twinkly emo music but currently Scum is our main and only. Ross has played in supremely heavy bands namely Blind Mentality around the Pompey (Portsmouth) area which is where he's from. Alin played in a Birmingham based tech metal band called Rise Of My Empire for a good few years before joining us. 

Who write’s the lyrics/music? Is it collective?

The process tends to be that I (Ash) write the rough outline for a tune, then Lyons and I will properly get together in the practice space and structure it out and make it sound like us. Alin will then re-write the bass parts (always for the better). Lyric wise Ross is a loner so we solely rely on him to come up with shit. He's good at it so we basically leave him to it! 

What subjects do you cover in your lyrics?

It tends to be all quite serious and po faced! The folly of humanity, war, mental struggle, financial struggle, the political and social state of the world at large all are topics Ross has covered. 

Are there any bands that have influenced you?

A fuck tonne, the Dillinger Escape Plan are a massive one for me (Ash), mainly from the perspective of our approach, i.e. fuck the conventional path, make your own. Early Trash Talk and early Hatebreed for the groovy hardcore side of things. We personally grew up on a steady diet of Metallica, Pantera and Sepultura which all have a huge bearing on the riff style. That being said, we really try to not borrow too much from any one band in particular, we're incredibly conscious of when things do and don't sound like 'us' and we fully intend to keep it that way. 

What are your favourite albums/EPs at the moment?

...From the Ground by this band called Scum, duh. Seriously though, recently we all really dug the new Code Orange, we've also been on a massive Jamie Lenman hit recently, Devolver is fucking dope as are Reuben who amazingly i've only just discovered. I also recently discovered Bark Market who are incredible for that lo-fi rock and roll southern fried sound. The most recent Car Bomb album kills, and on that heavy side of things, the most recent releases from all Pigs Must Die and Nails, Employed to Serve, Knocked Loose, Fit For An Autopsy, Carpenter Brut are nuts. We're also heavy into various other genres from Horace Silver to Jamiroquai to MF Doom. 

What is your favourite gig/tour story? 

Every gig tends to be rife with alcohol fuelled shenanigans, it's the mental people that you meet gigging that stick in my mind. We played the Devonshire Arms in Camden a little while back, spent the whole day getting rather messy with strange old punks. The sound engineer turned out to be one of the said old punks, he went by the name of Diesel and bought a pitbull (who was much nicer than he was). He was a quick to temper old gentleman who did not take kindly to me calling him son in true Yorkshire fashion in a urinal encounter. People like that make gigging hilarious! 

What is your local heavy/punk scene like and who should we check out (band-wise)? 

Scum had two main phases of existence, for the first few years we were in London and unfortunately there wasn't much of a scene but in the North there’s Leeds with it’s famously sick hardcore scene, bands like Broken Teeth (Manc) and Higher Power (Leeds) are sick as well as more underground bands like Hex (Leeds). We're basically down with most of the bands that play places like Temple of Boom and Chunk. We aren't too aware of of whats going down in York but we're playing there at The Spread Eagle on the 13th of April (plug) so I guess we'll see! 

What is your favourite tipple?

The band drink is basically rum and coke, a drink we can consume to a shameful degree. Lyons is an alcohol bin and will drink basically anything. Alin occasionally brings us back home made Romanian moonshine from his trips to the motherland which tastes like petrol and could knock out a small army. Great for a cold, because it will kill you. 

You can listen to their split with Ericbana, as well as thier earlier EP below:-

Both are available as name-your-price downloads too.

Scum - https://www.facebook.com/ScumMetal/

Once again, cheers to Ash and Scum for taking part in this interview. I'll be posting up a review of the split soon too.

10 Questions: Gay Panic Defence

This new interview series is slowly starting to gather a bit of momentum. This instalment features an interview Mathew Webster, vocalist from new Scottish fast band Gay Power Defence. Thanks go out to Mathew for taking the time to answer my questions. Hope you all enjoy reading his answers as much as I did.

Who is in the band and where are you from?

Freddy plays the drums, Mathew (me) plays the voice, Ben plays the guitar but is living in New Zealand for the next year or so, so we have our bestie Red playing the guitar when we play down south. Red lives near Nottingham and we are all from Kirkcaldy in Fife.

What is the history of Gay Panic Defence? When and how did you form?

Well in short, I got pissed off with shit that was happening in Kirkcaldy. So I wrote some poems/lyrics and thought they would make some good tunes. I wrote a bunch of riffs and recorded them onto a shitty 16 track recorder and asked Freddy to drum over them. Basically that's how we did the first two demos. When it came to playing shows we asked Ben to play guitar and he became a permanent babe in the band. We have released a split with Terco from Columbia, been on a 10 day UK tour, released a tape on Skin and Bones records, done a sweet wee tour with our besties Endless Swarm and Lugubrious Children, played a cool Pride Punx squat show in London and just played Dreadfest in Leeds and we aren't slowing down. 

Have any of you played in previous bands and are you any other bands currently?

Ben played in a band called Blackmirror who were fucking sick and a band called The Ghost Train who are a cool 80s band. Freddy plays drums in Pedigree and Chums who are silly good and he plays keyboard in a funk cover band called Spliff Richards. Freddy and I both played in a band called SKELPED who were just fast hardcore noisy shit. I play in a band called Woollen formerly known as God Never Did Anything For Us. I also played in Our Smallest Adventures, Ernest, WHIV and Couch. Red plays in Let It Die, Ithaca and Mori Lucrum.

Who write’s the lyrics/music? Is it collective? 

I write the lyrics and the riffs. Freddy writes all the drum bits. We round the tunes out together but we would love to be more collective in future writing.

What subjects do you cover in your lyrics?

Aw jings, from veganism to stupid macho pricks. Loads of things mean a lot to us so we have lots to shout about. The whole reason for the band starting was because I needed somewhere to vent my frustration at the homo/transphobic attitudes of some folk in Kirkcaldy that we call friends. So we cover homophobia, transphobia, animal rights, feminist view points, racism, religion, macho bullshit and Westminster.

Are there any bands that have influenced you?

Far too many bands to mention but I grew up listening to The Smiths, Nirvana, Bjork, Whitney Houston, Fall Out Boy so I would say those bands have. I can only speak for myself but folk influence me more. People standing up for shit they believe in makes me want to do more in this band to highlight things that need to be highlighted. 

What are your favourite albums/EPs at the moment?

I'm well into the last Basement album, the Lugubrious Children tape “Oblivion” is unreal, the last Car Bomb album is great and I have recently become obsessed with the second Brockhampton album. I’m really looking forward to the Ona Snop album, Groak album and the Endless Swarm album. 

What is your favourite gig/tour story?

When we were on tour last October we spent a day in Leeds with our pals Beige Palace and that was really fucking good. We also got really into watching traveller call out videos and listening to Darkthrone albums on that tour too. We really don't party or that so we just like to hangout and go eat somewhere awesome. If you are ever in Glasgow you have to go to In Bloom for a vegan snowball because they are shit hot. 

What is your local heavy/punk scene like and who should we check out (band-wise)?

There isn't really one in Fife but Scotland has a really awesome bunch of bands making unbelievable music. Bands to check out are Bratakus, Defacer, Insufferable, Boak, Endless Swarm, Stonethrower, Kaddish, Please Believe and loads more. 

What are your favourite tipples?

Barr's limeade is a classic and club mate is a rarity but also up there. I don't drink so I'm probably the worst person to ask haha. 

You can stream and purchase downloads of all of Gay Panic Defence's music via their bandcamp page, including their latest release "Snowflake Powerviolence Vol 1", which has been give a physical tape release by Skin & Bones Records:-

Gay Panic Defence - https://www.facebook.com/GayPanicDefence/

Skin & Bones Records Store - http://skinandbonesrecs.bigcartel.com
Skin & Bones Records - https://www.facebook.com/SkinAndBonesRecords/