Interview with death metal band from Australia - BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS.
Answered Doomsayer, thank you!
Recenze/review - BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS - Devastation Hymns (2025):
Ave BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS! Greetings to the Australian underground. Before we take a look at your album, I have to thank you. I heard your new album, Devastation Hymns, for the first time on Friday when I was coming home from work totally pissed off. You know how it is, everything was getting on my nerves. The people around me seemed dull and stupid. I felt like setting up speakers in front of them and blasting your music. You've made a bone-crushing album! How and where did you want to move forward from your previous album, "Abomination of the Flames"? The new album seems rawer and wilder to me.
Hails, Deadly Storm! Glad to know our music can provide you with some therapy against the daily grind, haha. The intent with this one was indeed to return to a much rawer, aggressive tone. After the last album was done, I found myself revisiting the first album, FROM HELL, and thinking, man, we should come out with something more akin to that again. As it turned out, the songs that feature on DEVASTATION HYMNS evolved beyond that and ended up with a feel of their own.
Before I forget, could you please introduce your band? Die-hard death metal fans probably know you, but for everyone else, please walk us through the history of BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS. How did you get together back in 1995, and why this particular style of music? Please reminisce for us.
As it stands now, it's me (Doomsayer) - guitars/vocals, Jamie (Bloodspawn) - Guitars, Ross (Ghuul) - Bass. For the new release, we enlisted the session services of Henry (Plague), who is the hyper-skinsman of the black metal entity CHRIST DISMEMBERED. Check out the debut that was released earlier this year, 'Ov Vampiracy'. It's a high-speed black metal attack. Back in 1995, it was a different band. I'm the last one standing from those days. Back then, the name Beyond Mortal Dreams had evolved from the previous name, Suffering, which originated around 1992. We crafted a bunch of songs, played some shows, but that all burned out by the late 90's. It was after myself and Matt (Hellaeon) reunited in another band called ONI that we started BMD up again, this time taking it further than we had in the early days. We recorded two demos, completed the lineup with Jamie and Ross, and recorded the first full-length 'From Hell'. Soon after, though, Matt decided to move on to other things, and after a while, we recruited Simon into the fold, who made his debut on the 'Dreaming Death' EP. We started playing live again, put out the 'Lamia' 7 inch through Lavadome/Unholy Prophecies, and working with Lavadome again in releasing the compilation CD 'As Death, We Shall Walk', then got to work on the long overdue second album. But, as anyone would know, life tends to change things up. Members moved away, so regular rehearsals and shows were out. Finding available and competent players here in an already highly incestuous band scene in Adelaide is close to impossible. Hell, I'm involved with a few other bands, myself. I was determined to carry on with BMD in a recording capacity, though. Due to the change-ups and the long distance, it stalled the production of the second album quite a lot, and that covid bullshit didn't help matters either, but, in 2022, 'Abomination of the Flames' finally saw the light! During all that time, I remained productive with writing more material, some of which you now hear on 'Devastation Hymns'. As far as the choice in style, well, the Death Metal sound made a huge impact on me as a teenager who was always on the lookout for something heavier, darker. I love a lot of the older styles, but Death Metal was something I could really sink my teeth into. That sound was something that resonated with me, and it never left. Never will.
On a side note, I've recently teamed up with former BMD skinsman Matt (Hellaeon) again to create a new entity called HELLSTORM APOCALYPSE. Style-wise, think old BMD/DARKLORD. We'll be releasing the first demo CD, hopefully by the end of this year, so keep an eye and ear out for that.
Let's move on to the new release. Probably everyone who discovers new music, including me, pays a lot of attention to the cover. They say that the cover sells. Who is the author of this year's successful motif? How did you get together? And how does the cover theme relate to the music?
The cover was done by Jan of Lavadome Productions, actually. It's a combination of AI and heavy Photoshop manipulation. It had to be something vicious to reflect the music. Think of it as a monolithic temple to devastation. Not anything that reflects the topic of any song in particular, but of the atmosphere of the music as a whole. It was Jan who was the driving force to utilise the technology for this release. That cover turned out pretty savage, so we went with it. You've got to admit, it stands out quite a lot. I'm of two minds when it comes to the use of AI. Now, I realise that its use has become highly taboo in the underground metal world, but I do get the sentiments against it. However, I think, if used correctly, with limits, it can become a useful tool, and that's all it should be. There are artists/designers/visualizers out there who are creating some stunning pieces using the technology. On the other side of that, though, there's a shit-ton of lazy, unimaginative slop swamping our social media feeds, making it a total abuse of the technology. It's in at least half of what we see on our feeds nowadays, and really, nobody needs that crap. As much of a novelty as AI can be, it will never surpass the human touch. As far as utilizing it in the future, I don't think so. Perhaps for future video clips, maybe, but not for album covers, at least.
As I mentioned, the songs literally crush my bones. The sound contributes a lot to that. It's dirty, raw, reminiscent of a bulldozer working in a cemetery. Tell us where you recorded, who is responsible for the mastering and mixing?
We worked with Andy again at Against the Grain Studio, who has recorded all of our works since the 2005 'The Demon and the Tree of the Dead' demo. Recording, mixing, and mastering for DEVASTATION HYMNS were all done there. After the last album, this time around I wanted something with a more raw, crushing aggression. The intent was for a return to the earlier atmosphere of 'From Hell', but as I mentioned earlier, it's become its own beast, surpassing From Hell in my opinion.
What are the lyrics on "Devastation Hymns" about? Is it classic death metal - graves, bones, skulls, cemeteries? Or are you trying to convey a message? Who is the author?
There's no real deep and meaningful message that's trying to be conveyed here, rather than just the classic death metal themes, as you say. The lyrical content varies in each song, and I wanted to move away from the previous themes we usually touch on, into more obscure realms, but no less dark. Arachnivore is a horror trip into the insect world as a spider being prey to the Spider-Wasp. Tormenting the Iniquitous was inspired by a documentary I saw on 'The Beast of Buchenwald', Ilse Koch. There was a part towards the end during her time in prison where she talked about spirits coming through the prison cell walls (I'm paraphrasing here a bit), so that inspired a vengeful spirit haunting style concept. Fetid Beyond all Conception is based on an obscure historical French figure known as Tarrare, who lived during the late 1700s and was known for his inhuman, insatiable appetite. A true freak of nature. It was said that he could, and did, eat just about anything. It makes for some interesting reading and an interesting concept to put a death metal spin on. For Predatory Dysmorphia, I put on my 'X-Files' cap and spun a small tale of a human-like creature of prey. Based on a parasite called Sacculina, which is parasitic to crabs, destroying their genitalia and manipulating them for their benefit, even changing the gender of the infected crab. It made for a good horror-twist tale of a predatory species on the hunt for the unsuspecting human. Bred for Possession is inspired by a book I read years ago by Wes Craven called Fountain Society. I took some liberties with the premise of the book, though, to turn it into a tale of elites that farm clones of themselves to then inhabit the bodies once they come to adulthood, thus extending their lifespan, becoming virtually immortal.
My favorite question, and I think the readers' too. How does BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS create new songs? Please give us a glimpse into your kitchen. Who is the author of the basic motifs? Does everything originate in the rehearsal room? I'm interested in the process of composing new songs.
All songs are written by me, with the rest of the band adding their embellishments once they've learnt the material. A lot of ideas come to mind whilst I'm on the move. I do a lot of walking and cycling, and the motion always gets the mind going with new melodies constantly flowing. Traditionally, I'd come up with a bunch of riff ideas, then craft them into song structures. The lyrics would normally come last and be written to fit the song. With Devastation Hymns, however, I went the other way around. I had most of the lyrics already written, and crafted the music around them. I think it's helped in broadening my style somewhat in approaching it this way, giving these songs a bit of a different feel compared to my previous works.
One thing is bothering me a little. You're from Australia, and I follow your scene quite closely. Most underground death metal bands from your country play very dark, cold music, but at the same time, their music has a certain wildness, animalistic quality to it. For me, this is a distinguishing feature of Australian bands (at least that's how I perceive it). But you are "different," you have your own style! Raw, uncompromising. Do you feel music differently? Did you have different role models?
We all interpret and feel music in our own way. I guess the style I have is an extension of my younger self, who was always on the lookout for music that was darker and heavier than the last. I'm always going to change up how I express that as I keep moving forward, but that basic essence is always going to remain there. I guess some of my influences could be different than others, but I've come up in this life listening to and supporting a lot of the same music as many others here.
Everyone started somewhere, learned, discovered. BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS is a band of experienced musicians. But what were your beginnings like? What was the first impulse that made you pick up an instrument, what bands did you listen to as a young man?
My metal journey started out with bands like Iron Maiden, WASP, Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, you know, a lot of the classic metal and thrash, then moving into heavier stuff like death and black metal when that started to crawl out from the dark. I've always had a bit of a creative streak growing up. I spent all my time devoted to drawing as a kid. That creative streak eventually moved from illustration to music, though. It just wasn't enough to listen to it anymore, as I'm sure all musos out there can relate. My earliest days of being in a band were just as a vocalist, however. In the old Suffering (pre-BMD) days, we came up with some pretty brutal-sounding songs, but still with a lot of youthful inexperience. Overall, not bad for a bunch of young burnouts. Our priorities back then were perhaps somewhat questionable in those days, but you gotta start somewhere, I guess. My ability as a lyricist was pretty woeful back then, haha. It wasn't until later on that I started to pick up an instrument, would've been around my early to mid 20's I think. Man, that was a long time ago now! I was partly driven to do so by periods of inactivity due to band instability, and also just the basic desire to keep creating. I couldn't play two chords back then, but there was much in me I felt like I had to get out, so I persisted. I kept practicing, kept learning. That mindset hasn't changed at all to this day. I feel like there is still much to do.
You've already released your second album with the excellent Lavadome Productions. Great choice! The new release came out on CD and digitally. Will the new EP also be available on vinyl? What is your relationship to music media? Are you a collector? Do you support bands?
Man, I'm hoping for a vinyl release. I feel like this one really needs it! There is talk of a vinyl release for Abomination of the Flames as well. I can't say when that'll be, but it is on the cards. I don't mind the digital media space, but I'm still a big fan (and always will be) of physical media. I'd say I have a pretty sizeable collection I've amassed over the years, mainly CDs, though. I do own a fair amount of vinyl, but not the huge amount like some collections I've seen out there. I try to support bands I like out there whenever I can. Whenever I travel abroad, I like to pick up merch, be it t-shirts or CDs/vinyl, from a lot of the bands that I see. It's a kind of tradition I have.
I'm always interested in the underground scene in the country where a band comes from. How is Australia doing with death metal? Do people go to concerts a lot? Do they buy media and merchandise? What is a concert in Australia that you consider very successful like?
There's never any real shortage of death metal here in Australia. I can't speak for any of the other states, but here in SA, the more successful shows these days, as far as I've observed, tend to be the big Fest-like bills that are put on at various times of the year. There are exceptions, though, depending on the popularity of the bands here. The more 'mainstream' side of the scene here tends to like the thrash metal bands. There are one or two thrash bands here that are quite popular. They've been at it for years and have worked hard to reach that level, so it's well deserved. Probably the most successful that's out of Adelaide right now is a thrash band called Hidden Intent. Death Metal (and Black Metal) is a bit more underground, particularly the really brutal stuff. Tzun Tzu and Omnium are active Death Metal bands here that are going strong. The more sludgy, grindy death metal that exists here seems to have its loyal crowd of fans as well, though I can't say I'm too familiar with that scene, myself.
What about concerts in general? How important are they to you? Do you prefer large festivals or small clubs? What about a tour? Obscene Extreme or Brutal Assault would be ideal festivals for you!
If I had to pick, I do prefer the smaller, more intimate club environments, but festivals are great as well. Particularly for introducing your music to a broader audience that wouldn't otherwise normally go to clubs. I can't speak for BMD, as we're a recording band only, but I'd love to take my other bands, OATH OF DAMNATION and DESCEND TO ACHERON, out on the road! Either of those festivals would be ideal. Both are just as aggressive as BMD, with a feel of their own. OATH OF DAMNATION will be recording our third album at the start of '26, so when that's released, we'll be wanting to extend our shadow over the realm, for sure!
Finally, allow me to ask a slightly philosophical question. What does music mean to you? How would you define death metal? Is it relaxation, recreation, or a lifestyle for you?
Well, it's been my rock for a very long time. I honestly couldn't tell you where I'd be otherwise, or if I would still be, for that matter. Man, it's been a singular passion of mine for a long time. It's been my purpose in life. To what status does that purpose bring? We can only see. I am eternally grateful for the support that has been given to my endeavours over the years, and I plan to carry on for as long as humanly possible. As for a definition, it's all of the above. I'd say that for Heavy Metal in general, for all of the music and sub-genres under that umbrella that have resonated with me over the years.
Please tell us what BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS has planned for the coming months. Give your fans a little teaser. If you have a message for them, or perhaps for promoters or labels, here's your chance...
I've been quite prolific behind the scenes as far as songwriting goes, actually. I've got a couple of new concepts in the works, which will each have their own unique atmosphere about them. I'll not say much more on that other than they are still as brutal as the previous works, and still very much BMD, so keep an ear out! I'm always open to labels reaching out with interest in the band. I'd be keen on working with other bands for split releases, even. That's not something we've done before.
Thank you very much for the interview. When I get annoyed at work again or when I watch the news and need to clear my head, I know what I'll be listening to – "Devastation Hymns," of course! It's a great album, thank you very much for that! All the best!
My pleasure, and thanks for the chat! Glad you are digging the new release. And to everyone out there, cheers for your support, it means a lot! Grab a copy of the new recording, and set your volume to Devastation!!
about BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS on DEADL STORM ZINE:
Recenze/review - BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS - Devastation Hymns (2025):
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