Ave TRIBE OF PAZUZU! Greetings to Canada. I hope you are doing well in these difficult times. I’m just listening to your new EP this year’s “King of All Demons” and I’m literally excited. I feel like someone locked me in an old dungeon. How did the novelty come about? I have the previous “Heretical Uprising” from you at home, and this year’s deed seems crueler, more cruel.
Thanks! I was definitely channelling a lot of hate into the newer material, with an effort at keeping it relentless and catchy at the same time. A song like 'Retaliation & Wrath' is wholly uncompromising, from start to finish, but still really catchy and memorable. I think I felt more comfortable about pushing the boundaries of speed and aggression on the second EP. Perhaps some people will take this the wrong way, but 'hate' as an energy is necessary for this style of music. It helps serve the intensity, I find that missing in a lot of bands these days.
TRIBE
OF PAZUZU is a band composed of just famous names.- John McEntee, Flo Mounier,
Randy Harris and Nick Sagias. Just write you side by side and it sounds great
in itself. But how did the band even start? How did you get together? It must
be very difficult to meet at all, right? Everyone has their bands, tours,
responsibilities.
The band started simply because I was fed up with playing with musicians that
limited the way I write. People who were just not serious enough to get
anything done. So, in 2017, I was already writing in this style. By the end of
that year, I mentioned to a friend who has ties in the industry that I have a
handful of songs. Right away he offered up Flo and John, then we got Randy to
play leads. I heard Randy play and knew right away he would be able to pull off
the rhythm guitars as well. Of course, both Flo and John are busy with their
own bands, and Randy is busy with a job and home life. As such, we don't ever
get together. I try and meet up with Randy once or twice before we head into
the studio to go over some finer points. Everyone else just hears the demo and
goes off of that.
I
know that it can be recorded today, even if every musician is on a different
end of the world. The Internet and technology allow us to do that. But how do
you record? Have you ever met? The sound of your EP is dense, massive, cool. It
reminds me a bit of the production of MORBID ANGEL base plates. How and where
did you record? And who is signed under the final mix?
For both EPs, we have gone to Montreal to record at Cryptopsy's studio, The
Grid, with Christian Donaldson (Cryptopsy guitarist) at the helm (mixing and
mastering). In fact, we haven't all been in the studio at the same time. Flo's
parts are usually recorded the day before Randy and I get into the studio. John
is pretty busy, so he does his parts from his studio or Kyle's (Severn -
Incantation drummer) place. This is the same studio where Incantation do all
their recordings. All the bass, rhythm and lead tracking is done with Marco
Freche, engineer at The Grid in Montreal. It's so great working with Marco. We
just motor through the songs with him. Christian then comes in and I do the
vocals, which again goes by so smooth and fast. At this point, Christian comes
in and does the mixing and mastering.
The
drums are clear to me, the vocals too, but who actually took care of the main
motifs, the riffs? Was it John or you Nick? I ask because John has such a
typical and unmistakable handwriting that I'm a little confused, because I
can’t hear it here.
Yes, good ear. John's writing is a lot different than mine. I’m honored he has
the time to work with us. It's a huge compliment that he chose to be a part of
Tribe. From the beginning, I have written all the music and lyrics for Tribe of
Pazuzu. There was talk at the beginning of John helping with some writing, but
he got busy with Incan. That said, he did add some second guitar type stuff on
the first EP. Additionally, Randy has full reign over the solos and Flo has all
the fills. In fact, he often improves on the beats. When I demo the tracks, the
demo is usually approx. around 10 bpm, slower than when we get into the studio.
It's quite amazing to hear this team of great musicians and studio
professionals bring these songs to life.
In
your texts, you criticize the church, but they are also about cultism, war and
other dark topics. Who is their author and how did they come about? I wonder
where do you get your inspiration for? Pazuzu was, I think, the king of demons
in Mesopotamia, am I right?
There are lots of places I draw inspiration from. This includes books, movies,
documentaries. In fact, when certain words or phrases catch your ear, sometimes
you will hear rhythms in those phrases. I usually compile all my ideas early.
As it gets closer to recording, I then finish them. I usually know how they
will flow. That being said, it's not all worked out or written down until a
week or two before we enter the studio.
Regarding the band name, Pazuzu is a demon from the old Sumerian religion. He
seems to have a few titles, such as 'King Of The Demons' or 'The Bringer Of
Plagues'. The imagery is perfect for death metal. I was obsessed with him from
an early age, watching the Exorcist and especially Heretic. In fact, Exorcist 2
goes further into the Pazuzu story. So, when it was time to come up with a
name for this band, I immediately knew it needed to have something to do
with the things that I'm most passionate about. Pazuzu, in his very own way,
helped give this band focus.
I
like the Canadian metal scene. Your bands seem different to me, different from
the others. I love VOIVOD. This is how it seems to boil over from us in Europe,
but how is it really? Is the approach of musicians different than in the USA?
And what about the scene as a whole, how does it work?
Something that many people might not know is that the Canadian music scene has
never really been that supportive of death metal. To clarify this point, I am
not talking about the fans. We have killer fans here in Toronto and across
Canada. My point is, that the general vibe is not supportive of straight-up,
REAL death metal. It never has been in this country, definitely from an 'industry'
perspective. Of course, the sheep flock to the melodic or symphonic stuff,
which is safe and has wider appeal. This satisfies their overt need to be
unique. But, make no mistake, this is not death metal, even if it has
smatterings of death metal-like elements buried deep within all the melody and
frills. Those who don't understand, the same ones that scoff at true death
metal, can then claim to be edgy. So, in return, it impacts the style that
band's choose to play here in Canada. If they want to be written about by
Canadian journalists, then the driving force becomes one where band's play
it safe and comfortable. Tribe Of Pazuzu spits in the face of this mentality.
We will never compromise. If you like us, you like us. If you don't, well, we
could give two fucks. Long live true death metal!
Why
did you choose the EP format at all? Is it because you didn’t have enough
material for a full- length album? Or as black metal SCOUR claims, for example,
that the records aren’t sold today, so we give fans the opportunity to buy
vinyl and let the rest download it? It’s the same, it’s just a fact. How do you
actually react to downloading?
We chose the EP format simply because we are a new band. It didn't make sense
to spend a couple of years working on a full-length album, but rather to have
more exposure during this beginning stage. I had about fifteen tracks as early
as 2017, so that wasn't an issue. The idea behind releasing the EPs was to just
hit hard and fast, and then follow-up with that almost right away. My listening
tastes have changed. As a result, I have noticed the way people are consuming
music these days.
In reality, as with everything else, it seems that attention spans have
diminished. So, it made sense to go the EP route. Additionally, the way people
access music these days, as far as platforms like Bandcamp, Spotify, iTunes,
also was a motivating factor. I have always been a huge fan of music and the
medium in which it is delivered. I loved vinyl, and had a big collection. When
CDs came out, I jumped on immediately. The benefits - clarity, ease-of-use,
space-saving - were just too great to ignore. Later, when things moved from
disc to digital - sure, there was some hesitation due to the fact that you no
longer held a physical product in your hand. It took some time, but music
lovers tend to adapt. The benefits of digital are incredibly appealing, instant
access being the biggest. I'm not so nostalgic that I scoff at digital. Of
course, I understand that there are fans out there that love holding a physical
product in their hand. As such, we aren't going to ignore these fans. If you
support the Tribe, we will do our best to support your platform of choice. With
this in mind, we have plans to release vinyl for all the vinyl junkies out
there... even cassettes, if we get offers to do so.
It really comes down to being open-minded enough to embrace all technology, as
each has its own benefits for creators. In the end, it just makes things
easier. Of course, I suppose you have to know your end goal, and why you use
these technologies, and what makes most sense for you and the way you consume.
What about you and new technologies? Do you watch
them, do you use them? Do you enjoy the possibility that the whole world is
interconnected or does it sometimes scare you a little like me? And how did new
technologies affect you as a musician?
As far as things like social
media, I don't really have much use to have personal accounts, other than to
promote my music. I make an effort to only connect with those I admire and
respect... like-minded people. If it wasn't for social media, I don't think
much of what we have accomplished could have happened. The whole band came
together via social media. The studio and producer came together via social
media. The artist who creates our incredible covers came together via social
media. All our merch... social media. Everything. All the amazing bands I have
discovered over the last few years can be credited to social media. Every
single day I discover and share bands via social media. It's akin to the days
of tape-trading, now on an infinite scale. When I post music, I now have
5000 friends on Facebook who have instant access to it. The spread of
information is much quicker. It allows you to target your audience. Almost all
of the music I post is death metal or black metal.
For
each band, the best feedback is the reaction of the fans to the live concert.
Will TRIBE OF PAZUZU ever play live? Doesn’t that appeal to you? Maybe just a
few times, for fun? I know it would be so hard to put them all together, but it
would be worth the experience, don’t you think?
Yes, of course we would love to play. Each of us has expressed the interest to
take Tribe live. It would be a most amazing thing to hear this beast come to
life. This is not an easy task, taking into account the full-time projects of
the various band members. Additionally, this 'virus' has really put the brakes
on the entirety of the entertainment industry, impacting the music industry the
hardest. Hitting the road has been a huge outlet for both bands and fans. It is
very sad to see what has happened.
Nick,
you played in SOULSTORM, OVERTHROW, even in PESTILENCE. But if I’m not
mistaken, are all the bands over? If so, why? I know that, for example,
SOULSTORM had a very good start to the future? Is TRIBE OF PAZUZU your current
only band?
Well, Overthrow I started in my teens... thirty years ago. Soulstorm was an
experiment in abrasive heaviness. The intention was to mix the aggressiveness
of death metal with other elements. The basic template was one that saw
combining elements of Obituary and Celtic Frost, as far as the riffs/vocals,
with electronic elements from bands like Ministry. We then mixed these elements
with the repetitive pounding of something like the Swans.
Anyway, Soulstorm was on and off for so long that I eventually just wanted to
get away from that sound and return to a more organic, old-school death metal
vibe. I really wanted the focus to be more on just one style, instead of trying
to incorporate so many different styles. There was always a heavy doom element
in Soulstorm, and I was just pretty much done writing in that slower style.
Moving into the writing for Tribe, I was very conscious not to get bogged down
in slow parts that might drag on too long. Tribe is meant to rip your face
off... fast... my approach to death metal mixed with elements of black
and thrash.
