Monday, August 27, 2012

EXCLUSIVE: INTERVIEW WITH ROGGA OF REVOLTING!

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Country of origin:
Sweden
Location:
Gamleby
Status:
Active
Year of creation:
2008

Genre:
Death Metal
Lyrical themes:
Horror (80's Inspired)
Current label:
F.D.A. Rekotz

Current Members

Grotesque Tobias: Bass
Mutated Martin: Drums
Revolting Rogga: Vocals, Guitars
See also: Bloodgut, Bone Gnawer, Demiurg, Megascavenger, Paganizer, Putrevore, Ribspreader, Swarming, The 11th Hour, The Grotesquery, ex-Carve, ex-Foreboding, ex-Terminal Grip, ex-Those Who Bring the Torture, ex-Banished from Inferno, ex-Deranged, ex-Sinners Burn


(Yes, he was/is in all of those bands.)

THE INTERVIEW

If you could, describe the process in making this album. What was the toughest part of that process? (Besides trying to recite incantations from the Necronomicon, with the other members of the band attempting to fend off the legions of Dagon.)

Well with Revolting there inst a though part really, the stuff just comes to us. I guess its because we've never really played much melodic music before, so now when we have fun and throw in melodies and catchy choruses it just comes together by itself almost. Its like its summoned by Dagon, Dagon needs some catchy rotten oldschool death metal to come back in reign I guess haha.

How did the name of the band come about?

Its all the work of Billy at razorback Records actually. he had the idea for the name and the concept, and then I wrote the music and did the vocals, and it all came together as Revolting. I cant speak for Billy, but I think the name is pure excellence, it really described the music. Its revolting for sure, revoltingly catchy!

What bands/albums inspired you on this particular album and what are you currently listening to right now?

Revolting has gone more and more towards more melody in the choruses, and then heavier parts throughout the songs which also have become longer. So I don't know really what stuff could be said to have been used as a model for this album. I think we just wanted to make it just like the last album, but better in all ways possible. And I think we managed to do that too. Right now I'm listening a lot to the new Blood Mortized and Puteraeon albums, really great stuff. I'm also just discovering Baroness, awesome band, I love so many different types of music and not just death metal. And listening to other stuff makes me get fresh ideas for Revolting. Actually, and I didn't think Id ever say this, but one song on the new album is actually very much based on some borrowing from a Sum 41 songs haha!

Are there any great obscure horror films that you might recommend? Some stuff that we might not have heard of here in the states?

Well there are always the classics, nad thats what i love. I also try to dig up old stuff I hvent checked out through the year aswell as hunt for new good horror movies. Hmmm, some stuff I could recommend? Well not everyone might have come across The Burning, though its really up there and as good as stuff like Friday the 13th or The Fog. As for more utter classics, Im sure everyone knows everything from Fulci, but if you havent checked The Beyond, do it. Its one of the best movies ever made.

Knowing that you're a fan of horror like myself, and I'm sure there's nothing out there on screen that really frightens you; but have you actually seen a film so grotesque, hideous, and revolting, that it actually got under your skin?

I only like classic horror, I'm no fan of cannibal stuff, nor the newer stuff that tried to be as gross and disturbing as possible. For me horror movies are either the 80s stuff like The Thing or Evil Dead or the Fulci or Argento stuff. For me Fulci stuff is truly creepy and horrific, in that awesome way. I have no interest at all in movie like Guinea Pig or whatever stuff people like because its very graphic and disturbing. I guess I'm just a kid really, wanting to be taken in by an excellent story written in a horror sort of context.

I see from this album and the last album, that you're a big fan of horror composers. What horror film composers are your personal favorite, and which ones have influenced you the most?

Actually that list is mainly done by Dez, who does the lyrics. That guy is a horror freak, in all possible way. Compared to him I don't know shit haha. For me, as I grew up with it, the music of John Carpenter is and will always be the ultimate horror music. Then again, Fabio Frizzi has probably done the eeriest spookiest music there is.

I've noticed that this new disc is much more focused on brutality and less on the melody that you used on In Grisly Rapture. Is that what you were trying to achieve this time around?

You think so? I agree that I tried to write more heavy parts, but I also tried to make the choruses more catchy than ever. I might not have succeeded then haha. But its like that, what i think and what people then hear are often two different things haha.

You've already released one incredible disc last year, and you're about to release another one this year. Most bands usually wait a year before releasing a new record. If this keeps up, could we also see a new Revolting album in 2013?

I hope so. I have already 3 new finished songs, and if you ask me all three of them are the best stuff Ive done so far. Ive also recorded a song and an instrumental for a split 7" with German band Revel in Flesh which will be out later this year. So anyways, I think and at least hope there will be a new Revolting album for 2013, i have loads of ideas that Id love to record for it.

How do you see the current state of death metal?

I don't follow the scene much, at least i don't listen to much new stuff, but from stuff I read in mags and on the net it seems the scene is bigger than ever. this ultra oldschool 2everything needs to sound like Nihilist" thing is rather huge, and also there seems to be more and more young bands trying to write very fresh and innovative new death metal. So it seems the scene is alive and well.

I know that you also play in Paganizer, Ribspreader, Demiurg, Bonegnawer, The Grotesquery, and others. What can you tell us about the possibility of new releases for these bands?

New Paganizer will be out in April next year, new The Grotesquery was released not long ago and that band will probably not do anything new for a few years, just as Ribspreader. Bone Gnawer has some news coming soon, and Demiurg have all the songs written and partly recorded, but if a new album happens is up to other members than me really. But there's the possibility that it'll be a new one out next year anyways.

I've also heard about a clean vocal non-metal project. Is that still under way? If so, what can you tell us about it?

There are a bunch of songs recorded, we've had some technical problems though. So maybe some stuff needs to be re-recorded. If its sorted there's just mix and master, and some bass recordings left to do. We have no label, and we just did it for fun though. So i don't know if it'll ever be released or not. One of these days it might be uploaded somewhere though. Time will tell.

With so many projects taking up your time these days, what do you do with your free time?

I drink beer. And hang out with my wife and our dog, and by next year probably also with my offspring

What do you think about sites like bandcamp, that let users "name their own price" on albums? Do you think this is the future, especially for lesser known bands?

I haven't checked out Bandcamp actually, just come across some song there a few times Ive listened to. But yeah the idea seems ok enough, people will download it for free somewhere else anyways. Any money at all a band can make is always good, these days its almost impossible, especially if you're not a more known band that plays live all the time.

Have you heard about the so-called "zombie attacks" here in the states? If there was an actual zombie apocalypse, what would you do?

Yes Ive heard something about that, weird stuff indeed. I'm actually reading the book World War Z right now, so I'm hoping to learn some stuff from that haha. If not, Ill have to order the other book by the same guy, The Zombie Survival Guide. I'm thinking that will at least get me through a few extra days or months compared to if I haven't read it when the plague/virus/chemical spill strikes in a few years.

Finally, if an apocalyptic scenario occurred; like a solar flare that knocked out all of the planet's electricity for months, for example - what would you do?

I guess I would have to learn to play acoustic guitar, and sing haha. Fuck that would be hard work haha!

Thanks for your answers, and for making another great death metal record.

Thanx for the interview! Very enjoyable indeed!

THE REVIEW

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Revolting - Hymns Of Ghastly Horror (PR2012) - Sweden's Revolting is back at it once again, with another offering of horror and gore, the way that only they know how. Alright, we all know that Rogga's the mastermind behind all of this - but let's be sure to give proper respect to Martin on the drums, and Tobias on the bass. These guys a killer job keeping the foundations of the songs held up, while Rogga plays the shit out of the guitar and provides the unearthly incantations.

If you liked the band's last album, there's really no reason why you wouldn't like this one. As mentioned in the interview, Rogga said that he wanted to make this one better than the last album, (even though there were some truly killer riffs on that one) and increase the amount of melody. But as much as I'd like to believe that it's more melodic, I feel that it sounds much more brutal than the last one. Regardless, that might still be a good thing for some of you who thought that the last disc didn't have enough thunder.

Well, this one does. It sounds more like a battering ram, and perhaps that's due to the increased production value. These guys don't have a whole lot of money, but they enjoy making music just for the hell of it; and it's really fucking great that they actually can (through the magic of FDA-Redkotz, promotion and the internet) share their music with the whole fucking world. There's a lot of shitty bands out there who lack the chops to make good death metal, and there's too many deathcore bands who have no fucking clue as to what death metal is supposed to sound like.

My point? Check out the new Whitechapel album. Go on and listen through it. Then go and play this disc shortly afterwards. Notice a difference? One band attempts to make things overly brutal, while the other one actually has catchy melodies, vocals that don't sound like fucking cardboard, (Rogga's a killer vocalist,a nd this is coming from a man who also does his fair share of screaming, growling, scowling, and all that shit in between) and drums that actually do more than the same old thing. While one band might have better production value, the other has more skill and gives a fuck less. Not saying that Whitechapel's latest was a total wash, but their instrumentals pale in comparison to this disc's instrumental, "The Thing That C.H.U.D. Not Be 3:39" one of my personal favorite horror themed instrumentals. The sound clips really help to enhance that feeling.

I guess that means I'm going to start talking about the songs now, then? Well, just one fucking second. I've still got to talk about one man in particular who is really felt on this disc. It's Martin on the drums - he absolutely fucking slaughters them on this disc, and if you can't hear him on here, then you're either fucking deaf or from another dimension.

However, the guitars sometimes fade out because the drums are bashing so loud, and that sort of kills the melody in parts of this disc. I also feel that the vocals sometime overpower the leads. The leads are just too light on the disc, and I can barely hear them sometimes; which is kind of a bummer. But that doesn't mean that this is a bad disc, because it's not. It's just as good as anything else they've put out, just much louder and more drum-heavy.

If you fucking like death metal and you fucking like horror, you'll like this fucking disc. Tracks like, "Their Thoughts Can Kill 3:57, Ravenous Alien Spawn 3:36, The Black Queen 4:17, The Hatchet Murders 4:37 and album closer, Prey To Katahdin 4:27" (as well as the instrumental I named earlier) are definitely not to be missed.

But I'm not going to lie to you, this is definitely worth checking out for fans of old school death metal, like myself. I fucking love this disc - but not quite as much as their last one. Still, with another disc coming in 2013, I'll get to hear some more great horror death metal. Because that's what these guys do best, and we should be thankful for it.

Now I just gotta wait for the new Paganizer...

Highlights: Their Thoughts Can Kill, Ravenous Alien Spawn, The Black Queen, The Thing That C.H.U.D. Not Be, The Hatchet Murders, Prey To Katahdin (9 tracks, 35:00)

8/10

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