|
 Neon clothing, new wave, Regan and Thatcher. Yes, the ‘80s were fairly suspect times. However, DISMEMBER guitarist MARTIN PERSSON tells TOM HERSEY how he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Although not often given consideration in a retrospective of “the age of plastic”, the ‘80s saw the birth of new breeds of extreme metal. Bands like Napalm Death, Morbid Angel, Celtic Frost and Death were releasing seminal albums that re-defined what it meant to be heavy. It was the sound forged in this decade that cult Swedish death metal band Dismember wanted to pay homage to on their eighth, self-titled full length.
A reaction to the current trend in death metal that requires technology to make records sound brutal, Martin described Dismember’s opposition to the technical death metal scene. “We have a problem with all the triggered-up, clickety drums stuff that go on nowadays. It sounds much too polished to be in metal. Death metal should be raw and for us we need that old, crunchy sound.”
To achieve this sound, Martin, a man who uses the words ‘death metal’ more than anyone else I’ve ever encountered, said Dismember re-evaluated how to record, rather than using studio trickery as a cheap shortcut. “We’ve recorded guitars before using digital technology but this time we had this really old tape recorder for everything. I think it adds to the sound. Something happens to the sound when you record on to tape that doesn’t happen when you record in a computer. It sounds heavier. It sounds like what death metal should sound like to me.”
If there were any authority on what death metal should sound like, it would be Dismember. Formed in the late ‘80s the band became an underground favourite with albums such as Like An Ever Flowing Stream and Indecent & Obscene. However, during the mid-‘90s the band’s relationship with Nuclear Blast soured, as Martin described how the Danish label mismanaged Dismember. “The guys sent down the master tapes from the Massive Killing Capacity album to Nuclear Blast. They listened to it and called up the guys in the studio and said ‘we can’t have this’ and basically complained about the sound. Then as a joke the guys said ‘ok yeah, we’re going to fix it’ and left it for a week and sent the same tape, exactly the same tape, back to the label and then they called up saying how great it was.”
Instances like these eventually led to the band parting ways with the label in 2000. Now Dismember have found a home on Swedish label Regain, who have released their last two albums, and the future of Dismember is looking positive after a shaky transition into the new millennium. Aussie punters will reap the benefit of Dismember’s newfound stability when the band return to the country later this month, which Martin sounds clearly excited for. “When we came over in 2005 it was really cool. Everyone was so chilled out, it was like you could shoot someone in the face and they’d still say ‘no worries mate’. It was really fun the last time we were there. I think I’m still a bit hung over.”
DISMEMBER play Rosie’s on July 20 with Vomitor. Their self-titled album is out now through Regain/Riot.
|
| Comments are submitted for possible publication on the condition that they may be edited. Poster's IP addresses are logged. |
|
Be first to comment on this article
