Gluttony – interview

Leestijd: 6 minuten

Het is alweer ruim zes jaar geleden dat Hans K. het rijk der levenden heeft verlaten. Dat wilt niet zeggen dat zijn legacy niet voort duurt. Dankzij de contacten die hij ooit heeft gelegd met het Zweedse Gluttony, komt die band nu in Musicon Den Haag spelen. Dat was natuurlijk een mooie reden om alvast oprichter Anders Harén even aan de tand te voelen. Check het interview met Gluttony hieronder. Dat gaat overigens niet alleen over de muziek zelf. Wat dan wel? Lees dat maar verderop. Tickets zijn overigens nog te koop. De link staat onder het interview.

Het interview

WRR: “Not all the music lovers in The Netherlands are familiar with Gluttony, so please introduce yourself.”

AH: “Actually we released our first two albums “Beyond the Veilf of Flesh” and “Cult of the Unborn” on Vic Records. That is a Dutch label and looking into Spotify listening stats we have a lot of listeners in The Netherlands so I’m hoping we’re not that unknown. But I will introduce Gluttony none the less. We’re four Swedes who grew up in the 80’and ’90’s during the explosion of Swedish Death Metal. That was through bands like Entombed, Dismember, Edge of Sanity and Grotesque so that typical sound and melodies are embedded in our DNA.”

“Gluttony is our homage to this great legacy, it follows a certain formula: Raw, heavy and catchy. And we stay true to that formula which makes Gluttony either a band you love or write off as too generic, and that’s fine by us. We write the kind of Death Metal we grew up with and love – for ourselves and for the fans who appreciate that thick, low-tuned HM-2 sound.”

Drogulus

WRR: “‘Drogulus‘ is just released. By writing the songs, what did you use as influence?”

AH: “Musically we haven’t changed anything since the band started. Three of the members formed and played in the Death/Thrash/Black band My Own Grave before we started Gluttony and we’ve found that even though the Gluttony songs are less technically advanced, they’re equally as hard to write and I think that’s what makes it still fun to create music for Gluttony after more than 14 years together. In that way I often compare us to AC/DC: The songs are pretty simple but it’s very difficult to write such catchy songs, and to do it over and over again without becoming repetitive. We’re aware that we sound like a lot of other bands so I’m not going to say that we have no influences but what I can say is that all songs are written in the spur of the moment, jamming together at our rehearsal place.”

Continueing

“We’ve never set out to write a song that sounds like a particular other song or band but of course that is usually the end result because of many years listening to such music. Like the song The Pallid Mask on Drogulus which sounds a lot like Bolt Thrower though that is a pure coincidence. For the lyrics on Drogulus however we wanted to dive into the mystic cosmos of H.P. Lovecraft and other authors inspired by his works. It was great because I re-read all his works and discovered some new authors in the process but it also presented Magnus (vocals) with a lot of words that weren’t necessarily that easy to growl. More on this in our Studio Diary on YouTube.”

Difference

WRR: “What makes this record different for yourself comparing to the ones before?”

AH: “Drogulus has a new darkness to it that we didn’t have on the debut album. You can hear that emerging on the predecessor “Cult of the Unborn”. One reason are the black metal harmonies and blast beats that add to the overall atmosphere on Drogulus and the other is that the lyrics sound more like Black Metal as well. When we started recording the vocals we found that the lyrics simply sounded better with a more high-pitched, gnarly singing than the lower more guttural vocals from the previous albums. All in all even though it was never intentional from the start, I think Drogulus sounds different from our other two albums but that’s the thing with us. Next album we might revert back to something closer to the debut album, you never know.”

Hans K.

WRR: “This show was conducted after being contacted about our late reviewer Hans K.. What did he mean to you or to Gluttony?”

AH: “We had released several albums with My Own Grave but with Gluttony we started all over: New band and a completely different new formula for us for writing songs. Even though Vic Records thought it was good enough to release we were depending on the feedback from the scene to know whether we were just a tired copycat band or if we were actually breeding life into the respected genre. Therefor early feedback from Hans and others like him was extremely important and even though Beyond the Veilf of Flesh sold well, it was those direct messages from Hans and other fans all over the world that became our validation and the reason we continued to exist and started discussing writing for a second album.”

Beer

WRR : “The beer question. Swedish musicians are always happy to play in foreign countries because of the beer prices. So, what is your favorite beer on tour and after a show?”

AH: “Haha, I’ve never had this question before actually but it’s a very good one and you’re right. The beer prices in central Europe are much better than up North. For me, lager beer or pilsner are the winners when on tour. When I’m drinking beer all day I simply can’t keep up the same tempo with IPA and I eventually all the weird flavors become too much. With lager beer you can basically drink forever. You get a nice steady drunkenness without surprises. It also works even though it’s slightly warm as well. My favourite beer country is The Czech Republic for sure. After a show an ice cold Krusovice or Gambrinus is really hard to beat.”

Musicon, Loud & Heavy

WRR: “Why should the Dutch people be there at the 11th of September in Musicon The Hague?”

AH: “Fans of old-school Swedish Death Metal should not miss this opportunity but in general to all who like extreme music you should come check out Gluttony because we’re a really good live band. I’m not saying this to humble brag, we go all in to put on a great show and we have heard several times over the years also from non-metalheads that a Gluttony show is worth visiting. Second reason is that the live music scene only exists if people drag their asses away from their phone or tv to visit venues.”

“Yes it’s a Monday. But that’s the case for most touring bands. We need shows on every day of the tour and if people stop going to live shows or skip non-weekend shows that affects venues and organizers and in the end the touring bands. Every day of the week. So if you want to care about the live music scene in The Hague then come and check out Gluttony, Dråp and Melting Eyes live at Musicon on September 11th! Rott on!”

Drogulus zal tijdens de show van Gluttony in Musicon ook te koop zijn. De band heeft dat al laten weten. Er zijn dus nog tickets. Naast Gluttony spelen ook Dråp en Melting Eyes. Die laatste is de enige niet-Zweedse band. Sterker nog, die groep speelt een thuisshow. Kortom, dit is een death metal show die niet gemist mag worden. Hurry up!

Tickets
VVK: €11, via de site van Musicon
Deur: €15

TRACKLIST DROGULUS

1 The Pallid Mask
2 Feed Off the Flesh
3 Legions of Eternal Death
4 Drogulus
5 Of Blasphemous Infinity
6 Under Rotting Portraits
7 Old in Wrath and Woe
8 Temples of Tsathoggua
9 Towers of Frost
10 The Abyss Triumphant
11 Coruscant Darkness

GLUTTONY ONLINE

Website
Facebook
Instagram