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Brutal US death metallers Odious Mortem released their debut Devouring the Prophecy on Unique Leader earlier this year, an album that is full on brutality from start to finish. I recently asked guitarist and founding member David Siskin some questions about the album, as well as the addition of two new members among other things.
Could you start out by saying a little about Odious Mortem, as a lot of
people probably haven't heard of you yet!
Odious Mortem was started by Dan, KC, and I when we were in high school
about 6 or 7 years ago. We were all instrumental in the beginning and had
about 20 different names but, when we decided to start adding vocals, the
name Odious Mortem came to be. Now we have a singer Anthony
[ex-Carnivorous] and Joel on bass so we're a lot more complete and effective
now.
Your debut Devouring the Prophecy is one brutal effort. Did you achieve what you wanted with the album or are there things here afterwards that you would
have done differently?
We definitely have accomplished far more than we wanted or expected from
Devouring the Prophecy. We were originally recording it just to give to our friends and for people who liked the music at shows. Most of those songs were written
while we were a lot younger. But, when Matt was recording it for us, he was
really happy about how it was sounding so; he sent it to Unique Leader.
They liked it and wanted to put it out. We were like "WHHHHHAAAAAAAAT THE
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!" We couldn't believe it because that was always the shit
that inspired us to play originally. It was all really awesome how shit went down and we're fucking pleased with the way shit ended up.
Is Devouring the Prophecy entirely made up of new material or have you used or reworked older material for the album?
Well the only songs that were new for us on that album were "Morton's
Neuronoma", "Caverns of Reason", and "Golden Excretion". All the other shit was
written within the first year or so of our playing together. Except for the
lyrics, those were relatively new.
A thing I noticed is that there are really no solos on the album. Please
elaborate on why that is!
Well, I don't solo in Odious Mortem. I used to a bit, but I stopped because Dan is
so fucking much better at playing leads than me. But, Dan probably
just didn't want to write a solo for any of the songs, I dunno. Our new
shit though is completely different. Expect tons of ridiculously fucked up
solos in the new Odious Mortem gear. You're all are gonna shit.
In my ears there's a bit of Severed Savoir and Incantation in the music. Is
this bands you listen to?
I fucking love Severed Savoir and old Incantation! My biggest metal
influences are those bands, the mighty Decrepit Birth, Disgorge,
Necrophagist, Spawn of Possession, obviously fucking Deeds Of Flesh, Disembowelment, Suffocation, Death, Deprecated!, Orthrelm, shit I don't know man, tons of
shit... I listen to lots of different kinds of music and I pull influences
from all of that. I try to keep my ears and mind open and I think that has
influenced me more than anything.
You've recorded Devouring the Prophecy with Matt Sotelo in his Legion
Studio. What made you decide upon using him?
Fuck, he was down for the cause and we couldn't believe it. Decrepit Birth
was pretty much our favourite band and to even get to meet him we were stoked
on. But, once we got in the studio with him, we knew he had his shit on
lock down. That guy knows what the fuck he's doing! I would recommend him
to everyone.
Since the recording of the album you have expanded the line-up with a
bassist. Could you say a little about him?
Joel is the fucking shit. He rules, he's a ripper guitarist and bassist.
Couldn't be more stoked on him being in the band. He's definitely writing a
lot and adding a thick edge to some new Odious Mortem riffs too. Also, we've got
Anthony singing now and he fucking kills it. Such a crushing and brutal voice.
He's kicking ass. I dunno man; everything is just a lot better now.
How did you hook up with Unique Leader Records?
Matt hooked it up for us. We got lucky man. I couldn't believe it when it
happened because I was such a fan and I never expected anything like that to
ever occur.
As far as I know you've only recorded one demo before signing with Unique
Leader?
True that... Gestation of Worms demo. I helped write the material but I was
unable to record on it because I was up in Santa Cruz going to school while
Dan and KC were down south. We're re-recording those songs with the exception of "Morton's Neuronoma" on the next album because now they are faster and more extreme. We will
probably put those songs together at the end... I dunno, maybe some weird
extra scheme shit. We'll see. John Green recorded our demo at his
Godfather Studios in San Diego California. John rules. He's been there
since day one and he still represents.
Have any of you played in other bands besides Odious Mortem?
Yeah, we've all played in a bunch of random shit. KC and I used to play in
this shitty, embarrassing band called Kentucky Fried Christians, but then we
also played in a band called Zingaya with the singer of Element, Pat back in
the day. Also, I grew up playing in a number of anarchy-punk / crust bands.
I played with Detrimental Greed at there last show and will again if they
decide to reunite... that shit was fun.
Have you commenced writing material for the next album?
Yes! The new shit is by far the best Odious Mortem material to date. Be prepared
for a much more balanced, musical, mature sound but still all edgy and dark.
The Santa Cruz scene appears to be a stronghold when it comes to brutal
death metal. Could you say a little about the scene?
Eh... The scene is small but it's sick. Everyone is down with each other.
We all get fucked up and rock out! There are some new bands coming up in
Santa Cruz like Lacerated too. Hope to play with them soon but, the thing
that is sick about the Cruz is different kinds of bands playing together.
Some of my favourite bands around here are Residual Echoes and Mammatus and they are all crazy psych, stoner, rocking shit.
Anything you wish to add to conclude this interview?
Thanks for giving a shit about Odious Mortem. We will keep it going.
Come see us play. Peace out.
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