Absu: The Full Interview
by Bryer Wharton [bryer@slugmag.com]
Online Exclusive / Posted March 5, 2009 More Exclusives
Check out the March 2009 feature on Absu here!
SLUG: Can you give a short summation of the history of ABSU, how the band got started, what made you decide to base the lyrical themes on Sumerian, Mesopotamian and Celtic mythology?
Proscriptor: To fully understand the musical mystery and mythology of the band, one has to dig deep into the roots of its complex gathering of artists and musicians. Only then is one prone to discover that ABSU are not only in it for the music, but for the advancement of its art. Our lyrical content is based on such themes as: Sumerian/Mesopotamian/Celtic mythology, Goetic/Chaos/ Enochain Magic(k), Thelemic Mysticism, Metaphysics, Necromancy and Barbarism. The birth began under the name Dolmen in 1989, which was founded by Shaftiel and Equitant Ifernain. By 1990, the band had taken the name Azathoth, but by 1991 had changed it once again, this time to ABSU releasing the Immortal Sorcery single followed by its debut demo Return to the Ancients. The Temples of Offal 7" EP was recorded in late 1991, but saw the departure of early members, guitarist Gary Lindholm and drummer Daniel Benbow - this opened the door for Daviel Athron Mystica and myself to join the band in 1992. The result of this amalgam was the debut album Barathrum: V.I.T.R.I.O.L. Released in 1993, the album saw the short-lived addition of keyboardist Black Massith who, along with Mystica, left the fold shortly thereafter leaving Shaftiel and Equitant to cover both bass and guitar duties. And thus the era of ABSU as a trio was at hand. The Sun of Tiphareth followed in 1995 and assured the band had not suffered from any of the usual pitfalls associated with a sophomore release. The truth was quite the contrary in fact, which lead to successful touring throughout North America and Europe. For live performances, we recruited Mezzadurus (a.ka. Chris Gamble) of Bloodstorm/Goreaphobia fame for bass and co-vocalist assistance until 2002. The band’s next effort was 1997’s The Third Storm of Cythraul, which quickly followed this up with the In the Eyes of Ioldanach EP in 1998. What followed that was the creation of what was easily the pinnacle of our career as a three-piece, 2001’s conceptual album Tara. That year also incidentally saw us recruit a new second guitarist, Kashshapxu, as the band was primed to take mythological occult metal to the masses. However, in early 2002, Equitant left due to musical differences and during this period I auditioned for Slayer, who eventually went with their original drummer Dave Lombardo. Afterwards, I severely injured my hand in an accident, which required surgery and several months of healing and rehabilitation. By the time I was ready to perform again, Shaftiel no longer had any interest in the band while Kashshapxu also left due to musical differences. The future of ABSU was for the first time, uncertain. I then put ABSU on hold and decided to work on other projects. In 2005, Equitant and I decided to put together a collection of rare, live and unreleased ABSU recordings and released it under the title Mythological Occult Metal: 1991-2001. With the band officially on hiatus, I worked on other projects including Equimanthorn (with Equitant and members of The Soil Bleeds Black), Proscriptor (my own project of neo-folk/classic rock fused music), and Starchaser Network (with Equitant and Victorious; electronic art/rock band). Additionally, and as many of you are aware of, I was the drummer/lyricist for Melechesh from 1999 to 2004 (as I still contribute lyrics and vocals to this day) and have done session work with numerous bands around the globe. I also have my own record label, Tarot Productions. In May 2007, I made my intentions clear to carry on and reincarnate ABSU by enlisting guitarists Aethyris McKay and Vastator Terrarum to the band. In November 2007, we announced the signing with Candlelight Records for a minimum of three albums and would also release a 7" EP through Relapse Records titled Speed N' Spikes featuring our first new material in seven years. That same month also saw Vastator leave the band, but was instantly replaced by Zawicizuz. In October 2008, we added ex-Panzram member Ezezu as bassist and co-vocalist, after completing the recording of our latest, eponymous-titled album released on February 16th
SLUG: Again in the realm of ABSU’s lyrical content what inspires the lyrics and stories that ABSU’s albums tend to tell, do you base lyrics off of mythology you read about in books etc, basically is there a lot of factual mythology in the lyrics for ABSU?
Proscriptor: Yes and yes.
SLUG: Can you give a short summation of the history of ABSU, how the band got started, what made you decide to base the lyrical themes on Sumerian, Mesopotamian and Celtic mythology?Proscriptor: To fully understand the musical mystery and mythology of the band, one has to dig deep into the roots of its complex gathering of artists and musicians. Only then is one prone to discover that ABSU are not only in it for the music, but for the advancement of its art. Our lyrical content is based on such themes as: Sumerian/Mesopotamian/Celtic mythology, Goetic/Chaos/ Enochain Magic(k), Thelemic Mysticism, Metaphysics, Necromancy and Barbarism. The birth began under the name Dolmen in 1989, which was founded by Shaftiel and Equitant Ifernain. By 1990, the band had taken the name Azathoth, but by 1991 had changed it once again, this time to ABSU releasing the Immortal Sorcery single followed by its debut demo Return to the Ancients. The Temples of Offal 7" EP was recorded in late 1991, but saw the departure of early members, guitarist Gary Lindholm and drummer Daniel Benbow - this opened the door for Daviel Athron Mystica and myself to join the band in 1992. The result of this amalgam was the debut album Barathrum: V.I.T.R.I.O.L. Released in 1993, the album saw the short-lived addition of keyboardist Black Massith who, along with Mystica, left the fold shortly thereafter leaving Shaftiel and Equitant to cover both bass and guitar duties. And thus the era of ABSU as a trio was at hand. The Sun of Tiphareth followed in 1995 and assured the band had not suffered from any of the usual pitfalls associated with a sophomore release. The truth was quite the contrary in fact, which lead to successful touring throughout North America and Europe. For live performances, we recruited Mezzadurus (a.ka. Chris Gamble) of Bloodstorm/Goreaphobia fame for bass and co-vocalist assistance until 2002. The band’s next effort was 1997’s The Third Storm of Cythraul, which quickly followed this up with the In the Eyes of Ioldanach EP in 1998. What followed that was the creation of what was easily the pinnacle of our career as a three-piece, 2001’s conceptual album Tara. That year also incidentally saw us recruit a new second guitarist, Kashshapxu, as the band was primed to take mythological occult metal to the masses. However, in early 2002, Equitant left due to musical differences and during this period I auditioned for Slayer, who eventually went with their original drummer Dave Lombardo. Afterwards, I severely injured my hand in an accident, which required surgery and several months of healing and rehabilitation. By the time I was ready to perform again, Shaftiel no longer had any interest in the band while Kashshapxu also left due to musical differences. The future of ABSU was for the first time, uncertain. I then put ABSU on hold and decided to work on other projects. In 2005, Equitant and I decided to put together a collection of rare, live and unreleased ABSU recordings and released it under the title Mythological Occult Metal: 1991-2001. With the band officially on hiatus, I worked on other projects including Equimanthorn (with Equitant and members of The Soil Bleeds Black), Proscriptor (my own project of neo-folk/classic rock fused music), and Starchaser Network (with Equitant and Victorious; electronic art/rock band). Additionally, and as many of you are aware of, I was the drummer/lyricist for Melechesh from 1999 to 2004 (as I still contribute lyrics and vocals to this day) and have done session work with numerous bands around the globe. I also have my own record label, Tarot Productions. In May 2007, I made my intentions clear to carry on and reincarnate ABSU by enlisting guitarists Aethyris McKay and Vastator Terrarum to the band. In November 2007, we announced the signing with Candlelight Records for a minimum of three albums and would also release a 7" EP through Relapse Records titled Speed N' Spikes featuring our first new material in seven years. That same month also saw Vastator leave the band, but was instantly replaced by Zawicizuz. In October 2008, we added ex-Panzram member Ezezu as bassist and co-vocalist, after completing the recording of our latest, eponymous-titled album released on February 16th
SLUG: Again in the realm of ABSU’s lyrical content what inspires the lyrics and stories that ABSU’s albums tend to tell, do you base lyrics off of mythology you read about in books etc, basically is there a lot of factual mythology in the lyrics for ABSU?
Proscriptor: Yes and yes.
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