Abstracter Interview

1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard of you before?

Abstracter coalesced out of a deep friendship. We are all friends. Three of us live together in the same house as well. We share a similar view on the world and taste on what music "should sound like".  This band was never intended to take off. It was just a way for us, as buddies, to blow steam off a couple times a week in a rehearsal studio just to give a voice to our internal demons and struggles. No shows were ever planned, no recording, nothing. We just wanted to unleash the slime that lives inside of us, just as it does in anyone else. In this the band is very honest we think. There is filth in every human being, it is humanity's nature, but at least we admit it and show it, and let it out. The rest of the world hides behind a facade of lies, the hypocrisy that this world actually "works". After some time we had some songs written and some of our closets friends heard it and told us it had to see the light of day, cause it was unlike anything they had ever heard. We didn't really know what to do, but we thought "what the fuck" and decided to give it a shot. And here we are now, with a debut album recorded, a record label helping us, promoters booking us for shows and so on. Unexpected but, we worked hard for this, and we feel like this band and this music are now a statement to be made.

2. How would you describe your musical sound?

We like to think that it's something coming from the very inside of our rotting souls. This sound is our voice as a collective of people. It's our national anthem to our own hermetic imaginary nation. We use cheap gear for necessity and taste. It's not about the "gear" it's about the attitude and amount of soul your pour into it. Lots of bands spend all this money on expensive gear and sound like shit. The truth is that there is no brains behind the music.This music comes from the gutter and must sound like it. It is real and not scared of showing that it is pure scum. Just take cheap gear, the desire to push it beyond it's limits, and an enormous amount of hate and disgust towards everything, and there you have our sound. Pretty simple.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

In general the lyrics are always a reflection on a metaphysical level on humanity and it's revolting alchemy with the universe or world it is stranded on. "Tomb of Feathers" is about mental disease and total psychological destruction. Today's society sucks and generates wealth and excess just as much as it does disease and poverty. It's simple mathematics, when one end rises, the other end goes down. There isn't room for everyone. This album is about the last of the last. Those who are forced into the the most invisible and deathly of prisons by their own peers: their own mind, as a grave.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

A name that means nothing and everything. We do not publish our lyrics, and in the same way, we do not say what our name means. But when we decided to stick with it, we knew it represented us more than anything.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?

We have only played a dozen shows, so far, most of which were a bit random and saw us testing the ground, with our confidence still a bit limited. The best show we have played so far was probably one we did with Kayo Dot. We are all huge fans of Toby Driver's work and how he destroys metal from the inside. He's a musical visionary and playing a show with him was a real honor. When we play live we aim for total annihilation. It's the moment when our sound about how awful humanity is, must be shown to humans. So you can imagine we are pretty pissed in that moment. Our set is not very crowd interactive and is very introspective. We close our selves up in own world full of filth and disgust. I'm not sure yet, our live element is not well shaped yet, but people tell us that it is violent.

6. Do you have any touring plans for the future?

Nope. We don't and not trying to. We're open to it though, if it doesn't disrupt our everyday lives we have and enjoy.

7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of underground music?

So far we have not seen or heard one negative remark. But we also don't really give a shit about what people think.

8. Are there any other projects besides this band or is this a full time line up?

This band is for all four of us our main musical occupation. Music is essential to our existence. With out it we would be all who knows were, probably not in a good situation. We need it to live. Ben, our drummer, is mainly a guitarist, and plays in avant-black metal band Nihlotep, but they are less active than us so far.

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

We have been writing new songs, and they are already radically different from what you can hear on "Tomb of Feathers". The black metal, crust, psychedelic and noise elements have started prevailing over the traditional doom and sludge sounds and structures which are more groove and riff oriented. The new music sounds darker, more abstract, savagely, and more unpredictable. In general it is heavier and darker. My vocals and Robin's guitar playing are especially turning to more desperate and desolate kinds of sounds. We don't know, but we do not enjoy repeating our selves and we always try to find out how far sonically this band can go, and where it can end up.

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Our bassist, Jose, is the real musical talent in this band. He doesn't listen to much metal through out the day, as far as we know. The last time he had Bjork playing the car. He is a self taught multi -instrumentalist with a natural musical ear. He gets this music immediately with out having to "train" daily and listen to metal on his "away time" from the band. In the same way he can play a folk song on the stand up bass and make it sound amazing. He can play all of our songs on the xylophone. Robin, Ben and I on the other hand, we surround our selves with music, we seem to need that constant feeding hand. We live together and there is always metal blasting through our house. We have similar tastes but Ben tends to like more traditional metal like thrash metal and black metal. Robin likes huge soundscapes. He likes death-doom, sludge metal and the such. I'm all over the place, Recently I was really loving the new Dead Can Dance album and an amazing death metal album by a Belgian band called Emptiness. The three of us recently saw Swans play live again, and we all equally enjoyed the show.

11. Does Occultism play any role in the music?

Not really. This music is about what humanity really is, not about what humanity fantasies or "creates" with their minds. Occultism, satanism, religion... It's all the same shit.

12. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

I'm a music journalist, metal obviously, and work in the digital music industry. Jose is a blacksmith, he loves to create with his hands and loves the outdoors. Ben and Robin have day jobs with local companies too and I assume music is for them as well,as it is for me, what takes up most of their brain activity.

13. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

Yeah, humanity sucks. Humanity is the worst thing to have ever happened to us.

https://abstracter.bandcamp.com/