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Love It Or Hate It...
An Interview With Xaphan From Summon
By Taliesin Govannon |
With all of the great Black and Death Metal coming out of Europe these days, I'm still
surprised that the band that got me back into the devilish swing of things, musically was Michigan's Summon. Their last album,
'...And the Blood Runs Black', was a blackened death masterpiece, but damn me if they haven't out-done themselves with their latest,
'Fallen'. Fresh off of a European tour, I got the chance to ask guitarist Xaphan his thoughts on the new album, and music in general...
Taliesin Govannon: It's been a decade since Summon recorded their first "real" demo,
'Fire Turns Everything...Black'. How has the band, and the music scene in general, changed since then?
Xaphan: Lots has changed, we have progressed to not caring about image and focusing more on the music! in the beginning we were very much more of a black metal band, but over time these things become less important,
I would say now we are more of a metal melting pot, playing things that we like to hear!
Black, death, thrash; it's all music in the end !
TG: Your label, Moribund Cult, is seriously into Satanism. Is Summon similarly dedicated to darkness?
Xaphan: I would say it depends on who you ask and what state of intoxication we are in!
LOL! We are dedicated to extreme music weather it be satanic or porn beer grind does not matter, as long as it is good and destroys and skullfucks the moral majority of simple minded fucks!
TG: 'Fallen' is the first black/death metal album to be released in a 5.1 surround mix. Who's idea was that?
Xaphan: That was Odin's idea, he wanted to something special with the first 5000 copies.
It also has some DVD videos!
TG: How do you think 'Fallen' measures up to your previous killer album
'...And The Blood Runs Black'?
Xaphan: It is all new material ,the last album was kinda of one perspective of our abilities.
But with 'Fallen' we explore more of our interests and possibilitirs! I think the songs are more powerful and we spent lots of time crafting these into skullshredding madness!
TG: Summon seems to be dedicated to the music over all else...over image, fashion, and the like. Has this "no compromises" stance ever held you back?
Xaphan: Fuck no! If it does then tough fuckin shit! This is who we are, love it or hate it.
We couldn't care less about image. Ii mean come on, this is metal not a fucking fashion show displaying the latest trends in metal!
TG: How did the European tour go?
Xaphan: Europe was crazy. The shows were awesome, especially
Portugal. The fans there are insane! Germany was very cool as well!
And we met sooo many great bands! Hails out to: God Dethroned / Goreotted !
TG: What are the standout tracks on the new album, in your opinion?
Xaphan: Probably 'Loud as Hell Fast as Fuck', a thrashy anthem of the years spent in the underground dealing with shitty bands and clubs trying to fuck you over!
We spent maybe 5 minutes writing this one! "Blood Red Skies" has some very good break downs, and "Sacred
Nothing" is a brutal beating of metal overdose!
TG: Who would you say are the band's main influences?
Xaphan: Again that depends on who you ask! My influences are
the old school metal bands like Bathory, Venom, Sodom, Celtic Frost, Order From
Chaos, Blasphemy, Beherit, etc...
TG: Lineup changes bedevil most metal bands these days. How stable, do you think, is the current roster?
Xaphan: As stable as any band can be. Ready to take on the world or ready go home!
LOL! No, this line up is probably the best! All of them are assholes!!
LOL.
TG: Anything else to add?
Xaphan: Buy our new record or fuck off and then go die!!
Visit the Summon
website.
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