Skulmagot hail from Finland and are true purveyors of old school, rotten death metal. Their latest album "Kill And Die" is a murderous offering of pure, maggot-infested decay and will please fans of bands like (old) Cannibal Corpse, Morgue, (old) Incantation, etc. The following interview with the band was conducted by death metal maniac Catacombs Walker.
Hails
maniacs! A little over a month ago you released your second album,
“Kill And Die,” and the influences are clear. From your
perspective, what bands influenced you to carry out this project?
Hails
and thanks for reaching out!! And sorry for being super late with
this interview! Let’s be honest here, Cannibal Corpse IS the holy
grail! None heavier.. We share common love and respect towards all
early 90’s Florida- and US-Styled death metal. But yeah, early
Cannibal Corpse is a huge influence and impulsion for Skulmagot and
for its sound. You can ofcourse hear other titans there as well,
Immolation, Monstrosity, etc. Skulmagot was spawned in 2014 to play
old school US style death metal.
Is
there a specific reason that led you to move away from your Finnish
influences in favour of a sound more in the American vein?
For
me and Spider it was all clear from the get go to play US style death
metal. We had no intention to play "Finnish Death Metal"
and such, more likely the aim was to create our own unique sound and
take the influences from the US style death metal because we're both
huge fans of this sound and genre, and it still dominates and rules
our playlists! The Finnish DM sound is more known abroad than here in
Finland actually.
The
production sounds raw, yet totally dark and brutal. What can you tell
us about this album and how does it stand compared to the previous
one? Did you get the sound you wanted?
We
didn't change anything this time around either.. Our ways of
recording are pretty primitive and lo-fi.. Spider plays all the
instruments and we record the vocals in 2-3 sessions. Spider also
does the mixing and mastering and the trademark sound is really
bass-laden murky and evil. We try to keep it that way, as the
overproduced digital crap is overrated anyway. The only upgrade in
the latest session was a different mic for the vocals. It turned out
really good.. We have created this kinda unique way of recording
these albums and we don't want to change anything. Of Course it's bad
for your health and liver but it has worked out just fine so far,
hah!
I
understand that Spider takes care of all the instruments, while
Ulti-Make handles the vocals. What plans do you have regarding the
future of the band? Will you remain as a duo or will you incorporate
other members in order to perform live?
There's
been a lot of pressure to do live shows and we get a lot of requests
for shows etc... However we like to keep things simple and Skulmagot
will stay as a two man operation for now. We've had active bands in
the past (Spider still has plenty: Ratface, Goatburner, Bloodlands,
Pikakassa) and Skulmagot is more laidback without any rehearsal
pressure or other mandatory stuff related to that. If the pressure
for the live setup gets unbearable, we will of course do some
moves...maybe :D
You
come from Helsinki – the capital and largest city in Finland. How
do you see Finnish death metal today and what do you think were the
factors that contributed to the emergence of a completely unique
scene back in the ‘90s?
The
Finnish sound Is very well known globally, and it also receives a lot
of worship/attention again. Finland is a cold, dark and distant place
where it really is dark almost 8 months per year! So maybe the dark
and depressive sound comes from there.
We
have also the highest suicide-rates in the world so go figure, ha!
Local scene is active and there are new bands surfacing who keep
things real with their sinister OSDM sound. A lot of gigs and smaller
festivals are ongoing also throughout the year but now the Covid-19
has put everything on halt. Local scenes with smaller events, gigs
and festivals are resurrecting again, but nobody knows what is going
to happen with this COVID-plague. I think the unique 90's scene was
more across the whole country actually and it grew from there. Tape
trading, small shows and zines & letters kept it going..
How
did you initially come up with the band name and what’s the idea
behind it?
The
first name for the “band” was actually Toilet Skul, but this one
ended up as a song for our first EP. The name “Skulmagot” does
not actually have anything to do with Cannibal Corpse’s A Skull
Full Of Maggots, although there’s a reference to it.
The
spelling (missing letters) was just a thing with the typography of
the logo, and it has a Scandinavian vibe to it. We get a lot of
questions about this, but it actually works out really well. So,
there you have it!
How
was the experience of working with a label like Headsplit Records?
Without
these small labels Skulmagot wouldn't have gained so much attention
globally, that what we have now. And we are truly thankful for all
the attention we have gained globally..it’s amazing! Working with
these small tape-labels is really rewarding for both sides, as the
cost stays rather small and the product is also reasonably priced.
Headsplit Records is run by Reverend Laviolette who really knows his
shit. He has released alot of old and newer Finnish bands on his
label. Working with Headsplit is smooth and straight forward! And the
end product is really good in quality.
The
world is immersed in a state of chaos. That being said, how is the
whole pandemic situation in Finland, and what do you think of
everything that has happened lately?
I
think that Finland got the least worst parts of this Pandemic.. we're
isolated anyway and dont want to be with other people so this was
nothing new to anybody! We didn't have any strict lockdowns here as
in other parts of Europe, no curfews or anything like that. We've all
been working or living the hermit life in the woods remotely for 18
months now, so it is really getting boring... maybe the virus will
stay with us forever and we just learn to live with it. For the music
writing part this pandemic was actually really good, we managed to
create a dark and obscure record and in no hurry.
Because
of the internet, everything has become immediate and disposable. Do
you think this has had a pernicious effect on the essence of metal or
do you view it as something favourable?
There's
alot of everything available online and people's concentration is on
the state of a fruit fly! This feeds the urge to collect more records
and paraphernalia.. in the metal scene i think most of the people are
into merch, records and other stuff you can touch and feel. Cover-art
and like plays still a big role in records and collecting them.
There's still these old school cats who order their records with a
letter from the distros... so we're not doomed yet!
What
does the term underground mean to you?
It's
revealing to know that "it's there" no matter what ever
happens globally. It's something that it is a bit challenging to
explain.. you have to feel and breath that shit. Underground is doing
good, always has.
Share
with us some albums that have surprised you this year, and also tell
us what you regard as the great classics of Death Metal?
The
latest Witch Vomit is really good.. and be sure to check out also
SNĚŤ. Alot of good and mediocre stuff has been released.. I find
myself getting more and more back to the older stuff all the time..
One great classic is Deicide's Legion from 1992. Never get's old!
To
end the interview, tell us about your future plans for the band and
leave a battle-cry for our readers! Bestial greetings!
You
will hear Skulmagot in the future as well! We have one EP underway
and some shit cooking all the time. I miss live shows and meeting
with other dorks who share common interests! Got to keep healthy and
avoid stupid shit to stay away from the COVID-plague! Stay strong
people! Buy records. Go to shows. Drink (good) beers and keep in
touch with your friends. Support the bands, zines, labels and the
distros for what they do, as the flame is burning strong. Support the
true underground always!! Cheers & beers from Finland!!
