Lengthy interview with Canada's Goathammer conjured back in 2016. A band worth checking out if you're into bands like Black Witchery, Katharsis, and Blasphemy.
Hails Cryptfucking Demonizers! To begin this interview, can you please give us an introduction of the band, including details about the line-up & what you've released so far?
Sadowulf: Well, we are Goathammer. A black metal band that was formed in 2011 by myself and Daemonomancer. We don't refer to our style as anything other than "black metal", although we find inspiration in certain death metal, punk and thrash. We don't agree with the term "war metal" being applied to us. We write music that reflects us and our outlook on existence. We are inspired/influenced by topics such as Satanism, various occult books/philosophies, darkness, war, drugs, death and hatred among other things. We seek to invoke nothing but negativity and inspire evil, hatred and violence in the beings that listen to our music.
We have recorded so far a split with Druidus entitled "Cryptfucking Demonizers of Holocaustic Wrath" and a demo entitled "XIX Pentacles, XCII Legions" both self released on cassette in 2014. Our most recent release was simply entitled "Goathammer" and was released in March of 2016 through Behold Barbarity, also only on cassette format for now.
All releases thus far have been recorded with the following lineup:
Sadowulf: Vocals, guitars, bass
Daemonomancer: Drums
Depravore: Guitars and backing vocals
We have also recruited a bass player recently. Rasca Cara of the Alberta horde Noxius Nex. He has played 1 live assault with us so far and will probably end up contributing bass to the upcoming full length album.
At what age did you start listening to metal? What are your main influences?
Sadowulf: I was more interested in punk when I was younger. Discharge, Black Flag, Void and of course the usual stuff like early Metallica, Slayer. I would say I got into more extreme stuff like Bathory, Morbid Angel, Mayhem, Terrorizer, Blasphemy, Sarcofago, Amebix etc at about age 16. Then, I gradually fell into the abyss of extreme underground music and never looked back.
In regards to bands that directly influence our sound... That's kind of tough because I don't think we are directly trying to sound like a particular band or era. We aren't a "worship" band at all.... We use different atmospheres from a range of stylistically different bands and attempt to make it cohesive. Bands with atmosphere/attitude/aesthetics that have influenced our band would be all the previously mentioned bands. Beherit, Blasphemy, early Mayhem, Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz, Slaughter, Black Witchery, early Darkthrone, Bestial Warlust, VON, Absu, Archgoat, Razor etc... Essentially anything that invokes the feeling of morbid desecration.
Depravore: I was around the same age as Sadowulf when the plague that is 'extreme music' entered my life. Before that, Black Sabbath was all that mattered.
Daemonomancer: My journey into the abyss began at age 13/14. I remember finding an old zine and seeing all the pictures of these fuckin' morbid looking characters and was instantly enthralled to find out more. I soon after came across acts like Slayer, Slaughter, Razor, Voor, and Bathory - all of which led to a massive addiction and hunt to find more evil fucking metal!
You are from Saskatoon, the largest city in Saskatchewan - correct? What can you tell us about the scene there? Any bands from there you can recommend to our readers?
Sadowulf: None of us are actually from Saskatoon originally. Myself and Depravore are from a town north of Saskatoon called Prince Albert. Population of about 35,000... Extremely infested with total junkies, quite a bleak little town.. Subhuman scum everywhere... Growing up in a shit hole like that probably influenced Depravore and I to be quite hateful and misanthropic.
Saskatoon is indeed the largest city in the province of Saskatchewan. Population of roughly 250,000 people I believe. Our rehearsal space/ritual chamber is located nearly an hour outside of the city on my acreage though... Feels like the middle of nowhere. Think of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie. Away from the city and its disgusting humans! This is where we ingest copious amounts of alcohol and other illicit substances and work on all Goathammer material.
We don't really associate with the "scene" here these days. None of us really go to local shows or have much knowledge of what is going on within the Saskatoon music scene. So we really wouldn't be the right people to speak about it. We only really keep up with one or two local bands. For fans of true doom metal (stuff like Cathedral, Candlemass etc) I could recommend Lavagoat but that's about it.
Depravore: The term 'scene' in this regard is laughable. There's a reason we flew out to Toronto to play with quality black/death metal bands, or have to travel at least 5+ hours for a gig.
Daemonomancer: As for myself I grew up about 3 hours east of Saskatoon in a town called Preeceville - a small town of about 2,000 or so people. I lived and grew up on a farm about 11 kilometers out of town. I quite enjoyed the isolation and freedom. In hindsight - I fucking hate the city and since moving to Saskatomb I have been more than inspired to channel levels of insurmountable hate into the incantations of Goathammer. As for my opinions of any "scene", maniacs are few and far between - as in if there are other ones in this province, we have yet to meet them. Lavagoat, as Tony mentioned have their shit dialed in and have been around for a long time. Everything else is pretty fresh. There used to be a heinous grind "scene" back in the day in which played host to some vicious and violent displays. But those days have long since passed.
There seems to be another Goathammer from Finland that is now defunct. Have you ever listened to them? How would you feel if they decided to reunite (as this seems to be a growing trend in metal nowadays) and you had to share a name with them?
Sadowulf: I think I have listened to them but honestly, I don't remember their sound at this point... I wouldn't feel anything if they decided to reunite since I don't know anything about them.
Depravore: I haven't listened, and probably won't. A reunion on their part would be inconsequential to us.
What are your thoughts on censorship and politically correct ideals in metal, especially with the internet nowadays?
Sadowulf: Censorship and politically correct ideals have nothing to do with the spirit of extreme metal. People that seek out the most extreme music on Earth only to take issue with certain elements being TOO extreme or TOO offensive need to be lined up and shot for their stupidity.
Depravore: P.C. ideals and the scum that spew such nonsense have no place in extreme metal. They will fall on their own sword soon enough.
Daemonomancer: FUCK POLITICAL CORRECTNESS!! ESPECIALLY IN EXTREME FUCKING MUSIC!! I'll NEVER understand anyone who doesn't seek to strengthen their self and mind. Develop a fucking backbone and stand your ground!
What can you tell us about Druidus, which seemed to feature half of Goathammer’s line-up? The material on the demo and split with Goathammer is absolutely murderous. Why was the project buried?
Sadowulf: Depravore and I started Druidus when we were still in high school. We just wanted to create vicious and evil metal like the stuff we were listening to. We met our drummer and immediately began "rehearsing". It was a real mess of influences/sounds. By the time we had found our sound, we recorded our demo, the split with Goathammer and then inspiration ceased to continue... It became tiresome to write songs for both Druidus and Goathammer and I ended up having a difficult time differentiating between what riffs should be used for Druidus or Goathammer.
We all agreed that we did not want to take part in multiple bands that sound similar to our ears. So we laid the band to rest. 3 of us from Druidus have formed a new band in the past year though. Extremely bleak and cold black metal under the name Hexensabbat. Influences being Vlad Tepes, early Ulver, Arckanum, Mutiilation etc.
Depravore: Druidus was, at the time, a way to express our misplaced hatred for everything in the only way we knew how; Sadowulf and I had been riffing and jamming for years at this point. As Sadowulf said, lack of inspiration and a dedicated path were the poisons of Druidus' existence.
Hexensabbat will release a cassette tape of five bleak tracks at the end of October 2016.
Can you tell us something about the overall experience regarding the Druidus/Goathammer tour which took place throughout Western Canada? Was this your first tour?
Sadowulf: The Goathammer/Druidus tour was total fucking mayhem! Extreme drinking every night. A lot of hiking through the wilderness in British Columbia... The first show of that tour was in Edmonton, AB, and it was actually the very first live performance from Goathammer so it was indeed the first tour for us. Druidus had toured before but we didn't even have our demo recorded at the time. It was kind of pointless.
Depravore: The 'Infernal Proclamators of Western Filth' tour was my first musical endeavor abroad, as I was in Greece when Druidus first toured out west. It was filthy, to say the least. We shared the stage with some decent bands, and drank ourselves FUCKING stupid. It was a savage time, with savage people.
Back to Goathammer. I understand your drummer (Dæmonomancer) played on Necromantic Worship's second demo, "The Calling..." How did the collaboration come about?
Sadowulf: I heard a track from the "Spirit of the Entrance Unto Death" tape on bandcamp and immediately loved their sound, but I was really broke and couldn't afford to order tapes from the good ol' U.S. of A. So I decided to send them a message. Ghûllzaraën got back to me and enjoyed the Goathammer "XIX Pentacles..." tape and we agreed to trade a few copies. I remember him being impressed by the drumming so I told him to contact Daemonomancer to discuss music etc. Next thing I know, he is playing drums for the newest Necromantic Worship material.
Daemonomancer: As Sadowulf stated, so it came to fruition after Ghûllzaraën contacted me and he began talking about his interest in me working with him on a project. Before it was to be that I would be working under the spell of Necromantic Worship, Ghûllzaraën first had another unreleased project in which he had asked me to record drums for. Not long after me displaying my interest in Necromantic Worship, he rather decided to put the intial project offer on the backburner and asked if I would contribute to the newest material for Necromantic Worship. After rehearsing the tracks, and taking them to a local studio to record drums over top, the tracks were then sent to Ghûllzaraën and of that arose "The Calling".
What can you tell us about your most recent work released by Behold Barbarity? The compositions seem lengthier compared to previous recordings - was this intentional or a natural progression?
Sadowulf: I believe that our most recent work, the self-titled cassette on Behold Barbarity is easily our most violent and occult release so far. A lot of work went into it.
The longer songs were definitely a natural progression. I've always enjoyed writing/playing long songs. It makes it easier to express a wide range of images and thoughts. We would never compose long songs/albums just for the sake of it. There is always a method to our madness.
What have you been listening to lately? Any new and upcoming bands that might have caught your attention? What about literature and movies, much of a fan?
Sadowulf: Lately I've been listening to Black Feast "Larenuf Jubileum", Root "Zjeveni", Necromantia "Crossing the Fiery Path", Disorder "Mental Disorder", Xibalba "Ah Dzam Poop Ek", Katharsis "Fourth Reich" and "666", the list goes on... As for "new" bands I've been enjoying the Occult Burial album "Hideous Obscure", Ithaqua, Hexenslaught and Crurifragium.
Depravore: I've had Motorhead's Bomber album on repeat for the past two months, I've literally listened to MAYBE three other albums all the way through (Iron Fist and Bathory's Blood Fire Death being two out of the three). The CD I bought has a bunch of extra live tracks so it's fucking KILLER. There isn't much for new music lately that has caught my ear; I'm usually listening to what ever Sadowulf or Daemonomancer are spinning.
Daemonomancer: I am always all over the place when it comes to music. I have an endless hunger to seek out more of what I enjoy. Being that my personal list could grow longer than this interview so far, I would like to suggest our sibling demonic horde and their projects which continue to devastate! I highly recommend Wrath Bestial, Sorguinazia, Brulvahnatu, Noxius Nex, and Tsalal.
If any maniacs out there have an interest in reaching you, how should they achieve this? Also, can you give us an update regarding any future plans or new material in the works?
Sadowulf: We can be contacted at the following email: goathammersk@gmail.com
And in regards to future plans we will be releasing our 2016 self-titled demo on vinyl in 2017 and we have nearly completed writing our upcoming debut full length. It will be in LP and CD format and will be made available through a certain metal label from the U.S. that we have a great deal of respect for. Unfortunately that's about all I can unveil as far as that goes. There will likely be a few live rituals when it is released.
Thanks for your time! I wish each and everyone of you all the best regarding your future activities, and I'm looking forward to buying the new album when its out. Hails!
Sadowulf: Bestial hails from SK, Canada!! Mutilate the god of cowards with the cursed blade of Sathanas!