Trenchant hail from Texas and play blasphemous blackened death that bows to
none and embodies the eternal spirit of extreme metal. Their
"Commandoccult" album from 2022 was a masterpiece and characterized
by its soul-crushing melodies, dark atmosphere and no-hold-barred savagery. I got in touch with bassist TND (Averse Sefira, Birth A.D.,
Imprecation) to get some insight into the dark psyche of Trenchant and what
makes them tick.
1. Hails! Can you tell us about the recording process of “Commandoccult”
and what kind of formula you were going for?
TND: The process was actually arduous as it was in the thick of
the pre-vaccine pandemic, and a lot of the mixing and editing had to be done over
the phone and by email. I had a very fixed idea of a sound that was lean and
muscular, one that would properly capture the martial tone of our themes, and I
think we managed to achieve it after a lot of pulling and pounding.
2. Which bands influenced the sound of
Trenchant and how would you describe your style?
TND: The genesis of Trenchant was the shared admiration for the
band Molested, which remains a critical touchstone. We also claim influences
from Angelcorpse, Immortal, and Immolation. As for a description, Trenchant is
World War Metal, or blackened death metal if that's not specific enough for
you.
3. Could you elaborate a bit on the
artwork and theme pertaining to “Commandoccult”?
TND: The art was a pre-existing piece by the talented Vladimir Chebakov, but we thought it captured the otherworldly nature of our content. It
captures battle, death, and a vision of the other side in one ideal
presentation, so it was the perfect choice.
We don't write about war or conflict in a literal way, everything is figurative,
metaphysical, and tied to occult workings, hence the reference in the title.
4. Can you give us some background on how
the band was conceived, including some info about your other/past bands?
TND: NRS and I had been friends for years, and his primary band
was Morgengrau at the time. As that was winding down, he came to me with some
demo material he had created on his own, already dubbed Trenchant. It started
out a Molested worship, and right away I told him I wanted in. We started
writing in earnest and building out the concept, and off we went. It was funny,
because we decided right away that GRA was the only drummer for the job. He has
been in a myriad of bands, including Sacrocurse, Morbosidad, Mortuary, and
Abyss of Perdition, and he has a really specific style that we knew would fit
our sound perfectly. We created all our drum patterns based on his sound, and
then hoped like hell he would agree to join when we showed him the material.
Fortunately, he agreed, and the core of the band was complete.
My main band from 1995 to 2010 was Averse Sefira, then I also
had Birth AD for about a decade, and I also joined Imprecation in 2016. NRS is
also a permanent member of Imprecation now, so we are making the most of our
collaborations.
5. Do you pay attention to criticism
relating to your music?
TND: I used to, but it has been a very long time since I cared.
I'm on year 35 of being a metal musician, and you are right, the social sphere
is clogged with endless uninformed opinions from people who may not be here a
year from now. I know who I am and what I'm doing, and I'm pretty unshakable in
that regard. I'm always glad to receive feedback or insight from a peer whose
opinion I respect, however. This release has made it easy, because for the most
part everyone has had a lot of positive things to say.
6. I think some of the more well-known
labels are sometimes too eager to sign a band, which as a result spawns a
plethora of mediocre releases. Your thoughts?
TND: Is that really the case? My impression is that well-known
labels make no effort to take on an unknown band and develop them. They sit
back and let the small labels do the work, then snap up whatever seems to be
catching on. Usually, these are the bands that happen to be mediocre enough to
have wider appeal, which is why we end up with all those bland releases. I
suppose it doesn't help that a lot of the smaller labels tend to be less
discerning with the bands they sign, along with the fact that there is now an
endless supply of bands, most of which are middling at best.
7. What’s your opinion on the current
state of metal from the US? Has it been a good year for metal in your opinion?
TND: Hipsters found their way into the US underground in a big
way over the last decade, and we are seeing the damaging results. “OSDM” is now
its own cottage industry full of sound-alike style hoax bands that the kids are
eating up with a spoon. With a few exceptions, the bands are musically generic
and have no themes, concepts, or presentation that isn't a complete lift from a
superior band of yore. The whole situation is very much for the funderground,
where you can enjoy death metal ironically in your “battle vest” and pink
trucker hat while batting around beach balls at the show.
The silver lining is that elder statesmen like Immolation and
Incantation are getting the attention they deserve right now, though the fact
that so many newcomers hold 5-year old bands in equivalency with them is
insulting and absurd.
In general, I'd say it has been a good year for metal, in that
there are at least a dozen releases I've heard that are worthy. Back in the
90s, a dozen releases worth hearing was a big deal, so not much has changed
aside from the level of background noise when seeking them out.
8. Will you be playing any shows in the
near future or go on tour? Hypothetically-speaking, if some mainstream band
invited you to tour with them, would you do it?
TND: Our first show back since 2020 will be at Mass Destruction
Festival in Atlanta this November. That promises to be a good one, as the
lineup is stacked. We won't ever really tour, at most I can see us playing a
few dates in a region, but we'll mostly stick to special appearances. As for
your second question, how would you define “mainstream”? Like King Diamond
mainstream? Ozzy mainstream? Iron Maiden mainstream? I'd be up for it, because
I really do enjoy touring, and if were actually getting paid to do it that
would be win/win. There are bands that I detest that I'd never be caught dead
with on a bill, so that would be the deciding factor.
9. 10 Albums you can’t live without.
Deicide S/T
Deicide - Legion
Morbid Angel – Altars of Madness
Slayer – South of Heaven
Pestilence – Consvming Impvlse
SOD – Speak English or Die
Immolation – Dawn of Possession
Immortal – Pure Holocaust
Voivod – Killing Technology
Cromags – The Age of Quarrel
10. Something I find funny is how some veterans
aren’t into metal anymore, despite having played on classic albums, yet are
still in metal bands. Do you find that somewhat contradictory, or is it more a matter
of not really knowing how to play other forms of music?
TND: I think it is very much a product of having your passion
become your job. I don't usually see musicians who don't make a living on their
band start to lose touch with it. Nothing kills passion like money. Like I
don't believe Mille from Kreator has wanted to do it since about 1995, for
example. But there he is, still cranking them out in a cheerless fashion,
because Kreator is a brand that sells and pays his rent. It's not really
contradictory as much as it is insincere. I can think of a lot of veterans who
remain very connected to metal, and I am proud to be counted among them. Sure, not everyone is listening to every new band that pops up, but the excitement
about the music itself and the old classics remains, and that's more than
enough.
11. Your thoughts on the following:
*Gatekeeping – Anyone
who refers to maintaining standards as “gatekeeping” is exactly the kind of
person who needs to be kept the fuck out. The fundamental problem is that music
can be art and a product at the same time, and most people identify it as the
latter. Thus, they don't see any importance in maintaining the art form,
because “it's just music, bro”. Let's look at it this way – in painting, we
have known styles and techniques that are widely accepted and agreed upon.
There is realism, abstract, surrealism, and so on. One does not get to be
counted as the other, any more than cubism is allowed to be pointillism. No
curator or art museum would ever agree to that, nor would the fine art
community in general. Why should music, particularly a specialized and
well-established genre like metal, be any different? No, we did not establish
death metal with My Little Pony shirts in mind. We did not create this movement
for professional victims and social engineers. Metal was created out of a
desire to get AWAY from the status quo, not reinforce it! If you want in, be
prepared to truly embrace the underground and all of its violence, ugliness,
and antisocial facets. You don't have to love it all, but you do have to accept
it. And if you try to change it, expect resistance and abuse.
*Six Feet Under – And
here's the other side of the gatekeeping coin with a legacy band that should be
pruned posthaste. This band must make some kind of money, because there's no
way they'd be tolerated by a label if they didn't. I think they are kept afloat
by a core audience of absolute cretins with drug problems worse than Chris
Barnes'. Way to corner that market, dude. You'll never run out of idiots to
give you a buck! The one good thing about Six Feet Under is that it is a handy
barometer. Their fans are easy to dismiss and ignore.
*Hedonism – I'm
not an excessive person myself. I've never smoked or done drugs, and I drink
very rarely, usually at the behest of others. I think we all need to cut loose
and indulge (or even go overboard) now and again, but hedonism as a way of life
gets disgusting pretty quickly, and I generally don't abide people who define
themselves that way.
*Authoritarianism – As
an overarching standard I think it's a bad model, though it's coming to a
nation near you, get ready. Look at the policing of thought and language in the
West. The hilarious part is this is the agenda of leftists, but they fail to
appreciate that this was one of the first steps in establishing the Third
Reich. Oh, but that would never happen under their watch because they're the
“good guys”, right?
*Dissection – a
notable band that squandered their true potential and met an unfortunate end.
12. Lastly, what does the future hold for
Trenchant? And what would happen if the false ever entered your domain?
TND:
We are starting to write material for our second album, so look forward to that
in a year or two. Other than that, we plan to make more select live appearances
in 2023. The false rarely enter our domain, but when they do, they are sent
packing and then scream from the hilltops that I am a gatekeeping asshole and a
terrible person. The joke's on them, because nobody cares!
