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Interview to BRUTAL TORMENT (USA/Finland)

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1. Hello my friend, pleasure to have you on Rotten Pages ´zine. How are you doing today? Let us set the scene first. Where do we find you right now? Please describe your surroundings.

Corey:

Doing great brother!

The band has members in Oklahoma(Guitars), Florida(Bass), California(Vocals), and Finland(Drums).

I am Corey(Vocals) so I can only speak for California. We have a lot of killer brutal death metal bands and shows. I absolutely love California Death Metal. I am heavily influenced by California bands such as Deeds of Flesh, Disgorge, Severed Savior, Decrepit Birth, Odious Mortem, Condemned, Cephalotripsy, Embryonic Devourment, Sadistic Hallucinations etc.


Steve:

Thanks for having us!

Yeah like Corey said, we are spread out all over!! Oklahoma has a pretty cool death metal scene. My old band Horde Casket was formed in Oklahoma. Peeling Flesh might be the biggest death metal band to come out of OK, but there are some really awesome unknown bands from here , like Unrelenting Butchery, Incantatrix, Exitium, Broken Flesh, Self Inflicted and there is more but can’t think of them all! What’s also cool is we are right next to Kansas and Texas and they get all the good death metal shows!!


2. Brutal Torment is a brand new band, however all musicians are coming out of different (well-known) bands. What prompted you to explore a new dimension under the name of Brutal Torment?

Corey:

That’s all Steve. He’s the founder and writes all the music as well as mixing and mastering. He also coordinates the collaboration of musicians. When he asked me to do Vocals and I was/am extremely excited and proud to be considered. These songs really brought out some disturbing lyrics in me.


Steve:

For me, Brutal Torment is the next chapter of my death metal journey. I had been doing Horde Casket for many years, and proud of all we did. But I wanted the name Brutal Torment because I feel like it’s a name that we can all relate to. Mentally, physically, everyone has some kind of brutal torment that they have to deal with. And Corey’s lyrics really just brings it all together. Whether he’s talking about crazy shit like satanic psychopaths or people being ripped to shreds, or something deeper like drug addiction, mental illness, or whatever….it’s all about being Brutally Tormented. And yes, as far as everyone else like Corey, Mike and Mikko, they all play in multiple well known bands so we are all some busy guys! hahah


3. If you look back at the time you started as musicians to where you are at now how would you like to describe that journey?

Corey:

Insane!! Hahah

It’s been such a long journey with ups and downs. Some killer tours and album releases. I had a record label at one time that I owned and ran. That was a total mind fuck.

I have met a lot of great people and musicians along the way.

I met Steve in 2009 at Gathering of the Sick festival in New Mexico. Never knew 15 years later I would be in a band with him.

I have also gotten to work with some of my idols. That’s always a trip and an honor.

There’s been some really hard times but I wouldn’t trade my experience in death metal for the world.


Steve:

Oh wow! Yeah it’s been wild. It started all the way back when I was a kid seeing my cousin who was a punk rocker!! And learning how to play blue grass on an acoustic guitar with my granddad haha! But actually, my first death metal band I ever played in was Spinefed, all the way back in 2003, we played the very first Maryland Death Fest. Crazy to think that now I can say I’m lucky enough to jam with Corey, Mike and Mikko!

4. So you play brutal death metal... But why "Brutal"? What does this word mean for you, and what does brutality represent in your daily lives?

Corey:

It’s just a sub genre of death metal that we fall under. It sounds more punishing, with a lot of blasting and guttural vocals in my opinion. Maybe more insane song structures as well where old school death metal might have more straight forward structures.

I honestly think we kind of fall in the middle somewhere. We definitely lean towards the brutal side but also have a traditional side with solos and some of the riffing.


Steve:

I would just say that we are death metal. Brutal is just a word that we/people use to describe the style of death metal we play because no matter what, it’s going to be heavy and in your face. Like Corey said, we fall in the middle, I would even go as far as to say there are some black metal influence in there if you are listening for it. For me, brutality could mean a lot of things; blasting drums, fast double bass, evil or gory lyrics, sometimes a riff with the write beat that might not seem brutal, can be brutal in the right context.


5. When you’re a band on demo level what ways are there to spread the word of the band?

Corey:

In our case, our two song demo ‘DEMOnic 2024’ is going to be released on Sevared Records in CD format. Steve has also been putting the demo on streaming services such as bandcamp and youtube. Also word of mouth helps a lot. If you got some good quality brutality it’ll get out there.


Steve:

Yeah, we are lucky enough to have help with Sevared Records pretty much right out the gate. But word of mouth, having music on YouTube and Bandcamp for people to stream for free, all that helps. Plus just networking with people like you on webzines and podcasts goes a long way also.


6. Speaking of your debut demo, how did the recording process take place and are there any memorable anecdotes to mention? And what has the press and fans been saying about these couple tracks?

Corey:

Brutal Torment’s debut demo ‘DEMOnic 2024’ was written by Steve. He had those songs laying around with Mikko drumming on them. After I wrote and recorded the lyrics and vocals for the up and coming EP, ‘Lair of Iniquity’, I had some downtime so I wrote lyrics and recorded “Narcotic Purgatory” and “Plastic Corpses”. We then decided to release it as a two song demo in promotion for the EP.


Steve:

We are all lucky enough to have our own home studio where we each live at. As a matter of fact, none of us have jammed in the same room together. We record separately so unfortunately there is no cool stories other than us just having fun recording and talking back and forth about the music. But yeah, the demo was actually recorded almost 2 years ago other than Corey recording his vocals recently. So far, the fans and press have had positive feedback!

7. When you work in the studio what kind of process do you go through? Do you come in all prepared or do you improvise?

Corey:

This is a good question for Steve since he handles all of that. I can only speak on recording vocals and making intros/outros/interludes.

My recording process really depends on how well I know the songs. If it’s a band that practices weekly I fine tune vocal patterns and tones over a period of a few months.

With Brutal Torment the songs were already written and we all live in different areas so it was all studio. I record rough vocal patterns over the songs then go back and replace those patterns with the pro vocals. I then map out the back up vocals such as high screams or mid gutturals. I then send everything to Steve and he takes it from there.


Steve:

Basically, first I write the riffs and then record them to a metronome. Then I send those riffs to the drummer(Mikko) and he will write his drums and record them and then send them back to me. I will record my final guitars and then from there, the vocalist and bass player do their thing. It’s like Christmas when checking the emails because you don’t know what you’re going to get and surprised at how awesome it is when you open it haha.


8. I remember in the 80s how hard it was for smaller bands to get a decent sound? How easy is it today to find a producer/studio that understands your needs?

Corey:

It’s fairly easy. I have never had a problem finding a killer studio.

Especially with music technology nowadays and digital recording. It makes it easier to have home studios and get high quality productions. I actually prefer the analog sound but digital is just so convenient.


Steve:

Well, since I record and mix everything, it’s pretty easy for me to know what my needs are. And I agree about analog versus digital. I try to keep as much of the recording as natural as possible.


9. Is it hard for you to create new riffs and ideas for yourselves in death metal, since so much of the genre was established before?

Corey;

I haven’t written any riffs in a few years. With lyrics I try to keep it fresh with my own style to keep it original.

With riffs Steve never seems to have a lack of creativity. He has been a riff master for years.


Steve:

I don’t try to reinvent the genre or anything. I just write what sounds good to me by paying tribute to the bands I love, and if I happen to come up with something completely original, then awesome.


10. What do you consider the strengths of Brutal Torment as far as musicians and your death metal craft?

Corey:

Even though we all live apart we have a great system with the individual studios. Also Steve’s lady Shawna does amazing layout work so she’s made everything look good and pro.

Brutal Torment may be new but we have all been doing this for a really long time which definitely shows in our process of recording and releasing material.


Steve:

Like Corey said, we’ve all been doing this for a very long time. Experience. We can send each other ideas without talking about it and we already know what to do! The fact that we can do everything ourselves and are able to shape our image the way we envision it.


11. What has lead you to sign with Sevared Records? What did please you in their offer? (And what did they offer, it it's not too indiscreet)

Corey:

I have worked with Sevared and Barrett since 2007 with my band Flesh Consumed. Also my other band Sadistic Hallucinations is on Sevared. Steve has also released albums on Sevared with Horde Casket. So we’ve known him forever. We know how he works and he showed interest in releasing ‘DEMOnic 2024’ and ‘Lair of Iniquity’ so we went that direction.


Steve: Working with Sevared is like working with family, we’ve done a lot together and the final result is always amazing. Just expect CDs and possibly shirts coming soon from Sevared Records!


12. How much time do you spend on the band both physically but also mentally each day? Having to play in other bands, I guess it is a difficult and colossal task.

Corey:

I just try and stay busy. I am in a couple bands but my position in each band just strengthens my voice and approach to patterns and such. So each band benefits the other. I like to keep my skills sharpened. Now, with Brutal Torment, it’s more mental since I’m all caught up with the lyrics and vocals. I try to help push this band and help Steve with whatever he needs assistance with.


Steve:

Well since I have multiple projects, I try and spread everything out as much as possible, especially with personal life. But I always do something with this band every day, musically or just talking to one of the guys.


13.Death metal has been around almost 30 years now. How do you feel that it has evolved over time? And what are your current thoughts in the modern-day era of the genre.

Corey:

Well recording technology has really changed the death metal music industry. There’s a lot more bands. So many bands are trying to out do each other. I don’t listen to much current death metal because it got really quantized and polished. Of course there are the brutal bands with the darker productions and a more natural sound. I would like to see it go more that route than the over produced shit.


Steve:

There is definitely a lot more bands today. It’s hard to keep up. But at the same time, most of my favorite older bands are still releasing music. Most of the modern bands aren’t really my thing, I’m a really old school guy that just wants to hear some raw, dirty, brutal metal that just have good songs the way it was supposed to be. And there are some bands that still value that for sure. But a lot of it is over processed and just seems like there is no structure, just wow factor.


14. Many claim the internet killed the death metal underground. Is this so, in your view? How is the underground doing? Does it still exist?

Corey:

For me, personally, it did and it didn’t. Now people that wouldn’t normally be able to be in a band and put out albums are doing it. You don’t necessarily have to go to the big studios to get a big production. We are able to hear a lot of underground bands that wouldn’t normally be heard or even exist.


Steve:

I hate the internet. But it has it’s value as far as promoting goes. But yeah, I would say the underground still exists. There is tons of really sick underrated/unkown bands that people need to hear. And I don't mean the popular underground bands either, the ones that play every big death fest. There is some good stuff out there if you know what you are looking for.


15. How do you define “underground” and where do you see yourself and your band in it?

Corey:

The term “underground" is a really vague concept. For me the "underground" deals with a lot of DYI bands and I think Brutal Torment definitely is self sufficient, production wise, with the exception of art work. We still hire death metal artists for the album covers and such. The mighty Jon Zig did the art for the up and coming EP.


Steve:

Underground for me is basically the same with DIY bands, and we are about as underground as it gets!


16. It might be too early, seeing as you’re working on it right now, but what can we expect from the forthcoming album?

Corey:

Well Steve already has songs written for a future album and I haven’t heard them yet so I don’t know what to expect. I know they will be great songs and will quench my thirst for brutality.


Steve:

No matter what I am involved in, I can guarantee that it will be as brutal and heavy as possible , but I’m always pushing myself in new ways creatively to keep thing as interesting as possible. But for the most part, always expect some no nonsense, straight up Death Metal… to the end!


17. I want to thank you, sincerely, for your time. Before we end our conversation, is there anything else in particular you’d like to share?

Corey:

Just keep an eye out for the demo ‘DEMOnic 2024’ and the EP ‘Lair of Iniquity’. Thank you so much for the interview brother!! Stay Brutal!!


Steve:

\m/\m/\m/



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