Interview: Defigurement
We originally just thought of this as a grindcore record, but I think Mike's drumming really gives the whole album a more technical, extreme edge to it.
Experimental death/grinders Defigurement are a formidable new band that features members of the likes of Malignancy, Raven, Lack of Interest, Rottenness to name a few. The band have just unleashed their brilliant debut album Endbryo and it is a grinding, technical sci-fi trip that will thrill any grind/death fan. Gavin Brown caught up with Defigurement vocalist Matthias Joyce to get an insight into Endbryo and the beginnings of a new breed of metal.
E&D: Your debut album Endbryo has just come out. As it is your first album, did you want to make it a big statement of intent?
Matthias: We didn’t really know where this project would take us, originally it was just a thing we were doing as an online studio project. Nefarious Industries really helped a lot with getting the release out there into the world, especially with the fantastic vinyl, CDs and cassettes they made.
E&D: What did you do to celebrate the release of the album?
Matthias: Kevin probably smoked some weed, DMT is out on tour with Mormon Mincers, Mike is probably doing some studio project, and I am working in a theatre, then DJing a wedding later today. Maybe I’ll listen to the album on vinyl this weekend, that’s always a good way to get some closure on releasing an album.
E&D: Was the making of the record a cool experience?
Matthias: It was difficult at times because of how many extra bells and whistles we added, but yeah, I enjoyed it a lot.
E&D: Did you want to make this record as intense as you possibly could?
Matthias: Definitely.
E&D: Was it also essential to have such an energetic sound like on the track ‘Wounded Landscape’ for instance, where the energy just explodes out of the speakers?
Matthias: Yes. That song definitely was a bit of Gridlink worship, which is why I thought immediately of having Takafumi Matsubara on the track. His guest guitar playing really put it over the top.
E&D: Are the death metal, grind, prog and more experimental elements of your music all as equally important as each other for the Defigurement sound?
Matthias: We all come from such different bands, and Kevin and DMT have played in bands like Bad Acid Trip, Lack of Interest, Murder Construct, etc, so I think their writing just sort of moulded itself as they went.
E&D: What pieces of science fiction are a particularly big influence on Defigurement?
Matthias: I grew up reading Philip K Dick, Isaac Asimov, George Orwell, etc… PKD definitely is a big lyrical inspiration, I love how his books have a plot and a theme but also have completely insane passages and disjointed non-sequiturs mixed in with everything.
E&D: Would you love to do the soundtrack to a science-fiction movie and what are some of your favourites?
Matthias: I think that would fit our style well, like when Ron Jarzombek did that Blotted Science scoring along to that King Kong movie.
E&D: Did you always want to have a cinematic element on this album, especially with the interludes, ‘Alteregomaniac’, ‘Eternal Dusk’ and ‘Left In A Cold Rain’ adding that element alongside the brilliant madness of your music?
Matthias: Honestly never thought about it that way, but DMT really outdid himself on the samples and interlude instrumentation. I also had a high school friend, Matt Olson, play piano on one of the interludes, which turned out really grandiose and epic.
E&D: What have been the biggest influences on the sound and outlook of Endbryo?
Matthias: Entropy is undefeated, man.
E&D: Are the technical aspects of Defigurement’s sound an extremely important part of what the band are about?
Matthias: We originally just thought of this as a grindcore record, but I think Mike’s drumming really gives the whole album a more technical, extreme edge to it.
E&D: You have a whole host of guests appearing on the album. Can you tell us a bit about those and how cool it was having them on the album?
Matthias: Brian and Len from Cephalic are longtime homies and the album was definitely influenced by Cephalic Carnage, so it was great working with them on a couple songs. Leon, Makiko, Takafumi, Alec Cordero etc are also all great friends that we were fortunate to have on this album.
E&D: What has the reaction to the music of Defigurement been like so far? Have you had any thoughts about new Defigurement material at all?
Matthias: So far so good, I think! Thanks to David from Earsplit and Greg from Nefarious Industries for all their help getting this out there. We have almost an entire 2nd album worth of demo songs in the chamber, I think next year would be a good time to start working on that.
E&D: Have Defigurement got any live plans at all or will it depend on the band members other band commitments?
Matthias: We are all super busy with our bands and lives: Kevin does Lack of Interest, DMT does Mormon Mincers and Violent Opposition, I am in Rottenness, To Violently Vomit, and a few other projects, and Mike is in every band in North America. Still, we would definitely like to get together and do some exclusive gigs here and there.
E&D: How did Defigurement get together as a band in the first place?
Matthias: DMT and Kevin are longtime friends, I’d known both of them separately from various shows throughout the years. It all sort of just fell into place honestly.
E&D: What have been your favourite records of this year?
Matthias: Albums that ripped this year: the new Deterioration, Sigh, Endless Swarm, Putridity, and Terror Corpse to name a few.
