Interview: Altar Of Gore
I will leave it to the listener to decide if it’s more brutal or not–to me it’s just Altar or Gore.
New Jersey death metallers Altar Of Gore return with their brand new album Litanies of Unceasing Agonies and it is a full force assault on the senses that goes straight for the jugular from the start and doesn’t relent until the end. Gavin Brown caught up with the mastermind behind Altar Of Gore, The Acolyte Of The Foul Ones, to hear all about Litanies of Unceasing Agonies as well as discussing cover songs and gory album covers.
E&D: Your new album Litanies of Unceasing Agonies is out very soon. How does it feel to be back with this album?
The Acolyte Of The Foul Ones: I am very relieved to have released it from my head. This album took up quite a bit of mental real estate that I am happy to have back now. I am also feeling satisfied because I think it kicks ass and that it came out how I intended. This is pretty much all I strive to achieve with any music I make.
E&D: The album is the follow up to your Obscure & Obscene Gods debut. Did you feel any pressure following that up?
The Acolyte Of The Foul Ones: Only on myself to create something appropriate to follow it up with. Even then I would hesitate to call it pressure. I only do this stuff because I want/like to. I don’t think I’d put myself in a position where some external pressure was on me to make music if I could help it. And if I was it would probably come out real shitty.
E&D: Did you set out to make an even more brutal album this time around and do you feel you have achieved that?
The Acolyte Of The Foul Ones: When I started to write the new songs I was thinking about developing the sound more consciously. One day I was discussing this with Joe Aversario, my long-time friend and collaborator in many projects, and he laid an important piece of wisdom on me: “Just do the same thing you’ve always been doing, and it will be different because your situation is different now.” He was correct. I will leave it to the listener to decide if it’s more brutal or not–to me it’s just Altar or Gore.
E&D: How was the process of creating and making the new album?
The Acolyte Of The Foul Ones: I knew I was going to follow up Obscure & Obscene Gods with another album, so once multiple songs started to come together I decided it was time. Once I started writing it was more or less the same as any other. Lots of time spent fucking around on the guitar late at night. Recording demos of tracks with a drum machine, sometimes multiple iterations. I recorded and mixed the whole thing myself at our practice space. Nameless Grave got Dan Lowndes/Resonance Sound to put his magic ears on it for a proper master. Meanwhile my friend Taylor Smith/thecovenzine truly outdid himself on the cover art, which I assembled the layout with and that was that.
E&D: Can you tell us about your character, The Acolyte of the Foul Ones?
The Acolyte Of The Foul Ones: The Acolyte of the Foul Ones is a character in the fictional mythology/concept that underlies the whole project. The Foul Ones are a group of chthonic deities that an obscure cult offers human blood derived from live sacrifice in exchange for power and divination–the Acolyte is their priest, representative, and the one who leads all the rituals. It seemed the only appropriate persona to take on for this project.
E&D: Have you got plans for any forthcoming Altar Of Gore live performances?
The Acolyte Of The Foul Ones: Absolutely. Almost exactly one month after the new LP comes out we are opening for fucking BLOOD in NYC. I’m beyond excited. Hopefully we get some more offers once the new album comes out.
E&D: How was your Infinite Visions Of Violence compilation album received?
The Acolyte Of The Foul Ones: It seems to have been received well, though I’m not usually someone who follows those things. Infinite Visions is a strange case to me because in its original form it was never intended to be widely released. We were supposed to play in Los Angeles in early 2022 but had to cancel last minute due to illness. I had dubbed 15-20 of them and managed to sell them all online. Mattia from Sentient Ruin caught wind of it and asked if I wanted to do a vinyl release. He had asked years ago to put out the demo but I said no at the time, so this time I decided to say yes and here we are. Mattia is a great guy and he does good work, so if it was received well it’s probably due much more to his effort than mine.
E&D: On it, you cover ‘Aggressor’ by Hellhammer and ‘Wizard Of Gore’ by Impetigo. What was it about those songs that made you want to cover them?
The Acolyte Of The Foul Ones: Simple: I love Hellhammer and Impetigo. Aggressor seemed cool because I wanted to hear the heavy midtempo riff at the beginning played tuned really low (and I am glad I did because it sounds evil as hell). ‘Wizard of Gore’ just kicks ass and Impetigo is one of my all-time favorite bands.
E&D: Which other bands are big influences on your music and your outlook?
The Acolyte Of The Foul Ones: For this band in particular I’ve always said it sounds like old Finnish black metal meets old American black metal played by total death metal-loving idiots. Astute listeners can probably pick out a lot of these influences. The new LP has more overt death metal influence for sure – I could point to Disgorge (Mex), Morpheus Descends, and Grave as influences on that front.
E&D: What are your biggest influences as a musician?
The Acolyte Of The Foul Ones: Celtic Frost & Hellhammer. This is not just musical inspiration, but their entire ethos and practice. They blazed a trail in spite of outright ridicule/hostility from others. They started their own label to create their own legitimacy when others wouldn’t give it to them (until they did, anyway). They were totally and utterly devoted to their music and to their ideals. And they remain one of the most influential extreme metal bands ever. A band that so many (myself included) have tried to emulate but never truly can, and yet their influence on any band is immediately noticeable. And you hear that influence everywhere in so many ways. They did so much more than make good music–they created an entire approach to creating metal that I am continually in awe of. If I ever come anywhere close to doing the same with my music I will be happy.
E&D: What songs would you love to give the Altar Of Gore treatment in the future?
The Acolyte Of The Foul Ones: I’ve thought about doing ‘Chainsaw Gutsfuck’ purely for the evil bass intro + the evil 5/4 riff. Also perhaps Slaughter – ‘Fuck of Death’ because that opening riff could kill a man with its bare hands. Whatever covers I do, I prefer to think of stuff that’s a little more out of pocket/not obvious – I’m never going to cover Proclamation or Blasphemy, for example–because I think it’s more interesting to hear a band transforms a song and makes it their own. Judas Priest’s version of ‘Diamonds & Rust’ is a great example of how to do this right.
E&D: You have stated that Altar Of Gore is the primal urge to kill set to music. Was that always your outlook for this band?
The Acolyte Of The Foul Ones: My outlook on this band is the same as any other I do: to make it something I like that is in line with what I am trying to do. My greatest concerns are creating and producing something with a cohesive and consistent vision; and creating something that satisfies and entertains me personally. All other concerns are irrelevant (and, in this case, just promo text).
E&D: What are your favourite goriest metal album covers?
The Acolyte Of The Foul Ones: Probably the cover to Chronic Corpora Infest by Disgorge (Mex). It’s just really fuckin gross and sick. LIke an actual human skull with the top sawed off and his brain sitting on the ground in front of it. Totally insane shit for a totaly insane band and a totally insane record. The next LP is even worse, but even that goes a little too far for me, personally. The music though….fuck!!!!
E&D: What are some of the best gore flicks you have ever seen?
The Acolyte Of The Foul Ones: None. I watch almost no movies at all. I don’t think I could name one off the top of my head if I tried. The majority of my exposure to anything like that is listening to Impetigo and Mortician.
E&D: What is the extreme metal scene like in New Jersey at the moment and what bands are you digging?
The Acolyte Of The Foul Ones: The scene is fragmented as ever. Little pockets here and there, usually the same people doing multiple projects. There are very few venues for this kind of music here, so most of the scenes one will interact with are either in New York City or Philadelphia. Replicant, Sanguinary Emperor Sanctificado, and Goatpiss are all good bands from around here that are going right now.
E&D: What are your favourite New Jersey bands and albums of all time?
The Acolyte Of The Foul Ones: Torture Krypt – Rotted Remnants, Revenant – Prophecies of A Dying World, Abazagorath – Tenebrarum Cadent Exsurgemus.
