Disentomb

Brisbane's Disentomb reside at the heavier end of local metal's extensive range. Having released well-received studio album, 'Misery' in 2014, the band is enjoying another busy year. With a support slot lined-up on the upcoming Psycroptic/Goatwhore tour, Killyourstereo.com sat down with the group to discuss the upcoming shows, observations on the local metal scene and ways to stay viable as a band.

G’day Jord, Kane from Killyourstereo.com, thanks for taking the time for an interview.

No problem at all dude, thanks for taking the time to do the interview.

The next main shows are the ones supporting Psycroptic and Goatwhore. What are your thoughts heading into these shows.

We have shared the stage more with Psycroptic than any other band so a tour with those guys is really familiar territory. It's going to be awesome to play alongside Goatwhore, we have been listening to those guys since we first started getting into death metal. Our aim is to show as many new crowds as possible who we are and what we are about, which comes down to straight up brutality.

Having a look at your Facebook page, you have a very healthy 209,000 plus fans and you equally seem to engage quite regularly on the socials. What’s your take on Facebook’s decision to further restrict the ‘pay to promote’ feature?

We haven't really noticed restrictions from accessing our fans through Facebook. But it's completely bullshit if it is actually affecting bands. It doesn't make sense to go after musicians who are already struggling.

I see Trevor from The Black Dahlia Murder plugged Disentomb in his recent Spotify playlist. What’s it like when you receive recognition from peers and influences like that?

It was insane that Trevor was keen to feature Misery. He has been supporting us since our first album, buying merch and putting us on the door to Black Dahlia shows when he comes through Brisbane. He is a good dude to say the least.

What’s the main difference between Australian metal fans as opposed to those overseas?

For the most part the difference comes down to Australian musicians' attitudes. I feel like Aussie music has a bit of a tongue in cheek feel to it compared to European and US bands.

It’s no secret that being in a band doesn’t generate much money – particularly if you play in a metal band. However, merch appears an area where the band can recoup costs. How important is your merch store to supporting the viability of the band?

If we didn't sell merch, we couldn't tour. I don't think people realise what buying a CD or shirt means to a band. First of all, it is amazing to see someone that isn't one of our mates wear one of our shirts, but it helps us go to play where we never thought we could and minimise our debt as a touring band [too].

What would you like to see improved in the local metal scene?

It's cliché, but more attendance. You can go to a show like Soundwave and sees tens of thousands of metal fans and it makes you wonder where they go when a local band takes the stage. Although, I think there is a responsibility on local bands to be professional and promote.

What are some of the tougher aspects of being in a band that the common fan would probably not be aware of?

Juggling a work-life/career with a hobby that consumes all of your time and money. We are doing a United States month long tour in June/July, a European tour throughout September and possibly a few more overseas tours. This is all while working our jobs. It gets busy but I wouldn't change it for the world.

‘Misery’ saw release last year and was justifiably well-received. Conceivably, when do you think you will look to start writing a follow-up?

We have been throwing around ideas for the last few months and we have some really solid material that is a definite step up from Misery in all aspects. As for when we will have a follow up album, we don't want to put a year on it just yet and mainly focus on touring Misery as much as possible.

What albums are you looking forward to in 2015?

There's a sick band from the United States called Incinerate that are set to release their first album in years. As well as the guys in Psycroptic with their latest offering, you can never go wrong with Psycroptic.

Thanks for the interview. Much appreciated.

Thanks for asking some great questions and giving us some exposure. Cheers.

Catch Disentomb supporting Psycroptic and Goatwhore this March (18 - 28).

'Misery' is out now and available via Bandcamp.