Dan talked to Timothy Pope from Australian extremist band THE AMENTA about their upcoming EP “Plague of Locus”.
Metal-Roos: Is great to have a chat with you about the lead up of the band’s upcoming EP “Plague of Locus” due to be released on 19th of October, 2023. How has the preparation been so far for the release in regards to promotion and the hype
Timothy Pope: Thanks for the chat! The preparation for the release is all tied into the live shows as well, so we’ve been balancing interviews and social media nonsense with the technical aspects of what we do and rehearsing in our own studios before we all get together in a couple of weeks to rehearse as a band. It’s always a weird time, just before something is released. We’ve been working on and listening to these songs for a very long time so it’s going to be fucking great to finally get them out. In the meantime, it can be a bit frustrating as you just want to get it down and move on to the next thing. But overall, everything is going really well.
Metal-Roos: The Amenta released the EP Title Track “Plague of Locus” and “Angry Chair”, a cover from Alice In Chains in the lead up to the release. How has the response been so far with the fans hearing those songs?
Timothy Pope: The response to those tracks has been killer. The title track is one we are really happy with, and it has been interesting to hear people’s interpretation of it. People have said it reminds them of our first album, “Occasus”, which is interesting. I personally hear a bit of our second album, ‘n0n’, it’s cool to hear people’s interpretation. People have been very into the song, and I am looking forward to seeing the reaction live. The response to ‘Angry Chair’ was incredible too. I wasn’t sure how the covers would be received, especially that one as it is such a known song. There is a chance people would be taken aback by our version, as it’s pretty different! But people have been completely into it. I think they recognise what we are trying to do, which is to keep the soul of the song but twist it into new forms, into our sound.
Metal-Roos: How did the idea/inspiration for creating the “Plague of Locus” EP come to fruition?
Timothy Pope: The main genesis for the release was discussions we were having during the writing of our 2021 album. “Revelator”. It was two things, the first was completely practical. We’d never been a band that had a lot of spare material lying around, so when it came to releasing singles etc there was no extra material for B-Sides, so we decided to record a couple of covers in the same sessions to have get some extra material without having to book new studio time. We recorded the drums for ‘Angry Chair’ and the HALO cover, ‘Rise’ at the same time as the drums of ‘Revelator’ but then the work of doing the actual album took over and so they sat on a hard drive for a few years. But the second thing was more about our discussions during the writing process. Erik [Miehs, guitars] and I were talking a lot about the music we found really inspiring and we both started talking a lot about that time from the 90’s to early 2000’s when we were at the perfect age to be a complete sponge for all the extreme music we could get. Everything we heard became grist to the mill and inspired what The Amenta sounds like today and we wanted to pay tribute to those amazing artists and that time in our lives. We brought that idea to the other guys, and we all started brainstorming ideas of artists and songs. Our only guiding principle was that it had to have that same vibe as the music we were soaking up back then. This album is our tribute to that time and those artists.
Metal-Roos: I was lucky enough to hear the EP the other day. I personally love all the elements of the arrangement of each song. My standout track was “Crystal Lakes” which was a Lord Kaos For me as a fan, it’s got a good balance of the raw sound from the 90’s Black Metal era with the modern production. Were you happy with how the production turned out with this EP?
Timothy Pope: I’m really glad you dig that one. LORD KAOS were a completely foundational band, especially for Erik and me as two of the Sydney based members. There were a few Australian bands we knew we had to do and LORD KAOS was at the top of the list. In fact, we once had a drunken conversation with Jamie Marsh, the vocalist of LORD KAOS, about doing an EP just of covers of LORD KAOS with Jamie on guest vocals.
We’re extremely happy with the production. It was all mixed by Erik, who has mixed everything for the band since 2011’s “V01D” release. I think his productions have just become better and better and “Plague of Locus” is the best yet. It’s huge, heavy, and natural sounding. There’s a strong bass Prescence which I think is missing in a lot of modern metal which tends to be more guitar, drum focussed, and I think the bass really lifts the whole thing. Erik has to deal with a lot when it comes to mixing our stuff. I send him heaps of tracks of weird sounds, like smashing metal, distorted violin, field recordings and all sorts of bullshit and Cain [Cressall, vocals] sends a million tracks too. Erik always finds a balance and a place for everything. Not to mention, this time around the drums were recorded in three or four different studios in as many sessions, so he had to find sounds that worked well in all those situations. I think he did an incredible job. It was mastered by Maor Appelbaum, who also master “Revelator” and the “Solipschism” EP. He is the best mastering engineer we have ever used, and I can’t see us using anyone else in the future. He brings a hi-fi clarity to the productions that really adds the magic.
Metal-Roos: For me personally from a musician’s point of view. To do covers is so much fun, especially live gigs it gets the crowd going and psych up. To try and recreate a cover to put a band spin on it is a different challenge put all together. One of my favorite cover songs that made it their own song was the Cradle of Filth cover of Annihilator’s “Alison Hell”. What were the major challenges the band had to face to try and create their spin on it while having to keep the integrity of how the songs were originally written?
Timothy Pope: That CRADLE cover is killer for sure. For our covers, I think we are lucky that we all trust each other and our musical choices, so there weren’t too many issues in creating our version of the covers. For starters, we have such respect for the original artists and their songs that it’s easy to keep that as the example, but we’re also aware that what we found inspiring about these artists was primarily their spirit. That’s what we found inspirational, so if we could keep the spirit of the song, while changing it drastically, then we consider that a greater tribute to the band than a straight carbon copy of their version. My own technique was to never to refer back to the original, rather to use my memory of how the song felt when making decisions for my own parts. If I held them up together and compared back-to-back, I might have been more nervous about whether the decision was right, but if I compared it to the feeling the song gave me in my memory and that felt right then I knew I was onto something. Back to the original point about trusting each other’s choices, we’ve all been doing this for so long that we know our band and each other inside out. It is almost like an improvisational band that has played together for years. You are constantly trying to surprise each other, but you are using the same language each time. So, it was a matter of taking the others’ ideas and adding to them, always keeping the spirit of the original in memory. After that I don’t think we really faced any issues. We’re pretty fucking confident in our versions of these songs.
Metal-Roos: A few more weeks before the public hears the EP. Does the band plan to drop any more songs before then?
Timothy Pope: We’ve just released the third single, which is a cover of ‘Asteroid’ by KILLING JOKE. That will eb the last single until the full think is released in under two weeks. We’re very happy with that one. It’s such a killer track and KILLING JOKE are such an inspirational band. Our version includes some crazy violin noise but keeps the same malignant groove of the original. The original has an incredible drum performance by Dave Grohl which really drives the song. Dave [Haley, drums] really knocked it out of the park when he came to do our version. It’s a really strong drum performance.
Metal-Roos: With the EP released soon and the “Plague of Locus” Australian Tour kicking off in Sydney on the 16th of November. The Band’s first headline show in over 10 years with LO! as the support band. How excited is the band doing a national headline tour?
Timothy Pope: It’s going to be great to get back on stage for our own shows. From 2014 to 2021 we didn’t play any shows at all, just focussed on writing, rewriting and recording “Revelator”. In 2021 we had an Australian tour all booked and ready to go. It was to start with an appearance at DARK MOFO and then we’d play some headlining shows across mainland Australia. We were really excited about getting back on stage but then COVID came through and fucked everything up. All the states shut their borders, so all the shows had to get cancelled except the DARK MOFO show. Even that show however had to go forward with a replacement drummer (the legendary Robin Stone, our great friend and super drummer) who had to learn the set in two weeks as Dave was stuck in Melbourne and wasn’t allowed to leave due to the border closure. Later we got to all play together for three shows with EMPEROR, but it was their show, not ours, so it was different. These new shows are going to be fucking incredible, we have almost ten years of built-up hate to spew across the stage, so people are in for a fucking treat.
Metal-Roos: Do you have a favorite song(s) from the coming EP that you are looking forward to playing live?
We’ve got a shortlist of songs to try, but of course we also have to cram songs from the entire discography into a 45–50-minute set, so I’m not sure how many will get an airing. I’m definitely keen to give ‘Plague of Locus’ a go, as that is the original from the new release. For the covers, I think ‘Asteroid’ will be a killer one to play, it has an incredible energy and momentum that I think will be hard to top in a live setting. And Cain is sure to really inhabit that song, it’ll bring out the apocalyptic creep in him.
Metal-Roos: Back in May this year The Amenta got to support the Norwegian Black Metal Legends Emperor Australian Tour. What was that experience like and any memorable highlights from that tour?
Timothy Pope: That was such a career highlight and an honour. If you had told 16-year-old Tim that he’d get to support EMPEROR playing “In The Nightside Eclipse”, he’d probably shit himself. That was my favourite album as a young man, so it was a real dream come true. For us, the shows were excellent. People were really into what we were doing, and it was great to play some big stages. The EMPEROR band and crew were really cool people, and they were so professional. They sounded top notch every night and it as wild getting to hear and see those songs played live. Some of the highlights for us were just getting to see some old friends who came out to the shows to catch up after ten years, other highlights were probably party-centric and should be kept quiet for fear of lawsuits and legal troubles. I will say that playing the last show of that tour in Brisbane, while staying in a hotel a 2-minute walk away, coupled with a flight at 8am is a dangerous mix.
Metal-Roos: After the “Plague of Locus” tour is done. What does the future look like in the next 12 months for The Amenta? Is there any new material in the pipeline and does the band have any tours overseas to support the coming EP?
Timothy Pope: There’s always new material being worked on. Our plan for next year is to really get stuck into the next full-length album. Lyrics and concept-wise, I already have an idea that I am working on which I am excited about. We’d definitely love to get overseas, but I think we’re too far out of the “Revelator” album cycle to swing it so that will have to wait for the next album so we can really capture the momentum. One interesting thing we were talking about the other day is that next year is the 20-year anniversary of our first album, “Occasus”, so we would like to do something for that. That album was a very important one for us, as I am sure first albums are for every artist. It would be cool to do something big for that one, maybe bring back some old friends and pull some deep cuts out for a re-airing.
Metal-Roos: Thank you so much for the chat and on behalf of myself and Metal-Roos. We wish the band all the best of luck with the EP release and the tour. Are there any words you would like to say to the fans that are reading this interview?
Timothy Pope: Thanks so much for the interview! We encourage everyone out there to go check out the three singles of “Plague of Locus” that have been released so far. You can, of course, stream them on Spotify, Apple Music etc but always remember that Bandcamp is where you can really support bands. Pre-Order “Plague of Locus” at Bandcamp now and support ugly fucking music.
