Lingua Brutallica

Lingüa Brütallica - Episode 34: Mirai Kawashima of Sigh (Tokyo, Japan)

In this episode, we speak with Mirai Kawashima of Japan's legendary experimental black metal band, Sigh. Extracting influence from classical music, jazz, and even hip hop, Sigh's lyrics and music present a three-decades long exploration of Japanese religious stories, occultism and death. Mirai discusses how his perspective on these themes has changed over time, with his latest album Shiki marking a shift in his relationship to death as one that is more personal and real than ever. As a result, the lyrics for Shiki are written entirely in Japanese language, allowing Mirai to express his "naked feelings" in a way that wasn't possible in English. That said, Mirai also notes freedoms provided by English absent in Japanese, expressing a changing interest in the potentials of both languages over his decades long career.

To see more from Sigh, go to https://linktr.ee/sighofficial 

 

Lingüa Brütallica - Episode 33: Nekrom of Heruka (Rome, Italy)

In this episode, we speak with vocalist Nekrom about Heruka's elegant black metal lyrics. Written in Italian language, Nekrom's lyrics typify the beauty of layered contrasts. First, the poetry of Heruka's lyrics, embodied in soft and fluid rhyme, contrasts with their vocal production, featuring harsh and distorted black metal screams. Moreover, Nekrom contrasts obscure and elegant Italian expression with the sometimes vile and grotesque subject matter of his lyrical content. Finally, Nekrom elucidates how the poetry of Heruka's lyrics is deeply inspired by both extreme metal's countercultural ethos as well as respect for history of great Italian art, architecture, poetry and song in the city of Rome. The sum of these contrasts is what Nekrom describes as "a beautiful painting" of Heruka's music.

To view this audible painting, go to: https://herukaproject.bandcamp.com/music and 

Lingüa Brütallica - Episode 32: Jason Netherton of Misery Index (Baltimore, USA)

In this episode, we discuss Misery Index's punk and grindcore-infused death metal, with their vocalist, Jason Netherton. Drawing on his working class background, Jason's lyrics pose questions about the capitalist system - in particular, who benefits from it and who is exploited by it. Singing from the collective 'we' perspective, Jason's lyrics draw a stark contrast with Western hyper-individualist society, instead emphasising the shared experience of exploitation under capitalism. However Jason's lyrics are not all despondent, his frequent references to history and mythology place his discussion of postmodern issues in a broader context, that not only offers greater insight into these problems, but invites hope for a better way of life.

To see more from Misery Index, go to https://www.miseryindex.com/ 

Lingüa Brütallica - Episode 31: Katie Davies of Pupil Slicer (London, UK)

Bringing us our first insight to the genre, in this episode we talk to Katie Davies about writing lyrics for mathcore. Moving away from the ocular dissection described on their EP, Katie's lyrics for Pupil Slicer's latest album, Mirrors, offer unexpected vulnerability detailing experiences of inner turmoil and psychological distress. Their stories written from the first person perspective, in straightforward, direct language, punctuated with occasional expletives, deliver profoundly poignant emotional impact. Katie explains that their intensely personal lyrics combined with mathcore's irregular time signatures, syncopated rhythms and unexpected tempo changes make for a performance that showcases a balance of technical proficiency and deep emotionality.

To experience this balance of the technical and the emotional visit pupilslicer.co.uk 

Lingüa Brütallica - Episode 30: Jason Nitts & Alex Damske of Warforged (Illinois, USA)

Our interview in this episode focuses on the writing of drummer Jason Nitts and bassist Alex Damske - the dual lyricists of progressive death metal project Warforged. Focusing on the band's 2022 release The Grove: Sundial, Jason and Alex describe how, in taking over responsibility for Warforged's lyrics after the production of their first album, they were determined to challenge the established boundaries of their music, creating lyrics for their second album that are entirely distinct from those on their first. In contrast to the narrative-driven fantasy of their first album, the lyrics of The Grove: Sundial are firmly rooted in the real world, with repeated images of cars, houses, anger and self-contempt offering a sense of mundane brutality. The construction of this brutal domesticity realizes Jason and Alex's goal of avoiding metal language and typical metal themes, pushing the boundaries of what makes Warforged still a band and asking what can a metal band do? How far can you take that idea?

To explore the answers to these questions, visit: https://warforged.bandcamp.com/  and follow them on Twitter https://twitter.com/Warforgedband?s=20&t=LcImwAPlGtf85Ni_ISa8tw and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/warforgedband/ 

Lingüa Brütallica - Episode 29: Vincent Tweten of Phobophilic (North Dakota, USA)

In this episode, we interview drummer and lyricist Vincent Tweten of death metal project Phobophilic, who presented some of the most diverse and thought provoking lyrical content we've yet discussed on this podcast. Vincent's lyrics address themes ranging from Lovecraftian horror to human consciousness and philosophy. Leading us through a brief introduction to absurdism and existentialism, Vincent explains that his lyrics, many of which include literal rhetorical questions, invite listeners to interrogate what human life is and what it means without the promise of easy answers. Though he often produces songs whose lyrical content is derived from personal experience, he generally prefers writing from a more depersonalised perspective that allows listeners to connect and take ownership of songs that might, if written from the first person perspective, read like someone else's story.

To listen to Phobophilic's music visit: https://phobophilic.bandcamp.com/, and follow them on Twitter https://mobile.twitter.com/phobophilic_  and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/phobophilic_/?hl=en . 

Lingüa Brütallica - Episode 28: Lynn Wu and Anthony Vanacore of Ou (Beijing, China)

This episode presents our first look at extreme metal in China by interviewing vocalist Lynn Wu and drummer Anthony Vanacore of convention-defying progressive metal band Ou. Drawing on Anthony's exceptional translation skills, we discuss how Ou's music and lyrics are born of a collaboration between Anthony's heavy musical roots and Lynn's background in popular rock. They explain the goal of this cooperation is to develop a unique musical approach that departs from the metal scene's Western English-language hegemony and typical sound. We discuss how Lynn's use of her native Chinese language allows her to draw on the aestheticism of traditional Chinese characters to create lyrics that appear literary and perhaps 'metal'. The resulting compositions explore opposing forces of dark and light, euphoria and existential dread from the viewpoint of an honest and objective observer. Lynn explains that such expressive lyrics are in part the product of the band's song titles, often consisting of only a single (occasionally obscure) character in length, which offer significant freedom to both lyricist and listener to create and interpret compositions.

To hear more from Ou, follow the band on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ou.theband and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ou.theband/?hl=en 

 

Lingüa Brütallica - Episode 27: Riikka & Toni Hatakka of Hanging Garden (Finland)

In this episode, we talk to husband and wife vocal duo, Riikka and Toni Hatakka of Finnish genre-defying band whose music has been variably categorized as melodic doom metal, progressive gothic post-doom metal, and even just depressive metal. Through our discussion, Riikka and Toni unpack the unexpected difficulties of writing metal lyrics in their native tongue, and the freedoms afforded to lyricists working in their second language (in this case, English). The two further explain that their lyrics, whether Finnish or English medium, frequently engage with universal themes of nature, earth and mankind's decay, and thus serve as a kind of therapy for the singers and their listeners who are currently experiencing these crises.

To hear more from Hanging Garden, go to https://hanginggardenlfr.bandcamp.com/music

 

Lingüa Brütallica - Episode 26: Chris & Stony of Party Cannon (Fife, Scotland)

In this episode, we unpack an approach to lyric-writing that’s totally different from that featured previously on the podcast by talking to Chris and Stony of party slam project, Party Cannon. Unlike other bands we’ve spoken to in the past, Party Cannon does not publish any of their lyrics, and in most cases, doesn’t even write them down. In our interview, Stony and Chris take us through their creative process of developing a mood board of lyrical content that they draw on to record lyrics, continuously shaping their content throughout the recording process. The resulting product combines light-hearted parody, embodied in their infamous logo, and classic death metal gore, delivered through vocal stylings that frequently blur the boundaries between recognisable words and animal noises. And so, this episode allows us to ask an essential question – what is the role of language in lyrics that may not have a fixed form?

To see more from Party Cannon, go to https://partycannon.bandcamp.com/

To view the music video for 'I Believe in Dani Filth', mentioned in our interview, go to: https://youtu.be/QW8M_a3XzfQ 

Lingüa Brütallica - Episode 25: Austin Lunn of Panopticon (Kentucky/Minnesota)

Our 25th episode brings you an interview with vocalist Austin Lunn of Panopticon. This episode functions as a second pair part to episode 24, featuring Aaron Carey, and commemorates the split album released by Panopticon and Nechochwen in 2020. Our discussion with Austin brings forth a distinct but equally compelling perspective on blackened folk metal music as that developed in our previous episode with Aaron. Austin describes how Panopticon's music as a blend of Americana, traditional Appalachian music and black metal is complimented by his straightforward lyrical style that - far from being simplistic - paints a clear picture of human experience throughout North America's past and present history. Notably, Austin's lyrical storytelling is not limited to one voice, or even one language, as he incorporates words and phrases from Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Spanish, uttered by speakers of these languages, that he feels best represent the culture and experience of those he writes about. To see more of this multilingual tapestry of human experience go to https://thetruepanopticon.bandcamp.com/.