Interview: | AUSTRIAN DEATH MACHINE |
Title: | Well thought-out power rush |
As co-founder and vocalist of the popular Metalcore bangers As I Lay Dying, Timothy Peter Lambesis gained worldwide fame at the turn of the millennium.
A lot has happened in the life of the muscular thoroughbred musician and tattoo maniac, who, after spending almost two and a half years in prison, immediately set to work on the current fourth album of his Schwarzenegger tribute project Austrian Death Machine, as busy as ever.
And „Quad Brutal“, a monumentally brute biceps bomb of thunderous crossover-thrashing Metal(core), not only brings together a whole series of illustrious guest musicians and entertaining contributions from professional bodybuilders - Tim's wife Dany can also be heard on vocals this time.
The Californian, who is well connected across genres, is pleased that the author mentions the multiple diversity on the new output.
The new material is a multiple brutal blow of lively NWOAHM, US Metal, Thrash, Speed, (Hard/Death/Metal)Core, (Melo)Death, often times jaw-dropping intense, also regarding all the voKills - instrumentally there are real earthquakes, unbelievable how brute and precise you guys often hit it! How do you rate it yourself?
„Thank you for listening to the album and noticing the diversity. Different guest vocalists had different tastes and I wanted to create music that they would enjoy singing over with me as well. As a guitar player, I have a fairly diverse style of writing because of the variety of bands I write for. Over the years I learned a few tricks on the more brutal side helping write the Pyrithion songs. But I also remember that Austrian Death Machine is primarily thrash in the past. Additionally, I feel like some of Arnold’s more epic quotes deserved big epic choruses, so I wanted to have the ability to be melodic too when needed. Even though there are songs that are pretty melodic on the guitar, the album as a whole is the heaviest and most technical in the catalog.“
How long did you work on the songs until they sounded perfect to you - and did you experience any notable ups and downs in the process?
„I wrote the Thrash songs for the album pretty early on and felt like I put all of my best thrash riffs on those songs. They are some of my favorite in the Austrian Death Machine catalog. When I came back to add more songs I couldn’t find a way to outdo the Thrash songs I had in the original batch. So the second batch of songs was an effort from me to be even heavier than my Thrash roots. Lastly, after adding all of the heaviest songs I could think of, I took a step back. I realized the album could benefit from a little bit of melody to give the listener a moment to breathe between the heavy. In the end I felt like it was a pretty good balance and I’m very happy with it.“
How was the selection of songs for "Quad Brutal" done - was it difficult or rather easy for you?
„I wrote about 15 songs and chose my favorite 10. The other five weren’t bad, but they just didn’t feel like they belonged as much. Some of those songs felt a little too much like the previous albums and I felt like I needed to expand the sound a little.“
What is the o-n-e song with the most meaning for you on the new album and why?
„‚Everybody Pities The Weak’ was the first song I ever got to do with Dany Lambesis. We had such a good time doing that song that it became inspiration for me to write an entire album for her. She is now the front woman of new band called HELLBØRN as a result.“
About the guests: how did the vocal co-operation with Craig Golias and Rob Bailey, singer Ricky Hoover (Ov Sulfur, ex-Suffokate) come about?
„All three of those guys are good friends of mine and some of the few people who are publicly well known for fitness, yet are diehard metalhead as well. I hope the crossover between fitness and Metal continues to grow. There is no better motivation at the gym than a great Metal song!“
How were you able to get Angel Vivaldi, Clayton King, Brandon Richter (Bleeding Through), Joey Alarcon (Wolves at the Gate, Born Through Fire) to participate on the album?
„All of them are incredible guitar players! And I have become friends with all of them over the years as well. Angel Vivaldi was friends with Craig Golias, so that’s how I met him. When I did the first song with Craig I asked him who he would want to play the solo, and Angel was the first person that came up. I’m so honored that he did that solo! Then the new Austrian Death Machine drummer introduced me to Clayton and showed me his work. I was blown away! I’m very thankful that Clayton decided to do the solo on ‚Conquer‘. Both Joey Alarcon and Brandon Richter are friends of mine locally in southern California. We don’t live very far from each other, and I am very grateful to have such talented friends!“
As even your wife Dany contributed vocals - please report a bit about! And, what are her fave bands?
„I first found out that Dany was a great vocalist when I was creating the song ‚No Pain No Gain‘. Some gang vocals and background vocals and she was feeling good that night, so she gave it a shot. Everyone in the room was blown away was shocked after we heard her screams. That was her first time ever recording vocals, and she continues to get better every time we work on a new song. She likes the heavier side of As I Lay Dying, as well as Lamb Of God, and Pantera. In generally she loves music that’s very aggressive, so that’s why the songs she sang on were so aggressive and heavy.“
I even hear Master Arnie - long-year fanboy writing here - on the album, highly entertaining - where did you get his voice passage(s) from?
„Arnold has done a lot of motivational speeches over the years, and people have put clips of those up on sites like YouTube. Then of course I have to re-create some of them. But I worked with a very talented voice actor who goes by Governator. This album also had a focus on crossing over between Arnold’s movie career and his bodybuilding career. Since the title is ‚Quad Brutal‘ I had to talk about lifting weights with your legs.“
Who else is involved on "Quad Brutal" as guest musician etc.?
„The guys that will be performing life with me performed on the album as well. The drums were done by Brandon Short, and the guitars were done by Cory Walker and Mark MacDonald. Even though I wrote many of the guitar parts, Cory co-wrote some of them and plays the songs much tighter than I can. And Mark MacDonald has been doing solos on Austrian Death Machine since the first album.“
Btw, are there any things, books, movies, etc. that can/have influenced you as a musician the last years?
„I’m sure books and movies have influenced me subconsciously, but it’s hard for me to say exactly where my ideas stem from. My brain is overactive, so I’m constantly bouncing from one idea to the next.“
The previous album "Triple Brutal" came in 2014 … nearly everything has changed since then on the globe - the world, the music business, the societies - how much have you changed, how much have your views on true art and love and appreciation for the real things in life changed now?
„Everything in my personal life has changed in the last 10 years. I’ve learned so much from failures, and now I am learning from rebuilding. I am extremely thankful that I have the opportunity to do music again, because there were many years I thought I might not ever have the chance to do it again. There is a lot less money in many areas of the music industry, but I don’t really think about that as much. I tried to create music that I would be creating even if I never got paid for it. In general, that’s how I try to live my life. I want to do things I would still be doing even if I wasn’t getting paid. That makes it truly connected to my heart and passion. There are many different opinions on what true art should look or sound like, and I think the best art represents a piece of the creator’s personality. I can be very serious and philosophical like when I write for As I Lay Dying, but there will always be a part of me that wants to thrash and have fun while going to the gym too. In the early 2000s it was uncool to be into music and also the gym. It was also rare to play Metal music and have a sense of humor. That was an unfortunate time.“
Anything you would like to add?
„I’m planning a first ever Austrian Death Machine European tour in May!“
© Markus Eck, 03.02.2024
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