MERRIMACK (Eng.)
– Hello, thanks for answering to our questions. How is everything going right now with MERRIMACK?
Perversifier : Things are going pretty well. We’re just back from a killer festival, the Hellfest, in France, where we played, and our album is going to be released in two days, so things are rolling.
– You started during the mid 90’s, when people still got to know bands through fanzines and tape trading. How do you think both you and the style have developed or evolved since those early demos?
P : Everything has changed. As you state it, back then, we had no easy access to the information, and we had to keep track of what was happening in the scene by flyers, mouth to ear, fanzines, etc… There were way fewer bands, the scene was not saturated as it is now. Nowadays, everyone plays in a band, or has a label/fanzine/radio whatever, the quality bands are drown in a pile of shit, and it’s very difficult to discover new interesting things. Kids set up a myspace page with a logo and some pretty photos even before they have composed any song, people listen to music mainly on their computer by surfing randomly on some community sites, etc… And of course they don’t buy CDs anymore.They want everything, and they want it now. Our art is slowly dying, but one can’t do anything about it.
When it comes to me and Merrimack, the band has of course evolved a lot. I was 17 years old when I started the band, I’m 35 now.
– Back then you didn’t release any full-length album, in fact your debut record, “Ashes of Purification”, didn’t come out until 2002. What was the reason behind this? Anyway it seems you have never had the best luck finding a steady line-up.
P : We like to take our time to make quality records. First, it was not so easy to find a label to release an album at those times. The demos was a necessary step to get attention from record companies. There were very few of them, and at this time, they mainly released only quality stuff.
Then, yes, we have been through a lot of line-up changes during the band history. Every time you recruit new members, you have to teach them the old songs, so that we can play live, which slows down the composition process for the new records. Moreover, Merrimack has always been a quite slow band when it comes to release stuff. There are approximately 3 years between each of our releases. Quality over quantity.
– During that period there weren’t so many French Black Metal bands as they are now. Is this something positive for you or maybe there’s a bigger competence?
P : It’s true that in 1994, french scene was very small… Few of these old bands still exist today. It was a totally different time. People from here were supporting a lot the local bands, they showed up at all the gigs, since there were not many. Merrimack has been the first french Black Metal band to play in Paris in famous venues… We opened for Dark Funeral in 1995 and 1996, etc… So of course, we had many more opportunities to catch the attention of the local scene.
– Anyway you are quite far from sounding like other bands from France. Instead of having a more experimental sound your music is quite straight-forward. Could you say this is something that helps you stand out among other acts?
P : I’m not really sure wether there is a «french touch» or not… People often refer to those experimental bands, but there are only 2 or 3 of them. I enjoy to listen to them once in a while, but it’s not the kind of music I want to play. We are pretty conservative people when it comes to music, Black Metal has some distinctive components that must not disappear if we want this musical genre to survive. Our music evolved a lot throughout the years, it’s sounding much more modern now, but you can still hear the main ingredients of what once was the definition of BM. It’s a subtle mix of old-school stuff with a more actual sound.
– Since MERRIMACK was formed you are the only founding member remaining. How has the band affected your life and what have you learnt from this experience?
P : The band is one of the most important thing in my life. I’ve played in it during more than half of my existence. It requires so much dedication, time, work, and investment, that most of the things are centered around it. Composing, rehearsing, working on artworks, playing gigs, answering interviews, making promotion, etc…. it’s all very time consuming. Most of the former members left the day they have met a girlfriend or found a job, but I’m still standing here, as dedicated as in the first days. It’s very cliché to say that, but Black metal is obviously not only a music, it’s a way of life. I can’t change my way of life, it’s the only thing I know.
– In fact now you have, once more, a new line-up. What have the new members brought to MERRIMACK? Was it easy to find suitable members?
P : Every new members brings his own touch and inspiration to the band. I’m very glad of that. Every time the line-up has changed, the band has reached a higher level, has improved to something more mature. They all have to stick to the band sound and ideology, but they bring their own stones to the edifice.
It was not an easy task to find the perfect guys, it eventually took several months, but it was worth the quest. I think we have now a perfect coherent formation.
– The new album you’ve released is “The Acausal Mass”. What are your feelings on the final output? I personally think is, once more, a step forward for you, as I believe with each new opus you’ve managed to create something more mature. Is this just something natural that brings you the musical experience?
P : We’re very proud of this album. We’ve put some much time and energy in it, we love every single note and word. It has many more arrangements than the previous releases, it’s rich and varied, it’s dense and full of details, and it’s the perfect reflect of what we wanted to achieve.
I agree that this release sound more homogenous and mature than the previous album «Grey Rigorism», we focused on the atmospheres and on simpler song structures.
– I’d dare say this effort is quite varied, with different tempos that make the listen more enjoyable. Was this something you were striving for?
P : The constant variations of tempo has always been a Merrimack trademark. It’s not so usual in the Black Metal genre, and some people may find it annoying or disturbing, but we love it. Our music is full of different landscapes, it brings you to different states of mood, and the alternation of blast beat frenzy parts with slower melancholic or atmospheric riffs makes it an intense journey in our world. It’s all very conscious, we do it on purpose, it brings some surprises and non-expected switches to the song ambiances.
– Due to this I would like to know how was the songwriting process. Is it something spontaneous or more of a conscious effort?
P : It’s never really spontaneous in our case. Writing a song is a long process. Usually, we’d compose some riffs individually at home, and record them and submit them to the others. Then we’d do sessions with only 2 members at a time, and try to figure out a song structure. Once we’re satisfied with it, we record a demo of it, with a drum machine, and make it listen to the others. Only once everyone likes every second of a song, at the unanimity, we start to work on it in the rehearsal room. So you can imagine that there are many ideas which have been dropped. Only the very best of what came our from our imagination has been tracked in the studio.
– On this new “The Acausal Mass” I specially noticed influences from Scandinavian Black Metal so, what have been the most important musical influences for the band or for this new album?
P : I don’t listen much to Norwegian BM, but I quite enjoy the Swedish scene. Still, I would not consider it as an influence. We listen to a lot of different stuff, not only metal, and those influences are very different from a band member to another. When you mix all of them, then you get what Merrimack is. We never talk together like «let’s do a song sounding like this or that band», that would be stupid. We never compare our music to other bands, it’s mainly you, the journalist, who love to do that.
– Once more, you have recorded the CD at the Necromorbus studios. What does make this studio/team so good for MERRIMACK?
P : Tore knows how to produce a good BM record. He has a lot of experience in this field, and he has very good tastes when it comes to BM production. We totally rely on him, we trust his vision, and we have never had any regret to work with him. This last record is far superior from the two previous ones we did there, so it’s a proof that not only us, but him also, are all improving and learning together.
– On the other hand, you’ve changed the artist for the cover. Would you mind to tell us how did you work on it and what does it represent?
P : We liked his works, so we have contacted him and asked him if he would interested to do the album art. He has accepted, so the deal was done. We sent him the lyrics, the album title, and let him a wild card to propose whatever he though was fitting to the album concept. And it did an amazing job. You can recognize on the artwork several components that you’ll find by reading the lyrics : the nine angles of Pleroma, the abortion of light, the obstetrics of devourment…
– And finally, what the near-future plans are for MERRIMACK?
P : We’d like to tour Europe before the end of the year, but nothing is sure yet.
– That has been everything from my side, thanks you once more. If you want to add some final words; last lines are all yours.
P : Thank you. AMSG.
