ABSU (Eng.)
– Hi Ezezu, thanks for answering to our questions. What’s currently going on in the ABSU’s camp?
Greetings ! There is a tremendous amount of activity in the Absu realm at the moment and I doubt that will change anytime soon. In 3 days we will be in Athens for a special show with Zemial. On October 22nd we will have our album release show in San Antonio with Nightbringer and then play the Aurora Infernalis festival in the Netherlands. After that, we will embark on a small east coast U.S tour and play the Messe De Morts fest in Montreal on November 26th. And for 2012 you can expect Australia, USA, and European tours plus summer festivals. We are staying very busy to promote the new record.
– You will soon release your new «Abzu» but, as it has already reached the press; how are first reactions being?
I have read about 4 reviews and they were all glowingly positive. We really wanted to up the ante for ourselves, as song writers and performers, and It appears that is something listeners appreciate. I’m exceptionally pleased with the album and I think everyone else will be as well.
– First of all, could you please elaborate a bit on the album’s title?
Proscriptor: ‘Abzu’ is Mesopotamian spelling. The last album was self-titled, and the album after this will be called ‘Apsu,’ which is the Sumerian spelling. It’s the trilogy of the Absu name.
It’s the most maniacal collection of songs under the name — lyrically and theme-wise.
– This is the second part of a trilogy, so I would like you to tell us a bit about this trilogy; its concept, how did you first come up with this idea, etc.
Proscriptor: The basic and key origin behind last album and next two is about the abyss, what it is about, how it channels souls into a dark void.
– And in this album specially; what are the main lyrical ideas?
Proscriptor: It includes the standard topics I’ve discussed: Sumerian magic and mythology. But we’re test driving a new kind of musical theme. Lyric-wise, it’s about Enochian magic, which is a system of ceremonial magic based on evocation and commanding of spirits and is planet-oriented.
I have been a student and follower of magic since the age of 12. I met a few people that were influenced by esotericism and magic and mythology. And by the time I reached 12 and started to experiment with hallucinogenic drugs, it became a pastime and hobby to escape mortal manifestation of planet Earth. Magic is a way to mentally escape of it all.
– Sound-wise is a more varied album than your previous effort in several ways; is this something important for ABSU? As you have always been innovating.
Yes, it’s very important to create something that sounds different and innovative. It’s up to the listener to decide but the idea on this album was definitely to add these progressive elements while simultaneously making is faster, darker, more chaotic, and more technical then previous albums.
– I’d even dare say this is your most diverse CD so far. Could you say both the final output and its creation is a challenge both for your and your listener?
If this album comes off as a challenge for the listener I am beyond thrilled. It was definitely a challenge for
us on many levels and we all wanted to create something that was overwhelming, chaotic, nauseating, and extremely fast and technical without losing sight of the primal Black/Thrash elements. If done correctly I think this will inherently challenge the listener.
As far as being a challenge for me, it is definitely that. Moving these songs from the studio to the stage has presented the biggest hurdle for me as a musician/vocalist in my life. I thrive on musical challenges however. It’s going to be very impactful on everyone when we conjure these songs in live performances.
– And maybe it has something to do with these diversity the Vis Crom’s cooperation?
Vis Crom definitely has a big part to do with that. The three of us definitely have our own styles and we embrace one another bringing their own to the table. I think one of the strong points of the album is the noticeable definition between the writing styles because it all works well together. The diversity works in benefit of the atmosphere and overall flow from track to track. It helps the album from becoming stale as well.
– Anyway, Proscriptor has always been the band’s leader; how much input did you and Vis Crom have in the songwriting process?
We all had a great deal of input. I was the first one to contribute songs and everyone liked them. The same positive reaction went for Vis Crom’s tracks which came shortly afterwards. No one had to say, “This song is not good enough” because we all took our writing very seriously. A lot of thought and experimentation was done before we brought what we had to the other guys.
It sounds like a clichéd comment but it really was a group effort on this album. All three of us worked together very closely and everyone brought 1/3 of the effort needed. For the next album however I hope we can write even more closely together.
– Talking about the songwriting I would like to know how was like for track «A Song for Ea», as it lasts over 14 minutes and seems to have different parts. Was it easy to create a tune like this?
It could have been a lot harder on me thanks to Vis Crom contributing the vast majority of the riffs . Proscriptor and Vis Crom were mostly responsible for the arrangement but my largest contribution is the song, “Third Tablet”. Because the track is purposefully the consolidation of 6 smaller songs, it was possible to see the song in sections, focus in on those, then move on and analyze the big picture. I would say “Earth Ripper” actually presented the biggest challenge for us, but again it turned out very well.
– This time around you have also provided many vocals. How was like this experience?
It was not nearly as difficult as I imagined it to be. I love doing the vocals live for Absu and it was pretty much just like bringing that energy into the studio. Proscriptor’s lyrics and vocal patterns are always great but I think he out-did himself this time. When you are screaming with full intensity, and giving 100 percent to your voice, it really helps to have quality lyrics that elicit emotion. The proper aggression and intensity flows out from the vocal chords much smoother. I don’t know if I could give a great performance if I was just singing about the same old bullshit that most bands rehash.
The vocals were all tracked by Proscriptor at the studio and then he sent them to me with the lyrics and notations on which parts would be mine. I came into the studio shortly after and it was finished very quickly. I think I did all my vocals in about 4 hours. So, somewhere on this hard drive there exists a rough version of the album with only Proscriptor’s voice.
– I have always noticed in your sound certain non-Metal elements so, what are the main musical influences for ABSU?
That’s a great question because it would differ depending on who you ask in the band. As far as something being an influence on Absu, I would say for me personally there is nothing I look up to or emulate. I think the band created a style of it’s own long ago and we are continuing to do that now.
As far as what we listen to personally, It’s all over the place. Proscriptor is an enormous fan of prog rock and has very diverse tastes like myself. I have always listened to a lot of varied types of music. Lately, you can often catch me listening to Mercyful Fate, Roxy Music, Dead can Dance, Summoning, Manowar, Baroque/early classical, Slayer, Celtic Frost, Depeche Mode, Tom Waits, or Raison D’etre.
– If I’m not mistaken, you guys live in different places in the US; how do you tend to work?
I will not lie, living far apart is completely shitty. I have lived about 6 hours from Dallas for almost 2 years now and it causes constant headaches. Having said that, with the technology these days it is totally possible to write music, stay in close touch, share ideas etc . And it actually has some benefits, though they are very few. The problem is that Proscriptor and myself were used to practicing 4 days a week for about 6-8 hours each time in 2008-09 and now we have to work a lot by ourselves. When you go from the feeling of practicing a set with a band to practicing it alone it is very unexciting. But that is how we work and that is how it’s done. We will get together for 1 or 2 weeks when we need to do something and it is always ample time to get the music tight.
– I know last part of this trilogy will be named «Apsu» but, do you know something else beside that? Do you already know which themes will you cover o have already have some stuff written?
I have written 2 songs for another album which I think are good enough to make the cut. Having said that, we do not want to follow the same structure of writing and contributing that we did on Abzu so I hope the other guys are able to alter what I have come up with. We are already committed to making it the finest record of them all so that will require us to stir up the pot yet again.
– And finally, what does future have in store for you guys?
A lot of fucking touring ! You can expect that to occupy at least the first 2/3 of 2012. We will simultaneously be writing at that point for Apsu and then I’m sure we will have a somewhat dormant period when we get closer to finishing it