Wednesday 1 June 2011

Basement Torture Killings - Interview

UKEM entered the basement to try to understand the deranged ramblings of BTK's Tarquin!
Thanks for speaking with UNITED KINGDOM EXTREME METAL, how are things with you?

We are good thanks, our basement is stocked with fresh meat from our recent shows with General Surgery, Desecration and Abaddon Incarnate. The turn outs were really good so we had a good supply of fresh victims to play with.

For those unfamiliar with you guys, tell us more about the band.

We formed in the Winter of 2007 in Stockholm. Brother Bertrand and I had been to a Grave show and drew inspiration from there really. We are more than just a typical band as we also utilise a large visual element to what we do. The band features 4 sadistic fucked up killers who go by the names of Bertrand, Taruqin, Prof K and The Fourth Killer. The easiest way to describe us i guess is that we are part band and part horror theatre.

Introduce each member and their role in the band.
 Bertrand is the filthiest member of the band and likes to taunt his victims before subjecting them horrific prolonged torture. He is an orator and also caresses razor wire.

 Tarquin is the most uncontrollable of the group, he gives into fits of rage which leads to horrific mutilations, he will play with body parts and nothing is taboo to him, Severed Head Felatio is a favourite for him. He also serves as an orator to the band as well as manipulating twisted sinews.
Prof K is the academic and is the most controlled of the band. He likes to use words to cause pain to his victims. He is also very adept with needles and acids. Prof K is responsible for the low end bowel evisceration in the band.

Number 4 or The Fourth Killer is the glue that holds the unit together. He owns a vehicle repair shop and likes to go to work with spanners and clubs. He is responsible for Angelic Face Batterings.
Lyrically, murder is obviously a number one topic, what are the bands inspirations? Do you research your subjects, or is it all just in your minds?

We draw inspirations from a variety of sources. Some is from the true crime section of the library, The Wests, Ted Bundy and Ivan Milat have featured in songs so far. We also have a clip from Denis Rader (BTK Killer) on the beginning of Pretty Woman. Horror movies have also played there part in our lyrical approach. Cigarette Burns (Short film part of the Masters Of Horror series) and Switchblade Romance have all lent there wait to our gorgasms. Although we also draw on our own inspiration as well and we always add our own twist on everything we do. Its boring just regurgitating tales about serial killers, plus Macabre already do that way better than we ever could.

Musically, where do you guys draw influence from?

We draw musickal inspiration from a variety of areas. Mainly its old school death stuff, bands like Deicide, Carcass, Entombed, Death, Napalm Etc. But we also draw inspiration from a load of other bands, the things is there are very few bands that we all like out side of the classics although we all get off on General Surgery, Haemorrhage, Exhumed etc. For me I also like a lot of Black Metal stuff, early Mayhem, Emperor, Dissection, Arkhon Infaustus have all left a mark.

Your style reminded me of Aborted, is this a fair comparison?

I really like Aborted but the others aren't so keen. I think they are a fair reference point but I wouldn't say we sound that much like them really. There early stuff was great. The one thing we have got in common with those guys though is that we both really like to have awesome art work. I think they use some of the best imagery in all of the genre.

How has ‘The Second Cumming’ been received?

Really well so far. We have received really good reviews outscoring a lot of our peers such as Negrophagia, Vomitory and even Cerebral Bore so on that front it’s all good. We have also nearly ran out of our first pressing so demand is high.

What releases do you have planned for the future? Will any future releases be on Arcane Promotions or would you hope to move to a bigger label?

Our deal with Arcane is a one album deal so the door is open, but in all honesty they have done everything we could have asked so far so it would have to be a very good offer for us not to stay with them. We are just about to start writing the next album, although I would really like to do a split if possible as well. I have 3 or 4 song ideas already and I am really happy with them so whatever we do should be ace. We do have a working title of "Gorgasmic Movements In The Dark" although whether that changes is any ones guess.

For those that haven’t experienced BTK live, what can we expect?
A full on barbarous orgy of murder blood and guts! The shows are really full on, we don't have any in between song banter or anything like that. We play a fast and furious set and the characters get to explode.

How would you guys describe ‘your sound’?

Gore Obsessed, Serial Killer Worshippin, shit inducing, death fucking metal. That was easy, we did it as our first shirt back print!

What should we expect from the band in the near future? Any tour plans?
We are playing a double event in June with Deicide at London Death Fest and the we are playing a Terrorizer Grindhouse night in Birmingham. We also have a 3 date tour with Cancerous Womb and Amputated, we are also playing the Altars Of Death festival as part of that bill. Then we have dates in Newcastle and Edinburgh (Blastonbury) in October. We will also be squeezing in some Irish dates before the end of the year as well so things are fairly busy for us.

Thanks once again for speaking with us. Any last words you wish to share with our readers?

Remember, killing is big and clever haha. Thanks for the interview and good luck with the site.


No comments:

Post a Comment