INTERVIEW: Grave Miasma

Following their ferociously grand opus “Abyss Of Wrathful Deities” (read my review here), I had a conversation with Y of GRAVE MIASMA, a band whose Death Metal invocations have been cast upon humanity since 2006 (or 2002 if you count GOAT MOLESTOR). Below are some insights into their sonic divination…

1. Firstly, let’s go back a while. Your 2nd release was originally GOAT MOLESTOR material, so perhaps going back as far as one can, please explain the evolution or differences between GOAT MOLESTOR and GRAVE MIASMA?

Firstly, I have to commend the differentiation to the phrasing of the obligatory ‘why did you change your name?’ question; as if the reasons are not obvious enough. When forming the band, the intention was to play primitive and ugly music with a rudimentary name that correlated to this principle. Every release has featured a degree of evolution, however this became evident to us between releasing the ‘Realm…’ EP and the writing process for ‘Exalted…’, where the emphasis was placed on incorporating more atmospheric elements to which the previous band name was too limiting, and incongruent with the direction overall.

2. Following these 2 EP releases, came your “Odori Sepulcrorum” full-length album. This presented a far more esoteric and challenging listen in terms of Death Metal of truly warped, charnel nature. Elements that would later define GRAVE MIASMA while not choking your progression. What caused such a fruitful and bountiful slice of creativity and what went into making such a recording?

A lot of psychedelics, naturally! We did plan a certain course of progression, where a full length would be the fourth release as a band rather than the second, after a demo tape. This allowed us to gain more experience of the recording process, not to mention developing the methods of writing material with one another. The benefit of working at Orgone Studios for the first time enhanced the atmospherics involved, which in many respects are closely associated with our sound. 

3. This was followed by a release that I personally deem a modern essential in Death Metal, “Realm Of Evoked Doom” where perhaps some of the oddities were stripped back, yet no lessening in character or creativity was found. This felt, from the perspective of a fan, as maybe a process of reinvention and change. Was this conjured in turbulent times or did the evolution come very naturally to a band playing such unusually brilliant Death Metal?

I must correct the chronology implied here. ‘Realm of Evoked Doom’ was originally released as a 7” under the previous name in 2005, and was recorded as our second release in 2004. ‘Exalted Emanation’ should therefore be seen as the natural evolution from the sound achieved on ‘Realm…’. The 7” was pressed to a limited quantity and was not distributed as widely as hoped, hence the CD reissue from Nuclear Winter. 

4. Let us now reflect on your new offering “Abyss Of Wrathful Deities”. The deities in question, are you drawing from the pantheon of the Hindu’s, Tibetans, Sumerians, Satan, or other particular cultures? GRAVE MIASMA is no stranger to Eastern mysticism and belief systems, which I believe increases the potency of your craft. Please enlighten us, as best you are able, to the spirituality behind the band and which beings may be invoked intentionally or otherwise with your rites?

The title is a direct reference to the Wrathful Deities that appear in the Bardo Thodl text (the Tibetan Book of the Dead). At the dawn of a soulside journey these terrifying beings and visions will be encountered, and depending on our awareness through the stages of Bardo, they can be approached as allies and protectors, or shunned as fearsome demons. The abyss denotes this encounter, where paths diverge to different realms of rebirth that will be experienced. 

Aside from the album title, the otherworldly influence on the band can be summarised as follows; there are three pillars that strengthen our foundations. Firstly, there is a deep interest in practices of burial and attitudes to death found in every area of the world, and how these are revealed through religious and cultural traditions still in existence or entombed under the rubble of civilisations past. This is upheld with the second pillar, being the exploration of pre-civilisation archetypes and human consciousness through gateways brought about by partaking in sacramental psychoactive substance usage. Thirdly, all knowledge and experiential understanding on this never-ending quest is given a sense of tangibility with Grave Miasma, by uniting these factors from formlessness into form through sound. 

5. Ars Moriendee presented a gorgeous visual aspect to your new record with a truly daunting piece of art, please give us some insight on what this lurking piece represents and adds to the album. I can see what looks like Greek architecture, Some form of fallen or malevolent deity and cascading abyssal energies. Are these forms or formless elements ones with grand importance to you?

When we contacted Pedro Ars Moriendee, he disclosed that our records are often used as a soundtrack when painting. It’s always important to us that the artistic accompaniment should closely relate to the conceptual ideas of the musical content. We supplied songs from the record and some examples of Tantric art, which when writing riffs is close to what I attempt to visualise and convey, and remained in regular correspondence throughout his process of painting the three pieces of artwork. The album title took shape during the latter stage of this process, rather than the artwork being tailored to complement the album title. Not being artistically inclined, I would rather leave the visuals of the material to the mind and capabilities of someone more competent. To have an artist interpret and reciprocate the musical content through their eyes, as opposed to something of a more arbitrary nature, is an honour. 

6. It would be remiss to not mention R leaving all of his bands, including his duties in GRAVE MIASMA. While I wish for this interview to be only relevant to the band, perhaps you can tell us if this has shifted the dynamic or direction of the band, or just something you have taken in your stride? Obviously D, Y and T have been able to cast forth such a resplendently scathing album, though interestingly R has contributed, suggesting the departure was on good terms.

R did leave the band on good terms, and we remain great friends. His involvement in ‘Abyss…’ was considerable for all material written until 2019, not to mention his leads and acoustic work as stated in the liner notes. Working with R since forming the band led to a quite intuitive way of collaborating, with this is most audibly evident on ‘Odori Sepulcrorum’ and ‘Endless Pilgrimage’. 

T has absolutely everything in his locker to be a more than adequate replacement on lead guitar. Completing the material for ‘Abyss…’ had its own momentum, with T a central part of the process.

7. Playing live, has not really been on anybodies agenda for the past year. But thankfully you have recently taken to the stages again at the time of writing this. What can we expect from the new shows? GRAVE MIASMA was one of the bands I luckily saw before the world plunged into a plague-ridden state of stagnation, thus fond memories are held of your live performances. How will these rise again from the ashes? I can hope as strong, or stronger than ever.

We performed two shows in September (Copenhagen & London) since the possibility has cautiously returned. With T’s progression to lead guitar player and the addition of K on bass, we have been rehearsing extensively over the past months. Being back on stage with new material has increased our hunger and tenacity evermore. Whilst it was not intended to play any shows during 2020 in favour of working on what was to become ‘Abyss…’, the arbitrary removal of even the possibility to play live throughout this period will only serve to increase the intensity expressed when on stage. 

8. Let me finish with something positive and that all headbangers should enjoy, recommendations from one of the UK’s finest. What are your thoughts on the British underground and please feel free to recommend us some music local or overseas that you deem valuable enough to cast light on in these pages.

I’ll be honest here and state that, without much time to even listen to cherished classics, I do not actively seek to encounter much from the multitude of newer bands based here and beyond. This is unless I am recommended a particular band or release, which incidentally I believe is of a more underground mentality than checking out everything at a glance via online platforms. The latter is in my opinion closer to a consumerist ‘keeping up with the neighbours’ approach. Grab me by the collar, and implore me to give something a listen for its true relevance. I do not wish to denigrate any bands here; I have the utmost respect to anyone who puts in dedication and – above all – sincerity and personality to their craft, but I would rather give something an attentive listen 10 years later than be swept by hype. And on that note, a band from the UK that would have been huge should they have not been sandwiched between the Death Metal glory days and recent revival are Throne Of Nails, whose ‘Acts of War’ album from the early 00s I cannot recommend highly enough.