Leading the way in brutal death/grind since 1994. INHUME started out as a 9 piece on the initial try-out but soon slinked down to a sextet setting out to conquer the world with unmatched brutality and grinding madness. With members and ex-members involved with other big names in today's metal scene INHUME to date is one of the biggest grind/death acts around. Colin asked some questions and Ben took the time to answer them.
So what influenced Inhume to try to be one the loudest, rocking death/grindcore bands out there in the metal world?
Ha ha, we just do what we do and this is what comes out man. We don't mean to be this or that, we just write our songs and they always seem to come out like total over the top grinding deathmetal. But you won't hear us complaining, we like what we do so...
Any big tours upcoming? Any particular line-ups you would want to have and why?
At the moment we're planning a european tour with Grimness69 (withh whom we've toured before) and possible Jungle Rot as headliner so we're realy lokking forward to hitting the road again and support our latest release "Moulding The Deformed". We would love to embark on a big tour with a band like Napalm Death because most people into grinding music would most likely want to see them and that we we could show them allthere is more in music land then the "well known".
Any good tour stories you want to mention so far? Craziest moment on the road or with fans?
Nah, to ugly to mention hehe.. being on tour is almost like one big party (at least that is what you think when you're back home for a couple of months). We've done several smaller european tours now over the past few years and so far we've really enjoyed every part of it. It seems there isn't much touring going on these days for most bands but we do hope to catch at least one tour every other year or so. (more would be better though)
The group has been around for over ten years; would you say you've finally become comfortable with your style of music or is there a constant need to evolve and experiment in order to really find your niche?
Nah, we've been happy with what we have been doing since the beginning back in '94 (a little over ten years indeed hehe). I guess we hit it of in the right direction from the start, otherwise it would not have been possible to keep doing what we've been doing for 4 albums now. People really know what to expect from Inhume which to us is a good thing! But, we do notice people change themselves over the years like people who used to (or claimed) to be into grind and now they are complaing we are to fast haha, that is so stupid! We're a grindcore/deathmetal band so if you want us to slow down or whatever try something else man.
Start from the beginning. When did some of the members of Inhume get into metal and how did that experience shape them to who they are today? What is it in metal that gives you peace or catharsis and why?
As far as i know all of us got into metal around the time when going to highschool . Like most people you get interested in music around that age and we kinda grew into the more brutal version of it all. But unlike the majority who don't listen to music anymore around the time the start their "working career" we just kept doing what we did over 20 to 25 years ago hahaha
Who are the godgrinders of the metal scene today that the band wishes to follow in Inhume's opinion and why?
Euh, none come to mind at the moment, after being in bands for so many years you kinda loose the looking up to other bands part maybe.
It says on your website that Inhume started as a nine piece but eventually cut down to a sextet. Why? What was the major difference that made it easier or more difficult to perform as six members rather than nine?
At the first rehearsal/try out there where nine people but right after that only five of them actually really started rehearsing and writing songs. While recording the first demo i joined as second guitar player after having played in another band with our drummer for 5 years before Inhume already. And now since 2007/2008 we're back as a five piece.
All of your albums so far have been brutality after brutality with a pretty straightforward formula. Do you feel it is more important as a band to stick to a style regardless of what people say or appeal to the fans' if and when they have suggestions through emails and reviews?
Personally i don't like it to much when bands switch styles or go soft after their first "great"album (so many bands come to mind...) Most of these bands seem to think they should try something different to become ever more popular but we really don't give a damn about that. We still enjoy blasting the hell out of everything so we'll just keep doing that i guess.
Moulding the Deformed is your latest offering to the metal masses. Care to talk more about what inspired/ influenced the album and why you think it is your best or worst offering to date now that it is all written and done?
Our inspiration is just everyday life and all the shit that's happening in the world these days (should give you enough horror stories to last a lifetime, right?) I really like this album and the songs we wrote, it's still Inhume like it should be so what more can i say about it?
Do any of the songs on the album have an extreme personal meaning to anyone in the band they would like to share for fans' curiosity?
Don't think so (maybe ask our vocalists if there is some hidden message in one of their lyrics haha) but as always there is a "spontaneous" track like on every album which we write while recording in the studio.
Probably only the real fans will now which 4 tracks these are?
For some it can be pretty disturbing to write some of the material that you do. What drives the band to write goregrind lyrics in a world that is already pretty dark and scary enough?
Is it goregrind? I think it's just a way of telling stories about shit happening right around the corner. We couldn't write anything as brutal as the shit you see on the news each and every day so in that way the real world is the true horror.
Do you ever take a lot of criticism for your music as being too explicit? How do you deal with that?
Nah, i just think it's weird when people say Inhume is goregrind... euh... to us Inhume is and always has been Grinding Deathmetal but maybe people just look at our album artwork and already have their opinion made? The artwork from the "Chaos Dissection order" album for example is totally awesome and anatomically correct so it's actually just a nice picture/drawing but because it's from a body we're goregrind?
Assuming many of the members have a family, do you bring your "work" home with you or do you feel it is something that stays in with the band and in the head?
When you have been around for such a long time (i've been in a band with our drummer since '89) there is not much difference between our musical work or home haha, we've been rehearsing with Inhume twice a week since '94 so it really does have it's influence on homelife of course. But if your partner is not on your side in this then i don't think it will last that long... I have been married with children for over ten years now and Inhume is just a big part of my life like right now doing this interview...
Do you think the death/grind scene or styles have changed in 2010 for the better or worse as compared to as a time likes the 80s?
The easy answer would be that it all used to be better... but i don't think it's that easy... People tend to hold on to things you know? I still like the old bands i grew up with and still listen to the old records etc. (way more then newer stuff) but the new generation may have never heard of these so that is actually a quite diffcult question.
Do you think metal overall today is still pretty diverse, or is it getting somewhat generic? Have there been any bands in the past two years who have just come into the metal world that you really admire or despise and why?
Like any normal human being i really don't like the nu-metal and all of it's variations, it just sucks. old school real music is unbeatable! with the gazzilion bands these days things have become much more difficult though. You have got to be really dedicated if you want to stay in this business.
What makes a metal band good, in Inhume's opinion, versus a metal band who is poor in their performance and musical style?
You can see in a split second if a band is enjoying what they are doing insted of doing what other people expect or want them to do and if they really want to work hard and not just suck then you're probably a good metal band.
Where do you see metal, and yourselves as a band, going in five years from now?
Right here doing another interview but then about or 6th album (meaning we'll be doing 2 albums within the next 5 years, cool huh?) I do hope that by that time things are becoming a little better for the "heavy" music scene, these days there are hardly any (underground) gigs because people just want to sit at home and get everything from myspace and youtube etc.
They probably don't even know going to a real show is the shit! And for gig organizers to stop booking totally overrated shit bands from the past who just reformed to cash in.
Again, I want to thank you guys for taking the time for talking with me and giving a little more insight to the fans about one of their (possibly) favorite grindcore bands. Last random question: If reincarnation does exist, what would you come back as and why...?
It doesn't, don't worry...
Thanks to you for asking all of these questions! cheers to BRUTALISM!
