Self-describing as a “highly violent, visceral, death metal band that are spurred on by the ineptitude of any form of government control and degradation of human kind”, MUTAGENIC HOST have become a relenting force since their inception and first release in 2023. We caught up with vocalist, Ash Moore, a month after their seminal debut release, The Diseased Machine, which has whipped up a serious storm in the British death metal scene.
“Our mantra has always been to do all killer, no filler,” Ash explains as he details the 8 months of writing their latest record. Including only what the band felt was their best material and discarding the rest. “Ultimately, our main goal is just to create the best music that we possibly can, and also the most honest and the most true music we can,” adds Ash. “The Genotoxic Demo had a really good response and that spurred us to go on and write something of merit.” And the band have definitely achieved what they set out to do, amassing 180,000 streams, receiving an 8/10 in Metal Hammer and landing the position as one of best selling albums on Bandcamp in the genre.
“We weren’t ready for this response,” Ash admits, informing that the reaction to the LP is not something the band considered when crafting the record. “We just wanted to write something that we were proud of and thought contributed to death metal in this country and everybody that came before us. As huge fans of death metal we wanted to be able to reach even the slightest bit of quality from the likes of BOLT THROWER, CARCASS and CANCER.” What was of great importance to the band was who brought out the record “I think what is most important is that we went out with Dry Cough and Gurgling Gore. Dry Cough is our home and it’s the home of British death metal,” Ash states. “We’re essentially a DIY band and they’re DIY labels.”
The varied musical backgrounds across the members of MUTAGENIC HOST spanning into doom, black and traditional metal territories account for the numerous influences and touches that seep into their material. But, it’s the unification of hardcore and death metal that allow the staunch themes that pack significant fuel into their tracks to flourish. “We saw the ways in which hardcore was able to project its thoughts in a very direct way to an audience and we wanted to replicate that in death metal.”
Prior release, The Genotoxic Demo, was born out of the dismay following the hellscape that was the pandemic. Their latest release takes a dive into an arguably more profound, sinister topic, the looming threat of AI. Reflecting on his upbringing and appreciation of socialism and communism, Ash discloses, “where it all starts is the loss of autonomy for the worker and their rights. The whole idea of AI taking away people’s jobs really means a lot to me. And that is something that will eventually take place.”
But the threat in which The Diseased Machine tackles is twofold, exploring the apocalyptic eradication of humanity through AI as well. “The other major thing is, is the destruction of life based on the unmanned systems,” Ash continues. “[It’s] a terrible thing that humanity is in the place where we can push a button and destroy a whole family, their whole lineage in one push. The disregard of human life and standards based upon some form of algorithm. We don’t understand the magnitude of those decisions [which] are being so easily made.” However, not every track is loaded with cataclysmic lyrics to harness the distress behind these topics. Closing instrumental, Rivers, is, as Ash tells, an “ode to a friend of ours who was killed in Israel, Jake Marlowe… and generally, the loss of life that’s happened over the last 10 years worldwide.”
The decision to tackle this topic came with no haste. “I said, listen, with what’s happening worldwide, with the introduction of these systems that no one has control over, there’s nothing else we should be talking about that’s worse than this.” Also, as Ash explains this the reason behind addressing this did not arise from wanting to “stand on a soapbox and preach the truth”, but rather to just report on the current situation happening now. To MUTAGENIC HOST “it’s cathartism… we just wanted to get out what we feel.”
Moving on to speak broadly about death metal and the common themes that run through the genre, Ash suggests that “death metal in its essence should be, something that takes the everyday and distorts it and shows those who are ignorant to it, what is possible possible by the hands of humans,” acknowledging that discussions on social, political and environmental matters are not a side of death metal that often rears its head. However, it’s again MUTAGENIC HOST‘s amalgamation of hardcore and death metal and the underlying ethos of the band that helps to bridge this gap. “The moral obligation of hardcore is important, as is the artistry of death metal and the projection of what is possible”. In alignment with this is their commitment to “creating an environment where everybody is invited to MUTAGENIC HOST shows, because everyone is invited to MUTAGENIC HOST shows”.
MUTAGENIC HOST really smashed 2025 in the face, only a few days in. Launching an incredible album and holding a sold out release show in London is an impressive way to kick off the year. After a short break and well deserved down time, we can only expect more relentless brutality and hopefully features on festival line ups as this trajectory continues.
The Diseased Machine is out now via Dry Cough Records.
Like MUTAGENIC HOST on Facebook.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário