The Canadian trio known as Gasmask Symphony certainly doesn't mess around with their post-apocalyptic, war-tinged, hellish black metal, and this is abundantly clear from their debut album. I interviewed Assassin, one of the founding members of this blackened horde, not only about their musical approach and lyrical themes, but also about their plans for their next album and the possibility of performing live. So immerse yourself now in a world of nuclear wars, violence, death, and utter terror!!!
Greetings, Assassin! Gasmask Symphony's debut album has been infecting the depths of the underground for some time now. How is this infernal masterpiece selling, and what has the feedback been like so far? By the way, how many copies of the CD did you release?
Hails to thee. The album has been doing well and has received positive feedback from the underground community. We decided upon a limited run of 500 copies for this release. The album is also available digitally through our bandcamp page.
The title of the album, "Savage Symphony of Hateful Hymns & Anthems for the Apocalypse", pretty much sums up the essence of your lyrics and music. Nevertheless, could you tell our readers more about the themes of your lyrics and their spiritual purpose?
The album is a reflection of the world in which we are forced to exist. The air is poison, the water is poison, the food is poison and the minds of the masses have been poisoned. I cannot speak to the specifics as it was WarBanger that wrote and performed them. The purpose is quite clear.
The music for this sick and filthy post-apocalyptic creation was written back in 2005, but why did it take two decades for this material to finally see the light of day? Where did you end up recording the album, and who was responsible for mixing and mastering?
The band started with myself and Nailbomber because we both liked the war, bestial, caveman style of black metal. After Horde of Worms disbanded we lost touch due life getting in the way. We reconnected in 2020 and decided that we wanted to do a proper version of the music from our demo which we both still listened to. We recorded at the Gasmask Symphony rehearsal space and tracked bass and vocals in both my studio and WarBanger's kitchen. It was mixed largely by myself and Nailbomber and was mastered by VB who was referred to us by the band Adversarial.
The album cover and layout created by ELITE Design turned out perfectly, just like your logo. Was all of this created by your singer, WarBanger? Did he work out everything on his own, or were the designs based on shared ideas?
There was a basic old logo I drew, but I will say that it was completely WarBanger that is responsible for this awesome artwork. As a side note, he is also responsible for the Antihuman Kutte logo.
Your music is very aggressive and straightforward. How would you personally define it for our readers? What influenced you when creating the music?
I would describe the music of Gasmask Symphony as black speed or war metal though it is hard for me to describe in simple terms as there is a death metal, thrash metal and crust element to the music as well. Life and observation of the human species is enough to fuel the vitriol in our creations. Musically speaking, we were influenced by raw sick bands like Vondur, Impaled Nazarene, Blasphemy, Darkthrone and Necromantia to name a few.
It's interesting that for two songs, "Radiation Sickness" and "Winds of Ash", you switched instruments with Nailbomber, meaning that you played drums on those songs while he played guitar. Why was that necessary, or was it planned that way from the start?
It has been that way from the start. Both Nailbomber and I play guitar and drums. We both wrote music for the project and until WarBanger joined it was just the two of us doing everything. We plan to do this live eventually as well.
I don't know if this is appropriate, but are you planning any live performances in the future, or is Gasmask Symphony strictly a studio band?
At the time of this writing we have not performed live. That being said there is discussion of us playing live this coming November, time shall be the teller of this tale...
You're from Toronto, Ontario. What is the current situation of the black/death metal underground scene there? Is it strong, or quite the opposite? Please mention the bands we should definitely listen to.
The scene here is getting stronger, not like it once was, but stronger nonetheless. More people are supporting the underground. Toronto has a good death metal and grindcore scene but black metal is almost non-existent because of sociopolitical reasons mainly. It depends on what style you like but bands I will mention are Adversarial, Bleeding Out, Ammo, Ubruxum, A Flock Named Murder and Truth of All Death.
It may be too early to ask, but is Gasmask Symphony's second album already in the works? If so, could you tell us more about what we can expect from the new songs?
We have discussed in the past year if we should do another album. If the music becomes and the desire is there I do not see why not. WarBanger and myself have also discussed doing a project in the industrialized black metal vein of Mysticum in the future as well. Time of course shall tell but I can almost guarantee this is not the last you shall hear from this camp.
The last apocalyptic words are yours. So spread the word!
Thank you for your support of the worldwide metal community! Support your local bands and scene, stay strong, reject weakness and wear a gasmask!!
