Viscera: Searching For Equilibrium
Some may roll their eyes when they hear the term ‘supergroup’ but there are particular circumstances where it is wholly appropriate. The arrival of deathcore powerhouse VISCERA is one of them. Moulded from former members of HEART OF A COWARD, MARTYR DEFILED, ABHORRENT DECIMATION, NERVECELL and SURFACES, this monstrous collective should not be taken lightly.
“It was kind of a brainstorming idea really off the back of being in different bands in the past and forming friendships along the way,” discusses frontman Jamie Graham. “It was initially started with Ross and Alex who are no longer in the band but I had Adam [guitars] in mind from day one. I knew him from my time in HEART OF A COWARD, he helped us out with merch and various bits and pieces on the road. We didn’t have the intention of forming a band but what started out as a few ideas turned into that. We just wanted to get together and make the music we wanted to make and try some stuff that we hadn’t really done before.”
The band dropped their debut effort, Obsidian, only to be greeted by the pandemic, knocking the trajectory of the band back considerably. “We seem to have a sort of unlucky streak!” Jokes Jamie. “Firstly Obsidian was released during the pandemic, our tour plans fell through and then our drummer left but we decided to keep going. We feel like Carcinogenesis is a bit more cohesive of a record. With Obsidian we went through a lot of stylistic changes and were still finding our sound but on this record we wanted to make sure the songs were engaging by finding a balance between being catchy and having the technical, heavy aspects.”
Follow-up release Carcinogenesis has picked up where Obsidian left off but expanded their sound to form an even more devastating beast. “The artwork is a bit of a continuation of the artwork for Obsidian where we had Delilah weaving her vortex,” explains Jamie. “She also features in the artwork for Carcinogenesis but just in the background this time. You can see her if you squint a bit! We knew straight away we wanted to continue using Shindy for the artwork again as he has a style that just fits the aesthetic we’re going for. From a lyrical standpoint, it is quite metaphorical. I like to leave them open to interpretation but there is still a bit of a thematic sort of story/lore aspect to it. I didn’t want to go too personal this time as with Obsidian I had a lot of things going on in my life and they were directly related to that struggle. There is an overshadowing theme of mankind’s inherent nature to be its own worst enemy and squander what they have.”
Jamie has had a ridiculously consistent track record of stellar vocal performances throughout his storied career. VISCERA is no different as he continues to delve deeper into his arsenal. “I feel like my vocals flow quite naturally between styles. I had a few chances to experiment with different styles and at times I didn’t really know what I was doing. I just did it, like sitting in that kind of lower-mid range pocket, still singing a lot but using less of the high screams I used in SYLOSIS and HEART OF A COWARD. I feel like I’ve got quite a flexible style and that was just from trial and error, listening to stuff like PANTERA and KILLSWITCH ENGAGE back in the day, a lot of 90s and 2000s metal. We don’t want to restrict ourselves to a particular style or have that level of elitism where we shoot ourselves in the foot. I’ve always loved bands who thought outside of the box like CYNIC, DEATH, OBSCURA and their approach to experimentation.”
Following the unfortunate passing of the iconic figurehead of Unique Leader Records, Erik Linmarkin, there was a gaping hole at the head of the table. Jamie picked up the torch and ran with it, ensuring that the label continues to be one of the most impressive collections of artists on any roster. He has poured his utmost dedication into the position and sadly this meant full time commitment to a band was seemingly out of the question.
“I think it will always be the case where the label comes first,” explains Jamie. “That’s actually why I ended up leaving HEART OF A COWARD as I wanted to focus more on my career as there is a much longer window of opportunity for me to be able to do this. I can keep doing things with the label well into my 50’s and 60’s but the band stuff is a young man’s game. I don’t want to be smashing my neck in on stage at that age! I’ll always continue to make music in the studio though even if I do end up stopping touring. We’ve made peace as a band that VISCERA was never going to be a full-time endeavour unless it absolutely boots off and we’re making more money than we do in our day job. It’s probably going to be a while before we get to tour now anyway while we’re on the hunt for a new drummer so we might as well just write another record while we’re at it! We don’t want to rush into our choice of drummer as we’ve set a standard that we’re not willing to compromise on. If we can’t replicate the live show we’ve already given to people then we’re not going to play live until we can. The version of us that played on our last tour could have gone out and stood up against anyone with terms of musical proficiency.”
Carcinogenesis is out now via Unique Leader Records.
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