Sanguisugabogg: A Schlocky Horror Metal Show
Escapism is a wonderful thing; transporting us to all manner of fantastical realms, whether it be by video game, book or albums that conjure brand new vistas to lose ourselves in. There’s also a school of thought that takes escapism less seriously, opting to eschew mysticism or esoteric worlds in favour of something far less serious. Take SANGUISUGABOGG, for instance, who create the kind of downtuned, death metal gorefest that plants its tongue firmly in its cheek with their creatively gruesome lyrics and obnoxious old-school death metal stylings.
If you’ve been paying attention to the news lately, you might have noticed parts of America are experiencing some fairly extreme wintery weather, the kind that makes you wish for some escapism. “We can’t really get anywhere, the roads are so fucked up. I’ve just been smoking weed, writing music and shit,” guitarist Cameron Bogg opines on the state of things. Despite the vicious nature of their music, he’s remarkably laid back and clearly thankful for all the opportunities and progress the band have made since their demo, Pornographic Seizures, made them critical darlings of the underground. “I never dreamed, in a million years, Century Media would pick us up. When we first started doing it, me and Cody, our drummer who records us too, got together to jam and record [the demo] in his mom’s basement. Once [previous label that released their demo] Maggot Stomp got hold of it, everything started popping.”
His enthusiasm is infectious and it’s not hard to understand why. That demo, Pornographic Seizures, went viral quickly in the death metal underground, garnering them attention not just locally, but globally too. “We went on a bunch of tours and the first few were amazing, we figured we love being on tour so we kept on going. Started playing sold out shows and that was mind-blowing to us, we were like ‘what the fuck?’, ‘cause like, I can’t believe people like us! We just have fun, and I think it’s helped a lot. I never thought Century Media would want anything to do with us so we’re pretty stoked about it!” They’re not taking anything for granted, and it shows in their attitude both to touring and their new deal.
It’s made even more incredible when you consider the style of music SANGUISUGABOGG play. Taking the gore of CANNIBAL CORPSE and others of their brutal ilk and running it through some seriously heavy, riff-focused old school death metal, it’s a sound that while not groundbreaking, still sounds quite unique – something they credit to their perhaps more unorthodox writing style. “I try to make everything a bit different. I try to evolve everything we do a little bit,” he explains. “I really get inspired by THREE 6 MAFIA, TOMMY WRIGHT, kind of like Memphis horror rap type stuff. It’s been a huge inspiration for me, writing weird melodies and slams.”
This off-piste inspiration also means that he doesn’t listen to much – if any – death metal while writing either. When asked about this, he replies “I’m not a huge old school death metal fan, that’s probably kinda weird! I like CANNIBAL CORPSE, MORBID ANGEL, DYING FETUS, but for the most part I’m not huge on a lot of stuff, I find it gets repetitive and boring and I try not to recycle stuff.” When it comes to how his love of hip hop translates to their own, incredibly different, output, to them it’s all about translating that rhythm or flow into a riff. “There’s always certain songs where I’m smoking weed and writing and I’ll hear some melody or a beat and it’ll just click in my brain. I’ll start playing a guitar part in my brain, it won’t be the exact same but it’ll give me ideas for different weird slams, different rhythmic things to do and I end up transferring it to guitar. It’s how [the album] ended up being what it is, me coming up with weird rap beat type melodies and trying to play it on guitar!”
This sense of doing something a bit different and having fun is deeply rooted in who they are as individuals, too. “SANGUISUGABOGG was meant to be something Cody and I just had fun with and I didn’t expect anyone to ever listen to us or even that we’d play a show. We’re best friends, all four of us. We hang out, smoke weed, play music, some really heavy shit and I guess people like it so it’s pretty cool.” So despite the gory subject matter, really, it’s all about fun and inclusivity for them. “I think you can do horror, gruesome stuff and still have fun with it. Troma [Entertainment, horror movie studio] always do really bloody scenes, but it’s so goofy that you laugh at it. I think we have a fun way we deliver it, we create horror movies as audio in a Troma way. We deliver it like MUNICIPAL WASTE, as a party band but like, all our lyrics are just gross!”
From crossing off their bucket list of working with the legendary Troma Entertainment for Menstrual Envy (and an upcoming video he hinted at during our chat), to signing to Century Media for their debut despite only forming in 2019, SANGUISUGABOGG are embracing the opportunities afforded them, all without losing their goofy, fun edge that’s propelled them this far and even have a secret project they hinted at (“we’re doing something pretty crazy! It’s very different, we’re so stoked about it!”) in the works. 2021 is theirs for the taking.
Tortured Whole is out now via Century Media Records.
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