Interview with Rob of Embryonic Depravity

Hey Rob, how's the weather been in the UK lately? We appreciate you taking time out of your schedule to work with Slam-Minded.

Haha yeah it's been typically rainy. Although you should visit here in the summer, it's starting to get a lot hotter because of global warming, not that I believe all that Al Gore bullshit... but that's a different story. Thanks for setting up the interview!

Can you tell us in depth about Embryonic Depravity's influences? What contributes to your playing style, your performing style?

Well our main influence has to be the California scene, started by legendary bands like Disgorge and Deeds Of Flesh and as sick as ever nowadays with bands like Inherit Disease and Banishment. I think we mostly aim towards a more technical groove with our style and that's where the influence derives from.

As for performing, we're constantly trying to intensify our output, both live and on recording. Hopefully some day we'll get to where we hope to be.

How did you get into contact with Permeated Records? How has your experience with the label been overall?

Well they actually first contacted us through myspace, after hearing our promo tracks. They said they were interested in what we were doing and wanted to keep in contact. After we'd finished recording for the 4 way split (out soon hopefully) they asked us to send over a CD of the tracks. After listening carefully they decided to make us an offer.

As for our experience with them, we've only just recently signed the contract so I can't really say a lot yet, but as far as I know they are a very professional label who take a lot of pride in promoting their bands. This is part of the reason we chose to sign with them, as we had quite a few other offers but none of them seemed as good as Permeated.

We understand you'll probably be recording for a new album soon to be released on that label. How are you guys going about this?

Well at the moment we're still in the writing process, that's why the release date is roughly set for the end of the year. We're hoping to use a good extreme metal studio and producer for this. There are not many in this country but we may try to contact Mick Kenny of Anaal Nathrakh about using his studio to record, as he seems to be one of the best with what he's put out in the past. It's not like the States where certain studios are dedicated to death metal!

After that record, are you guys gonna stay with Permeated or seek out similar brutal labels so more people can hear your stuff?

Well I guess we'll make a decision when the time comes. So far Permeated seems like one of the best labels we could hope for, so I guess we'll just see what happens with the release of the album and how they handle it.

How does it feel to come from a developing scene in slam death? The UK isn't exactly known for brutal death metal, but we noticed that you guys have a small, growing, tightknit community going.

We've never really considered ourselves a slam death band. I'd say there may be a couple of riffs in our material that could fit that style but as far as we're concerned our style is brutal death, and the scene we come from is the brutal death scene, which includes slamming bands and other styles.

The UK brutal death scene is like a family, there aren't a lot of bands but there's definitely a unity there. We're proud to be a UKDM band and fully support our bro's in Ingested, Fleshrot, Infected Disarray, Bludgeon, Kastrated, Decrepit Womb, Dyscarnate, Cerebral Bore, Blasphtized and more! Check out the UKDM myspace page: www.myspace.com/ukdeathmetal there's a lot of talent to discover there!

You guys tend to use small bits of melody in your slam, in the form of technical sweep parts or tapping sections. Lots of bands seem to be doing this, but you guys really bring the mosh as well. What's the secret to your songwriting?

Haha I don't know, we really try to just bring our own vibe to our material. We want to keep it interesting but without losing the intensity and brutality. We just want people to be overwhelmed when they see us live, as if they don't know what the fuck is hitting them... hopefully it comes across.

Any bands that you guys would love to play live with, and why?

Disgorge! Because they're the sickest band ever bar none. I was really saddened to hear about the death of Ben Marlin, it's such a terrible loss and I can understand what they're going through with the [loss] of a close friend, but as a fan I hope someday they can continue as a band and carry on the legacy or brutality.

Some other's off the top of my head would be Internal Suffering, Severed Savior, Wormed and Defeated Sanity (but we're already confirmed to play with them haha).

Where do you see UK slam going in 5-10 years? Do you think it'll be as big as, say, America's brutal scene is right now?

It will never be as big as the scene in America. The UK is tiny in comparison... but I like to think of the European scene as a comparison to the States. I think if you look at it that way we can easily rival you guys.

What do you think of bands from other countries? Do you see each country/region as producing bands with a unified style?

With the UK scene being small, naturally most of the bands I listen to are from overseas. I do think some countries have their own styles, I don't want to make any generalisations but I'd say Colombia and Japan have very distinct styles. A lot of great bands have come from both scenes also.

Tell us a bit about your webzine, Deranged Epidemic. We know for a fact that, if the name of your 'zine is a title from one of the first two Disgorge CDs, it's automatically awesome.

Thanks haha. I started Deranged Epidemic a few months ago because I was tired of working for other peoples zines that never really achieved anything. I wanted a website where I could control the content and themes. So I recruited Sammy from Decrepit Womb/ Indecent Autopsy to help out as I thought his writing was of a good standard and we set about making a zine dedicated to brutal death. Things are going pretty well so far with some great interviews, we just need to keep adding content and maybe someday it will be one of the bigger sources of interviews and reviews for the scene (editor note: Rob/Sammy's 'zine is available here).

What are some of the "bigger" brutal bands you've played with, and is there a chance you'll come over to the States?

Before we changed our band name one of the biggest gigs we played was as the opener for Skinless and Visceral Bleeding, that was pretty awesome although I feel like we kinda sucked back then.

Some of the biggest acts ED have played with are Gorerotted, Avulsed, and some more underground acts like Mucopus, Septycal Gorge, and Cerebral Effusion.

We'd all love to come over to the states, even for one gig! Maybe some day!

In reference to one of the above questions, do you think the UK has a "sound all its own"? If not, do you think it will ever develop one? The UK has developed kind of a taste for the bizarre in black, etc. metal so do you think it'll be similar with slam?

I doubt it. I think the UK has more of a sense of variety because (as I said before) there's not a huge amount of bands, so there's not a lot of potential for bands to sound similar to each other. But saying that, I think the most English band around has to be Gorerotted, at least on their first two releases. That's proper fuckin London haha. Crepitation and Amputated are very British bands too, it's that kind of attitude of not taking yourselves too seriously. A lot of bands from the UK (including us) aren't like that stylistically, but meet any of us in person and you'll know what makes us UKDM!

Thanks for the interview Rob! Embryonic Depravity rules and we look forward to reviewing your new album! Stay brutal.

Thanks a lot guys, sorry about the long answers... as you've maybe noticed with my zine I get a bit carried away when I start typing! Good luck with your zine and keep supporting the sick and the brutal!