| 1.
How did the band get started? How did you meet and how long have you
been together? Krist: The band started in spring of 1998 when Mourn, Lord Iscariot and Wrath decided to get together and write some songs. Wraith soon left the band due to family obligations, which left Mourn (guitar) and Lord Iscariot (drums/vocals.) They decided to announce that they were in search of a bassist and/or second guitarist on a local underground metal radio show. I (Krist) answered to call, tried out and was soon the bass player and backup vocalist of Abysmal Fall. Through various experiences with prospective fourth members, we decided that we worked best musically and personally as a three piece. The line-up now consists of Mourn (guitar), Lord Iscariot (drums and vocals) and Krist (bass and backing vocals.) 2. How would you describe your music? Krist: The music is a mix of black and death metal and we occasionally throw in some other elements from our varied musical backgrounds. We like to play acoustic interludes in the songs, to keep things interesting and we like to avoid such staples of generic metal such as continuous double bass or non-stop grind. Since we listen to everything from Miles Davis to Mozart to Dark Funeral to Suffocation we have a lot of music to draw on when creating our own. I think this is one of the main reasons why we are able to create harsh brutal music that still has a definite flair of originality. I think that is a rather impressive feat in today's underground, where there are about 10,000 bands trying to sound like Darkthrone and another 10,000 trying to sound like Suffocation or Cannibal Corpse. 3. What are your biggest influences? Krist: I like all kinds of music. In general, I'm a big fan of jazz such as Branford Marsalis and funk such as Parliament Funkadelic; I enjoy a lot of improvisational stuff. As far as metal I'm very much into bands like Opeth, Suffocation, Dark Funeral, Marduk, Fleshtized, Deeds of Flesh, Carcass and Dissection. I'm really sick of all the boring generic bands I hear, so that has kind of cooled my enthusiasm for metal lately. It just seems like there are a lot of bands blatantly ripping each other off. That is something AF tries to avoid at all costs. I know Mourn has similar music tastes to mine in that he likes a great deal of diversity in his music. Lord Iscariot is more "metal oriented" in that he listens mainly to black, death and thrash metal. 4. What influence do you think your bands has in music and metal today? Krist: Most likely very little. We're still a new band. Hopefully people have heard our music and enjoy it, but I doubt we've been around enough to make very much of an impact. The fact that we're not yet signed (at this point I'm screaming vulgarities due to my aggravation) might also have something to do with it. 5. What made you want to be in the band? And if you weren’t in the band what would you be doing now? Krist: I like playing bass and I like metal, so it's kind of self-explanatory why I would want to be in this type of a band. If I wasn't in AF I would probably be playing bass in some other band or concentrating on finishing high school. I don't know about Mourn and Lord Iscariot. I believe they are in the band for the same reasons as I am, but I don't know what they'd be doing if they weren't in a band…probably having numerous nervous breakdowns or going on tri-state killing sprees. 6. Are any band members in side projects? If so what are they, and explain a little about them. Krist: We currently have a few side projects in the works, but nothing concrete as of yet and nothing that is really metal-oriented. I'd rather not get into specifics since most of the readers probably wouldn't be interested in the stuff we write on the side. One of the projects is a blues/grind band that is based lyrically and musically on the exploits an amusing serial killer known as Albert Fish. We plan on calling the band "Implements of Hell," a name which Fish used to describe the tools he used to dismember a young girl whom he later cannibalized. It's kind of a joke thing lyrically, but the music is actually rather well-written. If anyone wants more info, I don't know why they would, they are free to write me. 7. How would you feel if a band took their sound from yours and became very well known? Krist: If I knew the band and could tell that they stole from us I would be quite angry. If not, I'd just be glad that music similar to ours was being recognized. 8. What current bands do you like or respect? Krist: Metal: Opeth, Dark Funeral, Suffocation, Dissection, Marduk, Deeds of Flesh, Fleshtized, Carcass, Death, Soilent Green, Dillenger Escape Plan, Agiel, Immolation, Nile, Pessimist, Internal Bleeding, Lorde of All Desires. Non-metal: Electric Hellfire Club, Dave Matthews Band, Parliament Funkadelic, Jason Becker, Joe Satriani, Bach, Vivaldi, Steve Vai, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Branford Marsalis, BB King, Albert King, SRV and lots more. 9. How many demos/albums do you have? Tell me about them!! Krist: We currently have two releases; Spit in the Face of Christ (1999) and Borne Against (2000). Spit is more raw and harsh while Borne is more "brutal" (as the kids like to say.) Actually, I think the defining factor of Borne is that it is more diverse than our first in terms of music influence. Both CDs are a blend of black and death metal with an emphasis on song-writing rather than being overly technical or overly minimalist. People seem to be split as to which release they like better. Each release is still available through us. Both releases feature excellent production because they were both mastered at GFI Studios (e-mail at: Beyondgfi@aol.com) in Rochester, NY. We pride ourselves in having a very professional, listenable sound. People can say whatever they wish about our music, but at least it doesn't sound like we recorded in our goddamn bathrooms!!! 10. What demo/album do you like the best? Krist: I like Borne Against a great deal more than our first release. It is a very diverse CD. I'm not cocky or anything, but I am rather proud to have been a part of making Borne, it certainly stands apart from 99% of the music I hear today. This doesn't necessarily mean I feel its "better" than anything else, just different. We don't really sound like any other band, which has always been a goal of ours. 11. What is the meaning behind the songs? Krist: The songs are all centered around the theme of Anti-Christianity. We try to address various aspects of this theme; from child-molesting priests to parents who favor religion over their child's health to songs about the pain people endure for a god who may or may not exist. We avoid the usual, generic/stereotypical trappings of the genre at all costs (i.e. the "Satan worshipping" crap). Personally, I'm not to fond of the practices of Christianity or any other organized religion, but this doesn't mean I'm at home slaughtering goats or doing any of the other things the media wants you to associate with "Satanism." It also doesn't mean I hate all Christians, I just have a difference of opinion with them over religion. Lord Iscariot pretty much has an intense hatred for anything even remotely Christian though; so he'd probably make a more interesting subject to interview. 12. What are the bands favorite songs? Krist: My favorite AF song is "Save Your Savior." It's harsh, relentless and I think it has a unique song structure. I do like all of our songs though, I just feel "Savior" stands out particularly. 13. What does the future hold for the band? Krist: We'll keep playing and writing new material. Hopefully we'll get signed. I'm kind of sick of seeing labels sign no-talent rip-off bands and ignoring us, especially when we could use some financial assistance in recording our next CD…but our time will come eventually. 14. If you could play with any band who would it be and why? Krist: This one. I enjoy writing music with my bandmates. I know I can write whatever I want and not have to worry about maintaining some moronic "image" with them. 15. Who writes the majority of the music? Krist: Mourn writes a great deal of the music while Lord Iscariot writes all of the lyrics. I help out with vocal patterns and song structures and I write a couple of parts. 16. Where did you get the band name from? Krist: The band name basically just means to descend downward into the abyss. Lord Iscariot and Mourn came up with it to represent the thematic elements of our music. 17. Describe what the band is like live? Krist: We've had some problems with our live shows since we keep getting banned from places. We do things such as blow fire, burn bibles, spit worms, desecrate pictures of christ, vomit on statues of the virgin Mary and toss around severed animal heads on stage. Our stage show basically represents the music we play…except for the animal heads. I'm clueless as to what they have to do with anything. I think they're just there because they fun to smash and toss around. There's nothing like leaving the band playing after you with a pig-blood splattered stage to deal with. 18. If you are gonna do any kind of video what would be in it? Krist: It would just be a live video featuring live performances and various humorous outtakes. I think that in and of itself would be entertaining enough for most. We are actually putting such as video together as we speak. It should be ready by late summer. I suppose we'll be selling them at shows and to people who write us. 19. Are there any touring plans made; if so tell me about them? Krist: Nope. Since I'm a decade younger than the other guys in the band I'm still in high school and I have to go to college next year. This makes touring hard. Plus all of us have jobs. We greatly enjoy playing out of town shows though so we'll probably be doing a lot of those. It's also hard to tour when you don't have a label or anything to back you up. 20. Where do you think the band will be 20 years from now? Krist: Hopefully still playing. |
