The Plague of Locus 2023 Tour will see THE AMENTA’s first headline shows in over 10 years. Known for uncompromising, suffocating and overpowering performances, this boundary-pushing horde are keen to bring their full assault to all shows.
You are making you way over to Perth on December 2nd, it’s been a while, when was the last time you were in Perth?
Timothy Pope: It’s been a long fucking time, that’s for sure. I think, as a band, the last time we played there was in 2013, so ten years ago, which is pretty wild. We played in Perth on the “Flesh is Heir” tour. But personally, the last time I played Perth was probably 2009 or maybe 2011. There was a period there where I wasn’t touring, as I kept having kids in the middle of tours, so I missed the last show. Either way, it’s been a long, long time. So, we are keen to get over there and destroy again. We love Perth, and obviously Cain is a local, so it should be a killer show.
Any standout memories from previous shows in Perth?
Timothy Pope: One of the most common features of my memories of any show is that there is very little of it. I have a terrible memory at the best of times, coupled with booze and everything else and it all drifts off into haze. That said, there are a few standout moments from Perth. First memory was the first time we played in Perth on the ‘Festival of the Dead Tour’ in 2007. We flew into Perth, played at Amplifier Bar and then flew back out. I think we were only there for 20 hours or something. We slept in the airport. Luckily, we were 20-something, so we were able to get up the next day and keep moving. Now that would knock me out for weeks. Another great memory was the time we were over there in 2009 with The Berzerker. We stayed at Cain’s house, before he was in the band, and he and his partner at the time, Jess, treated us very well with a killer barbeque. We then played a show with Cain’s band MALIGNANT MONSTER, and we were blown away by the change from Cain’s mild mannered, polite, home persona to the complete degenerate filth pig on stage that night. At that point we knew we had to work with him.
Any Perth metal bands you are familiar with and are fans of?
Timothy Pope: Obviously we have connections with MALIGNANT MONSTER, and then there are legendary acts like THE FUROR (who we first met on the first BEHEMOTH tour, big fan of Louis’ action), of course INFECTED, who were very inspirational. Then there’s DEADSPACE, the legendary CUNTSCRAPE, WARDAEMONIC, PESTIS CULTIS, EARTH ROT, ALLEGIANCE, and IMPACT WINTER. And of course, we can’t forget the bands that are joining us for this show: the excellent CRYPT CRAWLER, ASHEN and DOOMCAVE. With these bands on board, you know this show is going to be a crushing evening of nastiness.
You are about to release a new EP ‘Plague Of Locus’ with 1 new track and a swathe of diverse covers. How did the choice of covers come about?
Timothy Pope: The covers are a tribute to the bands and artists that have inspired us over the years, particularly for our 2021 album, “Revelator”. During the making of that album, we were talking about what we wanted to do and talking about albums, as we generally do, that we were listening to at the time. We found that we were all listening to a lot of the music from the 90’s and early 2000’s that we were listening to at the time of making our first album. We released that that period of time was completely formative for us and laid the groundwork for everything we’d done since, so we wanted to pay tribute to that time but releasing a kind of “mix tape” of some of those inspirations.
Two of the drum tracks were actually recorded at the same time as the drums for “Revelator” and, at one point, were potentially going to be on that album but we decided to keep that one to originals. With those two covers already started to a very small extent, we decided to expand the release and spent a while brainstorming ideas of songs to cover. The band was reasonably democratic in our decisions. Some songs were suggested by individuals, but we all had to agree on them. I think we ended up with a very varied tracklist which is going to be pretty interesting for people. There’s certainly a lot of different sounds and directions on the release.
What twists and turns have you managed to eek out onto these covers?
Timothy Pope: Everything went through “THE AMENTA meatgrinder” so all the songs changed to a certain extent. For example, the DIAMANDA GALAS cover goes from a synth and percussion avant-garde thing to a total black metal church burner. By now people would have heard the versions of ALICE IN CHAINS’ ‘Angry Chair’ and KILLING JOKE’s ‘Asteroid’, so they would have heard how we bent those out of shape, adding new noise with violins and feedback as we do, plus ramping up the doom and grit of the songs. Other tracks are even further out. The cover of MY DYING BRIDE’s ‘Black God’ takes the melancholia of the original and turns it into a hymn for self-loathing and slit wrists, transposing the piano and violin to distorted bass and homemade feedback synth. The LORD KAOS and NAZXUL covers lean into Erik’s unique brand of guitar violence, a storm of down picking and chords bent into new shapes.
Will the creepy Cain masks be making an appearance and how bad do they smell now?
Timothy Pope: Would people prefer the creepy masks? Or our rotting faces? The answer is obvious, the masks are coming out. And fuck do they stink. My mask has been sitting in my gear back since the last time we played. I suspect I will pull it out and suck in a mouthful of black mould at the first show. But that’s how you get into the spirit of it. Filth, stench, grim and death metal. What more could you want? Perth will experience the full show, we’ll be masked, we’ll be suited and we’ll be bringing the blast.
Are you channelling Cain when you wear those masks or are you too afraid to try that?
Timothy Pope: We made a pact never to channel Cain. There is one, that is more than enough. I spend most of the live show trying to prevent the mask from fusing with my body, the parasite trying to devour the host.
What will you bringing over in the way of merch?
Timothy Pope: We’ll have new shirts, with some completely new designs, as well as some old favourites. We’ll also have vinyl of the new release, “Plague of Locus”, which is a pretty damn good-looking piece. It’s made from recycled vinyl, so the colours are all unique and pretty wild. My copy is a weird amalgam of green and red that looks sickly, it’s great! There also should be some of the back catalogue on CD and vinyl. We don’t do any of that fancy bullshit, like branded thongs or stubby holders, so you have to be happy with actual music and related gear, I am afraid.
What else can Perth metalheads look forward to in your set for the night?
Timothy Pope: Total destruction, blast beats, off putting leering, some drool, yelling indiscriminately, non-euclidean chord shapes, feedback and booze fuelled madness. In between all that we’ll be playing songs from across the back catalogue, including a couple from “Plague of Locus”. More importantly, what can we look forward to from Perth? It’s been a while, are you people going to bring chaos?
What is on the cards for The Amenta in 2024?
Timothy Pope: We’re planning to get stuck into writing and recording the next full length. Our plan is to get another release out quickly, we want to strike while the iron is hot (for the first time in our career). It is also the 20th anniversary of our first album, “Occasus”, so we have been talking about some plans to celebrate that.
THE AMENTA ‘Plague of Locus’ Australian Tour 2023
November 16th - Sydney, The Crowbar
November 17th - Melbourne, Stay Gold
November 18th - Adelaide, Froth & Fury Festival*
December 1st - Brisbane, Soapbox
December 2nd - Perth, Amplifier*
*LO! not appearing
Tickets on sale now from www.oztix.com.au