Asphyxia [ Death metal | Australia | Interview on May 25, 2008]

Metalthai.com >> Interview Index >> Asphyxia [ Date of interview on May 25, 2008]
Asphyxia [Date of interview: May 25, 2008] [Click here to read the review of Asphyxia 2008]
Adelaide young metallers came with the a ballistic missile, ready to destroy the metalheads around the world, let's get to know them from Browny of Asphyxia now!

First of all, please introduce yourself to Thailand.
Browny | Asphyxia: Asphyxia is a young (16-18 year old) five-piece metal band devoted to creating diverse and original heavy music.

How's the metal scene in Australia, Bro'? Especially in Adelaide.
Browny | Asphyxia: The Australian metal scene is very good; we have a very high standard of excellent heavy music, with some incredible bands. Unfortunately, many Australian bands are overlooked by both Australian and International metal fans and labels for the more popular European and North American bands. It also very hard to get your music heard, with Australia being a sea-locked country and such a large country with such small population. Touring nationally is very expensive and time consuming because the capital cities are geographically so far apart, and to get out of Australia to play shows is extremely difficult and expensive. This is partly why it is so difficult for Australian bands to expand their fan-base and become more popular.

The Adelaide metal scene is quite good and has been very kind to us. However, in the last 5 years the Adelaide metal scene has been overshadowed by the enormous Adelaide Hardcore and Metalcore scenes, with bands like I Killed The Prom Queen rising to international acclaim. Fortunately, there is not such a divide between these scenes now, and Adelaide metal is becoming increasingly popular.

Many metal bands around the world choose the name "Asphyxia" for the band name like the band from Austria, Belgium, Ireland; you're the new comer, why you guys choose "Asphyxia" for a band name?
Browny | Asphyxia: We chose the name Asphyxia several years ago, and only realized the extent of other bands with the same name after we had established a name for ourselves. This is why we did not change the name. We chose Asphyxia as a name for its simplicity and variety (we didn't want a name that would limit us to any particular sub-genre of metal)

Can you brief the history of Asphyxia for us?

Browny | Asphyxia: The band was formed in 2005, by skinsman Rohan Parkhill and guitarist Tom 'Browny' Brown. The majority of 2005 was spent finding permanent members and finding a sound. By 2006, a full line-up had been decided, with the addition of Zach Taylor on vocals, Nick 'Bonno' on guitar and Marko Gal playing bass. The band spent 2006 writing and refinining their material to assure that they would make a lasting impact on the Australian metal community. 2007 marked the beginning of Asphyxia's live performance career, where the band quickly built a strong reputation for providing explosive and entertaining live sets. Asphyxia began recording a debut album in July 2007, and striving for ultimate perfection the album took around 5 months of on and off recording/mixing/mastering to complete. Drummer and founding member Rohan left the band after the recording period and was succeeded by Brody. Despite setbacks the album was released in March 2008.

Let's talk about your new album "Asphyxia", please brief the music and content on your new album for the metalheads who never heard that?
Browny | Asphyxia: The debut album was recorded at Against The Grain Studios (www. myspace. com/againsthegrainstudio), and has an excellent and accessible production. With 'Asphyxia'; we blended a wide range of influences to create a unique brand or melodic, brutal and progressive metal. We tried to make exciting heavy music, which subtly broke boundaries of heavy metal arrangement.

Have the secret behind the cover of the album? What do you want to convey to the audiences by the cover of Asphyxia?
Browny | Asphyxia: The fantastic artwork featured album was designed by Becky Bogert (www. myspace. com/againsthegrainstudio) and was indented to represent the band's title 'Asphyxia' by using some post-apocalyptic, industrial imagery. We thought that while our music and lyrics do not necessarily relate to this imagery, that it would fit nicely with our band name and album title for this introductory release.

Please define the musick of Asphyxia?
Browny | Asphyxia: It is difficult to place the band in any specific sub-genre of metal. From a listeners perspective the music might potentially sound like a progressive mix of technical, brutal and melodic death metal.

The musick in this album, I think you guys had tons of idea and try to input them into your songs 'till make your musick rather variation, what do you think about this?
Browny | Asphyxia: This is defiantly the case. From the start we never wanted to make a 'death metal' album or a 'melodic metal' album, we wanted to blend everything we love about heavy music into the one band. We were sick of listening to death metal albums where everything would be in drop C and over 200 BPM and progressive or technical bands that would focus too much on being extreme and bizarre for an entire record. So we decided that we would try to make an album which had enough variety to remain interesting throughout, something that you could listen to many times in its entirety without getting bored.

Okay, mite, What is Asphyxia's plans in the future?
Browny | Asphyxia: We are constantly writing new material and playing local shows, but we have high ambition to play interstate and international shows and get international supports. Unfortunately, because we are under 18 and attend high school and tertiary education, it will be very difficult for us to do so. So I suppose our main focus is to continue to write more of the interesting music that we have built a reputation for and keep trying to increase our international fan base.

If metalheads who read this interview interest your stuff, how should they do?
Browny | Asphyxia: Our most comprehensive and regularly updated website is www.myspace.com/asphyxiametal, where people can check out and download tracks from the album and can also purchase the CD.

Well, that's all at the end of interview, any last words for the metalthai's readers.
Browny | Asphyxia: Stay metal and support Aussie metal!