Metanoia Interview

Roooaaarrrr! The sound of a freight train? Godzilla? Nope! Try the bone crushing sounds of Australia’s death metal outfit Metanoia. Metanoia have been around for a long time with songs on many of the Australian Metal Compilations, multiple demos, and two full length albums out on Rowe Productions. They are now working on their third album for Rowe. Read on as we talk with bassist, Spud; vocalist, Yowie; guitarist, Steve a.k.a. "Yak", and drummer, Ian.

UMM: Hello mates! How’s everything down-under?

Spud: Hi Scott, we are all very good, and very hot!

UMM: Your latest CD, "Don’t Walk Dead," is a bit more extreme in style than "in darkness of in light." Would you say that this was an intentional thing or more of a
natural progression?

Spud: The style on "Don’t Walk Dead" was not intentional; this is just how we write our music. We don’t try and stay in a box or be the heaviest band in the world. We just try and incorporate any style or anything that sounds interesting. Also, the more we play the more we learn, so we are, hopefully, always progressing.

UMM: On your first album, "in darkness or in light", I hear a lot of old school metal influences. Iron Maiden, Metallica perhaps? What are some of your musical influences?

Spud: Well that was because a lot of the songs on our first album were songs that we had written as far back as 1991; some of the songs were very old. We had to record so we had to use some of the older songs. So I.D.O.I.L. was material written over a period of about five years. As for influences we have way too many to name, but we listen to a range of music styles.

UMM: OK, so who or what are you listening to these days?

Spud: Living Sacrifice, Zao, Klank, Crimson Thorn, Danielson, Stavesacre, Brethren, Day of Atonement, Tourniquet, Midnight Oil, Faith No More, I could go on forever. Extol are huge!

UMM: I know you’ve taken some heat over your
no-holds-bar lyrical approach. You have dealt with some pretty touchy subjects, like masturbation. Why write such confronting and even disturbing lyrics?

Spud: When we write our lyrics they are written from the heart. That is why they are so hard hitting. The song about masturbation was actually written by a friend. I think the lyrics are great, may be we all should take off our blindfolds and see things for how they really are.

UMM: You won’t get an argument from me on that! That’s how we (Ultimatum) try to write as well. Honest and confrontational.

Spud: Yeah, we need to wake up to reality and let people know of the grace of God, no matter what happens in our journey on this earth. In the end God will be waiting with open arms, we all go through trials but the thing that matters is that God’s forgiveness is bigger than any sin. The song, "Enslavement", like I said, was written by a friend. He was going through great self condemnation and God spoke to him about how great his forgiveness is. When I read the lyrics it speaks to me about a lot of people and how they want everything to happen now. They don’t seem to have any vision to see that God has everything in control. We did have something happen at a gig once. A person was reading our cd cover to see what we were all about and the only thing that they commented on was that the word masturbation was in our lyrics. I find it sad that they didn’t even recognize that the two songs after that song are beautiful love songs to God. Let’s get past our hang-ups about sin, which is all masturbation is. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Right? So, let he who is without sin cast the first stone. God’s love and forgiveness is real and bigger than what we think. God is the only one who can change us, so we need to get in prayer and ask Him to forgive us and give us the strength to overcome it.

UMM: "Never" is another song that is getting some people upset. Obviously your not against Catholics personally, so tell me a little about that song and why you wrote it.

Yowie: I wrote "Never" because I was brought up a Catholic, then rebelled against it and consequently anything to do with God. When I learned about Christianity and was saved, I found that a lot of the doctrine I was taught as a Catholic was unBiblical and very man made. I hate seeing huge organizations deceiving people and I like to expose things for what they really are, without targeting the people personally.
Steve: Read the Bible on these issues and the truth will be revealed. We love everyone but feel that false doctrine should be exposed.

UMM: OK, are there any other songs you’d care to tell us about? What are your favorite songs on "Don’t Walk Dead "?

Spud: "Grave Beyond a Slave" is one of my favorites because it talks about some of the history of what happened to the Aboridginies in Australia.
Yowie: I can’t really pinpoint one favorite song but the ones that stand out for me are "Don’t Walk Dead" because it canes! Also, "Yowie’s Hilltop Adventure" and "Never" because they are very personal to me. "Grave Beyond a Slave" because it exposes the truth about Australian history and I fully despise racism.
Spud: "Don’t Walk Dead" is also a favorite because it is something that I would like to urge everyone not to be part of: the walking dead. Always be spiritually alive.

UMM: I understand that you guys play in the local clubs and pubs. ULTIMATUM does the same but many Christians criticize this and wouldn’t step foot in a place like that. So, why perform in secular venues?

Spud: Many Christians are not called to set foot in these places but this is where God wants us to be. If we can help anyone we will go anywhere to do it. I would also like to say that if anyone has a problem with anything that happens in these places, then I would say that God would have other thinks that you should be doing. Don’t put your salvation in jeopardy just to be in a pub, but as for myself this is where my mission field is.

UMM: Yeah, that is basically what we believe as well. It is amazing to us that even if we don’t say a word from the stage, that people still recognize that we are Christians. There is more to being a witness than just opening our mouths.

UMM: Steve Rowe has really worked hard at keeping Christian metal alive. How has it been working with Rowe Productions?

Spud: We thank God for what he has done in Steve’s life. Steve has an awesome testimony. We are honored to be involved with Rowe Productions. It is always great to catch up with the guys form Mortification and hear what God is doing in their lives.

UMM: Steve told me that you guys were working on your next album.

Spud: We are going to Melbourne in three weeks to record our next CD for Rowe entitled "Time to Die".

UMM: Any tour plans?

Spud: We just came back from a small tour. We played Blackstump, then we did a workshop with a youth group. We found out that since we played there last year some of the kids that were at the concert have become Christians. so it is always awesome to receive that kind of news. Then we did a concert at a church on the way home.

UMM: If you could tour with any band, of any style, secular of Christian, who would it be and why?

Steve: LIVING SACRIFICE because they are the best.
Yowie: ZAO because they are awesome and RAGE AGAINST the MACHINE because they rock and pull in massive crowds.
Spud: SAVIOR MACHINE because it looks ike their shows would be awesome. MARILYN MANSON because I think this guy needs some love in his life.

UMM: If you had to spend the rest of your life on a remote island with one cartoon character, who would it be?
Steve: Bugs Bunny! Yowie: I would have to say Tazzy Devil because we could do a duo album together. Spud: Superman because then I wouldn’t be stuck on a remote island!

Reprinted from Ultimatum Metal Mag, Vol. 5, Issue1