Interview Sublation

In this exclusive interview, Sublation discusses their upcoming EP, "On the Advancement of Decay." From thematic inspiration to the evolution of their sound, the band shares insights into their experimental journey through metal genres.

1. Congratulations on the upcoming release of "On the Advancement of Decay"! Can you tell us about the thematic inspiration behind the EP, especially the focus on decay? How does this theme tie into the experimental journey through different production styles and genres?

Danny: Thank you! I remember coming up with the initial concept when I was driving. I was listening to a lot of modern metal albums, that all shared the same samples, guitar tones, vocal effects, etc. I then started thinking it would be cool to hear a record that subtly changed production styles throughout, and we later decided to lean into different metal styles to match those production decisions. We were looking to make it all a cohesive theme, so having the lyrics be about decay/deterioration, while hearing the riffs and production also gradually decay made the most sense. 

2. The EP's opening track, "Congenital Putrescence," has been released as a teaser. What can listeners expect from this track in terms of setting the tone for the rest of the EP?
Danny: I think they can expect to hear where we left off with our previous album “The Path to Bedlam” It’s all got of my favorite elements that we do, such as guitar solos, harmonies, blast beats. We’ve always enjoyed branching out and touching on different sub genres of metal, but Congenital is an example of the type of song that comes the most natural to us.  

3. The EP seems to progress with a regression of clarity, melody, and rhyming meter. How did you approach the composition process to achieve this unique progression, and what challenges did you face in balancing experimentation with cohesion?

Danny: The EP was written in order, and we were specifically trying have it start as a death metal album, and end it with black metal. The challenge was trying to mix these songs within the style that fit, while making it sound cohesive. I think we took a lot more time choosing the right gear and instruments for each song. The album used 3 or 4 different amps, two drum sets, plenty of different microphones. Mixing an album with all those different tones meant taking your time getting each one correct, then making sure they flowed together after the fact. 

4. The painter Jay Defeo's quote, "Only by chancing the ridiculous, can I hope for the sublime," is mentioned in relation to the EP. How did this philosophy influence your approach to creating music for "On the Advancement of Decay"?

Max: The quote’s utility is twofold. Defeo was known for her massive works that often didn’t feel like they were part of just a single medium. Her paintings “The Rose” and “The Jewel” were two massive paintings that were so heavily layered that they are sculptural in nature. So her ambition to work within one realm and push it so far that it becomes a part of another is something we were certainly channeling with regards to genre. The concern that pushing things that far could come off as ridiculous is certainly something I felt while working on this release, but taking the risk that it could be something excellent made it worth it. Defeo also would hold her brush with her teeth and as her life of painting continued she grew fearful that she would lose her teeth. Her works Crescent Bridge I and II, Traveling Portrait (Chance Landscape) are all fixated on her dentures. So decay, and more specifically tooth decay was something prevalent in her work and those works were very inspiring for me.

5. "Sublation" is described as a death metal band that rejects lyrical confines while embracing the raw and visceral facets of your roots. How do you navigate this balance between rejecting conventions and staying true to the essence of death metal?

Max: I started writing death metal lyrics in 2008 and at that time I really wanted to provide my own takes on staples of the genre. When Danny and I decided to play music together again and named ourselves Sublation, I felt a desire to write something that was more direct to the human experience and even directly inspired by my own experiences. Life can be truly horrific and I understand many enjoy death metal because the grotesque can be a form of escapism, but I would rather write about the atrocities of humanity and use the language of death metal to discuss those topics.

6. The band has undergone a significant transformation, evolving from Fisthammer to Sublation. What motivated this change, and how has it influenced the direction and vision of the band, both musically and thematically?

Danny: Time is the biggest thing that has influenced us. The roots of Fisthammer can be traced to our teenage years, so naturally our vision and approach to music has become more refined. The name change allowed us to branch out more musical and lyrically. It’s still coming from Max and I’s brain, so of course it will have similarities to Fisthammer. But there’s been enough growth in our musical and personal lives to warrant a new name.

7. Having returned from a five-year hiatus in 2020, what prompted Sublation's resurgence, and how did the band's shared vision evolve during this period of rejuvenation?

Danny: I was playing in a band called Conflict Theory with Fisthammers guitarist Kevin Welch for a time. As that started to dissipate, Kevin suggested reaching out to Max to see if he would potentially be interested in writing an album again. We toured pretty extensively from 2008-2014, especially for an unsigned band. I think towards the end, we were all just pretty burnt out from me. The 5 years off allowed us to objectively look at our catalog, and see what parts we enjoyed the most, and what we didn’t. 

8. The EP explores a myriad of production styles and genres. Can you elaborate on some of the influences that shaped the sonic landscape of "On the Advancement of Decay"?

Max: When writing the EP I had a playlist of songs that I’d write to, so each song is attempting to channel a certain sound or at least my own ideas about what is conveyed through those sounds. The playlist included; Enfold Darkness, Belphegor, Satyricon, Svart Crown, Setherial, and Koldovstvo. But I certainly was channeling a lot more influences than just those.

8.Sublation has been described as a technical death metal act. How do you balance technicality with the more emotive and atmospheric elements in your music, especially considering the experimental nature of the EP?

Max: I think music benefits from contrast. When writing music you will try and create a journey of peaks and valleys and those contrasts if delivered properly will create an engaging experience. Technicality is never the goal, but it is certainly something that we don’t shy away from, and is something I tend to write naturally. When composing this EP specifically it was exciting because so often an album is just people writing songs and at the end you look at what you have, pick the best, then put something out. This was a crafted experience. Each song has its own structure and peaks and valleys, but overall it was designed to be a descent and that construction itself was very exciting.

9. The tracklist features intriguing titles like "Eclipse Awe" and "Born Out of a Whim." Can you provide some insight into the lyrical themes or inspirations behind these specific tracks?

Max: I knew that I wanted the EP to have a singular theme that would feed into the decay of speed and clarity over the release so I had a list of potential facets of decay to explore. I had just finished writing “this little death”  which is about how in time even our death is insignificant. A little life leads to a little death. Once I finished that I was pretty emotionally exhausted and asked Danny if he had an aspect of decay he would like a song to be written about and he said “I’ve been thinking about the Decay of youthful exuberance”. That incredibly depressing topic became Eclipse Awe, and it’s now one of my favorites of the EP. Born Out of a Whim is taken from a concept within Milan Kundera’s book The Festival of Insignificance. A few of Kundera’s works has this notion that humanity and its history must be annihilated so that we can be truly free. I think that concept was best captured within the concept of a decaying tree sprouting out of Eve, the first woman who floats in the abyss with her throat slit.

10. "Like a Fire That Consumes All Before It" is the second track on the EP. What can you share about the creative process behind this particular song, and how does it contribute to the overall narrative of the release?

Max: The release starts with a song that was intentionally more technical than anything we’d previously released, so this song leans a bit more into the more melodic, evil, and groovy side of what we do. I wrote it on bass and I think that’s fairly obvious since the verses revolve around a bass riff. I started as a bassist so it was fun to write a song starting on my first instrument. Thematically it’s about the decay of the earth and the industrialization of space. Writing about the environment is hard to do without sounding like you are ripping off Gojira, so it took a while to find an in. The industrialization of space and how capitalism will exsanguinate every resource we have until there is nothing left felt like something I could easily get pissed enough about to make a death metal song.

11. As a death metal band hailing from Philadelphia, how has the local music scene and the city itself influenced Sublation's sound and identity? Are there specific aspects of your environment that find their way into your music?

Max : I definitely think that the northeast has a very specific sound. There’s an aggression and misanthropy that tends to proliferate the scene. I think it may have something to do with the cold and the general abrasiveness of our larger cities, and I think you can’t help but have that influence what you create.

On the Advancement of Decay | Sublation (bandcamp.com)

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