Japanese Doom/Sludge
Metal collective – Sithter – released an excellent album called
Evilfucker back in 2014. It was an uncompromising style of Death,
Doom, Psych and Sludge Metal. The band showed their talent for
lengthy and epic compositions that leave you with an unsettling feel.
The band have been
going strong since 2006 and are about to release their even heavier
second album – Chaotic Fiend on December 9th 2016 via
Bonten Records.
Chaotic Fiend is a much
more heavier and bleak offering compared to Evilfucker. It sees the
band create a more psychedelic and doomier sound that allows them to
play bleaker sounds to depress you with. It's an album that takes no
prisoners.
I wanted to find out
more about Sithter and my good pal Richard over at Sheltered Life PR
arranged this interview with Takano (Vox/Guitars) and briefly Kagawa
(Guitars) from the band.
Hi
guys. Thanks for doing this interview. How are things with you today.
Takano:
I am fine so far but but it has become colder here. I am careful
about the cold.
Before
we get start discussing your new album. Can you give a brief history
of how the band came together and where it is today.
Takano:
Sithter was formed in 2006. I'm the only original member now and
before Sithter I used to playing in a band called PSYCHOTOBLACK.
After some of the band withdrew, we broke up, changed the name and
started looking for new members. The band’s sound is almost same as
PSYCHOTOBLACK. We had recorded a song at that time called ‘Chaotic
Fiend’.
Hyo Kagawa (Guitar) joined in 2008; Mazda (Drums) joined
in 2009 and I invited Wahei Gotoh (Bass) from the band Dhidalah in
2010.
Why
did you call the band Sithter. Any particular meaning.
Takano:
The master of the dark force.
Congratulations
on the new album. Chaotic Fiend. Such a brutally dark and heavy as
hell album. What can people expect from the album.
Takano:
Thank you. Only when we finished did we realize that it’s more
violent than our previous work. Punk, noise, hardcore, psychedelia,
doom, sludge, everything we boil everything in hell's kettle when
we’re recording.
Was
it an easier or harder album to write and record for compared to your
debut album.
Takano:
We went into the studio to record our previous album’s songs almost
completed. But almost all of the songs for this album were written
the way we wanted to produce the album. Live and fast. The songs were
finished in a short time. The previous album was recorded separately
one track by one track, but for Chaotic Fiend we recorded drums, bass
and guitar together. I recorded the second guitar and vocals later.
The recording process was much easier than last time.
The
album has quite a progressive and classic style of Sludge/Doom Metal
but with hints of modern psychedelic rock/metal. Very different to
your debut album. Was that an easy decision to create something
different for your new album.
Takano:
The concept was the same as the previous album. Our new one is
like an extension of the last, in terms of arrangement, songs and
artwork.
Did
you do anything different when recording Chaotic Fiend compared to
Evilfucker.
Takano:
As I said earlier, the recording process was different. In
addition, this time we had a guest player to create the opening piano
for ‘Engrave The Misery’ and a narration for ‘Jerusalem Axe
Masscre’. Both songs became more than what I wanted. Also we use
various instruments this time like, Japanese instruments, "Koto"
and Theremin. Engrave the Misery has been played for more than 10
years. A genius scholar who was a member of the time composed it. The
original starts with a beautiful baseline, but this time I had the
witch play the disturbing piano. I am singing about a tragedy that
will never end, that will continue to occur in the world. It's a dark
waltz.
The
overall content of the album is very bleak especially the lyrics and
riffs. What inspires you and influences you when writing music and
lyrics.
Takano:
The theme of lyrics, titles of songs are taken from old horror films
and novels. But content and expressions are influenced from Japanese
punk bands. I wrote about the fear and sorrow of human beings,
without using direct expressions. The biggest influence for my lyrics
is Japanese punk band Stalin.
You're
from Japan and the Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal scene has progressed
steadily over the last 20 years or so. Especially with the global
Sludge/Doom/Stoner Metal community. Have you noticed this yourselves.
Takano:
Across the world there are a lot of festivals for Doom/Sludge
music and of course many bands are appearing too. Also there are lots
of media, web sites and the Facebook community. It is wonderful but
sadly this is not the case in Japan.
Do
you get to perform gigs regular in Japan. Are there plans for you to
travel overseas at any point.
Takano:
We’re doing a lot gigs in Japan and we try to appear as much as
we can. Also we share the stage a lot with the bands from various
genres. We toured Korea in 2015 and we toured Taiwan earlier this
year. In the future, I would like to go beyond Asia and we’re
currently looking for shows in Europe, America, etc. Feel free to
contact us.
How
hard is it to perform as a band in Japan. Are things you would like
to see improved. If so what things would you improve.
Takano:
We are based in Tokyo and thankfully there are a lot of venues and
studios here. That’s a good environment for band activities. The
bands from rural areas visit here to play gigs too. There is a lot of
music but there is not much Doom/Sludge bands and similar events.
There are events that mix various genres and they are fun, but I
think the event that sticks to Doom/Sludge is more necessary. I am
doing Doom events several times in a year, but I really want to do
them more frequently. However, we need to rent the venue for the
event and it costs a lot of money here. We need a place that we can
use with a more affordable price then we can make it worthwhile for
the bands that play.
The
album is being released on CD and Digital Download. CD by Bonten. Are
there plans to release the album on Vinyl at all in the near future.
Takano:
We do not have plans for that yet we would like to see it released on
vinyl.
My
favourite track on the album has to be Jerusalem Axe Massacre. 18
minutes of pure sludge carnage. Where did the idea for that track
come from. What influenced you for that song in particular.
Kagawa:‘Jerusalem
Axe Massacre’ was written newly for this album. Although it became
a long number, I tried to minimize the riff and build up with an
ensemble. I wanted to make it a dramatic slaughtering sound.
Takano:
As the previous album, I decided that the last song would be a long
length so I described about the image to Hyo (Kagawa). The title and
artwork had been done for a long time. The theme is the revenge of
Jerusalem. I asked American noise artist L'eclipse Nue for opening
narration. He used to live in Japan before and now he back in the
States. He recorded a few patterns of narration. I was planning to
use it only for the opening but all the patterns were great so I used
them all.
Words
by Steve Howe and SITHTER
Thanks to Richard at
Sheltered Life PR for arranging the interview. Thanks to Takano and
Kagawa for taking the time out and doing this interview.
Chaotic Fiend will be
available to buy on CD/DD via Bonten Records from December 09th
2016.
Links:
