Sôlt Interview

 

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

The band was formed in 2020 by Mike, Gabe, and I as we were all in other bands that fell apart and hadn't recorded anything.  I was always a drummer but had wanted to do a black metal project for awhile and finally made it happen.

2.Recently you have released a new split, musically how does it differ from your previous full length and demo?

The demo is very raw.  I had barely been playing guitar and had never sang anything so it was very much an early experiment.  I would probably like to bring a touch of that rawness back in the future.  Voidsick saw a further development on the sound, which is rooted in black metal but has a decent amount of thrash and death metal influence.  The EP songs in particular have more thrash influence which is why I put them together.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you have explored so far with the music?

Lyrically I'm writing about humanities constant death wish and we love parasitic ideas and behaviors even as they destroy us.  I spent almost two decades in the LHP occult scene and some of the religious and spiritual dynamics at work there influence me, as well as history.  There's a fair bit that was inspired by The Conquest of the Gauls.  It a fantastic book that everyone used to read in school in the 8th grade but is all but forgotten in the last 50 years to most people. 

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Sôlt'?

It's the phonetic spelling of the word salt, because it looked more metal that way, haha...  It comes from the Bible Verse that people are to be salt and light.  When I was a kid, I saw that verse posted in someone's kitchen and at some point I looked up what it meant.  You'll often see Christians talking about how it's their job to be salt and light, in a very nice, Disney sort of way.  The back half of the verse says that if you lose your flavor, you're good for nothing than to be thrown into the street and trampled into dust.  When I was a kid, probably seven or eight, something about that stuck with me, and scared the hell out of me.   As I've gotten older and read more history it's a very Darwinist type of statement about people and if you ignore reality eventually you will fall.  I believe we are experiencing the beginning of the collapse of this particular period of Western Civilization as we currently know it, and people are slowly being trampled as they become psychologically crippled by various ideological blinders and narcissistic self-deception.

 

5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the split cover?

It was designed by Vhan Artworks.  I liked that it was something of an evil Trinity with the apocalyptic black sun.  I know some people will take that as political, but I have zero interest in that end of things other than as a sort of Lovecraftian alien force. I find it interesting as symbol of apocalyptic death and transformation that sort of always pops up in our collective unconscious.  It is in a sense time accelerated, and periods of massive human sacrifice resulting in technological progress and growth.  To me it's kind of a symbol of how man is a self pruning organism.  As we get chaotic, like a gardener chopping back a plant, it can sometimes look brutal, and even like the plant will never come back, but it just comes back even stronger the next year.  I think we're about to get trimmed back.  According to my read on historic patterns we're overdo for a massive conflict.

6.Currently there are only 2 members in the band but where a trio for a couple of years, are you open to adding  in more members are  do you prefer to remain a duo?

Right now it's working with me writing everything and Mike doing drums.  Due to time constraints, I think it's easier to have me write everything as I don't really have time to argue with someone else over arrangements.

7.Has the band done any live shows or open to the idea?

Mike and Gabe who did the bass on the first two recordings are both in a number of other projects, and I have a number of toddlers at home right now.  I would like to play live at some point but can't dedicate full time to that right now.  I'm thinking next summer I might try to put a line up together and see what we can do.  I was always a drummer and feel comfortable with that but definitely can't seem to play guitar and sing right now.  

8.Recently you where a part of a split with 'Obsidian Shrine', what are your thoughts on the other band that had participated on the recording?

I love them.  Just absolutely ripping black metal.  I loved their last album and some how we started talking after I posted it on Facebook telling people to buy it.  Cool guys and great music.  Bloodshed Under a Black Star is one of my favorite albums of the last few years that keeps opening up the more you play it.  

9.In 2021 you also done a 'Misfits' cover, what was the decision behind doing your own version of one of their song?

We all love the Misfits and Mike had brought up the idea.  Halloween has been done a million times but as we went over options, I just sort of had an idea to try to the guitar arrangement that I thought would stay true to the classic but also give a unique spin on it I hadn't heard before.

10.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

We've had some little conversations here and there.  I am definitely not opposed to it all.  I think it felt like I was getting better as a songwriter with my newer songs, and I'm building a new recording setup at my house finally, so just to keep our name out there we thought getting this out quickly would be good.  

11.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal?

Overall I'm pretty happy with the response we're getting.  I don't know that it's done quite as well as I would have liked in some ways, but I keep ending up in touch my own personal favorite musicians, artists, and podcasters, and have gotten good feedback from them, and that I really appreciate.  I feel we're getting some high quality feedback. 

12.When can we expect another full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

I've got a fair amount of songs written and would like to record a full length next year.  I think it's just going to be better all around.  Heavier and more sad sounding at times, some more layers to the guitar, better arrangements.  So far the songs feel like the have a lot of range and dynamics to them between very heavy but also with a bit of mournfulness to them.   I also feel like this last recording session I really learned a lot more about what to do and what not to do, often by trying to fix rookie mistakes, and I feel a lot more confident in that way going into another one.  

13.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

I'm 42 now and was 13 when I first found death metal. So, my early years were lots of death metal with some of my favorites being Hypocrisy, Necrophobic, Morbid Angel, Death, Malevolent Creation, and then when the first The Abyss record came out I went down the black metal rabbit hole.  Dissection, Mayhem, old Abigor, Dawn,  Dark Funeral,   I blew a wild amount of money from waiting tables in high school on music.  I feel right now we are in another golden age of underground metal actually.  It's staggering how much great music is out there.  Lately I've been listening to this band call Gone. on Putrid Cult that apparently no one on earth heard about that is my favorite thing for the last few years.  The last Skare is absolutely amazing, Leitha from Noise who does Kanonenfieber, those two records are amazing, Gravenchalice from Florida are incredible, Fornicus, Eallic, Helleruin, Mork, Triumph from California put out one of my favorite War Metal albums ever,   I could go on an on.  I get to listen to music at my job so I'm always drowning in new stuff.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Thanks for the interview.  I really appreciate you covering the Ep. We've got a really killer shirt design up on our Bandcamp with different art on it I think people will like, so everyone check that out. Keep up the good work!

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