INCANTATION
BACKWORDS TO GOLGOTHA
By: John Sheldon
One of the most important releases in the Relapse discography, Onward to Golgotha, not only proved to be an influential factor in the then-young label’s success but also propelled INCANTATION to the highest echelons of the US death metal scene. Now, finally reissued after many years out-of-print, the classic album still holds up amazingly well against many of the great albums that have come since, proving to be truly a watermark for blasphemous and atmospheric death metal. Guitarist John McEntee was kind enough to take some time to reminisce about the good old days.
RESOUND: What stands out in your mind about the chemistry of the band during the writing and recording of Onward to Golgotha? How did this contribute to the overall sound and feel of the final product?
John McEntee: “I think we really didn’t realize what we had back then, or at least I didn’t. I think once we started to work with Jim (Roe, drums) he really made the heavy doom vibe shine through. He was able to bring out the more real jam-y feeling to the band. Then once we got Craig (Pillard, guitars, vocals) in the band he really helped to make things even more barbaric and pushed for even more feeling and vibe then we already had. We were all influenced by 80’s death and thrash and just wanted to express ourselves with as much agony and passion as possible. We all just did what we felt was right, I know we are all proud of what we have done.”
RESOUND: Why do you think this album stood out from so much of the death metal coming out at the time?
McEntee: “This was because we mixed what was currently going on in the scene at the time with a strong back-to-the-roots influence. We wanted to bring death metal to our own area and do things our own way; we didn’t care about the trends of the time. We took what we liked from bands like NECROPHAGIA, NECROVORE, POSSESSED, TROUBLE, POST MORTEM, SARCOFAGO and BATHORY and tried to create something we wanted to hear. Just to be ourselves.”
RESOUND: What were the most prominent influences for the band at the time in terms of other bands, philosophies, sounds, etc…?
McEntee: “We were really influenced by mostly death / black and thrash bands from the 80’s like VENOM, POSSESSED, SLAYER, SACRIFICE, CANDLEMASS, NECROPHAGIA, AUTOPSY, and BLASPHEMY, stuff like that; just really raw, heavy shit. Our philosophies are pretty much just be true to yourself and don’t be a religious puppet. As for our sound, we always wanted the music to have a killer dark and eerie feeling to it. We are always more into what a riff or song makes you feel then the technicality aspects of it.”
RESOUND: What were the band’s goals for the album and were they reached, or perhaps altered, along the way?
McEntee: “We just wanted to do what we wanted, and tell all the trend puppets to fuck off! It’s more about being true to ourselves then any ego trip or any of that kind of bullshit. Our goals have pretty much always been the same. We just want to make the best music we can without selling out or anything like that. Same goes for playing live.
RESOUND: The reissue includes a DVD of old school shows from the time of the release. What do you recall about the live chemistry back then? How did the songs go over with the crowds and how was the scene affected at the time?
McEntee: “It was killer to hang out with the guys from that line up and just chill out and look through some old footage from back in the day. To be honest, I think for myself I kind of took the line-up and chemistry for granted. I just know things worked and I already went through so many line-ups before the Golgotha line-up that it took some reflection and hard times to realize how good of a chemistry we had. Really, when I think back, the response was always great! The scene was real big back then, too. I really feel that we were very lucky to have had such a great reaction to all our shows back then. I think our impact was pretty important, just because we were not just following trends with INCANTATION; so for us to make a impact on the scene showed the metal world that you can be yourself and still be successful.”
RESOUND: Which songs were your favorites then and which songs still remain favorites today? Likewise, which songs still come up in live sets to this day? Why?
McEntee: “I don’t really know. I like all the songs now, and I liked all the songs back then. We will do any song we feel, most of the time we will do something like ‘Deliverance of Horrific Prophecies’ or ‘Devoured Death’, but we pretty much try to mix it up and do different ones live. We like all those songs, so it’s cool to play them live.”
RESOUND: How did the release of this CD affect the band as a whole? How did the business and song writing evolve following this album’s release?
McEntee: “That is very hard to explain. It was a great thing that our first album got a great response, but I also think it was inevitable for things to fall apart. We were all really inexperienced, and dealing with the whole business side of things really pushed us all apart. For me it was too much, too soon. But I learned from it, and I have realized that that the band business should never get in the way of the band members and the music.”
RESOUND: How did the production/studio affect the overall sound? Any technical details come to mind?
McEntee: “We had a vision of what we wanted, but we were a little inexperienced at the time, so it was a real task to get the production the way we wanted it. I think working with Steve Evetts was cool, but I just didn’t think he really understood what we were looking for. It just took a long time to get it close to what we envisioned. Overall, I think we were pretty happy with the way it came out.”
RESOUND: How did the lyrics and imagery come about? What were the band’s goals there?
McEntee: “The lyrics and imagery were pretty much just natural. We were influenced by many dark and satanic-type bands, and we wanted to do something in the vein we felt was right for the music. We just wanted to have something more about being blasphemous and anti-religious than the normal satanic thing. We felt it fit us more as people.”
RESOUND: Any final thoughts/comments/reflections on the CD, the reissue, or
anything else?
McEntee: It was great for me to look back on my past and reflect on some of the early work we have done. It really was a great experience for me. I really do miss the early 90’s underground metal scene, and am really happy I was around to experience it. The reissue is something we are all proud of, and it was great to work with the Onward to Golgotha line-up again and put something cool together for all the old school and long time band supporters. Thanks for the interview.
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