Interview with guitarist Kell
Pessimist’s third, long awaited disc, Slaughtering the Faithful is finally here and it was worth the wait. While bands like Six Feet Under, Cannibal Corpse, and Morbid Angel get most of the press, it’s Pessimist who have been making the big impact on the underground scene and they are ready for the next level. With a new strong line-up behind him, guitarist Kell is ready to take Pessimist out on the road for their first U.S. tour.
How do you feel about the new disc?
We are all excited about the new disc. This record was a lot of hard work. We wrote and recorded the album in less than a year. We wanted to do an album that was fast and chaotic. This record definitely captured a raw brutality and we feel it will do a lot for the future of the band.
How does it compare to the others?
This is the fastest, most intense and most brutal Pessimist c.d. so far. The production on the new disc is less polished than on our last album. There is a lot more blasting than on previous albums. The arrangements are longer and more complex, amd we got rid of the screechy black metal vocals. Guitar wise everything is completely stepped up. These are some of the sickest guitar riffs we have ever written. We wanted to really take things to the next level, in terms of speed, technicality and total brutality. Otherwise it’s everything you would expect from Pessimist: catchy, heavy death metal and the evil Pessimist sound.
Why did the significant line-up changes occur?
It didn’t happen all at once and there wasn’t any one reason for the line-up changes. In each instance that someone left or was fired, it was a decision made by management and the rest of the band, in order to take the band to the next level. It has taken a couple of years to find reliable, solid replacements but now the band is in its peak form ever. With the recent addition of Sick Mick Kimock on drums, there is such a great energy in the band. Mick, Ralph, and Bill are such incredible musicians, writing together is almost effortless. We are already writing material for the next Pessimist album.
Are you still friends with the other guys (Psychotogen)?
Yeah, of course, we are still friends, even though we were never really that close. Rob and I go way back to 1993, just after I formed the band-even before Chris and Tony Pernia joined the band. This line-up was solid until 1999. None of us wanted to see Tony leave. He was giving up music entirely, and had even sold his bass. A few months later Chris was fired after missing a Florida gig and we found a replacement right away. When we fired Rob, it was more difficult. We had been working together for almost six years, not to mention he was so bummed about being asked to leave the band. We had to cancel some shows, and a U.S. tour with Monstrosity in 1999. Everyone knew he was holding us back. Rob said he was going to quit doing the band thing to concentrate on his career. He was the one who said that he didn’t want to be friends any longer and that he didn’t want to hear about the band anymore. I think on a personal level he was really hurt from being fired and wished he could stay in the band, but we knew this was not possible. I think that’s great a year later the ex-members would end up forming Psychotogen. There aren’t even that many players of this style of music around here. I have seen the former members at several Pessimist shows and I have been to see one of their shows. There is no bad blood. I prefer it this way, things are better now for Pessimist.
Tell me about your split cd with Black Mass.
The Pessimist/ Black Mass split c.d. will be called Hymns for the Sabbat. It will be limited edition, and will contain rare and unreleased tracks from both bands. The Pessimist material includes “Summoned to Suffer” (featured on S.O.D. Mag #17 comp c.d.), “Mensa Rea” from the Visionaries of the Macabre comp c.d., “Wrath”, which was recorded during the Cult sessions in ’96 and never released, plus some live studio stuff and a Possessed tribute that we recorded for and was never released. Ivan (Black Mass) and I are co-releasing it on Grindnoiz Recs/Metal-CDs, and it will be distributed through Relapse and Lost Disciple.
What do you accomplish by playing the major metalfests?
Playing Metalfests is great exposure for your band, a chance to play in front of large crowds, otherwise, hell it’s a blast, you get to see all your metal friends and tons of other cool bands. We used to have to pay to play certain fests, nowadays we play by invite only. I think there’s a lot of controversy surrounding fests these days, really we just do it for the fun and the exposure.
How was it working with Erik Rutan?
Working with Erik was great, for lots of reasons, I mean first he’s a great guy, we had been friends for a while when he approached us with the idea to record our c.d., and I’m glad we went with him because Erik is a true professional and it was great to work with someone who could get such a brutal sound. We had played a gig in New York with Morbid Angel, and Erik had basically chose Pessimist out of several other bands that wanted to record with him at the time, so naturally for us it was a great opportunity. We recorded at Erik’s studio, Dimensional Sound Studios in Tampa, Florida, co-owned with Derek Roddy. We had tracked all the drums, vocals and the scratch tracks with Derek, while Erik was on tour with Slayer/ Pantera. Then once Erik returned from tour we recorded the final rhythm guitars and leads. Erik was responsible for getting the sick guitar tone, we used the Marshall heads from his Hate Eternal rig. When tracking was done we did a rough mix, took like a week off then I returned to Florida, for mixdown and production.
Why do you think Pessimist is not yet considered among the elite by the mainstream death metal fans?
I think it depends who you talk to. I’m not sure what you mean by mainstream death metal fans, but most fans, press and reviews that we have gotten do consider Pessimist among the death metal elite. Maybe it’s because we’re not signed to a bigger label or because Pessimist does not sound like most other typical gore/ death metal bands. We never tried to fit into a certain scene or change our sound just to be popular. It has been three years since our last release, Blood for the Gods. I think a lot of people give us credit for doing as much as we have, completely on our own, without the help of a bigger record label. I guess we are still paying our dues, but the new album will go a long ways towards that.
How has your views of the metal industry changed through the years?
So much has changed in the last few years. When we first started playing there was no such thing as mp3s or the internet. I managed the band for years, so I have always been involved on the business side of the band. I have seen the industry side of things change quite a bit.
Any final comments?
For more info, check out our web site or write to: www.pessimist.com, 6670 Washington Blvd. Elkridge, MD 21075 U.S.A. Lost Disciple Records, www.lostdisciple.com, P.O. Box 340 Winthrop, MA 02152 U.S.A.
Discography:
2002... Slaughtering The Faithful (Lost Disciple)
1999... Blood For The Gods (Lost Disciple)
1997... Cult Of The Initiated (Lost Disciple)
Current line-up:
Ralph Runyan... vocals and bass
Kell... guitars
Bill Hayden... guitars
Mick Kimock... drums
Website:
www.pessimist.com