Hi! All My Gods Are Dying pulls from many influences – what ties the album together?
It does! Some death metal, a little bit of groove, lots of doom metal and alternatice rock influence. But what ties it all together is it’s all filtered through a classic black metal sound, with that raw guitar and vocal sound.
What does “All My Gods Are Dying” title mean to you personally?
Personally it was a title that I came up with after my grandfather died many years ago. The phrase came to mind and I saved it, thinking it would be a good name for a dark album one day. What it means is all your heroes dying, both literally as people and in terms of your ideals. Like, things you thought you held true and important to your life are no longer valid anymore. And from there, you have to rebuild and re-evaluate you values.
Did you think of the tracklist as a narrative journey through genres?
I never thought of it that way, but maybe it unconsciously worked out like that. The genre mixing did end up being paced well. The tracks All My Gods Are Dying, Dead Or Alive, and Pearls Before Swine are rock-ish and spaced out evenly in the tracklist. To Feed The Spirit and Haruspex have a death metal vibe. And Our Lady Of Sorrows and The Letter are basically death doom.
How did the contrast between Vaera (thrashy black metal) and A Casket of Relics (a single prog epic) prepare you for this record?
The interesting thing is that this album was actually written before Casket! I think that I always intended for Amenspear to incorporate lots of different influences into a black metal base so songs like Casket and the ones on All My Gods were not too different for me to write. I don’t really listen to much black metal these days beyond the classic albums, and so when I write songs its more about incorporating what I’m listening to today. And that can be death metal, prog, country, folk, classical, grunge.
As a one-man project, how do you balance control with spontaneity?
Good question! I think I always try to go into the writing of an album with a particular goal or sound in mind, but then it rarely works out that way and that’s what makes interesting. For example, Vaera was originally intended to be black metal plus 1960s music! Obviously the end result sounds nothing like that! With All My Gods Are Dying, the goal was 90s rock mixed with black metal. That goal stayed true on particular songs, but on others the music went in a different direction leading to a varied interesting listen. So there’s control in the sense of having direction or a goal to the sound, but then spontaneity because I won’t force anything the music isn’t leading me there.
What’s changed most in your writing since Vaera?
I think I’ve just gotten better as a guitarist, songwriter, and producer as times goes on. Vaera was my first experience ever at recording so I just wasn’t as ambitious with the music I wanted to write. That’s not to say that All My Gods is perfect, but I think I’m more comfortable in achieving different sounds as I write and record. And the music I continue to write these days has lots of left turns and a more polished sound!
Do you feel tension with black metal “purists,” or do you see Amenspear outside of genre boundaries?
Not really! I think the days of “kvlt” black metallers taking the genre too seriously are long gone. Ultimately it’s just a style of music with particular musical markers like tremolo picking and blastbeats. I’m happy to have Amenspear be considered a black metal band. I think any metalhead would listen to the majority of my music and consider it black metal from the sound, and that’s fine with me!
Where do you think progressive black metal is headed, and what role do you want Amenspear to play?
I’m not sure but I think the trend of dark avantgarde dissonance being added to black and death metal has been going strong for a while and I don’t think it’s going away anytime soon. It’s a cool sound but that’s not something I’ve written into Amenspear’s music much. What I want Amenspear to evolve into is a black metal band that takes a lot of influence from the rock tradition of the 60s, 70s, and 90s.
Is Amenspear a dialogue between black metal tradition and prog/alt evolution?
I would say more alt rock and just rock music in general. I have been a big prog fan over the years, but I go through phases with it and I haven’t listened to classic prog rock in a while. Lately I’ve been all about bands like Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, and The Winery Dogs. This album isn’t necessarily like that, but it would be very cool for Amenspear to release an album like that in the future. Something like blackened grunge!
Is the album mourning lost beliefs, or celebrating freedom from them?
Definitely mourning lost beliefs, lost relationships, and lost people! There’s a lot death and grief in these lyrics. It’s an album about processing loss and then aiming to refocus your beliefs and your life.
With Haruspex, are you using ancient rituals as metaphor or purely aesthetic tools?
Just purely aesthetic! Basically it’s about a failed relationship years ago that was fun only when me and a particular girl drank and fucked, and when things naturally progressed towards more serious thoughts it became toxic and fell apart. From the alcohol connection came the thought of your liver, and since I’m a history nerd I remembered learning about ancient Roman priests called “haruspex” that would analyze bird livers. So that’s what inspired the lyrics in the song about a “postmortem of a foolish love.”
Many titles reference religious imagery – are you critiquing religion, or using its symbolism for something else?
Not critiquing, I use religious imagery because despite modern secularism, religious imagery still strikes deep in our minds and provokes emotions. I am also, despite my vulgarity, a religious man. Or at least, I try to be!
If Vaera was your foundation and Casket your experiment, what statement does All My Gods Are Dying make about your direction?
The statement it makes to the listener is that you never quite know what the next Amenspear release will sound like. You can usually count on a strong black metal influence, but within each song could be something different!
Do you see your next step leaning into maximalism, or a raw, stripped-down approach?
I think the next releases will lean towards maximalism. The stuff I plan on releasing next lean into the death metal influences. They will be shorter songs (in the 4-5 minute range) but will have lots of fast, furious, and heavy riffs.
What’s the “impossible” project you dream Amenspear could one day take on? Thank you for your time!
I would love for Amenspear to collaborate with other artists one day, maybe release split EPs or even record songs under the Amenspear name. It would be cool to have another musicians talents incorporated into the songs. It’s also been a dream of mine to have Amenspear release a grand double LP concept album! What that story will be I have no idea, but maybe one day! Thank you for the interview and I hope everyone enjoys the album!
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