Albums of Purgatory interview Crematorium's Daniel Dismal

Albums of Purgatory: Thanks for the interview

 

Daniel Dismal: No problem, thanks for taking out the time to speak with me about the band!

 

AoP: Firstly, what is the band up to right now?

 

DD: We just finished recording our debut for Prosthetic Records called For All Our Sins and it will be released everywhere on November 5th 2002. At this time we are also preparing for a tour in October with Cephalic Carnage and December (the band) and another in December with All That Remains, Origin and Scar Culture. At this time, we are on the promotions trail making sure everyone knows about the new album and our upcoming tours.

 

AoP: How would you describe the Crematorium sound?

 

DD: This is a hard question because we basically take influences from so many different extreme music styles. Right now people are calling us a deathcore band, but, we basically have elements of death metal, black metal, brutal hardcore and thrash metal. All I can really state is that when listening to Crematorium expect nothing but brutality in many different forms.

 

AoP: How did you get involved with the band?

 

DD: Mark (guitars) and I attended grammar school together and we've known eachother since the early 80's. He called me one day stating he was trying out for Crematorium and I took him to see the band since I was familiar with them, about 6 months later he called me asking me if I was into trying out for the lead vocalist position since they just lost Adam, the singer at the time. This was around the end of 1995. After a few practices, I made the cut and been here ever since.

 

AoP: Can you remember your frst gig (how did it go)?

 

DD: My first gig with Crematorium was in 1996 at the Anti Club in Hollywood California with Sepsism for a benefit for the clubs recently deceased sound man Tom. I remember being nervous and worried that the crowd would not be into me and basically talk shit about Adam not being in the band anymore. Basically people stared at me with odd glares until the music started and I began singing, after that, I was accepted as the new vocalist for Crematorium.

 

AoP: the band has suffered many line-up changes.  How difficult has that been?

 

DD: It's been a pain in the ass actually. Always teaching new members and working them into the formula and then they cut out before we can get going again. I think our major problem is that we want to be as diverse as we possibly can and some people only wanted to play one style of music. I can say that this line up today is the most solid the band has ever had because we are all open to trying something new and expanding our sound.

 

AoP: In, 98 the band dissapeared for a couple of years.  Were you involved in any other projects in that time?

 

DD: At that time I sang for a hardcore band called My Private Hell and played guitar and sang in a punk/crust/doom band called Skumbreed. Both of those bands faded out as I became more serious with Crematorium again. I play guitar and with Crematorium I only sing when we play live, so, I doubt there will be a time when the only band I play in is Crematorium, so, expect more from me in the future.

 

AoP: How do you feel the Crematorium sound has evolved over the years?

 

DD: I think that with the original line up they started something, a mix of grindcore, thrash metal, death metal and classical acoustic styles, but, they didn't have it refined 100% yet. As time went on, we took things, we threw things away and we worked hard on getting what we have now. I can also state that we have not finished our evolution musically and I don't think we ever will.

 

AoP: What are your favourite Crematorium tracks?

 

DD: I really love them all, but, I can say I really get into Unlearn, The Murder Process, Through Adversity and The Dying Place.

 

AoP: What are your favourite all time songs or albums?

 

DD: Ohhh man, this is a hard question because I love so many different styles of music and believe me, I get a lot of shit for liking all the music I do, but, here's a few of my favorite albums....

Suffocation (all)

Carcass (all)

Black Flag (all)

Green Carnation - Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness

Crowbar - Sonic Excess In It's Purest Form

Eyehategod - Dopesick

Integrity (all)

Sick Of It All (all)

Ice Cube (all before the War And Peace albums)

N.W.A (all)

I can go on for days, but, I love punk, hardcore, death metal, black metal, classical music, country music, rap, hip hop, blues, jazz, thrash metal, speed metal, metalcore, doom ect. ect.

 

AoP: What was the first record you bought?

 

DD: Metallica - Ride The Lightning when it was first released on Megaforce, this was my first album I pad for, but, when I was around 8 years old I was given many punk compilations from my friends older brother.

AoP: What would be your dream band line-up?

DD: Oh man, I can't even touch on this. I would basically need to arrange a band with over 100 members to fullfill this question.

AoP: What do you think of the position of metal and music in general today?

DD: I see metal on the rise again, but, we have to be careful because I firmly believe that the faster something rises, the faster it falls. I watched this happen with death metal in the early 90's when everyone wanted to be in a band and there was an abundance of bands until about 1994 and then, bang, over night, no one cared about the scene anymore. This basically destroyed the scene everywhere for almost 8 years, now, things are growing so fast and we as fans and supporters of the scene need to make sure that the new faces in the scene are educated on the music to make sure they don't destroy it all over again!

AoP: Which bands in the local underground scene really stick out for you at the moment?

DD: In Los Angeles...Defile, Anubis Rising, Deadfood, Fetus Eaters, Watch Me Burn, Anemosity, Agony, Epicedium, Cattle Decapitation and many many more. Check out www.losangelesunderground .com for anything about the LA scene. This site is not launched 100% yet, but, in the near future it will offer everything about the underground in LA and abroad!

AoP: Do you have any funny stories about the band you can share with us?

DD: Crematorium is full of jokers, I think that's why we all get along so well. we are always pulling pranks on eachother and talking shit about eachother in a playful way. I can't really tell one story that is funnier than the next, but, I can say that anyone that's hung out with us in a personal setting knows that off the stage we are one of the most amusing batch of people ever assembled.

AoP: and finally, what do you see in the future for Crematorium?

DD: A lot of work, a lot of touring and a lot of great times. The new album promises to be a good launch for us into an international arena. We don't care or think we are going to make money, but, we do have the goal to tour the world and we are starting with the US this year, in 2003, we plan on taking the band to the world!

AoP: Thanks again for the interview and good luck for the future

DD: Thanks and the same to you and all your readers!