26 minutes ago17 min read

致幻剂 - 英国Death Metal乐队Vacuous专访

今天采访到的是来自英国的Death Metal乐队Vacuous，2020年由Damian，Jo Chen，Michael共同组建，最初Michael和Jo在一个共同的朋友下认识，当时Jo和Damian正在组建一支乐队，于是Michael决定加入这支乐队，组建之初乐队在花了大量的时间在排练时创作歌曲，找到乐队的创作方向，2020年4月乐队的第一张Demo作品“Demo I”发行，第一张Demo发行之后乐队还发行了EP专辑“Katabasis”，这张EP专辑发行之后取得众多乐评人的好评，如果你喜欢Bolt Thrower乐队的话，那么这张EP专辑“Katabasis”你一定要注意了，蜿蜒流简短的独奏，乐队都保持着高雅的格调，让人感受到他们的存在，却又不显得突兀。乐队的制作进一步提升了歌曲的品质，让歌曲从沉重变得震撼。乐队最出色的部分是贝斯，虽然它并没有什么特别有趣的表现，但它在混音中的位置很高，其衰败而噼啪作响的音色支撑着朴实的吉他，。鼓声也相当扎实，提供了强有力的节奏主干并推动着本已汹涌澎湃的旋律向前发展。混音效果也相当不错，各种乐器都有自己的空间，不过在速度较快的时候会有些模糊。EP专辑发行之后乐队在2022年发行了第一张正式专辑“Dreams of Dysphoria”，这张专辑由英国的Me Saco Un Ojo Records厂牌发行，凄厉的吉他伴随着钹的鸣响，以回荡和幽灵般的开场跃然纸上。凄凉而阴森的气氛很快就消退了，取而代之的是节奏铿锵的 “嘭嘭嘭 ”声，这些 “嘭嘭嘭 ”声营造出了一种喧闹的古老氛围并以一种地狱般的残酷在不断扩大。病态的人声将凄厉的低音和毒辣的高音融合在一起，与音乐的令人不适的性质相得益彰。吉他和贝司在有品位的鼓点上勾勒出令人生畏的音效，Vacuous的音乐创作方法非常独特，它既能引发真实的焦虑感，又能营造出超现实的异世界氛围。再加上极具攻击性的演奏风格，这一切都确保了他们的音乐会给人以强烈的冲击力、不同寻常而又令人回味无穷。随着紧张气氛的不断升温，乐队经常会出现一些兽性凶猛的片段，这些片段给人一种非常个人化的感觉并以一种无情的方式进行攻击，而这种无情并非来自于假装的沉重音效，而是由一支激情澎湃的乐队实际演绎出来的。自然这种真正野蛮的音乐是无法伪造的，而Vacuous就是这样一张闪闪发光、充满癫狂和不祥预感的优秀作品，它能让任何善于发现真正雄浑病态的人眼前一亮。2023年乐队和英国的Mortuary Spawn乐队合作了一张最新的Spilt专辑，在新专辑发行之际杂志与乐队的吉他手Michael取得联系进行了一次专访！

（V: 代表笔者 M: 代表Michael）

Today's interview is with Death Metal band Vacuous from the UK, formed in 2020 by Damian, Jo Chen and Michael. Michael and Jo met through a mutual friend, Jo and Damian were starting a band at the time, so Michael decided to join the band, and the band spent a lot of time writing songs during rehearsals to find a direction for the band. The band spent a lot of time writing songs in rehearsals to find the band's creative direction, and in April 2020 the band's first demo “Demo I” was released, and after the release of the first demo the band also released the EP “Katabasis “If you like Bolt Thrower, then this is the EP “Katabasis” you should pay attention to, with short, meandering solos, the band maintains an elegant tone, making their presence felt, but at the same time, making the band's music more accessible to the public. The band maintains an elegant tone, making their presence felt without being overbearing. The band's production further enhances the song, taking it from heavy to blistering. The best part of the band is the bass, which, while it's not particularly interesting, sits high in the mix, its decaying and crackling tone supporting the plaintive guitars,. The drums are also quite solid, providing a strong rhythmic backbone and driving the already surging melody forward. The mixing is also quite good, with the various instruments having their own space, although there is some fuzz at faster speeds.After the release of the EP, the band released their first official album in 2022, “Dreams of Dysphoria”, which was released in the UK on Me Saco Un Ojo Records. Released on the UK's Me Saco Un Ojo Records label, the band's mournful guitars and cymbal crashes jump out with a reverberating and ghostly opening. The bleak and eerie atmosphere soon subsides and is replaced by jangly rhythms that create a raucous, old-fashioned atmosphere and expand with a hellish brutality. Morbid vocals blend bleak bass with venomous treble, complementing the uncomfortable nature of the music. With guitars and bass outlining intimidating soundscapes over tasteful drums, Vacuous has a unique approach to music making that evokes both a real sense of anxiety and a surreal, otherworldly atmosphere. Combined with an aggressive playing style, this all ensures that their concerts are powerful, unusual and evocative. As the tension rises, the band often comes up with moments of bestial ferocity that give a very personal touch and attack in a ruthless way that does not come from pretending to be a heavy soundscape, but is actually performed by an impassioned band. Naturally this kind of truly savage music can't be faked, and Vacuous is such a sparkling, epileptic and ominously foreboding piece of excellence that it will catch the eye of anyone with a knack for spotting the truly eloquent and morbid. 2023 saw the band collaborate with the UK's Mortuary Spawn on their latest Spilt album, and on the occasion of the new release the magazine got in touch with the band's guitarist Michael for an interview!

(V: for the author M: for Michael)

采访对象：Michael（Vacuous乐队吉他手）

采访时间：2024.12.22

V: 你好兄弟很高兴见到你，非常感谢你能参加这次采访，我想这是你们乐队第一次接受中国杂志的采访，首先跟中国的粉丝们打个招呼吧，Vacuous乐队成立于2020年，是一支非常年轻的乐队，当初是谁发起成立这支乐队的？

Hello brother nice to meet you and thank you very much for participating in this interview, I think this is the first time that your band has been interviewed by a Chinese magazine, first of all say hello to all the fans in China, Vacuous was formed in 2020 and is a very young band, who initiated the formation of this band in the first place?

M: 你好，感谢你接受我们的采访。向中国所有的地下金属乐迷问好！Vacuous乐队最初是由我（Michael，吉他手）、Jo Chen和Damian.组建的。我和乔最初是在伦敦的一个共同朋友的介绍下认识的，他知道我们对极端金属有着相似的兴趣。大约在那个时候Jo正试图与Damian一起组建另一支乐队，于是我们决定合二为一，这就是Vacuous的由来。我们最初花了很多时间在排练室里，试图找出自己的方向。最终我们在2020年4月推出了第一张Demo。

Hello. Thanks for the interview. Cheers to all the underground metal fans in China! The band was originally started by myself (Michael, guitar), Jo Chen and Damian. I was originally introduced to Jo, by a mutual connection of ours in the London scene who knew we had similar interests in extreme metal. Around that time, Jo was trying to start another band with Damian, so we decided to combine our efforts into one project and that’s how Vacuous came to be. We originally spent quite a bit of time in the rehearsal room trying to figure out which direction to go in. The result of this was our first demo, which came out in April 2020.

V: 现在乐队的第一代成员只有Jo Chen和Michael Brodsky，乐队的其他成员都发生了变化，第一代成员为什么退出乐队？新成员是如何加入乐队的？你们对新成员满意吗？

Now the only first generation members of the band are Jo Chen and Michael Brodsky, the rest of the band has changed, why did the first generation members quit the band? How did the new members join the band? Are you happy with the new members?

M: 真正离开乐队的只有我们的老贝斯手Damian。你说得没错，乐队的阵容确实发生了变化。我们刚成立乐队的时候，Jo既打鼓又主唱。录制完EP“Katabasis”后，我们意识到音乐变得越来越复杂，对体力的要求也越来越高，因此决定让他只专注于主唱并招募一名新鼓手，Max Southall就是在那时加入乐队的。在“Dreams of Dysphoria”的创作过程中，我开始加入更复杂的吉他部分，包括和声、主音部分等，显然需要第二位吉他手，因此我们邀请了Ezra在2021年加入乐队。现任贝斯手Zak于2022年加入，此前Damian因个人原因离开了乐队。随着乐队的发展，我们的阵容也发生了有机的变化，我们对目前的阵容很满意，在这一点上我不认为任何人是“新成员”。

The only member who actually left the band is our old bassist Damian. But you are right, the line up has definitely evolved. When we started the band, Jo was doing both drums and vocals. After recording our EP “Katabasis”, we realised that the music was getting more elaborate and physically demanding, so the decision was made for him to focus solely on vocals and to recruit a new drummer, which is when Max Southall joined the band. During the writing process of “Dreams of Dysphoria”, I started adding more complex guitar parts, with harmonies, lead parts etc and it became apparent that a second guitarist was required, so Ezra was invited to join in 2021. Our current bass player, Zak, joined in 2022, after Damian left for personal reasons, as mentioned earlier. The line up has evolved in a pretty organic way as the band has developed. We are happy with the current line-up. I don’t really see anyone as “new members” at this point.

V: 能描述一下你们的创作过程吗？

Can you describe your creative process?

M: 一般来说，首先是我自己在家里构思歌曲。然后我会在电脑上录制一个粗略的Demo，使用编程鼓，让大家了解我对歌曲流程的设想。然后我会与大家分享并获得一些初步反馈，然后我们就会进入排练室，开始以乐队的形式对歌曲进行微调。每个成员都可以自由支配自己的部分，歌曲在达到最终形式之前总会不断演变。我们还会在录音室里尝试不同的编曲，添加一些小铃铛和小口哨来点缀歌曲。

Generally speaking, it will start with myself coming up with song ideas on my own at home. I’ll then record a rough demo on my computer, using programmed drums to give everyone an idea of how I envision the song to flow. I’ll then share it with everyone and get some initial feedback and then we’ll get into the rehearsal room and start fine tuning it as a band. Every member has free reign over their own parts and the song will always evolve before reaching its final form. We also try to experiment a bit in the studio with different arrangements, adding little bells and whistles to embellish the song.

V: 你们乐队的录音非常棒，你们是在哪个录音棚录制的专辑？哪位制作人制作了你们的专辑？

Your band's recordings are fantastic, what studio did you record the album in? Which producer produced your album?

M: 谢谢。迄今为止每张专辑都有不同的录音过程。“Katabasis"由每位成员在Covid期间在家独立录制，然后交给工程师混音/母带。“Dreams of Dysphoria"由Wayne Adams在伦敦的 Bear Bites Horse录音室录制。我们与Mortuary Spawn的合辑由Stanley Gravett在圣山录音室录制，他还录制了我们即将发行的第二张全长专辑。

Thank you. Each release has had a different recording process so far. “Katabasis” was recorded independently by each member at home during Covid and then sent to an engineer to mix/master. “Dreams of Dysphoria” was recorded by Wayne Adams at Bear Bites Horse studio in London. Our split with Mortuary Spawn was recorded at Holy Mountain Studios by Stanley Gravett, who also recorded our upcoming second full length album.

V: 你们乐队的LoGO设计独特，是谁为你们设计的？你们专辑的封面设计独特，是谁为你们设计的？

Your band’s logo has a unique design, who designed this logo for you and your album artwork has a unique design, who designed this artwork for you?

谢谢。Logo是由一个在Instagram上名叫“Rotting Earth”的人设计的。这个Logo在很多方面都不完美，而且因为非常凌乱而有些不实用，但我们已经越来越喜欢它了，它在很多方面都很好地代表了我们。我们曾尝试过更新它的版本，但效果总是不尽如人意，所以最后又回到了原点。今后我们将开始使用更简洁的纯文字版本，但仍会保留旧版本用于宣传（有点像从“Failure for Gods”专辑开始的“Immolation”）。

Thanks. The logo was designed by someone who went by the name “Rotting Earth” on Instagram. It’s quite an imperfect logo in a lot of ways, and somewhat impractical as it is very messy, but we’ve grown quite fond of it and it represents us well in a lot of ways. We’ve tried getting an updated version of it, but have never been satisfied with the results, so always end up coming back to it. Going forward though, we will start using a more simple plain text version, while still keeping the old one for merch (kind of like Immolation starting with the Failure for Gods album).

V: 你们曾与Crypt of the Wizard、Me Saco un Ojo Records等唱片公司发行过专辑，现在又与优秀的Relapse Records签约，你们是如何与这些唱片公司取得联系并合作的？你们对他们的工作满意吗？

You’ve released albums with Crypt of the Wizard, Me Saco un Ojo Records and you’re now signed to the excellent Relapse Records, how did you get in touch with these labels to work together? Are you happy with their work?

M: 我们很幸运能与几家优秀的唱片公司合作，我们非常尊重他们。我们是Me Saco un Ojo的忠实粉丝，所以我们在制作“Dreams of Dysphoria”时给他们发了邮件，他们和Dark Descent Records都有兴趣发行这张唱片。能有机会与两家最好的地下Death Metal唱片公司合作，我们感到非常自豪。来自Crypt of the Wizard的Charlie 从我们乐队成立之初就是我们的好朋友，所以通过他的唱片公司发行这张合辑是一个非常容易的选择。多年来他为我们做了很多，实际上也是通过他，我们才与Relapse Records取得了联系。老实说与Relapse合作感觉很不真实，因为我记得他们是我在2000年代成为乐迷的第一个厂牌！我们非常期待与他们合作的第一张专辑终于面世。说到厂牌我还得提一下F H E D，他们发行了我们的第一张Demo、EP和“Dreams of Dysphoria”的磁带版。Jim是这家公司的负责人，他为发行我们的音乐付出了很多心血，我们非常感谢他。

We’re lucky to have worked with several great labels that we have a lot of respect for. We were big fans of Me Saco un Ojo, so we emailed them when we were working on Dreams of Dysphoria and they were interested in releasing it, along with Dark Descent Records. We’re really proud to have had the opportunity to work with two of the best underground death metal labels. Charlie from Crypt of the Wizard had been a good friend of the band since we started, so releasing the split through his label was a very easy choice. He’s done a lot for us over the years and it was actually through him that we were put in contact with Relapse Records. Working with Relapse honestly feels quite surreal as they were the first label I remember becoming a fan of in the 2000s! We’re anxious for our first release with them to finally come out. While we’re talking about labels, I should also mention F H E D, who released our first demo, EP and did the cassette version of Dreams of Dysphoria. Jim, the guy who runs it, put a lot of work into releasing our music and we owe a lot to him.

V: 死亡、恐怖、空虚是你们乐队音乐的一些主题，你们为什么选择这些主题？你们想通过这些主题表达什么？你们还创作了歌词，是谁写的歌词？

Death, Horror, Emptiness are some of the themes of your band's music, why do you choose them? What do you want to express through these themes? You also write the lyrics, who writes the lyrics and what inspires them?

M: 如果我没记错的话，这些主题都列在我们的金属档案页面上。我不确定这是否完全准确或真正反映了乐队的宗旨。我不敢说我们有一组固定的主题，更多的是想传达一种非常真实、令人痛苦和不安的氛围。第一张专辑涉及了很多心理健康、创伤、损失、悲伤、自杀等问题以及其他各种令人愉悦的主题。我们试图避开许多Death Metal乐队所探讨的恐怖/刀光剑影的幻想氛围。即将发行的新专辑以暴力为主题，探讨了人们如何看待暴力、如何体验暴力、我们如何通过媒体消费暴力形象以及由此产生的心理影响。由于歌词一般都是乔自己写的，因此他更有资格向你介绍每首歌的具体细节。不过如果有人愿意为我们更新金属档案，那就再好不过了！

If I’m not mistaken, those are the themes listed on our Metal Archives page. I’m not sure that’s entirely accurate or truly captures what the band is about. I wouldn’t say we have a set group of themes that we limit ourselves to, it’s more about it conveying a very real, harrowing and unsettling atmosphere. The first album deals a lot with issues of mental health, trauma, loss, grief, suicide and all kinds of other cheery subjects. We try to steer clear of the horror/slasher fantasy vibes that a lot of death metal bands explore. The upcoming album deals with the theme of violence, how it is perceived, how it is experienced and how we consume images of violence through media and the mental implications of this. Jo would be in a better position to give you more details on the specifics of each song as he generally writes all the lyrics. But yeah, if someone wants to update our Metal Archives for us, that would be great!

V: 首先祝贺你们去年发行了最新的Spilt专辑，你们的作品给我留下了深刻的印象，凄凉的吉他伴着钹的撞击声，凄凉阴森的气氛很快就消失了，取而代之的是强劲的节奏，声音营造出一种喧闹和老式的氛围并以地狱般的残酷扩展开来。令人毛骨悚然的人声将凄凉的低音与毒辣的高音融为一体，与音乐的不舒适性相得益彰。吉他和低音提琴勾勒出令人生畏的音效，再加上有品位的鼓点，这种独特的音乐创作方式营造出一种恐怖的氛围。再加上极具攻击性的演奏风格，你们的音乐强劲有力、不同寻常，令人回味无穷。随着紧张气氛的升温，你们会演奏出一些凶猛的旋律，你对自己的作品有什么看法吗？

Firstly congratulations on the release of your latest Spilt album last year, I was very impressed with your work, bleak guitars accompanied by cymbal crashes, the bleak and eerie atmosphere soon fades away and is replaced by hard hitting rhythms, the sound creates a raucous and old fashioned ambience and expands with a hellish brutality. Morbid vocals blend bleak bass with venomous treble, complementing the uncomfortable nature of the music. Guitars and bass outline daunting soundscapes over tasteful drumming, and you have a unique approach to music making which creates a macabre atmosphere. This, coupled with a very aggressive playing style, gives a powerful, unusual and evocative sound. As the tension rises, you guys come up with some ferocious riffs, do you have any thoughts on your work?

M: 谢谢，很高兴你这么说。营造明显的紧张感和恐惧感一直是我们作品的关键组成部分。我们试图在原始、疯狂的侵略性和非常凄凉、压倒性、令人心碎的氛围之间找到一种平衡。人们似乎普遍认为，为了营造气氛，你需要牺牲一些暴力和强度，但我认为这并不正确，而这正是我们建立声音的基础。我们努力保持开放的心态，不局限于严格意义上的死亡金属。我们从很多不同的地方汲取养分，如black metal, doom, grindcore, punk, goth, industrial, dark ambient, grunge和更多....，同时试图将其融合成既有凝聚力又有个性的东西。正如你提到的分段录音，你可能也知道，那是在没有点击音轨的情况下录制的，我们留下了不少错误。这一点我们正在慢慢适应，因为它最终造就了乐队的人性特征。我们远非完美，也是非常混乱的人，为什么我们的音乐会有什么不同呢？

Thanks. I’m glad that comes across. Building a palpable sense of tension and dread has always been a key component to our work. We try to find a balance between raw and unhinged aggression and a very bleak, overwhelming and harrowing atmosphere. There seems to be a general belief that in order to build atmosphere, you need to sacrifice some of your violence and intensity, but I don’t think that’s true and that’s what we’ve build our sound on. We try to keep a very open mind in terms of the influences that we allow into the band and don’t limit ourselves to strictly death metal. We pull from a lot of different places like black metal, doom, grindcore, punk, goth, industrial, dark ambient, grunge and more….while trying to blend it into something that is both cohesive and personal. As you mentioned the split recording, as you can probably tell that was recorded without a click track and we left in quite a few mistakes. That’s something we are slowly becoming more comfortable with as it’s ultimately what makes the human character of the band. We are far from perfect, and are very messy people, so why would our music be any different?

V: 你们乐队参加过很多音乐节，有哪些音乐节给你们留下了深刻印象？能描述一下氛围吗？2025年你们还受邀参加哪些音乐节？你们在2021年发行了一张现场录音专辑？这是你们参加的音乐节的录音？

Your band has played a lot of festivals, what are some of the festivals that have impressed you? Can you describe the atmosphere and what other festivals you've been invited to in 2025? You released an album of live recordings in 2021? This is a recording from that festival you played?

M: 我想我们参加过一些音乐节。去年的Oslo Deathfest真的很酷，这是我们第一次参加国际演出，我们都想去这个城市看看已经很久了。由伦敦东区“Crypt of the Wizard”组织的“Life After Death fest”音乐节是另一个引人注目的音乐节。这是一个在不寻常的场地举办的非常独特的音乐节，气氛非常特别。我们将于2025年回到那里，庆祝我们下一张专辑的发行。除此之外我们明年还将在西班牙、波兰和丹麦举办音乐节。希望更多的音乐节将很快确定下来。这张现场专辑是2021年在利兹的一场独立演出上录制的，我们发行的是限量磁带。

I suppose we have played a few festivals. Oslo Deathfest last year was really cool, our first international show and we’d all wanted to visit the city for quite some time. Life After Death fest, which is organised by Crypt of the Wizard in East London, is another one that stands out. It’s a really uniquely curated festival in an unusual venue and the atmosphere was really special. We will be returning there in 2025 to celebrate the release of our next album. Other than that, we currently have festivals in Spain, Poland and Denmark booked for next year. Hopefully more will be confirmed soon. The live album was recorded at a standalone show in Leeds in 2021. We released that as a very limited tape run.

V: 在即将到来的2025年，你们乐队有什么新的计划吗？比如创作、录制一些新材料？能向大家透露一些信息吗？

Is there anything new your band is working on for the upcoming 2025? Like writing, recording some new material? Can you reveal some information to everyone?

M: 我们的第二张全长专辑将于2025年初通过Relapse Records发行，第一首单曲应该会在一月份的某个时候发行。这张唱片已经完成有一段时间了，我们已经搁置了一段时间，这让我们有些沮丧。除此之外我们已经开始制作第三张专辑，不过我们并不着急，因为我们想花时间好好宣传第二张专辑！在现场演出方面，我们计划在2025年4月进行一次完整的英国巡演并将在秋季进行一些欧洲演出。除此以外我们将在专辑发行后再考虑其他演出。

Our second full length album will be released in early 2025 via Relapse Records. The first single should come out sometime in January. The record has been finished for quite some time now so we’ve been sitting on it for a while, which has been a bit frustrating. Beyond that, we’ve already started work on our third album, though we are in no particular rush as we want to take the time to properly promote the second one! In terms of live shows, we have a full UK tour planned for April 2025 and will look to do some European shows in the autumn. Other than that, we will see what we get offered once the album is out.