Abhorration is a crushing old-school death metal band like it was done in the 80’s. Here is an interview I did with lead singer/guitar player Magnus Garathun about the band:
How did you discover heavy metal music what were some of the first bands you heard and do you still like any of those bands even today?
Magnus: I got into heavy music around 10 or so. It wasn’t all good, but it was in one way or another heavy. Growing up where I did you were almost bound to get into music at some point. We had two youth centres in the Kolbotn area, and the leaders of both of these centres played music (one of them now organises the Hellbotn Festival), so there were often youth club concerts and so on. They also offered free rehearsal spaces with all the equipment we needed, so many of my friends started playing at a young age, though only a few of us kept at it. Metal was the cool genre at that time, which is why I ended up here I guess!
The only good bands I can remember getting into at that age were Metallica, Slayer and Turbonegro, which I still listen to from time to time. Ass Cobra is fucking killer, and so are the two first Metallica albums. Slayer is another story of course I listen to them regularly still. I also remember listening a lot to Sons of Northern Darkness by Immortal. Havet heard that in a while, but I’m pretty sure it’s not my cup of blood any more.
Now how did you come to discover the underground side of metal? Did you get into it right away or did it take a few listens and then you were hooked? What were some of the early bands you heard and liked?
Magnus: The band that got the ball rolling was Aura Noir! I remember seeing someone with a Dreams Like Deserts hoodie that said “The ugliest band in the world”, which piqued my interest for some reason. I can’t remember if I was able to download it, or if I bought it on CD first, but I somehow got ahold of The Merciless, which was a huge turning point for me. I am sure I had heard some underground bands earlier, but this was when I got it. Power and Pain was an early one, Pleasure to Kill, Illusions, Persecution Mania. A lot of thrash, which was my main thing for a long time. All of these I still listen to regularly, particularly Illusions.
I also remember buying a few records before actually liking the band, with the reasoning that “I’m bound to get into it at some point, I just don’t understand it yet” ha ha. The first Bathory was one of these records, and so was Darkness Descends and Bloody Vengeance.
What was the 1st underground concert you went to and who were the bands and what was the experience like for you?
Magnus: The first underground show I went to must have been Sadistic Intent, Nekromantheon and Evil Dead at Elm Street in Oslo when I was 16. The promoter of the show had organized for us to be allowed in despite being underage, which was such a big deal for us. I remember having to catch the train to Oslo to buy tickets, which was exciting in itself. On the way to the show I remember listening to Sadistic Intent for the first time, being frustrated, as in my juvenile mind the production on Resurrection was good, but the vocals were bad, but on Ancient Black Earth the production was shit, but the vocals good, ha ha. I now realize, of course, that both releases are some of the absolute best death metal ever recorded, especially Resurrection.
Now what made you decide to pick up an instrument? While researching, I saw you play guitar, drums, and bass in the band Hecatomb as well as sing. What is your favourite instrument to play and what are some of your favorite players?
Magnus: As I mentioned, everything was put in for me to start playing at a young age. Not only did we have the free rehearsal spaces, but we also had so many local bands to look up to, making it even more exciting to start playing. I got a guitar for Christmas when I was 10, which I guess decided my path. I started playing around with the drums at maybe 13 simply cause my current band didn’t have a drummer. I’ve never been very good at drums, so guitars are my main instrument. Bass I’ve only played on the Hecatomb demo, and vocals I did for the first time on that recording too.
I’ve never been much into the technical aspect of instruments, so I haven’t got much of an opinion on guitarists, but I guess Tray Azagthoth would be my favourite. Hank Sherman, Richard Brunelle, Jeff Hanneman and Michael Sifringer are/were also great. As for drummers I like DD Crazy, the guy from Sadus, Fenriz, Kristian Valbo, Aggressor, Chris Reifert, Pete Sandoval and probably loads of other obvious choices hehe.
Now I know the whole band is or has been in several bands before the forming of Abhorration. How did the coming of Abhorration come together?
Magnus: Abhorration was a natural way forward, at least for me. I had just moved back to Norway after living in Australia for four years, having just released the Hecatomb demo. It felt like a bit of a bummer moving just as that demo finally came out, so it was vital to get back on the horse straight away. At the same time, I felt that I had already made all the riffs I had in me in that style, so I wanted to do something different. I had been obsessively listening to Altars of Madness and Resurrection for a year or two prior, so it made all the sense in the world to try to do something in that vein. I had already played with Øyvind in Condor before moving abroad, so I asked him if he wanted to start something, and we were pretty much in sync on what we wanted the band to sound like. Andreas had mixed the Hecatomb demo, so we asked him to join after a few months, and a year later Arild came along after mixing After Winter Comes War.
How did you come up with the name and logo for the band?
Magnus: There was a lot of back and forth regarding the name. I initially wanted it to be called Flaggalation or Ossuary, but Ossuary was too close to Obituary, and Flaggalation too close to Fellatio haha. We also considered Demonolatry, and Detestation, which had been used by another old band. I can’t remember how I eventually thought of the name Abhorration, but I must have read it somewhere. We got a logo made for the name Demonolatry, and if I remember correctly, we decided on the album title the moment we scrapped it as a band name.
Kristian Valbo of Obliteration drew the logo. I sent him a bunch of logos I liked and explained the style we were after. The first version he sent is the one we used on After Winter Comes War, and the file was titled “deathmeta1987” or something like that, so he was spot on! He drew both variations of the logo straight away, so we use them interchangeably
Now how was it decided you were going to sing, I saw band member Arild has also sung in other bands.
Magnus: It wasn’t 100% decided until we started recording the EP, but when Øyvind and I started the band it made sense that I’d give it a go as it was just the two of us. We did a pre-prod of the EP, where my vocals were awful, which was when I started doubting whether it was a good idea or not. Andreas is a bit of a vocal chameleon, so I remember saying that if I sounded like shit, he’ll have to do it. Luckily he pushed me to always sing at rehearsal, which helped to find the right style.
Now once the line-up was together how long were you guys around before the release of “After Winter Comes War” by Invictus Productions? How did they come to release this? Did they know of you guys from some of the other bands were were/are in?
Magnus: We recorded the EP as a three-piece about a year after the band was formed. Invictus had released the Hecatomb demo on vinyl, which was how I knew Darragh. I told him we had a new band and asked if he’d be interested in releasing it. This was before we had any material to show for, so he said yes on the condition that it was actually any good haha.
I read a couple of reviews of the demo, that said it was good. Looking back, are you happy with it?
Magnus: I am. I like the thrashy approach to death metal, and I think we have a good mix of the two genres. I’m also really happy with the production of it. Arild did a great job on the mix, and Marco just perfectly amplified that sound with the master. I think the songs are well-varied, without going too off-track.
Now we fast forward to late 2024 and you have a brand new release, also on Invictus Productions called “Demonolatry”, which is 6 tracks of vicious, crushing old-school death metal that is not to be missed. When did you begin work writing songs for this release and around how long did it take to complete the writing for it?
Magnus: I’ve always found it hard to make new music while still working on the old, so we started as soon as we finished mixing the EP. I think we were about halfway through the first song when Arild decided to join, so he added his first contribution to the opening track of the album. It took just under two years to finish it I believe. We were rushing it towards the end, hoping to record it before I got a kid, which didn’t happen. The last song was finished in May 2023, and recording and mixing finished around February 2024 or so.
Why the title of the LP “Demonolatry”?
Magnus: “Demonolatry” is taken from the translation of a book by Nicholas Rémy and translates to “demon worship”, which is more or less what the songs are about. As I mentioned, it was originally an idea for the band’s name, but we found it more fitting as an album title. It was going to be called “Demonolatries”, but we changed it to “Demonolatry” for unknown reasons.
I saw on the demo you did the songwriting and wrote all the lyrics. Is this the same for this new release as well? Do you have to be in a certain mood to write music or lyrics?
Magnus: On the album I did write the lyrics, and most of the music. However, both Arild and Andreas contributed some parts, and we all worked on the arrangements. I would usually have a rough idea of a structure, and then we work on it together. Going forward we have a much more collaborative approach, which I think will work well!
I need to be in the right mood. I usually need a clear source of inspiration, and I need to get an idea in my head before playing it. Lately, I’ve been struggling to make anything that stands out, but hopefully, I’ll get out of the rut soon. At the moment we have almost two new songs written for the next album, but everything is taking much longer now that we all write the songs together. Hopefully, the result will be better though!
Has the band played many live shows? Do you hope to play some to help promote this release?
Magnus: We’ve played some, but would like to play more. This year we’ve only played two shows so far, one in Oslo and one in Prague, at the Tones of Decay festival, which was great. We have two release shows coming up this weekend too, and we’ve got Mutation from Sweden along, which should make it two memorable evenings! They fucking kill.
We’ve received some offers for shows, but not much is set in stone yet except for the Host of All Fevers festival in Innsbruck in March. Hopefully, we’ll be able to go on a small tour to promote the album next year, but none of us are enough of a fixer to set it up ourselves, so promoters: GET IN TOUCH!!!
For someone who has never heard of the band, what would you say the band’s style is?
Magnus: Late 80s death metal: dark, fast and aggressive. Give it a listen if you enjoy Altars of Madness, early Immolation and Vader, Sadistic Intent and so on.
Please plug any social media sites you have. Do you have any merchandise for sale?
www.facebook.com/abhorration666
https://abhorration666.bandcamp.com/
We have some shirts and CDs for sale on the Bandcamp page, but we mostly sell merch at live shows. The Norwegian postal system has made it too much of a hassle to sell online, unfortunately.
Magnus horns up for doing this interview and best of luck with the band. Any last word the floor is yours.
Magnus: Listen to real metal, and never compromise! Also, check out the new Dødskvad demo:
