Arius
Melanie talks to Matt (Moyer), 2000
 

MR: Talk a little about what went into the making of your new material. What are your favorite elements within?

MM: The new material has as always been a collaboration of our members as a whole. Each of our members excels in writing different types of material. I excel a writing the bigger beefy riffs. You know, the ones that grind your way into your memory.. Lukas writes most of the off tempoed riffs that are in weird time signatures that take a mathematical genius to figure out. We normally  use these to break up the songs so there not the same old boring 4/4 tempoes used by so many death metal acts. Matt Davis is the speed burner: when the song calls for a blistering tempo change, we call on Matt to fry our brains with burning speed and agression. Al has been writing two or three drum parts and we have been picking what he and the rest of us think the material needs. I normally direct this effort together into a new piece of music. With over three years of music theory under my belt, this falls on my shoulders. Lukas has complete control over all lyrics, which tell of many of his own philosophies, mainly on the subject of religion. My favorite aspects of the new material are the big smash face tempo changes. Imminent Sacrifice, for instance, starts out very slow and ominous. Then all of a sudden the tempo smashes this mood to dust as the rhythm snaps your neck. After that the violence intesifies even further into a whirling turmoil that constantly builds to the demise of the song.

MR: On your present lineup, what happened to Shane?

MM: Shane has been in this business a lot of years. Over those years people change. Due to his other responsibilities, work, family, he had less and less time for the band. This was holding the band back. We knew it and so did Shane. Subsequently we knew it was time to part ways. He will be sorely missed as a drummer and as constant entertainment!

MR: Your new drummer is Al, "for the time being" he says. Will he participate in songwriting? What do you feel he brings into the band?

MM: Al has already participated in some rewriting of some drum parts. He has a totally diferent style of drumming than Shane. So we gave him free rein (at our discretion) to do what he thought he could with our present set list. Al is a true drum technician and is very imaginative when writing parts. He can do a number of different things to make the material more interesting and much more violent. Shane was more of a straight ahead power drummer. Al does alot of different rolls and fills to make things more chaotic. Al however will be only temporary and we are currently searching for a new drummer.

MR: Describe a few of your favorite songs and their composition.

MM: My current favorite is a new one called Imminent Sacrifice. It starts out very slow with a haunting melody line.. It has a definate old Slayer feel. It builds into a three part hamony between the guitars and bass, with the bass up high playing a killer bass line that is really like a third guitar. Then, Lukas shreads everything with vocals. The lyrics in the end of the first verse are "Sucking dick to save your life, on your knees for jesus christ". Then the main driving riff of the piece, which I wrote, kicks in, and grinds till it builds into total chaos. Things come back together thereafter when the chopping chorus rears its head. After that there's a very nice speed riff with some totally off beat breaks within. The song has alot of tempo and feel changes wich make it very interesting so it's not the same old thing. We try to stress an equal balance in all our composing to keep things interesting and ever changing.

MR: What's the deal with LNL/Epitaph Records? Are you formally "signed" to them, or is it a distro deal, or ... ??

MM: No, we were never formally signed. A deal was worked out where we would be able to shop our material around, and if no one bit, then we would go with LNL.

MR: What do you think of the present (underground) metal scene?

MM: I think its making a come back to the heydays of the early 90's. I think that rap music has ruined a whole generation of would be metalheads, and that this so called rap metal is a sorry excuse for true metal. Everyone wants to do things the easy way these days using digitally created crap, instead of studying music and composing, and studying and playing instruments. The turn table and the sampler are not fucking instruments. A turntable is something to listen to metal on!

MR: Is song or lyric writing collaborative, or do certain members do certain things?

MM: Lukas does have complete control over the lyrics. I have named a few songs and written a few lyrics mostly just to give the songs direction. I usually compose the songs. That means I put the songs together and direct where I feel the song should go. I write alot of the big chunky or groovy type riffs. Lukas writes alot of the offbeat crazy time signatured chaotic riffs. Matt Davis writes alot of the speed burning blast riffs. We all colaborate on drum parts to find out what we feel fits the song the best.

MR: Which show was your favorite show to play?

MM: Probably Michigan Death Fest 4 (1995?). Things were really rolling back then. We had an excellent time slot and people just freaked about us.

MR: What is the funniest thing you have seen lately?

MM: A band (unknown name) that played a Halloween show with us. They were the worst band I have ever seen! They never made it through a whole song, and just made total asses of themselves. In the end the bass player got fed up and screamed 'bass solo take one'! He flops all over this bass in some undicernable mess of bullshit! It was fuckin' ugly!

MR: Any funny/horror show stories? (brace yourselves for the Whit's End.. - ed.)

MM: We booked a show at a club in Toledo called The Whit's End. Master was coming through town that night and was headlining. When I got to the club, all the staff had quit the night before, except for one lady bartender. No sound man, no doorman, nothing! So I ended up working the door. We called a friend of ours to run sound. He couldn't find any microphones. Ends up they were in a lockbox under the bar! We end up with a killer turnout despite everything. Then this bunch of punks started sneaking in the back and hangin out on a deck out back. Next thing ya know they're gettin a little rowdy and start throwin' bottles out in a busy street. So before the cops show up I decide something needs to be done. I go up there and tell them they need to relax, they tell me to turn around and go home you long haired faggot! Needless to say I went and got my cronies about fifteen of them or so, and we proceed to go up and take care of business. I then realize that there's about 50 people up there. While we're all having words the barmaid comes running out and starts gettin into it with one of the punks then he hauls off and hits her. All hell breaks lose! Shane drops a monster right on some dude. One of the dudes from Reflections Of Death goes down at my feet with two guys on him. I grab one of the guys by the eye sockets, he comes up screaming, takes a swing at me. I blocked and wrapped my arm in behind his head, and DDT'D him full force into a picnic table. There were bottles flyin' everywhere. I kept on smackin' this punks head in to the table. I hear someone yellin 'get him off him get him off him'. I thought 'man, one of my boys must be gettin fucked up'. Then I realized that they were trying to get me off their boy! I was getting kicked and punched from all angles! Then somthing caught me across the back hard, then again, I thought 'man I ain't takin that shit a third time.' I jumped up and there is this punk standing overtop of me smacking me across the back with a fuckin pool cue. He's stunned as fuck when I stand up so I smack him in the head with the pool cue. I look around and I'm all alone! So I get the fuck out of there! My back had some big ass welts all the way across it!! Sixteen cops showed up to clear the place out, and the show still went on!

MR: How well, do you find, the band has matured and evolved since the beginning?

MM: We've all matured in leaps and bounds. Lukas has evolved from a mediocre bass player to a force to be reckoned with. His writing has become phemonenal he never ceases to amaze me with fresh sounding riffs in phsyco time signatures. His vokills have changed from a low range growler to a full range of highs and lows from the classic aka Chris Barnes barking to black metallish highs. I personally have matured in my writing skills and comunications skills to get across what I mean to the rest of the members of the band. My overall playing has improved; I have strengthened my style of playing. Matt (Davis) has grown amazingly into a deathmetal guitar player with great speed and has learned to push himself to new heights. The band has evolved in to a much tighter band with a style its own. Brutal as fuck one minute and grinding your brains the next.

 

Arius (L to R) : Matt Davis, Matt Moyer, Lukas Kummer

MR: What are your goals and aspirations for the band? Any plans to record in the near future?

MM: We need to record our new material for release asap! Line up changes and slacking of certain ex-members have held this band from recording it's new material. Now we are going through lineup changes in the drumming spot. We have although found a new drummer, Jim Johnson, ex-Kastrophy drummer, and long time friend- will be coming out of retirement and should work out well as a full time member. He will be taking over the drums after the Cannibal Corpse show on Feb. 19. As soon as he's comfortable with the new material and gets to put his input in on a couple of ufinished tracks we'll hit the studio!

MR: If you could tour with with any 4 other bands, who would they be?

MM: Cannibal Corpse, Grave (early 90's), Disincarnate, Death (Spiritual Healing)..

MR: Shall the lyrics remain a shrouded mystery?

MM: The lyrics will probably be released if we rerelease some of the old tunes. This was talked about as a package with the new material as a bonus.

MR: Any last words?

MM: All you fuckers who listen to death metal stay brutal. Never sell out as true deathmetal bands will never sell out! Stay brutal and support all that is brutal. Go to your local shows and support your local acts! Support your local record stores to keep the brutal shit selling. DEATH FUCKIN METAL SHALL NEVER DIE!!!!!!!!!!

From Necrosis Magazine, September 1996

Melanie interviews Lukas of Arius.

MR: When did the band form and how?

LK: The band formed in late 1992/early 1993 (memory is getting kinda fuzzy at this point, I think its got something to do with age <G>). Anyway I had met this guy named Damon Conn who had many of the same musical influences as I did and was "jamming with some guys in Freemont" and they needed a bass player, I headed out there, found out the guys were pretty good musicians (better than me any way) and were pretty cool to hang out with to boot. I joined up and that was the the birth of "Eviscerate". We ran into a trade mark dispute and switched up some members and eventually became Arius a while later. Damon graduated from college and all that, so we picked up Ahriman's old guitarist, Brian. He hung on for a while and left, and we finally picked up Matt, our current rhythm player (not to be confused with Matt our lead player) completing the lineup as it stands today.

MR: What are your musical and lyrical influences or inspirations, and how do you blend them to sound unique?

We come from various influences and backgrounds, I think all of us once played in some bar/cover band at some time or another though. My personal influences include a lot of jazz and classical, I think it breaks up a lot of the more monotonous 4/4 death metal and provides an edge that other bands don't always have. I like some of the "generic" death metal sound, but it gets boring after a while, when all the beats are the same and the songs don't seem to get anywhere. Others in the band come from a classic rock background, the better classic rock, of course, like Sabbath etc. And you see that kind of thing show up as well.

MR: What do you feel your band brings to the scene?

Like I mentioned, we try not to be run of the mill death metal. Sure, we stay in the genre, but we try to keep things a little off balance in our songs, musically as well as lyrically. I have a degree in philosophy and much of that creeps into my lyrics, which question the norms and morality of everyday life in our "christian" society. I attempt to uncover some of the hypocrisy and deceit used by organizations to gain power in this world.

MR: What do you think of the underground metal scene?

I love the unground metal scene... it's really too bad that sometimes, especially here in Toledo, it doesn't get the support that it deserves. But, besides that, I love playing the shows, going to the shows, and all the people who hang out and enjoy the music kick ass as well.

MR: What are your goals and aspirations for the band?

I mean hey, first it's a hobby, I never want this to not be fun or for it to be a job, or something I have to do. That notwithstanding I wouldn't mind being signed, being able to lay down some tracks that weren't at my expense and do some touring, hell, I think everyone should have the chance to go see a decent death metal show once in a while. But as far as that goes that's it, as long as we have people that enjoy our music, then our primary goal is met, the rest would just be icing on the cake.

MR: Any funny/horror tour/show stories?

We played a couple Michigan Deathfests, thanks to Metal Mom, and at one of them Mortician was playing, and I'm not the biggest fan of Mortician in the world, but hey, different tastes and all that, I mean they got a record deal, we don't so who am I to judge? Anyway Shane, our drummer isn't the biggest fan either and these guys started harrasing him, since he has short hair, well you know, whatever, if ya can't get past looks.... so he retorted to one of their comments by telling them what he thought of their latest release, and I'm guessing it wasn't a favorable review, since they decided to see if they could kill him. Well I'm partying in Gutted's room and we hear some shit going on in the hall, and Matt (our guitarist) jokes that someone is probably trying to kill Shane. No one really paid much attention after that, but come to find out that that's really what happened, and he was saved by Brian who happened to be next door and curious enough to look outside when the fight went flying by...

MR: When can your next release be expected?

As soon as we get the cash (which should be pretty soon).

MR: What can fans look forward to seeing live, and hearing on your releases?

Well they get the good old-school stylings of Arius with a new twist to keep it interesting. The lyrics are sicker and more gut-wrentching, the guitars louder and more evil, and the overall sound should kick some ass, but otherwise nothing much <GRIN>...

MR: Is song or lyric writing collaborative, or do certain members do certain things?

Well, as far as riff and song writing goes its very collaborative, we all get together and throw in our two cents... We want to make sure that everyone likes what we're doing and gets to add some of their influence to it, there's a lot of talent here, and we don't want to waste it. Lyrically however, its all mine, I push personal agenda of freedom of speech and action, and hatred of established institutions. Fuck the government, religion and everything that they put in the people's way to take away their freedom.

MR: Any other words of wisdom for aspiring musicians, etc... in the scene?

Words of wisdom eh? Well Socrates once said the only thing I know is that I know knothing. Stay a little humble when you're doing this shit, and remember, you do it because you want to and because there are people out there that enjoy the music. They come first, don't cop some huge stupid "more death metal than thou" attitude, because that won't get you anywhere and you just make it harder for other people to get in on the scene. Also, when you're live put your all into it, that way the people show up!

Contact information:

The best place to mail me right now is hades@stax.net, but as usual I'm sure that will change. Also, if there are bands out there that need space for a webpage, let me know; I have access to a server and plan on making it publically available to bands etc....

Arius, 832 Alger; Fremont OH

Via e-mail at either blakhawk@hockeymail.com (Bryan Autullo, rep.) or hades@stax.net (Lukas).

More to come soon!

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