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METAL SIDE: Do you still listen to Revenant’s early materials from the 80’s? What do you think about them now?

 

METAL SIDE: Many young people who are now devoted Death or Thrash Metal maniacs have idealistic vision of the underground from the 80’s. They think that its features were brotherhood, disinterested support… Was the scene as good and supportive as they think? 

REVENANT: I am suspicious of any such ideas. What I object to them most is that they are an anthropological way of thinking about the history. In other words, it is a way of thinking about the scene in terms of people, instead of music. What those people did not see was the violence and youthful stupidity of the scene. They also did not see how that violence also held things together and inspired us to compete, or the importance of other factors, like how we changed the physics and technique of our instruments, the endless hours of rehearsal, etc..

I would also draw a distinction between idealism and nostalgia. Nostalgia is often a dream invented by people who were not involved in a place or event – it is a distorted view of history. On the other hand, idealism belongs to the people who build a scene, such as we did. Nostalgia distorts history; idealism has no history. Both are dangerous things.

Both nostalgia and idealism ignore the most important thing: the music. We were all making crazy music, and in the end, the music matters most. Yes, it was an interesting scene, with plenty of dramatic action: but it was, above all, a music scene and not a fucking social club. The physics and technique of the music are more interesting. For example, when I visited the Morbid Angel house in Tampa in 1989, Pete was strapping weights to his ankles and hands when he played drums. He was training himself physically to play fast. Or the guitarists in Ripping Corpse, Sean and Erik, they used to file down coins to use as guitar picks. That is how they achieved their style. Will, our drummer, liked to drink a bottle of wine onstage in between songs. In retrospect, I know why he didn’t play well on “Prophecies” – he didn’t drink wine in the studio. 

 

METAL SIDE: When I heard “Overman” I was really surprised. It is very good material but I expected a bit different style, simply the continuation of “Prophecies…”, especially that the latest compositions written for this album, like “The Unearthly” were the fastest one. However, on “Overman” you slowed down. Why? Did you change the style because fast Death Metal wasn’t as popular as two or three years earlier or simply did you evolve as musicians?

REVENANT: Revenant had two rhythmic gears: slow and fast. Sometimes we explored both in a single song, while at other times we separated them. The first two songs on Overman are a continuation of tracks like “In the Dark of the Psychic Unknown” from the ‘Prophecies’ record. We were not satisfied with the slower material on Prophecies (among other things), so we concentrated on improving that area in our music. The third song, “Long Red Sleep,” is the only mid-tempo song we ever composed. The last track, “Exalted Being”, is actually a great deal like “The Unearthly”, only faster and heavier.

We entered the studio with six songs for Overman, but we did not include two of them: “The Burning Ground” and “The Faithless, III.” Those were both very fast and heavy songs, but they would have disrupted the conceptual continuity of the other four songs, how they worked with the title, etc, so we left them off. We left the recordings and mixes unfinished. The result is a stronger CD and Erik Rutan did a superb job mixing it. 

I don’t know how to answer the final question. We never made music like anybody else, period. Just listen to the bands that came out of the old New York/New Jersey scene – Suffocation, Ripping Corpse, Immolation, Incantation, Mortician, Nokturnel– not one of them sounds like any of the others, and they all changed from one recording to the next. It was a very diverse scene, and the music was always changing. Overman is just a glimpse of what we were doing at the time. We certainly weren’t following any trends.

 

METAL SIDE: Working on the release of "Overman" you co-operated with E. Rutan. Why did you choose him? Did you know him from the old times? Do you stay in touch with many musicians with whom you played gigs in the 80's and 90's?

REVENANT: Erik Rutan was the best person for that job. We wanted the CD to capture a certain mood, and Erik understood that best. He is a rigorous engineer and producer. 

The fact that he is an old friend only made communication easier.

I stay in touch by attending concerts. A few years ago Immolation and Six Feet Under were playing near the University in Pittsburgh. I was teaching in the afternoon and I was wearing one of my fine Italian suits. I walked over to the club when I was finished. I immediately ran into Chris Barnes, who I hadn’t seen since he left Cannibal Corpse. He stopped when I said hello, and then he said “Holy Shit - Veg!” The guys in Immolation were not surprised at all – I was showing up at their concerts wearing short hair and suits for a few years already, even before I moved to Pittsburgh.

Anyway, I stay in touch by going to shows. I don’t call people or write them often, or show up for Christmas, if you know what I mean.

 

METAL SIDE: There’re more “lost” Revenant’s tracks recorded between “Prophecies…” and “Overman”. Are they in the vein of the full-length album or rather the EP?

REVENANT: There is no comparison to either one. The songs we wrote from 1991-1994 were certainly the heaviest material we ever composed. Revenant was not always a very good studio band, but we were a devastating live band. The “lost” recordings capture the live atmosphere of the shows. We are currently mixing that material now for Extreem records (Spain). They will release a CD early next with all the demos, 7-inch recordings, and live songs. Everything will be remixed and remastered. 

 

METAL SIDE: Why did you wait so long to present “Overman”? This material was worth the immediate release… It would be hard to believe that you couldn’t find a good record label to release it. But knowing metal business unfortunately everything is possible…

REVENANT: Thanks. We didn’t shop the material to labels. Like I noted earlier, it was just for us. We are pleased that it reached a larger audience without the intervention of a record label, but I have to remind you that it was a very personal project for some of us. 

 

METAL SIDE: There is a chance that we will hear previously unreleased material already next year. Could you tell us more about these plans?

REVENANT: Yes. Dave from Extreem Records/Avulsed approached us with the idea of emptying the Revenant vault. The CD is entitled “The Burning Ground” and it will feature many unreleased tracks, alternate versions, and remixed versions of ALL the Revenant demos. It is going to have excellent packaging and a great insert booklet with tons of old photographs, flyers, lyrics, and other material. Where we only pressed “Overman” for ourselves, “The Burning ground” is dedicated for the fans. It will contain the music they always wanted from us – the best stuff.

 

METAL SIDE: Your materials were recorded ten and more years ago. Now you can have different approach to music. Have you some ideas what could be changed in your old tracks if you could re-record them?

REVENANT: I would not change any of the 7-inch or demo recordings, and I think Overman is a perfect E.P. I would change one thing: the entire ‘Prophecies” record. We should have waited one year longer, abandoned some of the older material that was written when John was still in the band, and worked in a different studio.

 

METAL SIDE: I read your interview for German webzine (www.voicesfromthedarkside.de) in which you emphasized that there won’t be any new Revenant’s recordings. Why? Don’t you have new ideas? Do you like other kinds of music now that would not fit old Revenant’s styles? Don’t you have time? I’m asking about this so importunately because I’m sure that many people would like to hear new Revenant’s material. 

REVENANT: Sorry, but no. I know that Will would do it tomorrow if he had the chance, but unfortunately for him, the Dave, Tim, and I live very far away. I would only do it if Tim paid to bring us all to rehearse at his house in Sweden.

 

METAL SIDE: All Revenant’s recordings that I heard are not only very good but also very original. How were you working on your music? Had you a special songwriting method?

REVENANT: We were meticulous, slow, and patient. We spent a very long time writing music, and then it would evolve for years after the first draft. We rehearsed constantly, about three-four days per week, every week of the year, and as individuals we would spend the rest of the time working on riffs and assembling them. I also had lyrics to write, and I was slow with those as well. Sometimes I would begin with a phrase, and change it over and over. Sometimes I would start with a single word, and build the lyrics from there. Sometimes I would begin with a single riff, and simply elaborate it. It took me the entire summer of 1989 to write ‘Distant Eyes,’ but it all started with that first, slow riff. 
 

METAL SIDE: Why did you disband Revenant in the mid 90’s? Were you tired of the scene or simply had other challenges in your life?

REVENANT: I decided to return to school and earn a Master’s Degree in Literature. I left the band in the middle of the first year of study, then I went to study and stay with some of my family in Italy in 1995. When I came back, it was over – Tim was in Florida playing in Hateplow, and Dave and Will were doing other things.

 

METAL SIDE: Do you think now that Revenant achieved everything what you could achieve? When you signed a deal with Nuclear Blast it seemed that very soon you would become one of the most popular US Death Metal bands. I think that you never achieved such position, that your great music was underrated.

REVENANT: That old scene only produced one truly great death metal band, and that was Immolation. The rest of us, especially Revenant and Ripping Corpse, were too strange to become popular. We never played music to be popular. We played music because we loved music. Beyond that, we didn’t care about anything, and especially not about what people expected of us.

As for “Prophecies,” I see now that we were probably too young to make a record. It was all too fast. With the exception of “The Unearthly,” the “Prophecies” CD was a failure. The European tour, on the other hand, was a huge success. Listen to the soundboard recordings from those concerts – they are brutal.

 

METAL SIDE: What bands were the biggest influences for you when you started playing Death/Thrash Metal? What do you listen to nowadays?

REVENANT: I grew up on classic rock. Led Zeppelin are the greatest rock band of all time, period. Sabbath and AC/DC were a big influence, but Zeppelin was the world. I also listened to the Doors, Hendrix, Janis Joplin, the Stones. All great stuff, and I am not ashamed to admit it. Listen closely to Overman – there are many references to those bands. There is a Beatles reference, and a Peter Gabriel reference, to name a few. Listen to the soundboards from the Prophecies tour – our intro music was Pink Floyd. We would play “One of these Days” from “Meddle,” and cut it right after the voice says “One of these days, I’m going to cut you into little pieces.” 

The first thrash bands that I liked were Metallica, Slayer, Whiplash, Voivod, and Celtic Frost. I later got into the great German bands, especially Sodom. But my roots were always in classic rock. Other people often laughed when they had to ride in the Revenant van. Will was listening to Rush, or I was listening to The Doors, or Dave was listening to the Allmann Brothers, or whatever.

 

METAL SIDE: Tell us something about your musical life after Revenant’s end. Were you in other bands? If you were, what did they play? What happened with other band’s members? 

REVENANT: yes, I did play in another band, but we had no name. It was different from Revenant. Maybe I will ask Tim to place some of the recordings on the Revenant website some day. It was very heavy stuff. We sounded something like Ministry.

 

METAL SIDE: What do you think about the current Death/Thrash metal scene? Is it worth to call it “original”?

REVENANT: I am not in a position to comment. I really have little or no idea. A young guy from a local college contacted me last year and asked for an interview, and I was surprised by how well he knew the history of the old scene. This much I can say – there are a few very good bands making very good music. Nile is great, Hate Eternal is great, etc. Even the old bands are making good music. The last Morbid Angel record, “Heretic,” was their best ever. 

 

METAL SIDE: Are you interested in the politics? What do you think about the rivalry Bush – Kerry? Many US musicians, not only who play Heavy Metal, seem to support rather Democrats. Republicans don’t have as strong support in show-business. What are the reasons of such situation? I guess that we can’t simply say that Democrats are more music-friendly than Republicans…

REVENANT: That’s a very unusual way of looking at it. I guess the old myth about the music of the 1960’s never died. The reality is that most music fans in the United States are very conservative people. They hate anything that is really new. And Republicans are very strong in some music scenes here, especially rock and country. And they are slowly taking over Hollywood, again, like they tried to do in the 1950’s. It is a very sad situation. It makes me miss people like Frank Zappa very much. We should have cloned him.

As for politics, some people complain there is too much of it in the world today. I disagree – there is not enough. What passes for politics these days is mere opinion. Everybody should shut up for about five years. In the meantime, they should read the major political thinkers – all of them, from Plato to Hobbes, and from Machiavelli to Marx. Then maybe they would speak only if they have something intelligent to say, and keep their stupid opinions to themselves.

 

METAL SIDE: You are also the translator of Italian literature. One can read one of your works visiting Revenant’s website. Let me ask you very prosaic, maybe even trivial question: what is more difficult, to compose good music or to write a good novel? On which of these fields is it easier now to be original? 

REVENANT: That is the best question I have ever been asked. I simply cannot answer it.

I can say this – ask me again after I have finished a novel! In the meantime, read Thomas Mann. 

 

METAL SIDE: Many critics say that Death and Thrash Metal bands have very simple, childish, trivial lyrics, sometimes in bad taste. Do you think that is fair opinion? How was it in Revenant’s case? What were your favorite topics that you expressed in your lyrics?

REVENANT: Moralists are so boring. The world is filled with them. They base their worthless judgments on absolute categories. That sort of criticism is pointless. Like I said earlier, everybody should just keep silent for about five years, and, in this case, study modern poetry and the lyrics of modern music before they open their mouths again.

There are two styles in rock and metal lyrics. One style is very subjective and psychological. “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath is the best example. But that style is a watered down version of the style that Jim Morrison was writing for The Doors. In the early stuff, this style was irrational, but later it hardened into a human figure or social phenomenon, like a serial killer. An excellent later example might be “The Ripper” by Judas Priest. You can trace a line from “The Ripper” through Slayer’s lyrics to Cannibal Corpse and Macabre. All the religious and satanic lyrics belong to this style, too. 

The other style is objective and concerned with elaborate stories and myths. It can be historical, like some Iron Maiden lyrics, or it can be fantastic or futuristic, like in Voivod lyrics. My lyrics belonged to this second school, but with one exception- I read too much philosophy when I was young, so there is a metaphysical streak in some of the early lyrics. Some of them are just nonsense. They seemed very profound at the time, and they changed in later years, but they still tried to use the Revenant character to create myths and stories. I was very much influenced by certain literary styles at the time, especially gothic writers, sci-fi, and fantasy writers, and I tried to synthesize it all into the concept of the “Revenant.” To this day, the best lyrics I wrote were for the song “The Burning Ground.” They were exceptional, because I was able to combine the mythology with a historical event in that song – the Chernobyl meltdown. 

 

METAL SIDE: Thanks for the interview.

REVENANT: Thanks for the good questions. 

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