{"id":4838,"date":"2011-03-15T00:00:08","date_gmt":"2011-03-15T00:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=4838"},"modified":"2012-04-10T12:53:52","modified_gmt":"2012-04-10T12:53:52","slug":"feature-assaulter-03-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-assaulter-03-11\/","title":{"rendered":"ASSAULTER – The Great Subterfuge (March 2011) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

ASSAULTER – The Great Subterfuge<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nMarch 2011<\/span><\/p>\n

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Assaulter (l-r): Peter Hunt, Tommy Hellfinder and Simon Berserker<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia-based thrash \/ death metal outfit Assaulter formed in 2004, the brainchild of Simon Turner (better known as Simon Berserker), vocalist, guitarist and bassist for the group. Berserker had previously been a member of an Australian collective named Destr\u00f6yer 666; recorded at Sound Suite Studio, Marseille from January 6th to February 6th 2002, he performed bass on third full-length Cold Steel… For An Iron Age<\/em> (2002, Seasons Of Mist). Based in Holland at the time, Berserker left Destr\u00f6yer 666 and returned to Australia. \u201cI didn\u2019t do much music-wise for a few years,\u201d Simon admits. \u201cBasically, there was no clear idea at the start. I had a couple of jams with a mate of mine on the drums and we just recorded a few songs \u2013 they were rough and ready, but it actually came out alright. I thought \u2018Well, may as well release it and get a band together,\u2019 and I just came up with the name Assaulter because it was just a one-word name. Trying to get a full band together was a task back then, back in 2005. After that we did a second demo (Omnipotent<\/em>) with another drummer named A. C., and beyond that we did a seven-inch (Subservience<\/em>) with Iron Bonehead Productions which was in 2008. That was followed quickly by the first LP, and again it was still just the two of us at that stage. It wasn\u2019t until after the first LP Salvation Like Destruction<\/em> came out that we got another guitarist, and we\u2019ve had 50 bass players or whatever. A. C. was replaced on drums by Peter Hunt, and we\u2019ve just done Boundless!<\/em> Before the recording of that LP the line-up was still minus a bass player; Pete actually left the band straight after that anyway, so we\u2019re back to two people. That\u2019s where we are now, yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n

On October 11th, 2007, it was publicly announced that Assaulter had inked a record contract with Pulverised Records. \u201cAt that stage we\u2019d just released the second demo Omnipotent<\/em>, and we sent that out everywhere,\u201d the vocalist explains. \u201cI think we got rid of about 600 copies; either distros were buying them at \u2013 I don\u2019t know \u2013 a dollar a disc or something minus postage or whatever, or I was just getting distros to pay for postage and sending out multiple copies so they could just chuck it into their mail-order to get the name around. It did to a certain extent. Once people heard that demo, which was rough, tough and ready and all the rest of it, firstly we got approached by Iron Bonehead in Germany to do our first seven-inch, Subservience<\/em>. Shortly after that we were approached by Pulverised, because they\u2019d heard the demo as well. That\u2019s how it happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assaulter\u2019s relationship with Pulverised Records resulted in the issue of debut full-length outing Salvation Like Destruction<\/em> in September 2008. \u201cAt the time we were with Pulverised Records and they gave us the impression they were behind us, but they didn\u2019t give us much money to record with,\u201d Simon reflects. \u201cI think we were looking at 2000 Australian dollars which isn\u2019t much, especially when you\u2019ve got to spread it over mastering and what have you. We were screwed there from the outset. I think the songs were generally there, but halfway through the recording I was like \u2018Ugh, this isn\u2019t going too well.\u2019 We made a few poor choices with where we had to record the drums and what not. The drumming didn\u2019t come out that well; it was a trial by fire, and it is what it is. I\u2019m relatively happy with the songs and what not, but as an album I knew that we had to do better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Metal Blade Records\u2019 agreement with Poison Tongue Records to handle distribution on their behalf was publicly revealed in August 5th, 2010. Helmed by Primordial frontman Alan \u2018Nemtheanga\u2019 Averill, Assaulter was one of Poison Tongue\u2019s first acquisitions. \u201cI\u2019ve known Alan since 1999,\u201d the bassist discloses. \u201cI actually lived in Dublin for just under a year, and yeah, I\u2019ve known the man since then. He was keeping track of what we were doing, and the first album \u2013 like I said \u2013 is as rough as guts and what not, but it gave him a bit of a kick. He had this idea that he\u2019d approach Metal Blade to have an underground label for bands he thinks may deserve a bit more attention and what have you. He ran it by Metal Blade, and they were like \u2018Yeah, yeah.\u2019 He approached us, and yeah, we\u2019re the first band to get a release via this Poison Tongue moniker. So yeah, it\u2019s pretty good. It\u2019s actually really fucking good, because a lot of work has been done by Metal Blade with the promotion and what not.<\/p>\n

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\u201cPulverised promoted Salvation Like Destruction<\/em> well, but it was very short and I think they lumped us in with this retro-thrash kind of thing, which we\u2019re not at all. We\u2019ve got nothing to do with that at all, and I\u2019d like to make that very clear. They were trying to promote us alongside bands like Guillotine and all this kind of stuff, but Metal Blade are really pushing it on its own merits. So yeah, it\u2019s definitely great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sophomore record Boundless!<\/em> saw the light of day in March 2011, Assaulter\u2019s first to be released through Poison Tongue Records \/ Metal Blade Records. \u201cBasically, what we\u2019re playing or how we see ourselves playing is a real form of aggressive and quite rough and tough metal,\u201d Simon feels regarding Assaulter\u2019s sound. \u201cIt\u2019s got the speed of thrash, but it\u2019s still dark and heavy like death metal. There are lots of heavy metal hooks in there too though, which is something we really stick by. Tommy Hellfinder plays lead guitar, so he\u2019s adding a lot of heavy metal flavour with a lot of his leads and what not. But yeah, I just don\u2019t like this notion we\u2019re a thrash band which I\u2019ve seen a lot. Yeah, we\u2019ve got thrash elements definitely, but on the strength of that you could say we\u2019re a death metal band or a heavy metal band as well because there\u2019s just as much that as there\u2019s speed and thrash. Yeah, I\u2019m not too keen on the retro-thrash tag at all. When you hear it, you\u2019ll understand what I\u2019m saying (laughs). I guess with this whole retro-thrash thing, straight away I think of these bands of 18 to 20-year-olds in California in their Reebok Hi-tops just playing Exodus riffs. That\u2019s really not what we are, so we try to steer clear as far away as possible from that association.\u201d<\/p>\n

So Assaulter want to be trend-setters as opposed to trend-followers then Simon? \u201cThe aim isn\u2019t to set a trend,\u201d the frontman clarifies. \u201cWhat we play comes to us quite naturally, so we\u2019re not a part of this \u2018flavour of the month\u2019 crap. That\u2019s another thing that\u2019s rearing its ugly head I guess you could say, this revival of old-school death metal as well. All of a sudden, there\u2019s 700 bands all sounding like Autopsy. All these things go in cycles, but yeah, we\u2019ll just stick to what we play. Once you hear it, you\u2019ll hear a load of heavy metal-ness \u2013 there\u2019s quite a few epic passages in there as well with choirs and what not. It mixes it up, but at the end of the day it\u2019s just metal, real metal. That\u2019s our take on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first one definitely has more of this thrashy aggression like Sodom and Kreator, their older styles. Also there were epic songs on it like the album\u2019s closer, but this new one Boundless!<\/em>… Yeah, it\u2019s very mid-paced. You\u2019ve got a couple of fast songs, but a lot of them are mid-paced headbangers. There\u2019s a couple of epic, sprawling songs as well, so we\u2019ve definitely come more into our own on this album.\u201d<\/p>\n

Incorporating elements of thrash and death metal, Simon loves the old riffing of Metallica. \u201cWe take that kind of riffing and we\u2019ve got some of the rhythms of say Mercyful Fate or something, and lacings of leads,\u201d he ventures. \u201cLots of leads are linked in-between the vocal passages and what not, and then the straight-out dark tremolo aggression and death metal like old Sodom or something like that. It\u2019s very much rooted in what these days is quite old music, I guess. To me those are still my favourite kinds of bands, so naturally I\u2019m gonna draw more influence from them. Having said that though, I still listen to bands from today. In the case of Assaulter though, we tend to draw our influences from those kinds of bands. When Tom the lead guitarist came along, he\u2019d actually fallen out of the loop of what was happening in the underground in metal and what have you since the early 90s. He brought in his playing which is directly influenced by the late 80s, early 90s, and that added to the band as well. I know that contradicts what I was saying before about not trying to be retro, but we\u2019re not. I think when you hear it, you\u2019ll see how it\u2019s rooted in traditional metal values but it\u2019s not trying to just sound like fucking 80s bands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boundless!<\/em> generally explores the trappings of absolute power, lyrically speaking. \u201cI get a bit of a kick when I read these stories of \u2013 for example \u2013 Pol Pot or someone like that, and just the absolute power that comes about with someone who\u2019s a head of state,\u201d the vocalist comments. \u201cI think it was George Orwell who said \u2018Absolute power corrupts absolutely,\u2019 so that whole concept to me is quite fascinating. Generally speaking, across the album a lot of the songs deal with the same type of subjects. I\u2019m gonna keep it broad because I prefer it if people read the lyrics themselves and draw their own interpretation, but that\u2019s the general gist of it. From song to song there are different themes. There\u2019s definitely some anti-Christianity going on in there, but yeah, I think it\u2019s best if people listen and read them themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Tommy Hellfinder<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Bereft of an online biography page proper, scarce information exists regarding Assaulter. \u201cThat\u2019s actually on purpose; there used to be that stuff around I guess, but we\u2019re looking to focus on the now and not the boring details,\u201d Simon declares. \u201cIt\u2019s alright for you because you\u2019ve gotta work out questions and ask questions and what not, but I know trawling through the internet to check out new bands or whatever that they have a long biography about how the bass player was a neighbour of the guitarist, they had a beer once and they decided to do a logo… It\u2019s just fucking boring. I\u2019ve always tried to steer clear of that where possible, so any biographical information that\u2019s featured on MySpace or ReverbNation or what have you is all in the now. It\u2019s all what we\u2019re doing right now. I guess if people wanna know what the history is, they\u2019re always welcome to ask because I\u2019ll happily answer . Yeah though, I don\u2019t think a full-page bio is really all that interesting. I like to let the music speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

To create intrigue Simon? \u201cYeah. Well, that\u2019s what we all used to do I guess before the rise of the internet \u2013 it was all what you heard, or what someone played you. It was all about the music, and I think that\u2019s the most important thing yeah, definitely. If there\u2019s too much information given out straight away, people are gonna draw their own conclusions before they\u2019ve heard anything. \u2018Oh, they\u2019re influenced by those bands. Alright, well fuck it \u2013 I\u2019m not interested.\u2019 \u2018Oh ok, cool. They\u2019re influenced by those bands, but they don\u2019t really sound like them.\u2019 Have a listen; the songs are around \u2013 there\u2019s a few songs around at the moment from Boundless!<\/em> I think people should just have a listen, and work it out without needing any other background information.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Assaulter vocalist and bassist describes Australia\u2019s 2011 metal scene as \u201csmall, very small. It\u2019s not like it once was in the early to mid 90s where there were quite a few people going to local shows and watching local bands. I guess there are people around; if an international band plays, all of a sudden there are headbangers and metalheads everywhere. For the local shows though, especially with the kind of stuff we play or bands like Trench Hell or Vomitor or any of those kinds of bands, you\u2019re probably looking at \u2013 I don\u2019t know \u2013 200 people maximum at a show, which isn\u2019t too bad. It\u2019s quite good, but you\u2019re shooting yourself in the foot if you play more than twice a year in any of the major cities like Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne really. It\u2019s small, but there\u2019s definitely quite a few bands and all these bands are of the same kind of ilk \u2013 we all know each other and what not. There is a small scene, yeah. It\u2019s not like Germany as you\u2019d expect, or Sweden or any of those lucky bastard countries where metal\u2019s just everywhere. Yeah, I think it\u2019s great like that over there in Sweden. I mean, look at Nifelheim; a lot of people know who Nifelheim are over there. Yeah, it\u2019s small but it\u2019s still healthy and it\u2019s still here in Australia. Definitely we have good bands, I\u2019ll say that much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Naturally, Assaulter would love to tour internationally. \u201cWe\u2019re gonna come over to Europe next year definitely, once we get an idea of whether the album\u2019s doing ok,\u201d Simon divulges. \u201cThe deal is through Poison Tongue which is a sub-label of Metal Blade, but Metal Blade will be pushing the album above the underground. Poison Tongue will be working with Invictus in Ireland to get it spread out in the underground though. If that\u2019s well received, then we\u2019ll definitely be over there and we\u2019ll start planning it very soon. 2012 is the plan, yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boundless!<\/em> was released on March 11th, 2011 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, on the 14th in Europe and on the 15th in North America, all through Poison Tongue Records.<\/p>\n

Interview published in March 2011.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ASSAULTER – The Great Subterfuge Anthony Morgan March 2011 Assaulter (l-r): Peter Hunt, Tommy Hellfinder and Simon Berserker Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia-based thrash \/ death metal outfit Assaulter formed in 2004, the brainchild of Simon Turner (better known as Simon Berserker), vocalist, guitarist and bassist for the group. Berserker had previously been a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[259,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-assaulter","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4838"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4850,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4838\/revisions\/4850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}