Meddlefan recently had a chat with the two main protagnosits from Coffin Torture, and by two main we mean the only two ha-ha. It is our pleasure to introduce Blind Samson (Drums,bass) and Alex Thorfinn, who we shall just refer to as Thorfinn (Vocals, guitars).
At what age did you get into metal?
Thorfinn: 11 or 12 years old.
Blind Samson: Around 13.
What was the first band you heard and decided this fucking kicks ass? I want to do this?
Thorfinn: Sepultura.
Blind Samson: Slayer for me.
So what made you decide to play this type of metal? Sludge metal that is .
Thorfinn: The guitar tones are really cool.
Blind Samson: For me, it was seeing a picture of Zoroaster in a magazine. They were in front of this mountain of amps. ‘Dog Magic’ had just come out and after seeing that picture, I had to hear what a band that used that many amps sounded like! I bought that cd and was hooked.
What is the craziest shit you have done in your life or lives?
Thorfinn: Nothing really crazy to mention.
Blind Samson: Haven’t done anything too crazy beyond regular drunken shenanigans. I played tuba all through school and we used to go audition for region and all state band. A friend and I stole some weed from his dad and got super stoned the night before and again right before getting on the bus to go down to Lexington, SC for auditions. You have to go in these little rooms and play all the major scales, chromatic scale, a prepared solo piece and sightread a difficult section of music in front of a panel of judges. It was much easier high haha.
What is your favorite color and why?
Thorfinn: Green. It’s one of the easiest colors for me to see (colorblindness).
Blind Samson: Blue…very peaceful.
This is your 3rd release right. How have you progressed and grown as a band?
Thorfinn: ‘Dismal Planet’ is our first full length release. All were EP’s and live recordings prior to that. I think we’ve learned and continue to learn about our gear and we’re definitely becoming more creative in writing.
Blind Samson: The first ep we released as Coffin Torture, ‘Psychotria’, was totally improvised. No vocals or bass. Just one track of guitar, the drums and a couple samples. Around the second ep, ‘Cave Dweller’, we started trying to write real songs with lyrics. I think we’ve gotten better at arranging and song structures over time. I hope so anyway haha.
Who is your favorite band/ bands?
Thorfinn: Warhorse, Slomatics, Celtic Frost, Conan, Type O Negative & Nile.
Blind Samson: Hard to choose, but if I had to pick some favorites, I would say, Crowbar, Neurosis, Swans, Harvey Milk, Butthole Surfers and Zoroaster are some I always return to.
Do you like to drink beer or liquor? Any crazy drinking drinking stories?
Thorfinn: I used to drink regularly, but I’m not much of a drinker anymore. I’m sure there’s some good stories I can’t remember.
Blind Samson: Beer. I keep it to 2 or 3 max nowadays, but that hasn’t always been my policy. One extremely drunken episode was a show we played with our previous band, Larval Stage, down in Charleston. We were playing the second day of Holy City Hellfest and they were doing free PBR for the bands. It was the first night of the fest and we weren’t playing until the next night, so I went all out, to say the least. Had all this fake blood we were going to put on for the show(it was around Halloween) and I just poured it all over myself that first night. Ended up walking around on Foley beach in October with my clothes covered in blood, falling down in the sand. Worst hangover of my life.
How do you come up with your lyrics?
Thorfinn: Guess it’s like envisioning a cool scene from a movie playing in your head, then adding words with a rhythmic pattern that makes sense in a musical context.
Blind Samson: Usually inspiration comes from watching a cool movie or documentary. Sometimes reading something interesting about some horrible/unexplained event. If I can come up with the first line, I can usually come up with a good skeleton at least. I’ll show what I have so far to Thorfinn and he’ll add some more and before you know it, it’s a full song.
Who does most of the writing?
Thorfinn: Jim does a lot of the writing. Sometimes, I’ll add lyrics and morph things so they’re easier for me to play and do vocals at the same time.
Blind Samson: Everything is a collaboration. No matter who comes up with what, it gets filtered through the other’s perspective and turns into something similar, but different. We’ve been writing music together for over 10 years now and we have a shared vision for what we want to do with Coffin Torture and how we want it to sound.
Have you ever seen any ghosts? Shadow people?
Thorfinn: I’ve never had a paranormal or supernatural experience.
Blind Samson: Never. I believe our spirits go beyond, to eternity. Once we’re gone from here, we’re over there.
Do you guys plan on doing a mini tour?
Thorfinn: That’s not outta the realm of possibility.
Blind Samson: We’re touring starting from Columbia, SC on August 30th and ending in Athens, GA on September 1st with a day off in the middle! Micro tour, haha! Seriously though, we would love to do a tour sometime. With our jobs, it’s hard to get one together though. I work in a small music store 6 days a week and I’m trapped there all the time. In the future though, who knows?
What is your favorite horror character?
Thorfinn: The Thing from ‘The Thing’
Blind Samson: The Tall Man from ‘Phantasm’!
What are your favorite type of horror movies? Zombies ,demons, slashers, werewolves?
Thorfinn: Creature features in general are my favorite. I lose interest in most everything else.
Blind Samson: I like the really oddball, crappy horror movies. Anything from the 50’s to the 80’s. Cheesier the better.
Do you have any cool things you collect?
Thorfinn: Music gear, fishing stuff & art supplies.
Blind Samson: I take pictures of freight train graffiti. Got hundreds and hundreds of pictures. Also cd’s, tapes and records.
What makes your band unique from all the others what sets you apart?
Thorfinn: I think it’s our creative process and the artwork.
Blind Samson: I think we are a lot slower to do things than most bands. Just let things happen as they happen and thankful when they do.
I know you just released Dismal Planet. What are your plans for the next release? Do you have side projects that you also play with or perform with?
Thorfinn: We’re honing our skills for the next release. There’s a definite increase in creativity and depth. I don’t have any side projects. All I need is Coffin Torture.
Blind Samson: The majority of the songs are finished, now it’s just slowly playing them over and over and demoing them until we get ready to go and record. The songs so far are by far the strongest we’ve written so far. No side projects at this time.
That cover art is simply Amazing, can you tell us some more about it?
Blind Samson: Thanks man! That was all Thorfinn. Spent 600 hours on that cover! Yeah man he’s really dedicated to his art. Never seen him cut any corners or settle with something until he knows it’s the best it can be. You don’t see covers like that on many albums, because 99% of the time it’s a band commissioning a piece from an artist, and that artist isn’t going to spend that huge amount of time on a commission piece. Not even close. That cover is an artist creating something for his band. Nobody is going to care about your music and how it’s presented like you will. That’s been our whole philosophy from the beginning.
Fantastic stuff right there, and we here at The Metal Wanderlust cannot thank you enough for your time. Cheers to you both!
Dismal Planet is indeed a fantastic album in more ways than one, and you can check it out on the links below! Another big round of applause to Meddlefan too for doing such a great job with this one.
https://thesludgelord.bandcamp.com/album/dismal-planet (Europe, UK only)
https://coffintorture.bandcamp.com/album/dismal-planet (Everybody else)
The Metal Wanderlust 