Recently I have found the current lot of technical death metal bands sounding sterile. One band that has stood out for me is Irreversible Mechanism from Minsk, Belarus. On their recently released album, Immersion the band mix tight riffage with a post apocalyptic atmosphere. I’m going to be listening the album often in the coming weeks/months.
I spoke to guitarist Andrie Parmon about Immersion, Dan Presland performing drums on the album and also their future plans.
You are a couple weeks away from the release of your second album, Immersion. How does it feel?
Of course we are very excited. We put a hell of a lot of effort into this record: so many thoughts, so many problems to solve, dozens of demos and months till we got how we wanted it to be. It’s part of our life and now we’re waiting for the moment then people all over the world will hear what we made.
Immersion sounds great, I really enjoyed the use of ambient sounds. Do tell us more about the album.
It’s a concept album, so there is the story which walk through each track. Every song has it’s own theme, but still it’s a part of the journey. It’s really difficult describe the general idea within few words. We tried to create the entire world in this record, with it’s own rules, colours and atmosphere.
In general it’s a lot more dynamic, comparing with our previous record, but in the same time it’s more solid, more intimate, more deep and personal, that means the band is progressing, evolving in every single way. And we should say that it’s something we really proud of.
What was the writing and recording process for the album? Did you try anything new this time around?
It differs a lot from previous record. This time we used seven string guitars, six string and fretless bass, a little bit different approach to guitars and bass tones. Other ways to create atmosphere, more ambient sounds as you’ve mentioned before, different drummer, different vocalist. We added clean vocals, so it’s took it’s part in songwriting too.
The album features Dan Presland on drums. How did he become a part of the recording?
We worked with Lyle Cooper on our first album, so it’s not the first time when we used session drummer for the record and the good thing about this, that we can experiment with the sound just by using different people, different personalities.
We knew Dan from his works with Ne Obliviscaris and actually he was the first person we asked. We sent him couple demos and fortunately he liked it. He had his own musical vision to the drum parts and we should say it was perfect for what we’ve been trying to reach. We really happy to work with him, he is truly professional and a very nice and talented guy.
You have released a music video for the track, Abolution. How important do you think music videos are in the age of YouTube?
It’s very important, but we should say it’s not necessary. As the music for us, musicians, it’s a great tool if you used it properly. The great way to introduce the band to the audience, it’s music, it’s mood, it’s colours, it’s energy. To show something what’s hidden in the band’s songs and lyrics to make it easier to understand.
And it makes so much easier to the listener to discover new music, new bands.
So, it’s not only about band promotion, it’s about heavy music culture in general.
What are your thoughts on the current state of technical death metal?
We don’t think there’s something special: lots of cool bands, even more “not so cool bands”, but one day they’ll become “the best TDM”. A lot of good music and talented guys (as we are:) ). Everything is evolving and it’s not bad or good, it’s just how it is and and only thing we can do about it is to become better and better.
What’s currently on your playlist?
Bob Reynolds – Quartet,
A perfect circle
Augury – Illusive Golden Age,
Automata I & II
MASTER BOOT RECORDS – Direct Memory Access,
GY!BE – Luciferian Towers….
And lots and lots of other bands and music you’ve never heard of and never will.
Every member has it’s own unique taste and we think that’s the cool thing about us.
Do you have any shows planned for the rest of the year?
There’s not so much we could tell, but we’re working on it right now. But still nowadays shows are band’s highest priority and we’re doing everything we can to show people that we’re even better live, than on the record, (if it’s even possible to do something better than our new record 🙂 ).
Thanks for answering all our questions. Do you have any final words?
Listen to the good music, listen to your Mom, eat well, do exercises, read more. Don’t be lazy about discovering new music. Try to support the bands you like, it’s not something difficult, but one day it’ll bring something beautiful.
And the most important, check out our new record!
Thanks, IM.
The Metal Wanderlust 