Exclusive Interview: Exdestrier talk “Glorious Barbarism”!

How have you found the reaction to “Glorious Barbarism” so far? “Really good, most people seem to understand what we were going for. We’ve had lots of positive things said about us. In my personal experience reviews usually tend to be along the lines of saying ‘obviously influenced by’ bands i’ve never heard of and/or hate, however people are getting it on a more insightful level. Maybe we just appeal to folk with a deeper appreciation, maybe we are just better at expressing what we are trying to do.  My favourite description so far has been ‘Eyehategod but with interesting bits’. No haters yet though, that’s when you really know you’re onto something when you get blogsplaining hate pieces instead of reviews”

People will talk about your musical backgrounds in Razor Of Occam, Dragonforce and The Exploited but your sound is vastly different to that, soaked in Blackened Sludge Metal. So how did you manage to find each other and then go about finding a style to call your own? “Didier (drums) moved to Edinburgh from Seattle and was looking for someone to jam about with. He was put in touch with Chris (bass) by a mutual friend. Me and Chris had played in a few bands together so I got asked and that was that. We were joking at practice about what we would sound like if we combined Dragonforce and The Exploited style music into ‘Power-Oi’ and what sort of hellscape that would be. Whatever that would be, we are definitely not that. In terms of a sound we just jammed about on riffs until we were happy. There were a few blind alleys explored in the process. Getting the parameters set with riffs and beats, what’s the fastest we want to go? What’s the slowest? Heaviest? Least heavy? Etc etc. Glorious Barbarism is basically the answers to all these questions. Personally I don’t think genre at all, for me it’s all about what bpm, tunings, keys, modes we are going to use as the sonic palette. Speaking in terms of genre is a poor mans musical theory to be honest”

The lyrical narrative that runs through the EP focuses on themes from dark fantasy realms, tales of medieval landscapes,  gruesome warriors and a looming gloom. What was the inspiration behind that and do you think that will be a course that you follow in the future? “Chris had a very clear vision in terms of art and lyrics, it all came from him and I’ve contributed bits here and there to fit in with it. It’s sort of like a super serious death metal version of Gloves of Metal era Manowar. The lyrics are violent and gory, but without the misogyny and obsession with female trauma typically associated with this sort of lyric. Pretty much just gory poetic escapism”

If we are made up of our genes and our influences, what is in your jeans and who would you consider your influences? “Well there’s influences and there’s sounds like, personally those things are very very different. But if we are talking genetically then Motorhead, Eyehategod and Napalm Death are very much in the bands DNA, despite us not sounding like any of these bands”

There is a growing Death Metal movement in Scotland at the moment so how has the scene in Edinburgh helped or inspired you? “Scotland has always been very strong for Death Metal going back decades with OG bands like Co-Exist, Man Must Die, Sons of Slaughter, Errata, Zillah, Cancerous Womb and newer stuff like Brainbath, Rancid Cadaver and Coffin Mulch. I’ve been in the Edinburgh scene for over twenty years now and have seen it all. Long may it continue, best scene anywhere I’ve ever been. Very supportive, not cliquey and very few bands infected with ‘local band syndrome”.

What’s next for Exdestrier? “We have started writing new stuff which is pretty exciting as we have a better idea of what we do and who we are now. Got some cool gigs with Wallowing, Still, Battalions and Beehoover coming up which will be ace”