Exclusive Interview: Crown Of Anguish talk writing and recording their debut self titled EP!

One of the best things about the summer is taking your Ghetto Blaster to the park, having a picnic, a few beers and scaring the s*** out of the locals with some proper Death Metal. Fortunately August brought that opportunity with the first cryptic writings from Crown Of Anguish, a new project from old heads who lean on their vast experiences to give us something special. So for the second time in seven days we sat down with guitarist Matt Gornall to discuss the bands debut self titled EP…

How did your previous experiences writing and recording help to smooth the path of the new record? “Recording the 2 Apostate albums definitely gave myself and Dan a good idea of what to do – and what not to do! I think I spent a week just getting the right guitar tone. The worst thing is putting something out you aren’t happy with and you have to live with it. I think a really important part of writing and recording is knowing when you are onto something good and keeping it flowing when you are.”

How does the writing process of a new track start? Melody, riff or rhythm first? How does it evolve from there before you consider it the finished article? “I’ll sit there with my guitar and come up with riffs, then I will tab them out by hand for reference. I’ll try and write some that could go before or follow as well. Then I will write out the whole composition start to finish. Me and Dan will work together on the tempos and time signatures and get them recorded. Drum patterns and arrangements are worked on next until we are happy with the composition – then we consult with Ali and send the tracks off to him in Scotland for vocal tracking. Writing the E.P was a really organic process and a lot less stressful than past projects I have worked on”

You’ve got a couple of almost flamenco interludes on the record, how did the decision to include them and showcase another side to the band come about? “I really love the sound of the nylon string guitar and flamenco/Latin styles. We don’t want to ride on the worn out “old school” death metal sound. I guess it just comes down to what we would enjoy in a different band – mixing influences and pushing musicianship is what interests us and inspires us. Not to put limits on ourselves and try something different. The new album will have a lot more of it”

If you had the opportunity to work with a guest in the studio next time around, who would you like to work with and why? “It would probably be someone we know from a different band! I really enjoy collaborating with my friends and other musicians we know. If you are talking about a well known band, I think John Gallagher from Dying Fetus is one of the sickest DM vocalists of all time. Or someone really leftfield like John McLaughlin on guitar. Sean Reinert on drums? – This is turning into some kind of Death metal fever dream!”

For us gear nerds out there, can you tell us what you’re using gear wise (pedals, strings, drums etc) to get your sound? “The main guitar used was an 1988 Aria Pro 2 with Mighty mite Motherbuckers- you can see pictures of it on our Instagram page.  The guitar sound is a good old Metal zone (!) as a clean boost – volume all the way up – gain all the way down – going into a Plexi sounding OD pedal to boost it further. Stacking low amounts of gain rather than cranking distortion works better for recording I think. I used a Marshall cab with celestion speakers for the rhythm tracks on the E.P. Can’t forget the harmoniser pedal set to 5ths either – a big part of the Crown of Anguish sound when it comes to the leads. Dan plays a Washburn bass with a Ampeg SCR-DI pedal to shape that midrange. The tuning we use is drop A so we use 11s to keep things tight. Ali’s vocals were tracked at Sonourous Studio in Edinburgh by Guillaume Martin who did an excellent job”

What difference would it make to you as a band if you could land an endorsement from a gear manufacturer? “That would be great! If any of them are reading this – please send gear!”

“Self Titled” by Crown Of Anguish was released on 14th August 2023 and is available over at bandcamp.