There is extreme music and then there is Tombs. Tombs are a league above the rest and their new masterstroke Savage Gold is a testament to that. Showing off grinding and doomy riffs and howling vocals Savage Gold is what Tombs came together to do, they have arrived. During a recent stop in Sacramento, Mike Hill, the savage writer, vocalist and guitar player, took a few minutes to talk about Savage Gold and the genius of having Erik Rutan on board.
An interview with Mike Hill of Tombs
By Jeffrey Easton
Metal Exiles: Path Of Totality was genius so was it daunting to go into the studio to do Savage Gold?
Mike Hill: No, it was not. We had a few years to prepare and whereas that record was well received there were some things on the song writing on the song writing end that had room to be improved on. That was what we wanted to work on in the years between Path and Savage.
Metal Exiles: You hired the masterful Erik Rutan to do the record. What did he bring to the table for this album?
Mike: I am a big fan of his playing and his producing; some of my favorite records are ones that he produced. What he brought to the table was a level of technical experience that we needed in our production so we could have more power in our recording. In the past we have had free reign in the studio and at some point we were over indulgent with a wall of sound with effects and Erik kept us focused on what the objective was which was to have a strong performance with a lot of clarity on it. As a result of indulgences of the past I feel that some of the details of the performances were lost. So Erik put definition into recordings which is one of the reasons we were motivated to bring him in in the first place.
Metal Exiles: So in the past nobody was willing to rein you guys in?
Mike: In the past we worked with guys that were more into just capturing the sounds and not really being known for a certain type of feel. Erik is probably one of the best extreme music producers out there and he achieved the intensity that we needed for our recording.
Metal Exiles: You stated that the album was grueling. What made it grueling, the writing or the recording?
Mike: It was the recording part but that was what we wanted. We wanted someone to push us hard and make us focus on performances. We went in prepared and the ability to execute was there we just needed an outside party to stay on top of us. To make a great extreme metal record you have to have strict, regimented performances.
Metal Exiles: What did he say no too?
Mike: It was not that he said no to things, it was more about subtle things like tuning. Even if I could not hear it he would tell me to check my tuning. He had this uncanny ability to focus on the subtle things. If you compromise on the little things you can tell the difference when you put it all together.
Metal Exiles: Your music still has a massive wall of sound but it is more regimented.
Mike: That is a very good observation because in the past our sound was lost with the over indulgence in effects. There were details with the guitars and drums that were buried in that wall but the new record we still have it but the instruments have more definition.
Metal Exiles: Considering the different textures of the album, Where did you want to go lyrically for this album?
Mike: Each record is a document of my thought processes that were going on at the time of writing. For this record there has been this heavy specter of death hanging around myself and other members of the band and that informed the lyric writing. It is not what I wanted to write about but it wound up woven in the writing I was doing. At the end of the day after the album was done I looked back and I could see how all of those experiences became part of the tapestry that are the lyrics. It was not an intentional thing to write about death; it just happened that that was weighing heavily on me at the time and they became big themes on the album.
Metal Exiles: I know people that are into extreme metal look for that death factor. Do you think the theme of death has been over played or are there more perspectives out there?
Mike: I think that there are more perspectives out there and even though there is death on this album it is not the Cannibal Corpse type of death, the approach that we take is a more contemplative side. It is a big mystery that everybody has a healthy fear of death so I think that there are many perspectives that have not been explored especially in extreme music. So I think I brought a new take to death on this album.
Metal Exiles: In extreme metal some bands lean on one sound but on the new Tombs record there are different musical patterns.
Mike: I can’t really hear the difference, for me it is one stream of material. There are tempos that are slower and there are pieces that are typical of what I play that do make it different. There are certain patterns that earmark my playing though.
Metal Exiles: You had Garett Bussanick and Ben Brand in the studio for the first time. How did they acclimate themselves to the way you like to work?
Mike: It was great. They have been in the band on a touring capacity for awhile now and they participated in the writing of Savage Gold when it became a band effort. All of the main ideas come from sessions that I do by myself and when I bring them to band practice everyone gets to put their vibe into the song. They all had ideas on what they wanted to contribute to the songs and having known them prior to making Savage it was a compliment that they wanted to be a part of the writing. In the studio they were amazing players. Garett is an amazing guitar player and with him in the band I can focus more on the rhythm parts.
Metal Exiles: For the release who was behind the art and the reason it received such a massive vinyl release?
Mike: The art was created by Thomas Hooper. There is a great booklet with the art and lyrics in it and we wanted it to have a booklet in all of the vinyl pressings but Relapse said that was going to be super expensive so we compromised to a limited run in the gold vinyl edition. It was important to me to have a full package because the artwork goes nicely with the music and it at least the full package would be available to some of the fans. We did the limited gold run and in under a week it was almost sold out so hopefully there will be a repressing but we do have the standard black vinyl edition available with a lyric sheet.
Metal Exiles: Doing the deluxe edition with all of the stuff reminds me of what KISS used to do with their releases. Like KISS Alive II with the booklet, tattoos ect..
Mike: It’s funny that you mention KISS because I am a fan of the heavy 70s rock like UFO, KISS, Sabbath ect. And if I can got the chance to do something like they did I was going to do it.
Metal Exiles: You have the tour with Pelican so what is coming after?
Mike: We have a full US tour but I can’t announce it yet because we are supporting another band.
With that being said pay attention to the official Tombs Facebook page for more tour announcements and BUY SAVAGE GOLD!
Official Tombs Facebook
BUY Savage Gold
Buy Savage Gold On Vinyl
An interview with Mike Hill of Tombs
By Jeffrey Easton
Metal Exiles: Path Of Totality was genius so was it daunting to go into the studio to do Savage Gold?
Mike Hill: No, it was not. We had a few years to prepare and whereas that record was well received there were some things on the song writing on the song writing end that had room to be improved on. That was what we wanted to work on in the years between Path and Savage.
Metal Exiles: You hired the masterful Erik Rutan to do the record. What did he bring to the table for this album?
Mike: I am a big fan of his playing and his producing; some of my favorite records are ones that he produced. What he brought to the table was a level of technical experience that we needed in our production so we could have more power in our recording. In the past we have had free reign in the studio and at some point we were over indulgent with a wall of sound with effects and Erik kept us focused on what the objective was which was to have a strong performance with a lot of clarity on it. As a result of indulgences of the past I feel that some of the details of the performances were lost. So Erik put definition into recordings which is one of the reasons we were motivated to bring him in in the first place.
Metal Exiles: So in the past nobody was willing to rein you guys in?
Mike: In the past we worked with guys that were more into just capturing the sounds and not really being known for a certain type of feel. Erik is probably one of the best extreme music producers out there and he achieved the intensity that we needed for our recording.
Metal Exiles: You stated that the album was grueling. What made it grueling, the writing or the recording?
Mike: It was the recording part but that was what we wanted. We wanted someone to push us hard and make us focus on performances. We went in prepared and the ability to execute was there we just needed an outside party to stay on top of us. To make a great extreme metal record you have to have strict, regimented performances.
Metal Exiles: What did he say no too?
Mike: It was not that he said no to things, it was more about subtle things like tuning. Even if I could not hear it he would tell me to check my tuning. He had this uncanny ability to focus on the subtle things. If you compromise on the little things you can tell the difference when you put it all together.
Metal Exiles: Your music still has a massive wall of sound but it is more regimented.
Mike: That is a very good observation because in the past our sound was lost with the over indulgence in effects. There were details with the guitars and drums that were buried in that wall but the new record we still have it but the instruments have more definition.
Metal Exiles: Considering the different textures of the album, Where did you want to go lyrically for this album?
Mike: Each record is a document of my thought processes that were going on at the time of writing. For this record there has been this heavy specter of death hanging around myself and other members of the band and that informed the lyric writing. It is not what I wanted to write about but it wound up woven in the writing I was doing. At the end of the day after the album was done I looked back and I could see how all of those experiences became part of the tapestry that are the lyrics. It was not an intentional thing to write about death; it just happened that that was weighing heavily on me at the time and they became big themes on the album.
Metal Exiles: I know people that are into extreme metal look for that death factor. Do you think the theme of death has been over played or are there more perspectives out there?
Mike: I think that there are more perspectives out there and even though there is death on this album it is not the Cannibal Corpse type of death, the approach that we take is a more contemplative side. It is a big mystery that everybody has a healthy fear of death so I think that there are many perspectives that have not been explored especially in extreme music. So I think I brought a new take to death on this album.
Metal Exiles: In extreme metal some bands lean on one sound but on the new Tombs record there are different musical patterns.
Mike: I can’t really hear the difference, for me it is one stream of material. There are tempos that are slower and there are pieces that are typical of what I play that do make it different. There are certain patterns that earmark my playing though.
Metal Exiles: You had Garett Bussanick and Ben Brand in the studio for the first time. How did they acclimate themselves to the way you like to work?
Mike: It was great. They have been in the band on a touring capacity for awhile now and they participated in the writing of Savage Gold when it became a band effort. All of the main ideas come from sessions that I do by myself and when I bring them to band practice everyone gets to put their vibe into the song. They all had ideas on what they wanted to contribute to the songs and having known them prior to making Savage it was a compliment that they wanted to be a part of the writing. In the studio they were amazing players. Garett is an amazing guitar player and with him in the band I can focus more on the rhythm parts.
Metal Exiles: For the release who was behind the art and the reason it received such a massive vinyl release?
Mike: The art was created by Thomas Hooper. There is a great booklet with the art and lyrics in it and we wanted it to have a booklet in all of the vinyl pressings but Relapse said that was going to be super expensive so we compromised to a limited run in the gold vinyl edition. It was important to me to have a full package because the artwork goes nicely with the music and it at least the full package would be available to some of the fans. We did the limited gold run and in under a week it was almost sold out so hopefully there will be a repressing but we do have the standard black vinyl edition available with a lyric sheet.
Metal Exiles: Doing the deluxe edition with all of the stuff reminds me of what KISS used to do with their releases. Like KISS Alive II with the booklet, tattoos ect..
Mike: It’s funny that you mention KISS because I am a fan of the heavy 70s rock like UFO, KISS, Sabbath ect. And if I can got the chance to do something like they did I was going to do it.
Metal Exiles: You have the tour with Pelican so what is coming after?
Mike: We have a full US tour but I can’t announce it yet because we are supporting another band.
With that being said pay attention to the official Tombs Facebook page for more tour announcements and BUY SAVAGE GOLD!
Official Tombs Facebook
BUY Savage Gold
Buy Savage Gold On Vinyl
