AN NCS INTERVIEW: AVERNUS

Photography by Gene Ambo

(In mid-September we had the privilege of premiering Grievances, the comeback album of the Chicago doom band Avernus, a few days before its release by M-Theory Audio. And now our Comrade Aleks presents an extensive interview he also conducted in September with Avernus members Rick McCoy and James Genenz.)

Avernus from Chicago is considered one of the first bands to consciously mix influences of gothic rock and death-doom, as they did it in the early ’90s. Working on a series of demos and singles helped them digest this experience and come to the most effective expression of these ideas in the full-length release …of the Fallen (1997), which fans still remember with warmth.

Seventeen years have passed since then. The band managed to break up, re-form, and gradually record the second album Grievances. The line-up of Avernus has undergone minimal changes since 1993, and the latest “newcomer” is guitarist James Genenz (also Jungle Rot), who joined the guys in 1998. Other men are Rick Yifrach (drums), Rick McCoy (vocals, guitars, keyboards), and Erik Kikke (guitars).

An old horse does not spoil the furrow, as we say here, and in Grievances Avernus do not copy themselves, essentially moving along the path of melodic and atmospheric death-doom. It is curious, but in general the material is close to the fresh album of other luminaries of the scene – Officium Triste rather than to …of the Fallen. The similarity lies in the general tendency towards magnificent guitar melodies (there are three guitarists in Avernus), towards concentrated-in-power riffs, and in Rick McCoy‘s thunderous growl.

At the same time, the compositions of Avernus are larger and darker; there is not a shadow of hope in them, although they cannot be denied a certain grace. But the most important thing is that the new material completely lacks the romantic melancholy of …of the Fallen. There, it was in that very “gothic” element, in the parts of the female and male pure voices, in the lightness of certain compositions. This aspect of Avernus is in the past, and if it sometimes surfaces on the surface of the compositions, it is as if by accident. But the death-doom sounds mature, devastatingly heavy, and this is what makes Grievances valuable.

We had an interview with Rick McCoy and James Genenz in September, and of course we intend to share it with you.

******

Hi gents! How are you doing? What’s going on in your camp?

Rick: We are doing well! We are currently preparing for our new album, Grievances, to be released on September 20th of this year, writing new material, and practicing for a few live appearances.

 

Avernus’ second album Grievances is finally being released after that huge hiatus, long scheduling, and many sessions. Or so it seems. How long did you actually work over this material?

Rick: Most of the material was written during practice sessions we recorded throughout the last few years. Jimmy and Erik probably spent the most time going through the material and fleshing them out into songs on their own and giving them a structure before presenting it to Rick and myself to start adding drums, vocal placement, and lyrics.

 

There were around 17 members in Avernus, but somehow you managed to record the new album with almost the original lineup. How did it happen? What made you return Avernus to life?

Rick: I think it came down to Rick, Erik, Jimmy, and myself deciding to give this band one last chance. Erik and Jimmy are both in another band together called From Beyond These Walls, Jimmy is also in Jungle Rot, Erik also has other musical projects going, and Rick and I have our own stuff outside of the band too.

However, I think it’s really us four that when we write together in Avernus, it is such a unique, and powerful thing that we always find ourselves coming back to. I’ve worked with other bands, and have had great experiences with one of them at least, but it’s not the same rush I get compared to writing with Avernus.

 

What do you mean in saying that you decided to give the band one last chance?

James: Well, I think Rick made it sound pretty final there, haha. I wouldn’t say it’s that final, but as long as we physically can make music, we probably will.

 

And what’s your criteria of this… success? How will you measure if you used this chance properly?

James: Not sure we define success with money or fame. We just want to make music. Everyone will still make music whether it’s in Avernus or not. We don’t set lofty goals, we aren’t trying to “break through”. We just want to jam together and make music together.

 

Did you use some of your old equipment during these sessions, or did you use new instruments for a long time? Looks like only James Genenz was occupied with a lot of bands and projects all the time, as other guys seem to be out of business for some period.

Rick: I have been using the original Roland GR-1 guitar synth on pretty much everything that releases and this album is no different. Erik and Jimmy definitely spent a lot of time finding the perfect guitar tone for this album, and Rick invested in getting the right drum set as well.

We are currently looking into new equipment and sounds we can incorporate into the next album as we are always wanting to expand upon our original sound.

James, we call him “Jimmy” as I stated previously, is busy with Jungle Rot as we are all busy doing things on the side, but Avernus is something we make time and space for and we are only going to get busier, as we want to ride this until we can’t anymore.

 

 

Wait… do you mean that you already plan to start working on the new material?

James: Of course. We have tons of ideas. Let’s just see how long it takes for us to make it happen haha!

 

The new material tends to clear death-doom metal, as all gothic influences the band was known for just dissolved in the past. Why did you skip all this gothic legacy?

We just started writing without the emphasis on only being death-doom, or whatever you wish to call us, and only caring about going with what feels right for the song. We are not opposed to bringing back clean vocals if the song would become that much better for it, but we are trying not to force anything either. We still have the same influences we have always had, but it doesn’t always show up and smack you in the face, it can be more subtle.

 

But how did you react when you found that Grievances differs so much from …Of the Fallen? Was it a kind of surprise for you?

James: We are different people now then we were then. The style isn’t going to deviate too much because we still are Avernus. We’re still gonna try new things in the future too. This new album harkens back to the demo years though, we wanted to make it heavy again.

 

You presented Grievances with the official video for the “Nemesis” song. It’s grim, and quite functional, but I think that this track is quite the only one with a clear post-metal line in it. Why did you choose this song for the album’s promotion?

Rick: We felt “Nemesis” was the right choice as it sets the tone for the album in my opinion, and also has more variety in terms of speed and atmosphere.

 

 

Okay, there are two guests in Grievances, and both played their small roles. The names are Lance Lencioni (“Corporate Death” of the legendary Macabre) and Jeff Ulbrich who plays with Erik in From Beyond These Walls. How did you find places for them in these songs?

Rick: Lance has been a longtime friend of ours and a big supporter of Avernus. We’ve had the privilege to play many shows with them. The same thing with Jeff too. We simply asked them to record on a couple spots and they were happy to oblige.

 

How much of …of the Fallen is left in Grievances from your point of view?

Rick: It’s hard to say, as these albums sound very different from each other, and Grievances is much more a return to our roots. I can’t listen to Of the Fallen as the performances could have been better, the songs could have been fleshed out a little more, and a better production may have made it easier to digest. We still possess the mindset we had when writing Of the Fallen, in that we are just going to do what we want to do and not care about anyone else’s opinions!

 

How did you manage to keep the same mindset after all these years? Do you mean the perception of Avernus or a kind of point of view on some other things?

James: Rick is correct. We do what we want. We were young kids back then. We are all grown men now with real problems and real grievances. Avernus now is much angrier than Avernus then. We are still influenced by the same bands we were then but we have newer influences now, having lived for many years since then.

 

Doom metal was always about misery, depression, and tragedies in the wide sense of the word. How did your perception of these things change through the years? You know, partly, the artwork of Grievances by August Friedrich Schenck led me to this question.

Rick: My perception of those things has not changed in the fact those things still exist and will always be part of the fabric of humanity. Where my perception has shifted is in how I choose to accept these things. My mentality definitely has shifted from “woe is me” to an empowered sense, being that I channel these things differently now as I really and truly enjoy that fact I just don’t care so much anymore as I grow older. In fact, my current state of mind is pretty much a “Kiss my ass” type thing I am really connected to. There is a freedom in thinking and feeling this way.

 

The album was released by M-Theory Audio. Was it your first choice or the result of long searches? Was it hard to find the label?

Rick: Erik sent a copy of the album to Marco at M-Theory Audio, and he pretty much offered us a deal. We have known Marco for years and he has always been a fan and a big supporter of what we do. We honestly did not seek out other labels as we feel comfortable with M-Theory and ecstatic to be working with them.

 

Well, Avernus has its status, its deserved reputation, but …Of the Fallen was released 27 years ago, so what are your expectations from this release? Do you see it as a full-scale comeback?

Rick: To be honest, we are humbled by the response the album is getting so far from people who have heard it. As far as expectations go, we really did this album for ourselves and just happened to have more support around it than we previously thought.

 

Any ideas to play this material live? How realistic is this plan?

Rick: We are confirmed on two live shows at the end of the year in Chicago, one of which will be our official record release show. We will be focusing heavily on the new album.

 

Did some of your contacts in medias or with other bands work out when you searched for the label or how to organize the gigs? Do you feel that you belong to the scene? And did you feel it back then in the ’90s?

James: A lot of people we corresponded with in the past probably thought we were dead and gone. Avernus has never really fit into any scene. We play with metal bands of course, we are a metal band, but a lot of metalheads don’t get us. And that’s fine. We aren’t trying to belong anywhere. We’ve come to the conclusion we really don’t fit in anywhere, but Avernus.

 

…Of the Fallen wasn’t re-released since 1997. Is there a chance of another edition of those songs?

Rick: I really don’t know to be honest. We are open to reinterpreting some of those songs to what we are doing now, and that could be interesting if anything.

 

Okay, I think that we covered all main topics with the interview, thanks for the interview gents! Did we skip something important?

Rick: Thank you for the interview! Grievances will be out September 20th, please check it out!

http://www.facebook.com/avernusdoommetal
https://m-theoryaudio.com/store
https://avernus.bandcamp.com/album/grievances