‘I’VE STARTED A NEW PROGRESSIVE TECH HOUSE PROJECT CALLED
MESSERGEIST’ Future-Rocker talks to cyber-metaller Thomas 'Drop' Betrisey ( Obsydians / Sybreed ) about his new lockdown-inspired music project...
Thomas Betrisey has been a regular feature in Future-Rocker ever since we discovered his former band Sybreed's crushing and anthemic masterpiece 'Antares'. Since that band expired, he has been busy producing other bands, running a studio in Geneva, and performing onstage with veteran Industrial Black Metal band Samael. We caught up with Thomas during Covid-19 lockdown to find out what he was up to. FUTURE-ROCKER: Thomas, what are you doing during lockdown?
Chilling, or working on new music? Any new tracks we can include in the blog?
THOMAS ‘DROP’ BETRISEY: I've been
writing lot of music, I've started a new progressive tech house project called
Messergeist, and released the Confined EP on May 1st on every streaming platform as well
as Bandcamp. And Messergeist is only electronic, no guitar there..!
It's beautifully cinematic..!
Thanks!
What would be your
dream movie, franchise or remake, to score?
The first title that
comes to mind would be doing an electronic/dub remake of Monkey Island's
soundtrack haha, my favorite game of all time. Seriously, I really think all
the movies or games that I like have a perfect soundtrack, and I'd prefer
working on something new. Anyway, scoring a game or a movie is definitely
something I'm looking for, we will see what happen in the future.
In a previous interview we talked about your fave metal albums. What are your favourite or most influential electronic albums or
soundtrack albums?
Five albums that immediately come
to mind, and not in a particular order:
Front Line Assembly
"Implode"
NIN "The Fragile"
Hans Zimmer "Man Of
Steel"
Infected Mushroom "Becoming
Insane"
Boris Brejcha "Space
Diver"
I absolutely agree with you about Man of Steel. Hans
Zimmer is less bombastic than John Williams, but more atmospheric. That was the
first film soundtrack I’d bought in ages, and I also bundled it with Batman v
Superman as well. Some great cuts on there, too.
Incidentally, the Messergeist track Gloomwash has some nice spooky
female vocals on, and it reminds me of a video that blew my mind yesterday - Triptykon
doing Celtic Frost’s Rex Irae from Into The Pandemonium...they did it absolutely
spot-on. Have you heard it?
Ah yeah, I listened to it
yesterday, sounds great! Roadburn concerts are always kinda special!
In Google translate, Messergeist comes out as 'Knife
Spirit'. Or I'm assuming it's more like 'Knife Ghost'... is that closer? What's
the thinking behind that?
I was browsing some names for
that project, looking for some two-words compression word, when GhostKnife
popped out my mind, sounded really sharp. Then, one night, a friend just
translated that in German, sounded really cool and very "techno"
haha. Moreover, it wasn't existing anywhere on Internet, so the choice was made.
No special meaning here.
So what else have you been working on?
I've also worked on some
Obsydians, one song is at the mixing stage, and the other one is getting vocals
on it as we speak.
ABOVE: Kevin, Thomas and Ales of OBSYDIANS
Great, some new Obsydians music to look forward to, it's been a while. Where are you living right now, are they strict or loose with the lockdown?
I'm in Switzerland. We had a half
lock down, people were allowed to go outside, respecting social distances as
well as not groups of more than 5 people. Now they are slowly releasing the
people, everything should get back to "normal" in one week.
When lockdown is over, what do you want to do first?
Actually not much different
things, I will continue writing music and recording bands at the studio. I
really hope to be able to make some concerts as soon as possible, I miss that a
lot. And probably spend some money in my friend's pub as soon as it opens.
Are you still with Samael or are your contracted duties with them now
finished?
Yeah I'm still in
Samael, guitar duties now..!
'Guitar duties'... that's more like it! And what about the possibility of you taking over the producer’s chair too?
Haha, Xy is the mastermind! Don't
know if I'll produce, but I hope so.
SYBREED: 'YES, WE ARE ON GOOD TERMS'
SYBREED / OBSYDIANS / SHADOW DOMAIN are some of the most-read articles on
Future-Rocker. There's a great picture of you and ( ex-Sybreed vocalist ) Benjamin Nominet from last summer, on
Facebook. I know this is a totally obvious thing to ask, but the fans will kill
me if I don't: You are clearly on friendly terms with each other... did
you chat about doing a music project or perhaps even a proper Sybreed reunion?
Below: For one night only!
Thomas & Benjamin reunite half of Sybreed...for a cold beer!
Photographed in June 2019.
Yes, we are on good terms, we are
doing a few music things together but nothing Sybreed-related for now. I've recorded
him last week as a guest on the new The Erkonauts record that I'm producing
right now, and it reminded me of some great memories. I will also work on his new
project, I won't say much for now, won't reveal his new plans yet, keep
looking, haha.
Thanks Thomas, good luck with the new projects, and stay safe! Cheers, man!
While we wait for the follow-up to The Anix's epic stadium-chewer 'Shadow Movement' ( 2018 ), let's have a blast of one of the cuts from the album. Specializing in dark, sci-fi themed anthems - without falling into the annoying synthwave trap - The Anix definitely keep it dark - no neon pinks here. This video was released a year after the album, so don't blame Future-Rocker for being out of sync..!
I Will Never Be The Same is another one-man band ( namely, maestro Josh Atchley ) that specializes in expansive and melancholic anthem-rock. There's been nothing new from him for a while, but he was seen with label boss Klayton on Twitter, shortly after the label's relocation to LA, so hopefully that means we will hear something soon!
Buy the superb 2-album pack featuring the full-length IWNBTS albums
The ever-dependable Milan Records* are releasing the Deadpool digital soundtrack on the same day that the film is released ( February 12th ), with the physical version arriving on March 4th. Junkie XL ( who also did Mad Max: Fury Road ) will be scoring the movie. As with other recent films, you can use the tracklist to attempt to figure out the film's plot in advance of its release. Although we here at Future Rocker HQ, are slightly puzzled as to how the story goes from 'A Face I Would Sit On' straight to Wham's schmaltzy 80s disco classic 'Careless Whisper', at the movie's finale..!
1. Angel of the Morning – Juice Newton
2. Maximum Effort
3. Small Disruption
4. Shoop – Salt-N-Pepa
5. Twelve Bullets
6. Man In A Red Suit
7. Liam Neeson Nightmares
8. Calendar Girl – Neil Sedaka
9. The Punch Bowl
10. Back To Life
11. Every Time I See Her
12. Deadpool Rap – Teamheadkick
13. Easy Angel
14. Scrap Yard
15. This Place Looks Sanitary
16. Watership Down
17. X Gon’ Give It To Ya - DMX
18. Going Commando
19. Let’s Try To Kill Each Other
20. Stupider When You Say It
21. Four Or Five Moments
22. A Face I Would Sit On
23. Careless Whisper – WHAM!
Below: Yes, this poster is real! Another classic from the exceptional DEADPOOL marketing campaign.
*Future Rocker has very happy college memories of the fantastic HARDWARE soundtrack, featuring Pil, Ministry and Pavarotti.
Rock groups can be a nuisance. They’re costly. They need feeding
and watering, and constantly exercising.
Occasionally they’ll piss themselves or sh*t on the carpet. Worst of all, they
have a tendency to expire at really inopportune moments. Which is why, since
the advent of electronic music, some musicians opt to go out alone and save
themselves the hassle of sharing royalties with a bunch of annoying, sweaty idiots
on a bus.
The autumn / winter of 2015 / 2016 is unique in that it has
seen three acts at the vanguard of electronic rock-n-roll releasing
important albums within weeks of each other. Whether it’s a bonafide musical
movement, electronic rock / metalstep / MetaLectro or whatever the hell
you want to call it, has garnered hundreds of thousands of diehard fans and
generated a growth industry at a time when the conventional music industry is
flatlining.
ZARDONIC – ANTIHERO ( eOne Records, CD / download )
Zardonic’s album ‘Antihero’ feels like both a political
manifesto, as well as the soundtrack to a running street battle. Even though
the album’s subject matter amounts to nothing more than an emphatic
twenty-first century fight for your right
to party, the politics comes from the knowledge that the DJ left a
precarious existence in Venezuela to bring his singularly unique Dance Metal
hybrid to the rest of the world. Put it this way – attitudinally, this album is
closer in spirit to Sepultura’s ‘Refuse/Resist’ than Limp Bizkit’s ‘Rollin’.
Opening
with the sound-montage ‘World at War’, we are ushered into a futuristic
soundscape of crunching metal riffs, loops, FX and crisp beats. In fact, the
production as a whole stands out, having a clean modern metal vibe backed by
punchy drums that are upfront and clear - as you would expect from what is
essentially a dance album. On the two-disk version you have the choice of
tracks both with and without lead vocals. Personally I prefer the ones with
vocals, simply because they give the song context, although after a few plays, you may feel like hearing the music unadorned with vox.
This album is not afraid to shred either, as guitar solos
are plentiful. Zardonic clearly does not try to anticipate or second-guess what
a dance audience thinks. As he says in the interview: ‘People go to hear
Zardonic and Zardonic they will hear.’’
It’s difficult to isolate a standout track, as the album
works cohesively either as a collection of singles or a whole work of sonic
art, but mention must be made of the fourth track ‘Vigilante’, which sounds
like a 21st Century update of KMFDM’s stomping industrial metal -
with an added dash of Pantera's 'fist-skull-break!' ferocity.
A tortuous electronic loop intro opens the next track, into a Laibach-style industrial stomp-fest, before ushering in
the kind of Dubstep that sounds like a 300-foot tall robot kicking over the
Empire State Building. The titles give an indication of the general thrust of
this album: ‘Vigilante’, Override’, ‘For Justice’ and ‘The Time Is Now’ - one
gets the feeling that Zardonic knows he is in a unique place and time where pop
culture taste is finally catching up with him, and he’s the one that seized the
moment.
BLUE STAHLI – THE DEVIL ( Fixt Music, CD / download )
Bret Autry, AKA ‘Blue Stahli’ is definitely a musician from
the ‘more is more’ school of sonic bombardment. After an atmospheric intro,
opening track ‘It’s Not Over til We Say So’ assaults the listener with a Cradle
of Filth-style barrage of riffs and artillery drumming, before segueing into
the typical pop rock mode he’s known for. With a guest bass and backing vocal turn
from four-string virtuoso Emma Anzai ( of Sick Puppies fame ), ‘It’s Not Over’
sets out the battle-plan from the get-go: Wall-of-noise rock, busy electronica,
leavened brilliantly by the most insanely catchy pop-hooks you’ll hear all
year. ( Although, this listener would love to hear a remix with Anzai’s bass skills
brought to the fore ).
Once acclimatised to the full-speed ahead approach, the
listener may be able to appreciate the cheeky humour of the composer, his skill
with instruments, and the myriad sonic flourishes ( the album was produced by
Celldweller mastermind Klayton, with additional mixing by industrial music
veteran Rhys Fulber ), and also marvel at his facility with what we used to
refer to as ‘a tune’.
Stylistically, during the more mid-tempo parts, this
reviewer is reminded of 90s industrial rock duo Filter, while in the heavier
parts, the manic intensity of Devin Townsend is recalled. Throw in a nod to
Muse on ‘The Fall’ ( with its layered vocal harmonies ), and a wink at Dream
Theater for the wah-wah riff on ‘Shoot Em Up’, and you pretty much have Blue
Stahli down. On the final stretch we get a superbly malevolent lead vocal from
Mark Salomon on ‘You’ll Get What’s Coming’ which allows the album a neat gear-shift
away from Bret’s customary yelp.
Subject matter on the album generally covers the gamut of
fighting, shooting, and blowing sh*t up, with some spiky religious allusions thrown in for good measure. As a genre you could perhaps label it
First-Person Metal - indeed it’s notable that Autry’s main job is providing
soundtracks to video games and trailers for films like Iron Man. Because of this, there’s a refreshing economy in his
compositions, and, like his day-job suggests, there is no room for filler – only killer. The Devil is an
ideal album for people whose idea of relaxation is to watch a Jerry Bruckheimer
film while bingeing on a family pack of Skittles and Red Bull. In other words,
it’s loud, attention grabbing, occasionally disorientating... but also a hell
of a lot of fun.
Without wanting to draw too many parallels, it seems oddly synchronous that Klayton himself resembles a cyber-culture analogue of Bowie's Ziggy Stardust, and that this conclusion to his 'Blackstar' song cycle is released within weeks of Bowie's final opus, also entitled 'Blackstar'.
That aside, in terms of CD output, this is a very interesting sidestep
in Celldweller’s oeuvre ( although not entirely unexpected, because Klayton has often spoken about how much he would love to score
movies such as 'Tron' or 'Bladerunner' ). Therefore,
‘Blackstar’ is a luxurious exercise in the current trend for cosmic
synth-driven faux movie soundtracks.
Opener ‘Retros’ underlines an interest he has in science fiction and synth
scores: It is sweeping, cinematic, and greatly reminiscent of Daft Punk’s Tron: Legacy soundtrack. A very
impressive opener, which is then slightly curveballed by the following track,
‘Purified’, which starts appropriately enough like a Tron remix, but very quickly lurches sideways into an innard-shaking MetalStep
workout that is typical later-period Celldweller. Compositionally though, it is
more like a sound-collage and not a conventionally constructed or resolved
song, and that perhaps explains why it doesn’t warrant inclusion on the actual ‘The End of an Empire’ album ( review below ). Even
so, one suspects it is placed to attract the Celldweller headbanging die-hards
who may have wavered over buying this purely instrumental album. Following on, ‘The
Possibilities of Purpose’ has a celestial choir backed a synth riff that
wouldn’t sound out of place on a Jean Michel Jarre album, while ‘A Dystopian
Utopia’ features an eerie choral effect similar to Ligeti’s on Kubrick’s ‘2001’
soundtrack. It is meant to convey a vast and cosmic presence, and does so
superbly. ‘The Undercity’ uses a pulsing didgeridoo-stab chased by some glitch
effects while ‘Lost Treasures’ brings to mind another French electronic maestro,
Vitalic, from his album OK Cowboy. Revisiting
favourite movies,‘6:17’ sounds like
a love theme from the aforementioned BladeRunner
soundtrack, and heading towards the album’s conclusion, ‘On the Surface of
Scardonia’ is particularly effective: A composition anchored by ominous electronic
reverberations, with eerie eastern cadences flitting back and forth across the
soundscape. Akin to waking up on the surface of a planet-sized supercomputer
and feeling it think.
The album brings you back to earth with the concluding
‘Echoes of Time’ a track that would doubtless find itself onto myriad yoga
compilations - a great future market for Klayton to
exploit!
Celldweller has established a neat ‘look’ to his albums, and
this is no different: A very punchy sci-fi concept-art cover that will grab
gamers and comic-con fans alike. It does make me wonder what a more unusual and
counter-intuitive cover could have done for the ‘feel’ of the album, as the music is certainly powerful enough to stand outside the regular Celldweller branding,
and attract a more crossover audience.
All in all, this is an unexpectedly strong album, and as a
potential composer for future Hollywood blockbusters, Klayton / Celldweller
acquits himself well.
Most definitely not a throwaway side-project, rather, a
weighty augmentation to his regular cyber rock-n-roll output.
As a listener who prefers to digest Celldweller in an album
format, it’s been a frustrating few years. Not least, because of
Klayton’s very generous internet dissemination of standalone songs, as and when
they’re completed. This leaves album fans trying to avoid spoilers, and praying
that FIXT hasn’t given up on the CD / album format altogether.
Seemingly with that in mind, the label has put together this
definitive collection of just about every iteration of track from the END OF AN
EMPIRE song cycle. DISK 1 ( album proper ) & DISK 3 ( instrumental version
).
The human auditory system has so far taken 120-million years
to evolve. To completely absorb the sonic bigness of this album, we probably
need another hundred million or so to grow an additional set of ears, because it
is only when played out of a great sound-system do you begin to grasp the
meticulous production that comprises ‘Empire’.
Window-rattling bass frequencies vie for airspace amongst
crushing metal riffage, topped off with both lush and screamo vocals, and the
now obligatory Godzilla / dubstep FX.
Those of you who may have already absorbed the ‘Empire’
material online may still find something of interest in the ‘instrumental
version’ of the album ( Disk 3 ). With the realisation that this disk doesn’t feel like a cheap add-on, it is instead a great way
to properly absorb the intricately layered sonics, and furthermore, surprises
the listener by how just how complete
it feels, even without vocals. In fact, it is so fully-resolved that you find
yourself going back to the ‘proper’ album just to remind yourself how the
vocals fitted-in the first place.
It seems that Klayton is not just a
singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist, but also a sound designer. Most, if not all, of the Celldweller output has the feel
of a futuristic movie soundtrack, hence my mentioning the need for multiple
speakers, and an enhanced human auditory system, because sounds attack you from
every conceivable angle. Please, do not just listen to this streamed, or on
some shitty earphones. Insist on the full fidelity.
Running the full gamut from faux-soundtrack, to stadium-chewing
cyber-rock, the only time you step outside the Klayton-sphere is perhaps the
track ‘Down To Earth’ whose intro is so like classic late 80s / early 90s NIN
that it immediately has you YouTubing Trent Reznor’s ‘Broken / Fixed’ EPs for a
second opinion. Absolutely superb, the track is a fitting nod to a much-respected
pioneer.
Roughly at the halfway point, ‘Just Like You’ provides a needed
respite, as it is the nearest the album gets to a conventional ballad. This is
followed by ‘Good Luck ( You’re F**ked )’ crashing the listener back to earth
with its jerky electropunk-metal. A couple of tracks later, and never one to
miss a marketing opportunity, with ‘Breakout’ Klayton teases the listener with
a nod to his other persona SCANDROID, a deliberately trad electronic act he
formed with Nick Kaelar, AKA Varien. Namechecking the Scandroid side-project must
mean that there is an imminent album in 2016, and that this incredibly
productive phase of Klayton’s has yet to lose any traction. The final track,
‘Precious One’ sounds like a Queen vocal harmony mash-up with ‘For Those About
to Rock’ grandiosity, and thus closes the album on the appropriate note of
triumphalism. Job done!
DISK 2: FACTIONS
'Factions' is a rather intriguing
deconstruction of the ‘Empire’ album with added voice-over parts. Re-assembled
into a soundtrack album, one can assume it’s a premonition of a future concept
album, perhaps in the vein of Queensryche’s ‘Operation: Mindcrime’. Although it’s probably more likely that
Hollywood will hand Klayton a real soundtrack project before that. There's some interesting moments on it, and while not as solidly resolved as 'Blackstar Score', for those wishing for more Klayton soundtrack music, it's a nice diversion until he releases another proper album.
DISKS 4 & 5: REMIXES
The final two disks comprise re-worked 'Empire' tracks from notables
such as Zardonic, Rhys Fulber, Combichrist and many others. Taken as a whole, the sheer amount of
material in the collectors' box means that the now-customary remixes are maybe best left for a
rainy day when compiling a new mixtape or playlist, or when you've played the rest of the album into the ground. Nevertheless, there are some great examples that will suit every taste, such as the aggressive version of 'New Elysium' by Zardonic ( below ).
Song-wise, EMPIRE is a huge improvement on its predecessor
WISH UPON A BLACKSTAR. That second album, despite being years in gestation,
felt anticlimactic and rather half-baked in comparison to the genre-busting -
and much-loved - debut album. Despite the sophomore hiccup, Klayton’s skilful
management of his online persona, constant drip-feed of new - and better -
material, meant that now this completed album has finally dropped, there is a
huge and receptive audience ready and waiting for it. It certainly does not
disappoint.
