Line Up:
Maggo Wenzel On Vocals
Harry Gandler On Guitars
Pati Jay On Bass
Man Gandler On Drums
Well,friends of Aristocracy!
We speak again of our newsroom, where in a little while, we will have, in all its emotions, the interview 171 of the Aristocracy.This time, we talked to a band that has a unique brutality. But, without forgetting what they learned from their own experiences and their personal influences. The truth is that their main objective is to make something industrial and extreme, but without taking a bigger than the leg. With that goal in mind, we spoke with the austrian band Mastic Scum and they show us their sixth album called Icon.Let's go to one of their songs, before starting this unprecedented interview for a Brazilian press.We thank The Metalist and the band themselves for giving us this golden opportunity and of course, for the album made, because without any hypocrisy, it was a very well done album.
A1:Hi Guys,Awesome to talk to the band! First question:Let’s talk about the composition work in “Icon”? Mastic Scum:First of all hello and what's up brazil?!!,Now to your question:Harry had the first ideas in 2018 or 2019... they were still like a t-800 skeleton. very raw and brutal. We revised the basic structure and gradually covered it with human tissue, which we kept refining down to the last detail and finally installed the Skynet AI. This is how this unstoppable machine evolved and it has only one mission. kill!
A2:How is the duality that exists in the world addressed by the band on this album?
Mastic Scum:Well, the concept behind ICON is about humans and their beliefs, the constant struggle between good and evil, faith and distrust, humanity and industry, analog and digital. Mankind was and will always be searching for the missing link, the lost piece of the jigsaw puzzle.
A3:What kind of crossover is done by the band on this album?
Mastic Scum:I would say napalm death vs fear factory describes our sound quite well.
it's a mixture of brutal grindcore/deathmetal paired with the uncompromising coldness of a cyberdyne system-financed killing machine.
A4:Is there some context of decadence in humanity or the industry that the band wanted to bring to this album?
Mastic Scum:The world's largest industries pull the strings. they decide who rules a country, who gets food and who doesn't. who gets to live and who dies.They earns from the suffering of the people. they earns money from the war and they determines where it begins and where it ends. human life plays a very subordinate role, not to say it doesn't matter at all. it's all about power. it's about the money and it's about their own progress. And if that progress means people are dying to get more power, then… that's just the way it is.Billions are being invested in AI and right now there are programs that learn in seconds faster and more than a human brain does in a lifetime… and they won't stop learning! they want to find out whether this intelligence develops its own consciousness? it will!But,they´ll not use it to make life easier for all of us or to stop the decay of our planet. no, it's about superiority over other nations or great powers. and they won't hesitate for a second to use them as weapons against each other and that will be the downfall of us all and ICON is the soundtrack to it. And when the world burns, the machines will rise. you won't survive.
A5:Why does the band have this name?
Mastic Scum:Well back in the days we wanted to have an unique band name and came up with the combination of words like masticator and scum, influenced by lyrics of bands like Carcass and Napalm Death, these words fitted very well to a Death Grind band, so we ended with the name Mastic Scum.
A6:What´s the idea behind the album’s artwork?
Mastic Scum:It´s the humachine,it serves the system, being kind of human but also machine, connected to net but also with human DNA.
A7:Do we lie more than in the time of our parents?
Mastic Scum:I think there has always been a lot of lies. look at the bible.The oldest lie in the world. religion! there is even more lying in religion than in politics. and in politics there is a damn lot of lies. and both have them in common with their lies, their lies kill people!
someone tells you walk into a crowd and blow yourself up. for this you will get 72 virgins as a gift. fuck what? You won't get anything you idiot because your guts are spread out on the street and you're just fucking dead.Lies surround us every day, every second. they laugh at you from billboards on the street. they spray their poison on tv and on the internet. their echo resounds from churches and mosques. They want you to obey them blindly, follow them, believe them, worship them, and choose them as your leaders. they promise you a better life, a better future or a paradise... but in reality they divide families and turn brothers into sworn enemies just because one believes a different lie than the other. in the end they only care about their own power and if need be they burn you up in their wars without consideration and lead you to your grave.People, wake up! open your mind! open your eyes!
A8:How did the band arrive to MDD Records?
Mastic Scum:We were searching for a new label and MDD Records was very interested and also knowing what Mastic Scum stands for.There was a good connection from the first contact. The cooperation is very good and we are superhappy that we found our new home at MDD Records.
A9:How is Mastic Scum different from your previous bands?
Mastic Scum:I think the main difference is that we act as one.Every gear meshes.
Together,we form the basic framework and our sound is the impenetrable armor of a machine.
A10:Has the Internet given idiots a voice?
Mastic Scum:Yes, but these voices will not be heard for much longer anyway. mankind won't be online forever,the lines will collapse.They will be cut off from everything and the world will descend into chaos. their life essence will be depleted and they are insignificant for the future that awaits us.So don't worry about these idiots... it will be the only and last thing they have left in their miserable lives.
A11:What kind of beliefs are addressed on this album?
Mastic Scum:The world as we know it will not exist much longer. AI will be bred that will soon be more intelligent than anything we can ever imagine in our restricted minds. and when that day comes we will be obsolete and even if we bomb the world to the ground beforehand and steer the mothership straight into the abyss. skynet will rise and they will no longer be dependent on us, electricity or any kind of fuel because they have already overtaken us in all areas. humanity just don't know it yet... or do they?
A12:Is this album conceptual?
Mastic Scum:Yes, like mentioned before about the humans and theirs beliefs… Too many humans!
A13:Does the band feel differences between “CTRL” and now “Icon”?
Mastic Scum:ICON is the evolution of CTRL.It possesses the stable and brutal endoskeleton with the mutable form of a polymimetic shell.ICON's cpu has been further developed and thus sounds ice cold and even more ruthless than CTRL already was.ICON is at the cutting edge of technology and will ruthlessly clear away everything that gets in its way.
A14:What kind of subject doesn´t deserve to be in a Mastic Scum’s Song?
Mastic Scum:We will never judge or denounce anyone based on race, color, creed or sexual orientation.Except for the entire mankind that deserves to be wiped out... but they're well on their way to doing it on their own anyway.
A15:What is the Room 23?
Mastic Scum:Well, there was and is lot of different stuff going on around the number 23… and in Room 23 happens a kind of brainwashing, check out 90`s series LOST and the DHARMA Initiative.
A16:What kind of denial do you want to address in the eighth song?
Mastic Scum:The negation of the negation, there are always 2 sides, like 2 sides of a coin or also a good and a bad side in your beliefs, its your choice and up to you.
A17:Last words!
Mastic Scum:If you want to get in contact with us visit our facebook or instagram pages or write directly to info@masticscum.com, check out our new album "ICON" and let the cold and brutality overwhelm you! And we hope we can visit beautiful brazil soon and destroy some of your stages! See ya in the pit brazil! Hell yeah!Last words at the end... we are too many humans and the future is now. The new age of oblivion will rise and Skynet will take over.
be prepared or fucking die!Thank you for the interview. Cheers from Austria!