In this interview, Overthrust dives deep into the themes and inspirations behind their latest album, "Infected By Myth," discussing the creative process, recording experiences, and their bold critique of deceptive religious practices.
1.
Congratulations on the release of "Infected By Myth"! Can you tell us
about the creative process behind the album? What inspired its themes and
lyrics?
Firstly, Infection is something that affects the body, mind or soul and
spreads. Myth is simple things beyond human understanding, In short, a number
of people have been brainwashed and put into believing religious myths that has
caused many to abandon their responsibility of self-dependency, common sense
and hard work. They are just there relaxed and believe a miracle will happen to
better their lives, such kind, I call them people infected by myth. They are
blinded by religion to think wisely.
Infected by Myth album was an influence from what was happening in Africa, the
past 10 years there was a huge rise of modern religious organizations that most
of them were up to no good at all, cases of deceptions arised, they brainwashed
their followers and swindled their hard earned monies and assets, obtained by
false pretenses making people believe that they do miracles and bring good live
to people, that they will heal the ill but still there was no change in
people's lives and yet people still believed in them, some religious leaders were
even involved in money laundering and some extreme offences, but still people
did not open their eyes. Some people even abandoned their cultures, African
cultures labeling their own backgrounds, culture and African beliefs as
"evil". So we did this album to express our disapproval of such
deceptive acts from SOME religious organizations who deceived and brainwashed
people, not all of them do that but we are specifically concerned about those
who are up to no good to the community.
Album artwork, the concept was created by Overthrust and designed by Wolven
Claws Artist from UK, The same artist also did our artwork for "Suicide
Torment" EP in 2020.
2. You recorded the album in two locations: Milestone Studios in Cape Town
and Farmadelica Sound in Pine Island, Florida. How did these different
environments influence the sound and production of the album?
The recording of this album in 2 separate worlds meant different brains,
skills, technology, atmosphere and experiences brought together to produce one
of the most powerful, unique and brutal records in the history of the African
metal scene.
3. Your music criticizes false prophets and addresses themes of purgatory
and death. What message do you hope to convey to your listeners through these
themes?
To open people's eyes and face the reality of life, stop being in denial and
prepare themselves psychological that someday they will be gone forever and no
return, dead and this belief of heaven and hell they shouldn't be stressing
themselves much with what they don't know, the theory of heaven and hell, no
one has answers to that, not a single being have a prove of that because when
you die you are dead, you not coming back, so how will you have facts about
life after death when you are still alive, unless we have someone die and rise
back to live again and tell us a story.
4. Overthrust has a reputation for delivering raw, brutal death metal reminiscent
of the genre's glorious past. How do you balance maintaining that old-school
sound while keeping your music current and fresh?
Luckily our record label Indian River Music Company is there to ensure that
old-school sound exist while keeping our music current and fresh, and our role
is to keep all our composition very Overthrust as our motto says: EXTREMELY
UGLY, OLD-SCHOOL DEATH METAL, DIRTY RAW AND DANGEROUS SOUND. This means we will
always keep our music old school death metal and nothing else.
5. As a band from Ghanzi, Botswana, what unique challenges and opportunities
have you faced in the global metal scene? How has your location influenced your
music and identity as a band?
Well in the Global metal scene i don't remember any challenges, other than one
huge challenge: - getting an international booking is a huge challenge due to
expensive flight costs but honestly we get a number of show invitations or
interests and the problem is that, is very difficult to get sponsors to cover
travel costs and other logistics but if we could afford that we will definitely
be playing a number of shows globally. On the other hand, getting a huge
support, show invitations and merchandise being bought is a huge opportunity
and we thank the World for such a huge support. Our location has influenced our
music and identity in such a way that we are able to express our death metal
music through our hardships or deeds happening in our location and also our old
African beliefs of witchcraft, gods and ghosts. Talking about the darkside of
life and death itself as well as morbid subjects are elements of Death metal
music and that's who we are, we love what we do or express in our music and
completes us, gives us a sense of belonging and identity.
6. The album is described as a "manifesto of brutality." Can you
delve into what that means for you as a band and how it reflects in your music
and performance style?
That is actually a perfect description of our band Overthrust, I can't find any
better way or any word to describe the nature of our band other than the word
'Brutal'. A brutal composition/music we do automatically calls for a very
energetic performance style.
7. Your lyrics talk about death, torture, and people pretending to be angels. Can you share more about the inspiration behind these intense and dark themes?
Is a coincidence that our band members in Overthrust are like-minded people with same interests musical, am the one who write lyrics and sing them and i mostly write about death, torture and false preachers.
False preachers- the influence was actually triggered when i grew up in an environment full of religious people who were always trying to put themselves in an angelic and this perfect human beings against others, they criticized metal music, they criticized me being a metalhead yet my family was a metal family and supporting me a lot, This religious people were labelling metal music evil and satanism and i found that the only way to express my feelings against this kind of people was through music. Death - Death is for every human being and yet we can’t face that reality, this is in connection with religious theories that scare people so that they can believe in them, brainwash them and deceive them and because people are afraid of the said hellfire they will worship and do as their preachers says and living that kind of life to me I see it as mental slavery, is a psychological torture and this is how mostly my lyrics were influenced, so I can expose this kind of bullshit.
8. Death metal is known for its aggressive beats and harsh growling vocals. How do you ensure your sound stays powerful and engaging for your audience?
I try by all means to keep fit, healthy but the major secret is practice, practice and practice. I try to maintain myself by eating healthy, exercising, drinking a lot of water and getting enough sleep because a healthy body, healthy mind has positive results, powerful sound and stage work.
9. With "Infected By Myth" now available on most digital music platforms, how has the reception been from your fans and the broader metal community?
Powerful and positive response, Pre-sales alone did well in a very short period of time and currently everyone is looking forward to getting physical copies of cds, tapes and vinyls. People have waited for almost a year to get the new album, they couldn't wait any longer and the release of the album was like a long awaited new arrival of a new baby at home after 9 month of pregnancy, too much love and support from the world has proved in this album.
10. What are some of the most memorable experiences you've had while
recording or performing songs from "Infected By Myth"?
During recording the most memorable moments was when we physical for the first time meet our record label managers Jason Banning, His father Mr.Walker Banning and Howard Merlin together with our brother Jethro Harris in Cape Town it was a huge wow, as if that was not enough is when our record label brought me to USA, sponsored for the whole USA trip and logistics and fitting my vocals in Florida, right in USA was a huge dream come true, Our record label manager – Jason Banning organised a great tour for me at NASA, Universal studio, Pinball and meet up with our friends GhettoSongBird band (Samantha Hollings, her Mother and Chris Nelson) was the most memorable moments, it was a huge moments indeed. The special one was when Jason took me to watch my favourite team - UCF live and a visit to our friend Javier Perez during Happy Thanksgiving holiday and there I ate very nice and great American food, Turkey was most delicious and I enjoyed beer. I LOVE FLORIDA, I MISS FLORIDA. Jason also took me to my favorite band Goatwhore festival and there also he introduced me to legendary musicians, the Drummer to Massacre death metal band. The buffalo wings and barbecue was also my favorite food, there is a lot to talk about in the USA, I LOVE USA.
11. As an old-school death metal band, who are some of your biggest influences, and how have they shaped your music and approach to the genre?
Deicide, Morbid Angel, Immolation, Cannibal Corpse, Possessed, Vader, Mortician, Obituary, Wrust, Architecture of Aggression, Carcass, Bolt Thrower. This are actually the bands that did influence our music carrier because of their music content such as riffs, lyrical themes, energy on stage and dress code was just something i grew looking up to, everything was just a match for their genre, a huge inspiration to our band indeed.
12. What's next for Overthrust? Are there any upcoming tours, music videos, or projects that fans can look forward to?
We are looking forward to anyone who can assist with a tour but mostly to cover flight tickets, that's the most expensive expense among them all. Our record label is currently working on a huge Overthrust documentary, It will be the biggest including the beginning, the past and the present time Overthrust. More music videos and currently we have released ''Fallen Witches'' video produced by Javier Perez. We will surely do a local tour around Botswana and we will need support for international tour, maybe fundraiser for flight tickets from our fans might help.
Overthrust (indianrivermusiccompany.com)
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