Two dudes with a background in the heavy arts come together to form a heavy band. In the age of streaming services and social media there’s nothing particularly newsworthy in that simple statement. Yet for Benjamin Caragol and Ben Stoller, collectively Semuta, debut Glacial Erratic is the sum of what happens when the goal is far beyond the heavy and lies somewhere in the epic soundscapes that strikes listeners to their core. Challenging the norm with off kilter time signatures and unexpected juxtapositions of melancholy and crushing crescendos, the duo’s debut is nothing short of a sludgy post metal soirée that is as forward thinking as it is blissfully aware of the world crumbling around it. We recently got a chance to pose our set of Profile questions to Caragol, vocals and guitars, to dig deeper and peel back some of the band’s layers. Read on to see how it went down and be sure to grab a copy later this week when the album officially drops.

—

How and when did you first get into playing music, or metal more specifically, and how did your band get its start? Any pushback from family/those close to you?

I started playing guitar at a very young age, around five I think. My parents are both musicians, so they were supportive of me getting into music. I found out about heavy music when I was six or seven when Metallica’s Black Album came out, but I would say I really got into metal when my brother showed me Slayer when I was ten. I was immediately hooked. I think I was simultaneously scared and excited by how extreme it was compared to everything I had seen and heard. The Satanic imagery kinda freaked my parents out, but they ultimately knew I wasn’t actually worshiping the devil or anything. And my dad was a rocker, super into Sabbath and Zeppelin and Yes, so he understood. He even took me to see Slayer a bunch of times before I was old enough to reasonably go to concerts on my own. I started trying to get bands together when I was very young, but the first band I had that actually felt like a real thing started in high school when I met other musicians who wanted to take things a little more seriously. Played in a lot of bands since, made a lot of albums, gone on a lot of tours… I started trying to make this band happen in 2019, but when the pandemic hit I kinda just said fuck it and recorded a demo on my own, playing all the instruments. I was actually pretty stoked on how it came out, and when the world started to open up again I reached out to a few drummers I knew to see if anyone wanted to jam. I didn’t know Ben Stoller very well, but we had a lot of the same friends and had seen each others’ bands. He was stoked on the demo, so we got together to jam, and it was obvious right away that he was the drummer I had been looking for. Since then we’ve been writing songs, playing shows, recording, and just trying to get the project off the ground in general.

How would you describe your band and what you play to someone who is completely in the dark?

To someone who listens to heavy music I generally call us progressive post metal. Even though I don’t necessarily feel aligned with that description I think it gets across the kind of thing we’re doing. To someone who may be pretty oblivious to heavy music I would say that we are a pretty heavy band with long songs that are pretty complicated and have big dynamic changes.

Is there one (or more) thing about your latest / upcoming album or about your band that no one will find in any interview or review that you care to divulge?

We tracked the drums for the album at a studio in Portland called Hallowed Halls. It used to be a library, and still looks like one from the outside. It was the nicest studio I’ve gotten to record in, and there were interns who would run errands for you and get you sandwiches and stuff. I got a lot of sandwiches. I don’t know if I’ll ever get that kind of special treatment again, so it seemed worth taking advantage of.

Any funny stories from playing shows / tours / festivals, etc?

We’re a pretty new band, so we don’t have a lot of road stories yet. However, we did play this awesome festival in the woods last summer called Lunasa Cascadia that had some serious witchy fire ritual kind of stuff going on. We definitely felt a little out of place, but it was really fun, and the spectacle of it all was really awesome. We’re playing it again this summer. Should be a killer time!

What do you see as some of the great things happening in and around the metal scene (yours or just in general) and what are some of the worst things happening right now?

I think the best thing in metal is that it is becoming more inclusive. It’s rad to see more and more bands with women, trans people, and people of color. I think punk and metal should try to be welcoming of all types of people. I also love that there’s more and more heavy music that isn’t easily categorized. Extreme music should be about pushing boundaries and trying new things, not just trying replicate the sound of a band that came out thirty years ago.

Most folks have passions for a cause or causes that are close to them. What, if any, are some of the most important issues (social/political/humorous/etc.) for you / your band and how do you insert those issues into your music?

I write a lot about the ways in which our civilization and planet are in decline. Governments pushing propaganda and waging endless war. Corporations hoarding wealth and exploiting natural resources at the cost of an inhabitable planet. The rise of the far right and abandonment of our most vulnerable populations… It’s hard to look at our civilization and not see a gaping wound. Some of our songs are more personal though. All of us struggle on some level, and my own experiences inevitably find their way into our lyrics.

Do you have day jobs or hobbies you want to share?

Ben (Stoller) is a full time coder these days, but he was a live sound engineer for a long time. He worked at several venues in Portland, as well as touring with YOB and Sumac doing FOH. He occasionally still runs sound at some venues in town. Having a sound person in the band is definitely helpful for playing shows.

What advice do you have for music critics and outlets out there? How can we all better serve the genre in the eyes of a hard-working musician?

It’s hard to know how to best serve the music community. I think providing a space and platform to provide exposure for new bands is really important, but that’s my own bias for pretty obvious reasons. I understand that is difficult though, because there are just so many damn bands. And social media and streaming have so much content that it is very challenging to sift through the static to find things that interest you. I suppose I really just think music outlets should try to provide space and a voice for good bands and people who often get overlooked; whether it’s because they’re a new project or because they aren’t straight white cis-men playing death metal.

Any specific long term goal(s) in mind?

I think our goals with this band are fairly modest. We’re not really looking to get big. We just want to write music we find engaging, record albums we like the sound of, tour with some cool bands, play some festivals, and maybe make enough money for the band to sustain itself.

When you’re not obsessing over your own material, what are some of your favorite albums to listen to currently?

There’s a few heavy albums that came out in the last year or so that have really stuck with me. That new Great Falls record is incredible. So pissed off, so chaotic, so vulnerable. They really accomplished something special on “Objects Without Pain.”  The album Ex Everything released last year is also really awesome. Mathy, weird, and dark. We’ve had the pleasure of playing with those folks, and they are excellent live, on top of being wonderful people. We’ve also been lucky enough to play with our friends in Pile. The album they put out last year, “All Fiction,” is incredible. It’s a pretty serious departure from their previous releases. It focuses way less on guitars, and more on interesting sounds and synths and textures. The songs are beautiful and haunting. Highly recommended if you want to listen to something that is not metal in any way.

What is the near future outlook for you or your band? Any specific events on the horizon that the masses should be aware of?

We have some West Coast shows coming up in June to support the release of the album. We’re excited to get out of Portland more, see some friends, make some new ones, and hopefully turn some people on to our music. Those dates can all be found on our social media.

Summarize your band in one word. (Disclosure: If you use more than one word, we’ll probably just pick our favorite.)

Dynamic.

—

Many thanks to Benjamin and Semuta for their time!

---

Glacial Erratic will be available May 24 via Bandcamp and the direct from the band. For more information on Semuta, visit their Facebook page.