Alright! Let’s start this week by highlighting one more album from last week. (Admittedly, I meant to get this out a few days ago but… LIFE happened.) Anyway. Massachusetts cosmic death metal collective Ancient Death dropped their debut album, Ego Dissolution, last Friday through Profound Lore. The goods new about running these post-release? You can actually hear it in full, and the Bandcamp is linked below as always. So let’s start our week off with some crazy progressive/technical death metal with layer upon layer of delicious atmosphere, shall we? You may recognize some of the names in this project as well: bassist/vocalist Jasmine Alexander, guitarist Ray Brouwer (Matriphagy), guitarist/vocalist Jerry Witunsky (Atheist), and drummer Derek Malone Moniz (Cruciamentum, Churchburn). And Derek was cool enough to take some time to answer our Profile questions to introduce himself and Ancient Death more. As a fan of his other projects as well, this freaking rules. Catch up after the jump.

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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 was 13 in 1988 and started going to a heavy metal night at a local roller-skating rink called Star Wheels. All the kids from MA and RI seemed to congregate there as it was a hub between Boston and Providence. It seemed to have all the kids who were 18 and under have a place to be themselves and was introduced to a lot of heavier stuff there. There was a Brazilian girl there I got to know that was into black thrash stuff and got me to listen to Sepultura. She was praising them saying they were going to play in the US. I was somehow able to see them play their first US tour ever in Providence, RI and I was well on my way! There were friends I met doing bands at that time and I stopped at nothing to get into one. I got rejected at a tryout once and knew what I needed to do to learn how to play and practiced at home every day until I got it. Luckily enough there were all ages shows and I was able to go to them at a classic club called The Living Room in Providence, RI. I finally got asked there to try out for a death metal band called Headrot and made it into the band. That was in 1989, and here we are all these years later and I am still doing it, just as into it now as I was then with Ancient Death. My parents were always supportive of my music, even though my older brother had some issues with interpretations of the imagery as people did in the 80’s but eventually realized it was a good outlet.

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

To put it simply; a heavy sounding band with well written songs. One thing about Ancient Death and the “Ego Dissolution” LP that I can enjoy is no matter what someone is into in my opinion, I think they would appreciate the creativity and performance of the songs as it shows some demonstration of what can be done beyond just heavy music as an outsider of that. I am sure someone would have a great time throwing this on one of those first-time metal album reaction videos!

Is there anything about your latest album or about your band that no one will find in any interview or review that you care to divulge?

I would say the diversity of ages and experience of the band for the most part. How good our chemistry is from that is really a testament to the band. Jerry and Ray are up and coming twin-attack shredder guitar players who have been at it together since a very young age like myself, but are in their later 20’s as where I am 48 and later into things there. For our bass player/vocalist Jasmine it’s her first band and attempt at this ever as she just hit the ground running with it. It truly amazes me the pace and volume of what she was been able to do with the rest of us, as I think we just elevate each other so much with this line up. There is a lot of respect for each other I think that is super important on how things got to this point.

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

Well there hasn’t been a ton of touring for us but mostly smaller weekend runs of shows. One time we were crossing this huge bridge in New York and the water was so brown and looked so shitty, I renamed it the G.G. Allin Memorial River and that was pretty funny! We stayed at legendary movie director John Water’s former home that weekend. We all hung out in the attic space that he edited his classic films in which was super cool, not so much funny but pretty classic!

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?

Some of the better things I see these days is the ability for bands to get their music out so quickly and access to getting things going at times if you have a good gauge on it. It took quite a lot of tangible effort before the internet to get bands out to people and now it’s something that can happen so abruptly. We never thought we would be featured along with a Ghost EP for our very first release on Bandcamp, but it did!

Some of the worst things I see the metal scene is how easily people can comment on things and how flooded it can get with conflicting comments and prejudice about issues that people may not know the exact story about before it’s too late and spreading throughout prematurely. It’s almost like people troll because they know there are no consequences to say anything to anyone without any regard or respect as a person.

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 can confidently speak for us collectively on this one; in that we separate all of those things completely from our band aesthetic. This music for us is a way to escape that and have an outlet from the everyday stressors of those issues in life. It’s not to say that if bands carry those messages is a bad thing by any means for what they are doing, especially with punk music which is more of a catalyst for that. To provoke thought in those areas is a part of music and we totally respect it, it’s just something that has no bearing on what we are doing.

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

Ray is a professional cabinet maker and teaches guitar, a super workhorse of a dude! Jerry is raging out as a full-time musician with Atheist and Ancient Death, but has had the same job for years at a record store. I am a full time tattooer, and treat substance use disorders as a licensed therapist in the mornings so we are quite busy people! Who doesn’t need multiple jobs these days to live!

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?

If there is anything I can say about that, it’s having some thought before people speak, some of the comments I see about bands and music just seem to be so “reactive” and not responsive. There is so much out there to listen to and it’s easy to get jaded on things. I hear so much of this which I have been guilty of doing, Like, ”Ahh I never gave that record a chance and years later I get it now.” How to serve the genre? Not everyone is in it for the full-time touring, but there also seems to be an appeal traditionally to some labels for bands who are going to do the full-time tour circuit. Put the right effort into your band, if there isn’t any type of business to a band whatsoever, it’s not as easy for a promoter to take it seriously and it may never get the attention it may deserve.

Any specific long-term goal(s) in mind?

It’s hard to say, but at best to keep integrity with the band’s sound and continue to have consistency, but also growth with it. That word “growth” can be an enemy to me in certain ways as well as also make a band lose a lot of the raw fierceness and hunger they had starting out. I just want to hopefully keep some consistent drumming going, songwriting and keep up with it the best I can for as long as I can.

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

At the moment I am really digging Verminous – “Smell The Birth Of Death” EP, and Abhorration – “Demonolatry” for death metal records at the time of this interview. Demoncy – “Diabolica Blaphemiae” EP is my preferred type of black metal sound as far as that goes right now. Non-metal records are Blue Öyster Cult – “Tyranny and Mutation”, Deep Purple – “Burn”, and UFO – “Strangers In The Night Live” LP are some absolute essentials for me!

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 a real good upcoming show booked for anyone reading who is in the Northeast New England area for April 6th in Worcester, MA in support of VASTUM with some killer bands – Goetia (DC) and Anthropophagus (MA). [Ed. Note: I wanted to get to this show so damn badly.] If it all aligns as it should there will be some surprises coming up for this show that also may get announced possibly! Beyond that be on the lookout for upcoming shows in the summer months of likely July and August for Ancient Death. We hope to play as much as possible in support of the debut LP.

Summarize your band in one word.

COSMIC.

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Many thanks to Derek and Ancient Death for the time!

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Ego Dissolution is out now through Profound Lore. For more information on Ancient Death, follow along on Instagram.