METALLIAN - Excruciation

Angels To Some, Demons To Others - 2007 - Twilight
[t]horns - 2009 - Non Stop
Life Of Immortality '87 - 2012 - The Ritual
[g]host - 2014 – Auric
[c]rust – 2016 - WormHoleDeath
[P]ain - 2024 - Auric

Members

Vocals

Tot Art, Requiem, Religious Vomit, Adramalech, Covah>>EUGENIO MECCARIELLO>>Tot Art, Requiem, Religious Vomit, Adramalech, Covah

Guitar

Jose Venegas>>2Black, Piranha - Crucifiction>>MARC BOSSHART [MARCEL BOSSHART]>>Crucifiction - George Hauser>>Piranha, 2Black, 2Black, Innocent F.F. – Bestial Torment, Forgotten Chaos, Ashtar>>Hannes Reitze>>Forgotten Chaos, Ashtar, Moonfrost, Trephining, Plaster Caster – 2Black, Innocent F.F.,, 2Black, Piranha>>George Hauser>>Piranha

Bass

Ketzer, Public Code, Tot Art, Curb Dogs>>RICKHATRED/D.D. LOWINGER>>Ketzer, Public Code, Tot Art, Curb Dogs

Drum

Necromancer, Grave Ravisher, Eddie & The Toublemakers>>ANDREAS RENGGLI>>Grave Ravisher, Eddie & The Toublemakers

History & Biography

José Venegas and Mat Arani formed the band in Zurich in 1984. Marcel Bosshart and D.D. Lowinge soon joined them. With the entry of Eugenio Meccariello the band recorded a demo called The Fourth Apocalyptic Rider which was not officially released. Later that year Mat was replaced by Andreas Renggli (ex-Necromancer) and the band recorded the First Assault Demo. The line-up entered the DNS Studio to record the Last Judgment Mini LP in 1986 which was later released by Chainsaw Murder Records and marketed by We Bite Records. Jose left the band at this juncture, but gigging continued unabated.

The band was joined by George Hauser in 1989 following the release of Prophecy Of Immortality and Abyss Of Time demos. He left in 1991. In 1991 Anno Domini - An Anthology Of The Past, a collection of the band's recordings, was released through Turbo International in Europe and through JL America in the USA. The band had planned to record a new album in the USA at this juncture, but instead with inter-band relationships going sour Excruciation would call it a day in 1991.

The band resumed its activities in 2005, however, and soon issued an EP called Arise. A new album was planned for 2006. The band’s own Non Stop Music issued an album, called Angels To Some Demons To Others, by the reformed '90s band in early 2007. The band replaced guitarist George, who was again in the band from 2005 to 2007, with new man Hannes in early 2008. George was not happy with the band’s direction.

The Swiss death/doom band signed a worldwide deal with Wormholedeath/Aural Music in 2015 for the release of its upcoming album [c]rust that would be produced by Wahoomi Corvi and would be released during 2016. The band would enter the studio on August the 17th 2015 and was busy with song writing. [c]rust was to be released in collaboration with the bands own label Auric Records. Twenty Four Hours was a 2015 demo. A single called Lutheran Psalms was issued by WormHoleDeath in 2016. The label soon issued the [c]rust full-length. Several split releases with the likes of Babylon Asleep followed. Auric records issued a compilation called [e]met in 2019. Guitarist George Hauser had re-joined in 2018 and stayed until 2022 this time. He was heard on the 2021 single, Repent, Sinners!. Premature Darkness of 2022 was a demo compilation by the band. Auric Records of Eugenio Meccariello released the 2024 album, [P]ain. The band added guitarist Yves Müller who had joined for live work initially. The band had videos for each song on the album.

Reviews

EXCRUCIATION - [P]AIN - AURIC
Bands, with biographies like Excruciation’s, could go either way. The biography supplied by the band describes the Switzerland-based quintet as, “from doom, death, 80s dark wave to crustcore,” which is good, good, bore, maybe. So let's investigate what the band actually has in store for the listener.
The opening cut is called God and this listener took a liking to it Immediately. There is the big sound, reverb and heavy drums with oomph, but most of all there is the riff reminiscent of Morgoth’s Cursed era, an excellent death metal album. God drifts into melancholica soon. The vocals are not so much sung as spoken and soon take on a preachy tone. It is akin to an extreme version of Danzig’s voice. The schizophrenic lyrics laud god and then hate god (“saviour” stuff to ”god is a lie”). God is in you, as Jiddu Krishnamurti might say, declares singer Eugenio Meccariello. While The Mourners Are Passing By is, of course, doomy and dismal; the vocals sad and musing. Certainly, anyone would hear Paradise Lost here with the minimalist music and vocals designed to focus one on the dense atmosphere. The dramatic vocals of Bleeding are a prelude to the bass rearing its head and the lyrics include the phrase “paradise lost” as if on purpose. The vocals have a Manowar vibe, but don’t stop reading. It is not meant to insult these guys, but the band does sing of “warriors” and “false beliefs” nonetheless. The real bass awakening comes on Victima Dei (‘victim of god’?), which is longer, instrumentally-oriented and probably one of the album's angrier moments. It is back to the theme of god and his deeds and another Morgoth melody appears to endear the album even more. The Sun Has Lost Its Light is another brilliant doom title, “no gods no masters” says the band. Many doom bands take the side of god, but not this mob. A heavy, even brutal, riff bulldozes its way through this track. It is the interplay of guitar and drum that works its magic. There has not been much ‘dark wave’ to speak of really, but Riding The Night might qualify. As a metal fan, ‘never’ would have been too soon. Perhaps, While The Mourners… has that vibe as well. In Silence has the Danzig vibe. Whatever the case, there are no synthesizers and stupid keyboards here so at least that concern is allayed. Darker has a couple of damn effective riffs. Pleasuredome For The Wicked picks up the pace for a bit. This is a good time for a reminder that this style is often personal and introspective. It is not metal that is action-packed, uplifting or necessarily triumphant. Repent, Sinners!, which is a single from 2021 is redone and included on the South American edition as a bonus.
Death/doom, doom metal, Paradise Lost and fans of Morgoth post-first two EPs will find common ground with the band. - Ali “The Metallian”

Interviews

Eugenio Meccariello knows a thing or two. Yes, and certainly, about music too, but he also knows things because he has been fronting the Switzerland-based doom metal band Excruciation, albeit with a lengthy break in-between, since 1984. Still, between his tenure - with the latest beginning in 2005 - in the band, and running Auric Records for almost as long, he has accumulated knowledge, which renders him a good interview partner. The band and the label have issued an album called [p]ain, which makes for the right occasion for Ali “The Metallian” to invite the frontman to Metallian Towers for a conversation. - 02.10.2024

Even taking into account the band’s long hiatus, Excruciation’s persistence is impressive. Yet, it must simultaneously be an arduous task. Is music such a powerful motivating factor? 
“Yes, I believe that too,” agrees the singer with the premise of my question. ”Music can be like a virus that you can't get rid of, I suppose, like any other art. And even though Excruciation didn't exist for fourteen years, we all stayed in the music business in one way or another. At first I sang in various bands, like Tot Art and Requiem, then I started getting into electronic music, like Covah, and eventually I had a recording studio.  Others in the band had a record shop or a booking agency or were even A&R and producers for bigger companies. So we all stayed true to that form of art. 
“Getting the band back together was an easy task. We met, we ate, we drank, we jammed; we loved it. All the problems that had led to the split were forgotten and we felt like a bunch of teenagers again.” 

If motivation is not a problem, then surely the means for an independent band that is industrious must be.
“Independence is very important to me, nobody telling you what to do, when and why,” asserts the singer. “And in the end, we put the money in, but we take all the money out again and spend it on the next release or merch or pizza. We don't get rich this way, but the freedom is priceless. And we wouldn't get rich anyway (laughs).”

Speaking of being industrious, and before delving into the full-length, there had been quite a bit of other material earlier. “There was Premature Darkness, which was first released as a bonus for the limited edition box of the [e]met compilation in 2019,“ remarks Eugenio. “It consisted of the demos we recorded for [g]host (of 2014) and [c]rust (of 2016). [e]met was a compilation of rare tracks since our reunion, songs that were only released on splits, MCs, compilations etcetera. We had these demos on hand with slightly altered versions of the tracks we later recorded; some more, some less, but all definitely rawer. 
“I always liked that, especially in the old days, the ‘80s (smiles), when I would get my hands on stuff like that or rehearsals from other bands to hear how the songs evolved, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.  A few years later, the box was long sold out and we decided to release this tape in digital form on Bandcamp at a ‘name your price’. 

There is also the track Repent, Sinners! with a tie-in to a South American edition.
Recalls Eugenio, “actually Repent, Sinners! was written for the new album. It was the second song we wrote. The first was Victima Dei. During the pandemic it was difficult to get into a studio and record, so we wanted to see if we could manage to record it ourselves and send it off to be mixed and mastered. We liked the way it sounded, so we decided to release it as the first single for the new album, which was due out in 2022. We then re-recorded it to have a homogenous sound on the record, but in the end it didn't fit musically on [p]ain. We then released it as the B-side of the While The Mourners Are Passing By single. 
As for the South American edition, Alejandro from the Les Leçons Des Ténèbres label ordered a couple of records from us, we got talking and the idea of doing a release in Colombia for Latin America came up. He contacted Green Revolution Productions, which stepped in.  We then decided to make something special out of it and add two bonus songs, the aforementioned Repent, Sinners! and In Every Dream Home A Heartache, a cover version of Roxy Music that we did and which was only physically released as a B-side to the God single. We're really glad that happened because shipping from Switzerland to overseas is just too expensive and this way people there have the chance to get it at a reasonable price. 

Speaking of the song God, what does the man think of my assertion that it sounds like something off Morgoth’s Cursed album?
“I don't have any Morgoth records, but I checked it on Youtube right away. I think you mean the bridge they have in their first song Body Count. I wouldn't have noticed that. But hey, you can't reinvent the wheel (laughs). In the end, it's a completely different vibe than the one the notes create on God.”

  What about the lyrics, which could be described as angels to some, demons to others. Surely, he won’t object to my assertion that they are some of the most intriguing lyrics of recent times.
The man is effusive. “Oh, stop it. I'm blushing (laughs heartily). There's no real concept behind the album unless you take what's going on in my head as a concept. Most of the lyrics are just my thoughts at a certain point in time. I usually get a sense of what the theme of the lyrics should be while we're writing the music. Sometimes I'm angry; sometimes a bit melancholic or sad. As you've noticed, I'm not a big fan of this institution called the church, so that's a theme that keeps coming up.”

Over the years, doom metal has garnered a reputation for being the home to many Christians. It may have started with the crosses adorning bands like Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus or Candlemass, but then came acts like Trouble, Paramæcium and Solitude Aeternus. Excruciation is of a different ilk.
“Good question. I don't have a definitive answer,” ponders the singer, “but considering that Christianity is built on the pillars of humility, suffering, pain and devotion with a little glimmer of hope, doom metal is actually the right choice to reflect these feelings.”

Speaking of sub-genres, the question for the man is regarding the biography’s description of the band as ‘80s dark wave and crustcore, in addition to doom metal. Listening to a song like Riding The Night a mention of “dark wave” may be understandable, but overall could it turn off metal fans?
“Of course, we are a metal band,” rushes the answer, “and we assume that everyone who gets hold of our biography understands that. 
“You know, it's like most people have two percent neanderthal in their DNA and yet most don't act like one. Well, we have two percent Venom.” claims the singer while bursting into laughter here, “That's one of the main bands that made us play this kind of music even if you don't hear them in our songs anymore. It's still one of the biggest influences and the same goes for bands from other genres like Amebix, Joy Division, Christian Death, Depeche Mode, Portishead, etcetera. What they all have in common is the dark mood they convey and that's what our music is all about. If people have to categorise the music, doom metal fits best, but it's not the usual doom that most people expect.”

Right on cue, the song Pleasuredome For The Wicked stands apart.
“That's true, but there's no particular reason for it. Like I said, we're angry sometimes (smiles).  We don't sit down and talk about what style a song should be. We just play and every now and then a song like Pleasuredome For The Wicked comes out. At first we weren't sure if it would fit on the album, but it's a nice change of pace and maybe even a surprise, a slap in the back of the head.”

 Seems guitarist George Hauser is no longer in the band.
“George was in the band until the end of 2022,” recalls Eugenio. “He actually played with Excruciation three times, from 1989 to 1991, 2005 to 2007 and last from 2018-2022. This time was a bit different though because when HNS, our former lead guitarist, left the band at the end of 2017, we had to find a replacement pretty quickly because we had some shows in the pipeline. So we asked George to fill the gap for those shows. After a few months he asked us if he could join as a full member even though he's not a doom metal aficionado, but hey, we're nice guys to hang out with, so we started writing the album with him. But as soon as we finished writing the songs, he left us again, for personal reasons and due to the fact that he wanted to concentrate on his thrash metal combo Piranha!”

This may partly explain why the album is mostly bereft of guitar leads. “Oh, I don't like solos that much. One or two solos on a record is more than enough. Maybe a lot of bands think there's an unwritten law that a song needs a solo part. Or maybe there are guitarists who just want to show off their skills. But does it add anything substantial to the songs? In most cases, no. That's why I prefer a few nice leads to a solo. Of course, there are bands that have the ability to draw attention to themselves with their solos and not just shred a few quick notes, but those are pretty rare in my opinion.”
 
His opinion clear on the matter, the next question is regarding the band’s stylistic choices with its album titles. The man is not exactly forthcoming though.
“We like to play with ambiguity, depending on how you look at things, they can look different than they are. It started with [t]horns, then [g]host, [c]rust, [e]met, well, actually it all started with Angels To Some, Demons To Others and now less obviously with [p]ain. It won't make sense to most people, but those who know us, and know our history, will eventually understand. Just a few hints: It's about friendship, loss and death.”

  Not sure that it is any clearer, but perhaps that is where the fun lies. In that case, what is next Eugenio? “Of course, we are promoting the album with some shows. We also have a new guitarist, Yves, who has his roots in black metal, so we'll see where that takes us.
“Where else he has played or is playing is not really important,” believes Eugenio when asked about the new member despite the group’s website listing the members’ other bands! “Excruciation stands for itself and we don't want to lead people in the wrong direction by name-dropping.”

With that said, the obvious remaining question is why, in his opinion, Metallian is the best hub for metal bar none.
“It has metal in its name and certainly metal in its bones! Do you need more?”

 No, no one needs anything more. Interview partner Eugenio Meccariello, guitarist Marcel Bosshart, bassist D.D. Lowinger and drummer Andy Renggli have [p]ain for you. For further information visit here or here

If you enjoyed this, read Darkane

Excruciation