CAUTERIZED HUMANITY / HYPODERMIC REALITY

To investigative eyes, there is an ample bit of synoptic data to be extracted from the cover artwork to the latest Wynjara album Human Plague. 16 syringes laid out on a blood-stained surface in a fastidious kind of circular intimidation: an irate clue to the steel-set antagonism that fuels this Floridian three-piece. As a much-awaited (at least to a US-death metal addict) continuation of 2000’s eponymous debut effort, Human Plague is a thunderous whack of robust riffwork, spleen-driven roars and versatile beats, coalescent in an oh-so-very explicit form of, excuse me, fucking heaviness. Frozen in a mid-mosh posture, Evilution Magazine’s very own misfit reporter emailed a bunch of plague-ridden questions to founding headbanger, fretboard engineer and ex-Monstrosity axeman Jason Morgan. Read on to learn what bulky nuts and bolts that upholds the Wynjaran colossus...

# Human Plague is the first official release from Wynjara since the self-titled debut from 2000. What has transpired in the past four years?

“Everybody has been busy doing their own things since then. J.P. Soars has Divine Empire going full steam and Brooks Rose and I have some projects going as well.”

# The previous album was recorded at Hazel’s Ranch Studios and produced single-handedly by the band. What are the practical details behind the recording of Human Plague, and how did the entire process go down?

“Pretty much the exact same as the first album. J.P. came up from Florida for a week and we got everything done with time to spare. I’d give him the lyrics and we’d go over it and then record it right then so everything has a fresh feel to it without a lot of over-thinking.”

# Human Plague contains everything from up-tempo killers such as “Disgrace” and “Hypocrite” to slower heavy-set tracks like the virtually dirge-like “I Am” – and all that is broken up by a handful of instrumental compositions. Could you comment on the song-writing process in the band and its effect on the diversity between the songs?

“Generally, whatever comes out at the time tends to fit into the scheme of things. We’re not afraid to include music that’s not metal, so to say, just to have some sort of image or whatever. I believe this album is a bit more concentrated on the darker side of feelings than the first album, but it still has its own identity. I think too many bands make the mistake of feeling like they have to do an entire album of the exact same style of music so they won’t look less than a tough metal band. We are beyond caring about that sort of thing. We do what we like, simply put. If somebody likes it, that’s cool as hell with us, and if they don’t like it, then they can fuck off. I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.”

# The new album contains three short ambient interludes entitled “Meltdown”, “Rebirth” and “Transformations”. What role are these tracks meant to play on the record, and what is the direct inspiration behind them?

“Each of those songs to me represents different moods. The titles reflect how the music made me feel. As far as their roles on the album are concerned, to me, they’re there to set the stage for the next sections of brutality. After writing them I decided to include them on the record just to give different feels to the entire album as a whole. We like a bit of diversity on an album. The only album I ever heard that was flawless start to finish, being all in the same vein, was obviously Reign in Blood. I have very little patience for a death metal record that’s the exact same from start to finish, no matter how hard the stuff is to play. It all just becomes boring after about the third song, so I was trying to avoid that by including them and to give a little diversity to the album at the same time.”

# Whereas the debut contained several direct and indirect references to the indigenous Australian people and their culture, Human Plague seems more generally oriented in its lyrical and conceptual approach. Is this actually the fact, or are the references merely more subtle on this new effort?

“That actually is a fact although not planned out that way. It was just a different approach to this album as far as that is concerned. After four years you (hopefully) tend to think in different directions and that’s what came out this time.”

# With the reservation that I do not have a lyric sheet to validate my theories, the lyrical content on Human Plague seems to, roughly speaking, deal with conflicts between the individual and society. Is there in fact some sort of common concept on the album or does each individual song rather deal with a theme of its own?

“The songs generally deal with different topics of their own. As a whole, the album reflects our feelings about humanity and its severe shortcomings. The song “Laughing As They Die”, for example, has a Jack The Ripper type of feel, while “Hypocrite” deals with my hatred for certain people that I’ve actually encountered, usually of the religious sort, but not always. Most of the songs, however, are personal feelings inspired by my surroundings.”

# The newsletter from Nocturnal Art Productions describes Human Plague as ‘a testament to the art of finely crafted and well-executed US Death Metal’. As regards the positive words I very much agree, but I personally think there is a certain European vibe, whether intentional or not, to the Wynjara sound besides the evident roots in American death metal. What are your comments on that observation?

“I suppose that some of the faster melodic music may have a European vibe to it. I definitely love bands such as At The Gates and Dimmu Borgir. It’s obvious that those styles had an influence on the songs “Disgrace” and “Laughing As They Die”. I hear music more as moods than anything else. Whatever I was feeling at the time was what eventually made it to the album.”

# The drum tracks on the debut as well as on Human Plague were programmed with the use of a computer, and the result on both albums is quite a few notches above the usual, somewhat synthetic standard for drum programming. Has it been difficult for the band to find a full-time drummer, and are there any plans of recruiting one in the future?

“Thanks for the comments on the drums. Of course there’s always room for major improvements in that area. It has been very difficult to find a permanent drummer that can actually play his drums well. Most of the time it starts out fine but then you start noticing tempo problems and everything else usually collapses after that. Wynjara is definitely not a band that would go play shows with somebody lacking in their department. We’ve all been around long enough to not short-change ourselves or the audience.”

# My promo copy of Human Plague comes without the lyrical and visual features, and even if there was a sneak preview of the cover artwork in the latest newsletter from Nocturnal Art Productions, it is somewhat difficult to study the design in detail. What is the idea and concept behind the artwork?

“The entire concept of the album pretty much deals with our disgust for that way things are with the world and their ever-worsening nature. As far as the artwork, we just wanted something that was dirty and reflecting of those aforementioned things. I think that Bjoern at Killustrations captured that mood perfectly and he has been kick-ass to work with. A very talented guy. All the individual things on the cover seem to fit into that mood for us and tie the whole thing together nicely while not just hitting you over the head with the concept.”

# What does it mean for Wynjara to be signed on a Norwegian label in terms of exposure and recognition in Europe? Also, how has it been so far to work together with Samoth and Nocturnal Art Productions?

“I’m not sure that it means anything in particular about being signed to a Norwegian label. I would think that any label in Europe would probably concentrate on exposing their bands on their side of the planet a bit more than anywhere else. It just makes sense. Death metal has always done better in Europe and South America than in the US. As far as working with Samoth, overall it’s been good. Every band has a few minor issues with whatever label they’re on. That’s not saying anything bad about anybody. The only problem we had with the first record was that nobody outside of Europe could find it. That’s all been fixed now with better distribution. The word is that Samoth is going to re-release the first album as well as the new one with the good distribution this time.”

# The debut album contains a cover version of “Animal Magnetism”, as originally written and recorded by The Scorpions. Could you comment a bit on what encouraged the band to record their own rendition of this particular song?

“I’ve always liked the Scorpions ever since I started playing guitar. Matthias Jabs had a big influence on my playing. I always enjoyed their ‘odd’ songs like “Animal Magnetism” and “China White”, probably a little more than the commercial stuff. For years I thought that “Animal Magnetism” could be really heavy if done somewhat our way. I mean, the song was so weird for them anyway. After talking with J.P. about it, he wasn’t so sure so I recorded a demo of it and sent it to him. I knew he’d always liked slow heavy music like I do and so after hearing it, he understood what I was hearing in my head for it. I thought the album version came out very good. It also fit into our style of playing so that was a bonus. I read some reviews that hated it basically because it was a Scorpions song, but I don’t actually care if somebody didn’t like it. Most of the people reviewing it would have never known it was a Scorpions song if it wasn’t printed on the cover anyway so fuck ‘em! I mean, really, how many Slayer songs should be covered by death metal bands anyway?”

# What musical function, so to speak, does Wynjara have as compared to other musical projects or outfits that the band members are or have been involved with?

“To me, Wynjara is a very relaxing outlet. Everybody involved are all friends and have no hidden objections to any of the other members. When we were recording the album, it was tension-free the way that everybody would like it to be.”

# Are there any plans for Wynjara to appear on the live fronts in the near future?

“If the right tours come along and everything is as it should be, then we would love to get out in the scene and have a go at it.”

# Right, this is your chance to end the interview with a few proverbial lines after this heavy and most likely aggravating bunch of questions. ]:)

“Thanks for your interview and also thanks to anyone that enjoys what we do. Hopefully this time more people will get a chance to hear the albums. Have a good one.”

Conducted and written by Misereion.