Humut Tabal Interview

*** Originally printed in Feral Noise #1***

I know you get asked a million times about the meaning of the band’s name. To set the record straight, can you give us that history? G- Humut Tabal is the grim Boatman of the Underworld in Mesopotamian mythology. He ferries souls to the land of the dead.                                                                                                                                
N- You would be right, as is Grimzaar. He approached me soon after we began to play music as a trio with the idea for the name, and the second I pronounced the word itself, the feeling it invoked within told me that there could be no other option. As with many of our actions as an entity, we didn’t think twice & the title Humut Tabal became ours. As Grimzaar stated, the word is of Mesopotamian origin. He, being an oarsman, is naturally a wayfarer, however not a vagrant. Humut Tabal does not perform his task for Ereshkigal, ruler of that heinous realm; neither does she condemn him to doing so. It is of his device & accord that his work is done, similar to us I might generally say.          
It seems your band is one of the rare occasions where all the members are perfect for the line up. Every member seems extremely enthusiastic about the band. How did it all come together and become a working band? G-Hravan, Njord and I were three individuals whose common desire united us in such that drama never occurs. To us, there was HT, and there was everything else. For me in particular, experiences outside of HT never manifested in the group in a negative way. Bullshit never shook us. All we were interested in was perfecting our bleak, terrifying, hateful music. Negativity and hatred became music that we directed at the world outside of us, thus the three of HT remained at peace with each other. We played many shows as a bass-less band, but managed to make enough of an impression to whip up attention in spite of it. We tried one bassist before Prokingu, who, despite her enthusiasm, simply couldn't keep up with us and was a harbinger of negativity. Her parting saw HT as a three-piece once more, but we were unable to unleash greater fury. Together, we three shared many intense and rewarding experiences during this time. During an early 2011 show in San Antonio, Prokingu saw us, interviewed us (he is the San Antonio Heavy Metal Examiner), then offered to play bass for us. I met with him a few times and jammed with him, and after he had learned a set's worth of material, we all started jamming together. Prokingu proved to be an excellent fit. His motivation, enthusiasm, and love for evil misanthropic music is boundless. We played all over Texas during the summer following his joining HT. We were rather satisfied as a 4-piece, but we have always intended for HT's music to have keyboard parts. I have played synth on all of our recordings thus far, but my playing guitar made having synth impossible for live sets. One day put an ad in the Austin Craigslist for a synth player. Bakeneko responded and proved to be rather adept at keyboards, and possessed unparalleled enthusiasm. Musically, she fits in outstandingly. As of now, she has only played one show with us, but I have high expectations for what the future will bring. Prepare yourselves. You will hear what pure hatred sounds like.     

N: It has indeed been an unbelievably progressive journey with some massive highlights and relatively few disastrous occasions, luckily. We became a working band really before we even knew exactly what we wanted to do with this collective. After a meager amount of time performing together, it only seemed natural to formally recognize our journey and begin aiming as high as we could in as many different avenues as possible. This natural inclination was further solidified in my mind when we first gathered, as I was recruited by Hravan, who was an old band mate of several previous, deceased groups.  As we went on, our experiences were considerably beneficent which generated a productive air to our operations.  I believe that can be chalked up to our possessing a specific mindset of how we manage Humut Tabal both in the outside world & within our own. An artistic medium such as this, first of all, does not become fettered or burdened from any outside turbulence, be it of a foreign or domestic origin. When we gather as a group with a mission, we leave our own personal distractions behind. We have always put faith into acting for the general benefit of the group, and as that has not failed us so far, we have continued to do so. That is not to say that individual interests are cast aside in this group, quite the contrary in fact, we’ve just never had any predicaments about individual benefit. If HT grows stronger, I & all of my band mates feel the surge in pulse, and so we have quite naturally always worked towards that general end. I, personally, am extremely honored to have worked with & continue to be working with the artists in this band who truly understand this concept. We will not cease our advancement.      
P- First, thanks for your kind words! I can only speak of mine and B's entry into the band. I assume Njord will take Bakeneko's story, so I will just present my own.  I had witnessed Humut Tabal live back in February of 2011, and I was simply astounded by their performance, along with the performances of Plutonian Shore and Emperial Massacre. About a month later, I decided to see about auditioning for a bass position for their June 3^rd show with Woods of Ypres. Njord was interested in having me come down, so I drove from SA to the Humut Tabal rehearsal space in order to give it a shot.  After a brief jam and tutelage under Grimzaar, the first song we played was "Frozen Death" (currently renamed "Through the Forest and Twisting Shadow") and the next thing I knew, I was in the band. I rehearsed with Grimzaar constantly in order to get the remaining songs down before the Ypres show. We played the Ypres show, and the rest is history. The band has grown through leaps and bounds since that show, especially with the addition of B., who serves the intended sound of Humut Tabal better than we could have imagined.     
                                                                                                                                                                                                    
 Humut Tabal is extremely busy on the live circuit. Tell about your travels and any interesting adventures you have had. 
G- Our travels have been enjoyable, rewarding experiences. Our most recent journey, our playing at the Gathering of Bestial Vengeance II in Dallas, revealed to us the most ideal black metal venue I have yet seen in Texas. If Satan has ever attended one of our sets, it is that one. The festival was aptly titled; everyone in attendance became a beast. Praise Satan for such a gathering of his brethren.                      
N- The tales are, even at this young point in our existence as a band, nearly countless. Grimzaar does not exaggerate when he describes the bestial energy present at our last performance. A hoard of berserk, enthusiastic fans is almost a tale in itself. Our second performance ever, in mid 2009, caused a musical outfit to request of the venue owner that he make sure they never play with us again, because they were “very frightened”. Our most daunting, epic tale is one that cannot be revealed at the current moment, but the medium through which the story is told will shake & stir the hearts and spirits of all. I await the  day.                                                    
 P-Interesting adventures? Hmm...good question. Since my entrance into Humut Tabal, we have played in San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Dallas and Corpus Christi, and all cities have yielded excellent times. It is difficult to pick an absolute favorite, although I will admit that currently Dallas is in the running with an intense show with the Black Moriah and Spectral Manifest on November 12th. Massive pits all night with an audience that "got it" in a venue that contained a perfect ambiance for a disgusting black metal show - simply perfect. In terms of interesting aspects of these shows, there have been multiple times where I've gashed my head open against Rex's headstock while colliding into it due to headbanging - two scars each on the right side of my head, with one near the eye and the other on my forehead. I can only consider it a great honor to have shed blood for metal. I will wear these "skarz" with pride. What else...forgive me, I've been up for approximately 42 hours straight so I'm having a bit of a difficult time recalling more, hehe...There was the headlining show at Walter's that was amazing for me (since I was standing in the same spot where Wrath of Averse Sefira stood when I saw them with Inquisition and Ares Kingdom in 2010), with a dedicated crowd, and there was the time opening up for Absu, which enabled me to complete a lifelong goal, as Absu are my favorite metal band. All in all, we've had quite a few superb experiences in the last few months, and it seems fair to suggest that there will be more in the future.                                                                                                         


I see that your group is actively searching for a keyboard player. That addition would definitely add a welcome extra dimension to your mood altering music. Have you had any luck in finding someone to fit that billet? G-Bakeneko is now our synth player.                                    
N- Mood altering? I rather like that. Also, billet?  Bakeneko has already risen above & beyond very high expectations and the texture ow finally audible within our completed music, I believe, will continue to amaze and astound, particularly those more familiar with our live performance in the past and less with our recorded music.                                                                                                                                                                     
P-Her performance was impeccable and we look forward to working with her in the future.    
                                                                                
Austin is known as a live music town, but not so much on the black metal scene. So I found it surprising that a good black metal such as HT would originate from the area. Locally are you in contact with many like minded individuals? 

G-I personally am in contact with very few people. Of the few with which I maintain a sparse amount of contact, I feel the greatest respect for and allegiance to Plutonian Shore, particularly Zvs. Note that Plutonian Shore are a San Antonio band.                                                                                                                                                      
N- Thank you and I would agree that for one who is not entirely educated on the origins of black metal bands in the United States, Austin seems like one of the last places worthwhile music of this style would be produced. However, as all stereotypes have usually groundbreaking exceptions, this is could not be farther from the truth. When speaking of quality Black Metal bands from the States, the first two examples that pop into my mind are Averse Sefira & Absu, both hailing from Texas. Averse will, in my opinion, always be considered Austin’s Black Metal band, and that is a title I think the denizens of this city should very much embrace and be proud of, for the music created by those three has breached & infiltrated, lovingly, the hearts and minds of metal fans across the world. The same goes with the aforementioned Mythological Occult Metal masters Absu, Plano should hand out keys to the city if you ask me. My point is, none of us even live in Austin proper, so you can never expect a certain area to be too devoid of something worthwhile. It’s out there, just waiting to be discovered…In terms of maintaining contact with like minded people, my job as unofficial manager of HT has afforded me many opportunities to meet many wonderful people, and our network of associates, friends and colleagues only continues to grow by the day, be it Austin or Houston or out of state individuals. Locally, I’ve had great experiences working with Tim Corken of The Blood Royale, DJ Laura of Equilibria Radio KVRX, Gravedigger & her underground radio crew, Dustin & Sara with the Metal Fuckin’ Mondays weekly over at Headhunters, Jeff Tandy- The Austin Metal Music Examiner-PARASITES DIE!!! and all of the good folks doing independent photography, graphic design work, or anything useful to local metal that goes unnoticed and unappreciated most of the time.             

P-While Humut Tabal is an Austin-area-based band, I am fortunate enough to reside in San Antonio, a city whose metal pedigree should not be questioned, although I have many allies and comrades in Austin as well. In particular, I would like to thank Jeff of Birth A.D. for providing constant guidance in various realms, as well as Zvs, Devastation, Waar, and Amethyst Moon of Plutonian Shore, who are some of my most valued comrades, and to Erika of Morgengrau and HOD, who along with the aforementioned Jeff would play a vital role in my current standing in metal. I am also eternally indebted to Averse Sefira, who have played a most significant role in the discovery of many philosophies; musically and ideologically. Hexlust from Killeen are great friends with great riffs, as is the case with VBT from San Antonio. (Off-topic: A few of them play in Grieved, an excellent black metal band that I would recommend.) I am lucky enough to attend many SA or Austin death metal shows where I have many allies, and the few occasions that I have ventured into Houston, Corpus Christi or Dallas have been filled with friends, such as Cryptos, Depravis, and Ulfr of Spectral Manifest, although this is hardly a comprehensive list. There are so many individuals that I have had the privilege of knowing, and each show seems to bring in more compatriots.  Ultimately, while it is impossible to name every contact, it has to be stated that I owe these great musicians an insurmountable debt. May our horns never lower.                                                                               

Do you have any intention of traveling outside the boundaries of Texas for a live setting? If so, what can the masses expect? P: I would absolutely say that we intend to play outside of Texas eventually, although it may not be for some time due to the logistics involved, as well as the massive amount of preparation necessary to allow for an apropos experience.  Off the top of my head, I would like to share the stage with Immolith, Barghest, and Cemetary Desekrator, and we would definitely play with Severed Faith and Shadow of Creation from Georgia again, although as previously stated, out-of-state touring and playing requires an immense amount of planning, so it may be some time before we "grace" other states with our presence.  If a promoter wants to get in contact with us about a possible deal, the official Humut Tabal email address is:  humut_tabal@yahoo.com
What can the masses expect?  The same thing that Humut Tabal always delivers in the live setting:  Epic, technical, thrashing black metal.  You will not find swoop-haired hipsters preaching from their "manifestos", but a celebration of all things unholy and visceral; black metal without irony.  These "post-metal" artsy types attempting to co-opt black metal for their own agendas can look elsewhere (ideally at the bottom of a cliff).     
G- If it becomes logistically possible, I would not hesitate to bring Humut Tabal's ritual blasphemy outside of Texas. The masses may expect raw, satanic, misanthropic scathing black metal and horrific displays of hatred  and anguish.                                                                                                                                              
N: Expansion in all avenues of existence has been a mantra since day one for this band. It is, in my mind, similar to Prokingu’s declaration- the conquest of other regions is absolute & lays only within the capable hands of time itself. We find ourselves, however, as those hands of time slowly release their sands, in a beneficial environment in regard to traveling for live performance. One particular benefit of claiming origin to a state as geographically boundless as the one we operate in is that any one band can satisfy, at the very least, a thriving thirst for sojourn to relatively foreign regions with relatively foreign practices, music scenes, etc. all without metaphorically  leaving the comfort of their own home. Things are done a slight bit differently in say El Paso then Dallas, Austin then Nacogdoches, so on, so forth, and these differences allow an up & coming group to attain that experience of traveling outside your city as a band and making new connections or fans to areas that have yet to experience your music. Yet as one large operating grid, word easily spreads & those endeavors are made even easier in a considerably short amount of time. The masses must be commanded to attention before they can expect anything at all, yet once that flame is lit within the public, what can be guaranteed will be wretchedness & wonder through music and art until our shells cease to function.     
                                                                                   
This may be a premature question, especially since the Plutonian Shore split is still relatively new, but do you have any plans for future releases? G- We do. Stay tuned. Humut Tabal is always in a state of flux musically. What you hear next may bear little to no resemblance to our previous material or your expectations. N: Literally, little to none. We are a shifting organism, something alive & engaging in constant flux, as Grimzaar stated. What can be relied upon, again & again, will be quality and sincerity within the seemingly boundless potential map of musical endeavors we plan to progress, manipulate and explore. Our morale has been in ascending for a very long time now & all of the haze regarding this matter will soon be cleared in the new year.                                                                                                                        
Your band is black metal through and through but does have ties to the death metal scene. What are your thoughts of the old way of thinking that those two music genres should remain separate? G- Such thought is ludicrous and is akin to an octogenarian's insisting that distortion ought not ever be applied to electric guitar. Back in the days of the First Wave, black metal and death metal were often indistinguishable. The two split and evolved separately. It stands to reason that, given their mutual origin, the two genres should meet again at times. What matters most is that people make good music, not that people remain conservative (in the traditional sense of the word, not in the political sense). If good music is created via conservatism, it is good music. Non-conservative music should also be recognized for its merits.                                                                 
N:  It is exactly as you said- an old way of thinking. I believe I speak for all of us when I say music transcends those lines drawn in the sand. Black Metal answers to no one, is not fettered or enslaved to any restrictions in itself, no matter the opinion of those who practice or support it. It is an indefinable pillar of self assertion, expression & fortitude, which easily rises above those who try to pin I down and contain it. Even if it did or was, I would work with my companions to tear down those forces which restrict the music in any sense. Some groups claim that their utmost desire in their work is to “push the envelope” or “break the barriers” of the style of music they play. I’m not sure if anyone in Humut Tabal even recognizes those boundaries to be crossed. There exists yet so utterly much mass, ground & surface to be chartered and travelled within the music that it would take, I believe, a passing of many ages before we ever achieved even a relatively comprehensive view of this entire practice. It is our path to wander those unknown places & bring to the public what we find, as it has always been. This experience is ever c hanging & I personally desire to engage in as many different forms of it as coherently & musically possible.                                                                                                                       

P:  An excellent question and the simplest answer from my ideology is that death and black metal are two sides of the same coin in my view.  There are many musicians that have proved that the realms of death and black metal can coexist; examples include Adorior, Hod, Morbodisad, Dissection, Abhorer, Blasphemy (hell, the entire "war metal" genre) and plenty of other excellent bands that draw from the well of both genres.  I owe a tremendous sonic debt to death metal and black metal, and the discography of Immolation and Asphyx nicely fits alongside bands like Antaeus and Watain in my collective.  The forces of death metal, black metal, doom metal, and thrash metal should always be hailed as pillars of extreme music, and I find that mixing genres leads to excellent results in many cases.  One could draw from black and thrash and wind up with Absu, or one could go the opposite route and mix death and doom and get Divine Eve or Winter.  Ultimately, it all boils down to what the artist feels is telling them to play.  If playing black metal in one band and death metal in another is one's musical calling (as is the case with Chris Gamble/Mezzadurus of Goreaphobia/Blood Storm), one must follow it to the best of their ability.  Metal is my driving force in life, so exploring all its realms is something that I see as essential.  For those looking into studying similar philosophies, I recommend starting with Sakis Tolis of Rotting Christ, an individual who serves as an inspiration to myself.  Bathory and Dissection are also mandatory listens, naturally, although if I were to list every band worthy of examination we would be here all day. 
                                                                                                                                                                           
You may take this spot to give any final words or possible contact details for those wanting to educate themselves about your band. 
P:  Thank you for your interview.  Eternal thanks to the Dread Lair and to our various comrades, named and unnamed.  To our supporters:  You will see us onstage soon enough.                                                                                                                                                                                                     
N: Vomits & hails. To those who wish to view our back catalogue of available releases, or those of any other bands associated with The Dread Lair, you may visit our online store at thedreadlair.vstore.ca. Enjoy the DVD, meticulous hours I know were spent on it. Cheers to Feral Noise production team!