Psychomancer – Passing Through the Hourglass
Friday, 27th December 2019
Fully entrenched into the old school death metal theme, Psychomancer utilizes a more ‘legitimate’ feel due to their engagement in the genre that actually dates back to the late ‘90s. There is some reverence held for the Swedish scene, but they aren’t totally reliant upon it either. Instead, their Chicago-based death metal takes those qualities and injects some good old US malevolence and carnage into it as well. Founding member and vocalist/bassist Duston Bullard responded to our inquiries for some more information about the band with some knowledge about the re-emergence of the band a few years back, their third and latest full-length, and what to expect in the upcoming decade.
Dead Rhetoric: What initially sparked the band coming back together in 2013?
Duston Bullard: Well as far as we go, for us here we don’t really have anything else to do with ourselves. You know? Why quit you only die once so do what you enjoy. We felt we have some good stuff to offer to the world and gotta act now because time fuckin’ flies [laughs].
Dead Rhetoric: With an EP and split in 2015, did you feel that was the best way to ease the band back into things?
Bullard: Yeah the EP for sure, the split we just did for fun. Now we decided take two of the songs (“Faded Scars Return To Bleed,” and “The Castigator”) from the split and re-recorded them and put them on the new album because we felt they would be good tracks for this album and plus I re-wrote half the lyrics to “Faded Scars” and those two turned out really good on the re-record, especially “Faded Scars.”
Dead Rhetoric: What’s been going on in the last four years for Psychomancer?
Bullard: Well after the 2015 EP release we got back to writing and playing some shows.
Dead Rhetoric: What does Shards of the Hourglass represent for the band here in 2019?
Bullard: Well just us keeping the gears moving.
Dead Rhetoric: How do you feel that the album takes Psychomancer forward, as a band, compared to your previous releases?
Bullard: Forward? I don’t know really, we just kinda take it day by day ya know right now we are pulling ideas together to write a new one and here and there we get asked to play some small shows that is about it.
Dead Rhetoric: What would you like to see the band accomplish, moving forward?
Bullard: Yeah but it almost seems impossible to move forward, tour, and make any money from it these days so we just do what we do as we do it.
Dead Rhetoric: What do you particularly like about that HM-2 guitar sound?
Bullard: It is a sound that I have always been addicted to. I am a huge fan of Swedish Death Metal it is the heaviest guitar sound on the planet and we kinda started using it on accident [laughs]. Our guitar player found one for cheap and he brought it over hooked it up and it just sounded so much heavier to our material so we said fuck it lets keep that sound.
Dead Rhetoric: What do you feel keeps the death metal community a vital one?
Bullard: Keeping the assholes away for starts [laughs]. Ya know good camaraderie.
Dead Rhetoric: Given the band’s existence at the turn of the century and now, how do you feel that things have changed for metal?
Bullard: Well I have seen a lot of change over the years, it is great to see a lot of the youth getting together writing and playing and listening to old school metal and rock and roll. It gives hope for the future. I mean at this point in the game how much more can it change? How many more sub genres can be made? I think it has all just about been done so let’s start over [laughs].
Dead Rhetoric: We are getting towards the end of 2019, what were a few released you enjoyed this year?
Bullard: Actually I am still waiting for releases. I thought they were going to come out this year. Lol Guess I have to wait til next year. That’s it I don’t have anything [laughs]. Mostly I have been listening to a lot of classic rock and Motorhead.
Dead Rhetoric: What lies ahead for Psychomancer as we head into 2020?
Bullard: Hoping to have another album written got some good ideas going on so we will see how it goes. Otherwise hitting some stages here there and just see which way the wind blows.
Shards of the Hourglass on Discogs
Psychomancer on Facebook
