Godless – Spreading Decadent Death
Saturday, 30th July 2016
Another strong act rising up from the Indian underground, Godless have already covered some ground on their first offering, an EP entitled Centuries of Decadence. Said EP was mixed/mastered by Joe Haley of Psycroptic (he also contributed a guitar solo). Succeeding with a more groove-based death metal sound that feels modern yet timeless, they also cover a wide range of topics that look at the world around us and pay homage to science fiction/fantasy realms. We fired off some questions to bassist Abbas Razvi to see his take on how the band has gotten to the present day, influences, other “Godless” bands, and the growing Indian metal scene.
Dead Rhetoric: With the range of death metal around nowadays, where do you feel that Godless falls into the spectrum?
Abbas Razvi: The sound of Godless can be described as relentless, in-your-face, raw and aggressive thrash-laced death metal with both new and old school influences.
Dead Rhetoric: What bands have made an impact upon the sound of Godless?
Razvi: Decapitated, Bolt Thrower, Slayer, Ulcerate, Psycroptic, Suffocation, Terrorizer, Soreption, Aborted,
Dead Rhetoric: How did you hook up with Transcending Obscurity?
Razvi: We’ve known Kunal for quite a while now and he’s known to keep his eye on the scene and contact bands he likes. He got in touch with us last year when we released our first single and everything else basically fell into place once we had our album master ready to release.
Dead Rhetoric: Taking a quick peek at Metal Archives, there are a number of bands called Godless. Have you had to come up with any creative ways to identify yourselves in that regard?
Razvi: We never really did try and look around to see if there are any other bands called Godless. We had our vision and direction and “Godless” seemed like the perfect name to represent us. All of the visual aspects of the band like our photographs, posters, flyers, CDs and T-shirts are strictly and completely black and grey to complement the dark and eerie aesthetic of the band. And when we play live, we only use minimal red lighting on stage. We’re definitely not going to say shit like, “We’re different ‘cause we’re from India.” Fuck that. Also, on a lighter note, our logo is readable.
Dead Rhetoric: Joe Haley of Psycroptic did the mix/mastering as well as a guitar solo. How’d you end up working with him on this release?
Razvi: We were looking at developing a very particular sound for ourselves and wanted an engineer to bring that out. We aren’t fans of overly polished production. Works for a lot of bands but it isn’t something we wanted for ourselves. Joe seemed like the perfect person to approach for this. He had some time on his hands before heading out on tour and things just worked out perfectly. We’re really happy with the work he’s done.
Dead Rhetoric: “Replicant” is based off of Blade Runner and “Oneiros” is based off of a Neil Gaiman novel. How much influence does sci-fi/fantasy play into the band?
Razvi: Our vocalist is big on sci-fi and graphic novels. It does play a huge role theme-wise, lyrically and visually as well. There is no art without inspiration and we simply write about what we like. Pretty much anything that is dark, strange and intriguing interests us. Perhaps the next release will have some Stephen King and Ray Bradbury in it.
Dead Rhetoric: Where do your other writing inspirations come from?
Razvi: Nihilistic worldviews, anti-religion, modern society, the nature of humanity, etc. And beer. A lot of beer.
Dead Rhetoric: What can you say about the cover art of Centuries of Decadence?
Razvi: The cover art for Centuries of Decadence is based on the second track of the EP, “Ossuary.” Our vocalist is the man behind it. “Ossuary” speaks of a wretched creature that dwells deep in the catacombs in a state of suspended animation, about to wreak havoc onto the unsuspecting masses. It feeds off the evil nature of humanity—the more evil we become, the stronger it gets. It also knows everything about us, a mega-hacker of sorts, which explains the sheer amount of wires coiling around it.
Dead Rhetoric: With an EP under your belts, do you think you’ll go for another EP next time or shoot straight for the full-length?
Razvi: As of now we haven’t really planned anything. The idea of releasing more EPs looks more appealing as of now. Once we sit down and start writing is when we’ll figure out which direction we would like to head in.
Dead Rhetoric: Do you feel the Indian metal scene has been generating more momentum over the last few years?
Razvi: It definitely has. Compared to a few years ago even, there are a lot more bands releasing music and the quality of work has improved a lot. Bands are serious and putting in a lot of effort into their recording, live set and sound. This pushes the standard of the bands and ensures there’s a healthy competition and motivation for the bands to be better.
Dead Rhetoric: What’s next now that Centuries of Decadence is out?
Razvi: We’re looking to play shows in a few cities, promote Centuries of Decadence and spread our music. After we’ve played a good amount of shows, we’re going to get down to writing again during the later part of the year. That’s the plan.
