My band Aeons Abyss has been part of a recent series on the Podcast, Straight to the Core, by our friend in the US, Matt Massacre, called “Death Metal Diaries – A 90s Death Metal Retrospective“. It’s a 4-part series where Paul O’Brien (our vocalist and the “Death Metal Poet“) and myself (along with Matt Massacre in parts 3&4) muse on some classics Death Metal releases from the early 90s.
Matt Massacre, who (like the Noob Heavy platform) is a champion of supporting the underground Metal scene, insisted that the 2nd half of each show would feature a handful of underground Death Metal bands. In the 1st part of the series, one of those underground bands featured was Dutch Death Metal band, Dauthuz.
From their presskit: DAUTHUZ strives for an authentic death-metal experience that aims to incite horns-up in even the most battleworn. A remorseless fist to the face of the unwary listener, DAUTHUZ-live taps into the fucked-up central
nervous system of every metalhead and represents Death-Metal to its decaying kind as it should be; raw, brutal
and uncompromising.
I reached out to the band on Instagram and got chatting with their singer, Emiel, who had some ties to Australia. After arranging to trade CDs, we setup the following interview.
The name “Dauthuz” sounds very Death Metal indeed. How did you come up with the name, who’s in your band, and when did you first start?
Dauthuz is old Germanic for “Death, or Dying” and we picked it because it symbolizes our oldschool approach to Death Metal. The logo is inspired by the Old-English font and tweaked a bit, and with the scythe added it kind-of resembles the logo from Death as well. Dennis, our guitarist, who also writes the music for the band, is a huge fan of Chuck’s songwriting, so it all comes together nicely. Hans (guitar) and Bas (drums) also play in a black-metal band together called Yaotzin. Tim our bassplayer has been in the band since inception six years ago. Both Bas and myself have joined the band only a year ago and were lucky to land right in the recording process of ‘COLD’.
Your new album “Cold” is now out. What are 3 things we need to know about this release, and tell us about the name of the album?
First-off, the album is recorded and produced by our guitarist Dennis, who has a lot of recording experience and is a self-confessed gearhead. Secondly, the mixing and mastering of the album was done by Kristian Kohle from Kohlekeller Studios in Germany, known for mixing Aborted and Benighted among other big names. His experience brought out just the right sound for ‘COLD’. The name was chosen because again, it is a great representation of Death Metal as a whole. Cold dead flesh. Cold heart of a killer. Cold calculations of the warmachine. Cold feels the barrel of the gun in the mouth of the victim. It is a versatile word yet memorable at the same time. It’s funny too because the cover has a real black-metal feel about it and doesn’t instantly remind one of a stereotypical death-metal album. Another nice contradiction is that even though the sound is indeed quite cold, the songs themselves often have quite a bit of emotion in it, which of course is quite the opposite of being cold. There is anger, fear, hatred, sadness, regret, not quite the character traits of a cold-hearted psychopath!
What is your favourite track and why?
My favorite track is the title-track ‘COLD’. It is just a banger of a track and I still can’t keep my head still when I listen to it. It has the blunt-force trauma of a club to the head yet every time we play the song it has a certain emotional feel to it as well, almost theatrical. It makes me feel like I’m really telling a story of a horrific survival situation gone wrong. The ambient sounds after the mid-part of the track make me imagine the northern lights and ‘the cold’ really shines through on this track.
Who did your album artwork and what is the story behind the image?
The cover was painted by Italian artist Roberto Toderico, known for the cover artwork of bands like Asphyx, Sinister and Pestilence among others. ‘COLD’ as an elemental force takes the front seat, followed by the floating dead bodies and the suffering on the faces of the characters in the foreground. It allows the viewer to form his or her own idea on what the fuck has happened here in this remote nightmare. It also has a real 90’s vibe to it, no digital interference and a bit impressionistic. Just as with our music it is all about the feeling it gives you first, the details come after.
What other bands would potential listeners of your album enjoy?
Entrails, Lik, and I recently discovered a sick US death-metal band called Gravecarver, which your readers should definitely check out.
Tell us an unusual fact, or one funny story about your band
I’m only with the band for about a year now so I don’t have many anecdotes to share, and due to lockdowns in Europe we have not played a single gig this year. It did allow us to fully focus on the recording process through which was a great experience. We’re not allowed to rehearse together or perform live and since this is our creative and aggressive outlet it’s a real miss. The upside is that we will be like a pack of rabid dogs once we hit the stage again, and we expect the audience to be the same, so it’s gonna be a sick that’s for sure! Ask me this question again in a year!
You mentioned to me that you were in Australia for a number of years before returning to the Netherlands. What can you tell us about your time in Australia, and what is the Metal scene like in The Netherlands?
Yeah I lived in Queensland for ten years and spent a good few years traveling all-over the country. While I was in Australia I didn’t really immerse myself in the metal scene much, because I was all about exploring the natural places and I only had money for one hobby. I bought a 60 series LandCruiser and decked it out and just went roaming in my free time. I often get told I’ve seen more of Australia than most Aussies. One band I did try to go and see as often as I could is Miazma from Alice Springs. Funnily enough, in Australia the metalscene revolves around the five major cities, but the Dutch metal scene is most prolific in the lesser populated areas of the country. In comparison, our metal scene would be bigger in Broken Hill and Coober Pedy than in Sydney, and the best gigs will be there instead of in the capital. I really like the Dutch scene, it’s a very tight-knit community and as The Netherlands is basically the Hobbiton of the world, we’re all just really nice, rosy-cheeked people who just love to drink, eat herring and talk shit.
What have you got coming up in the next 6 months
Well since our album was released only a month ago, we’re still busy promoting it and trying to get it reviewed so we can spread the gospel of ‘COLD’ across the globe, but really until this pandemic’s fucked off for good there’s no chance of touring. We do aim to release a mini-album towards the end of the year though, so no lack of being productive while other venues remain closed.
What is ‘broodje haring’ and do you enjoy this dish? Is it true that everyone rides their bike in the Netherlands, and can you make a pedal bike look heavy metal?
Broodje haring is a soft white bun with a whole (almost) raw brined herring inside it, optionally accompanied by diced raw onion. I’m a huge fan of our herring. It’s our major source of Vitamin D during the winter months and also packed with omega 3 fatty acids to keep the brain switched on. To me however, slapping the raw fish on a white floury bun is blasphemy. A raw herring is way better when paired with raw onion, pickles and a shot of a Dutch variety of gin known as ‘Korenwijn’. Just don’t try to kiss your girlfriend for the rest of the day unless you don’t mind being single again. It is true everyone rides a bike in the Netherlands, even though the weather could not possibly be worse for it. It is also true that wherever you go it’s headwind and raining, and as soon as you arrive the wind either dies down or changes direction to find the next optimist on two wheels and the rain will move miraculously to another localized area. A pedal bike heavy metal? Nah, it’s the person that rides it that makes it heavy metal!
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