Deep Underground UK - Carnivorous Forest

This compilation is for UK Underground bands and I have to make a small confession here, well you do actually. You’re an imposter and you’re really Canadian. But you’re fully involved in the UK scene. How much does it differ to the Canadian scene?

The Canadian scene is complex. Canada is a gigantic sprawling mass; it's fucking huge. It's so massive that it has several different scenes that don't really see eye to eye with each other. I'm from the East Coast, so there is a huge raw black metal scene. Which is awesome and regretfully shit at the same time.

You have a group of people fiercely dedicated to sleazy and rotten crusty black metal, but that dedicated group is very insular. They are so anti-melody that a few /stellar/ melodic black metal bands have shuttered themselves because no one will bill them, no one will watch them when they do get to play live; it's rotten.

The UK scene is great because regardless of whether it's raw black metal, melodic black metal, acoustic black metal... People listen. And people are interested. As an outsider looking in, this place is awesome. I am really glad to be part of it.

You did the debut gig for Carnivorous Forest the other week at The Blackwood Gathering. How did it go for you?

The debut gig was a blast. I wasn't sure what to expect and I don't think the show goers knew either. It was a very humble performance, but it was great to get those songs out there. I'm hoping to sort out two versions of the band: One for acoustic shows and one for full on metal shows. Just gotta find the right people.

I’m a big fan of your Neo Folk work. Is that a direction you’re going to stick with, or will you mix it up with your more aggressive work?

The neofolk work is something I am in love doing but it's also somewhat a necessity at the moment. I've been shuffling around to a lot of different couches and floors for the last few months due to personal circumstances. That being said, I absolutely love playing neofolk and jamming in as many black metal influences I can without it getting /too/ metal. I'm going to return to the aggravated cacophony I started the band to play, but I will always have neofolk only releases and performances.

Genital Mutilation in the Name of God is an edgy release, with a few delicate subjects being tackled, namely genital mutilation and sexual violence. What inspired you to tackle these subjects?

Genital Mutilation focuses on the first two tracks of the album; it's a concept I thought up ages ago. Long before I had any actual “band” per se, I would spend my days dreaming about concepts for songs and albums. One idea that always stuck with me were two songs: Carving the Cunt and Cocksucker. Two songs revolving around the darkest side of humanity: The brutalizing of children's innocence by their religion blinded parents.

For me, an album isn't complete without a concept. Whether it's a blatant and theatrical storyline like King Diamond's albums or a more abstract idea, I like there to be a thread running through the lyrics. Genital Mutilation is a dark topic, but it's the darkness of man that drives me to write.

Cocksucker has a ridiculously catchy chorus. Did you not think us poor souls that would sing along when you created this song?

Haha, yeah. I'm particularly proud of Cocksucker. It's a stylistic idea I picked up from Sol Invictus and was further influenced by The Meads of Asphodel. Write the catchiest hooks you can but make sure the lyrics are fucking rotten to the core. I love the dichotomy of beauty and brutality of a song like Jewkiller: Catchy as hell, but you'd never be able to sing it while doing your shopping.

You’re also involved in a number of bands, as well as your podcast. How do you find the time for all of your projects?

Time is something I wish I could buy more of...

https://www.facebook.com/CarnivorousForest

Deep Underground United Kingdom is available for just £2 from Bandcamp
https://sixsixsixmusic.bandcamp.com/album/deep-underground-united-kingdom