Originally written by Sasha Horn.
“No slouches.” Straight from the keystrokes of fellow staffer, Erik Thomas, when he not so long ago took on the task of reviewing Massive Slavery’s latest offering, Global Enslavement. This, above all other things, is the truest. Having had the privilege to sit down with vocalist Jonathan St-Pierre (and once again proving that some of the boldest, most brutal music is created by some of the nicest people on the planet), it was obvious that this is the working man’s–and thinking man’s–DM outfit. It’s always gratifying to find the real, thought provoking individuals bleeding blue for the genre. Anyway, on with it. We cover much ground here; the aroma of cassette tapes, chains that hold shirts in place, and Skynet. So allow yourself to be held in captivity for just a few, reading the following because we told you to.
MR: Hello, Jonathan. Pleased to make your acquaintance. You now have the attention of the most impressive collection of headbangers on the entire planet. This might be a good opportunity to tell them a bit about the available drummer position… How is that going anyway? Any contenders?
JS: Hi Everyone! Thanks a lot for your interest in our band, we appreciate it!
We started to look for a new drummer about a month ago, but since we’re far away from the biggest cities of Canada like Montreal and Toronto, the number of quality drummers available in our area is very limited. Right now, we didn’t find anyone to fill the spot on a permanent basis, but Pierre-Alexandre (ex-drummer) is still available to help us if we have a “can’t refuse” offer on the table for some gigs and stuff, like the video shoot we did at the end of October. We also have the possibility to hire a session drummer to fill the spot for a couple of shows, until we find a new permanent drummer. We hope to take back the stage in spring of 2011 if everything goes like we want.
MR: What exactly are the drumming requirements for the perfect Massive Slavery drummer, aside from an explosive amount of stamina?
JS: Replacing Pierre-Alexandre will be something very tough to do, he’s a great guy and an awesome drummer, and we wish him the best for the future!
We’re looking for a drummer that can bring some new energy in the band. He also must be very motivated and implicated in the musical process of our next album. Someone dynamic and versatile, who will bring some new ideas on the table. He must also be a guy that can easily work and practice alone on a daily basis, to always be ready for hitting the stage. Finally, for geographic reasons, that person must live in Canada, not too far away from our hometown of Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec.
MR: That shouldn’t be too hard, as Canada seems to birth blast-beaters, picking-fingers, gravel-growlers, etc. at an alarming rate. Which leads to the fact that you simply cannot deny the Canadian influence in Massive Slavery’s approach to death metal. In other words: you’re a polished warship of a machine. I’m curious how being labeled ‘Canadian sounding’ sits with actual Canadians. There was a time in metal where being pegged a certain sound based on your geography was a matter of pride. Nowadays it seems as though it’s the opposite. Many death metal bands don’t really want to be labeled ‘Death Metal’ anymore, much less stand patriotic. Black metal on the cutting edge would rather be labeled ‘indie-rock’, ‘shoegaze’, etc., transcending boundaries, up up and away into the atmosphere, indie-rock bands want to be perceived as Blizzard Beasts. Don’t get me wrong… many obviously still fly the flag hard for their graveyard, but things have become separated, saturated. It’s getting to a point of being backwards, and frankly a bit awkward. Which side of the line is Massive Slavery on? And as far as the Death Metal aura that surrounds Quebec… What’s that looking like these days?
JS: You know, it’s funny to check out what’s on people’s minds when they talk about a band. Since the start of Massive Slavery, we have been tagged to a lot of different types of metal. Some critics/fans qualified us a metalcore/deathcore band, others like a “Swedish” melodic death metal influenced band. Some others classified us in a more brutal/technical kind of group. There can be as many types of tags as there are people listening. Everyone listens to music with a different point of view, and some points can be more or less important from one person to another. Personally, I don’t really know how you can tag Massive Slavery. It will always depend of the “main wave” that is “hot” at a certain moment.
But when you qualify a band with a tag that refers to their country, I think that being tagged as a Canadian Metal Band is certainly a good thing at the end. But to be honest, most of the bands from the Canadian metal scene have their roots in the Province of Quebec, the French speaking part of Canada. There are so many awesome bands from here who have traced the way for the new breed of bands that try to make their name out there. When you first think at Canadian (or Quebec) death metal, you can’t ignore bands like Kataklysm, Cryptopsy, Gorguts and Obliveon. They have opened the way to a new generation of metal bands like Despised Icon, Neuraxis, Beneath The Massacre, Augury, Unexpect, Quo Vadis, Ion Dissonance, etc. So It can’t be a bad thing to be put in the same list as these awesome bands.
As for the metal scene right now in the province of Quebec, I think we can say that we’re in the middle of some kind of Golden Age. There are so many young bands that are trying, like us, to make their name out there and try to get known worldwide. I can guarantee you that you will hear about a lot of new up and coming bands from the Quebec province area, like Archons, Cryptik Howling, Decrepity, Insurrection, Derelict and so many more.
MR: Jonathan, are you old enough to remember that ‘new cassette tape’ smell? There’s nothing like it in the world, man. I think that I just caught a whiff of it when you name-dropped those five bands that I’m not at all familiar with. I used to look forward to the ‘Thank You’ lists on the back panel of those cassette booklets probably just as much as the actual music stuck to the moving parts of the cassette mechanism. By the time compact discs caught on, that method of new knowledge was getting re-routed…. and CD’s never really smelled as good. But yes, I understand, as does everyone here, the plague of genre tags. Fortunately for a band like MS, those specific labels and qualities like Metalcore, Deathcore, brutal, technical, Swedish DM, etc. hold true, because the four of you have managed to take the classifications and run with them. Global Enslavement has the fury, precision, and what I think is a necessary component… the melody, to stand as a force to be reckoned with. That’s key for me, personally… Too many bands enter a studio to vomit, and then present that vomit to the public in clean cut little pieces. Not at all to belittle the killing side of MS, but this new, debut album has grown on me with every listen simply because Joel knew how to take a turn with his riffing and Pierre knew exactly how to pave the way for those roads (specifically, nuances like the four-minute and five-second mark in “MediAssassiNation”. MR community take note). And, of course, you know how to breathe hellfire.
Can you give us a glimpse into what some of the more unexpected influences might be on you and your bandmates in your performance and writing? I always ask this question, because it usually results in more than meets the ear… I’ve had plenty of scarily filthy, intimidating headbangers tell me that one of their main influences is Bjork. Maybe someone in your crew can top that.
JS: Man… I just got the feedback of when I got my first tape back in the days, when I was 8 or 9 years old. You make me realize that things evolve so quickly that it’s sick. Back in 1991 I was opening my first cassette tape (Metallica – Black Album) and now only 20 years after that, I can download a full album on Itunes for ninety-nine cents per song. This is so unreal how things can change and evolve, and music doesn’t have any choice but to try to follow this technology speed-race to stay healthy.
I think that’s also why there are so many different kinds of metal on the market right now. Bands must now try to reinvent themselves and their style album after album if they want to stay actual. And that’s also a big reason why we wanted to create an album that combines some different kinds of metal related styles. Everyone in the band came in with a different background in musical tastes and influences, so it reflected a lot in the composition and also in the final result.
I don’t really know what kind of unexpected influences my bandmates have, they’re all into different kinds of musical tastes, some more metal related, and others with a more wide range of musical likes. But personally, I grab a big part of my influences inside, but also outside of the death metal world.
There have been a lot of guys that have had a major influence on me and my standing as a frontman since I was a teen. If I think about it quickly, I will say that the first influences that pushed me into this seat when I was 14-15 years old was Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo, but also by rap/metal singer Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit) and Zack de la Rocha (Rage Against the Machine). They have sold me the concept of being a frontman of a band, and since that time I always wanted to push forward in this direction.
Now more than 10 years later, I can think about more actual Metal frontmen like Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed), Phil Labonte (All That Remains), Nergal (Behemoth), Maurizio Iacono (Kataklysm), Randall Blythe (Lamb of God), and so many others.
But the main and the most important of my influences is by the most awesome singer of all time, Johnny Cash. Sure for his music and his awesome writing, but also for the length and the constant evolution in his style. He’s also got the darkest and deepest voice I’ve ever heard. His career almost had fifty years and he has never been irrelevant. And if you add all the stories and the myths about his life and career, you’ve got a complete character that lives larger than his music.
MR: Well than that’s the ticket! I’ve found in my experiences as a musician that it helps tremendously to find the players who don’t have too much in common. You might find yourself running in place for far too long = stagnant. Let’s hope that you guys can find another drummer with equal skills AND some fresh input. In my humble opinion, your future sophomore effort could put Massive Slavery on some kid’s list of influences during some interview that I might have in a couple of years. And that’s not to say that there’s not a pack of wild, unkempt, teenaged DMers running around at this very moment bleeding their lungs out, screaming along to your audio. Which is a nice segue into my next question….
Let’s say that one of these, hopefully millions of people reading this interview right now, are tempted to take a little taste of the Slavery. They are suddenly overcome by that feeling to buy a couple of songs, or god forbid, steal a couple of songs. How could you defend Global Enslavement as a whole, booklet artwork and all? Is there a common theme tying these ten songs together, lyrically and/or in composition? Keep in mind that you really have to defend your art here. Especially after naming Fred Durst as an influence…. Just kidding 😛 I get where you’re coming from, though. It’s too bad that there’s a whole demographic of Metalheads that might close their browsers after reading “Durst” or “de la Rocha”. Those two really know how to work a crowd, and I think that their shock value in the way that they amped up an arena’s worth of people could stand to be repeated in your genre.
Oh, and I can’t let you get away without me commenting on the Johnny Cash thing… I knew it!!! Behind every great frontman stands a greater, weirder one. Jonathan, do you relate to Cash’s dark past in some way? You could totally take this opportunity here and now to absolve yourself of any sins that are weighing heavy on your conscience… Do tell. We promise to keep it a secret…
JS: Hahahahaha! I’m curious to know what kind of “dirty secrets” people that will close their browser can have related to music and more uncommon influences. It’s easy to judge, but sometimes it’s harder to look at yourself in a mirror first! And for Johnny Cash, It’s weird because I really don’t know why “The Man In Black” and his career has such an influence on me. This is one of those unknown things that you can’t explain, you must live it to truly understand why such a weirder influence can get through you. Yes I have some dark days in my life, like probably everyone in the world, and yes, I listened to a lot of his music at a down time in my life. It’s some very calm and humble music that helps me to pass through rough times, but I can’t say that I see myself in this artist, except maybe the “Jony Kash” nickname I get for playing too much poker! But that’s another story….
It’s interesting to talk about the “business” behind the music, because that’s something that I put a lot of reflection on in the last year, while I was promoting hard our album and the band by the same way. With the “overexposure” that can be made with online promotion, you can reach so many new fans day after day. But there is also a down side on this, the more you get known, the more “haters” start to rise. At the very beginning, I was very upset by the negative comments or the Internet bashing that was written online on different music sites or forums. It was hard to see that you put so much time, energy and money on a product that you feel proud of, and see that some people totally treat us like garbage or a fake or crappy band. And at the same time I was completely forgetting why we were making all of this, for pure pleasure and for the love of music.
But now, with more experience behind me, I understand that you can’t please everyone, or every kind of metalhead. With the rise of a massive amount of new bands coming from the four corners of the globe, fans are getting more and more difficult to musically be satisfied when they listen to a new band. I can spend days to try my best to promote our music, but I can’t convince everyone to actually like our stuff, for a million reasons. And that’s okay like this, that the beauty of music, you can find what you like and if you don’t, there’s a shitload of other bands that can reach your musical tastes.
So that’s why it’s hard to judge people who are stealing your music. Sure, they make you lose some revenue, but damn, they still like what you do and they still have an appreciation of your work. They will listen to it, share it with their friends, and help us to reach new fans, and maybe in that process some of them will actually pay for our music. That’s a very complex feeling to deal with this. But at the bottom line, the more exposure we get the more chance we have to have our album buy by fans instead of being illegally downloaded.
To introduce the album to some viewers that have no idea of what it’s all about, I will say that Global Enslavement is what we can call a “semi concept album.” Semi, simply because that’s not something we wanted to do at the very beginning, but when we started to mix things up, we came to the fact that there is a main guideline on this album that can’t be denied. Each song is a little different that the other. We tried to mix together different stuff to create a more dynamic and unexpected album. The lyrics are very close to the music, they complete each other, to create a more “in your face” type of musical message. When you look at yourself as an individual lost in the middle of billions of others, you’re nothing more than a slave of societies. The album cover reveals a lot of what I try to explain. I think it’s the best way to describe Global Enslavement. We’re all lost in some kind of ruins caused by mankind’s failure. You can try to deny it with artificial saviors, but it will only give you the illusion that you’re truly alive. It’s brutal to be so defeatist about the human society in 2010, but it’s the way life is.
MR: “Fake or crappy band” just all out puzzles me. Even if people aren’t necessarily fans, or even if they are just all out ‘haters,’ these are two adjectives that are the farthest from describing your clique. And to be treated like garbage… That’s just amazingly bad behavior, and I question whether or not these player-haters are of sound mind, and don’t often need a diaper change. What I hear when I listen to the album is at least a ‘purity.’ There’s no question in my mind that what you four are doing is taken directly from your veins and spilled out onto microphones. And that’s the farthest from ‘garbage’, in my humble opinion.
And good answer. Spreading the word is all we have these days. Be it stolen or legitimately purchased. It’s a war out there, man, to be fought by any means necessary. Now as far as Massive Slavery ideology, I believe that there’s quite the frontline out there to uphold the belief that we, as a human race, have backed ourselves into a corner. That these ‘saviors’ are indeed artificial; crutches to fall back on in the interest of keeping mobile, walking their way out of that corner… I used to think that this was hilarious to the point of sickening, and therefore looked down on all religious factions for the sort of weakness that it’s followers blatantly admitted to by even standing in that chow-line, waiting to be fed that shit… Now, the whacked way that this globe has twisted itself, I almost believe that this is a side that is essential; a balance.
Since we’re on the topic of ‘all that is wrong’, I will perhaps overstep my boundaries here by quoting a lyric of yours from the song “Humanity’s Last Hope”… “Even in my darkest night / I never thought / We would be the last ones / Standing before / The brutal end of our time”. Now unless you wish to convey that Massive Slavery is in fact humanity’s last hope, I see only a dismal, deadly image of mankind’s fate being painted here and throughout Global Enslavement‘s entire lyrical layout. But what exactly is humanity’s last hope? 99% of Metal bands that thrive on decrepit imagery and raise the flag for a fucked world do not offer a solution in any of their lyrics beyond just killing ourselves right now and getting it over with, or the ever-so-popular ‘drink-and-mosh-until-it-all-goes-away’… So, I’m wondering if beyond MS’s prophecy of it all going down in flames, if perhaps you might have in mind what you think is a solution to the problem of, well, global enslavement, and our planet’s so-called imminent destruction. I might be missing something here. Is there an answer buried inside any of your lyrics in any of these nine songs? That would give you an edge, for sure. And I promise that we won’t call Massive Slavery a Life Metal band. So please… Preach.
JS: You’re totally right, with our album we wanted to put in front “all that is wrong” in our world today. We wanted to put some exposure on different problems that we think deserve to have some attention by the population. We can’t change everything quickly, we have to change mentality first, and that’s a really tough thing to do because people are in general very smart, but also very lazy and individuals in their own environment. Family, work, friends, and spending free time to buy artificial happiness. That’s not a bad thing, not at all, but with “Global Enslavement” we hope that people will at least take some time to check out a little more about the worldwide situation, especially on corrupted politics, economical slavery, human rights, environment, equality (1% of the population own the 99% other) and all type of social disease that we’re living through right now. Once people are more concertized about some of the problems of our world, the time will be up to try to find out a new way to rule out modern society.
That’s why we support things like the Zeitgeist movement, and every organization that tries to make things change. Even if we’re not always down with all of their ideas, they have the credit to try to find a new way to rule this planet and to put some solutions on the table, instead of just watching the time pass by and play the puppet in a world ruled by a corporate petro, wireless, whole selling, fast food and a weapons industry that dictates the way things are supposed to be.
It’s time to stop playing the ostrich and stop putting our head in the sand every time we won’t accept the truth or simply refuse what’s really happening to human existence. Even if the main goal with the lyrical aspects of the album was to create some sort of a wakeup call to everyone listening to it, there’s no concrete solutions that we have in the texts of Global Enslavement. That was not our objective for a first album. We wanted to make the listener take some time and put on a reflection of his or her own about his vision of what’s going on outside. We aren’t some kind of new age messiah bringing the truth to everyone; we’re only human beings trying to make things change for the blessing of our kids and to the future of humanity.
We strongly think that we can’t always dodge our problems and let things go without doing anything. We’re not condemned to the end of time, but we have to start to wakeup now if we want to change things, because when our lifestyle is gonna hit the concrete wall of 10 000 years of unconscious consequences, it will be too late to change and to make something.
So in fact, when we said “Humanity’s last hope…” it’s simply to explain and tell to everyone who want to take some time and listen that the quickest solution to put in front on the eminent failure of modern days is to stop dumping the problems in the hands of the future generations and to take action now. The present time is our last hope to save humanity. OUR LAST HOPE IS NOW, NOT LATER. We must take action right now to hope a better future for everyone. I don’t want to explain to my future kids that our ancestors have destroyed the good will of mankind and then tell them that no one has tried anything to make things change.
MR: Yes, there very much is a NOW situation on our hands. How many people that listen to this album do you think will take action with that sense of urgency that you put forth? That will say, ‘These guys are right. Let’s do something fucking NOW!’… I know that there really isn’t an answer to this question, so I’m not really asking you, so much as I’m making a point that the adrenaline of the music seems to, more times than not, overpower the message buried beneath the punctual blasts, the fire of the fretboard, and the stand-and-command vocal approach. But I think that it can be said that you guys obviously feel very strongly about something important, and it’s honestly a breath of fresh air. Are you guys putting your beliefs of The Zeitgeist Movement into action, aside from raising awareness through airtight tech-DM? I’ve read a little bit about this new look at an old world order… The first thing that I think of is all three Terminator movies; Skynet, me buying guns, and tripling the amount of push-ups that I do… I know that there’s more to it than handing over control to the machines, but that is one aspect of it, right?
JS: There’s a lot of aspects that we can consider being a part of that “world order.” We can’t reinvent who we are as evolved humans, we must deal with 10, 000 years of war, violence, domination, destruction, and all the rest. We’re living in a world that is directly a consequence of the actions of our ancestors, we have to deal with it, but it’s not a reason to stay there and let things goes this way. There’s a system in place, we didn’t choose it, but we must live in it and try to adjust it for the best of mankind.
Your Terminator movie example is a little big, but at the same time, yes, we can say that there’s some kind of a link between what is in the movie and the reality we’re living right now. Technology, always more technology, but will technology one day be the dawn of societies? We’re becoming very lazy and we’re now very dependent to those new objects that dictate the way we’re living. Only 30-40 years ago, there was no internet or computers around, not even a video game, or even less a cell phone. So can you imagine that now most people can’t live without it? We have been overexposed to technology, from the Ipod to the G4 cell phone, satellite radio or television, automatics engines and stuff like that. It’s the new way of being enslaved. They have created a need in the population, and now they exploit it to the limit.
Just imagine for one second that for an unknown reason (let’s figure a global war for oil control on the planet, to be a little more dramatic), they shut down the internet and all cell phone lines. Can you imagine the chaos worldwide? Those can be the new weapons of mass destruction that can be used in the next wars, because everything is now directly related to those communications objects, and a lot of people can became completely lost without them. This new factor will now became more and more important for our rulers, because if you control the communication system, with censorship, or media disinformation, they can also control all the propaganda and shut down the spirit of free mind of their populations. Just take the example of China, the internet is ruled by the government, and a lot of stuff is censored to be sure that their population can’t have access to those “dangerous informations”. Imagine if the entire internet worldwide was ruled like this, all the propaganda and all the disinformation that can be sent to the population…
MR: Heavy, heavy Massive Slavery ideology there… I think it’s time for a breather.
I just watched your newest video for “Humanity’s Last Hope,” and I have in my notes that this tune has actually been chosen for its double-bass precision to appear on an upcoming Rock Band video game… That’s kind of a big deal. Congrats! Perhaps you can have governments the world over install tracking devices in the code for the game itself, making it self-aware, in order to find a drumming replacement for Pierre. There’s been some time passed since I first hit on your drummer dilemma. How’s the search gone thus far? Any takers?
And I just gotta ask… Does Joel always walk around wearing real chains around his muscle tees? Like, even when he’s out grocery shopping? That’s pretty tough….
JS: Hey Sasha, I hope that my political views haven’t brainwashed too much! My goal was not to preach the way to go, but only to explain a little more what the concept between Massive Slavery is all about.
We’re really happy about this whole Rock Band thing and the music video. We just finished the year really strong with this big promotion blast. Everything went so fast in the last year (2010). It is incredible to see how things have evolved so quickly since the recording of the album back in January. We’re now a year later with a record deal with MMR, international and online distribution, getting reviewed and interviewed by a lot of Metal webzines from around the world in 20 languages, an awesome music video, and now one of our songs is available for the Rock Band game through the Rock Band Network. (Available on Xbox360 for now and on PS3 during the winter of 2011). I think that the timing was right for us in 2010. And working with producer Yannick St-Amand (Despised Icon, Beneath The Massacre, Neuraxis, Augury) was also a big push for us, and it helped Massive Slavery to get a place in the underground metal industry. That’s also a key factor in the fact that RockGamer Studios wanted us to have a song on Rock Band, Yannick did an amazing job with Despised Icon in the game and when they saw his name as our producer, they we’re totally down with us right away.
It is a really strong start for a new band and we’re the first to admit it, but since Pierre-Alexandre has left, the momentum has slowed down a little bit. We have some contenders, a couple of guys are interested to fill the spot. We will try and work actively on that point ASAP, and if we can’t fill it with a local drummer, we will check to hire a session drummer from somewhere in the world (hahaha) and hope to get back on stage in spring of 2011.
And for Joel and his killer chain look, it’s more a stage costume than a real life outfit, trying to represent a slave trying to escape from his faith… But you must admit that this is really scary man! hahahaha!
MR: Definitely. If I was faith, I would surely let him go.
Jon, I want to thank you very, very much for taking the time to sit down with all of us, especially since you and the other Slavery boys have a plateful at the moment. You spilled your brains out on MetalReview for the interim, and that’s awesome, man.
Do us a favor and don’t be a stranger. Stop by, say hello, and keep us posted on your events and whereabouts. All the best to you and yours, and may 2011 see the planet plagued with Massive Slavery!
JS: I want to thank you and all the people at MetalReview for your support, we appreciate it a lot! I also want to wish a kick ass new year to all your readers! Cheers from northern Quebec, Canada!
