The Trials of Tribulation

Swedish death metallers Tribulation lunge at you in corpse paint brandishing homicidal riffs and thrilling verve. As opener on Friday’s Mohawk sundering, they’ll get no more than 20-25 minutes – about their allotment opening for Watain and In Solitude at Red 7 on Halloween Eve in 2013. We emailed five questions to them, and guitarist Adam Zaars replied.

Austin Chronicle: Tribulation played Austin in 2013 with Watain and In Solitude. There was a light drizzle through your set, and a driving thunderstorm during Watain’s. Do you remember that show? Was it your first time here?

Adam Zaars: I do remember the show, because it was the hottest one on the entire tour, and the only one outside. I loved it. I always do when it’s that hot. It gives you an extra boost! It was pouring down and it actually destroyed some of our equipment. We had to buy new flight cases the day after since the rain sort of dissolved the glue in the ones we had. That, and some car trouble, delayed us on our way to New Orleans and we had to switch times with In Solitude. We got dressed in the van, but we made it eventually. And then there was ghouls night out on Halloween in New Orleans ....

AC: You’re working on the follow-up to your second album from that same year, The Formulas of Death. Many critics hailed it a progressive masterwork of death metal, myself included. Were you at all surprised by the critical reception? What had the band set out to do on that second disc, and how will the third evolve?

AZ: We are actually finished with it, just waiting for the master as I write this. We honestly try not to think about what the critics will think. We are not making the music to satisfy anyone’s expectations. We are making music because we have the need to express art and this is one way of doing that. My main way at the moment.

That said, it’s always nice to read and hear that people appreciate what you’ve done. If someone doesn’t like it, that’s perfectly fine, but when you hear people who’ve actually become inspired to do something creative themselves after hearing our music or seeing us live, then that’s a great thing. The world needs art, subversive and disturbing and beautiful art, and if we’re a catalyst for more of that, that’s fantastic.

We weren’t really surprised that people liked it that much since it’s done with “honesty.” Some people hated it as well, no surprise there either. I can’t really say the same thing about the new one though. I don’t really know there. Maybe I’ll know when the master and the artwork and layout are done! The new one is more streamlined, with more edge. We took our favorite parts from Formulas and evolved that into a new album. We have a really, really strong new album that is in all ways possible where Tribulation is today.

AC: Your first disc, The Horror – which I played to DEATH – ends with Marlon Brando’s infamous closing words in Apocalypse Now. Fans of the film? The book? Does one have to clear a sample like that?

AZ: I haven’t read the book yet, but the movie is great of course. But no, I don’t think one has to clear a sample like that. It’s always good to do it (for your own good), but if you have a vision about how you want something to be then you sort of have to use what you can, I think. Be tactful, but be bold. Glad to hear you like the album so much!

AC: I recommended your upcoming show here with Behemoth, Cannibal Corpse, and Aeon to a local musician and metal veteran, who wrote me back about Tribulation: “Do they really have a song called ‘Vagina Dentata?’?! I like a metal band that clearly doesn’t record with a click track like these guys. Less robotic sounding.” Not a musician myself, this intrigued me. Is death metal grinding down into homogeneity?

AZ: Haha, we never intended for that title to be as provocative as it apparently is. It’s symbolic of course. Maybe it’s a good thing to get outside of your own world and see that a lot of people take a lot of things literally and not merely symbolically. Like scripture!

Death Metal has been homogenous since day… two, I think. We apparently had a hard time staying within the confines of the genre because of that. I think I have to disappoint your friend by telling him that we actually do use click tracks at times. More bands than you might expect do. You have to do that tactfully as well!

AC: Coming to Texas from Sweden, did you have expectations of what you’d find in the Lone Star State? Some romanticize it for the cowboys (Thin Lizzy), and others for its serial killers (Church of Misery).

AZ: You always have some picture in mind of course. I liked it in Texas, and in Austin especially. I have only been to Lubbock before. I guess in a strange way we sort of blend in. We saw a lot of of cowboy boots, long hair, denim, and leather. One of the things we thought about was of course The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Texas makes a big impression whether you like it or not, which is very cool in my book.