Some bands need no introduction. For over a quarter of a century, Doom have been a driving force in Crust Punk and have put out multiple LP’s, EP’s, demos, and split releases. You cannot play or know of crust punk without hearing Doom – they’re that essential and iconic. Which is why I feel chuffed to bits at having the chance to interview a band that’s had a huge impact on my life since the day I first heard them as a confused teenage lad. Read on to read my interview with founding member Bri!

– Cheers from Pakistan! How’s everything going? Which member of the band am I speaking to?

Hi This is Bri Doom! Hello Pakistan!

– Congratulations on the release of your latest LP “Corrupt Fucking System.” It’s been a long while since the last full length release from Doom, so how has the new album been received thus far?

Really well. We’ve had an overwhelming positive response from people all over the world. People seem happy that we’re still producing a similar style of noise, that’s still relevant & angry as ever!

– The new record harkens back to the early days of Doom by being spontaneous and aggressive as ever – in some respects a bit more, but also with the vintage sounding production that sounds straight out of 1993. What was the recording experience like, considering the long gap since “World of Shit”?

It was very positive but also very hard work for me as I also recorded it! (engineered, produced, mixed & mastered!). It’s a great feeling that we have done it ourselves, but also many, many hours of hard work. I know what we should sound like & in fact what we do sound like & I’m pretty happy with the translation onto “tape”. I’m still not 100% happy with it, but then I’m never entirely happy with anything I record. Can be quite frustrating (especially for my wife!)

– The band has survived for more than a quarter of a century now, and has kept true to its music and ideologies – despite line-up changes, label problems and even the death of a band member. Did you expect the band to last this long when you started it? What’s kept the motivation strong for keeping the band active despite all the troubles?

Definitely not in the beginning, but later on I always felt that Doom would be in my life for along time. Its my “sound”, its what I enjoy playing (on guitar) and the ideologies which the band represent mean a lot to me. Some of the line-up changes were awkward and Wayne’s death was extremely tough, but now we are back doing what we should be. It feels right.

– You chose to release the new record on your own label “Black Cloud Records.” What prompted you to start your own label, instead of going through the tried and tested method of releasing through established labels?

We’ve always wanted to do it. Its now that we’ve had the opportunity (& the money). We’ve always been let down by other labels (Except one occasion), so this time we wanted to keep in 100% control of it ourselves. Its quite hard work, especially the physical act of posting out vinyl & CD?s. Thank fuck Stick is on the case with that, but hey, I did all the recording hard work so I don’t feel bad. Singers & bassists eh?… The easy life!

– Do you plan on releasing records from other bands through your label, or will it purely be to serve Doom as a band?

Maybe in the future, it would be nice to help out bands who we like and share ideals. But for now just doing our own stuff is enough. We all work as well, so have limited time.

– With the rise of fascism and revival of far-right ideologies via groups such as the EDL, do you think that makes anti-fascist Crust Punk bands like yourself even more relevant today?

Always. Punk music with a message is a great way of sticking together and empowering people to stand up to bullies like fascists. Fascism is always there, there’s not really revival with people like the EDL, but they manipulate popular concerns over Islamic fundamentalism to gain support for other hidden fascistic agendas (kind of ironic). There are still groups such as British People Party & New British Union Party as well as Blood and Honour. These goons tend to flitter from one organisation to another, often falling out with each other in the process, but they are dangerous especially when they pretend to be something they are not. There was recent trouble with a band called Pressure28 whose vocalist is a convicted fascist. They supported the UK Subs, which was bad news. There’s also the NSBM idiots around in the UK, under various neo-folk guises who occasionally crawl from beneath a rock to spout their shit.

– Lyrically Doom still continues to cover all the important topics. Anti-racism, anti-fascism, anti-war, anti-misogyny, etc. However, looking through the lyric sheet I can hardly find anything against Islamist Extremism/Suicide Bombing. On the contrary, themes like that are for some reason always in right-wing, white supremacist groups. As a Pakistani who has seen Islamic Extremism tear the land apart, it often worries me how all the anarchist or left-wing political Crust and Grind groups ‘avoid’ talking about these things, but the fascists do. Why do you think this is?

I am opposed to ALL religions. They are detrimental to the on-going evolution of humanity & are used (Primarily by men) to control other people. Providing false hope and twisted morality.

If you read some of our lyrics on previous releases you will see this theme reflected in them, such as “No Religion” or “Thanatophobia”.

On Corrupt Fucking System are there various references to our ideology on this subject for example “Prey for Our Souls”.

I have also written some lyrics for a new song (left over from the album) which will hopefully appear on a compilation?

“They Love Death More Than We Love Life”

Verse 1:

Brainwashed, blinded drones of faith,

“Bombs in Mom’s kitchen” recipe of hate.

Explosive-propelled feeble religion,

Nails & ball bearings ripping through skin.

Chorus:

They Love Death

Verse 2:

Sexual utopian dreams of death,

Conspire to eternalise unreasoned last breath.

Suicide vest hides sad insecurity

Sad waste of human evolutionary.

Chorus:

They Love Death

Verse 3:

Murder infidels chop off their heads,

Destroy non-believers, blow them to shreds.

Hardline true face, not “moderate” lies,

Exposes religion & destroys “free” lives.

Chorus:

They Love Death

I hope that addresses the “Anarchist/left-wing-crusty” bias.

– As a band that has had considerable influence in the world of extreme music, what’s your opinion on the International Crust Punk ‘scene’ today as compared to 25 years ago? Any modern bands that you listen to?

Much more global. Its good in some ways, but then in other ways it seems that it has become more of a fashion. People have the “crust” look down to a T, tight black jeans, studded denim etc etc… all a bit hipster to me (we call them “Crispy’s” haha. The other thing that annoys me is there seem to be a lot of younger “crusties” or punks who pertain to be “nihilists”, which I think is just an excuse not to think about the consequences of their actions. They look the part, but they go to McDonalds or the old “Ironic” excuse for being, basically an idiot! I just wonder what these people are interested in punk for? What are they rebelling against? Wouldn’t it make more sense to just buy a track suit and join the masses? I don’t know, maybe I’m just getting old & bitter.

As far as modern “crust” music, the ones I can think of that I like are Afterbirth (Might be no more), Black Code, Putrefaction, Bulletridden, Burning Flag, Infernöh, Napalm Raid.

– You’ve played all over the world. Which city has had the best audience?

Blimey. Tough question. Too many great audiences all over the world! Er, dunno

– Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. I hope when the situation in Pakistan improves, you guys can come play for all the local punk and metal kids. Any last words for the reader?

That would be amazing.

Take care & Stay Aware. Don’t let the bastards grind you down!

The only good fascist is a dead one!

http://www.doomcrustpunk.com



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– Hassan Dozakhi