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ANGEL OF DECAY interview in Night Science Magazine May-July 2004 by Chris Groves.

I guess we can start with your announcement Deathpile is being retired as a project; was this a decision made only this year? What prompted you, if anything particular, to end Deathpile?

Yes, earlier this year I didn't really know what I wanted to do after the "G.R." CD so after a lot of personal debate I decided now would be a good time to end Deathpile. There are many reasons behind this but essentially I wanted to move on to do other less narrowly defined experimental music.

"G.R." met with an incredibly positive reaction, at least that I saw - was departing Deathpile on such a response an influencing factor, i.e. 'leaving on a high note'?

Exactly. So many bands I love carried on far too long after their finest moments. I didn't want that to happen to Deathpile. I am a huge fan of early Celtic Frost and I always wished they would have called it quits after "To Mega Therion." I always hate it when bands with a legacy of incredible music keep their name but "branch out" like Metallica - ugh.

Your newest project is Angel Of Decay. Is this intended to replace Deathpile in terms of output, or has it perhaps taken on greater significance since its formation in 2002 as a result of Deathpile's retirement?

It is intended to be a name I'll use for all my musical output from now on. I didn't have any game plan for AOD - I just wanted to do something different while working on "G.R.".

You state you intend to have a wider genre reference for Angel Of Decay yet admit to intending to include power electronics pieces from time to time for the new project; how do you plan to broaden the project while still retaining something of a focus in any given release? Am I perhaps reading too much into this deviation?

Not at all, the idea is that each release will have its own sound and themes. These elements will vary from release to release. However I don't plan on straying too far away from heavy electronics and dark experimental music in the near future.

Deathpile had quite a specific lyrical/thematic focus Ð will this remain for Angel Of Decay?

I think I've covered all the murder, sex, true crime territory pretty well with Deathpile. Those things will always remain interests of mine so I'm sure they'll be dealt with in Angel Of Decay but in a far less "severe" form. Who knows? Part of my concept behind Angel Of Decay is that I don't want to over-think anything too much. Each release will represent where my head was at that moment in time.

I wonder whether you see violent and/or subversive themes and content as innate to the power electronics 'genre' - do you think it necessarily accompanies what is really, on a wider scale, an ultimately subversive genre?

As a fan of power electronics I think the violent and extreme subject matter is absolutely necessary. It just has to be done well and with some level of intelligence and creativity.

And as a wider reference, do you have an opinion on content-less noise/industrial/etcetera? If lyrics aren't involved, is it important for you either as a creator or a listener to know there is an intent behind the work?

I don't personally care for experimental music that isn't negative in some way. To me that goes hand in hand with this stuff all the way back to Throbbing Gristle and SPK. I don't really like any kind of music that isn't negative or at least angry or intense emotionally. I don't think lyrics are essential though. It can be an atmosphere created with the sounds, artwork and song titles alone. I have very strange taste in music so no one should listen to my opinions anyhow - ha ha. I usually avoid the discussion of music in general as my tastes don't apply to 99.9% of the rest of the world.

You work for Relapse currently, who are well known through their Release imprint and also the newer Desolation House sub-label releases. You also stated last year or so that you wouldn't be doing CDR releases, but would work to ensure your material was issued on CD/vinyl. From this perspective, how important do you believe it is for artists to look to professionalising their output?

The refusal to do CDR releases was intended for Deathpile. I felt that I had "paid my dues" enough to not do CDR releases. I probably will do CDR releases as Angel Of Decay.

How important is professionalising your output? Not very actually. The funny thing is though that with any kind of even moderately dark or confrontational experimental music the best you can hope to do is sell 1000 to 3000 CDs. In the scheme of the music industry that isn't shit. But, if you want to have nice professional packaging and get your CD out across the globe you're going to need to put in some work. You'll have to create something that is different and/or exceptional and promote it to make any progress. And if you think youÕre going to make any money doing this kind of music - forget it. You have to love it and be very very happy when you just break even.

Relapse's release of experimental and noise music has declined but I am very excited by our sub-label Desolation House. So far every release has been absolutely top rate for dark experimental music. People interested in my work should check out www.desolationhouse.com - these CDs are simply excellent in my eyes. This is no shameless plug either as I had little or nothing to do with picking the bands - ha ha.

How do you view your own progression, first as a lyricist, and secondly as a noise/P.E. recording artist?

As a lyricist I think I've painted myself into a corner. There was a vast improvement over time but the amount of work involved in developing the lyrical content was painful. It doesn't come to me easily. I'm sure eventually I'll get comfortable with writing lyrics again. As a "noise artist" (ha ha) I am comfortable with what I do now. I actually feel more at ease creating this kind of music than any other I've ever attempted. I'm doing my best to actually enjoy making music instead of having it feel like a task.

"G.R." was obviously based around specific events; have any past works of yours been developed using specific facts or circumstances?

I did the "Dedicated to Edmund Emil Kemper" 7" as Deathpile. That was about another serial murderer and I feel it still stands as one of my best releases. That's the only other one that comes to mind besides "G.R." I do like working with central themes or ideas sometimes.

Whoops, forgot the Kemper 7" (rather obvious given the title). Was Kemper your choice for that series of 7"s? He's fascinated me since I saw "The Killing Of America", so calm and exact in his confessions.

Yes, Kemper has always been possibly the most interesting serial murderer in my eyes. It's interesting you mention "The Killing Of America" as that is one of my all time favorite films. That's also the first time I was exposed to Kemper. The book "Why - The Serial Killer in America" by Margaret Cheney is a very detailed account of the Kemper case that I highly recommend.

Was "G.R." your theme, or proposed to you?

It was the suggestion of Dominick that runs Hospital Productions. The subject hadn't really been dealt with seriously in this type of music.

Did you follow the arrest and subsequent confession of Gary Ridgeway closely? He insists he didn't kill any more persons other than the 48 murders he attested to - do you think that's the end of it? How does your research for "G.R.", concluded before Ridgeway's confessions, tie in with eventual person and outcome?

I followed the case obsessively until all the lyrics for G.R. were finished. After that I was pretty burned out on the whole thing until his confession came out. I have a hard time believing that he only killed 48 people. But he's such an oddball as far as serial murderers so, who knows? As far as how what I wrote compares to the actual facts, I really haven't checked it out. Honestly, writing and recording "G.R." was so difficult that I didn't care all that much after the fact. The finished album is what it is and I canÕt change it.

Ridgeway's violence was directed specifically against women, a theme of debate when Hospital released the image from the cover of "Triumph Of Death" on a t-shirt. What is your attraction to that image?

I have always been interested in images of women in any kind of distressed state from the sex act all the way to horribly mutilated bodies. It's just part of who I am. And no, I was not abused as a child. Sorry feminists - ha ha.

The title of your track from the "Pornography Hurts" compilation is "Porn Victim/Born Victim" - is this quick summary of how you view many of the victims you've portrayed; as born into victimhood?

Well, I would say that porn consumers are probably victimized as much as porn stars are. But that track was specifically about what Linda Lovelace claimed she went thru around the time she made "Deep Throat." She wrote a very interesting book called "Ordeal" where she catalogued her alleged abuse at the hands of her manager/husband. If it's all true she certainly was a born victim.

Cases like Kemper or Peter Kuerten raise that most fundamental of criminological questions - nature or nurture? In your opinion, just as victims could be born or made, are these serial killers born, or is it the 21st century which has created these (mostly) men?

I'm no expert but I'll give it the old "arm-chair criminologist" treatment: it seems that it's a combination of nature and nurture. There is a theory that if a child is born with certain mental and/or behavioral defects they will only turn into antisocial types if they are raised in an abusive or neglectful environment. The ones that do turn antisocial are a fraction of the ones born with defects. Then there's the ones that completely go off the deep end and become serial murderers. They represent an even more minute fraction of mentally defective people. That theory makes the most sense to me anyway.

Finally, what can we expect from Angel Of Decay in the future? Are you planning live performances under the new moniker? Will Malsonus resurrect to release new products?

Angel of Decay can be expected to put out at least one release every year or so for the foreseeable future. I would consider performing live if asked but not any time soon. My tentative plan is that malsonus.com will release a limited CDR or two in the coming months then I'll see where that leads. That could be old Deathpile material, pre-DP projects and/or Angel Of Decay. Those interested just need to be patient and keep and eye on malsonus.com for updates.

Many thanks to Chris Groves for allowing me to reprint this on malsonus.com.