State of Deceit hail from South Wales and have featured them before. However, given that they released their second EP, Retribution, last month we figured it was time for a catch-up. This mixture of thrash, groove and metalcore should set the pulses racing. Plenty of anthemic choruses for you to shout out to and bang your head to, which of course make the perfect metal song. This is another new band for me but a very pleasant find indeed and you should all take a wee punt on these Welsh dudes.
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
All over South Wales, takes us a collective 4 hours travelling time just to meet up! Though we tend to use Cardiff as home base.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
Around 18 months in the current line up.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
We blend the best of old school thrash and groove vibes with breakdowns and chunky riffage, newer school guttural and melodic vocals thrown in the mix with stories of mental abuse and politically natured stuff. This is music to get pumped to and jump around the room.
You were known as The Devolved until this year when you returned as State of Deceit in 2019. Was the name change signifying a change of direction and musical style?
This was really from Pete coming onboard, took us a long time to find the right singer who could deliver across the vocal range and is an animal live. This also led to some change of direction in the material here and there.
You have recently released your debut EP Retribution. How does it feel to get the new EP out there for the masses to hear for the first time and how have the responses been so far?
We’re super happy to have something we’ve created and can be proud of out there, the response has been really positive. We just want as many metalheads to share in the music as possible.
How often is the band able to get together and rehearse in the studio? Where do you get together and record?
As we’re all over South Wales so we tend to get together in person once a week and rehearse in Cardiff. We recorded the EP Retribution at LongWave Studios with Romesh Dodangoda which is handily also in Cardiff. Having a renowned producer in South Wales was really useful!
How are the songs constructed in the studio? Are there the main songwriters of songs that take care of everything or is State of Deceit a band where all members contribute to the songs?
Jon (guitars) tends to write most of the music with the band acting as editors! Usually this is tracked at his home and ideas brought to the table, but sometimes we just jam out new ideas in the room to.
Being a four piece and having different musical influences within the band, was there sometimes a lot of negotiating in the studio or do you feel you are writing the music you want to for the band?
We have a couple of self imposed rules of every riff and passage has to have something about it, but other than that as long as it fits with the broad scope of metal we pretty open minded. We do fast, slow, intense and clean, growled and sung as we like to suit how we want each song to sound.
Is there a main lyricist within the band? What are the lyrics for the EP based on?
Lyrically Pete does most songs with Matt (Bass) and Jon adding some lines here and there. On the EP we have a couple of songs about mental health, mental abuse and then political issues, mainly calling out bullshit we see.
How hard has it been to juggle the touring side of things with the everyday jobs? Do you have plans to go on more bigger tours and further afield in 2020?
Yeah we certainly looking to get around the UK more in 2020, we want to expose ourselves to as many people as possible (figuratively speaking). Bands are just black holes sucking in all your cash so we need jobs just to keep things afloat.
How hard is it for a metal band like State of Deceit to survive in the current climate where bands have to tour non stop and sell merchandise in order to bring money back into the band?
See above :) Well it would suck generally, there’s no money in it but this is about spreading our message and flying the fucking flag for heavy music.
You are now on the Forge AMP roster. How has it been to work with them and what are they doing to help push State of Deceit to the next level?
It’s very early days and we’re hoping this is mutually beneficial going into 2020.
Before the internet, magazines and fanzines were the places to find out about new bands and trends. Now publications are replaced with thousands of websites catering for all genres. Do you think that some of the passion has been lost or do you think that the internet has been a good thing for music and State of Deceit?
It’s allowed the democratisation of music, so there are more creators than ever before and more content than ever to be consumed for free. It is now much harder to cut through the noise and be heard.
What are your plans for 2020?
We’re going to be out playing more around the UK . We’ve got some killer new sh*t we want to lay down for the next EP as well later in the year.
Being from the Cardiff area, are there any other bands from your local scene that you would like to give a shout out to?
Sepulchre – death metal sick live, Woven Man – metal/heavy rock with stoner/sludge, Pearler – rock/metal and And the Sky Darkened – metal/hard rock. There’s many more, such a great number of quality bands in South Wales at the moment!
A fun question to end this interview. If you were a DJ and were allowed to bring 5 CDs to the party, what would they be?
Been there done that, we’d have a mix between the band: Pantera – The Great Southern Trendkill, Fit for a King – Dark Skies, Wage War – Deadweight, Fear Factory – Archetype, Cannibal Corpse – Red Before Black.
Any last message for our readers here at Moshville Times?
Be original, go and check out Retribution!
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