A new band with a great name (they’re right, it is) and some very heavy tunes for you to check out today.
Simple things first, where are you from?
Johannesburg, South Africa.
How long have you been playing?
The band started in early 2019
Where does the band name come from?
Tim had formally introduced Rhett and Damian at the band’s inception, and we were having one of our first get-together at Damian’s place, and Damian and Rhett had grown very excited upon discovering a common love of cosmic horror. Damian was emphatically describing why the genre is so powerful, describing how the malice cannot be understood by us mere mortals, finishing with “it is simply A Nameless Dread”.
Tim and Rhett immediately followed with “That’s a great band name”, and that was that.
We are fans of Anaal Nathrakh, but at the time didn’t even connect the name to the intro track to The Whole of the Law – a happy accident, as we hold the band in high regard!
What are your influences?
We have a large variety of influences ranging from tech and melodic death to grindcore and groove.
Describe your music – what makes you unique?
We believe that with each of our members having such a different range of personal influences that we bring into the band room it creates something quite different to what people are used to hearing.
If you like what we do, consider joining us on Patreon for as little as £1 per month!
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Lyrically, Rhett is influenced by cosmic horror, particularly the works of HP Lovecraft, the extended Cthulhu mythos and dark fantasy and how these things relate to and affect humanity.
Reveling in chaos and destruction and at the same time using those to unite under a banner.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played for?
We like to keep a high energy presence on stage. Regardless if you are playing to 10 people or 1000 you have to put on a good show. As A Nameless Dread we had our first show in March of 2020 just before South Africa went into Covid-19 lockdown. However all the members have played for other bands in the past and have numerous shows under their respective belts.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
We’d only played our first gig ever before the plague struck, but it was eventful:
Damian and Tim are old bandmates, and have a habit of wandering around the venue while continuing to play (with the mighty lumbering Tim often chasing the lithe and agile Damian around the venue with the aim of fetching him back to the stage).
Damian had made his way into the crowd, carefully avoiding the pit as per usual. At that moment, a particularly drunk man came flying from somewhere in the crowd, falling forward, arms flailing in a vain attempt to stop himself falling flat on his face.
His forehead struck Damian’s Ormsby right on the volume knob, leaving the guitar cosmetically unscathed, but destroying the internals of the potentiometer entirely.
We’ve all been gigging for several years, and we always try to be as professional as possible. Damian had his trusty Ibanez RG550 waiting in the wings, so it was mere seconds before his amplifiers once again roared to life.
What kit do you use?
Tim uses Warwick basses, DR strings, Darkglass electronics, AKG Wireless, Peavey cabs and a Marshall bass head.
Des uses Sabian and Paiste cymbals, Gibraltar pedals and hardware with LA Special sticks.
Damian has four incredibly bright Ibanez RG550s, and an Ormsby TX GTR in Purple Chameleon, all loaded with neon-coloured Seymour Duncans- typically a Duncan Distortion in the bridge, and the bridge version of the Pearly Gates in the Neck.
Amps:
- Damian plays two amps in stereo- an ENGL E670 Special Edition EL34, and a Diezel Einstein with a quad of KT77s. All his cabs have a mix of V30s and K100s.
Pedals:
- To emulate two guitarists, Damian uses a TC Electronic Mimiq and Quintessence.
- A TC Electronic Alter Ego X4 adds delays and chorus for leadwork & ambient cleans.
- Finally, an MXR Custom Badass OD is paired with an ISP Decimator.
Don’t fancy Patreon? Buy us a one-off beverage!
What are you plugging and promoting at the moment?
We are very pleased to be releasing our debut album “The First Nothing” worldwide on October 31st 2020.
What are your plans for the next 6 months or so?
We are looking to do a few videos to help build a larger following. We will also be looking at touring as soon as restrictions let up. We will definitely be doing a few shows around SA but would definitely like to try get something going in Europe.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting, and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
For an opener, we’d love Chaos Doctrine: a great local act that is actually supporting us on our album launch at the end of this month!
For the band we’d be supporting: our playlists are quite diverse, but we can all agree that Dyscarnate’s crushing performance would be something we’d be proud to open for!
Bonus fact: Damian actually planned his entire UK holiday last year around seeing Dyscarnate live (who were opening for Hatebreed), but due to another band being added to the lineup, he missed their set entirely! At least he brought an Ormsby home.
