Summon: How did the band get started?
Rob: MAUSOLEUM was formed in 2001, just after my departure from Incantation. I wanted to get back to basics and play more early form of Death Metal. Back to the glorious times of the early 90’s. Death, Autopsy, Necrophagia, Obituary and much more, like the days when everyone sounded distinct and the scene was young and fresh.
Summon: What kind of music do you play?
Rob: We play ZombieCult Death Metal, we don’t sing about politics or about philosophy. We don’t care to evolve either. Blood, gore and zombies create the imagery we want to work with.
Summon: How has the fan response been?
Rob: The response to the band has always been pretty good; it was surprising to see so many people interested in the band right away. Billy from Razorback had contacted us in the middle of recording our first project ever. He had heard about us and the sound we were developing and was very interested. Now with Back from the Funeral out, the response has been even better. We are very motivated by our fans !!
Summon: Where did the band name come from?
Rob: MAUSOLEUM was a name I had threw out there when we first started getting together and working on something. We wanted something simple and easy to understand and spell correctly.
Summon: Introduce the band members and what they do in the band.
Rob: Rick “Slim” Boast handles Drums and Vocals, Craig Stiles and Adam Kegg are lead guitars and I play bass.
Summon: Who writes the music? Lyrics?
Rob: We all like to contribute lyrically, we all have many ideas for song ideas and we like making everyone a contributing member of the band. Everything is filtered through all four of us for quality control. It is a balance that really seems to work for us.
Summon: And where do the lyric ideas come from?
Rob: Most of the lyrics are drawn from Horror movies, some are original ideas that come from concepts we have kicked around with each other until it has enough to become a song. Some start as titles and eventually become songs.
Summon: What is your view in Satanism and Occultism?
Rob: I am very interested in both subjects and I have read a lot of books about them. I am not a religious person but very into philosophy and mythos of various cultures. I think each person must blaze their own path! To each their own!!
Summon: How many albums/CD’s have you released?
Rob: We have put out 2 CD to date, Cadaveric Displays of Ghoulish Ghastliness in 2003 on Razorback Records. It was later released in Europe on Gorefied Productions in 2006. Then in October 2011 Back from the Funeral came out on Razorback Records. We enjoy working with Billy and Vanessa and hope to continue to do so \m/
Summon: Tell me about some the songs on the latest CD?
Rob: There is 9 tracks on Back From The Funeral, I think this CD is not as doom sounding and the songs are quicker, the production is better too. Graveyard Shift is one of my favorites, it’s about a lonely cemetery caretaker, his wife has died, kids have grown and moved away and he is left alone to create a life worth living for himself so he starts having sex with dearly departed that have been laid to rest there. We have our tributes to our favorite movies as well.
Summon: Do you have any side projects?
Rob: Yes I play Bass for the USBM band TYPHUS since 1995, we have two CD’s out and we are currently working on the material for the 3rd CD. Also I am one of the founding members of MORPHEUS DESCENDS and we are planning on getting together sometime in 2012 to begin work on some new songs and re-releasing the back catalog of material. We are also planning on doing some shows but we all play in other bands as well so our schedules need to be worked out in advance so there are no conflicts. I do have a project called XUL, which is Black Thrash style Metal and I have all the songs on demo but want to record them properly sometime in the near future too.
Summon: Who are some of your musical influences?
Rob: All the thrash and metal bands from the 80’s that we all love, VoiVod Destruction, Sodom, Venom, DRI, and tons more. Then the early 90’s Death Metal bands like Asphyx, Obituary, Autopsy, Death, Sinister, etc etc. In the last 10 years it has been bands like Deceased, Death Breath, Murder Squad, Necrophagia, we listen to a lot of metal old and new so it is hard to really write down a few as my influences. We are influenced by the whole genre.
Summon: Which current bands?
Rob: Repuked, Anatomia, Cardiac Arrest, Absconder, Haemophagus, Dead, Fondlecorpse, Holocaustum, Tombstones, Scaremaker there has been a lot of new bands that are putting out some Killer stuff!!
Summon: What is the band like when you play live?
Rob: I think the band gives off a lot of energy playing live; Slim plays drums and does lead vocals, Craig and Adam do backup vocals and trade off on leads. There is a lot going on. So far the response has been really good live!
Summon: Have you guys ever played in another country?
Rob: Not yet but we are in the process of planning some shows for Canada this year. We would love to play overseas or in South America. We have only started playing shows last year and the reaction has been fantastic!
Summon: How big of crowd shows up at shows usually? How is the crowd response when you play?
Rob: The show turnouts have been great, especially in our hometown Johnstown PA. Last year we played our first show in town ever and it went really well. Everyone was amazed at the turnout!! We have plans to do an even bigger show this time with more metal bands from around the US ! We also played a few times in NYC and those shows did really well too!!
Summon: What do you think of the US Black Metal/Death Metal scene?
Rob: I think it does not get the respect that it deserves; bands like Inquisition, Absu, Nachtmystium, Krieg, Abazagorath Immolith and Kult of Azazel have proven the US has great Black Metal bands. I have been playing bass for TYPHUS since 2005, we have two CDs out and are currently working on our 3rd CD !!
Summon: What do you think of the Overseas scenes?
Rob: It’s great and still very much alive, I hope one day Mausoleum, Typhus or Morpheus Descends will get a chance to play overseas and I can finally play some shows over there and meet a lot of the friends I have made over the last 25 years!!
Summon: When do you guys plan on writing any new material? What does the future hold for the band??
Rob: Right now we are rehearsing getting ready to play our first show in 2012 up in Buffalo NY, after that the plan is to record our 2 tracks for the GOATGRIND Records 12” 4 way split with Cardiac Arrest, Offal and Scaremaker. This is going to be a great release and we are looking forward to doing this. After that we will begin the recording process for the 3rd Mausoleum CD. We have basically all the material written and just need to rehearse and review the songs before we hit the studio. We plan on making 2012 a busy year for Mausoleum. We also have about a dozen shows we are playing in the US this year and it will be great to finally bring The Zombiecult of Mausoleum to those towns!! Thanks again for the interview and take care \m/
Contact them at:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mausoleum/170997749634624
