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Dungeon Metal Chats: An interview with Nightghöul

Nightghöul is yet another one-man army hailing from the filthiest depths of Philadelphia. Their Dungeon Metal Ripper cassette is four tracks of grimy black metal, with punk speed and thrashy guitar leads. This tape echoes of past decades, when "black" "death" and "thrash" were interchangeable distinctions.

Dungeon Metal Ripper has parallels to the raw speed of early Bathory, with the D-beat rhythms of Celtic Frost and Sodom. Nightghöul spews his vocals with raspy anguish, reminiscent of Autopsy's Chris Reifert.

Below is an email interview I conducted with the eponymous Nightghöul on his project.


How would you describe Nightghöul in your own words?
Being hammered off trash beer at 3am blasting Gehennah with plans to burn down the local police station. Total evil back alley rock n roll for true graveyard ghouls!

How did  Nightghöul come to be?
One day I decided to start writing riffs in the style of metal I’ve always wanted to play, something fast and fun. I decided that it made the most sense to do all of the songwriting and make all of the decisions for the band myself instead of wasting time with other’s perspectives and egos/drama.

What is the song writing and recording process like when it's only  you?
I’ll write a bunch of riffs within a number of weeks, then start recording immediately. I’ll devote all the time I have outside of work to writing and recording, so it will take about eight or nine weeks to write and record the whole release. 

Who are some of your musical heroes?
Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Quorthon, Lemmy, Chuck Berry, Cliff Burton, Andy Fraser.

Were you in any bands prior to Nightghöul?
I’ve drummed in a number of bands over the last five or six years. Some of 'em being Castle Freak, Village and Backwoods Payback. Almost all based in or around the Philadelphia area. I played in a couple punk bands before that. 

How did this alliance with Grim Winds come about?
My buddy Frank, who I’ve known and played music with since high school, has ran Grim Winds to release his own material as well as his friend’s bands around Philly since we were pretty young. He released my old band’s demo before, so it was fitting for him to release Dungeon Metal Ripper.

Do you ever plan to play out with a full band? 
Right now Nightghöul will not be a live band. I don’t have any plans to get one together in the near future because I have other musical things going on right now that need full attention. For now it's an isolated spirit of the night!

What's your favorite song on your new tape, and why?
Probably "Wrath Of The Minotaur" because it’s really long and heavy and the lyrics are fun and stupid.

Tell me about one album that changed your life forever?
Kill 'Em All by Metallica. I remember hearing it in 7th grade and I remember the feeling it gave me when I heard the songs. The attitude and heaviness were awesome and it felt like the record I had wanted to listen to for a while.  

What other bands are you listening to right now? 
Any underground acts you recommend?
Vultures Vengeance from Italy just released a killer new album that I can’t stop listening to. Also awaiting Diabolic Night from Germany’s new album release.

What's else is on the horizon for your project?
Another release to creep through the dumpster fog at some point… 

Thank you for going one on one with the GRIM-1! Anything you'd like to add?
Die for Heavy Metal!!!

 Dungeo Metal Ripper is available via Grim Winds. 

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