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Blood Mason.
My conversation with local extreme metal outfit Blood Mason takes place in a makeshift rehearsal room that's been set up in the house of one of the members. Countless posters on the walls bear testament to the band's many influences - influences that include Slayer, Pantera, Iron Maiden, Sepultura, Cannibal Corpse and Deicide - while the band themselves have just finished a blistering rehearsal session, another bit of preparation for the impending launch of their new, self-titled CD-EP.
Giving me a helpful rundown of the group's history, bassist and vocalist Doug says, "[Guitarist] Lachlan and I started a band many years ago called Menace. That band consisted of us and a few other people: quite a few actually, as there were six members at one point. We had two vocalists; a mate of mine, Heath, on guitar; and a different drummer. Eventually both the vocalists and the drummer left - they all went overseas - so we picked up our current drummer, Dani, through a mate. We kept playing with Heath for a while, but eventually he left as well. Not long after that, I found out that [guitarist and backing vocalist] Brendan had just left his old band Sarsekim, so we got him on board as well. That's when we became Blood Mason."
The band's name is certainly an unusual one, and when I quiz the group about its origins, I discover that it took them a while to come up with it. "There was a bit of a concept behind it in the end", states Brendan, "but it started with us brainstorming. We had a few very humorous names along the way."
"We'd say one word, then keep adding others. Like Death, then Blood Death, then Blood Death Hell!" elaborates Lachlan, whose own contributions apparently included the facetious suggestion of Blood Bong.
"Iron Mason!" laughs Doug.
"And I thought Bloodstone, then Stone Mason, Iron Mason, Blood Mason!" Brendan adds.
The band's CD-EP came about as the result of some radio airplay on three-d Radio, when some of the group's material was featured on a show entitled 'Six Of The Best'. "Andy from Of The Human Condition actually heard it - it was a backyard recording that we'd done ourselves - and he liked it", recalls Brendan. "As a result, he gave us the use of his studio, a place called Against The Grain studio."
"He's set it up in his house, basically", Doug explains. "At the time, he was like, 'Yeah, come down', so we just went down there; it only took us two days to do it. There are three songs on it, and we're selling it for five bucks. What a bargain!"
"He said he'd do it for free because he liked it that much", adds Brendan, "but we bought him a bottle of scotch for his troubles. Top shelf of course!"
The band have written quite a few songs to date, some of whose
titles eg Unscrupulous Selfish Assassins and George
W. Dickhead, would seem to suggest that the group aren't
the biggest fans of the American government. Lyricist Doug concedes
that this is indeed the case, but adds that not all of the songs
he pens are political. "Our stuff's pretty much about all the
bad shit in the world", he explains, "which is something that
a lot of bands are about, I guess."
"We've got this song, though, called Reflections Of Our Future
Passed, which is fairly positive in its own right", adds
Brendan. "It's about seizing the moment, and not letting your
life turn to shit."
"It's about thinking what it'd be like to reach old age, and realize that you didn't do all the things with your life that you wanted to", says Doug, echoing a fear that I'm sure many of us have.
The band are naturally enthused about their upcoming CD launch, a show that will hopefully be on par with perhaps their best so far, a gig last year that took place the same day that Port Adelaide won the AFL Grand Final. "I'm not a Port fan", Doug admits, "but it was just an awesome gig because of the atmosphere that night. It was the same night Cloth Tape became Murder Hill, and did their changeover set for that; we were support band for that, so it was an awesome gig for that reason as well."
"We all got super-pissed too!" adds Brendan.
James Brazel
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Blood Mason launch their self-titled EP at The Crown and Anchor Hotel on Fri 4 Nov with Imminent Psychosis and Intended Victim.
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