Have You Heard: Defamer

How long have you been together?
Defamer is in its seventh year of rising gorges and bludgeoning ear drums in the name of death metal.

How did you all meet?
We were drawn together for a variety of reasons and bound by our love of extreme music.

You're on tour in the van – which band or artist is going to keep the most people happy if we throw them on the stereo?
During the day we all party like fiends to Aussie extreme-metal classics like Destroyer 666, Misery, Abramelin, The Day Everything Became Nothing and Gospel Of The Horns. During the graveyard shifts however, the driver gets to be as self-indulgent as they like.

Would you rather be a busted broke-but-revered Hank Williams figure or some kind of Metallica monster?
I'd rather wind up a rich megalomaniac than a quiet achiever. More budget equals more fuel for the death metal engine. Truth be told, I'd probably squander the extra dough on booze, unnecessary musical equipment and profound pyrotechnical displays. That said I don't know too many musicians who wouldn't.

Which Brisbane bands before you have been an inspiration (musically or otherwise)?
Many local acts inspired the spawning of Defamer. Misery shared our love of twisting classic, all-tube guitar tones and using them for evil, sickening grooves. Astriaal were our black metal brothers-in-arms. Portal resonated our horror-thirst. Lastly, The Dead displayed a certain lust for chaos and brutality in their first two demos that definitely made its way into ours.

What part do you think Brisbane plays in the music you make?
Our dirges would flow irrespective of geographical location, but Brisbane holds for us a lot of invaluable fans, friends and peers.

Is your band responsible for more make-outs or break-ups? Why?
Make-outs and break-ups in equal measure. In my opinion, good death metal inspires both excitement and despair.

What reality TV show would you enter as a band and why?
BBQ Master Chef. It hasn't been invented yet but when it is, it will unite the nation.

If your band had to play a team sport instead of being musicians, which sport would it be and why would you be triumphant?
Is worshipping at the altars of madness a sport? We come from a diverse range of sporting backgrounds so I believe that the only way we could pick a code would be to find the one with the most explosions… WWE? If so, I believe that we'd emerge victorious because our vile entrance music would incite despair in our opponents. That and we'd side with The Undertaker.

What's in the pipeline for the band in the short term?
We've just finished off a Japan/Australia tour in support of our recently released second album, Decrepit Rituals, and it has left us with a mighty need for more live domination. We're playing this year's Dead Of Winter Festival, but keep your eyes out for the announcement of more local shows in the coming months.

Decrepit Rituals (Obsidian) out now.