ANNOTATIONS OF AN AUTOPSY – Humpty Dumpty

Britiske ANNOTATIONS OF AN AUTOPSY ble dannet for 4 år siden og er for tiden aktuelle med sin andre fullengder kalt "II – The Reign of Darkness". Det kan virke som om gutta fra Lowestoft, en liten by helt på østkysten av England, har truffet spikeren midt på hodet med sin death metal. De skrev under for Nuclear Blast i fjor og fikk en fin prioritering der på nyåret. Eternal Terrors Ole-Kristian Solberg har tatt tak i bandets gitarist Jamie Sweeney for å finne ut litt mer om dette britiske death metal bandet.

Let's start with an easy question to kick off the interview; could you state your name and your role in Annotations of an Autopsy?

Hi, my name's Jamie Sweeney. I'm a guitarist in AOAA and I'm also one of the co-founders of the band alongside Steve Regan.

How did you first get involved in metal and how did you end up in Annotations of an Autopsy?

I first started hearing of metal through my friends at school, I really couldn't get enough and before I knew it I was going along with them to metal shows in London. I shortly after started playing the guitar and have ever since. I've been through a couple of projects before the start of Annotations Of An Autopsy but none of them were what I wanted todo. This is until myself and Steve Regan hooked up an created AOAA. We had both been in a previous band together and both wanted to progress into a heavier genre of metal, so we formed AOAA.

The band's latest creation is the full length album "II: The Reign Of Darkness"; how satisfied are you with the album and how it turned out?

I'm really happy with the outcome, we all are. It's the best record we have written so far and we've all progressed since the previous releases. This album is exactly what we needed to push ourselves to the next level and I wouldn't change any of it.

Do you have a favourite song off the new album or a favourite song from any of your other releases?

Each release for me has had a track on it where I think yea this is really cool. Welcome To Sludge City E.P – Gore Gore Gadget, Before The Throne Of Infection – Prosthetic Erection. With the latest record it wasn't just myself and Steve writing the songs. We now have the best line-up this band could have and we've all written some awesome, interesting stuff on this record. Sam Dawkins just stormed away with some awesome songs, setting the standard pretty high for the rest of us. But yea it all turned out great. Impale The Sun, Catastrophic Hybridization and In Snakes I Bathe are my personal favourites on the latest record.

Personally I think the new album is truly amazing, it's sort of hard to describe why I like it other than that it's exactly the type of metal I love! How has the reception of the new album been by the fans and the critics?

Thank you, I'm glad you like it! It's been getting an amazing reception and I think we've impressed a lot of people and doubters with this release. The critics haven't turned a blind eye to us and have given us some killer reviews. We've had a larger press campaign with this record with Nuclear Blast behind us, so it's great to be able to get this record deeper into the industry than any of our previous releases could do. The fans have been awesome, yea there has been a lot of change in the style of writing and vocally etc. It seems they can't get enough of it!

How did you decide to start the album with a slow song like "And So It Begins…"?

"And So It Begins" is bringing you into the concept of the album with a narration of sounds. It's telling you that this is not going to be a happy record at all. it's showing you some of the concepts (war, downfall of man, end of religion, lies) etc. Then you get launched into the songs shortly after with machine gun drums and fast guitar riffs.

What are you hoping that the new album will do for the band? What are you hoping it will bring in the time to come?

Awareness, we want the world to know we mean business and we have no intention of staying dormant in the underground scene. We want to bring heavy music to a larger audience and share the energy that is riddled into the songs on this record.

What are your plans for the summer? Can you reveal any of the countries you are visiting in the months to come? Is a Norway visit in the works?

We are working on Norway, I can also tell you we are off to Russia shortly then we embark on a full European tour with Suffocation. We will be heading back over to the states after the European tour in March. We have a lot of festivals planned and more tours to announce. That's all I can announce at this moment in time.

Are there any countries, cities or festivals you haven't played yet that you are hoping to play soon?

We would really like to tour some of the countries that are furthest to us i.e. Australia, Japan, Russia etc. We generally would love to tour anywhere and everywhere (within reason) Scandinavia etc. We would love to be a part of Wacken, Bloodstock, Sonisphere, Hellfest, all the big metal festivals where acts like us can connect!

What would the perfect show be like for you? I mean, what the atmosphere would have to be like, the crowd, the weather if that makes any difference, etc…

Haha I like this one, the crowd for me would have to be wild, like a riot of some sort but in conjunction with us playing. If it was an open air show then an epic thunderstorm ha ha. If it was indoors then the guy on the lighting board better be going crazy making the lights do things they've never done before!

Following on the last question, do you have a favourite show out of the ones you've done?

For me personally, Ieper fest in Belgium that we did in 2009 on the Headlining "Dominatour". The crowd was crazy, Steve was picking kids up off of the stage and throwing them back in. People where stage diving left, right and center and it was just a great atmosphere for us as it was a reception at a hardcore festival ha.

How do you prepare for a show? Do you have any rituals or routines you like to do before tearing up the stage? 

We all like to warm up, maybe have a small practice backstage. We don't really have any routines other than to prepare mentally and to get in the right state of mind. Beer normally does this haha

If you could choose 3 bands to go on tour with, which 3 would it be and why? 

Cannibal Corpse, Behemoth and Slipknot. We recently went on tour with Cannibal Corpse and it was just awesome, those guys are great and when they get on stage you best prepare. Behemoth because they have a great sense of mystery on stage and visually those guys look amazing. Slipknot because they are my all time favourite band haha those guys can write some heavy stuff too! Infact what a great line-up of a tour this would be!

Your band has been put in the same territory as bands like Carcass, Nile and Cannibal Corpse; what does a comparison like that do for you and the band?

It's inspirational, it really has brought another level of morale to the band. Being compared to some of the biggest Death Metal acts is never a bad thing, we're honoured and it's pushed us to write some of our best stuff as of yet!

If you could take any children's song and turn it into a metal song, which one would it be and why?

Humpty Dumpty, haha. This song would be full of slams and slow sleazy guitar work. Very morbid angel-esque with some very aggressive vocal work on it.

To close of the interview, is there anything you want to say and/or that you think people should know?

Make sure you go pick up our latest release "II: The Reign Of Darkness" and give it a try, don't judge it on any of our previous releases. This is a whole new era for AOAA, this is the Reign Of Darkness.

http://www.myspace.com/annotationsofanautopsy