ABORTUS

What can you tell me about your new full length recording?
The new album took quite a while to write & then eventually record. In
January of 2000, our old drummer was forced to resign, because of the fact
we wanted "Abortus" to go places & he just wanted to play in a band that has
fun & is not serious about their music. Well this did not stop us. My self
(Gooch) & Jack decided to keep writing music with the aid of a drum machine
& a 4-track recorder. These new songs were then passed on to George so that
he could figure out some bass lines to suit the new music.
While doing all this, we still needed a drummer, & a good one. So I Found
Mike. He works with me & I asked the rest of the guys if they wanted to give
him an audition. We all agreed, gave him a go, he impressed us, & the rest
is history. Then Mike had to learn the new material, & he only had 3-4
months to learn it all, & improve on the simple drum machine beats we
supplied him with. It was then in January, 2001, we started recording, &
April 2001, that we completed the mastering process.
To sum up, I think that even though we had troubles with the line-up,
"Process of elimination" is a far better album than "Judge me not". The
musicianship has improved over the space of two years, & we can't wait till
it's finally out.

Have you tested your new material on the live scene yet?
Yes we have. The response to the new material has been extremely positive,
especially with the kids under 18 years of age. We played an all age
festival, named "Bloodlust" about two months ago & the kids went berserk.
The barricade was pushed up all the way against the stage. I think that's
quite a positive response.


Has the music of Abortus got better with the addition of Mick on drums?
Absolutely. Mick is a far more extreme, versatile & technical drummer than
Matt was. Matt was into a lot of punk & new metal, where as Mick is heavily
influenced by bands like "Dream Theater", "Iron Maiden", "Van Halen" & other
old school bands. This just suites us to perfection as we are all products
of the 80's metal scene.


Is the final result in the new record different than what was originally
recorded on the demos?
Yes. We did demo most of the new material at our old studio. It is only a
16-track ½" studio. The final recording, with a bigger budget, was done at a
more professional studio, which offered 2" tape, & a 24-track desk. It also
had a much better outboard set up. The extra tracks really enabled us to
experiment with over dubs. Especially with the vocals. People who have been
into "Abortus" since the "Judge me not" days will definitely hear a much
more professional recording.


Are there any plans to re-release older material?
We are currently in the process of writing new material, but as far as
re-releasing old material, we don't really know. This will all depend on any
future offers we might have. We would definitely consider re-recording old
material. I'm not stating that there is anything wrong with the old
material, but I think it would be fun to fuck around with it. We'll see what
happens, the future of the old material is uncertain, but our main aim right
now is to move forward.


How do you see the evolution of Abortus since the beginnings of the
band?
As I mentioned earlier, the musicianship has definitely improved. I would
expect no less from any one in the band, including my self. If the
musicianship declines over the years, then there's no point in continuing a
project. The band must move forward, not backwards. Also, since we have been
a 4-piece band, (we started out as a 5-piece), the tightness of the band has
improved.


Are there any plans to tour to support the new record, for example on
festivals?
Well what can I say? We would love to tour. We want to tour Europe. The idea
has mentioned to us by our label, but whether or not we can get a support
slot remains to be seen. Emi & the gang at Code666 are doing their best to
get us a support slot over in Europe. If they do, we'll be there.
As far as Australia goes, there really is not much here to tour for. The
main reason is that the major cities are over 1000km away from each other.
So it makes it hard to tour. But we will try our best to play shows in these
major cities. We will play a fair few gigs in Sydney (Home town), & we will
do our best to play in Melbourne, Brisbane, Newcastle, Woollongong,
Canberra, & possibly Adelaide. See how it goes.


How is the process of composition in Abortus?
The process of composition has varied over the years. For the first album,
we had a full time drummer & we wrote as a band in the rehearsal studio. I
would come up with a riff, Matt would play a drum beat, George will play a
suitable bass line & Jack would then put his book of lyrics to the test.
For the second album, as mentioned earlier, we were forced to write without
a drummer. This made it hard to work as a band, so Jack & myself wrote the
material.
Now that we are a complete band again, we have been writing new material as
a whole band again. George is even coming up with ideas, & so is Mike. It's
working really well now. The band is really progressing quite nicely.


Are there any bands that are your biggest influences?
Yes. We all have our favorite bands as individuals, but we all seem to share
the same influences. We are all into bands such as Sodom, Destruction,
Kreator, Iron Maiden, Early Meatallica, Megadeth, King Diamond - Mercyful
Fate, Ozzy Osbourne, Slayer, Dream Theater, Queensryche, Bathory, Coroner, &
even the 80's "hair metal" bands like Van Halen, Twisted Sister, Skid Row
(they fuck'n rule) & Bon - Jovi. This list can go on for another week.


Do you feel related to other metal bands from Australia as Gospel Of
The Horns or Bestial Warlust?
No. Not at all. We are "Abortus". The only thing we share is our country of
origin.


This is a total unrelated question...composer Stockhausen described the
World Trade Center destruction as the "ultimate work of art by
Lucifer"...what do you think about that?
What do I say? I don't Know of Stockhausen, but I definitely agree that this
was an evil thing, there's no doubt there. I think we'll leave it up to
those people who want to sort it out get even.
The major problem I have with what happened is, I don't know what our
chances of touring Europe will be like now. Fuck'n ASS HOLES.


Any final words?
Thanks for the interview. Hope to see you all on tour one day, & hope you
all like the new album, "Process Of Elimination". CHEERS.