Yet another intie that spent too long in the dark abyss of my hard drive.  It’s hard to write an introduction to a conversation with two of the nicest people I have met in my involvement in the scene and both Rob Vigna and Ross Dolan are definitely worthy of this title. The interview was conducted at Brutal Assault Festival in 2012 and was done before the Immolation’s latest opus “Kingdom of Conspiracy” was out, so it may seem a bit dusty, still I like to think that I have pulled a bit more stuff out of this little chat we had. So, all yours, the gods of Death Metal, IMMOLATION!
Hell-o! Thank you for the awesome show! How did you like the gig today, the festival and the Czech Republic?

Ross Dolan: Great! We love the Czech Republic, it’s a great country, especially Prague. We’ve spent a lot of time in Prague. The festival’s organizer, Tomas is a really close friend of ours and an awesome good guy, so yeah, it’s a pleasure for us to be here. The fans were just amazing. The intensity level and the passion… Fucking great. We rarely play for the crowd that dedicated and that die-hard, so it was an amazing experience, even though we knew what to expect because we played here a couple of years ago already. So we know it would be just ridiculous…

Oh yeah, I remember that…

RD: (laughs) yeah, you told me…

Since your last album, “Majesty and Decay” already two years passed and yet today you mentioned that there is a brand new one ready to be released. Can you tell me a bit more on this?
Rob Vigna: Well… We finished it on  Sunday after two weeks in the studio. All is recorded, all the tracks are there, now we’re going to send it again to Zack Ohren to mix it, so we did it with Paul Orofino and Zack Owen is going to mix and master it. It brings 10 new songs, a concept album, probably one of our darkest to date. Very dark, very heavy, more extreme… Steve really upped the ante on the drums. A lot of really fast stuff and also lot of dark and heavy stuff. Lot of dissonance… It is going to be one of our best, I think. It is going to be like the “Providence” EP x 10 (laughs)
RD: Very dark, heavy and extreme. One of the most intense stuff we’ve ever done. But this is 100% total Immolation. Once you hear it it’s going to be “yeah! That’s Immolation”.

The last thing you released so far is the “Providence” EP. This was however not released by Nuclear Blast, but by Scion Imprint. What kind of label is this? Does that mean end of your cooperation with Nuclear Blast?
RD: Scion AV is Toyota. The car company. Scion is the division of Toyota, they sell cars. But Scion also deal with arts. They work with different artists from every branch of music, not particularly Metal. They also do a big, free, open-air festival in the US for 3,4,5000 people. And they give away free stuff there. EPs, singles etc. and they actually promote the bands. They actually liked us and some of the people there are big Metal fans and they wanted to work with us, so they gave us money to shoot “The Glorious Epoch” video, they gave us money to do the “Illumination” video, they gave us money to do the EP, the only condition was that it was for free for the fans, so it was perfect and we agreed. It is just something they do to get the tax write-off from them. They put their logo on a CD package and they promote us like a label does. This was just for the EP and Nuclear Blast was totally supportive with it. The actually helped us get the deal. But the new record will be out on the Nuclear Blast. It doesn’t affect our contract.

RV: Yeah, Nuclear Blast fully supported it. They actually helped Scion with the promotion of the disc and put certain wheels in motion, so they kind of worked together on this because Nuclear Blast knows it is a great thing, as they get promotion out of it too, so it’s a win-win situation. It is good for everybody and the fans especially. Now in October we will release a version for Europe and bring it with us on tour, so eventually you will be able to get a hard copy. And it will be a full copy with lyrics and everything.
Great to hear! Ok, so let us get back in history for a little while… You started out as Rigor Mortis until Rob and Tom Wilkinson went on to form Immolation. Should we treat Immolation as a continuation to Rigor Mortis?
RV: No. It is not a continuation. It’s a completely different thing. Obviously Rigor Mortis was where we started from, but when forming Immolation it was a completely different direction we wanted to go in. I mean it is still the same family as me and Tom were in both bands and we come from the same place, but when we started Immolation we were hellbent on doing different stuff.
RD: Rigor Mortis stuff was just heavy and all in all different type of Death Metal. Immolation was a bit more technical and cutting edge with a lot of variety and speed while Rigor Mortis was more straightforward.

RV: If you look at the Rigor Mortis stuff and compare it to the first Immolation record you will notice it is completely different.  We were a bit more mature and we were walking on this path ever since, so the things just got better and better. Immolation was pretty much a new beginning, a more of serious take on what we’re doing and a step into a new direction.
I see… By the way did you ever had any problems with the Rigor Mortis from Texas?
RV: No, we came from different scenes and they released big albums while we stuck on the demos, so no issues.

And you, Ross? Have you played anywhere before Immolation?

RD: No. I jammed with a couple of people, but nothing serious. We never played any shows or anything. Immolation was the first real band that I was in that actually had its own songs and we practice a lot and play shows. This was the first band for me.
How the first lineup of Immolation was actually formed?
RV: Once Andrew left Rigor Mortis and he was the main guy for Rigor Mortis, me and Tom decided to form something new. We already pretty much knew Ross, so Tom went to Ross’ job and said “look, me and Rob we’re starting a new band and we want you to be in the band” and Ross was like “ok!” (laughs) cause the band he was kinda playing with was just something to get him playing with the band, but it wasn’t really a style that he wanted to play. He already knew the track that we were on and he was more into that. Neal Boback was my friend who lived nearby and he was the original drummer…

RD: Dave was the original drummer!

RV:  Right! Tom’s brother, Dave was the original drummer from Rigor Mortis, but he didn’t last too long and then Neal was on the demos. And then from there it just kept moving forward.
By the way, what’s up with Tom? He left in 2001…

RV: Nah, we don’t really keep in touch with him for the last 10 years, so I don’t really have an answer for you.
For 24 years you managed to keep the core of the band more or less stable…

RV: No, it was not like that until Steve Shalaty came. He’s like 10 years in the band already, and Bill is with us for like 13 years, so as far as we’re concerned this is it. I mean this is the lineup that we’re meant to have. It is the strongest to date. I play with great guys who just know what they want to do  they 100% into what they’re doing, everyone’s taking it seriously and there is no babysitting, we’re just looking to move the band forward, going on tours, we’re on the same page and we’re just doing great, so It all works great.

Your lyrics concern mainly Blasphemy and taking anti-deic stance. Are your lyrics subject to the concept of fight against the divine?
RD: We’re all atheists and what we do is anti-religion. Obviously the message on the first four albums was very strong. It was not aimed against any specific religion, even if written from post-catholic point of view. This is how we were born and raised, but the conceptions were dealing more with personified good and evil. We were never a Satanic band…

Lots of people accused you of that actually.

RD: Yeah, everyone thought so, but if you read the lyrics you will find out that they not concern exclusively religion. Like “Father, You’re Not A Father” it don’t necessarily have to deal with the church, it’s open for interpretation. Over the years we learnt how to move away from that “religious” point of view and now we’re into stuff that’s more relevant and more direct really. I’m really happy with the lyrics we developed for the new record. They ‘re very strong and to the point and dark because it takes a look at the world today and we sort of jump ahead into a not-so-distant future. It’s kinda like “1984” by George Orwell.  That was written in like ‘50s or ‘60s and that was a look into the future. A really grim look I must add. So this album is a grim look at our future. Because if you look at it there is a lot of bad and crazy things going on out there. This is a concept album and each song deals with a different aspect of that. About the totalitarian drill some countries implemented. About the social/economical collapse of the world. There is a lot more we try to encompass in our lyrics. In no way it is a political album, but it is

very socially aware and it takes a very dark look at the world today. It is probably why it can be one of our darkest records to date.  Not a very hopeful look at the reality. I think that people are in their own little worlds today and they fail to see what’s happening right in front of them and that really frustrates me. This is what the new album is all about.
Continuing the dystopian theme. The US for the Europeans was always presented as the mythical “Land of the Free”. After 9/11 it seems that the “free” is less and less the case here…
RD: 9/11 was the catalyst for everything that happened up to now. We have gone in a very bad direction. A totalitarian direction and the Americans don’t see it. There are many draconian laws, there’s been a big corporate push to control and a lot under-the-radar stuff that is going on just now as we speak. The American press is like a global star propaganda. They’ve been telling the US people bullshit. You have to go to foreign web services like the BBC, Canadian or European press just to see what is going on in the world. And that’s scary. When the government started doing that it made me wonder why? They are passing a lot of fascist-kind of laws. I don’t know if the people realize this, but we’re heading in the very bad direction in the US. I’m worried and all my friends are worried because we can see it. The things are starting to crumble. I don’t know if it’s the economy, if it’s because we had a major collapse, let’s face it: what happened those few years back is still not fixed. That still goes on. Things get really fucked up and they still do whatever the fuck they want, everything is de-regulated and if this system collapses, we’re in for a really bad riot. Not only me, not only the US, but also in Europe. I mean it’s already happening. Look at Greece… All them Discontent movement. The social movements. And yet they are trying to stop and suppress those movements. That’s a bad sign and they also started doing this in the United States. That is what the album is about. I hope people will understand it. It’s a reality. It’s not fiction anymore, it’s actually happening. I don’t mean to be all doom and gloom, it is just what I see…
Knowledge of the masses is a greatest weapon… Ok, since 24 years you remain a stalwart in Death Metal scene. Having a long and stable career what do you think of recent comebacks of cult acts, such as Divine Eve or Goreaphobia ? Do you think it is a proper, valid return, or just some guys trying to re-live their youth again?
RV: That’s not for me to decide. If they’re truly putting their heart into it and they feel that they haven’t finished their statement in their prime and want to continue with it than it’s fine. As long as they don’t want to tarnish the integrity of what the band once was. If you do something new you always have to remember that people remember how it used to be. If you fall short to that you gonna end up tarnishing the image. Goreaphobia did well. In slightly different style, but still very dark and I think it is the direction they would go anyways.
You toured over the years with a multitude of bands. Can you share with us which of the bands that are considered really big on the scene turned out to be total bunch of pricks?

RV & RD (both laughing)
RV: So far we’ve been very lucky. The bands we’ve toured with the 99.9% have all been very cool. We had a good relation with almost every band we toured with and we always have a good time. We come sort of an icebreaker band cause we get the bands together, we act like total dorks and we have a good time (laughs)

RD: And I think that makes just things more comfortable. We’re just having a good time. Plus if you are out there on tour with 2 or 3 other bands and there are times it is hard to get along, remember everyone’s there for the same reason, there’s no reason for attitudes, there’s no reason for being a rockstar it is just all help each other out and have a good time. That’s what it’s all about. Otherwise stay home (laughs). But we’ve been very lucky. Like the tour we’re coming up now. Marduk. We talked to those guys before, we know Morgan for years and it’s gonna be phenomenal. We’re gonna have a great time and there are more bands that I don’t yet know, but I’m sure we’re gonna have fun with them as well (laughs). That’s what it’s all about.
RV: We never had any bad experiences and that’s honesty. Sure, tensions sometimes get high, couple of times over the years, but nothing that I would even make an issue out of. Life on the road is really difficult to the people and there are a lot of personalities in the same vehicle, so sometimes it happens, but overall we’ve gotten along and respected and got respected by any band we’ve toured with, so… We’re fortunate (laughs).
One question regarding the graphics: whatever happened to Andreas Marschall? He used to do the majority of our cover artworks and all of the sudden since like 2005 he’s gone…

RV: Well, we just wanted something different. Andreas was an amazing artist and we love all his works. We didn’t stop to use his works because of anything personal, we just wanted to try something different, that’s all. Everything he did for our first albums was phenomenal. He’s a great guy, very easy to work with and he always delivers, but at this time we just decided that it is time to use something new. Once “Harnessing Ruin” hit the stores we already switched labels and we wanted to do something different and take it to the different direction.
By the way, why did you stopped using your original logo since “Failures for Gods”?
RD: We just felt it took away from the artwork and I don’t like the way it’s designed. It is hard to make it the right size on the artwork. It interferes with everything and it’s all over the freaking place! The new logo I like because it’s simplistic and I think it makes a statement even though it is simple and that’s cool. Also it allows the artwork to come through and you know what it says. The old logo we still use on shirts and stuff and we love it, but it really takes away from the cover. On  “Here in After” for example we had to make it an outline because it just won’t fit like that on the cover and would cover big part of the artwork. So on “Failures for Gods” we decided “ok, let’s make a little thing and put it here on the side” and it worked out perfect, so since then we like to do it that way. It’s just better.
Ross, you did some guest vocals for Polish band Masachist back in a day…

RD: Yes! We were on tour and they were recoding in the studio downstairs, so they asked me if I’d like to do some vocals and I went “yeah, sure!”  Pig is an awesome guy and Daray who was drumming with them at the time… They are super cool guys and it was fun.
What are your favorite Polish bands? Anything from my country caught your ears recently?
RD: Well… We’ve known Vader since we fucking started. Peter used to send us their demos back in the ’88 and I’ve been in touch with him for like 25 years now. We’re really good friends with him and everyone in their lineup throughout the years. From Doc, may he rest in peace, China, Shambo, Saimon, Daray, Novy, Rey, Paul… A lot of them guys and we know ‘em all cause they are great dudes. Obviously the Behemoth guys are awesome. Great fucking band, awesome players. We met them years ago and Inferno drinks hard as fuck, but he’s a phenomenal, ridiculous drummer and a super nice guy. All those guys are. We’re so happy that Adam fought the leukemia. That was big thing for us and awesome to hear. We had a feeling he would pull through because he’s such a positive guy. A lot of energy, so we just had the feeling he is gonna be alright. Obviously Masachist comes in as well. Over the years we’ve been in touch with a lot of bands. Yattering, Masachist, Dies Irae…
OK, that would be it from my side. Thank you for the interview and the last words belong to you.
RD: Thank you very much, man, glad you liked the show and see you in Poland… Well… Tomorrow (laughs). Also theMarduk tour will have a few dates in Poland, so see you all there!
Interview: Tymoteusz Jędrzejczyk

foto: Leszek Wojnicz-Sianożęcki