RODHA
have kindly let ourselves at Sludgelord HQ to exclusively stream
their blistering and brutal as hell début album – Welter Through
The Ashes – which we have reviewed here.
I
first encountered RODHA back in 2012 when I featured their excellent
début EP – RAW – which showcased their heavy style of
Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal riffs to almost bone-crunching
perfection.
Well you may have heard the album in full for yourselves. It's a
stunning début album that will hopefully win RODHA a bigger fanbase
within the Sludge/Stoner Metal scene.
I
wanted to find more about RODHA and they have kindly agreed to talk
to me here at Sludgelord HQ.
Q1
– Hi all. Thanks for doing this. How are things with you today.
Thank
you for having us, Steve. We are almost done preparing the album
release. Like most of the time, we are doing this by ourselves which
involves some time and nerves. It is a good feeling seeing some of
the efforts being appreciated already.
Q2
– Can you tell our readers a brief history of how the band came
about and where it is today.
We
four are based in Hamburg, Germany. After the band Timo (git/voc) and
Stephan (drums) were in before had disbanded, they looked for a new
project. That was in the end of 2011. Florian (bass) was looking for
a band at that time and it worked out fine from the beginning. Same
with Mo (voc), who joined us a month or two later through mutual
friends. Although we’re all coming from pretty different musical
backgrounds we quickly found common ground. Everything else is
history.
Q3
– How would yourselves describe your music as you have elements of
Doom, Noise, Sludge and Stoner Metal going at the same time.
We
call it ‘Sludgecore’, because it is based on sludge with a side
dish of hardcore. Sure, there is some contemporary Doom and everyone
who saw us live would agree that there is also some Noise involved.
And we connect well with stoner metal bands. It is hard for a band to
describe themselves, all the more if it rather does a blend of genres
than a pure form of one. Judge for yourself. As far as genre
definitions go we don’t care that much, haha.
There
is a description we came up with very early and since it still seems
to apply, it can’t be that far away: “Bad temper turned into
music with light at the end of the tunnel.”. Or, melancholy drowned
in noise hoping for the best. We didn’t plan to sound like this. It
really is a very raw and unpretentious mix of four people each going
along well with what the others do.
Q4
– Why did you choose the name RODHA for your band.
It
is the pali expression for ‘earthbank’ or ‘wall’. In
Buddhism, is describes the border between your inner self and the
outside world. It protects you from being washed out and offers
retreat. At least that is how we understood it. Might as well mean
‘blue hooker pig’ and we would still like the sound of it.
Q5
– Now lets talk about Welter Through The Ashes. Excellent album.
Heavy as hell. Can you tell our readers what the album is about.
Thank
you. The album contains songs we wrote since the 2012 RAW-EP and also
re-recorded three songs from it. It kind of got a theme by the fact
that many songs are about being in a miserable situation and coping
with getting out of it, or drowning in self-pity. Hence the
metaphorical album title. Apart from that, there is no concept, no
bigger idea behind it. Just a way to listen to stuff we put some
sweat in for your collection.
Q6
– What influenced you when recording the album. As I detected a lot
of different genres of music when listening to the album.
We
have a large common ground in terms of influences, yet each of us
also puts something from somewhere else into the mix. Mo adds a lot
with old school hard core and some good emo phrases (not that wimpy
modern ‘emo’). Stephan likes to add a metal feeling reminiscent
of Lamb of God. Timo has a very unique approach to heavy riffs and
rhythm, and Flo even tries to hide some jazz in there. When we wrote
the songs, it always was very intuitive what each song needed.
Q7
– Was it an easy or hard album to write and record for.
Welter
was not hard to write as we didn’t make a lot of pressure to write
especially for the record. We just recorded the stuff we had when we
had enough. That is why it took almost 2 years for a new release. We
are in no hurry. The recordings itself offered a lot of new
experiences and learnings and were pretty exciting. Initially, we
intended to produce it by ourselves, like we did back in 2012. But in
time we decided to give it to someone who knows his knobs. Siegmar of
Dying Lizard Tonstudio did a great job.
Q8
– I originally featured you guys back in May 2012 when you released
RAW. It was a fantastic EP which was very well received within the
Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal scene. Did the responses surprise you.
Absolutely.
It was reviews like yours that practically build our fanbase. To be
honest, we did not plan for it to go public first at all. It was
supposed to be a simple demo tape for us to get shows. We just put it
on Bandcamp for practical reasons and then it took off by itself. We
had no expectations so everything that happened was great. We made
home-made CDs available, which arrived on all inhabited continents by
now by mail order. It also fuelled us to bring our material out on
stage.
Two
months after RAW we played our first show, Another month later we
were supporting Kylesa in-front of a packed club. It was insane. Same
when we played with Kadavar, Kongh and the even the mighty
Eyehategod. We met so many great people which we are very grateful
for.
Q9
– Looking back would you change anything about RAW. Or would you
leave it the way it is.
Not
a single thing.
Q10
– Welter Through The Ashes does have quite a depressive feel to
it. Was it your intention to release a bleak sounding record for your
début album. And what does the album personally mean to yourselves.
Depression
is an off-taste of living in this world. Like having a cough living
in a polluted city. You don’t have to add this on purpose if you
see it that way. That said, it probably is not as bleak as it sounds.
Understanding a situation like it is, is a good way of changing it. I
think this theme is something we all can relate to in some way.
Q11
– Can you advise us if there will be any physical releases of the
album. CD, Vinyl, Tape.
At
the release there will be a CD available and digital download. We
would love to offer Vinyl but it was just not possible right now due
to budgetary and schedule reasons. Maybe we find a
label
that wants to support us in the endeavour. Tape is not on the upper
half of our to-do list. We do have frisbees, though.
Q12
– What is your preferred format of listening to music. And the
reasons why.
CDs,
hi-quality MP3s, streaming, vinyl, live in the streets … as long as
it triggers emotions and suits your whereabouts it works for us.
Q13
– What is the song-writing dynamic in the band. Is it a group
collective or down to one individual.
Most
songs derived from ideas Timo brings to rehearsal and everyone adds
his parts and it gets a finishing touch after some play throughs.
Very rarely we change a beat or full part after a
song
is completed. Sometimes songs come from spontaneous jams we record on
a mobile recorder.
Q14
– Which bands and artists influenced you as musicians. Any
particular band or album stand out that influenced you to become a
musician.
Timo
attended a concert of ‘Shakin Stevens’ at the age of 5 and it was
all over for him. Later he discovered Bison’s discography, Mastodon
and Black Sabbath’s Never Say Die. Mo loves The Cure, Slime,
Toxoplasma, Slayer, Inside Out and Jingo de Lunch. When he saw them
live he knew he wanted to be on a stage, too. Well, he sucks on
guitar and couldn’t afford a drum-set, so he worked with his lungs.
Stephan digs Lamb of God, Meshuggah, Entombed and Mastodon.
He
practically grew up drumming and then got interested in music. Flo
started off as a guitarist but never found band mates so he switched
to bass and got lucky instantly. His influences are Russian
Circles,
Kyuss, Whores, Colin Stetson and Dan Berglund.
That
said, we all agree on Bison, Eyehategod, Crowbar, Kylesa, Baroness,
Verse, Brainoil, Generation of Vipers and Amenra. And then there is
some Tom Jones, Tears for Fears and Miles Davis under the carpet.
Q15
- What is your musical set-up when playing live or recording your
music. Any hints and tips would you like to give to the budding
musicians out there.
We
had a shop on top of our rehearsal space and once knocked over a
shelf through vibration. They moved, we stayed. No mercy on
distortion or volume. It would not sound like us if we had a quieter
stage volume. It can be challenging from time to time but we make it
work almost every time. We are healthy gear heads and switch through
guitars, amps, pedals, cymbals whenever we deem it worth trying.
Hints?
Not really. You can have budget gear sounding better that boutique
stuff. You can play at clean bedroom levels and sound heavier than a
metal band. Get an idea of what your style
is
and find measures to make it work. As a bonus try something nobody
else has done.
Q16
– I am a huge fan of the German Sludge/Stoner Metal scene thanks to
bands such as WALL, The Moth, Blacksmoker, Aleph Null and yourselves
amongst others. How is the scene for yourselves over in Germany. Do
you perform many gigs in your own town. Or do you travel further
afield to perform regularly.
It
looks good. In the last couple of years the scene reached the
critical mass for it to really come alive. There is a very diverse
mix of bands and styles that still connects very well. New great
bands to discover. Then there are genre- specific festivals like the
amazing Droneburg Festival, and even more general rock/ metal
festivals are being infiltrated by sludge, doom and the such. Club
shows happen regularly and are well-visited.
There
are ‘scenesters’ as well as regular guys. People coming from
punk, metal, hardcore. It only gets tough when you play out in
smaller towns but even there is a chance of a couple of guys banging
heads in-front of the stage.
We
love playing out. We are a live band. We also all have day jobs and
even a kid by now (one has, the other three were not involved to our
knowledge). That is why we never made it very far from Hamburg yet.
We would love to tour but that bares a lot of planning around the
circumstances, of course.
Q17
– Do you have a set routine to calm your nerves before performing a
gig. Or are you too professional for that.
Right
before entering the stage we usually retreat to huddle and say some
good words. Although we’ve played enough shows to know how it goes,
there is still a bit of stage fright, naturally.
Except
Flo, he is always relaxed.
Q18
– If you could give any advice to someone wanting to start a band.
What would it be.
Just
do it and let high expectations always come last.
Q19
– Which artists and albums are currently rocking your world. Any
bands you feel our readers should check out.
Flo:
The Great Sabatini - Dog Years, Mo: Amenra - Mass 3
Stephan
recommends: “too many songs, too many records, stay open minded”
Q20
– The last thing before you go, Do you have anything else to say to
your fans.
Buy
local, read blogs, go to underground shows, put everything in
question, have no preconceptions, be nice, be awesome.
