Interview with Mike Browning /After Death.
1. Hails, Mike!!! First, it's a honour to interview you... So, let's start talking about After Death... it's not a new band, but a kind of re-formulation of Nocturnus, right? Can you give us a brief history of the band, specially how did everything start?
Yes, actually A.D. started in 1999 as a reformation of the original Nocturnus, with myself and Richard Bateman on bass and Gino Marino on guitars and also a new member Mike Walkowski on rhythm guitar. After a few months of rehearsals Gino left the band and was replaced by Scott Wallin and we then recorded an EP which was never released officially. Before the EP was completed I met Lisa (Lisa The Wolf) and she joined the band on keyboards. Eventually Scott and Mike Walkowski were replaced by Bryan Hipp and we recorded a second demo at our house, but since then Bryan has also left the band and we are currently in search of a guitar player.
2. How would you describe the music and the lyrics of After Death? Is there any particular message the band is trying to get across?
The music is very dark atmospheric black death metal or I just like to call it Occult Metal, because lyrically the band only deals with "occult" subjects. A lot of people use occult and Satanic type lyrics, but most aren't really into it. I spend most of my extra time reading and practicing Magick, mostly Crowley and Kabbala types of Magick. And with the lyrics, the are sort of like my personal Magickal Record of the type of Magick I am working on or studying at the time the lyrics were written.
3. What your purpose with After Death? Individual realization?
I would say the purpose of After Death lyrically is to help people and myself understand what the Occult is all about and how wide of a range of subjects there are to explore, not just your standard Satanism. And musically, it would be to put out musick that can take you to new places in your own mind!!!
4. After Death have recently released a "2-song promo", how it's is being received? Are you having a good response?
Actually we recorded it at our house, so the sound quality wasn't that good and a lot of people said that the sound was bad and they really couldn't tell what was going on, so that's why we decided to go into a real studio to record the Lisa The Wolf demo and the response has been really killer, so it's the same musicians only a different quality of recording and it made all the difference in what people thought about it. So when we find a new guitar player we will not make the same mistake again and spend the money on a really good recording!!!
5. Has there been any progress in securing a record deal?
Well, originally the EP we recorded in 2000 was going to be for Hammerheart, but the whole deal just kind of fell through and didn't work out and since then we have been looking for the "right" person for our guitarist, but until then we also have Lisa's band Lisa The Wolf to work on, so we kind of go back and forth between the two bands!!! We are both Gemini's so it's kind of normal for us to do two things at once all the time!!! |
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6. Tell us about your side-projects. How do these differ from After Death?
Well like I was explaining we have the Lisa The Wolf band and in that band Lisa does all the writing and she sings and plays guitar and keyboards. So between the 2 bands we have the Yin/Yang aspect of male and female a sort of completeness. And we also do an acoustic project called Wolf and Hawk where Lisa sings and plays acoustic guitar and I use all sorts of different hand drums from different parts of the world.
7. Some personal questions... How do you see Mike Browning in 1982, when started playing Metal, and today?
Well, it's sort of like I said my personal Magickal Record on audio, you can see the different types of Magick and the Occult that I was into at the time by the lyrics I write. So in the earlier days I was more into just the dark side of Magick like Satanism and the Necronomicon. But the older I got the more I learned and that was reflected through my lyrics mainly. Right now I can't wait to get a good guitar player and start working on some new After Death stuff because I have tons of new lyrical ideas already!!!
8. What did interest you first, metal or occultism?
Occultism was first, my Mom was into Witchcraft and things like that back in the 70's, so I was interested in Magick before Musick.
9. Is there a particular song you've written, that you are most proud of or dislike? If so, why?
When I look back at the old Nocturnus stuff some of it seems kind of childish now and I wasn't really too much into the Science Fiction aspect that Nocturnus turned into, I was more into the type of stuff that was on the demos, but when other people joined the band they wanted to write lyrics as well and so the band changed from what it was originally was supposed to be Occult Metal. That's why I formed After Death and the main problem with keeping people in the band, they all want to come in and change what I want the band to be and I am only playing musick because I want to do a specific thing with it, not because I want to make money or whatever!!! But I think most of the After Death lyrics are my favorite just because of the personal Magickal experiences I have been through are contained in those lyrics!!!
10. How do you spend your spare time? Hobbies, interests? Do you read much? What books impress you most of all?
I work a regular job and play in 2 bands and the rest of my time is usually spent on reading and practicing Magick. I read mostly stuff on Crowley or Thelemic Magick and especially Kenneth Grant, his stuff is probably the most interesting to me. Also a lot of books on the Kaballa and Egyptian Magic. And other authors like Dion Fortune, Helena Blavatsky, Robert Wang, Eliphas Levi, Michael Bertriaux, just to name a few. I have a very extensive Occult library of over 400 books.
| 11. I'll give you some names/words, please, let us know your thoughts about that period or whatever you wish to relay.
Morbid Angel- I still like Morbid Angel's music, the first 2 and the last 2 are probably my favorites.
George 'Trey Azagthoth' Emmanuel- Trey actually is too much of a rock star to speak to me, when I see him out he acts like he is to good to talk to me!!!!!
Incubus- Probably the heaviest music I have ever played, total chaos. Incubus was total chaos 24 hours a day!!! That's why it lasted less than 6 months!!!
Nocturnus- My band to start out with and the name and band was stolen from me by members that weren't even in the original line up, but as far as I am concerned they ruined it anyway!!!
Vincent Cowley- You gotta love Vince for being the most outstanding True Satanist in music and I really enjoyed playing the style of music he writes!!!
Acheron- True Satanic Hatred Music
Aleister Crowley- A truly amazing individual which by his writing has made a profound effect in my life!!!
Lisa Lombardo- My Soul Mate, she is the coolest girl I have ever met and she is like the female aspect of myself!!! And she plays music, she plays the instruments that I don't, so together we write complete music. I have never met anyone quite like her!!! |
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12. What is the importance of originality to you? How do you see the future of metal?
To me it's very important, but to record companies and the majority of bands, they just want to sign or be like others that are already out there!!! The future of Metal is always changing and morphing, but I really like the creativity in Black Metal the most.
13. Plans to the future? Are you recording anything or planning to record?
We just finished recording 2 new songs for the Lisa The Wolf band. They were engineered and produced by Erik Rutan of Hate Eternal at his Mana Recording Studios. The 2 songs are available on MP3 through the demo link on our website. www.lisathewolf.com
14. Thanks for answer my interview, Mike... Your final bullets...
I just want to say Thanks to You and everyone out there who has enjoyed the things I have done in my life and as long as I can play Musick I WILL!!! Here are the 2 bands websites: www.afterdeath666.com www.lisathewolf.com
After Death site
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