Gallhammer’s Vivian Slaughter Talks About Her Eclectic Influences
Japan's all-female black metal band Gallhammer are serving up 'The End,' a raw, crusty slab of blackened doom. Gallhammer bassist-vocalist-saxophonist Vivian Slaughter and drummer Risa Reaper twist every preconception you may have about female musicians with their extreme and aggressive take on metal.
For the gritty tracks on 'The End,' Gallhammer looked inward for inspiration. "There was actually not any particular influence from outside this time," Vivian Slaughter told Noisecreep. "It mostly came from inside of myself. I was a bit into Crystal Castles from Canada this time, so maybe the last song was inspired by their sound as we used some noise effects. As for American music, I listen to Hank Williams sometimes. Is that very American? Also nowadays I love Josh T. Pearson and Gil Scott-Heron."
Slaughter said that she "picked up bass because I thought the bass sound is cool and I wanted to play simple riffs over and over. Also, guitar seems difficult to me [laughs]! I haven't been influenced by someone so much, but I like Geddy Lee. I never get tired of watching the Rush DVD."
Drummer Risa Reaper sees herself as influenced by many musicians. "From famous drummers (Terry Bozzio, Tatsuya Yoshida) and my friends (those who are not famous, but very superior musicians) to old time rock drummers, and percussionists of Japanese traditional music, I love crazy drummers," she said. "And I respect musicians making beautiful sounds."
Former Mayhem vocalist Maniac appears on 'The End.' The collaboration was easy since he is Vivian Slaughter's husband. "We first met on tour, since Gallhammer and his own band Skitliv' toured Europe together in 2007," Slaughter said. The couple that slays instruments together, stays together!
The recent earthquake that ravaged Japan did not directly effect Vivian Slaughter, as she was not there at the time. She was in Oslo but says that she still felt stress and anxiety, as it is her homeland.
Gallhammer's 'The End' is out now.
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