Calvin - Onset was formed around early 2017 by Shamtos and myself. Initially we had a drummer and functioned as a three-piece before the drummer got way too busy with his personal life. That was when the idea came around to continue writing and recording as a two-man unit. It was an even greater challenge to the both of us when we decided to record the two songs in a live studio environment, which meant we had to be pretty well-rehearsed to be able to pull this off. Prior to this, both Shamtos and myself were in other previous bands many years ago and had completely stopped playing music for a good number of years as well.
2. So far you have released an EP, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style you went for on the recording?
Calvin - Indeed, the “Unstructured Dissemination” EP was released about a month ago and to be frank, both of us had different visions on how Onset was going to sound like. Shamtos thought we were going to be a Stoner band and I wanted to write something way darker and sinister. As it turns out, both of us wrote the two songs in a darker but more atmospheric direction.
3. So far all of the music has been instrumental, are you open to using vocals on future releases?
Calvin - This question really struck a chord with me because recently I was mentioning to Shamtos about having vocals on the next album. We’re still undecided but all I can tell you is that we’ve already started recording the new album and it’s halfway through the recording process now.
4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Onset'?
Calvin - We were searching for a name that had to be pretty simplistic and we wanted the name to have a foreboding meaning behind it. Whilst looking around, I came upon the word Onset and everyone agreed on it. Looking back now, I think I probably had the word Onset at the back of my head from Necrophagist’s debut album title.
5. Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the EP cover?
Calvin - Pol from Branca Studio did the cover artwork for “Unstructured Dissemination” and he was already on our top few choices very early on. Pol has done a lot of killer shirt designs and his style seem to always tell a good story no matter what he did, shirt or album cover wise. I presented to him a concept of what the EP was about and he nailed it perfectly just after sending us a second draft.
Basically, the concept behind this EP is a very rough adaptation of the Black Death and so some of the few visuals aspects that I put out to Pol was to have a group of diseased humans crawling, reaching towards a void or portal, a nightmare of perpetually falling or jumping into an abyss and an abstract depiction of human suffering.
6. Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you open to expanding your line up or do you prefer to work as a duo?
Calvin - This is another very good question. We’re very comfortable functioning as a two-piece; we understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses and every decision gets decided much quicker as well. Plus, we already have a pretty good chemistry when it comes to songwriting. However, we have also toyed with the idea of performing live and it’s probably not easy to perform those tracks live as a two-man band. And actually, we’re still contemplating whether Onset should even be a live act or not.
7. You also had some quests on the EP, can you tell us a little bit more about who they are and also their contributions to the recording?
Calvin - Microchip Terror is a very good friend of mine, so it was really a no-brainer to get him on board when it was decided that we needed to have a different soundscape in contrast to the wall-of-fuzz that we’ve already built on. We like to think that this is a pretty unique collaboration and for these two sounds to co-exist, everything had to feel and sound right for every different passage. But all of us come from a Metal background and so we already have a mutual understanding of how the music should sound ‘right’ to us. Microchip Terror’s lucid understanding of the Doom genre gave us a very integral and focused sound on the EP.
8. On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of post and doom metal?
Calvin - Like I mentioned earlier, the EP has been out for a month and the response till today has been positive, so to speak. We weren’t sure how the reaction would be but we figured we’d always forge ahead and continue to do what we do regardless. On the contrary, we have had very good reaction especially from the Post and Doom community and I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has bought our EP, be it digital or physical.
9. When can we expect a full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Calvin - Also, like I have mentioned in the previous question, we’ve already started recording for a new album. It’ll be just one track with a running time of 30 minutes plus and this new track is definitely heading towards a much heavier direction with a more Death Metal approach as well. I can’t really divulge much info yet as we’re still in the process of recording although I should mention that the drums and all rhythm guitars are already done. This has proven to be one of the biggest challenge for us as we also recorded the song live in the studio as well.
10. What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Calvin - One of the weirdest inspirations for us would have to be Green Day. For some strange reason, when we are trying to figure out a structure within a song, we will sometimes base ideas off from how Green Day does it. It’s not very obvious of course and I’m sure no one will be able to spot it.
We usually don’t have a direct influence when we write but personally, I find Pallbearer’s unique style of chord-structuring very alluring, it’s like they know how to write heavy sections using unusual phrasing and chordal shapes which I find it to be extremely exciting. Conan was another band that also had an influence of how I wrote some of the more direct and punishing riffs that doesn’t require a lot of chord movements. But since both of us grew up listening to old Death Metal, we took apart some of the morbid-sounding riffs and put them into a more slowed-down Doom context. I even snuck in an Autopsy soundalike riff on the track ‘Pestis: The Suppressing & Recurrence’.
On my playlist right now are the latest Frontierer, Lik, Siege Column, Atrament, YOB, Doldrey, Vanhelgd, Sobs, Devil Master, Author & Punisher, Foreseen, The Secret, Khemmis, Alice In Chains, High On Fire and last but not least, Clandestine Blaze.
11. What are some of your non-musical interests?
Calvin – Honestly, I’m a pretty boring person and most of the things that I enjoy doing are usually music related. I do enjoy drinking wine but I’m nowhere an alcoholic by any means.
12. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Calvin - Thank you so much for having us here and we’re really pleased with the reaction of our debut EP so far. We will continue to write and record more material and we think this is barely a beginning for the band; we have so much more to explore and it’s very exciting for us to see what the future of the band will be.
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