### Mask Of Judas - Samuel Bell

#### 04/11/11 || The Duff

Mask of Judas is a melodic death/progressive/djent band I’ve seen perform on two occasions now, both times leaving me mightily impressed. Although djent around these parts doesn’t get the most favorable of mentions, I myself think that MoJ are bringing something new to the table, specifically actual riffs that transcend the regular fare of simple, bouncy and mechanical rhythms – these guys and one lass produce well thought-out, rousing compositions that are deeply musical, and so I thought it the least to give them the exposure deserved and banish some prejudiced views when the music speaks for itself.

Global Domination: How natural was it to hone your live performance? You’ve got some energy, that’s for sure.

Samuel Bell: I don’t think about what I do on stage, I just go with what I feel, I have received critique about my facial expressions in the past, as if I am putting them on to make up for a lack of something else, I really don’t know where that idea comes from, I just move, I really cant help it!

How would you define your sound?

Heavy, groovy, a little bit techy, and diverse.

For potential listeners, readers of our website who are into some pretty extreme music, give us a selling point. Why should they listen to you?

Because they shouldn’t miss out on some upcoming, fresh, diverse metal, with a brutal and dynamic female vocal like none anyone has ever heard before.

Your drummer is gifted, but holds you back some in being the least proficient musician by the looks of things. Is he simply restraining himself being a contributor to the writing of the music or do you feel he could do more?

Jof has a huge contribution to the writing process, he wrote tracks such as My Designer and Progression. When we are in the studio throwing ideas around, he often has a great way of looking in on things that can bring some ideas to life. I don’t see him as just a drummer; we all respect him as a great writer to.

How are things going in the Metal to the Masses competition?

We are now through to the finals of Metal to the Masses, the final will be taking place on the 30th May at the Hydrant Brighton, it’s going to be a tough one, there’s some top bands playing, but it should be a really fun show, we’re all really looking forward to it.

The “Spheres of Madness” riff you stole – check it out on Youtube. That’s some definite plagiarism from one of the most recognized death metal classics in history. Nile took Candlemass for “Unas Slayer of the Gods”, but mentioned it in their liner notes; you don’t seem to have a clue who Decapitated are. So what happens to the track now?

We have stolen nothing. I checked out the tune, personally I don’t see any link between anything we do and anything in that song, I have heard of Decapitated, however I have never listened to them, and none of the other members in Mask of Judas have either that I am aware of. I don’t listen to much death metal if I am honest, I am open minded though, and you have introduced me to a fantastic band! If someone listens and thinks it’s a plagiarism, it honestly was not intended whatsoever, however as I say I can’t hear the link, so for now whatever song it is, it stays! Everything we have written is always from our own heads, we consciously make sure were not stepping on peoples toes when writing, there’s so much music and only so many notes.

You’ve toured extensively throughout the UK going by your Youtube videos. How is that treating you?

Really fun, we went on tour recently with a local band called Entro-P who are fantastic, love those guys check them out. Its been great, every place we have been to has been welcoming, great audiences, and great shows.

You wear the same gear for every show; what’s with that?

I think I own like 5 t-shirts and 2 pairs of jeans! I tend not to really think about what I wear, I just put on clothes and go!

Any labels that have taken an interest in your output? I notice you have instructional videos and such on YouTube – are you any closer to being endorsed? What would be your ideal endorsement and why?

There are certain labels who know who we are, we haven’t released an album yet, and there are plans to, with label backing, that’s all I can disclose right now. I am releasing an instructional guitar DVD with Chops from Hell, I was offered to do a DVD with them after doing a guest solo on a Reece Fullwood track, and his keys player Bobby Williamson (Eumeria, Outworld) put me in touch with them. It’s an honour to have a DVD alongside such monster players as Rusty Cooley and Shawn Gibson. As far as endorsements go, I am involved with Schecter Guitar Research, I do not have any other endorsements, I wouldn’t say being endorsed is a goal for me, I keep my mind on the music and playing. Of course it would be nice to get some free gear though!

Ideally, who would you like to tour with? Who do you think fits your sound the most?

There are so many bands that it would be awesome to tour with, I think if we had to choose to tour with another band that fitted our sound in an ideal world it would be someone like After the Burial, or Tony Danzas Tapdance Extravaganza. But both those bands are pretty big, and based in the US, but can’t blame me for dreaming!

How long have the guitarists being playing? The standard live appears exceptional. Do you feel you are quite dependent on shit-tonnes of gain?

I have been playing guitar for 6 years, the ex guitarist Adam Bell has been playing a little longer; we both met in college and have been jamming ever since, he has been a big influence on my playing. We have recently got a new talented guitarist Nathan Davies who has been playing for a similar amount of time. I don’t feel dependent on high amounts of gain, my live and recording sounds are quite crunchy, I have always tried to practice things with clean/crunchy sounds, and I won’t let myself play anything until I can play it perfectly with a “tough” tone. Players like Jeff Loomis (Ex Nevermore) play with a good dollop of gain, whilst having great control over muting, and everyone knows that Jeff Loomis is a beastly guitarist.

The musicianship could be described as emotionless. How do you deal in keeping things fresh? Having listened to a number of your guitar parts (specifically on Youtube), how do you feel you’re making the distinction between art and tech-mad technique with little going for it musically?

Whenever I write, I do not try to make it technical or think about ways of making it incomprehensible to the listener, I literally write what I have floating around in my head. I don’t write with a genre or goal in mind. I write what I feel, I do agree that I have more of a technique orientated style of playing, however I wouldn’t say that anything I have written is particularly technical, it’s all quite simple, I think one of the big discussions in musician based circles is the subject of “musicality” and what line there is between over the top tech and emotion. It’s very subjective to the listener, just because something is technical doesn’t mean it has no emotion. For example Paganini has a vicious amount of emotion in his compositions.

Who are your idols? How often do you practice?

I don’t really have any “idols” I try and keep away from imitating someone’s sound or persona; after all, ultimately I want to innovate with my music and playing. I practice as much as I can, aside from the band I do various session work and teach music in schools to a variety of different ages and abilities, so when I am not writing, practicing or playing with the band, I’m playing guitar in a classroom, or playing a musical, or doing a product demo for a music shop. I guess that kind of thing keeps me fresh in different areas of my playing at all times, so I am always practicing!

What kind of gear do you use? Is it a worry taking it out on tour, or is your management overall quite well handled?

I am using a Blackstar HT100, I have a tuner, MXR noise gate, and a tube screamer to tighten the tone a little, and I also use a Schecter Damien elite 8 string. I have never really worried about anything getting broken or damaged on tour, I obviously take care of my equipment, but if you’re taking your stuff out on the road, you have to be prepared for the worst! All my equipment is relatively cheap compared to some of the stuff that’s on the market; I think if I was to take a £3000 Les Paul on the road, I would probably think twice!

What’s next in the pan? You’ve just released an E.P., correct?

We have just released our E.P, it’s our first time doing something like this of our own backs, and we recorded it, produced it, mixed it, and mastered it. It’s now on Itunes, Amazon and Spotify. We are planning on releasing a new single towards the end of the year with a music video, and we are making plans for an album for mid 2012.

What are your influences? How long have you been doing this for? Which bands on the circuit do you fear?

Too many influences to list! I love all sorts of music, some key artists that have woken me up, or motivated me are people like Tosin Abasi, Guthrie Govan, Mark Knopfler, Browne from Monuments, David Byrne from Talking Heads, Frank Zappa, Buddy Holly, Indian and Japanese classical music, African tribal music, the list goes on, everyday I am inspired by something that makes me work on a new area of my music. I have been a member of Mask of Judas for just over 2 years now, I have been playing music for around 6 years. I don’t fear any of the other bands on the circuit, I am inspired by what people are doing in local bands, Once a Wolf, EntroP, Surfaces, even the more established bands such as Aliases, Tesseract, Cyclamen, and Monuments are all incredible to listen to and watch, we all do different things, there’s nothing to fear, only be inspired by, and I love it.

I would consider you guys a segue band; live you are far more daunting than on record, the latter appearing quite tame I’m sorry to say. Where do you guys feel you fit in a very competitive scene? Aside from the vocals, the brutality is quite unidimensional – do you ever feel like stepping it up a notch?

The recordings were done ourselves, we had no idea how to mix or master, we literally learnt as we went along, however the latest recordings for our upcoming demos are sounding huge! Of course I feel like stepping it up a notch, the new material that I am working on is going to be on a completely different level, I am excited just thinking about it. However, its not just about brutality, there’s a lot more to music than fast paced riffing and breakdowns, but there will be some of that of course, I just want to make the music a little deeper than just that.

What tuning do you play in?

On my 8 string I tune standard F#, however when we used 7 strings we tune F#, B, F#, B, E, G#, C#. I am currently working with different tunings on the 7 and 8 string for new songs.

Discuss lyrical concepts. Who contributes the most? Is humanity fucked?

Jo our singer writes all the lyrics and vocal melodies once we have a rough demo of a new tune done. Her lyrics are based on life’s challenges and overcoming them, all of the songs have a positive ethic in the end. We’re not into all this doom and gloom kind of thing, not that there is anything wrong with that, its just not our thing.

Who writes the bulk of the music? Will this become a problem if you hit it big, or are you planning on splitting everything equally?

Jof our drummer used to write a large bulk of it, but now it’s mainly Nathan and I, but we all put our pennies in when it comes to writing. For example I might write a tune, take it to the studio, the other guys might suggest different parts, and then more often than not, the song will develop into something that everyone has had input in. We have agreed to share equally between the members; everyone’s very involved in every stage of writing.

What’s the ultimate goal? Metal has been up and down in terms of popularity, but seems to have a sturdy underground following. Can you thrive off of it, or do you need more?

I think we can thrive off it, just because something is underground doesn’t mean it has no hope of being massively successful, there are many different angles that people can take with their bands to create a large following and a living. My goal is to create great, innovative, fresh, heavy music that moves people.

Favourite films? Do you integrate ideas from cinema into music at all? Was “Predators” any good?

I’m not a massive film person; however I love my comedy, Chris Morris, Mat Berry and Steve Coogan being a few of my favourites. I think if we’re talking about other things aside from music that inspire me to write music would be the world around us, the geographical landscape, history, the universe, shapes and rhythms of speech, I guess that might come across as pretentious, however it genuinely inspires me.

What’s your perception of metal heads? Is the moshpit dead? How do you perceive crowds these days, being of the “new blood”, as it were?

I don’t think anything’s dead just yet, there will always be people who are really into different things, which is fantastic, as long as people are enjoying it, you still get all the old school metal heads into there thrash and power metal, which is fantastic, just goes to show that all this amazing music out there is still going strong, and its had a profound influence on people, that has to be a positive thing. Crowds these days are varied, sometimes you will be playing in front of lots of musicians who will be watching your technique like a hawk and start comparing you to other bands, some audiences consist of people who are there purely to have a great time, quite often you get a mix of both, I don’t think bad of any of this, as long as people still come out to see live music, enjoy it, and promote it, then its good.

I’m assuming you haven’t toured beyond the UK – any plans for Europe or even the US? How far does your reach stretch as far as fans go?

We do have some plans to go into Europe in the next year or so, I can’t confirm anything yet. Our fan reach is quite unbelievable! We have people from Brazil, India, Russia, and Japan, US, around Europe and even deep within Africa who are dedicated followers of Mask of Judas which is brilliant.

Do you listen to the bands that have worked hard in supporting and transforming the scene so much? I get a very nu-vibe from you, which could lead to accusations of following a trend. What makes you think you’re different from those who appear to be jumping on to the work of those who’ve so honourably stuck to their guns all this time in the face of grunge and dwindling CD sales?

I’m always listening to new bands and being inspired by them, I definitely want to push the boundary and innovate. I think Mask of Judas have so many different styles in our songs, we’re not afraid to try different things. Mask of Judas have stuck to their guns ever since they started 6 years ago, the band has naturally developed into the style it is, and it will develop further. I wouldn’t say we have jumped on a bandwagon, we make music because we love it, this is what we do, we’re not trying to be anyone else, or tick all the boxes of someone’s perception of a genre. People are either going to love it or hate it, the same with any band at any level.

Your vocalist is incredible. Who does she take after? Many are surprised it would seem she’s never heard of Angela Gossow of Arch Enemy.

Thank you! Jo has many different diverse inspirations; you would be incorrect to say she hasn’t heard of Angela Gossow, she gets compared sometimes, I don’t think she’s an avid fan of Gossow though. However, I think one of the reasons why she initially started screaming is through hearing the female singer of Walls of Jericho back when she was a teen.

Her more melodious singing is of a high standard, but also of a more commercial fare – Evanescence springs to mind. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing at all, but are you tempted to add more of it in the future so as to push for success?

When she writes her parts to the songs, she just does what she feels dynamically and musically fits the songs; she does have it in mind to do a purely melodic singing based song.

Cheers for the interview, Sam; anything you’d like to add?

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