Interview: Angelic Desolation

Recently, DutchMetalManiac’s Tim van Velthuysen interviewed Angelic Desolation’s Matt Markle.

Hey, how are you?

Doing well, thank you.

Can you tell us something about the history of Angelic Desolation?

Three of us, minus our drummer Max, have known each other since middle school. Chris, Jay and I (bass, vocals, guitar) didn’t start playing together until around 2011. We had some drummer ups and downs until we found Max in 2014 and we’ve been a solid four-piece ever since.

For people not knowing Angelic Desolation (yet), how would you describe your music yourself?

It’s the grit that comes from grindcore, the heaviness that is death metal and the energy that comes from thrash riffs. The resulting sound is what we call “American Razorgrind”.

When someone doesn’t know Angelic Desolation yet and you can choose one of your songs to present yourself, which song would that be?

I would probably choose Yeti Spaghetti off our latest EP. It’s got bits of grind, death metal and thrash woven together with our brand of morbid humor in the lyrics. I would say that if you like that song then you will probably like the rest of our material.

What makes Angelic Desolation unique?

I would have to go with our style that we call American Razorgrind. Every band thinks that they have a unique sound but for the most part all bands have pretty identifiable roots. We do too but I guess what I’m getting at is that we don’t necessarily fit into a strict category of death metal or grindcore or thrash so that is probably our most unique characteristic.

Any future plans you can already tell us something about?

With a lot of states in the US still on lockdown it’s really hard to plan any kind of tour in the future. Currently though we have a two-day festival in July and after that I’m sure we’ll play some scattered shows here and there but our main focus right now is writing new material so that we can finish our full length by next year.

Any upcoming gigs for Angelic Desolation? Maybe coming to The Netherlands?

I mean, of course we would love to play The Netherlands but I have a feeling with the way the world is right now that’s probably pretty far off. It’s not out of the realm of possibility though because we would definitely play there in a heartbeat.

How do you think your life would be without music?

I think it would be so wildly different that it’s too hard to imagine. I don’t really have any hobbies that bring the same level of enjoyment that music does. That’s terrible to think about honestly, I don’t really want to imagine a reality where music isn’t in my life.

What advice would you give to young and starting bands?

I would say to not give up or lose sight of what you want. It’s really easy for people to let their band become a hobby as opposed to a driving force. If you really want it, quit making excuses and don’t stop for anything.

Thanks for your answers! Is there anything you want to say to DutchMetalManiac’s readers?

Thanks for taking the time to read through this interview and if you’re interested in hearing our music we can be found on Spotify, Apple music, etc, all the major streaming platforms. We’re also re-issuing our last two releases on April 2nd as drunken commentary. That will be on all of the major streaming services as well and we promise you, there’s some quality drunken banter in there. If you are interested in more than just music we also have merch for sale on our Bandcamp. 

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