1. Hello, Jason please introduce yourself to the readers?
Hi there everyone, my name is Jason and I am the producer/engineer, co-vocalist and rhythm guitar player for the death metal giants Sadistic Embodiment.
2. When did you first become interested in playing the guitars? Are you self-taught or did you take lessons when first starting out?
My guitar journey started back when I was 14 years old (1994...yup I’m old haha) and I’m originally from Ireland so we didn’t get much for tv channels at that time. One evening I was at home watching MTV (back when they played actual music) and “One” by Metallica came on (this was also my introduction to metal) and I was blown away and NEEDED to know how to play that song. Through a friend of mine I was told about an older kid that knew how to play it. A few days later I walked to him, said “I hear you can play One...teach me”. He reluctantly did and from then I was hooked, I taught myself more songs by ear and never looked back, we even started a band together. Thx Scott!
3. Who are some of your influences and favorite guitar players? Besides the guitars do you currently play any other instruments? If yes, which instruments do you play?
As mentioned Metallica was the band that brought me into the metal world, other bands I came to love were Machine Head, Lamb of God, the mighty SLAYER, Deftones (first band I saw live), Killswitch Engage, Gojira, and within the last year I was introduced to bands like Rotting Christ, Aeon, and Black Crown Initiate to name a few.
A few of my favourite guitar players are James Hetfield, Dimebag, Scott Ian (which I get told I’m a spitting image off haha) and Stephen Carpenter.
I can play bass guitar, and dabble with drums and a bit of keyboard.
4. When did you first meet the other members of the band and was it long before you all started Sadistic Embodiment?
The first member of SE I met was our drummer Bryan “Newbs” Newbury. We previously knew each other from the music scene in Edmonton, and my old band Breaking The Silent played a show with his other band “Into Eternity”. He must have liked my style of playing as he asked me about jamming with him for a death metal band he was starting, so I came over to a jam and I met our bass player Curtis Vieville and our original lead guitar player Helge in September 2017. We had an amazing jam together and from there I was asked to join. In February 2018 our original singer Nate was introduced to the fold and we became a 5pc. October of 2018 we parted ways with Helge and brought our current lead guitar player Wally Fischer into the family shortly after. Before we started recording vocals for our new album “Blood Spell” we parted ways with Nate and chose to go back to a 4pc with myself, Curtis and Wally taking over vocal duties.
5. What is the current line-up of the band? Who would you say are the band's biggest influences and for the readers who have never heard the band's music how would you best describe it?
Our current line up is:
Bryan Newbury - drums
Jason Cullen - rhythm guitar/vocals
Wally Fischer - lead guitar/vocals
Curtis Vieville - bass guitar/vocals
All four of us have different genres of metal that we enjoy, from black metal to thrash. And all those influences show in our song writing and it makes for some brutal songs.
Hmmm, describe our band to someone who never listened to it...well...I would say it’s full of catchy/groovy riffs, aggressive vocals, face melting solos and extreme drumming!!
6. Blood Spell is the band's debut full-length, how long did it take the band to write the music for the release? Does the whole band take part in the writing process or does one member usually write everything?
With “Blood Spell” we only had two songs that we were playing live when Nate was our vocalist. We had other songs that were started but that was about it. We were getting together to rehearse and write twice a month and then a goddam pandemic hit, it was something we never expected during the writing process, but we found ways to continue to write more songs. Myself and Wally would get together with Bryan in different cities. Edmonton with myself and Calgary with Wally as Bryan had recently moved to Calgary, Curtis and myself would get together in Edmonton and work on bass ideas. We sent songs to each other via the internet and tweaked or added parts as needed. Once everyone was happy with the 9 songs we did final pre-production mixes and sent them to Bryan to write his drums too, the guy fucking pulled off recording 9 songs in less than two days… hands down best drummer I have had the pleasure of working with!! Everyone in the band puts their input into the song writing, but Bryan is definitely our commander when it comes to final tweaks.
7. Who usually handles writing the lyrics for the music and what are some topics written about on the debut release? Which usually comes first, the music or the lyrics?
For our first 3 EP’s Curtis and our old vocalist, Nate handled lyric writing, but once we parted ways with Nate we all took turns working lyrics, the two songs that were already written and being played live had to be changed lyrically as Nate has written them. Myself and Wally took control of those two which turned into “Gallows Hill” and “Phantom Tormentor” which also are the lead vocal debuts for both of us.
I would say the music would get written before lyrics normally with us, as we do make adjustments when in the writing stage, so once the music is complete the lyrics start getting written.
8. Besides the upcoming Blood Spell debut does the band have any other merchandise currently available for the readers to purchase? If yes, what is available and where can the readers purchase it?
We do have other merch!! Our first 3 EP’s are on all music streaming services, we also released our 3rd EP on CD with the first 2 EP’s as “bonus” content. We have shirts/caps/toques/wrist bands and patches. All can be found on our bandcamp page at https://sadisticembodimentofficial.bandcamp.com
9.Has Sadistic Embodiment had the opportunity to play very many shows over the years? If yes, what have been some of the band's most memorable shows and who are some bands you have had the opportunity to share the stage with?
Since our beginning, we decided against playing lots of shows, but rather one every few months. The reason behind that was to not over-saturate ourselves, we have seen so many bands that would play every weekend it felt like, and the majority of the time it loses a draw for shows. With us doing a show every few months it got people excited to see us play as we are extremely high energy and interact with the audience. In a way, they become part of Sadistic Embodiment.
The best show I ever played (can’t speak for the other guys) was when we had the honour of opening for Rivers of Nihil when they were touring for the album “Where Owls Know My Name”(hands down best album of 2018..check it if you haven’t). We have also opened for bands like The Convalescence (Ohio), Hazzerd (Calgary) and Idolatry (Edmonton) to name a few.
10. When bands are able to play live again are there any plans to tour or play shows in support of the new release? If yes, where would the band like to play?
Of course!! We would love to go on tour, but we all have our goddam day jobs that stop all the fun! But we do want to get back onto the stage ASAP, the last show we played was hands down the best we played together as a band, and the best crowd reaction we ever received… I think someone actually died at it... Haha.. kidding… I think… But it was also a show where our original singer was too sick to perform, so we went on stage as a 4pc, and in a way, it was us looking to the future as the response we got as a 4pc was through the roof!!
Our goal has always been to go to Europe and play there, for me personally to play back home in Ireland!!
11.Sadistic Embodiment comes out of Canada's death metal scene, what are your thoughts on the scene in Canada over the years?
Oh man, there have been some amazing talent that has come out of the Great White North and STILL continues to come out!! In my musical journey in Edmonton I have shared the stage with some of the most talented musicians out there and it was always an honour to see them perform.
12. Who are your all-time favorite bands coming out of Canada and are there any new bands you could recommend to the readers?
My all-time favorite Canadian bands would be Kataklysm, Strapping Young Lad, Devin Townsend Project, Protest The Hero just to name a few.
Oh man… EVERY SINGLE BAND…haha! Some bands I have played shows with that are worth a listen would be Tessitura (melodic death/thrash), Idolatry (black metal), Quietus (melodic death/thrash), Tides Of Kharon (melodic death)... there are lots more but I don't want to take up anymore room haha
13. When you need to take a break from working on new music or band business what do you like to do in your free time?
Any free time I have currently is working on other musical projects… I like to say I bleed music!! I always like to be involved with as much in the scene as I can…even to go as far as to help a friend record his country singles…..sigh…. Haha…
I’m also into video games as well, mostly survival games, city building games and Fifa… being Irish I love my football “soccer”.
14. What does Underground Metal mean to you?
Underground Metal to me is a family of musicians that are there to support each other, to be those people that come to a show and stand in front of the stage and headbang till their necks break, to be those people that will buy your band's merch and wear it and listen to it around town, to be those people that pick ya back up when ya fall in the pit… to be..those people...that make me love metal as much as I do… and I fucking thank you all!!!
15.Thank you Jason for taking the time to fill this interview out, do you have any final comments for the readers?
I want to thank you Patrick and to everyone for taking the time to read through my answers (sorry I tend to ramble on), and hopefully checking out my band Sadistic Embodiment. And if you like what you hear from our new album “Blood Spell” and want to support us some more you can always check out our bandcamp for merch and our previous EP’s.
Also if you want to follow us on social media we can be reached at
https://sadisticembodimentofficial.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/sedeathmetal/
https://www.instagram.com/sadisticembodimentofficial/
Label Contacts
https://cdnrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/cdnrecords
https://twitter.com/cdnrecords
