Laying Down The Gauntlet With SAM BEAN From WEREWOLVES

Interview by Kris Peters
If you used only the sheer brutality of their music as a guide, it
would be easy and highly probable to imagine Werewolves to be a
serious metal band. Their music is soul-destroying and intense,
pummelling your senses from every angle before regrouping to smash
you in places you didn't even know existed.
No shit.
But when you listen to or read an interview with any of the three
members - or even read the quotes in their press releases - then it
becomes blatantly obvious that there is a plethora of riches
simmering just below the surface that generally manifest themselves
by way of humour or self-depreciation.
Because Werewolves are not a by-the-numbers, regulated behemoth,
They are a formidable force of nature with a laconic, Australian
sense of humour who actually give little fucks to what is happening
around them as long as they get to immortalise the problem in
verse.
Ten years ago a fresh and ambitious death metal outfit featuring
three well-known musicians of the Australian heavy scene - Sam Bean
(The Berzerker), Matt Wilcock (The Berzerker, Akercocke) and Dave
Haley (Psycroptic, Ruins, Blood Duster) - boldly declared their
intent to release one each year for the next decade.
Fast-forward to today and Werewolves are about to successfully hit
the halfway point with their fifth entry Die For Us, which will be
released over several platforms starting with Bandcamp on July 12
then everywhere else from July 19.
HEAVY caught up with vocalist/bass player Sam Bean last night to
find out just how brutal album number five is going to be.
"This one's a little bit different," he measured when we asked how
he was feeling about Die For Us. "It's a self-release this one, so
there's been a lot of moving parts. Whereas with the other ones,
we'd just roll up to each album release basically in a carriage
with horses and the red carpet treatment (smiles), this time around
there was a lot of moving, spinning plates that we were having to
keep spinning. Normally, we'd already be on our victory lap even
before the album is released. Now we're very much just staring at
that date and crossing the fingers that all goes well. We're quite
a bit more nervous this time around that everything happens as it
should. 
As for the response for the album, we don't worry about that. We
never worry about that. We've got a pretty heinous slab of death
metal that we know is absolutely stupendous, and that the title
track - the very first thing that anyone will hear when listening
to the album - is just gonna knock both their socks off and then
some. We're not worried about that. We're worried about the boring
bullshit out back of house (laughs)."
In the full interview, Sam talks more about the musical side of Die
For Us, the brutality of their music and how the band gets that
tough exterior, having Rok from Sadistik Exekution guest on one of
the tracks, keeping up with their promise of one album a year for
ten years, the pros and cons of releasing an album yourself, the
term Caveman Death Metal that has been thrust upon them,
maintaining the rage and more.


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