KADAVER Interview
Kadaver was born in the early 2000s, in a very different context to the current one. Do you remember what triggered your need to create noise and extreme textures?
I started working on what would become Kadaver in 2003, I was feeling mentally really bad and I found that through my art - it makes it easier to cope. This was at the same time that I was getting into noise and power electronics. I was already into industrial but not the HARSH stuff. So, these things came together in my life: being a listener and experimenting for myself with noise music. At first, I was only recording shit and playing it for myself. Most of what I recorded was lousy and I had no real intention for doing anything with these materials; I just enjoyed it.
So, I did that for about 2 years and learned how to work my sounds, when one day a friend of mine asked to listen to my audio—after he did, he encouraged me to try and put it out there into the world. And in 2005 my first album entitled "Dead Inside" came out, and since then, I keep on going. I think that in many ways I still create this kind of music as a coping mechanism for this world. That's why I deal with everything which is filthy and wrong. My mental health these days is much better, but still - it's always ups and downs, and Kadaver helps with the downs. In some weird way.
The term "Kadaver" refers directly to death, to inert flesh. What personal and philosophical symbolism do you give to this name and how has it transformed over the years and the different albums?
When I first got started with Kadaver, it's fair to say that I was obsessed with the subject of death. I wanted to know everything there is to know, reading books about it and researching it endlessly. I also submerged myself in horror movies, music and art dealing with death or dying. So, the name Kadaver (which just came to me) felt like the right choice. Especially since the guy who really got me into noise was Marco of Atrax Morgue - and I used to love and deeply relate to his own obsession with corpses and everything dead. If you look at many of my albums, and particularly the earlier ones, quite a few deal with this subject in one way or the other, still to this day. But since then, I think that my focus has shifted a bit; it's not in particular about death, but more about the negativity which is woven into our lives. Things that are disgusting, broken, sick and full of pain. DEATH can be in this list, sure - but it has to do more with LIFE actually. At their worst. The ugliest aspects of the human condition, and the horror-side of being alive.
How do Israel's geography, social climate, and history seep into your sound? Do you feel like there's an "Israeli noise" or that you're working in a rather stateless aesthetic?
My geographical location has little to do with my sounds. At least on the surface. I did use a couple of samples which were in Hebrew - and a few track titles are in Hebrew too, but not a lot besides that. Yet, and especially in recent times, with all the war and killing that's going on in my country it definitely makes me depressed and anxious, and this slips into the music for sure. Maybe if I lived somewhere else, somewhere calmer and sane, my art would be different.
Your discography alternates between static and dense walls (HNW) and more dynamic constructions with influences from industrial death and power electronics. How do you decide when a piece should be an immovable "wall" or a narrative of layers and changes?
That was always the thing with Kadaver - there isn't one genre that can be attached to this project from the perspective of the entire discography. I sometimes create pure power electronics albums and sometimes static walls. Sometimes dark twisted death-ambient and then the harshest noise I could manifest. Often, I will mix things up within the same track, jumping from one style to another or just mix them together. I usually don't decide in advance, I will just sit down in front of my gear and play to see what happens and what I like. From there it goes...
Extreme noise can be both an act of sound violence and a form of meditation. For you, is it an act of purging, a weapon or a way of trance?
In a way, both. I think of it as two sides of the same coin. The 'trance' often comes from the destruction - or the other way around. They are deeply connected and intertwined in my experience.
Live, low frequencies and high peaks are not only heard, they are physically felt. Do you consider the listener's body as part of the composition, almost as a passive "instrument" that completes the work?
Often, yes. When playing live for example - I would prefer to play LOUD. As loud as possible. I think the effect these frequencies have on the body is part of the charm. You can have ear-plugs (if you need them) but your chest will physically feel the blast of the speakers. Also, on many of my albums I keep the master level of the sounds very high, in a way "forcing" (or more like strongly suggesting to) the listener to listen to it this way. Higher volume isn't always "better" and it's not the answer to everything (if you play a bad set, more volume won't help you) - but you cannot deny the effects on the flesh. In particular when dealing with the high/low spectrums of the sound.
Your covers and titles are straightforward, and deliberately grotesque. What is your process when choosing the visual aesthetic of an album and how does it dialogue with the sound?
My titles and covers are often "dark" for sure, but the music itself is also dark. Yet, I try to use titles that make you, just for a moment, feel or imagine something when you encounter them. I may use something shocking, but it could also be with a hint of humor to it. My music deals with repulsive stuff - and the titles should fit to the general atmosphere of the track/album. With artworks I usually select something together with the label which I am working with that will suit both of us. Visuals are important but it is usually the part I spend the least amount of time thinking about when working on an album.
You've worked with names like Vomir, The Rita, Black Leather Jesus, In Slaughter Natives. What do you look for in a collaborator so that the union is more than a simple split and becomes a new entity?
I think all the names that you mentioned here are from the "V Day" album (8 CDrs box-set, from Tan! Kaven!! Ash!!!). But yes, over the many years that I've been doing this, I got to work with a lot of artists that I totally adore; to name a few here - Contagious Orgasm, Rotat, The Haters, Uncodified, En Nihil, Knurl, Swollen Organs, Human Virus Transmission, Astro, N., Macronympha and so, many others - and for that I am super grateful! So, I of course try to select artists that I really like what they're doing, even if it's different from my own material. It's the clash of sounds that makes the magic - the bond between different atmospheres that creates something really unique and fresh. This is true for both splits and collaborations, but with collabs, for me, it's even more exciting - as we create something totally new, together. Each brings his own elements and craft into it and the results are at the very least - interesting. And often, when you have a good partner - it makes for great albums.
How would you describe the experimental/noise scene in Israel today? Are there spaces, labels and a constant audience, or is it still a niche practice that survives almost clandestinely?
There is a very active noise scene in Israel actually. It happens in the 'underground' but still quite vibrant with weekly live shows and many new and older artists. There are venues for industrial/noise music all over the country; in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem - and the audience is surprisingly really open to this kind of music. All ages too, from 15 years old kids to people over 60. It's still on a small scale, these events are not packed, but folks do come regularly.
What we don't have much of for some reason are recording artists locally. Most of the 'action' happens live here, and besides a few individuals no one seems to try and release this music to the world in physical format (there's a bit of stuff on Bandcamp and such, but not even a lot of that). Which is a shame, as some of it is really good. So, not a lot of recording artists or active labels (besides 999 CUTS). There used to be more local labels (such as: Topheth Prophet, The Eastern Front, Red Bootkeh, Total Rust etc) and Israeli artists (such as: Drone Lebanon, Kashaiof, Malben, Lietterschpich etc) here - but they slowly faded away (some moved overseas, some retired to 'family life', one guy found god), yet there's a new generation of noisers here so who knows? Maybe something new will grow from this...
In your creative process, do you prefer analog, digital or hybrid equipment? How has your relationship with machinery changed from your first works to the most recent ones such as Monoblood?
For the most part, in recent years I prefer analog. Most of my gear is analog (also the gear that I am building myself). I know you can make everything I do digitally, but for me, it doesn't work.
I don't use computers for example as I want to physically switch a dial or turn a knob and FEEL the sound changing with the touch of my fingers. Clicking on a mouse doesn't feel the same. Not at all saying it's bad, it's just not for me. Maybe I am looking at the whole thing wrong, maybe I will feel different in the future, but I try to do what's good and fun for me. * By the way, I am speaking about recording only, while editing/mixing/mastering I of course use my computer. Anyhow, by now I have gathered quite a lot of pedals and a few synthesizers but a few years ago I started to fuck with electronics and create my own synths and noise-machines. On Monoblood for example, I mainly used one of those machines - I've named it: "No Love". It creates sick destorsioned oscillators and broken feedback loops + what sounds like some radio noises from hell, It's just sick and I love working with it. I haven't created any new noise devices in a while (due to being busy with life and whatnot) but I am slowly getting back to it and exploring what more beautiful damage I can do.
Do you have routines or preparations before recording, mental, physical or even ritual, or is your work completely impulsive and dependent on the moment?
I don't really have a routine when it comes to recordings. Maybe I used to have some, but nothing that comes to mind that I've been doing lately. I do try to record everything that I am doing if I can - even if I am only testing some gear for the first time or learning how to work a new pedal. Maybe something beautiful(\abhorrent) would come of it. And when playing live (especially when playing overseas), I can get my social anxiety to kick-in sometimes, so I just try to remain calm and do my best (and enjoy it if I can). Usually it works well. A beer after the show helps a lot too.
In more melodic genres, time is measured in bars. In noise, time can be pure perception or gross physics. How do you manage the duration of your pieces to achieve a specific impact?
Usually upon a feeling. Like when you are drawing and you are using a lot of black paint to draw your subject, and you add more layers and more layers on the canvas, painting everything black upon the already blackened surface, and in the right moment - you know it's finished. More paint will ruin it. With audio, it's pretty much the same - this moment can happen after X or Y minutes - but when it comes, you just know. Not sure how to explain it better, I hope this passes as a proper metaphor and explanation haha
Do you notice marked differences between the reception of your work in Israel and in other countries where you have edited or played?
Not really.
Your discography was a map; which regions would be more dangerous, which would be calm zones, and which would be directly uninhabitable?
Haha—great question! None of the territories in Kadaver-land are totally calm or safe, most of my material is at the very least a bit hostile. Some definitely dangerous regions includes: "Like A Lonely Pube On The Rim Of The Urinal" (Cassette, Janus Tapes), "Double Negative" (split release with Sodomy From Beyond, by Gutter Disease), "Asphyxiation For The People" (Cassette on Cursed Earth Cassettes) and "This Time… It’s Cancer" (CD by Topheth Prophet). As for some uninhabitable locations in my discography: "Where The Rainbow Ends" (Cassette on Hiisi Productions), "Toxicofera" (split CD with Psychosadist, co-released by 999 CUTS and Phage Tapes), "Micro death" (CDr on Fantasy 1), "The Pornographic Aspects Of Genocide" (split release with Azoikum, on Fusty Cunt) and definitely my latest album (as for the time I am writing this) - "Various Curses", which was also recently released by Fusty Cunt as a C60 tape of everlasting torment. This is just to name a few from the top of my head... It's all pretty...bad 😎
In an era where everything seems to be recorded, measured and standardized, do you think that noise still maintains a real subversive potential or has it been partly domesticated?
Well, my take on this is that noise is not (yet) dead! But as time moves on there seem to be more shit-projects out there; I am talking about all these low-effort, uninspired, divorced of passion, bullshit 'noise acts', that you see more and more of. Take for example, and we've all seen them online, these "digital only" mega noise compilations of 18 and a half hours, filled with 83 groups - none of them is known to anyone, and just the shittiest, most boring excuse for noise out there.. where everything there sounds like someone downloaded a pink-noise app on their phone and they are playing with it in front of a mic. What's the deal with that?? And so, you need to spend more time searching for the right projects. But they are out there. And when you find a good one - it's worth it. There are still a lot of great new artists coming out, and the blood of the scene keeps pumping.
Can you preview some of what's to come in Kadaver or in your collaborations? Do you think about continuing to radicalize the sound or exploring other, less abrasive territories?
So, I have a few things still in the works or waiting to be released - a couple of solo albums and some splits\collaborations with many great artists. I've been working lately with some of my personal favorite musicians such as - Henrik Nordvargr Björkk, Grant Richardson of Gnawed, Kusafuka Kimihide of K2, Keith Finnan of S.T.A.B. Electronics, Fumiyuki Nagura of Mo*Te, Sou Inomoto of SCUM and quite a few more, and I am looking forward to these works slowly being released! I always try to create my own atmosphere - trying new ways to capture the audio I seek. I will continue to play with new things, building DIY noise synths, buying new gear and figure out different ways to manipulate the sound to do 'what I want' it to do [Being Nasty 😻]. The style or the sounds may shift and change but as long as I will feel like I need to create - I'll just go on messing and fucking with extreme audio.
If Kadaver were to disappear tomorrow and you could only leave one piece to represent everything you did, what would it be?
Remember me for the first album by ACE OF BASE please. Thank you very much for the interview. And you can reveal here a little more about the near future with Kadaver and your projects. Thank YOU. And thanks to everyone who just read this. More NOISE is coming... Nothing more to add here. Hugs!
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