Looking for some new music from the underground to feast your ears upon? Well, look no further. Our journalist from across the pond, Connor Williams has been looking around, and every two weeks he’ll be giving the lowdown on some of the best underground artists in the UK rock and metal scene.
“In medieval legend, a cambion is the half-human offspring between a human male and a succubus, or of an incubus and a human female. The non-human wellspring from whom they believe inherits its supernatural powers and abilities.” – Unnatural World Wiki
As fans of the supernatural may already know of what a cambion is, there’s also another which deserves its own little title.
“Cambion is a four piece tech metal outfit from Devon in the United Kingdom, and it is believed that when the first chord rings out from the stage which they perform, every observers skull gets thoroughly fucked by the heaviness of its impact ” – Connor Williams
Here’s a little anecdote for everyone: one of the first local bands I remember seeing in the UK was in a small pub in Taunton was Cambion. While small at first, it’s undeniable how damn good they were and their first ep (to my knowledge at this stage) Last Rites, is still on my iPod and something that will be turned up even a track pops its head out on shuffle. The band took the South west by storm, and it was crazy to hear that they played the likes of Bloodstock, Tech Fest and, most recently, Download Festival. I had the chance to talk to the bands bassist, Jonny Walker, about the band and how far they’ve come.
What would you say makes Cambion stand out from other bands in the UK music scene?
I like to think when someone comes to a Cambion show they get the chance to loose themselves for awhile. we try to create an atmosphere to allow people to relax and let go of anything they’re worrying about and just be there with us experiencing the power of what we do. we do this by keeping our sound as organic as possible which gives it more life and preforming to the best of our ability every night without fail, whether there’s 5 people or 5,000.
Video for Heterodox
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Your sound has been described as “Fear Factory and Meshuggah at war in space” by Terrorizer. For new fans, would that be a fair description of your style?
For our first two eps, definitely! The new material we’re writing for the album has a larger scope and goes to a few more places but we will always keep the core gurn inducing riffs that we all love.
You’ve recently played at Download with Boardie House Takeover in the Dog House, what was the experience like?
It was incredible! Walking up on to the stage as seeing all those people ready for you to show them who you are and why you’re there was exhilarating. the atmosphere on stage was intense, we all knew that we wouldn’t forget what was about to happen and gladly it went off without a hitch. the response we had afterwards made me feel honoured that we had the opportunity to play there and grateful to every single person in that tent.
Did you get any opportunities to see any of your favourite bands backstage?
Unfortunately not because we played in the Thursday and we had to head back home afterwards due to a grievance in a members family.
Congratulations on getting the opening spot on the Ronnie James Dio stage at Bloodstock. You’ve played at the festival before on the Sophie Lancaster stage in 2014 and the New Blood stage in 2012, but what does it feel like opening on the main stage?
It’s honestly hard to put into words. having the privilege of opening that stage specifically is an incredible honour, then there’s the fact that we will be sharing it that day with some of our childhood heroes. I mean come on – Gojira and fucking Mastodon!!!! I personally have gotten a commemorative tattoo already because I know when I’m old and done I’ll still be reveling in the fact we played on the main stage at Britain’s best heavy metal festival!
Recently, it was announced that one of your songs will be featured in a MOD for Fallout 4. How did the opportunity come to be?
There’s no special story really, we we’re contacted by the creator to feature in a play list for their radio station mod. It’s so sick! I know I’ve played that game a lot so for our music to be picked to represent a metal radio station for everyone is great.
Video for Mechanics of Extinction
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With that in mind, it begs the question – Playstation 4, Xbox One, PC. Which is your favourite gaming platform?
I know that Marc (Randall, guitar) and Frank (Dennis, drummer) have played a lot of x-box, Elliott (Alderman-broom, lead vocals and guitar) has a ps4 and I’ve built a gaming pc so we cover all the bases. At the end of the day they all have their advantages. but ps4 has some great exclusives and pc`s have more power and games and like everything!
For other bands out there starting up, have you got any tips as to what makes a band successful and unique?
Write music that you want to hear not what you think other people want to hear. Use your experiences to fuel it and keep going.
What can we expect to see from you in the future?
We’re finishing off writing the album now and we will record it get it out as soon as we can but we want it to be right so we’re insuring it’s worthy every step of the way and the wait will be worth it. Other than that it’s the usual shows from the top to the bottom of the country and maybe a few other further trips planned, but that’s on the shhhh.
