Misery Index: "Today, people's attention is far more hard to get"

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The announcement of a live show by Misery Index in Athens struck us like a bolt of lightning. The death/grind titans from Baltimore are returning to Athens on Thursday, May 16, after nearly 20 years, and we can't wait enough. The extreme metalband, for two and a half decades, has emerged as a pillar of its scene, consistently releasing quality records, with the most recent being the torrential "Complete Control" of 2022. Thus, a communication with them seemed to be a one-way street.

The frontman and one of the main composers of the band, Jason Netherton, warmly answered our call. The following interview, covering a wide range of topics, introduces us to the unique world of an uncompromising band, who have charted their own path. Intelligent and articulate, Netherton detailed his views without hesitation, while radiating a wonderful positive energy. From the secrets of their sound, aesthetic and compositional process, to their influences and initiation, and from their famously politicized lyrics to their views on the modern music industry, Misery Index reveal themselves to us.

Greetings, I am Apostolis and I welcome you to Rocking.gr! Where does this interview find you?

Jason here, nice to meet you! All good mate, at home in Helsinki, Finland (where I have lived for 7 years) and working on music (songwriting for a new Misery Index album as well as for my traditional heavy metal band called Sulphur and Mercury), waiting for the summer and trying to stay positive in an ugly world.

You are about to return to Athens almost 20 years after your previous live show here and we can't wait. Why did it take so long?

I have no idea why! It's a combination of just not the right timing, not the right booking agent and having a too busy schedule. The thing is, since maybe 2011 , we switched to a more part time touring schedule, as our home lives become more settled. So, we would only have a window of a few weeks a year to make something happen. When we go the offer to play a fest in Belgium last year, we decided to try to make it to Athens since we were coming over anyway, and make a proper weekend out of it. It worked!

We are older of course, but we grind and slam just as hard as we did on the first time we were there

What should we expect from your live performance? Any secrets you'd like to share with us?

Hard hitting, ferocious, relentless and loud – we are older of course, but we grind and slam just as hard as we did on the first time we were there, and now we have a whole catalog of 7+ albums to choose from and give the show real dynamics and fire. No big secrets, just riffs and passion.

How much have Misery Index changed in those years? Do you still find yourselves in the same place, artistically, as when you'd started?

I feel like its been a whirlwind of movement between the worlds of death metal, grind, and hardcore, with some elements coming to the surface in some songs more than others. Its like alchemy, we are constantly mixing the ingredients in different ways and seeing where the formulas take us. But as mentioned, its always about the riff – the basic riffs and songs which make up the blood and guts of the music. No gimmicks, just pure riffs and mettalic fire.

Metal fans tend to be more interested and put in more time to learn and know the artists they like

How difficult is it today for an extreme metal band to start, rehearse, record, tour and make a name for them? Are the problems in the industry today different or pretty much the same as when you'd started?

It has always been difficult I believe, whether it was the 1980s and sending dubbed tapes around trying to build a virtual following through snail mail, or sending CDRs and eventually Mp3s…there are thousands and thousands of bands aiming for the same thing. It takes time, patience and dedication, but if you write music that is sincere and true to your own vision, it will resonate eventually with others. The main problem today though, is people's attention is far more hard to get, most have no time to sit down and take in entire albums or even songs as they are distracted by so many other kinds of media. At least metal fans tend to be more interested and put in more time to learn and know the artists they like, which is what make our scene special.

Your most recent album, 2022's superb "Complete Control", was met with both critical acclaim and was praised by fans all over the world. What does that record mean to you?

It was our pandemic album, written and recorded without much direction other than we all contributed bits and pieces and it came out solid. We are totally happy with it and wish it could have been promoted better when it came out. There was a bit of a lag with things and then we had a few tours cancelled because of Covid. So its an odd record in that it kind of came out and we did not do much to promote it, but the songs are still very much solid.

Our lyrics are so reality driven and concern real issues of human exploitation, suffering and power disparities

You've started as a death-grind band mostly, but with the last albums it feels like you shift into a more death metal sound. Do you agree with this kind of genre-tagging, and furthermore, do the changes in your sound come naturally, or are they a product of a strategic planning?

I think the perception of the ‘grind' part (of ‘death grind') has a been a bit overstated through the years, mainly cause our lyrics are so reality driven and concern real issues of human exploitation, suffering and power disparities, I suppose we ‘seem' like more of a grind band. I would say that its part of the wavering and putting our feet more into the grind territory on some songs is true, especially on the first album, but we have always had a death metal core as far as our sound and songwriting and we have a TON of slow and mid-paced songs, which are evident across albums from "Traitors" to "Killing Gods" and "Rituals of Power" especially. We like all kinds of metal, so it all ends up in the songwriting.

I have the feeling that "Complete Control" showcases a more old-school hardcore sound, relatively speaking. Am I right? Were there any specific influences that shaped the creative process of the record?

I think that might be evident in some songs more than others, especially the ones I tend to write which are more straightforward (e.g . the title track) but we have always had that influence I think, with bits of Integrity, His Hero Is Gone and Disrupt for example peppered in. It's just the culmination of decades of listening, writing and performing this music, the streams inevitably get crossed and bubble up to the surface of our songs in different ways.

You've arisen from a scene and a sound that never hid its political leanings and I really admire the way you tackle topics in your lyrics. So, what comes first when you are about to write a new record? The lyrical themes or the riffs?

Definitely and always the riffs…we all write, myself, Darin and Mark, pretty much coming up with the basic form of the song and then handing it over to Adam to flesh out. The lyrics then come once the song is fully set, but they can influence the song if we feel we have a good chorus that might drive the riff etc. Moreover, the lyrics on the surface may appear ‘political' but they are more about the tension and horror of everyday life, they are something anyone can relate too who has to work for a living and needs to vent and unleash their frustration and anger through the music.

I would like to stay on the compositional process a bit more. The drumming of Adam Jarvis is an important element of your artistic identity. Does Adam have total freedom regarding his parts, or do you discuss which pattern and drum effect suits each track best?

As mentioned above, we each write the skeleton version of the song on our own, then hand them over to Adam for adding the drums and the final arrangements. His role is usually prominent enough that he gets songwriting credit for each song he works on. So he is very critical and quite tactical with how he write each drum part, so that its played exactly how he envisions on the album.

Metal has conventionally been apolitical, but since the 1980s there have always been metal bands using political lyrics, and we are in that long tradition

How important do you feel it is for today's extreme metal, for bands to be outspoken politically? Have you ever faced adversity because of your beliefs?

I don't think it's a requirement or anything, for many metal fans the music is an escape from the everyday world, so I can understand the appeal of more fantasy-based themes in metal, and that's fine. For the artists as well, if that's how they want to express themselves, that's great. Artistic vision is up to the artist. If they want to voice their views as well on politics, more power to them. We are all first and foremost common citizens and share a common interest in our well being and how we are governed, so if artists what to be outspoken with their politics, they have every right just as much as firemen or airline stewardesses. I know metal has conventionally been apolitical, but since the 1980s there have always been metal bands using political lyrics, and we are in that long tradition. We have never felt ostracized and have always been welcomed no matter what kind of tour it was. We are not ‘preachy' about anything, its more so that the lyrics just work with how we want to express ourselves and the type of death metal we play.

From Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Instagram, Live Νation, Google etc, everything is funneled through the corporate rent/fee machine

The pandemic and the global geopolitical situation have affected the music and touring industry, taking their toll on the underground as well. From your experience, how should the younger bands preserve and propagate their art without succumbing to the (cultural) industrial machine?

Its harder than ever as the corporate tentacles extend far down into every tiny facet of the underground now. Literally everything a new band can do to reach out and contact audiences is enveloped in corporate accumulation. From Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Instagram, Livenation, Google etc everything is funneled through the corporate rent/fee machine. So, I do not envy any new bands, if anything, there is still the purity of the DIY live performance and the local scene. That can still be a space of authentic, direct human interaction and sharing experiences without corporate intermediation, outside of that, it's tough.

Are you familiar with today's extreme metal scene? Are there any bands that you'd like to suggest to our readers?

Yes, I am always checking new bands and new releases, I can say that recent releases from Miasmatic Serum, Apparition, Cruel Force, Spectral Voice, 200 Stab Wounds and Ulthar are killer as well as from my adopted home country of Finland specifically, check out Cryptic Hatred, Morbific, Convocation, Devenial Verdict and Unearthly Rites.

The best songwriting might come from when you are not trying to hard at all to write something concretely

Let's dig into the past. Records like "Traitors" and "Heirs To Thievery" were pivotal in the expanse and the constant formation of the death/grind scene. Looking back to the recording sessions of those albums, were you aiming for something particular artistically? How do you evaluate those albums today, personally, and as a part of your band's history?

Yes, we hit our stride and found our sound with those records. Some say that was the best of times, I can understand why, as it was tied up with a particular moment in history, where the scene was at the time and it helped we were touring full time like 175 shows a year, so they got a big push. We were not consciously trying to do anything more than what we set out to do, and that is to find that right mix/alchemy of death metal with touches of grind and hardcore, and sometimes the stars align. I think the best songwriting might come from when you are not trying to hard at all to write something concretely, but it just comes out as a natural expression. It's very hard to capture that, magic in a bottle etc. I think every songwriter hopes for it everytime they pick up the instrument. Today, we love those records and we still play like 80% of those songs, so they are a core part of who we are even in 2024.

Final questions, and I would like to thank you for your time. How do you view the future of Misery Index? What would you like to have achieved in 10 years from now? The final words are yours!

Thank you for the thoughtful questions! In 10 years, I guess it will be amazing if we can still be doing this even still part time, every year that passes we are thankful to still be able to travel and bring the music to the people. If we can come back to Greece again in the next couple years, that would be fantastic too…