It’s no coincidence that every current and former (to my incomplete knowledge) religion uses music to connect to the sacred and the divine. There’s something in the creation and performance of art that gives us a greater appreciation for the world around us, even if that insight isn’t particularly positive. Enter Portland’s Tithe, new signees to Profound Lore, and their label debut – Inverse Rapture, out February 17th – a trio for whom I would eagerly donate 10% each month. Though let’s be clear from the onset: this ain’t Christian music, nor is this uplifting. However, Tithe’s brand of grind-y blackened death metal does feel like a religious experience, with a clear emphasis on an almost psychedelic dissonance that really sings. This is beautifully dirty music, the perfect avenue to reflect on all the ways that humanity is, was, and always will be evil and ugly. Amen.
Let’s get the obvious question out of the way: with a name like Tours, an album title that pokes fun at Fundamentalist fantasies, and album art that feels like a satanic slaughter of every heavenly angel coming to bring tidings of a Christmas birth, it’s clear Tithe have a statement to make.
“I despise the fairy tale of religion,” vocalist/guitarist Matt Eiseman states. “Organized religion leaves a trail of dead bodies and oppression in its wake. When someone studies a ‘holy book’ and treats it as fact, I believe it is about the most stupid thing a person can do. Don’t even get me started on witchy new age hippy bullshit. To quote Zappa ‘who you jiving with that cosmic debris?’ I have an open mind about the different possibilities of what is going on in the cosmos. All I’m saying is that I don’t know what is fully going on and neither does anyone else. I think most religions try to separate the duality of existence. Good and bad are not separate entities; they are opposite sides of the same coin. Metaphorically, God and Satan equally flow through your being. We are the children of dying stars. Our egos are a parasitic worm that births greed and suffering. Our inherited nature will be the cause of our anthropogenic annihilation.”
I think that settles it… Musically, Tithe’s move up to Profound Lore also signifies a renewed focus. What was once a sludgy take on blackened death grind on debut Penance, has been replaced with a more broad-spectrum extreme metal approach, filtered through a decidedly punky lens. Somehow, it’s also much more melodic, hooky, and cathartic. So what were some of the goals with this record?
“I would say the main musical inspiration for this album,” Eiseman says, “stems from a dispersed camping trip that I did with my musician friends where we dropped acid and listened to metal while staring at a huge fire until the sun came up. The fire looked like a burning alter of nature. It was amazing! During that experience I had this epiphany that I needed to make our music more evil, darker, and extreme. I think our progression from album to album comes from continually writing and pushing the limits of our own musical boundaries and abilities.”
“We aspire for each album,” he continues, “to be an evolution and improvement of our previous work. Since we are consistently writing new music, I think that we have improved on every level since releasing Penance in 2020. Our song writing has become more focused. We are a tighter, well-oiled machine. I feel very fortunate to have Kevin and Alex as bandmates. I couldn’t ask for two better people to play music with.”
I love how bands now laugh at genre labels and purity of style. Not to get too nerdy into specific sounds, but how do Tithe view their sonic stew: what sorts of ingredients are you trying to play with? What surprises you when writing songs for the band?
“When we are writing the music for new songs, we try to write parts that serve the composition instead of being a slave to any specific genre. I think what surprises me the most are the finished songs. They never end up sounding like what I originally set out to write. For instance, I’ll start writing a new song with the intention of composing a brutal death or black metal song, and by the time it’s finished, it is more of the amalgamation of styles that is Tithe. The most important part of songwriting is knowing how to recognize the parts that don’t serve the song and throwing them away. I will take inspiration from any style of music that I like when composing. What is most important is how the riffs fit together and interact with each other. I really love writing hypnotic passages and strive for every riff to be a hook. I have zero interest in placating a scene or genre. Of course, I want people to like our music and am truly humbled and thankful for our fans.”
Photo courtesy of Tithe
