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Theo talks death metal, philosophy, AI, The Cure and why being a human is apparently a full-time fucking job.
I caught up with Theo from Obscura Qalma to talk about their new album Immortality Through Ashes, which is out October 23 through Dusktone.
It started with the album. Then we went all over the place.
Faust. Philosophy. AI. Death metal. Orchestration. The Smiths. The Cure. The Black Dahlia Murder. Trevor Strnad. Touring. Photography. Art. And, at some point, kebabs.
The album is built around a pretty simple idea. Someone wants something they can’t achieve on their own. Instead of accepting that, they look for another way. That’s where things start going bad.
Theo said the story isn’t just about some character in a philosophical idea. There’s a lot of the band in it too.
“In the end, it’s him, but it’s me, it’s the band.”
That came up when we were talking about his grandfather, who died last year. Theo talked about how that loss found its way into the writing and connected with what the character in the album was going through.
That’s probably what I found most interesting about the record. There’s a lot going on musically and lyrically, but the stuff underneath it is pretty human.
We also talked about AI and what being a “proper” human even means now.
Sleep enough. Work. Exercise. Keep up with what’s happening in the world. Have a social life. Have a purpose. Be creative. Be empathetic.
Fuck me.
Theo said having a purpose matters to him. For him, that’s the band, his work and the things he does with his life.
Then we got onto music.
The Smiths. The Cure. Behemoth. Septicflesh. The Black Dahlia Murder. Trevor Strnad. The bands he’d love to tour with. The places he’s played. The places he’d go back to. Art galleries. Photography.
And food.
Because apparently you can spend an hour talking about Goethe and the human condition, but eventually the conversation still ends up with someone talking about a massive kebab.
That’s basically how the interview went.
Immortality Through Ashes is out October 23 through Dusktone.
I talked to Theo about all of it.
Watch the full interview with Theo from Obscura Qalma on KillerTube right here!
This is the gospel.
I bite crowd surfers.
Killer.
