Interview by Kris Peters
Five years ago Australian metal outfit Nothing began an ambitious conceptually based series of chronological singles forming a story inspired by narcissistic relationships, old poetry and a love of storytelling.
It was an ambitious and time consuming project that hit deep at the core of many personal issues and experiences and soon became a labour of passion dubbed Self Repair Manifesto.
To date Nothing have released two previous instalments of the five part manifesto, with the third titled The Shroud out now on Spotify with the video to follow on April 20.
Drummer/vocalist Craig Johnson sat down with HEAVY to go into greater detail about the series of songs which has now reached the half way point.
"This is the third single in the five part concept series Self Repair Manifesto," he affirmed, "and this song is about revealing deception and revealing evil intent. We wanted this song to be really aggressive, definitely our heaviest song of this series with a real black metal vibe to it. We wanted it to be a punch in the face and unbridled aggression that encapsulates the evil that we're describing."
With each song adding more pieces to the puzzle, we press Johnson on where The Shroud leads us lyrically.
"The EP is essentially about surviving a toxic and narcissistic relationship and I think this song really delves into the antagonist and delves into the evil intentions behind the antagonist. Lifting the veil of perceived deception to reveal the true nature of the antagonist character. This being the middle of the EP we wanted it to have some aggression and drive it home. The other tracks have a bit more groove and progression but we wanted this to be an aggressive, fast paced song and I think we definitely achieved that."
In the full interview, Craig runs us through the music video and how it relates, the process of bringing the Self Repair Manifesto to life, how personal it is to him, the final two chapters and when to expect them, new material, the single launch party at the Bendigo Hotel on April 28 and more.