Dark, brooding, brutal death metal from Detrimentum

The band was originally formed in February 1996. Ed placed an advert in Terrorizer Magazine looking for a guitarist to start a band with. Jon had come back from university a few months previously and had been desperately seeking other musicians to form a metal band in the local area. Ed and Jon met up and immediately began writing dark and gloomy death metal, with strong overtones of doom and black metal - and some very long songs!

Ed brought in a friend called Mark to help out on drums, and Dan joined the band as the other guitarist. To cut a long story short - Mark left the band after roughly 2 years to pursue his main interest of body building. Dan left after a few months to be followed by a string of other guitarists all of whom left after a short space of time (for various reasons). At this point the band had existed for around 2 years and due to the constant line-up problems had achieved absolutely nothing!

Ed brought another friend in to play drums - Wayne, who was a much better drummer, and the music began to take shape at last - heavier and more dynamic than before. Paul joined in the summer of 1999 after yet another uninterested guitarist left and instantly improved the band sound and song writing capabilities. The band (at that time called Zarathustra) recorded their first demo CD `A Monument To Suffering - Dominus Detrimentum' in December 1999. Wayne left in the summer of 2000, as he was tired of playing live, and preferred Hardcore to the music that Zarathustra was writing. Jon (Rushy) joined to help fill the drum stool temporarily, on loan from Brutal Insanity and Gorerotted - this instantly shifted the band's music into top gear! The band recorded another demo in the winter of 2000 - however the sound was terrible due to lack of time and funds! Shortly after that, the band decided to change names from Zarathustra (as there were at least 2 other bands with the same name) to Detrimentum, taken from the title of the first demo.

Here in 2003, Paul and Rushy are still with the band, and Detrimentum are going from strength to strength, writing heavier, darker, more varied and extreme music than ever before!

interview with Jon on 16-02-2003

Please give us a short introduction of yourself?
I'm Jon Butlin - guitarist and co-founder of Detrimentum

So how is life in Northampton? Where the hell is it? Near some big cities?
Northampton is the arse-end of the universe! Well actually it's in the southern part of the midlands in England - 60 miles south is London, and about 40 miles west is Birmingham. Life here is pretty dull - there's a real apathy for most things here, especially metal! I think the guys in Detrimentum are about the only people into Metal in Northampton (apart from 1 or 2 friends) - as a result we hardly ever play in our home town!

Is there some metal scene in your area? How big? All kind of styles?
There's a lot of kids in baggy trousers around this town, with skateboards under their arms - as a result Korn and Slipknot are really popular, but proper metal isn't. There's a bit of an old punk scene here, a band called Freebase are from Northampton, and there's a handful of hardcore style bands, but we're the only metal band!

How fanatic do you show that you are a metalhead? Wear shirts, leather jackets, studs etc?
I am a bit of a fanatic - haven't had a haircut for 12 years! I do enjoy feeling like a metal warrior - I've got the leather jacket, bullet belt etc. It's not so fashionable in this country, but I've got the cut of denim jacket with patches too - I normally wear that when I go to the Wacken Festival, but I might start wearing it in the UK a bit more - bring back the old metal ways!

Do you think it is important to show your looks? Does clotches make a different person?
I think it's really up to the individual - I know a lot people that don't look the part but are fanatical underground metal supporters. Essentially it's the passion that is important over appearance, but I also like to look that part, to display to others that I'm a metalhead and not just another trendy bastard!

What does attract you in metal music? What makes it differ from other styles of music?
I like the power, the passion, the creativity, the atmosphere - pretty much everything about it! When I hear a good metal song, it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up - so far no other form of music has done that! Metal music I think is one of the most creative and imaginitive forms or rock music - there's so much variation. Plus it's also pretty subversive - lots of interesting subject matter, pretty far from what you get in the charts!

Is music important in your daily life? When do you listen to music? Do you listen with headphones to save the neighbours?
I don't get time to listen to music as mush as I like - I do a lot of driving for my job, but there's no stereo in my car, so I have to sing to myself! I usually crank the stereo up quite loud, as there's no neighbours on that side of the house. I always listen to music in bed as well (using headphones) so I can have metal dreams!

How typical english are you? White skin, drinking lots of beer, got tattoos, football fanatic?
Hmm not sure - if the above qualify me as English then I guess I'm not all that English! I am a whitey, but I've got very dark curly hair, which makes some people think I'm Greek. Strange really, because Butlin is a traditional east Midlands surname, my whole family have lived in Northampton for generations. I do drink lots of beer though - although being the only guy in the band who drives at the moment you'll never see me drunk at gigs, sadly! Football is something I never got into - I used to hang around on my own a lot as a kid, never got into team sports really. My passions are music, literature and beer! As for tattoos, I often thought about it but never got round to getting any - now I'm 28 and I'm not all that bothered. I have a feeling though that if I did get one - it would be really cheesy and I'd hate it within a week of having it done!

And how the hell can you eat saucages and beans for breakfast?
Hahaha - good question! I must admit I can't stomach that for breakfast most of the time, but after a heavy drinking night it seems like a good idea - something heavy and filling to absorb all the alcohol!

Do you feel ashamed when hearing about the football riot done by english fans in Europe?
Yes, I think it's absolutely disgusting behaviour - I'm surprised England is allowed to play in other countries. As per usual though, it's always a minority of fans that cause the trouble and spoil it for everybody else. I don't know what it is that possesses English fans to behave that way in other peoples countries.

Why can the hooligans travel to Europe when the are known and prohibited to go abroad?
I have no idea - they shouldn't be allowed to travel anywhere.

Do you agree that the high policehelmet that a Bobby wears, makes him not to taken seriously?
Hahaha - it does look rather like an enormous tit doesn't it?? You don't see so many of those about these days, probably for that reason!

And how phony is your Royal Family? Do you think they are usefull for England? Or one big joke that costs a lot of money?
I have no idea why we still have a royal family - I think we should sell them to the Americans! They do cost a lot of money and are pretty ambarassing ambassdors for the UK -especially Prince Phillip (the Queens husband) who always manages to say something racist or bigoted whenever he goes abroad!

When can we pay with Euros in England? When do you start driving on the right side? When will the centimeter be counted?
Hmm good question - people in England are very conservative generally - they can't bear the thought of parting with their precious pound, or Royal family. There seems to be some deep emotional attachment to the pound which I can't explain - I can't see that it makes that much difference except that we wouldn't have to change our money when going oversees! I think driving on the right-hand side would cause a lot of problems here!! Probably would be quite fun to watch though, if it changed overnight!

Zarathustra. What the fuck does it mean? Where is it taken from? Do the other two same named bands play metal? Don't think the current name conflicts with Detrimental from USA?
Zarathustra was the main character in Friedrich Nietzsche's book `Thus Spoke Zarathustra' - that's where we got the name from, the book's pretty dark and histrionic in tone so it seemed like a good idea to use it for the band. We discovered that there were 2 other bands with the same name - one's a German Black Metal band, and the other is from The Czech Republic I think (Black Metal again). As we'd never written any songs about Nietzsche's work or anything relating to his ideals, we thought we'd change the name. Also didn't want to be associated with some of the far-right Black metal stuff that likes to quote Nietzsche's work either!
I must admit, I didn't know there was a band called Detrimental! As our band name isn't exactly the same - I don't think we'll be changing it (it took is long enough to decide on it!)

You went to university. What did you study? Do you have a job in it? Or doing something completey different?
Ha - I studied Politics and Philosophy at university, which probably means I'm fucking boring!! You can't get jobs in philosophy as far as I know, and I'm not power-crazed enough to go into politics! I'm doing something totally different - IT support for schools in Northamptonshire! Not a very metal job I suppose...

Do you think you can make money with death metal music? What will you do with your first million?
Obviously I'm only into death metal for the money - when Detrimentum turn up to play a gig in my 1 litre VW Polo, people must think we're millionaires! I think with my first million (which will obviously come pretty soon) I will blow all of it on drugs, hookers and beer!

How big is unempoyment in your area? Is wellfare a good alternative for not seeking a job?
The unemployment rate around here is pretty low actually - around 3-4% I think most people work in all the retail parks and industrial parks that seem to be springing up all over the place round here! I guess if it's a choice between welfare or starvation, I'd take welfare, but I'd rather have a job - more money for a start, plus you get meet other people (although they might be tossers!) instead of hanging around on your own all day. Welfare is pretty pitiful - hardly enough money to live on. The right-wing press here like to make a big thing of welfare scroungers, but I don't think the problem is as bad as they say.

Explain the term blow job? I thought you blow a balloon and suck a pe*is?
I can't - it doesn't make a lot of sense does it?? Although a 'suck job' somehow doesn't sound as good??

Choose between the following statements and give a brief reason why.

* newspaper or gossip magazines?
* three tits or a squeezing cunt?
* attack Saddam or praise Blair?
* judge system or eye for an eye?
* finish this intie or reanswer them?
I've chosen `three tits or a squeezing cunt' - it sounds intriguing - like the woman from Total Recall with 3 tits! I think shagging an alien woman would be quite an interesting experiance...

Last rites?
Cheers for the interview Twan - some very strange questions!! Keep up the good work with Brutalism.com, keep supporting the underground! To all you metalheads - if you want to hear some dark, brooding, brutal and diverse death metal, with touches of Black metal and doom - check out Detrimentum!