Doomed Confessionary: Spit Poison (Black Totem)
Photos by Sami Riitasointu
The third album »III: Sacrifice Tonite« by Finnish death rockers Black Totem is out now via Svart Records!
Imagine the scene: you’ve passed out in a graveyard because you had one too many shots of bourbon last night, and you wake up to a world where every day is literally Halloween… Do those slow-moving figures in the corner of your eye remind you a bit of the fiends from that black-and-white Romero movie you’ve watched too many times?
Under the light of a full moon, you head back home only to realize your old friendly neighborhood is now swarming with witches, and there’s a sacrifice going on behind every window. Finally, back in your own bed, you can’t sleep because the flapping sounds of batwings keep you awake, and you still can’t get rid of that image of the totem in the shadows that wasn’t there yesterday…
Black Totem are Spit Poison (lead vocals, bedpan guitar), Sam Hate (lead guitar, backing vocals), Tony Cash (drums, backing vocals) and Wera Wolf (bass, vocals).
Can you say a few words about your band?
Black Totem is a four piece band, which is difficult to categorise. Our music is an ominous mixture of blues, horror punk, heavy and doom metal. Black Totem started out as a garage duo in 2008, but we expanded to a four piece band in 2016. Our two latest albums have been released by Svart Records.
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
Time seems to be the biggest challenge. Most of us have a lot on our plates (other bands, work, family, relationships etc) and it’s sometimes hard to find the time to do all the things that we want to do.
What can you be most proud of so far?
Our latest album »III: Sacrifice Tonite«. Our lead guitarist Sam Hate learned how to record, mix and master for it and we sound better than ever on this album. We are truly grateful to Sam for pulling the weight and doing such a magnificent job!
What was your biggest regret?
We’re not in the habit to regret anything.
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
We did two shows in May this year with The Coffinshakers, a Swedish band that we adore. It was our release party in Helsinki and Turku. We enjoyed playing with them and the other bands, Pääkallo and Mary Ann Hawkins. Great people, great venues and a helluva time to b e alive!
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
For me personally, the latest album from Hexvessel called »Polar Veil«. They changed their style and I love it!
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Blues, bluegrass and ragtime. I just discovered a band called The Bridge City Sinners, which I find highly inspiring.
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
Never be apologetic on stage. I got this advice a long long time ago, but I still think about it every now and then when I see bands apologizing for anything on stage. It’s embarrassing for all parties involved.
What are your guilty pleasures?
Movies with talking dogs.
Can you say something more about the music scene in Turku / Finland?
There’s a lot of amazing underground bands in Finland, but most of the mainstream ones suck hard. But I think this is usually the case with music or any kind of artistic expression everywhere.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
Unfortunately, at the moment we don’t have any gigs booked.
What are your plans for the future as a band?
We’re going to start working on our next release. We haven’t started yet, so next we’ll probably start a conversation about the theme and style, what our goal is etc.
How can people best support your band?
We hope people buy our albums and merch, come to our shows and bring all of their friends.
Do you have any message for your listeners?
If you want to support us, order a t-shirt, album or patch from BlackTotemStore@gmail.com. Our t-shirt is beautiful! And if you are at our show and enjoy it, come and talk to us before or afterwards.
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well