In conjunction with the Hammerslag Vinterblot 2006 sponsorship, I sent over some questions for Cutthroat's by email. Cutthroat's guitarists Thor Øivind and Endre have taken the time to respond.

Daniela: Tell us a little bit about the history of the band. Who were the founding members?

Cutthroat: Cutthroat started up in 2001 with Pål, Thor, Ole, Endre and Anders. Soon after Anders left the band to consentrate on his other band "Algorythms." After a period With Per Ivar on drums from Absolute Steel, Cutthroat entered MOF studios to record "Encyclopedia In Brutalism". This demo with Morfeus as a produser was realesed in 2003. Short after the realese and a couple of concerts, Per Ivar was replaced by Cato from Sarcoma inc and Lucid Fear. In 2005 Cutthroat records the album "Morbid Mental Disorder". Right before the realese, Ole died after several years of strangeling with cancer. After a tough time for the band, Cutthroat decides to move on and Kenneth from Dimension F3h joins the band in 2006.

Daniela: Last year you released your second demo 'Morbid Mental Disorder', which I understand was very well received, both in Norway and abroad. How was the reaction compared to your expectations?

Cutthroat: We are satisfied with the rewievs from the album. Especially the abroad feedback was over all expectation.

Daniela: Who directed the video of 'Butchering'? Is this your first official video?

Cutthroat: Yes, "Butchering" is Cutthroats first video and was directed by Inge Thorin. Inge is a personal friend who made this as a school project.

Daniela: What movie sample opens 'Face Of Death'? It sounds like Vincent Price.

Cutthroat: Actually the samples are taken from different movies, but its all Vincent Price!

Daniela: What can you tell us about the lyrics? What do you draw on for inspiration?

Cutthroat: What lyrics ? hehe. Pål who sings and does the lyrics has a inpiration source that we don't want to know about.

Daniela: You've said that My Dying Bride and Cannibal Corpse are two of your biggest influences. What style first got you into metal- doom or death?

Cutthroat: Both death and doom goes way back, but bands like Venom, Metallica, Testament and Slayer did take us where we are today.

Daniela: What bands do you listen to lately?

Cutthroat: Oh, there are so many bands that we are lisening to. Unfortunately we are really lame on checking out new bands, so we are sticking to the good old ones like Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Deicide and so on.

Daniela: Are you currently working on any new material or are you just concentrating on live shows at the moment?

Cutthroat: At this moment we are working on material for the next record, that we hopes to record next year. We are also doing any possible live-shows, so if it is of any interest, dont hesitate to contact us.

Daniela: Are you looking forward to the Hammerslag Vinterblot Festival?

Cutthroat: Yes, this event is going to be awesome! It's going to be really cool to play together with our friends in Kampfar and also check out the other bands. Hammerslag Festival is starting to grow big here in Norway so it is a great pleasure for us to play there.

Daniela: If you could tour with anyone, who would you tour with?

Cutthroat: It would be really cool to tour with Cannibal Corpse because we would be a perfect match ;) Or maby we could go on tour with The Hooters! hehe

Daniela: Thank you very much for your time. Any last words to our readers or anything you'd like to add?

Cutthroat: Hope that so many of you metalheads as possible, shows up to the Hammerslag Festival! Check also our homepage for more info! Stay brutal!!

www.cutthroat.no
www.myspace.com/cutthroatnorway

When Cutthroat was about to release their second demo CD they had to face the loss (due to cancer) of their best friend and guitar player. So the band had to answer the obligate question: do we quite or do we continue? The band choose to continue and together with Morfeus as producer (Limbonic Art and Dimension F3H) and with Dimension F3H member Endre on bass the band is now looking out for a good future. Lords Of Metal spoke with guitar player Thor.

If this is a morbid mental disorder it`s actually quite enjoyable. Satisfyingly aggressive and tightly executed, regardless of whether the tempo`s raging or lumbering. The debut album for this Norwegian outfit is every bit as lethal as their name suggests. In fact, It`s hard to believe it`s their debut at all. Their sophisticated merger of technical Death metal with doom highlights both the contrast between the genres and the efficacy of each, thereby giving the overall interest one helluva boost. The seven minute My anger, Your Suffering for example, opens with a solid, hulking backbone topped with trilled riffs and an anguished, drawn-out howl before plunging into a malicious death metal onslaught.

Then it`s back to leaden doom, a trasition that takes place a number of times.

Let me introduce to you the Norwegian Death ensemble Cutthroat. A band name that certainly isnt the most original, according to main man Endre Moe (Bass Guitar) there is 5 other bands with the same name. I havent heard any of the bands before. One cant say that the music they play is specifically original either, but at least it is some quality Death Metal at display. Most Norwegian Death Metal bands Ive heard has had this Black Metal feel over its music, thats not the case with Cutthroat. Morbid Mental Disorder is Death Metal coupled with small amounts of Doom Metal.There is nothing wrong with the music being played on Morbid Mental Disorder; my main problem is the vocalist. He is performing a less than impressive half growl, sometimes he reminds me of Ares in Aeternus, though Ares does it a lot better. I think that Pål (Vocals) has some of the same problems as Chris Barnes faced on Tomb Of The Mutilated. He isnt singing with the riffs, he is more like a layer on top of them. Its quite a shame that the vocals doesnt live up to the rest of the music, as this would have been the icing of the cake. Cutthroat even managed to make an unsettling intro. The guy speaking at the start sounds sincerely nuts, I have no clue where theyve taken the sample from as Im not a big fan of Gore movies, or any movies for that matter. This supposed nut case is featured with some more samples throughout the opener Face Of Death. He also ends the record with the words; Well Who is next?

For being a self release the sound quality is very good, Ive certainly heard signed bands with worse production values. Im of course not taking the many Black Metal bands that deliberately go for a Lo-Fi production into account. I guess its harder for A Norwegian Death Metal band to get a contract than it is for those who play Black Metal. I would certainly have signed Cutthroat if they promised to give the vocalist some growling lessons. Im quite certain that he is able to improve his performance. My Anger, Your Suffering shows a band that knows how to vary its attack. Here we are treated with everything from blasting drums to slow doom passages, a very good song indeed. The blasts that are present on Morbid Mental Disorder sounds really powerful, the same goes for the double kicks. The drum playing isnt overly complex but they do the job nonetheless. Only on some of the fills I feel there is a lack of imagination. The guitars arent doing the most technical riffs out there either, sounds like they want you to head bang without too much of an effort. I have to add that all of this is fine by me, as the drums and guitars create a very nice symbiosis.

'Morbid Mental Disorder' is the second demo from Norwegian outfit Cutthroat. After the release of the 2003 demo 'Encyclopedia In Brutalism' the band makes a new attempt to win over some death metal souls, and while listening to this six track demo (playing time thirty minutes) I do get the feeling that they indeed should be able to convince some metalheads. Cutthroat use some slow and heavy riffs combined with some up tempo stuff ('Face of Death' and 'Hatch Me If You Can'). In 'My Anger, Your Suffering' they even extended the slower parts by using some doom metal orientated parts. During 'Coffin Sweet Coffin' the drummer shows his skills but also some riffs here do sound very familiar. The seven minute song 'Consumed By Maggots' again starts very doomy (they even used a little choir here) but in the end it is a very fast song and the last one 'Butchering' shows some Cannibal Corpse influences. Those of you who like their death metal with a twist of the old school should give this a try. The songs are well written and well played. The grunter has got a firm sewer sound and the production is also okay, although the guitars could use a stronger sound every know and then.

Cutthroat from Norway, not to be mixed with the Japanese band Cut Throat, is an old school death metal band which recently released their second demo entitled "Morbid mental disorder". The band was founded in 2001 and two years later their first demo "Encyclopedia in brutalism" was released. After changing drummer in 2004 the band started working on this second demo. But only days before the release of "Morbid mental disorder" Ole (guitar) died after several years of struggling with cancer. Of course his death had a deep impact on the band but the remaining members decided to continue with the exact same spirit as always and therefore this second demo is out after all. The latest news is Kenneth, known from Dimension F3H, has now joined Cutthroat as a fulltime guitarist.