Cretin

Posted on Jun 5, 2006

by Anders

Cretin, an old horde, back to haunt us! The band was formed back in 1992, but it is first now in 1996 that the band is ready with their first full length album, due to a couple of the members have been busy with among other things Exhumed. Though now their debut full lenght "Freakery" is here to haunt, with a good slab of grindcore, the way it was delivered in the mid-80ties, a good deal of dirty punk and just as much raw death metal, turning into the crossover of times, grindcore. If someone says Repulsion out loud while the 3 guys in Cretin are hearing it, I guess they'll be very flattered! I got a good chat with bassist Matt Widener of the band about their influences and how they ended up sounding as they do, and a bit about what to expect of them in the future...

Hi there, will you please start off by introducing yourself and tell us how you ended up in the world of metal?
 
My name is Matt Widener, bassist of Cretin, and I was attracted to the extremity of metal when I was in junior high school. Kids are trying to find identity and a place to fit in or stand out, and metal was my platform, as it is for so many others. It just sort of stuck, and as I learned the nuances of the genres over the years, I grew more picky and demanding in my tastes, but understood them more. I've settled into a love of old grindcore and think I understand it as good as I ever will.
 
A small introduction of the rest of the band will be great as well!
 
Dan Martinez, front man vocalist and guitarist, is the man who built Cretin with me, and my life-long best friend from childhood. His understanding of Repulsion-type grind is second only to Repulsion themselves. We've known drummer Col Jones for about thirteen years now; he and I were in Exhumed together. Cretin was just treading water until he could join us, as there is no other drummer in the world Cretin wants to play with; Col is the torchbearer for the antique blast beat as found in early grind.
 
You are now ready with your new album "Freakery", how do you in the band feel about it?
 
We won't lie: We love it and listen to it all the time. I hope this doesn't sound creepy, but we recorded the album so we could listen to it. No one else is putting out grind in this style anymore, so we're making music for ourselves. I think that's why the album is so enthusiastic and unabashed. It's like walking in on someone masturbating, but they haven't seen you yet. We're sweating, hollering, and enjoying ourselves without a real intended audience. You are all peeping toms. And we love it that way.
 
This is your debut album and it is being released by Relapse Records, so I guess the business has some expectations to you, but what do you expect of the album and the band in general?
 
I'm not sure how well the album will do; I'm not really concerned about it. Like I said, we're doing this because it's fun. We're not a band who will heavily tour, so our survival doesn't depend on an outpouring of widespread financial success (though it would be nice!). All I expect this album to do is make the older grind fans nostalgic; that much is a given. Everything else is icing on the cake. I hope it makes younger listeners investigate '80s grind, the architects and trailblazers who established our genre. I have a wish that it injects some humanity back into metal, too, but that's lofty. I know many people are listening to "Freakery" and abhorring the production values. But that's how we sound live, and we don't want to sterilize our recordings with digital perfection because it doesn't sound like a band anymore. I think most will miss that point. But I'm grateful for those people who just have a fun time listening to the album. That's all that matters.
 
How has "Freakery" so far been received?
 
Critically, it's been a raging success. The reviewers, critics, and press are finding it novel and daring and well-executed. I don't know how the average listener feels. I've read some things on the internet—not exactly the greatest indicator of public opinion—and it wasn't entirely gratifying. I expected that. But the people who matter—the bands and people we respect—are digging it, so that's cool.
 
How did Cretin get started and why did you choose the band name you have, what are your thoughts of the name?
 
We started this band in high school, thirteen years ago, in psychology class. I would table drum and Dan would vocalize riffs, and together, we'd annoy everyone around us. We came up with the theme very quickly; the whole "cretanic" thing is very indicative of what Dan and I find funny, and it keys into our sense of humor. We wanted a name that insulted the subjects of our songs, a name that branded them with shame and scorn, but also set them apart as almost their own species, so Cretin became our moniker.
 
Where do you find inspiration when you write music and how did you end up exactly delivering the raw old school crossover-grindcore type metal you are playing?
 
The band didn't ever really learn to play the newer more modern styles of grindcore. We're caught in stasis. So playing the way we do is natural—no effort involved. Our inspiration are all the amazing albums we listen to, the early stuff that we grew up with and learned to play metal by. Those albums find their way into our music, sometimes riff-for-riff. It all comes out sounding like Repulsion, if I may be so bold as to compare Cretin to those masters.
 
What is grindcore to you and how much do the style mean for you?
 
I go by the classic definition of grindcore, the mid-to-late-'80s bands—Repulsion, Napalm Death, Carcass, Extreme Noise Terror, Terrorizer, and the like—that took the proto-grinders' music—hardcore bands that kept cranking up their tempos, like Siege, Larm, Heresy, Deep Wound—that punk sensibility and energy, and mixed it with the darker metal tonalities of Slayer, Death, Master, and the like. I think true grindcore is an understanding of metal and punk, and taking them both to their extremes and marrying them. I see Repulsion as the inception of that marriage, as they were on the forefront of that first tier of grind bands and helped inspire Napalm Death, Carcass, and the others. Repulsion had speed metal riffs from "Show No Mercy" and early death metal inspired stuff from the Death demo tapes, and they mixed it with punk, with Siege and Discharge, and the song construction is straight up rock and roll, and the main beat, the de facto beat, is the blast beat, and it all came out as something new. That's grindcore. I know the word means something different now; bands that have none of that sound are using the term because it's a hip word; it's now some sort of catchall genre, from death metal bands to avant-weird bands, but that's not right. Most death metal bands use blast beats now, but that wasn't always the way, so most of what people call grind today is really more akin to death metal. The blast beat itself doesn't automatically christen something as grind. It's not anything as simple as a single technique—it's a history, a snapshot in time, an alchemical experiment.
 
How do you in the band work when you write and arrange music?
 
Dan and I write the songs. We bring them to practice and we all learn them. We make little changes, rearrange some stuff, and then we move on to the next one. Dan often includes riffs in his songs that sound like something I'd really like or maybe write, and I try to emulate many of his riffs, that way our songs aren't too dichotomous. By proxy of them having the same production and being on the album together, they gel, and actually compliment each other.
 
Who writes the lyrics in the band and which themes are touched on "Freakery"?
 
I write most of the lyrics, but Dan wrote some songs by himself, and we collaborated on a few over some beers. The themes in Cretin are of marginalization, of being different, often nefariously so; there is a lot of pathos in the songs, much tragedy, but always lots of humour. Basically, we write songs about people who are different from the norm and their adventures. They're stories.
 
Do you have a message with the lyrics and how important are they compared to the music?
 
We mostly just like writing stories, so don't look too deep, but there are some messages. Sometimes our stories are morality tales warning about the dangers of unstable people—'Tazer'—and how they came to be—'Daddy's Little Girl'—and sometimes they're about condemnation and loneliness—'Uni-Tit' and 'Mannequin'—and redemption—'Walking A Midget'—but mostly they're just dark fairy tales. Some have interpreted 'The Yawning God' as an allegory for organized religion, but people will see what they most need to, and that's the robust beauty of art. I really think the lyrics and theme, because they're so strong and unique and an important part of Cretin, are right up there with the music. When you listen to these songs, having read the lyrics, you're supposed to see the story unfold in your mind. Ultimately, they're little soundtracks.
 
Where is the inspiration found for the lyrics?
 
Some of the songs come lifted from the news, or from true stories we've heard from people, but with our unique subtext layered on. But most come from our imaginations. We think of a cretin and a situation, and go from there. Anything that makes us laugh, but also disturbs us, is the goal.
 
How was the cover artwork made and how did you come up with the idea for it?
 
We just handed off the lyrics to Relapse graphic designer extraordinaire Orion Landau, and he had fun with it. We are very pleased. He really created a visual look that melded with our music and stories.
 
How do you look upon the future of Cretin and what can we, the fresh Cretin fans expect of the band?
 
We're going to keep making music until we don't enjoy it anymore. We're going to stay as we are and release more of the same. So if you like "Freakery," you'll like our future releases. We're not in this for evolution or growth. We've had fourteen years to peg down what we like! We're currently rehearsing the album for live shows. Our next release will be a split with Pig Destroyer, and then our next full-length. You won't have to wait long for new music!
 
Do you want to share your 5 all time favourite albums with the readers of Nocturnal Horde?
 
I normally don't do lists (I'm neurotic and get upset that I can't narrow things down!), but here are some albums I always seem to return to, in alphabetical order (the albumtitles that is, ed):

Repulsion - Horrified
Entombed - Left Hand Path
Napalm Death – Scum
Carcass - Symphonies Of Sickness
Terrorizer - World Downfall

I am, however, not afraid to go on record as saying "Symphonies Of Sickness" is the most fucking brilliant album ever. My absolute favorite!
 
Thanks a ton for answering my questions, if you have anything to add, feel free to add it now!
 
Thanks for the interview! I hope everyone out there likes "Freakery." It was fun to write and record and is a ball to play. Let us all revel in grindcore!

Cretin website

Review of "Freakery"

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