THE DEVIL'S MOUTH Vol. 140: a conversation with Steve Von Till (Harvestman)

In terms of Steve Von Till's musical output, this year has been all about Harvestman. The three parts of ‘Triptych’, by far his most ambitious project under that guise, were annouced as set to be released via Neurot Recordings on three of 2024’s full moons – April 23rd’s Pink Moon, July 21st’s Buck Moon, and October 17th’s Hunter Moon. So, in anticipation of the conclusion of the full piece with 'Triptych: Part Three’ coming out in a few days, we sat down with Steve for a great conversation about this endeavour, and we were treated to a full guided tour beyond the veil of this remarkable artist’s creative process.

Mental issues rarely manifest themselves in a visible way to others. In fact, rarely do they “make sense” to an outsider’s perspective, even. How often, for instance, have we all been shocked and surprised when something tragic happens with a public figure because of something related to depression? Even outside of public figures as such, and in other, not art-related professions, in these days of social media exposure, everyone seems even happier and satisfied all the time than usual. No matter how the outside looks, however, a lot of things might be going on. with someone. So it’s important to be honest. To speak out, to share your experiences, so that others might relate and realise they’re not alone, they’re not weird and they’re not broken. That was exactly the starting point for this very honest and very raw conversation with Mlny Parsonz, the amazing frontwoman for Royal Thunder. After two high-profile shows at the prestigious Roadburn Festival, which seemed to highlight the brilliance of their comeback – in every way - record ‘Rebuilding The Mountain’, you would imagine spirits to be high among all band members for a while. In the case of Mlny, half of the crucial core of the band alongside guitarist Josh Weaver, not everything was okay. Expectations, self-worth, dealing with your own shortcomings. We all feel this, and sometimes it’s hard to see the light with all these shadows dancing around us. So what follows is, in Mel’s own words, “an honest interview about imposter syndrome and self worth and self deprecation and finding hope and healing after a severe personal, emotional beat down.” The bassist and singer, who already participated on a couple of The Devil’s Mouth’s features like the Ten Rounds or when we did our 100th episode specials, told us a few weeks ago she did “really want to open up about humility and change and change with time and age in music,” so we naturally gave her all the space and time she needed to do so. Let’s listen to her.

We started these celebrations with a legend of the West Yorkshire doom scene, so how about we close them with... another legend of the West Yorkshire doom scene? Though both Aaron Stainthorpe and Greg Mackintosh hail from the same region and their main bands have often been grouped together, both have also far transcended any genre-specific musical origins with their brilliant careers and greatly helped shape the history of metal along the way. A  punk rocker at heart, Greg showed us that side well when he appeared as  a guest on episode #29 of The Devil's Mouth, and now we called upon him  again to pick one of his own songs. The choice fell on a recent Paradise Lost classic, 'Beneath Broken Earth', and... we'll let him explain the rest. Thank you everyone who has participated in our signaling of episode #100! Normal programme will resume next week as we move on to our season 2 with episode #101.

Colin is a dear old friend, and he  was one of the first to support The Devil's Mouth, way back in episode  #15, it was a huge boost to have an artist of his caliber on the show at  such an early stage. As we celebrate episode #100, we get a lovely  story about how the already iconic 'Silver Needle/Golden Nail' song, the  opener for Amenra's 'Mass IIII' (2008) album, got its title. Neurosis and a  couple of very different drinks are involved. And whaddya know, turns out that there is joy and jokes and friendship behind the gloomy hellscapes that are Amenra songs, too.

We know Royal Thunder are special. We know Mlny is special.If doubts remained, go listen to episode #87, which was one of the most awesome conversations we've ever had on this show. But when we asked her to be a part of these episode #100 celebrations, we honestly didn't know what we were going to get. A reflection about a song, maybe? A cool song, because all Royal Thunder songs are cool. Maybe a funny anecdote, because Mlny is smart and funny. A story few had heard before, at best. Maybe. But then Mlny did that magic thing she does, always, whenever a mic is nearby, in one form or another. She blew us away with  her raw honesty, her capability to dredg up all the feelings we all need to, and take us along for the ride. Starting about one song, and ending about another (let's call them one big song, okay?), Mlny takes us through a deeply personal reflection on empathy, sincerity, relationships, accountability, love and peace. And being better. Thank you, Mel.

Next up on the gift that keeps on giving that is our episode #100 celebration week, Ben Hutcherson, vocalist and guitarist for the awesome Khemmis - one of the best things to have happened to metal in the last decade - who was our guest on episode #85, a very special one, personally, as we both discovered that we are sort of transatlantic versions of each other in terms of music taste, general world view and more. Some serious bonding indeed! Ben, who also plays in the kickass Glacial Tomb (time for a new album, guys!) by the way, was therefore a much welcome addition to our #100 celebrations, and here he is with things to say, having picked the colossal epic that is the title-track to their breakout record, ‘Hunted’.

The celebrations for The Devil Mouth's 100th episode continue! Next up on our testimonies - we asked a few of our previous guests to pick one of their own songs that is special somehow to them, and talk a bit about it, if you remember - is none other than the great Eugene S. Robinson, frontman for the legendary Oxbow and the currently on fire Buñuel too, as well as a renowned writer and actor and a bunch of other things. Also our guest for episode #18, if you can imagine how long ago that was and how shitty (shittier is perhaps more accurate!) the show must have seemed back then - Eugene is just an awesome, available and supportive guy like that. In a  short but oh so sweet tale, Eugene recalls the inspiration behind 'The Stabbing Hand', a song on Oxbow's 1995 album 'Let Me Be A Woman'. Let's put it this way - you're in for a hell of a ride.

The Devil's Mouth is celebrating its 100th episode, and for that, we went back to the people without whom, besides our dear listeners of course, we couldn't have gotten anywhere - our guests! We have reached out to a little handful of previous The Devil's Mouth alumni, and asked them to pick one of their own songs that is special to them in any way and talk about it a bit. First  up, Aaron Stainthorpe, who really doesn't need any introductions. The My Dying Bride vocalist was a guest on episode #26, and his presence on a very early stage of the show is typical of his kindness and availability. He kicks off our #100 celebrations in the best possible way - with a raw, honest and very emotional explanation of why 'Tired Of Tears', from the band's latest album 'The Ghost Of Orion', means so much to him, at the same time offering a priceless insight into the terrible times that preceded that landmark release.

Time flies by, and 2021 already marks the tenth anniversary of one of  the most decisive albums in the history of Icelandic superstars Sólstafir. 'Svartir Sandar' was everything anyone could have wished from  the cowboys of the ice - a massive double album, moody and thick with  atmosphere, but also boasting some of the quartet's most notable songs  every, including the show-stopping 'Fjara', which has been capturing  hearts all over the world ever since. Having been recently  announced the band will signal this important landmark by playing 'Svartir Sandar' in full at the famous Roadburn Festival, we thought it was time to get their frontman "Addi" Tryggvason to reminisce a bit on  it. Because we know few bands are as full of stories as Sólstafir,  expectations were high, but we ended up with the longest Memory Lane episode so far and Addi's tales did not disappoint, as always. Tune in now and discover why Addi often says jokingly that a book could be written about each Sólstafir album

The Memory Lane returns, and this  time we got together with Daron Beck to remember the very first Pinkish  Black album, almost a decade old by now. Written and recorded in a  rather dark period for the Daron Beck/Jon Teague duo, shortly after the  tragic ending of their previous band The Great Tyrant, it is a sombre  yet exhuberant collection of songs, and a solid foundation for what was  to come, as the experimental, unexpected and quirky traits that we today  associate with the band's very peculiar kind of songwriting already  present. During the conversation, we also learn a whole bunch of  stuff about it - from the "minor" detail that we've been getting the  album title wrong all these years (it's actually called 'Everything Went  Dark') to the revelation that Daron's favourite Pinkish Black song is  on it, it was an engaging, informative and super fun chat as always with  this unique musician.