Monumental Discharge first caught my attention in 2020, at a time when the winds of death metal were beginning to shift once again. The Demi-Ghoul renaissance that everyone had thought Blood Incantation would herald in was fizzling fast, while the neo-deathcore and beatdown+OSDM sounds that would ultimately come to rule the genre were on the rise. Above all else, slam was in: it was the gateway drug for hardcore kids learning to appreciate brutal death, and it was the tether keeping the brutal death guys tied to groove and hooks. Into this new slamaissance came Denver’s Monumental Discharge, promoted by the then-fledgling slam/beatdown label Barbaric Brutality. Comprised of veterans of the Denver death metal scene, their debut EP, Unfathomable Defecation, was a real humdinger to my ears, and I was quite quickly won over. Now, four years later, the fetid boys of MU are back to grace us with their debut LP, the perfectly titled Cesspit Earth.
To be blunt, Monumental Discharge is shit. Literally, it’s about monumental discharges, huge piles of steaming excrement, hideous festering mountains of rectal waste, and so on and so forth. They’re not the first band to do this: it’s a tradition that dates back to Green Jelly’s landmark “The Adventures of Shitman” and runs through Gorgasm’s “Lesbian Stool Orgy” to Gutalax. However, Green Jelly and Gutalax are joke bands (sorry Gutalaxers, you know in your hearts and colons that I’m right) and Gorgasm doesn’t devote all their songs to bowel movements. Monumental Discharge, however, mix absolute commitment to the joke with serious application of musicianship, creating tight, chuggy slam with strong, clear production values in the Abominable Putridity vein that will get your head nodding as much as it will destroy your bowels.
To this end, something that I have appreciated about a lot of the bands in this latest wave of groove-oriented death metal is exactly this ability to mix unfiltered humor with a professional level of musicianship and a desire to evolve musically. In earlier eras, there would have been pressure on bands to be one or the other: be funny and join the joke bands but don’t be taken seriously, or be taken seriously but leave humor at its most oblique. But recent bands like MU, Bonginator, RSI, Frog Mallet, and others are slowly tearing down this distinction by making music that is legitimately well-crafted and interesting while also being a complete piss-take (or in this case shit-take) lyrically. As a guy who veers wildly in temperament from total goofball to sullen brooder, I find this kind of juxtaposition highly satisfying.
To begin this album cycle, the Dischargers have also graced us with a music video for their first album single, “Code Brown.” You would think that by now there would have been at least one metal video where the band rocks out in a public men’s room…but to my mind if there’s any at all its only for a few scenes, I don’t know if Gutalax even has one. It’s not gonna blow your mind or anything, but again, the commitment to the bit is commendable and the song is a banger, so you’d be remiss not to peep it here or on YouTube.
Cesspit Earth will be out on all streaming platforms on June 7th, so be sure to have eaten plenty of fiber by then. Leafy greens are a good place to start. In the meantime, I spoke with bassist Kevin Berstler, guitarist Ibrahim Jimenez, and drummer Andrew Morris to discuss the band’s origins, influences, songwriting processes, and all the various whys and wherefores of playing in an excrement-themed band. Grab your TP, this is gonna be a real stinker! This interview has been very lightly edited for clarity.
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Firstly, the obvious question: what on earth inspired y’all to choose human excrement as a band concept? Was it a truly conscious decision made before the band even existed, or did it come to pass (pun intended) after y’all had already began to work on the songs?
Kevin: We love slam and brutal death metal, but a lot of times the lyrics seem so cliché or tasteless. I’m personally to sing about whatever as long as it’s done with intent and style. We knew we wanted our lyrics to be universally disgusting and violent but at the same time comprehensible; therefore, feces proved to be a great theme. Discharge, however, can spew out in many forms, so keep an open mind for more to cum.
Andrew: It was a conscious decision. We all love slam/brutal death but couldn’t bring ourselves to write songs about necrophilia and rape and all the fucked up shit slam is normally about. Kevin came up with the idea of it being about shit and the world being destroyed by it and we all thought that was hilarious and still brutal and disgusting while also being relatable. Everybody poops.
Ibrahim: I think we came up with this idea when thinking of a silly band concept for a slam project, humor has always been a top priority.
If Metal Archives is correct, you guys have all played in bands with each other before, if not all in the same band. If you wouldn’t mind, give us the quick recap as to how y’all got into metal and, more to the point, how y’all came to play together.
Kevin: Ibra and I met on Instagram; I was like “This guy has sick bass skills, cooks amazing food, and loves his dog. Seems like a nice dude.” I was playing as a live guitarist for an instrumental progressive metal band, and we needed a bassist. When I suggested Ibrahim, he came over and said yes. However, that same day, we began to form Monumental Discharge, thanks to our shared love of pornogrind, brutal death metal, slam, and good food. We also have a funeral doom project called Telluric Effluvium.
Ibrahim: I started playing with Reece and Andrew in Apotheon in 2014.
Andrew: Ibra, Reece, and I all played in a progressive death metal band Apotheon for many years. We had a running joke called Abortion Mountain that we would funnel all of our fucked up jokes and slam riffs into, never expecting it to be anything. Then we met Kevin and that progressed into Monumental D and the joke went further than anyone expected. Shit, we are doing interviews for it now haha, crazy.
What are some of the biggest musical influences for Monumental Discharge?
Kevin: Music that facilitates motor control in early childhood development. Early 2000s rap. Any slamming brutal death metal band. These might seem like joke answers because they are, but they are also serious. When writing slams, Ibra and I will reference rhythmic patterns from TV shows designed for young children as well as rap songs. Personally, the nastiness of a good guttural within slamming brutal death metal pushes me to write tunes so that Reece can spew his sickness over it.
Andrew: Analepsy, Organectomy, Visceral Disgorge, Putridity, Katy Perry.
Ibrahim: Dying Fetus, Uga Uga, Organectomy, 90s rap, Lars Ulrich.
How did you get linked up with Mike/Barbaric Brutality?
Andrew: That was all Kevin.
Kevin: I’m pretty sure Mike and I just started chatting on Instagram, and then our EP Unfathomable Defecation was one of Barbaric Brutality’s releases. Mid-pandemic a friend of mine and I were actually hitting up the West Coast when Mike used to live in Sacramento. His kind heart hooked us up with a hotel room and took us to a fun party where we got to chill with some of his lovely friends. Just a super nice guy. Also, he has great taste in both music and comedy.
Speaking of Metal Archives, I noticed under their records for the band that Kevin is (allegedly) a high school teacher. Is this accurate, and if so have any of your students ever found out about your music and checked it out?
Kevin: Yes, I am a high school teacher. I teach intermediate Spanish for students acquiring it as an additional language as well as Spanish for heritage language learners. I also teach an introductory level to music class and a more advanced one focusing on theory, composition, recording, and performance. I also just finished my first year in a doctorate program in education. Shout out to all the students striving to think and act critically and creatively. A lot of my students are interested in learning more about me and my interests. They know I love metal because I only ever wear metal tees. In my music classes, I show them real examples of what real-life musicking looks like, so they can see the forgotten and not-so-visible aspects of music, i.e. compositional techniques, marketing, and business. A few of my students are actually interested in listening to and even making metal music.
In your minds and to your ears, how does Cesspit Earth differ from past MU releases?
Kevin: I think Cesspit Earth is a step forward but with the same pair of shoes. Each of us incorporate a wider range of techniques in our parts for this album, but it’s still what we want: slam. I think both “Code Brown” and “Sentient Hemorrhoid” establish the fact that we do much more than just slams while remaining slam-centered.
Ibrahim: It’s a little more brutal, a little more experimental.
Andrew: Cesspit Earth is a step forward for us from Unfathomable, the songs are a bit longer, there’s a little more structure to them and we took a bit of influence from some rap and hip hop songs. The lyrical content definitely got a little sillier but the music is just as brutal and slammy. Unfathomable Defecation 2.0
What was the recording process like for the latest album? For that matter, how do y’all write songs?
Kevin: There are three starting points:
1) I will write a song idea from start to finish;
2) Ibra will write a song idea from start to finish;
3) Ibra and I will write a song idea from start to finish.
Then we record demo versions of them and transpose them to Guitar Pro before sending them off to Andrew. He does a great job of telling us if it fits the vibe or if it doesn’t. We have a few songs, maybe a little too tech or experimental, that are stewing in the back. Maybe they’ll come to life in future releases with the right adjustments.
Once Andrew provides his drum parts, we’ll give Reece a song title. With just a simple title, Reece knows what to do and begins to craft a clever and catchy display of textual excrement. Once each of us has provided the foundational layers, we’ll then go back and record the final versions before sending them to our mixing/mastering engineer. All three releases have been with Nick from Rusty Sun Audio.
Ibrahim: We wrote the riffs and Andrew wrote drums to it. Sometimes I write some drum parts. Reece has full creative freedom with lyrics.
Andrew: Kevin and Ibra write almost everything together, then they input it into GP, then they hand them over to me and I make small tweaks and lay down full drum tracks to GP files. Then the guys go and re-record all their parts to the final drum tracks. We’ve got a Google doc of stupid poop words and POOtential song names that we pick and choose from and then we hand them to Reece to polish off the turd.
If you could play a show with any three bands, the caveat being that they must either be also shit-themed or at least shit-adjacent (e.g. Gorgasm w/r/t “Lesbian Stool Orgy”), who you going with?
Kevin: Putrid Defecation is an obvious answer. They’re the homies from EsPOO, Finland. We released Monumental Putridity, our first shit-split with them in 2021. Gutalax. Also the two girls and their one cup for some live performance art.
Andrew: Raffi, GG Allen, and Putrid Defecation.
Ibrahim: Gutalax for sure, Putrid Defecation. Is Cattle Decapitation a poop band?
What matters more to y’all: groove or riffs? Can be either as a songwriter or as a musician.
Andrew: Grooves AND riffs.
Ibrahim: A good balance between the two is nice, but I would say grooves.
Kevin: As a musician on stage, I think groove makes much more of an impact. It’s the lifeforce to the dancefloor. We want to move our bodies to the rhythm, to the groove. However, as a musician, especially as a guitarist, the riff has so much power and to last and create different pathways to new styles.
Tell us about the filming of the “Code Brown” video: in what bathroom where was it filmed and did anyone try to use it while y’all were filming?
Ibrahim: Parker, the videographer, seemed to be ready with this location. Surprisingly nobody tried to use it, but it would’ve been hilarious.
Andrew: No one came in, surprisingly. It was shot in a warehouse where our friend’s photography company is located. There was a soccer game going on in the floor below us so I’m sure they were like “what the fuck is happening up there?” but no, unfortunately nobody came in during the shoot.
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Cesspit Earth releases June 7th via Barbaric Brutality.
