A Quick Chat with Allocer
Allocer is a name with demonic origins, what drew you to it and does it reflect the band’s philosophy?
When naming the band, Joel just wanted it to be one word, and it had ties to some badass beast. He just started going through lists on Google until one fit. There's no close link to what the demon represents in our music, but it could be a song topic later down the track.
It’s also fun hearing all the different ways it gets mispronounced. We have a shirt that has “Allo-Sir” printed on it to help with pronunciation. My favourite wrong way I’ve heard it is “Aye-Locker-Ah.”
Which bands or artists have shaped your sound the most and what non-metal influences creep into your music?
The band that tends to get thrown out there the most when people hear our music would probably be The Black Dahlia Murder, and that’s something we have absolutely no issue with. Our latest EP, Worship, was a way for us to embrace those similarities.
We’ve tapped into a bit of Lamb of God for the groove factor in some riffs, along with a few deathcore bands such as Fit For An Autopsy when it comes to breakdown sections.
Your music is incredibly intense, do you approach songwriting with the goal of being as heavy as possible, or does it come naturally?
The goal was never to be as heavy or extreme as possible—just to play music we enjoy listening to and creating. But every now and then, we do get a little pleasant surprise with how an idea can end up being more intense than originally intended.
Can you walk us through the lyrical themes in your latest release?
It’s been kept pretty consistent with objects and events in history. The Scavenger’s Daughter is about a torture device of the same name and goes through the process of a prisoner meeting their fate, getting squished into a ball. I found it to be a pretty brutal concept.
How do you balance technicality and raw aggression in your music? Do you ever hold back or is it full-speed brutality all the time?
There are definitely moments where we’ve dialled it back—either the drums so the riff has more room to shine or Joel finally shuts up to let the music do the talking.
What’s the writing dynamic like within the band, does one person take the lead or is it a collaborative nightmare of riffs and blast beats?
It’s a bit of a blend. Grant comes in with a riff and sees what we think of it, but like 80% of the time, we don’t have any changes to tell him. We call him G-Money because his riffs are on the money.
It then goes to Hex to get some skeleton ideas on the drums. He plays it on the e-kit to some scratch tracks, and we refine the parts a bit more as a unit. Once all the music is done, Joel writes and fits his lyrics.
How do you see the West Australian extreme metal scene? Is it thriving or do you face unique challenges being from this part of the world?
Australia has been churning out some sick bands lately, and some bands that have been grinding for a while seem to be getting on bigger shows and gaining more international attention. Being from West Aus has its obstacles with touring, especially being so far from all the major cities, but we won’t let that stop us.
If you could play a dream gig anywhere in the world, what venue or festival would be at the top of your list?
One of the big European open-air festivals like Wacken, Bloodstock, or Resurrection Fest would be a major tick off the bucket list. Obscene Extreme looks like it would be a pretty wild experience as well.
What’s next for the band? Any upcoming releases, tours or major plans on the horizon?
We have our EP Worship coming out on March 24th and a show celebrating its release on May 3rd at the Milkbar in Perth with a pretty stacked lineup. We’re starting to piece together some stuff for over east, but nothing we can announce at this point.
Finally, if Allocer had to sum up its existence in one word, what would it be?
That’s a hard one. Plenty of words could be used, but we’d have to go with… RIFFS.