PREMIERE: Perth’s Convulse Channel The Greek Gods With ‘Prometheus’

Posted on December 5, 2019 by Ricky Aarons

The Perth metal scene has proved to have birthed that many decent artists, that there has to be something in the waters over there. The latest band to launch, Convulse, channel some local influences in their deathcore track ‘Prometheus’ which they’ve just released a killer video for.

We had a quick chat with vocalist Jonathan Donoghue about the band’s inception, their new track/video, and what they’ve got in store beyond their massive Christmas show alongside Make Them Suffer…

I’ve heard your monster track ‘Prometheus’ and dying to get home to put my Sennheisers on and have a proper head-bang. Deathcore at it’s finest, so what/who are your influences? I sense a bit of a crossover in genres maybe?

Yeah definitely a few genres in the mix! We all listen to a variety of heavy music on the regular. Some of the influences for Convulse are Metallica, Pantera, Meshuggah, Suicide Silence, The Acacia Strain and Left Behind.

So Merry bloody Christmas mate. Huge show to end 2019 with a (head) bang and start 2020 with a bit of a surge! Tell us a bit about the huge gig with Make Them Suffer and whether there is a relationship with the band or other acts on the bill?

Perth is pretty small and everyone knows everyone here. We definitely know the bands on the bill from playing other shows in different bands over the years. It’s hard to not know anyone that plays heavy music in Perth when we’re all constantly at each other’s gigs.

Mate, I may be biased but Perth has been exporting some stupidly massive heavy music in recent years, I don’t even need to name names. Do you find it inspiring to live in Perth surrounded by some of these bands?

Yes 100%! It’s great to see local bands making killer music and extending their name beyond WA. It’s definitely putting Perth on the map.

What is the vision for Convulse? What is the direction you’re hoping to follow?

After this single, we would love to release an EP. We want to give everyone a taste of our true colours whilst building up on our show portfolio. If all goes to plan, we would also eventually love to smash out an East Coast tour!

Ok I’m going to backtrack a bit and get real with you. Tell us how the band came about? Are you old mates from primary school or is this a Quokka job? I’m just teasing, but am curious how you guys got together?

The idea for Convulse came about when one of my other bands (Branch Circus) was slowing down. I wanted to keep playing music (only just a little heavier than BC). I met a bloke, Nathan Kennedy (guitarist), through a mate of mine so I asked if we could work on something heavier than both of the bands we had previously played in. We eventually started writing, we created the EP ‘Necrosis’ and then we started adding members to our band.

I know it’s early days but what’s planned for 2020?

As mentioned earlier, we will be releasing an EP, hopefully jumping on some more sick shows and the icing on the cake would be to do a cheeky tour – should everything go well! We’ve also currently got some merch in the works.

So a massive music video just dropped, how was that experience?

It was a sick experience. Our good friend and videographer Brandon Ward (Wardy Productions) made the experience enjoyable for all of us. Lots of progress was made as well as lots of laughs over the two days of filming.

What can your local brothers and sisters expect from your big Christmas show with MTS?

Disgusting gutturals, pig squeals, blast beats, breakdowns and a huge wall of sound (no pun intended) to scratch that itch everyone’s been moaning about. We’re out to prove people wrong about Perth and show them that we can fill the void that’s missing from our live music scene.

Interview by Ricky Aarons @rickysaul90