Check out the interview with House of Thumbs lord of the strings, Nick Lord, in today's edition of Beat Magazine!

With local metal going through a strange period of seeming to be continually growing, but with no true focus, it's just as well House of Thumbs are releasing Crossing the Rubicon. A concept album about a dude chopping off thumbs? Sign us up. House of Thumbs are well placed to add a new chapter to Melbourne metal, so with the launch of Crossing the Rubicon this weekend at the East Brunswick Club, we pinned them down for a chat about all things brutal.

House Of Thumbs – well, it’s been a long road to get here, but you’re finally about to launch your debut album… how’s everything feeling? Excited?

For sure. For any band, a launch is the culmination of a huge amount of work and we're no different. We've worked hard on crafting ass grooves into the couches of our home studio over the past year, and we feel we deserve the chance to show people just how deep those grooves really are.

Give us a bit of background about House Of Thumbs as a band – you formed back in ’07, but how’d you all get together?

Four of the members of HoT were in a band called ISOLAR, which had undergone so many changes to its musical ideology and line-up that it had lost its way. When Linden joined (vocals), the decision was made to scrap the material and rebrand the act as an entirely new entity, more violent than before.

What was the inspiration for getting the band together as well? And what’s your point of difference to other metal bands out there?

We formed a band for the same reason everyone else did: the chicks, the money and the opportunity to tax-deduct guitars. As for how we compare with other bands, well, Linden has better outfits, Crackham has better hair, Jake is better-looking, Tommy has better weed and I have...um, better calf muscles. **bursts into tears**

What’s been the best moment for the band up ‘til now?

We've destroyed church halls in Porepunkah, stomped plastic pots at the Tote and outrun the fires of Black Saturday, but all roads lead to the launch this Friday, which will be our true defining moment.

Righto, tell us about Crossing The Rubicon – what was recording it like?

A drawn-out and painful affair, stretching over many moons, we tracked CTR in short blocks around our full-time jobs – three hours here, three hours there. It's safe to say that we could've gestated children in less time, but they wouldn't have been as evil.

In terms of writing the album, obviously it’s always a struggle, but the debut album usually lends itself to clearing the vaults of tunes…but you guys have come up with a goddamn concept album! How did you approach it?

Honestly, writing is the easiest part for us. We have more material than we can record and most of the next album is already written. Songs always start as musical ideas. Lyrics and vocal melodies come last, giving Linden total control over what part of the story he wishes to tackle next.

Were you worried that concept albums, if they’re done dodge, can come across as a bit wanky? How do you avoid that?

The key is not to be so obnoxiously obvious. It's true that CTR is a concept album but would that be immediately apparent to someone who stumbled across the disc with no knowledge of the band? I don't think so. We're all about being a little more cryptic, giving people an opportunity to draw their own conclusions.

And your concept… about a guy harvesting thumbs? What the fuck? Care to expound upon it a bit?

The album is indeed about a guy who runs around chopping off thumbs, but that's really symbolic of the greater theme of "release through release". The core concept in CTR is doing what you want when you want, because you want.

Did you consider having him harvest any other body parts?

Well, there have been plenty of jokes... but the harvesting of thumbs is really an evolutionary statement, considering that it is our thumbs that separate humans from other creatures. By having their thumbs removed, victims undergo something of a de-evolution, becoming less than human.

Are you happy with the album, now you’re done with it? It’s always tough to leave something as is, especially when it’s a concept record… are you confident in it as an artistic statement?

With CTR, we set out to produce a product that could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with world-class metal releases. If a track of ours came on in-between tracks from two top metal bands, we wanted it to sound as though it belonged there, and it does; we achieved our production goals in spades. As for the material, we're certainly happy – the performances are strong and we've brought the songs to life. That said, It would be a shame if we'd achieved all our creative goals first time around. There needs to be room for future growth – and we've definitely left that.

In terms of a metal album, it seems like it’s a great time to be releasing an album – metal appears to be having a nice renaissance at the moment… it’s almost as though there’s a greater number of excellent metal bands releasing material at the moment. What are your thoughts on metal at the moment?

I hear this a lot – that metal is enjoying a renaissance – and I'm not entirely sold. On the face of it, 2009 was a big year for metal because there were a huge number of established bands releasing albums. Unfortunately, most of the records from these bands fell a long way short of their best work. Despite this, the global scene still proclaimed the same old bands on their Best-of-2009 lists. Of course, music is subjective but I got the feeling that the scene continues to fixate itself on the same old bands without stopping to properly critique whether they're still releasing music that is relevant because they're desperate to try to recreate metal's halcyon days. There are so many new bands releasing material that is so far ahead of the new Slayer, Megadeth or Lamb of God albums that one wonders if these new bands are even being heard.

And what about in Australia? We’ve got a fair amount of excellent bands for our population – how do you reckon it stacks up against the rest of the world?

There are now a greater number of Aussie metal bands achieving quality results than ever before thanks to an increase in the accessibility of DIY recording technology. As a result, Aussie metal is on par with the internationals, for sure. Unfortunately, there still seems to be a lack of live support for local acts. This may be because the Melbourne metal scene has lacked a leading band in recent years. There's no Damaged and no Wolves – no Melbourne act that is truly bringing the scene together. For us, this makes it the perfect time to release new music, because the scene is really keen to grab onto a band that it can call its own once more. That said, there are plenty of contenders.

What’s the most brutal thing you guys have ever witnessed at a gig – yours or otherwise?

Smashed noses and ripped flannies are par for the course at Thumbs gigs now so I'd definitely have to say the absence of stage fans at a house of thumbs gig in Albury when the temp was over 40 presented a truer definition of brutality. Now that was just inhumane, man.

With The Tote closing down, do you feel like we’re all getting fucked – especially seeing as though it was one of the few venues that would regularly host ripper metal gigs?

Melbourne's nightlife is undergoing something of a transformation at the moment, but live music remains a strong part of that. It's always sad to see places like the Tote go, and I remember similar sentiments when the Punters Club shut its doors, but venues are not supposed to last forever. All things being equal, new venues should rise up and take their place and the cycle will begin again. Though this can only happen once the state government realises its recent mistakes and moves to protect Melbourne's unique live music culture.

Now for a good one for a rant – what’s wrong with metal/the kids/governments/everyone these days?

Absolutely nothing. Metal is doing its job, the kids are doing their job and the government isn't doing its job. Everything is operating as expected.

With the music industry in a state of flux at the moment, do you think it's an advantage to be - and stay - an independent act? Y'know - being able to release digitally, play lots of shows etc? What's your plan to use this new state of affairs?

Interesting question. Start-up bands are always better off operating independently, but there comes a point when bands require assistance and expertise to grow beyond their garages. Record companies have a new role to play in the future – one that should see financial advances directed towards touring, rather than recording. The question is whether they actually want to do that. It would be unsurprising to see touring companies rise in prominence in the coming decade and for the traditional record company model to shrink in relevance.

With the release party this week at The East Brunswick Club for Crossing The Rubicon – what can metal-loving punters expect when they rock up? Are we talking anything special for the launch show?

You bet. We're talking video screens, smoke machines, half-price CDs for early-birds and light shows. We're also talking a packed house of drooling metal maniacs and we're talking thumbs – lots of thumbs.

And finally, for now, what do you feel the future holds for House Of Thumbs, from hereon in?

More recording. This is a recording band, first and foremost, and as long as the material keeps flowing, we'll keep playing. Besides, the thumb story is a long way from finished and there are many chapters to come.

Thanks guys – anything else to add?

Keep your hands in your pockets. He's out there, you know.

Ruth Tyler - Beat Magazine, March 3, 2010