Pincer Consortium is a name as enigmatic as its meaning for most, however, the people who created this musical project have left a strong mark on the Polish and British metal scene with their activity. It was these two unconventional personalities: Maciek Pasinski and Pete Dempsey who found themselves in the same place and at the same time, and the fruit of this meeting in the long run became Pincer Consortium. When people whose musical preferences cannot be clearly pigeonholed meet, what kind of product could they create? Even taking death metal as the primary matter and slightly interfering in its structures with the influences of doom, black metal, and industrial, they created a monster whose tentacles are immersed in hellish sulfur, and whose snake limbs bring death and destruction. To get to know them better and the debut of "Geminus Schism", I invite you to a short exchange of opinions.

Arek

Hello Maciek, hello Pete, before asking about Pincer Consortium, I would like to know how you met and when you decided to start your musical cooperation. What was the activator: Irish beer, your musical roots, or maybe something else?

Maciek - Back in 2019, at a housewarming party thrown by our mutual friend Steve Hobson of Owlcrusher, a chance encounter sparked something extraordinary. Pete and I got introduced to each other, and he mentioned that he had a fully fleshed-out but unrealized concept for Scald's final two albums. He needed someone to put it all together. Intrigued, I agreed, though all he sent me initially was one riff per song, each with time signatures escalating in an arithmetical progression. It seemed an impossible task with so little to work from, but then I glanced at the lyrics—and everything just clicked.

Two years later, after countless hours of meticulous crafting, I completed mixing "Regius I", the first of the two albums. The songs had transformed into something entirely different from the original Scald, which had once dominated the local scene with their unique sound—a sound I had admired even before relocating to Northern Ireland. They were the most original band around, and working with Pete reignited the creative synergy I'd been craving after so much time working alone. The final result exceeded our expectations. Still riding the high in 2021, I proposed a new challenge to Pete: craft a fresh concept and lyrics for a post-Scald project. I told him to make it long, freeform, and multilayered, with a clear narrative, epic, dark, and utterly original. In just a week, he delivered something that ticked every box and more. The sheer brilliance of it gave me a writer's block for another six months which I spent fully absorbing and planning where to go with the music.

Pete - Yes, the intoxicating nectar of the Celtic Gods was the potent glue that held it all together after the crafty foresight of said mutual friend.

Since the singles heralding "Regius I", I have been closely following the fruits of your cooperation, but Pincer Consortium, although also exploring metal areas, has gone far to the left and is even darker and more aggressive. What caused this explosion of aggression and darkness?

M - The shift towards a darker and more aggressive sound in Pincer Consortium can be traced back to both psychological and contextual factors. While "Regius I" laid the groundwork for our collaboration, Pincer allowed us to delve into more intense and primal emotions that were, in many ways, a response to the external and internal pressures we were experiencing.

Creating this album, to some extent, could have been a way to process and express underlying built up tensions. Providing a channel for releasing darker aspects who we are. It's a well-known phenomenon that art often mirrors the subconscious, and in this case, the aggression and darkness in the music possibly reflected kind of cathartic release. A way of dealing with uncertainty, and the complexities of life in the lockdown and post-lockdown situation. However, I think the main factor, at least on my front, was the fact that I always tried to push my boundaries towards the darker side of my spectrum. I am never satisfied and it is never dark enough but albums like Pincer are another step into the right direction.

Tell me, Pete, how these 8 dark stories were created? When you wrote them, did you know that you would use them musically but not in SCALD?

P - Yes, I knew that they would be specifically created for Pincer Consortium, and for this one the muse visited me with a brief stay of great intensity, more than at any time previously, offering direction from the sub-conscious towards a self-aware dualistic concept regarding the long-standing story of good versus evil but in a more intricate and all-encompassing way, where conflicting opposites would rise and fall, where they would engage in battle, where they would struggle, where they would hide and recover, where they would die, where they would fade away, where they would become ghosts and finally where they would combine and recycle to go again, leaving reasons and meaning still open to questions that may or may never be answered. It was a sudden deluge of ideas that quickly amalgamated and settled to completion in a very short space of time, in which I had to perform some swift brainstorming harnessing while the inspirational portal was still open; I felt that I had to lyrically explore every possible aspect of universal division, from the atomic to the cosmic, and from the psychological to the supernatural, whether it be scientifically or spiritually, across time and space, to the fullest extent that I could imagine it, through various metaphorical creative systems, in order to represent it in more original effective detail.

How did putting words into music go? Did you completely entrust this role to Maciek, or did you discuss together what and how it should sound?

P - An important aspect of my terms for agreeing to the collaboration was that I simplify my musical position to lyrics/concept and vocals only, as I have a very busy personal life, thus allowing me the required time to do it, so yes, as you have stated, particularly for this project, I completely entrusted this role to Maciek though that is not to say that I would not suggest some direction to a song's general or sectional theme if it came to mind but it is usually not required, at least regarding putting the words into the music, as I think Maciek's vocal phrasing for this release has proved exemplary and unique; in addition to this I must add that he directed me like a mad orchestral conductor as we had limited windows of time for recording sessions, and the fact that I was learning the lyrical phrasing on the spot, something I had never done before, and so was experimental in nature, was a challenging yet satisfying learning experience for me, and I think it created more of a sense of urgency thus relating well to aspects of the story that deal with the unknown.

Since the role of a musician fell on your shoulders, Maciek, tell us what was the source of this dark aggression/rage?

M - I believe the source of this intensity lies in the power of lyrics and the fact that our vocals naturally complement this kind of sharp, mind-piercing serpentine music. This time, my growl takes center stage, but it's tightly wrapped in a halo of multiple melodic vocal layers from both Pete and myself. To certain extent the aggression and darkness have always been prominent in my work, but over time, I've learned to highlight and amplify these elements more effectively. In this project, the vocals are a key driver of the overall sound. My growl serves as the core, anchoring the tracks with a raw, primal energy. But it's the interplay of our voices, layered and woven together, that adds depth and complexity to the music. This blending of vocals creates a cinematic storytelling vibe that enhances the darker themes we're exploring. At some point I realized we have been creating an audio novel written with growls, choirs and a maze of riffs.

Even though my vision of your album is slightly different from the one expressed in the lyrics, I decided to leave it in my review because it was written before I read the lyrics. I guess it's good when the music isn't too explicit, just like Pete's lyrics?

M - Pete's lyrics, while expansive and deep, are very clear and accessible, though their length may present a challenge to some listeners. As for the music, it's difficult for me to objectively evaluate its explicity, as I was involved its creation. Having an understanding of every part and layer makes it inherently easy for me to grasp. However, some friends who have listened to it mentioned that they needed time to familiarize themselves with the compositions before they could fully appreciate their complexity.

P - It has always been an interesting perspective from the position of the listener to let their mind go where the art wants to take them in an interpretive musical sense. I find it fascinating and intriguing to hear about what is painted upon the psyche of the external observer and how close or complementary their takes are in comparison to what the actual essence of the concept represents.

To get to know your unsatisfied musical tastes, it is worth mentioning the bands in which you were active, i.e. Pete - Crisistianity, T.V.P., The Dagda, Scald, and Maciek - Sirrah, TMCT, qIp, Scald, which of them are definitely closed chapters, and in which are you still going to do something else?

M - I can see some potential in continuation of TMCTEA and qip. Time will tell if there's anything left to be done under these monikers. Pete wrote another concept for a our non-metal project several years ago. The name is Féinmharú. I am hoping we'll be able to finish it within a reasonable timeframe.

P - Of those mentioned that I am involved in, the only open chapter would be Scald but only in the sense that it is an ongoing post-Scald entity as Scald is no longer considered an active band; I can clarify this by saying that it involves re-working, reconstructing and releasing old unused material in a regenerated further twisted musical form at our leisure.

As we discussed earlier, you were not sure whether "Geminus Schism" would have a physical form. Have you sent promotions to many publishers? Tell us how the cooperation with Deformeathing Production came about?

M - I had a conversation with Wojtek about the release last year. He reached out to me at the beginning of 2024 and asked if we would be willing to delay the release until the fall. We had no issue with that, and we quickly agreed to his proposal. As far as I recall, I didn't discuss the release with anyone else.

The material from "Geminus Schism" would be great live, is there any chance to see you on stage together someday?

M - We are not planning any live performances. Concerts would demand too much time and energy, which We'd rather dedicate to writing another album.

P - I am a clandestine project creature now and I have retired from the live setting permanently.

Thanks for your time and I hope to hear from you soon.

M - Thank you for your support Arek

P - Many thanks, Arek, for the interview and your positive review!