‘Abandon hope all ye who enter here’ reads the inscription over the gates of hell in Dante Alighieri’s allegorical poem La divina commedia. Canberra quintet Pod People are weaving a parallel harmony in their blackly humorous brand of doom metal. Guitarist and songwriter Josh Nixon explains, “Italian poetry from the mid 1300’s is nothing I would ever care to try and butcher with a concept album approach. What it does provide is an awesome way to enable someone to visualize guilt.”
Of a magnitude spanning several albums, the 2002 release Doom Saloon serves as prologue. “The Doom Saloon was the last drinks, a place a ‘shade’ would go before Inferno. We added that part to the beginning of Dante and Virgil’s more chaste journey to hell. It is not a literal telling of that journey – it’s themes we pick out along the way.” The new album Mons Animae Mortuorum continues the pilgrims’ progress. “The places Dante and Virgil physically visit, allow us to go off on tangents. Not a fantasy attempt at conjuring images of the Inferno or Mt Purgatory, it’s about real life actions that could have consequences in Dante’s world. The aesthetic serves the songs, fleshes out lyrical themes.” This responsive approach led to the interesting title. “When you see the artwork, to call the album ‘Mountain of the Souls of the Dead’ is just too obvious. A name that refers to the Purgatorio chapter of The Divine Comedy might make you think we are trying to make The Divine Comedy concept trilogy.” Developing a Latin title proved comedic enough. “I got in touch with a lady who did Latin at Uni. The chain of emails were a bit like Monty Python’s Life of Brian, when Brian gets busted doing graffiti and the Centurion gives him a Latin lesson!”
Pod People ‘Mons Animae Mortuorum’ cover art by Glen Smith.
Pod People provide more than a lyrical exploration of the medieval afterlife, extending atmosphere with costumes. “The robes are black and shapeless, to represent the shades in The Divine Comedy. We are not monks, or performing rituals – merely shapeless. I suggest going almost nude underneath them though, as they’re hot as buggery to wear!” Mons Animae Mortuorum features illustration by Glen Smith. “The brief was to look like it was drawn a hundred years ago – Glenno nailed it! The cover is Dante and Virgil en route to Mt Purgatory, freshly escaped from the Inferno. Mt Purgatory, in Dante’s way of thinking, was a landmass on the other side of the world, in the southern ocean – basically Australia. On the other side, there is a ouija board… if you want to find out the lyrics for the record, you’ll need a séance to contact the dead!”
Mons Animae Mortuorum is available on CD from August 15, on Goatsound Records; a limited LP pressing showcasing Glen Smith’s art, is forthcoming from Zenith Records. You can catch Pod People live at Megafauna Festival, October 11, ANU Bar, Canberra; all festival proceeds go to the Australian Cancer Research Foundation.