MUNT: REFUSING THE SCRIPT: A FANTASTIC CHAT WITH Tim 'Mothlord' Richmond. Don't miss them with Ulcerate next week!!!
MUNT-THE INTERVIEW: A FANTASTIC CHAT WITH Tim 'Mothlord' Richmond. Don't miss them with Ulcerate next week!!!
MUNT: REFUSING THE SCRIPT
So you started as Spud's solo thing back in 2016, got the lineup sorted by 2018, survived the pandemic isolation, and now you've dropped The World Is Not Yours. How does it feel to finally have a proper full-length out after nearly a decade of EPs and singles?
TIM: It feels surreal and personally doesn’t feel like it has really happened. But that might speak to being an adult and realising sometimes you expect some kind of revelation or feeling of catharsis upon hitting a milestone or achieving a goal that might never come. The reality is, though we had some time to reflect and appreciate the response, we’ve been pretty focused on preparing for tour and managing other release related tasks. I think when the tour is over it will finally feel like we can all stop and breathe it all in and sit with the achievement it certainly is! I will say though that I think it is exciting to have cemented ourselves with a debut as certainly that is something fans have been waiting for.
The jump from CAGE to Towards Extinction to Pain Ouroboros shows a pretty clear evolution - you've gotten tighter, meaner, more focused. But The World Is Not Yours feels like you've locked into something specific. What clicked between Pain Ouroboros and this record that made you confident enough to commit to an album?
TIM: Speaking personally, I am always thinking about concepts and ideas and I always knew for the album it had to be something next level with as much intention that could be mustered in the time we had producing it.
I think finishing up my social work degree really got me to a place of mental focus and intention to highlight specific themes.
Collectively, we knew an album needed to be us putting as much attention to detail as we could muster as a unit into the songs and thinking about taking the listener on a journey. Some of the writing process was intuitive or improvised and some of it was planned or contrived.
I also think the response Pain Ouroboros received, and some of the opportunities offered to us impressed the importance of taking this step as it always was made clear to us by people in the industry they were certainly waiting and wanting us to move to that next level. Pain Ouroboros almost could have been an album as we have many, many archived songs and riffs, but it was kept a concise release. I think as a final test or rehearsal for taking the next big step (bypassing the singles that followed Pain Ouroboros of course).
Let's talk about the title. "The World Is Not Yours" reads like a direct inversion of those toxic hustle-culture mantras. Was that intentional, or did it come from somewhere darker?
TIM: Hustler culture was not something I had considered, but a part of it was reflecting on the world of promise, possibility, opportunity and safety many of us were raised to believe in. It might have a bit to do with being a millennial and the current state of the world. But it is also likely a rite of passage of adults entering into middle age, leaving youth and seeing the world, your world in a different light and realising the (constructed and evolutionary) world only caters to certain people, groups, classes etc or is totally indifferent and a kind realising the horror of how wrong things can go so wrong so much so it feels surreal and like… the world is not yours.
The name itself came to me in part as I was thinking about how I would listen to Nas’s classic “The World Is Yours” from the 90’s hip hop defining Illmatic record. It was a song I would listen to, to pump myself up in the morning. I thought “what about something in the opposite effect?”, something that isn’t just this edgelord pessimistic everything sucks hype thing, but instead is a really sober and intrusive existential crisis and realisation of how fucked everything is. Like an anti-wake-up anthem? I really don't want to use the red pill as a symbol due to more recent connotations but lets just say it's meant to feel like the following scenes when Neo is waking up in the real world and given the debrief about what has really happened.
It’s also personal in the sense of always being a critical thinker, but naturally being an optimist in seeing opportunities and paths forward. But I will be honest with you, it’s increasingly hard to look at how things are in society locally and abroad as well as our collective psychology, to have hope, even for someone who used to spend a lot of time trying to find answers for things. I think that is a pretty dark thing, to feel that light start to gutter and fizzle out and it is not just melodrama to make your art seem more interesting, it’s fucking real what is happening to us. We're either on the edge of something amazing happening or we're the frog finally realising the water is too hot to get out of.
The album description mentions "the sickly realisation of how vast the odds are stacked against the everyday person." That's pretty specific. Are we talking about living under late capitalism in Melbourne, or is this more universal rage at power structures?
TIM: Yes, late stage capitalism is certainly a driving factor and much of the album is inevitably informed by global events. As much as possible I have anchored it in things I see in Australian society or at the very least my own life. It is interesting also because as Australians we participate on the global stage and sometimes tend to care more about overseas happenings more than at home. Inevitably I have been inspired by some things overseas because they also affect us so much here whether economically or ideologically and thinking about that phenomena. But I really wanted as best as I could manage in the time afforded preparing for and writing for this album to capture something an Australian could relate to if they read the lyrics.
Troy McCosker handled production on this one - same guy who did A Duel of Fractures. What does he bring to the table that made you stick with him? The album sounds suffocating in the best way, like everything's compressed into this claustrophobic headspace.
TIM: Duel of Fractures was a shadow single for the album, so nothing changed between it and the albums release because it was recorded and mixed alongside all of the other songs. Otherwise, this was our first experience with Troy for this band but I had worked with Troy previously in another band and experienced how much of a master Troy is at audio engineering and having a great creative intuition.
Personally I wanted to go with Troy because one of his greatest strengths is balance in terms of fidelity, spaciousness and density. Troy also has great chemistry with bands he works with and even if you have done pre-pro on everything, he will still throw ideas at you while recording and mixing because he gets invested almost as much as the members of the band.
Stan Ivan did the artwork for both Pain Ouroboros and The World Is Not Yours. How much back-and-forth happens with him? Does he get handed lyrics and free reign, or is there a specific visual language you're trying to build across releases?
TIM: One challenge working with Stan is he is Russian and Google translate doesn’t always provide the clearest articulation of what you are expressing.
The process for the album was I had prepared a couple of Google Docs filled with brainstorms in terms of sketches and text about imagery and meaning. As well as dozens of reference images from artists and things in pop culture such as films to convey exactly what we wanted. For example, in Bram Stokers Dracula (1992) the scene when Dracula is finally dying with light shining on his face and an expression of sadness but relief. Or the eggmorphing deleted scene from the first Alien film (1979).
This wasn’t specifically for Stan, this was for whomever would be tasked with creating artwork for our album so our vision was as clear as possible with some room for interpretation.
We did look around and ask various artists, but Stan was always on the top of the list. He was very quick to show interest in taking us on again and providing some sketches that made it clear he was the right choice.
As for a language across release, I will confirm that there isn’t really. I can’t say what art for the next record will be, but perhaps for at least having finally made our debut album, Stan’s art certainly feels like the culmination of our journey so far.
You've described your sound as "black grinding death," but even within that you're pulling from deathcore, sludge, hardcore. Pain Ouroboros leaned heavily into death metal, but this album feels like it's got more atmospheric dread woven through it. Was that a conscious shift, or just what came out when you were writing?
TIM: It might sound ridiculous, but personally I don’t think there is any real deathcore influence in there even though some of us like deathcore and that in itself might cause bleedover. It’s just a consequence of fusing various genres together, specifically death metal and modern hardcore, but I don’t think there are any specific deathcore intentions or influences.
Between the solo project origins, lineup changes, pandemic lockdowns, and now a stable five-piece - how much has the writing process changed? Is this still primarily Spud's vision with everyone contributing, or has it become more collaborative?
TIM: Vision is a bit of a tricky one to nail down. Musically, you could say it is Spud primarily but also myself and Sol all have all written songs over time - one songs on the album was actually all Jared’s drums first also which was a first. All of us all have different mindsets when writing music. Personally, I wrote a great deal of demos in the limbo between releases alongside formulating the groundwork for the album concepts. But we were generally waiting for Spud to find the spark for the album and lay down some foundation for vibe and elements and set the pace which is where collective momentum takes over.
Generally, I am trusted to steer things in terms of artwork, lyrics and concepts. So when I am hearing something awesome Spud has written for example, I am thinking what kind of mental images is this giving me? What kinds of words are coming to mind that lock into this dbeat or if I have a bunch of themes ready, I think about which one I can apply to a song. Say a song sounds very percussive I might attach a song about let’s say “rioting” as an example to it (The Vengeful March). For the album, Dominion has a slow lurching feel that immediately gave me mental images of an exaggerated dystopian city with a gray sky and towers rising up imposingly and industry slowly spreading across the land.
Pain Ouroboros got you some solid attention in the Australian underground - Heavy Mag, Wall of Sound, the Noob Heavy list back in 2019. Did that validation change anything about how you approach the band, or do you still operate like you're invisible?
TIM: Speaking mostly personally, I generally operate as if we are invisible and I am not thinking about a fan base when I am creating art but thinking of myself as a fan of my band.
Collectively, I think we all have a bit of that mindset but I think knowing that people like our music has sat a little further forward from the back of our minds. For me I guess I had a small anticipation of certain people's reactions to new songs. But we’re mostly focused on creating interesting and engaging songs for our own sakes. I think it's a given that it is honestly the key for most artistically successful bands. I also think we all have imposter syndrome to some capacity also and that we have a sound that doesn’t really fit perfectly into a specific scene. So, I think even when we feel that we’re experiencing success we’re always going to feel a bit like outsiders and will never rest on our laurels.
You've stayed unsigned and independent through the whole run. Is that a deliberate choice, or just the reality of playing blackened grindcore in 2025? What does staying independent allow you to do that a label wouldn't?
TIM: I’d say it’s relatively deliberate as we like to have control over things but also not get tied up in deals and rights and that kind of thing. We’ve talked about it but honestly I think there’s generally a lack of interest or hype about “being signed”.
Personally I think we know if we worked for it, we could certainly get a cool deal but we like to hold all the cards and it would have to be for something that lined up really well. We certainly know the value of a good distro though in assisting in pressing and expanding our reach and we have deals to get assisted in connecting with the press, for example this interview!
The lyrics on The World Is Not Yours aren't vague metaphors - you're talking about corruption, indifference, structural collapse. Do you see this as political music, or is it more personal disgust that happens to intersect with the political?
TIM: I don’t think Munt is a political band in terms of making it the forefront of our identity and being involved in activism. We’re all pretty politically opinionated people in our personal lives however. The art however is undeniably intended to be political because you simply cannot avoid politics if you’re talking about ethics, morality, hierarchies, epistemology, and society. Even if you are using allegory, politics are a reflection of human belief systems and structures and those things make their way into things even such as fiction.
There is also certainly an element of personal disgust driving things but I think this is a way to be able to and I hate to say it, market a message. Rather than preaching from the stands which can elicit defensiveness from a person, instead it is leaving space for a listener to step in even as confrontational as the lyrics are. I guess it’s kind of like finding a pamphlet and sitting with things in your own space and time.
Tracks like "PRISONEARTH" and "Dehumanation: Concrete Grave" paint a pretty bleak picture. Is there any room for hope in this record, or is the point to sit with the discomfort and refuse easy answers?
TIM: The hope, I hope, comes from sitting with the lyrics and themes and the listener thinking “well how can we make this better”, but it is not spelled out for the listener in the most clear manner. I would hope the listener might think about all the awful things and be roused to make changes in their life, and want to make things better, thinking differently about things or even gaining a whole new perspective.
This might speak to my own impulse to take things on and look for the light at the end of the tunnel though and be challenged. It is possible some people will experience this album and think of it as total pessimism and will not be drawn towards conclusions that are ideally a source of hope and will fall into the “everythings fucked” hole.
You've got guest spots from Resin Tomb's Matt Budge and Alana K on the album. How did those collaborations come together, and what did they bring that fit the vision?
TIM: Alana is a long term friend of mine, occasional singing coach and Troy’s partner so her proximity during the record process was one part of her participating. Spud at one point had the chance to hear her heavy vocals from hers and Troy’s studio project Yakshi and immediately felt we had to have her do vocals on a song. Alana is able to provide a raw and feral but also powerfully feminine shriek which really emphasizes the frustration needed for a vocal performance in Cruelty and the Condemned.
Matt Budge is a friend of the band, and I think due to the similarities between Resin Tomb’s dissonant sludge/black metal sound and the dissonant section in Lords of Excess it felt like the perfect space for him to join us and lay down some vocals as his signature yell carries a bitter edge that is exactly what that section needed.
Melbourne's got a pretty strong underground metal scene - Agents of Abhorrence, Blood Duster's legacy, newer stuff coming up. Do you feel connected to that community, or are you more interested in carving out your own lane?
TIM: I’ll be honest, as I said above, personally I feel we are kind of doing our own thing not only creatively but communally. I think we kind of pop in and pop out of the scene where other bands are consistently playing shows and connecting. We don’t really network as fiercely anymore these days to try and get onto shows and forge connections now that we're many years into this.
But at the end of the day networking is a large part of things and a lot of the time I think gigs tend to be mates fests because people understandably love playing with their friends and the whole event feeling communal!
As for fitting into a scene, I think we have a lot going on sonically and we don’t really fit perfectly into the more pure grindcore, death metal, sludge, black metal scenes and I think the metalcore, hardcore and deathcore scenes in particular are also a whole other beast as well in terms of culture and social dynamics. Being a band that combines a lot of elements, sometimes people with more pure tastes might not click with us or have us firmly fitting in somewhere, but I think I like that. Yes, there are lots of mixed bills going around these days but we’re also a mixed bag band too. We often have inside jokes about being a false grind band, hahaha.
The album's designed to be listened to start to finish rather than cherry-picking tracks. In the age of streaming and algorithmic playlists, that feels like a middle finger to how people are "supposed" to consume music. Was that resistance built into the album structure, or is it just how the songs naturally flow?
TIM: I personally, am happy to give that middle finger to trends of consumption even if there wasn't any major intent to do so, haha. First and foremost the journey of themes and flow of the music was incredibly important to me to have this album be more than just a selection of great tracks. The others certainly also wanted that too, to elevate everything as much as possible.
Early on when I was demoing various songs alongside lyrics/concepts to try and express my idea of an album I was trying to convey how certain songs could have a sound that fits a mood or visuals that can be connected in a sequence that is purposeful like a narrative. Initially I had been building on a foundation of something more clearly a story like narrative and journey which ultimately was put aside. But it was still an idea that everything connected and felt sequential even without that narrative.
For example Lords of Excess being about greed, classism and housing used as an economic asset over prioritisation as a human right. That track needed to flow into Dehumanation: Concrete Grave which is somewhat about homelessness but more so about people becoming dehumanised, almost invisible collateral because of systemic inequity and a lack of compassion and recognition by people in society.
Then when we started writing songs, specifically after Spud had set the pace with a bunch of really strong ideas, I was given freedom to play around with pacing and placement and propose ideas for that, that would work with lyrics. I think it was almost a nice coincidence that the songs just happened to have such a great variety and connectivity that I could fit most of my themes in the order I would like with songs that felt appropriate, and it just so happened that order told a great story sonically too.
There were also some thoughts about how strong the songs are on their own and if the album didn’t need all the samples and such. The songs certainly are and we could have stripped things back for sure. I had to make a bit of a case for having so many samples on the album or the feel of them as the others had reservations at times about people's attention spans or if it is too much or too cheesy or too different. I think now everyone is generally in agreement it was what we needed and helped make the album something special.
The intro piece also was a point of uncertainty, with us having discussions about whether we even have an intro track before The Lies That Bind starting on the singular snare hit. One, because it's stark and attention grabbing but two, because people might skip an intro track because they don't like dark ambience/electronics. I managed to win the band over in the end but it’s not that those concerns weren’t valid to consider. I am glad though that we went all in on vibe and created an immersive experience that has a cinematic quality. Plus, honestly I think if someone skips an intro track that’s fine but personally, I'd rather have it there to tie everything together and set mood than not out of a worry about what the listening experience might be for some. When it comes to my contributions to the band I always choose art and inspiration that is compelling to me first and foremost. I'd rather back a vision rather than neuter an end result, considering if some consumers will be bored. It’s not that I personally and certainly the band aren’t mindful of those things though or my say is final as we're all very democratic in sharing ideas. For example, you could certainly go too avante garde or have too much of a good thing. Some people might think differently but I feel confident we struck the right balance. And next time, maybe we will strip things right back… or dive even further into twisted soundscapes, haha.
Looking forward - you've finally got a debut album out. What's next? Are we talking more shows, pushing this record as far as it'll go, or are you already thinking about what comes after?
TIM: I’m not totally sure but I imagine there will be a period of reflection and brainstorming once the tour is over. I think we will probably start to talk about working on new music or at least talk about how we want to move forward creatively. There will certainly be more shows, 2026 has been a phenomenal year for tour announcements so I hope we get to play alongside some really amazing bands so stay tuned.
Last one: if someone stumbles across The World Is Not Yours with zero context, what's the one thing you hope they take away from it - even if they hate it?
That they think more critically about things going on in the world around them and their own lives, and that hopefully it leads them to act with more compassion and open-mindedness towards others or even themselves, or even just in making more informed decisions engaging with the world around them. Because at the end of the day, I don’t really want anyone to come away from engaging with this album feeling hopeless and dejected and like there is no path forward.
THANKS TIM FOR THE DEEP INSIGHT ON THIS INCREDIBLE RELEASE.
BUY THE RECORD AND GO SEE THEM AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY!!!!
and don't you dare miss this:
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