The The Mark of Cain are back after more than a decade. The band’s very-heavy new album Songs of the Third and Fifth hits shelves on November 2, but take it from someone who has heard it; every track is a brutal killer.
“I think it’s our best stuff yet,” singer, lyricist and guitarist John Scott said. “I’m proud of our other albums but this sort of straddles everything we have ever done and drags it forward. To have the album finished now after all the shit I went through, I’m extremely proud.”
Strictly speaking, the band is not all-Australian. American John Stanier of Helmet, Tomahawk and Battles is still The Mark of Cain’s heavy-beating heart on drums. But brothers John and Kim Scott are the original members and John seems the initiator the band’s actions.
That said, The Mark of Cain are one of the great heavy rock bands to come from Australia. They can claim Henry Rollins as a fan and collaborator, the likes of Andy Gill and Steve Albini as producers. And the fact Stanier moves mountains to play with the Scott brothers whenever called on, is proof their pull.
But despite their credentials, Songs of the Third and Fifth is just the band’s fifth long player in a quarter of a century. And it has been 11 long years since their last album This Is This. Fans could have been forgiven for giving up hope.
Scott said a mix of personal problems and Stanier’s logistical challenges conspired to try and stop the album being made. Then came the “disintegration” of Scott’s family. Depression set in and he quit his job as a mechanical engineer. It has been three years since he worked.
“I’m still slightly disaffected,” he said, “I’m an alienated old man.” But Scott suspects that is the secret to The Mark of Cain’s dark, haunting power. He has a fear that persistent happiness might quell the muse. “What if I was happy?,” he asked himself. “It might not come out the way it does, or at all.
The song-writer’s inner turmoil is vivid in his music. The trio are super tight, like a maximum-security asylum. It’s the sound of anxiety. Add Scott’s guttural vocals and unexpected chord signatures and you have an intensity few bands can rival.
Frustration may be Scott’s inspiration but the product of his work is the antidote; even if peace of mind is only short lived. He explained how the album came to fruition amidst a decade of challenges, and how it may have saved his life.
“A few years after This Is This came out I thought we needed to follow it up but John Stanier was playing in Helmet at the time, and doing various other stuff; we had to work around that,” he said. “He’s such a better drummer than Kim and I are bass and guitar players so we feel very lucky to have a guy like him want to play with us.”
“About 2005 we started thinking, shit we need to do something. Then my daughter was born and I had a family to look after. That definitely altered my whole perspective on life. So I was being a dad and providing for a family. Recording kind of got put on the back-burner for a while.”
“But we utilised every chance we got. A couple of times we thought we might try getting some tracks recorded with another drummer, so we’d call John in the states. He’d say ‘no, I can make it’ and he’d find a way to take some time off and come and record. So it was logistics, really. Being able to record whenever we wanted to wasn't something ever afforded to us. Then in 2008 my relationship hit the wall. It took a long time for me to get my shit together and get into the studio to record while that was going on.”
It had been seven years since the band’s last album and there would be four more years before the vocals and production were finished. Scott said that rather than growing frustrated at the process, recording was a saving grace in his life.
“My frustrations were external to all of that,” he said. “It’s just me, for some reason I've just always found it hard to socialise. I really dislike small talk and most people don’t know much these days. If anything, the whole recording process was like a little sanctuary for me. I could hide from everything else going on in my life for three or four hours in the studio and just do what I love. If anything, it was more of a life saver.”
Throughout The Mark of Cain’s work runs an obvious and deliberate military theme. Album names, song titles and lyrics are all in military metaphors. Although he doesn't advocate war and violence, Scott said he had always respected the army.
“People can do amazing things when pushed to the limit, like in times of war,” he said. “I always liked the discipline of the military and how it’s all about getting things done, no bullshit. I think The Mark of Cain play like that. When we’re on stage there’s no chit chat or fucking around. Just BOOM, play.
The Mark of Cain’s respect for discipline and persistence has paid off. Songs of the Third and Fifth is remarkable: heavy, dark, brutal but melodic. It may go down as their best work.