Feature: Afflicted Truth Interview
An Interview with Hilton Lazenby of Afflicted Truth
Afflicted Truth could be one of the Christian metal scene’s best kept secrets. Originally founded in 1996 by Hilton and Grant Lazenby in the city of Durban, South Africa, Afflicted Truth has essentially been a solo project of Hilton’s for most of its existence, and laid down some of the most intense death/grind I’ve ever heard. Concocting music that pummels and stuns the listener with absolutely relentless, driven noise, it’s all augmented by frankly stunning guitar solos that are normally not a thing with such music. In short, it’s an absolute assault on the senses.
Recently, I had the chance to chat with the driving force behind Afflicted Truth, Hilton Lazenby, and unpack a little of the mystery behind this criminally slept on band.
First off, thanks for agreeing to the interview! How’s life all the way down there in South Africa? What’s it like living in Durban?
You’re welcome brother, I’m honored to be doing this interview. Life in South Africa can get really tough. Living in Durban is nice, I’ve lived here since I was 7 years old.
What’s the story behind the name, Afflicted Truth?
Afflicted Truth was originally called Emancipator. When Afflicted Truth was a full band at the time, we decided to change the name to Afflicted Truth. It was changed to suite the brutality of the music.
Afflicted Truth, if I’m correct on this, has been around since 1996! What made you start playing this kind of music in the first place?
Yes, Afflicted Truth started in about September 1996 when I went to my brother Grant and said to him, let’s start our own Christian thrash metal band. The very first Christian metal band we ever heard was Deliverance. My brother brought home their debut album on cassette. Hearing the opening song “Victory” blew us away, we were hooked from the get go. Later on we heard all the other Christian bands at the time. When we found our drummer Johnny at the time, he was heavily influenced by Jayson Sherlock and Mortification, so that’s when we made the decision to play Death Metal. I actually played bass for the band at the time because our friend John wanted to play guitar, so I ended up playing bass for more than 2 years. Originally, we also had a vocalist. His name was Cyan, but he left the band early 1997, that’s when I took over on vocals. I eventually moved over to guitar and vocals in 1999.
What’s the metal scene like in Durban and, on a larger scale, in South Africa in general?
The metal scene is actually pretty small in Durban. Country wide it’s big, if you want to play big shows, you would normally need to apply to play at a festival in Johannesburg, Bloemfontein or Capetown where there’s a lot more support in the metal scene.
I know that Afflicted Truth has done live shows – how do these work? Do you play live by yourself with programmed drums or do you have help from session musicians?
I just use the drum, guitar and bass tracks. I mix them down to 1 single track, hit play at a live show, play along with the rhythm guitar, do the vocals and play the solos.
Who would you say are your influences when it comes to Afflicted Truth? Are there any Christian metal bands in particular that have inspired you?
Christian bands – Deliverance, Betrayal, Mortification, Crimson Thorn, Whitecross, Believer
Secular bands – Death, Dying Fetus, Misery Index, Carcass, Malevolent Creation, Suffocation, Nile, Mortician, Slayer, Old Sepultura, Revulsed
In my view, Afflicted Truth is a masterful combination of death metal brutality and grindcore intensity; how would you yourself describe Afflicted Truth’s sound?
I’m 100% in agreement with you there brother, feeling the need to grind for Christ is in my blood.
Afflicted Truth hasn’t always been a solo endeavour – would you walk us through the line-ups you’ve had over the years? Would you say it’s easier to write and record music on your own, or with other musicians involved?
Well, original lineup was: Myself (Bass), Grant Lazenby (Lead Guitar), Johnny Morte (Drums), John Christy (Rhythm Guitar), Cyan Ogalvie (Vocals). John left the band in December 1996. We then got another guitarist Mike Vos. Mike played with us for about a year, he then left the band too, so we carried on as a 3 piece for about another year. Our friend Michael Herman then joined us on Rhythm guitar for about a year, after that we carried on as 3 piece for a while when I switched to guitar and vocals and Michael sessioned for us on bass. After that we had our friend Shane Layden join us on bass, he also designed the Afflicted Truth logo for us. Johnny and Shane departed from the band shortly after that. That was when Grant bought a drum machine, Michael helped us out with bass again, we recorded “Slowly The Body Rots” at time as well. Not too long after that, we met a good friend, his name was Daniel Da Silva, he was originally a drummer but didn’t feel confident to play the drum tracks he had programmed at the time. He joined us on bass. A few months down the line he said to Grant and myself, “I think that I might be able to pull it off playing the drums.” So he got behind his kit and played the songs flawlessly and could blast like George Kolias (Nile’s drummer). Michael helped us out with sessioning bass again, we opened up for Mortification at Burn night club in Durban when they did their world tour (what an amazing experience that was). Shortly after that, our good friend Ryno Theron joined us on bass. That’s when we recorded the “Onslaught Of Brutality” live in our jam room. About a year after that, Grant left the band. Shortly after that, I disbanded Afflicted Truth at the time. In 2005, I was wanting to do Afflicted Truth again. Michael came to me and gave me a disc with fruity loops on it, I sat and programmed 3 of the orginal songs and wrote a few new tracks at the time, played shows with just myself jamming guitar along to drum tracks and doing vocals. I played with my brother in a secular project that he did at the time. We then started our duo of doing our brotherly bonding with Burmack which is a secular project that we do. At the time I was still doing Afflicted Truth shows now and then but for a few years I didn’t play any shows for a long time. When lock down hit, I decided to record the first Afflicted Truth studio album. I already had the 7 songs from the last 20 plus years, I then wrote 2 more songs to make it a full album ( The Emancipator and Above All Things). After that, it all took off from there and that’s where I am today. As far as writing new music goes, yes, it’s easier for me to write music by myself, record it in the comfort of my own home as well.
Dude – opening for Mortification must have been insanely cool. Strangely enough, then, though Afflicted Truth has been around since ’96, it seems that your earlier releases have only recently seen the light of day in the 2020’s. Is there a reason for this long delay in releasing material, or are the original copies of your earlier recordings like Slowly the Body Rots and Onslaught of Brutality simply no longer extant?
At the time, my life was very busy, finding the time to record was difficult. Having a demanding job, family life, it took priority. When I changed careers, I had more free time on my hands. That’s why, when lock down hit, I decided to record the album. As far as Slowly The Body Rots and The Onslaught Of Brutality goes, I literally only have 1 copy of each cd.
In your opinion, which Afflicted Truth record are you most fond of?
I had the most fun recording The Risen One album. To me, that album was the breakthrough in the Afflicted Truth sound. I remember sitting and recording at 01:00 in the morning and having work the next day recording the praise and worship cover song “I love you Lord.” I had so much fun with writing the guitar solo for it too. That album is and was the motivation I needed to feel confident to push on.
How do you go about writing new songs? Do you normally write the lyrics first or the riffs? Or do you start with drum programming?
I normally start off by writing drums and depending on what influences I have at the time, I write the riffs to the beats. When it comes to the lyrics , I write them after the music part is completed and record them.
How have you found your experience to be working with labels like Coleiosis Records and Vision of God/Christian Metal Underground records?
Cole is an awesome dude and a good friend, I still have my thrash metal project with him, “Reborn United.” The Risen One also got a face-lift recently with a new Album cover and cd and vinyl layout, it looks amazing. Duane from Vision Of God records has a big heart, he’s a really good guy, the amount that he did for me when releasing The Seeking Of Redemption, I’m humbled.
Have you found it difficult being a Christian metal artist? Do you ever receive negative reactions from the secular metal world, or from other Christians?
The secular scene is actually more receptive to it, I hardly ever get a negative response from it. As far as the Christians go and the Christian metal scene, people need to hold their tongue and stop criticizing and looking for things wrong with extreme Christian metal. That’s all I’m going say about that.
Do you have any new albums in the works? I’m sure that, after The Seeking of Redemption, many out there are chomping at the bit for some new material.
Oh yes, definitely and quite a bit faster. There’s a split coming out very soon with 5 new Afflicted Truth songs on it. The other band on the split is When The Trumpet Blows. I’m also working on another full length album which should be ready very soon as well. This new album is going to be extremely brutal, it has quite a few friends doing guitar solos on the instrumental. Ryno Theron has also done an epic solo on 1 of the tracks. It’s going to be 1 of the most brutal Christian death metal albums ever made. That’s all I’m going to say about that. All you extreme metal fans, you’re in for a treat.
Nice! I’ll be looking forward to that for sure. So, how would you say has God worked in your life as a musician? Did you feel a special calling to play this kind of music in order to spread the message of Christ?
Growing up in a Christian home and being a Christian my whole life has been an amazing journey, but over the last 5 years, my relationship with Christ has really grown. He has guided me through everything, especially writing lyrics. Writing about personal life experiences and having a recollection of everything over these last few years has been awesome. My music is for everyone, the saved and the unsaved. If my music can reach 1 person in the world and change their life, his friends will follow. That’s all that matters, Christ needs to work in their lives like he’s worked in mine.
I hear you. Once they become fans of Afflicted Truth, how can they support the band/ministry? Is there a place where someone can get some cool merch?
Go to the bandcamp sites, order cds, the Risen One has a vinyl link on the bandcamp page, there is merchandise for the Recollection album, shirts, mugs, clocks, coasters etc, please support. It helps more than you know, the links are below.
Other merchandise
Any last words for the readers?
If you are starting out or been around for years and no one has heard your music, record it. Never give up, keep pushing forward, never lose focus, Christ must always be behind the wheel.
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