Interview:	SCORPION MILK
Title:	Troubled intimacy

Mainman Mat McNerney has had an eventful artistic career, as is well known. After all, the musical range of this idiosyncratic Brit is far too broad to allow even a moment of downtime.

Whether it's Black and Extreme Metal, as in Dødheimsgard/DHG, Code, and Hexvessel, or anarcho, horror, and 80s Post-Punk, as in Beastmilk, the man brings an incredibly rich wealth of experience to the table as a singer, guitarist, songwriter, and producer.

The eclectic depth of the latter now benefits enormously the debut album of his other post-punk project Scorpion Milk, sarcastically titled „Slime Of The Times“.

Master McNerney affirms the reasonable assumption that the band name could well stand for the massive mental poisoning caused by today's mass media.

„You could say that yes. It’s a good description.The name reflects the psychological weight of modern life, the overload of information, fear, distraction, and manipulation we’re constantly fed. It’s about how that poisons thought, numbs emotion, and erodes meaning. We’re all absorbing it, whether we realise it or not. The band name is a reaction to that, a way of pointing at it, naming it, and maybe exorcising some of it through sound and lyrics.“

The album title amuses me because it pretty accurately describes the suffering and sickness of this completely insane world with its decadent and mad societies that torment each other with countless fears, around the clock, 365 days a year; but what exactly led you to this album title?

„The original title was something like “Slime Of Our Lives”, and the band name was even going to be Mat McNerney’s Slimeworld or something similar. So it had always been at the forefront of the album concept. I was toying with that for a while because it had this grotesque, tongue-in-cheek quality I liked. But I eventually felt I needed to hone it in, cut through the noise and get to the heart of what I was actually trying to say. I didn’t want it to sound like a cartoon dystopia. I wanted the record to be about now. Not some imagined, over-the-top apocalypse but the one we’re already living in. There’s a scene in Ghostbusters II where they discover a river of slime flowing underneath New York City, this weird, sentient goo that's feeding off the collective negativity of the people above. That image stuck with me. It reminded me of the lost rivers under London, things buried, forgotten, yet still flowing beneath us. I started to see the “slime” as a metaphor for everything toxic that’s seeped into our everyday lives: fear, propaganda, isolation, performative morality, tech addiction. It’s psychological, it’s cultural. It's everywhere. It permeates. It also reminded me of that ‘80s cult horror film “The Stuff”, where people consume this delicious white goo that ends up consuming them. That felt eerily relevant too. All these metaphors kept circling the same idea: that there’s something eating away at us from the inside, but we’ve learned to live with it, even enjoy it. So the album title became a way to reflect that. It’s not a dystopia in the future. It’s now. It’s the slick surface of modern life, polished but rotting underneath. Slime Of The Times. That’s what we are living through.“ 


Pretty special, Scorpion Milk's debut album on such an iconic label - how does it feel for you?

„Thank you. I feel that the record is really special. It’s a very important album to me. Peaceville was one of the first labels I fell in love with. From Darkthrone to Autopsy to GGFH and Anathema and My Dying Bride, their early output was totally flawless. But they have remained a classy label and they’re minimal in output, they don’t just pump stuff out through the machine. I liked the early anarcho punk origins of the label and the fact that it is a British label and this album is just me this time. I wanted to have a British label, a British mixing studio and a British mastering studio. It fit with the influences that were primarily British. I’ve been wishing my entire creative life to be on Peaceville records. Now I did it. It makes me really happy.“

Your enchanting and partly hypnotic vocals fit the song material perfectly – hats off to you! How did you achieve this sad, melancholic 80s vintage style that still sounds so natural and authentic?

„Thank you, that means a lot but I feel the same way and I feel that I nailed the production exactly the way I wanted. I recorded the vocals and guitars and FX in my home studio, experimenting with whatever vintage gear and old equipment I could find or hustle together. I wasn’t trying to recreate a specific era, but to chase a feeling, something melancholic and intimate that echoed the mood I was in. I wanted the sound I recorded to be the final sound. So I didn’t polish or manipulate things after the fact. Maybe it’s the home-made and real aspect that gives it that authenticity. There’s no external name producer polishing it, no one interpreting what I meant, it’s just me, raw and searching for the sound of the emotion itself. That kind of vulnerability can’t really be manufactured, and I think it resonates because it’s real.“

How do you see and evaluate „Slime Of The Times“ within your truly interesting musical journey from Dødheimsgard and Hexvessel to Beastmilk until now with Scorpion Milk so far?

„This album is another piece in the puzzle that exemplifies how my life’s creative work is not a series of meandering and random acts but all part of the whole. You can hear how everything I have done fits into this album, as part of a conscious journey. Even if those bands stand for or have done other things since, my work with DHG, Code and even things like Carpenter Brut are more than just singular, unrelated performances. I was building up to this, and so Slime Of The Times carries my DNA but also parts of those other projects I have been involved with. There has always been a red thread. I find that very interesting, that there are links and signposts. You can hear echoes of all of it on Slime Of The Times - the experimental and confrontational spirit of DHG, the atmospheres of Hexvessel, the raw immediacy of Beastmilk, even the electronic and arena glam rock I explored with Carpenter Brut. They’re not just isolated performances or side notes, but stepping stones. For me there has always been a red thread: an obsession with atmosphere, with mood, with turning dark personal visions into shared experience. Sometimes that comes out in Black Metal, sometimes in psychedelic Folk, sometimes in post-punk or synthwave, but underneath it all is the same search: to make sense of the world through sound, and to create music that reflects both its darkness and its fragile beauty. Slime Of The Times carries my DNA but it also carries fragments of all those projects, like sediment that’s been layered over the years. I find it fascinating how they link together not in a linear sense, but more like signposts on a journey. When I trace them back, I see that the map was there all along, even if I didn’t realise it at the time. The “Slime Of The Times” record is the next stage in that unfolding path.“

How much are you satisfied with the reactions for the single & music video „Another Day Another Abyss“?

„I’ve been really satisfied with the reactions so far. “Another Day Another Abyss” was always meant to feel like a plunge into despair, into noise, into the strange beauty of collapse, so it’s been rewarding to see listeners connect with that atmosphere. I mean I could have just released the song and it sounds like me, it sounds like Beastmilk and Grave Pleasures. No surprise there really. Quality song, good stuff but it needed a different perspective with the visuals. The video gave it another layer, and brought up another conversation, which I felt was vital. The promotional video sparked a lot of conversation. Using AI to generate those visuals was an experiment for me, and I wanted it to feel uncanny, broken, like a dream where the images don’t quite hold together. That’s the point: the same way the song reflects the overload and disintegration of daily life, the video mirrors that with its unstable imagery. What I’ve loved most is that people seem to “get” it, some are extremely unsettled by it and upset, some find it beautiful, some are disturbed but can’t look away. That range of reactions is exactly what I hoped for. For me, art should provoke and haunt, not just entertain. So in that sense, I feel the single and video have already done their job.“

The rather timeless Post-Punk with its apocalyptic, psychotic, and above all dystopian concept is quite catchy despite the overall desolate mood - was that your goal?

„Yes, that was very much the goal. I’ve always been drawn to music that carries a sense of tension where something bleak or unsettling can also feel strangely uplifting or even catchy. That paradox has always been at the heart of post-punk, and it’s what makes the genre so powerful. For me, the apocalyptic and dystopian atmosphere isn’t just for shock or darkness’ sake. It’s a reflection of how the world often feels, and how we process that through sound. By wrapping those themes in something melodic or hypnotic, the music becomes a way to live with despair rather than be crushed by it. It transforms heaviness into energy, into something people can actually sing along to or move to. So yes, the catchiness is intentional. It’s like putting a mirror up to the chaos and then setting it to a rhythm so instead of paralysis, you get movement. That balance between desolation and immediacy, between doom and dance, is exactly where I wanted this record to live.“

What was your mood and vision when you approached songwriting - inspired by the daily „breaking news“ manipulations of the mass media and the manifold perversions of all the global profile neurotics on social media?

„My mood when writing was very much shaped by that constant flood of catastrophe we live with, the endless breaking news cycle, the manipulations, the noise. It’s exhausting, and after a while it starts to feel unreal, almost theatrical. That’s what I wanted to capture: not just the events themselves, but the emotional numbness and distortion they produce. Social media adds another layer, where every crisis gets filtered through performance, outrage, virtue-signalling, neurotic self-display. It becomes hard to tell what’s genuine and what’s just part of the feed. That creates this strange atmosphere of collective psychosis, where fear is traded like currency. My vision was to translate that into sound, to make music that reflects the distortion, the claustrophobia, the disorientation, but also the strange beauty that can emerge from chaos. The songs aren’t lectures; they’re emotional reactions. It’s me processing that atmosphere in the only way I know how: through melody, mood, and words that carry both despair and a kind of haunted poetry.“

„Slime Of The Times“: although the title says it all in advance as mentioned - be so kind and bring the readers a bit closer to the main lyrical topics of it!

„I generally dislike explaining individual lyrics because I feel it takes away from the mystery and the personal connection listeners can make. The lyrics are there to be interpreted, to resonate differently depending on who’s listening and what they’re bringing to the experience. What I can say is that “Slime Of The Times” reflects the world as I see and feel it right now. It’s about living through an age of distortion, manipulation, fear, and excess, the sense that something toxic is seeping through every layer of our lives. That's “slime.” It’s not some distant apocalypse; it’s the one that’s already here, embedded in our daily existence. But I don’t want to dictate what people should take from it. For me, the value of lyrics is in their openness, in how they can trigger different emotions, images, and truths in each listener. If the songs provoke thought, unsettle, or comfort in unexpected ways, then they’re doing their work.“

How can the readers imagine you writing, developing and finalizing one of the new songs?

„I write in different ways and I produce and create in different ways. Sometimes it’s banging on the table and getting a beat and other times it’s playing the guitar. These songs have a common thread in that a lot of them were created through rhythms and beats. They're rhythmic songs. I write in quite a primal way nowadays. What's in my head is what ends up on the page. That’s what a lifetime of doing music does to you. You don’t follow blindly. I know what will sound good from the first moment of writing to the end of the production. “Slime Of The Times” is my first act of really enabling that and fulfilling that way of working.“

How was the selection of songs for the album done - was it difficult or rather easy for you?

„I worked with Paul at Peaceville and Wayne who mixed the album, to get a sense of what songs should end up on the record, so I had some input from them. I think it was relatively easy. Hard to pick the singles. I think the album works as a whole.“

What do you want to tell the readers about the special guest appearances from Killing Joke’s Big Paul Ferguson, plus Will Gould of Creeper's lead vocals on „She Wolf Of London“?

„Big Paul from Killing Joke plays drums on one song: “All The Fear“”. At one stage the idea was that he might do more, but in the end he was too busy. That actually worked out for the best because Tor’s drumming really defines the album, and Paul’s appearance stands as a single, powerful guest moment. It makes his contribution feel special, like a seal of approval. For me personally, it meant a lot. I toured with Killing Joke during the Grave Pleasures days, and Paul was the member I connected with most. He was always warm, kind, and encouraging, and I had the privilege of watching him night after night, up close, doing what he does best. Killing Joke has been a massive influence on me over the years, so to have him appear on this record feels like things coming full circle. It’s not just a guest performance it’s a thread of history woven into the music. Will Gould from Creeper is another special connection. He’s been a big supporter of Grave Pleasures, and we had tried to make tours together happen several times, but the logistics never worked out. Having him appear on “She Wolf Of London” feels like the collaboration that destiny owed us. Will has a distinct theatricality and emotional intensity in his voice that brought a whole new dimension to the track. It’s not just a guest vocal, it's like he stepped into the world of the song and inhabited it completely. Both of these contributions add weight to the record, but in very different ways. Paul represents a legacy and a direct influence that shaped me, while Will represents a kind of kinship between artists working today, pushing in our own directions but sharing that same spirit. Having them both on “Slime Of The Times” is an honour and makes the album feel that much richer.“

Is there and in case yes, what is the o-n-e song with the most meaning for you on „Slime Of The Times“ and why?

„I really like the song “Will To Live”. For me, it encapsulates the core of what this album is about, finding even the faintest spark of hope in the middle of overwhelming darkness. The record deals a lot with fear, collapse, and the weight of the times we’re living through, but Will To Live carries the idea that there’s still something worth holding onto, something that drives us forward even when everything feels bleak. It’s not an anthem in the traditional sense, but it does have that uplifting undercurrent like a reminder that resilience exists, even in despair. I wanted the song to be a kind of lifeline, a moment where the music offers some air, some release, some affirmation that survival and meaning are still possible. That’s why it stands out to me. It’s the track that points to the possibility of light without denying the darkness. It’s also a banger I think. It has me dancing about like a geriatric.“

Are there any also things, books, movies, etc. that can/have influenced you for the songs?

„Yes, definitely. I’ve always drawn a lot from books and films as much as from music itself. For this album, John Carpenter was a big influence, not just his soundtracks, but his whole atmosphere of dread and tension, that sense of conspiracy and the uncanny lurking in ordinary places. Ingmar Bergman, too, for the way he tackles existential themes with such stark imagery and emotional intensity. The black and white world. The shadows are always steeped in light and vice versa. On the literary side, William Gibson’s “Neuromancer” and cyberpunk in general were important touchstones; that idea of technology reshaping identity, reality, and control feels very connected to the world I’m writing about now. I also went back to the Aliens Dark Horse comics and the original film with that blend of body horror, sci-fi paranoia, and claustrophobic survival that really resonated with the mood I was chasing. And then there are cult horror oddities like “The Stuff”, that film about people happily consuming a substance that ends up consuming them felt like a perfect metaphor for the times we’re in. It’s absurd and grotesque, but also very true to how modern culture works. All of these influences seep into the album not as direct references, but as part of the texture. They shape the imagery, the tension, the sense of unease, and also the way I balance darkness with a strange sort of fascination and beauty.“

„Our nightmares are now automated“ - love it, nailed. What's your personal recipe to avoid the daily (digital) misery?

„A good cerveza like Modelo or Pacifico, preferably with some lime. A proper cocktail like Negroni or if the weather is good an Aperol spritz. Nature, hiking, camping. Connect with the real world outside your window. The forest is forever there for you. The planet will be fine, we will not.“

Where do you see the majority of humanity in 20 years - symbolically cowering on the floor, chipped and neuronally AI-conditioned?

„I want to see us reach our potential as a species. That doesn’t mean pretending we’re not on a dangerous path with AI, with surveillance, with the commodification of every thought and feeling but it means believing that we still have the capacity to resist being reduced to consumers or data points. What I hope for is that we don’t end up cowering on the floor, chipped and conditioned, but instead learn to use these tools in ways that actually expand consciousness rather than shrink it. There’s always a risk that technology becomes a cage, but there’s also the possibility that it becomes an instrument for art, for deeper connection, for survival. My vision of humanity has always been double-edged, on one hand, we’re destructive, hypnotised by fear and distraction; on the other, we have this incredible ability to create, to imagine, to endure. I’d like to think that in 20 years, we’ll still be capable of wonder, still seeking meaning, and still fighting for our freedom to be more than just programmable creatures.“

Anything you would like to add?

„Slime is everywhere. We’re swimming in it already, and the record is just a mirror. The question is whether we dissolve in it or transform through it. The slime will tell you who you are.“

© Markus Eck, 02.09.2025

Photo Credit: Andy Ford & Scorpion Milk

[ to overview ]

All copyrights for image material are held by the respective owners.

Advertising

+++