PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Pophorror sits down with horrorcore artist SickTanicK for his newest album La fin absolue du monde to discuss how it all came together and the influences for the album.
PopHorror: How did the concept of this album all come together?
SickTanicK: First off thank you for having me! This whole thing started when I relocated from Colorado to New Orleans. I was going back and forth between the two states regularly for healthcare when I got a bad prognosis regarding a previous case of cancer that I had and returned, and spread. I was given a potential “Timeline” for time and was recommended to move back to Colorado permanently for more intensive care and I decided against that and so the album was born. it was supposed to be my last one so I wrote it as such, I had to find a way to deal with the fact that my death was looming, which we all do every day, right? But it’s a lot different having a potential timeline, trying to get your affairs in order and prepare for it.
The symbolism for the album is layered, for instance the name itself “La Fin Absolue Du Monde” I took from John Carpenters “Cigarette Burns”, I related to the “Angel” in that film because I was trapped by this cancer thing, mutilated by it, and the idea of a film that can drive someone insane enough simply by viewing reminded me of how I felt making this record, i wanted to replicate that on wax as a reflect of my own mental illness because my mental health was absolutely decimated while I put all of it together, which I am still recovering from. How can I send one last message to everyone? My loved ones, my fans, and how can I make it the greatest work I’ve ever made? I put a lot of pressure on myself for this one, more than any other record I’ve ever made.
PopHorror: When did you know it was time to make another album?
SickTanicK: I’d been quietly working on multiple things over the years on and off but really my focus had shifted to a new musical endeavor altogether working with MEHENET (The Black Metal band I am honored to be a part of) but the SickTanicK stuff was always looming, it was really the support and encouragement of the small circle of solid people I have in my life that pushed me to get this thing out though to be honest. This album was very hard for me to make, I opened up a lot of wounds and poured salt in them and I didn’t know how to deal with it so I kept putting it off. That’s the long answer, the short one is I knew the minute I was sick again that it had to be done.
PopHorror: The lyricism and flow in this album felt like you were hungry again. How did it feel to get back in the flow of things?
SickTanicK: That’s actually a really cool question, and also thank you! Even though my focus had shifted musically I always felt it was important to keep my “Chops” and vernacular up, so I came up with a method to do so which was to pick, or have a word picked for me to rhyme for the whole day, start it with basic rhymes, ABC shit, then move onto multiple syllables, then sentences, then themes, etc.
One word a day, I spent more time dissecting words and making them make sense together, so when it came time to try and actually say something it flowed and felt right. After all these years, I obviously have a lot to say, but it couldn’t just be the same old shit you know? I also wanted to show people that I have legit bars, its not just shock and awe and recycled material, I don’t feel I’ve ever really shown what I’m capable of as an actual rapper, That’s where the hunger came from, that and a sense of desperation as that clock was ticking away minute by minute.
But as time went on and I laid scratch tracks the response by the very few I trust to give me HONEST criticisms was overwhelming and so I knew I was on the right track, also I just felt it. It’s a strange feeling to try and explain but anyone who does art or has a passion for something knows what I’m talking about.
PopHorror: How has the response to this album felt towards you?
SickTanicK: Wild man. It’s like I never left. People in sub-genres and niche markets can be really fickle, and if you’re not pushing content of some kind it’s really easy for them to forget about you and my last record was in 2021, and that was just rare songs and b-sides, so I was unsure how people were gonna take it.
I dropped a lot of the things in my style that helped build my name in this thing, I barely use the “SickTanicK” voice on this record, I eliminated a lot of the “Tropes” that people had become accustomed to, I wanted to blindside everyone with a more refined sound that wasn’t an “Occult Rap” or “Horrorcore” album, but rather a “Sicks graduated and moved up to a new level” album. I wanted to expand to new peoples ears for them to be like “Oh this dude can legit rap and talks about things that actually have some kind of meaning and that he’s lived” not just “Oh, that Satanic rapper guy”.
I also wanted to prove everyone wrong. Lots of people have wished for my destruction, my final excommunication from a genre I helped build, so this is my big “Fuck You,” to many. You want me dead and gone? Here, I’ll do it for you, and you’ll see first hand that my legacy cannot be erased, and not only that you’re gonna see I rap better than you, my beats are still better and my engineering is still better, you can do all that hack and slash shit that you want, you can talk about “The Devil” all you like, but let’s keep it a buck, you’re not REALLY about that life, it’s all clicks for you, but for me it’s reality. I mean what I say and say what I mean.
PopHorror: Any songs off the album you would recommend to a SickTanicK die hard fan specifically to remind them why they were fans in the first place?
SickTanicK: That’s a tough question actually, this album isn’t intended for a typical SickTanicK fan, it’s intended for anyone who’s been through some real shit in their lives. It’s easy to live a kind of “Fantasy” and let an artist be the catharsis for you right? Whatever emotion you feel,whatever you are going through, it was a lot harder to create a record based on such a unique situation as mine because my life is mine, and not everyone has lived the things I have lived, and I certainly haven’t had the lived experiences of others, But I would say on a personal level the most “important” songs on the record are “Eurydice,” ”Beyond The Veil” and “The Unforgiven”, they are the most vulnerable and honest I have ever been on any record in my quite extensive discography.
“Eurydice” is about losing someone you love because of circumstances outside your control, “Beyond The Veil” is my final goodbye to everyone, based particularly on certain initiations and rituals in the things I’m involved in and lastly “The Unforgiven” is me calling myself out on my “Sins”, some of my deepest, darkest secrets I’ve kept over the years, it’s hard to have certain type of crosses to bare and be silent about them for so long, how do you do a confession to your fan base and loved ones and tell them shit they would have no idea about you know? And they shouldn’t. Really no one should.
I broke the “Code” of silence on that song, but my mentality was “I’m dying so fuck it, what’s anyone gonna do or say anyway?” And I stand by that one hundred percent. With a handful of songs on this album I had to consult a lawyer to make sure I couldn’t catch a potential case for things SickTanicK may or may not have done, participated in or been a part of, because after all, it’s all just entertainment right? There is a difference in being “Real” for the sake of “Clout” and being “Real” because you literally have to get something off your chest for the whatever reason. We all have our “Crosses” to bare, and “The Unforgiven” is a level of honesty that very very few cross in any genre for any reason, ever.
It’s not about having a hit record, or anything else. It’s about venting and telling people a truth they probably won’t understand anyway out of context. But as time goes by, and most certainly after I’m dead and gone people will be like “DAMN” I don’t know what to think or feel about that, and that’s the point. I wanna provoke people to think, and more so to feel. We all have our secrets, no one is excluded. So to me it was like “Fuck it”, lay it all out, let people talk, let people feel a certain kind of way. But the reality is, is that all of it it is my alleged experiences and unless you’ve been there, you have no room to judge me, or anyone else,maybe look in the mirror and realize you’re not perfect either, don’t use that as an excuse but especially don’t use it as a way to demonize others because you may find yourself on the wrong end of a dead man’s switch, I’m ready to die and I have most certainly prepared.
Your theology or lack thereof doesn’t matter, whatever Gods you do or do not worship, whatever statues you lay an offerings at, whatever you pray or meditate to or about, we all face death. I’m ready to go home at any time, the question people should be asking is are you? The end is coming. I don’t care if anyone believes me, but when that moment hits, who you gonna think of? Who or what do you really love? What means something to you? Listen to the title track of the record and you will see. The clock is ticking, not for just me, but for everyone. And history, or whatever we think of as history, will prove me right. Prepare yourself while there is still time to do so.
PopHorror: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today!
