Qual’s oeuvre is one cloaked in darkness. With his first LP from 2015, Sable, William Maybelline – one half of Lebanon Hanover – drenched his listeners with despair in his menagerie of dire synths and vocals. Last year with the EP, Cupio Dissolivi, Qual added in severe basslines that intersected with his gothy attributes, a surprising but somehow natural progression. Now, with the release of his LP, The Ultimate Climax, Qual melds EBM with harsh techno beats, all while maintaining his colossal ability to create song structures and epic, memorable choruses.
The newest single from The Ultimate Climax is “Disease X”, directed by Tim Gainet of Poison Point and IV Horsemen, who also delves into the pitiless fit of dark electronic music. The video is undeniably inspired by old computer technology and EBM clips from the 1980s – layered with Qual bellowing: “Always death he craves… always death.”
We caught up with Qual to discuss the new video and The Ultimate Climax:
The Ultimate Climax is the perfect continuation of your solo career under Qual. What were your motivations for this LP?
My main motivations were connected to sheer passion and to generally push for a harder, heavier sound. For years I’ve been inspired by the harsher sides of music, here i just decided to apply a bit. I’m enjoying such directions and who knows what it could mutate to in the near future.
“Disease X”, like many songs on this album, are so dismal – they feel familiar but so fresh. What was the overall mood you were trying to achieve with TUC?
That is what I strive for, something I feel may be fresh or either that or it may just be something reminding of the past but just sprinkling something a bit different on it – somehow twisting it, juxtaposing, we could say.
What is “Disease X” about, specifically?
My wife and how she spellbinds me to other realms, bringing a euphoric feeling. perhaps Disease X might sound to you a negative thing… we treat disease as a negative but from my side in my wild wandering thoughts it is a soul nourishing disease.
The sound has a late-80s industrial aesthetic to it, was this the goal?
For sure this is what I was getting inspired by, even closer for me was early 90s on this track.
How did you get together with Tim Gainet for this video?
Tim became an instant brother in arms, we met for the first time in Portugal Leiria. from then we easily got talking. And since we have met on numerous occasions during my visits to Paris.
Additional news on Qual:
There will be a new cassette release – super limited, Only Available at live shows due to the delicacy of packaging:
(Featuring 3* new works only existing on this tape release.)
Side I
Gaping Gash Intro
Black Crown
How Many Graves?
Side II
Above Thee Below Thee
Mechanized Death
Qual Tour Dates 2018/19
June
22 Darmstadt
23 Berlin
July
20 – Oh My Goth – Cerreto guidi Florence, Italy
September
13 – Barcelona
14 – Supersonic – Paris
15 – Blah Blah – Turino
28 Kiev
October
13 – Athens – Temple, w/ Trisomie 21
January 2019
12 – Leipzig
18 – Tbilisi
Or via: