Birth And Death

It seems an unlikely prospect for an Australian heavy music persona who inspires bile-spitting (his Twitter profile proclaims “YOU ALREADY HATE ME”) and adoration in equal measure, but Confession vocalist Michael Crafter insists he's matured somewhat. “A few years ago I was a fucking idiot. I talk some shit on it (new album, Life And Death); there's songs where I call a few things out, and swear a bit. But I'm definitely heaps mellower than I used to be.

“Before I had the baby, I had a totally different life. I was living in Melbourne in an apartment and eating out, just going out all the time. Now, I live in the suburbs in a house with my family, and I cook dinner… An exciting night for me is going to a show. So I guess I'm just a bit calmer, a bit more mellow and more settled down in life.”

The joy of fatherhood in the ex-I Killed the Prom Queen vocalist's life was counterpointed by a close friend's death from cancer. Shortly after, both his parents were also diagnosed with cancer. He channelled said pent-up anger, sorrow and depression into Confession's new disc, featuring the track Fuck Cancer. “It should have been the best times of my life, but at the same time I was dealing with some of the most horrible things I've ever had to deal with.”

A further indicator of the growler's changed mindset is his reaction to the A Wild Crafter Appeared Facebook page, a collection of memes featuring home-rown heavy-hitters. “At first I was like, 'Is this guy taking the piss out of me?'” he laughs. “I was like, 'Holy shit, this guy's made a full-on effort.' My mum's like 'Me and your dad look at it all the time, we have a laugh and think about how funny it is.' That's great. At least it's bringing a smile to their faces. It definitely brings a smile to a lot of people's faces… If it's gonna bring a smile to someone's face, that's good I reckon. It's got a lot of popularity, that's for sure. It might be helping out me more than anything.”

Crafter hopes fans embrace Confession's California-recorded third full-length, featuring appearances by friends from The Amity Affliction, Northlane and Misery Signals.

“I'm getting older; I don't know how many more CDs I'm going to sing on, if any. So I feel like I put everything on the table with this one, everything from the darkest and best points of my life. I feel like this is the best songs I ever got to sing on and lyrics I got to put down… I feel like I've had a good run, and who knows, maybe this will be the last CD I ever do. Or maybe people might still like Confession enough for us to do another CD in the future. You just never know when you're about to turn 33. Who knows what the future could bring?”