According to various rumours, Doom/Death is all the trend nowadays, with every band bandwagonning on the subgenre. Well, a quick look at what the Doom festivals have offered us the past 4 to 5 years seems to contradict this, and I think that the rumour mill seems to have forgotten that we're in 2012 and not in 1996. Which is exactly the period to which this first album of the belgian band Marche Funèbre brings us. Back in the 90's that when someone was telling you 'yeah man, I'm listening to some Doom' he was talking about My Dying Bride and not Count Raven. The 90's saw the rise of the UK Doom/Death giants, and also of the much loved dutch scene. Spina Bifida, Officium Triste, early Celestial Season, The Gathering or Orphanage were the continental bands that fanzines were talking about. And Marche Funèbre does a great job in resurrecting those lost days.
But they could just be another name in the too long list of My Dying Bride/Novembers Doom copycats, if this wasn't for a curious twist. For Marche Funèbre seems to like all sorts of different subgenres of Doom, and they want to mix it in a single song. Most notably, they never hesitate to wander from old school Doom/Death to the more melodic side of the genre, and even in Epic Doom territories (there's more than once a big nod to Candlemass)...ore pure Death Metal (the speed parts). All this, in a single song. For the un-initiated, this could create some headaches. There's even some hints of Black Metal and a somewhat surprise for me. For when vocalist Arne Vandenhoeck sings in clean voices, he sounds a lot like Jérôme Deves from that old french band Forest Of Souls (if you don't know this cult band, now here's the time for you to go look for them). And this is where he's the best, for his aggressive vocals are good but more than once not corresponding to what he's singing (sorry, but aggressive vocals when declaming a very mournful story is NOT a good idea).
However, the band seems to prefer to separate the various elements that compose its music, rather than trying to fuse them together and create something original. This is epitomized in the song 'The Dark Corner' : a slow mournful start, giving way to a fast aggressive section before coming back to a slow mournful finale. In this song, and the final 18 minutes epic adapatation of 'Lethe' (a poem by french dark romantic Charles Baudelaire), the way Marche Funèbre handle every different parts truly shine. Such is not the case with the rest of the album, that seems to be stuck betweeen two doors.
Theorically, « To Drown » has everything needed to be a great first album, except focus. The members really know how to handle their instruments (so many musicians still thinks that Doom doesn't need a lot of technique to be played...Guys, if you want to play this way, then go cover the Ramones instead) and they have a lot of ideas coming in. The potential is huge for the band, should they manage to focus a bit more in fusing the disparate elements together and correctly put the different types of vocals where the lyrics needs them the most. This is a solid debut album, that falls short on being a truly awesome one. But what's more interesting is that it leaves plenty of possibilities for future ameliorations. And I'm looking forward to hear more from them and see which road they shall take in their future releases.
According to Wikipedia, the horse latitudes are subtropical lattitudes and 35 degrees both north and south and under a ridge of high pressure called the subtropical high, which receives little precipitation and has variable winds mixed with calm. Jim Morrisson then wrote a poem, based on a vague story about a ship being struck in this part of the world due to the lack of wind, the sailors being forced in the end to eat their horses and drink their blood in order to stay alive, when all else has already been consumed. Accordingly, the poem ended being a spoken word piece on The Doors' second album “Strange Days”, with a lot of noisy sound as background music. Knowing all that, I wasn't surprise to see both the name of the region and the poem being used as influence for a finnish Sludge band.
Horse Latitudes are from Helsinki and the three-pieces band is a rather unusual entity. Mostly because they follow in the steps of Bunkur, as being a band using two basses, vocals, drums and some noise/samples. But where Bunkur was using this idea to play the heaviest Drone/Doom you could find on the face of this Earth (and actually, missing the point on their last album by...oh, just being an universe away from actually being good or just interesting), Horse Latitudes prefer to bring a bit of structure to their music. This is not the swampy Sludge from the Louisiana bayous you'll find here, but something colder, with a feeling of urban decay and despair, not unlike bands like Bloody Panda (albeit less arty). There's also a typical northern blackness creeping in from time to time, and for some reasons I really can't explain, I was somewhat reminded that this is what could have been done if the Beherit from the”Drawing Down The Moon” era had performed Sludge instead of Black Metal.
So, no ripped hardcore vocals here, nor any shrieks. Some occasional screams, but mostly a clean voice with some ritualistic edge (the end of 'Profane Awakening' sounds like if drummer/vocalist Harri is busy summoning something from deep below N'kai). In fact, the vocals are very typically finnish, reminding you a bit of Lord Vicar (and even a small bit of Aaron Stainthorpe in the mourning parts of 'Into The Deep'). But the music itself...it's slow, very oppressive, with some crushing parts and a palpable feeling of despair and abandonment. But the band never forget to go into more upbeat territories once in a while ('Decline Of The Ages' being a very good use of the alternance of slow/quick/slow parts), and even there they shine. The production gives the album a dry and dusty sound, a perfect representation of what you should feel while being slowly dehydrated and naturally mummified under the desert heat.
Horse Latitudes have managed to bring something new to the Sludge/Stoner/Doom scene. This already is a good point, but what is better is that they've managed to do it good. I've heard already too much albums starting with a great idea and ending being a big pile of shit because the idea wasn't well used, or the musicians simply didn't knew how to play their instruments. This is not the case here : Horse Latitudes have done a wonderful second album, and have matured a lot as a band. If you've ever wondered what would the bastard child of OM and Fleshpress would sound like...well, get yourself stucked under the Horse Latitudes and you'll find out.
DOCTOR CYCLOPS is a three piece from Italy, consisting of Christian Draghi - guitar and vocals, Francesco Filippini - bass and Alessandro Dallera - drums. Their debut album “Borgofondo” which has just been released via the German label WORLD OF SOUND, came as a surprise to me and what a nice surprise!
The album is a collection of songs that carries the 70s vibe but the band has a pretty eclectic list of influences so don’t expect it to be a simple nostalgia trip. You’ll find yourselves on an incredibly evocative and a bit mystical journey with music you can easily grow to love. The warmth of Christian’s vocals adds a lot to the obscure overall feeling of the album, the guitar work is a pure delight to the ears and I absolutely love the fat groove of Francesco’s bass and the pounding beats of Alessandro’s drums. Most definitely my favourite track is “Giants of the Mountain”. It’s a very interesting piece featuring the amazing Alia O'Brien on flute, Alberto Greguoldo on saxophone and Alberto Pena Zaldivar on trumpet. Sax and trumpet make the track’s end quite unexpected but very very cool. I can hear the band jamming more on this part with a bigger brass section, oh yeah that would be even cooler! The rest of the tunes are just as enjoyable but yours truly is not good at portraying emotions so you better hear them for yourselves. I also can’t be a very reliable source production wise but all instruments and vocals in “Borgofondo” sound very balanced. There’s one thing I don’t like on this album : some rather annoying bubbling and squeezing effects on some of the tracks. But that’s just me and my headphones I guess.
The stunning album artwork of “Borgofondo” is by Luigi Filippini and the album is available on CD and vinyl. I think for now it can be purchased only from European distributors (and maybe Amazon) but you can find more full information on the band’s website (links after the interview). There you can listen to a three tracks promo as well.
Now, I hope you’ll enjoy the interview with Christian.
As a beginning - please introduce the band and the members and if you could tell me something about DOCTOR CYCLOPS that can’t be found in your official bio.
The band is composed by Christian Draghi, guitar and vocals, Francesco Filippini on bass and Alessandro Dallera on drums. DOCTOR CYCLOPS was started in late 2007 by the two current members and childhood friends Christian and Francesco, with a different drummer, as Alessandro joined in 2010. We began to play live in early 2009, after more than one year spent in the rehearsal room in order to make our own repertoire. We are currently trying to become our favourite band!
You should really enjoy and love what you do to make others believe you and love it too! How did you come up with the name? It’s taken from an old horror movie, right?
Not really. The band name came up during a phone call between me and the bassist, Francesco. We where looking for a name and we both agreed that “Cyclops” had the right meaning and a good sound. At the time Francesco was taking his degree, so it came up that also the Cyclop could be called “doctor”… some like a joke, but that’s how it went: DOCTOR CYCLOPS. We found out about the movie later, as we googled it to see if there was already any other band with that name!
That’s interesting; in what sense “Cyclops” has the right meaning?
In the sense that the Cyclops is a mythological figure, recalling loneliness and magnificence at the same time. Moreover he sees things with just one eye, so metaphorically speaking, with a clearer point of view…
I’m also curious to know what does “Borgofondo” mean?
Borgofondo is an Italian word which cannot be exactly translated… let’s say it may sound like “Deepvillage”. It’s an evocative word, reminding a place (a village) deep into your soul.
You are releasing your debut album via WORLD IN SOUND. How did they find you?
Through a common friend, Jens Heide who runs Vortex Club in Siegen, Germany. He had us playing there and we are good friends, so when we decided to record the lp he put us in touch with WORLD IN SOUND. The label liked our music and we decided to release together… now we have a contract including the second album too.
Do you think that the path to any success goes through knowing the right people at the right moment? By the right people I mean those who wouldn’t think twice whether to help or not just for the passion, be it music or something else. I know for sure that world of underground music has lots of these people…..
The underground world’s made by a lot of good people, doing things just because of passion. Of course it let musicians great freedom to express themselves and the music they like… but to consider it as a sort of paradise on earth that would be a bit naive. Even in the underground scene you can find people moving because of personal interests and politics. Especially people handling things around big festivals and bigger labels and booking agencies. They surely don’t help people just because of their music! I mean, in the underground you can build your own career with your strength and blood only, but without one of these people’s help, you’ll never reach the “top” of the scene. That’s how I see it.
Well, I don’t and I doubt someone considers it a paradise on earth. But everything depends on what your priorities are and what compromises you’re ready to make. Alia O'Brien from BLOOD CEREMONY and her flute are guests on “Giants of the Mountain”. Was it hard to convince her to do it?
Not at all. We met in Paris last year as we opened the act for their show. We knew better in the backstage and they really liked our music, so we simply asked her if she would have liked to put on her flute on a song of the album. She said “yes” and we are really proud of this, as we are good BLOOD CEREMONY’s fan! They are really nice and easy going guys.
That same track has some jazzy/ funky sounding with brass section that, along with the flute, is giving it very nice and quite interesting twang. How did you come with the idea to include all these instruments?
Well, we thought to use that song as the masterpiece of the album, and so to include some experiments too, with flute, percussions and so on. We just wanted to try something different on that number, something which could sound bizarre and wrongfooting. We tried to add a brass section because this song is a really theatrical one for us. Brass on the fading section really fitted our musical intent.
A birdie told me you’re already working hard on the second album. I won’t ask for details as you may not want to share too much on this stage but are you keeping the music direction you’ve taken with “Borgofondo”? Guess you’re more confident in writing music now and you don’t seem to be afraid to experiment……
I think that the second album will continue going deeper in the speech that “Borgofondo” started… Maybe it will be a little more doomy, and it will have less and longer songs, but definitely it won’t be a really different album. If you like “Borgofondo”, you won’t be disappointed: we’ll introduce to you a lot of new freaky characters with that.
What do you want people to find in your music? What do you want to tell them?
We want them to find the key to another world, a world made by strong emotions and gloomy paths. Musically speaking we want to communicate ourselves, as we couldn’t do anything else I guess... We don’t use complicated studio tricks, we are a trio and we just play like that. About what we want to tell…Any song tells a story, it’s like a painting made with words. So, you just have to find out by yourself what’s the meaning. We know the one we wanted to give, but anyone can find his own.
There’s a big revival of the 70s sound at the moment. What you think makes you different from other 70s inspired bands?
I never thought about us as a revival band… we didn’t decide to sound vintage, we just played that way since the beginning and that’s all. We put in our music a lot of influences, not just from the seventies hard heavy rock scene, but also some from progressive or American rock too. I think we mixed it in an “original” way, in the sense that we don’t sound exactly like any other band than ourselves. You can find a taste of Sabbath, or Led Zeppelin, or Deep Purple, but it’s never just like that.
That was a provocative question, just a little bit. You mentioned communicating honestly with the listener, is there more honest period in music than the 70s and before that of course… When was the moment when you said “music is what I want to do”? Do you sometimes have doubts?
70s have been a period of great freedom for music. It seemed that everybody could do anything they liked. This gave us a lot of music, some was really good, some less, but anyway great sorts of inspiration you can now rely on. As for me, I never said “music is what I want to do”. It simply happened that music became the only thing making me feel really alive, and giving me strength and motivation to move on day by day. Music is emotion, is like love. And of course it’s always a big risk to base your own life on emotions and “not concrete” things… tomorrow I could wake up and find out that my love has gone, or that it is not like it was the day before…This is the same for all of us in the band I guess, even though this is more a personal question. Of course there are doubts, but now I’m in love, so I cannot do anything but love. If you understand what I mean.
What kind of people attend your madness show, what is your revolution and where the unquiet garden is? What are you lyrics about?
Eh eh… freaks are our ideal audience! Our lyrics are about a lot of things. There are more intimate songs such as “My Revolution” (which is a black-love song) or “Night Flyer”, or “The Unquiet Garden” itself (which is inside of us, the place where people who lost their dreams live)… but also songs telling stories about some characters. “Madness Show” that you quoted tries to guess what could Jesus Christ do if he should born again now, for example. “Giants of the Mountain” is directly inspired by Pirandello’s drama, about the relationship between Art, artist and his audience. “Eileen O’Flaherty” was born in Ireland, while contemplating one of those beautiful graves they have on the Aran Islands. Any song is a story, different from the others…
Freaks, huh? You’re playing at FREAK VALLEY FESTIVAL this week. Excited? Is this your first festival?
This is our first big festival, yes. We played others, but smaller and more local ones. Of course we are excited!, we’ll play same stage with great international bands we used to listen to when we actually didn’t play gigs yet, such as GENTLEMAN’S PISTOLS, COLOUR HAZE or WICKED MINDS!
I’m sure you’ll fit perfect into that great company! What do you plan next? Are you going to tour to support the new album?
Yes of course, but compatibly with our job commitments, as music is not enough remunerative for us to get by with it only. Not yet, at least! We have plans about touring Austria late september, and France late October/ early November, and maybe some gigs in the UK before the year ends. This summer we’ll concentrate on the second album’s recordings.
After a too long period of silence, here come finally some cool news from the RAMESSES camp !!!
Ritual Productions are preparing to release a double whammy of RAMESSES collectibles on wax. This news comes hot on the heels of the announcement that they will be supporting EyeHateGod in August.
The acclaimed album, Take the Curse will be released on 180 gram black vinyl, silver foiled gatefold packaging and will include an A2 full colour poster and 12inch shaped sticker insert. The release wil...l also include a bonus 7inch with 2 unreleased live tracks from Roadburn 2011. Bonus tracks are 'Take the Curse' and 'Terrasaw'.
This will be followed closely by the extra special vinyl version of Possessed By The Rise Of Magik which features remixes by Justin Broadrick (Godflesh/Jesu/Greymachine/Final/JK Flesh). This is what he had to say about his involvement in this project…
"It was with great pleasure that I mixed the Ram album, they're my favourite dooooom band; not afraid to take chances, and not afraid to let the dope do the talking...psychedelic warlords."
His remixes enhance the audio with his uniquely dark and affecting musical perspective whilst maintaining the true essence of the original recordings. The way remixes should be. All in all, supremely magik. Do we really need to say both Ritual Productions and Ramesses are extremely pleased with the result? Possessed... will also be released as a deluxe red foiled gatefold and there are 800 copies of 180 gram black vinyl and 200 copies of 180 gram clear red vinyl.
Both records will be unleashed on vinyl in June.
The first 75 orders for each record through Ritual website will also receive: one Ritual Productions/RamSS black tote bag plus one set of three foil vinyl stickers.
Finally, here is a reminder of the tour dates in August and details of their appearance at Incubate:
7 August - The Fleece, Bristol with EyeHateGod and Dopefight
8 August - Academy 3, Manchester with EyeHateGod and Dopefight
9 August - The Garage, London with EyeHateGod and Dopefight
14 September - Incubate Festival, O13 Tilburg, Netherlands
Here's a split LP released on This Charming Man rds from Germany which presents 2 bands : UNION OF SLEEP (Ger) and BLACK SLEEP OF KALI (usa)... no newcomers at all, as the first band has yet released two albums over the past two years and the second a debut in 2011 !
I've got clearly to say that I do like much more U.O.S. than B.S.O.K. who in my opinion are just one band, among too many others, playing some kind of modern Sludge/Stoner METAL à la Mastodon, Baronness, etc... with some nice Neurosis hints here and there; well this is not bad at all, tightly played and pretty catchy but not enough tasty for me.
UNION OF SLEEP are far more consistent, playing a massive Sludge with noticeable HC and Industrial overtones ! This is extremely massive and powerful with angry throaty vocals. The 4 songs, enhanced by a very thick production, are based on asphyxiating and powerful tempos, from slow and heady to mid-paced and gnarly. There's a great work on envelopping the overall with a bleak atmosphere, giving a doomed connotation which is very delightful and I like very much those leads often viciously twisted and groovy...
I don't know if at the end this is a good point for them to have shared this album, again I honestly recommend this as a whole but I think a full album of just those german Sludge merchants would have been definitely far more memorable instead... this has had at least the merit to let me know UNION OF SLEEP, discover their previous works, enjoy those 4 nice songs and expect some more shortly !
Here's a new episode (the 4th) from "The WIVES ov DOOM",
HUGE thanx to Sabine, Melissa and Monique for their participation, again very interesting... No surprise concerning Sabine about that but we've got here women who love Doom and that's really cool :)
As always, find below the links to previous episodes in case you missed any of them... but just keep in mind that there's no obligation to start by episode 1 to understand the purpose and interest of this serie !!! Episode 1with Susan "Soggy Bog" and Ronnie "Sigirya"
Episode 2with Sarah "Atolah", Soph "Alunah" and Sam"Ice Dragon" Episode 3with Corinne "Ripple Music" and Christine "Days of the Doomed"
Questions asked :
1) I wanted to know which are your feelings towards the passion of Mister for Doom and Heavy musics in general... Could they be slow and gloomy or fast and brutal, how do you enjoy these weird sounds ? Do you sometimes take vengeance and play crappy Pop stuff just to piss him off ?
2) Are you proud of what he's doing with his band/blog/Radioshow ?!! Do you think this is more rewarding to play in a respected but underground Doom band than playing shit in a wellknown band ? Do you think playing Doom is necessay to his equilibrium and maybe that only this kind of music can bring him what he needs or is looking for ?
3) Does he still have enough time for both houseworks and cuddles, or sometimes there's difficult choice to make between both ?!
4) When he's listening music with headphones, computering on the net, practising with his band, playing gigs far away... do you feel alone quickly or is it an opportunity for you to meet friends/parents, make some things you enjoy but can't do together, etc... ?
Sabine( vocalist inRITUALS OF THE OAK, engaged with Shane Linfoot, also guitarist in the band)
1) If anything, I’m the one who’s more passionate about heavy music; Shane loves every music genre under the sun particularly funk, blues and 70’s rock. He is also a doom fiend, but nowadays has a somewhat diminished tolerance for extreme metal, while I love that shit! But as far as doom goes, we share a lot of common grounds there so I’m very much appreciative of his passion for the slowness!
No bad crappy pop is played at our house! Only the finest of the crappy pop ala Rick Astley! That usually goes on when beers are flowing and bongs are in presence, just to have a laugh!
2) Knowing how much of a wide variety of music Shane loves, I’d say Music in general is necessary for his equilibrium! I very much love the music he’s written so far. So I’m very much proud of him but mostly I’m thankful that I get to sing on these songs I very much enjoy!
3) Shane is both a master of chores and cuddles! He has a bizarre ability to clean up super fast. It’s not like he’s going to let cleaning take away from cuddling time anyways… definitely not cleaning! Maybe music though.
4) We’re used to giving each other alone time: Shane usually spends his whole time recording in the spare room, while I either catch up with my ladies or watch shitty tv or read. And afterwards we meet up in the lounge room to down a few beers and listen to some records or we curl up in bed watching documentaries! That’s probably my favourite passtime!
Melissa (engaged with Brandon Malone ofFIRE FAITHFUL)
1) Our relationship was founded on our mutual love for the same music 13 years ago. It excites us both to discover some new band, and play it over and over all night long... Sleep's Jersualem pretty much changed our lives. We saw the St.Vitus reunion in NOLA back in 2009, and were like giddy children. It has always been about the music with us. His level of passion towards his own music is an inspiration, and I love the music that Fire Faithful is creating. So much so, that I have lent back up vocals to a couple songs, something I thought I would NEVER do in a million years.
2) I am beyond proud of him, I think he is a brilliant lyricist, and a gifted singer. The underground is where it's at for this kind of music, I hate ampitheatres and overblown shows. Give me a seedy dark club with cheap beer anyday, just as long as the sound is good! Brandon could probably find happiness singing/playing a lot of types of music, however "Doom" seems to fit his personality...I do know that without FF, we would be driving around the U.S in a van eating out of dumpsters, dropping acid and recruiting "family members", but thankfully we have the "family band" to keep him satisfied. For now....
3) It was tricky at the beginning, however Fire Faithful is just as much of a top priority as our home life is. Sacrifices have to be made, and he doesn't always have time to mow the lawn or take out the trash, sometimes he just comes home from work to change and eat, and has to go right back out. I certainly am not going to cry if he has to practice, or record. I chose to be with a musician, and sometimes, it's all about seizing certain opportunities. I never want Brandon to think he has to make a choice between home and music. Home for Brandon is refuge from the world that he tends to despise, and I like to think I provide that enivornment for him. That being said, Brandon is definitely the typical fix-it husband though, and is forever attending to the needs of our old house. I'm the domestic one and tend to "mother" everyone. For years now I have hosted Sunday Ritual Dinners, which have become a family band tradition. Since Fire Faithful does everything themselves, these Sundays are an effective way to plan and brainstorm over projects. We have a great partnership, and our kids (Savannah 10 and Dylan 6) are totally supportive of the bands endeavors, they only wish they could attend more shows! When we are not in band mode we are in kid mode, and do everything in our power to be there for them as well. They are so understanding when we have to go or out of town, or I have not missed a Fire Faithful show/tour yet, we are very fortunate to have an extensive support system that allows me to travel with the band.
4) I am not so insecure that I cannot enjoy a little alone time, in fact I look forward to it. It is important for Brandon to have that too, especially during the writing process. We understand each others need to be creative, and try to accomodate on another. My passion is to photographing bands, so even at shows I have my own thing going on, separate from everything else. I have had the opportunity to shoot so many of my favorite bands here in Richmond and on the road, and Brandon and the guys in Fire Faithful are very supportive of my photography and I am very thankful for that.
1) My name is Monique, I am 27 and I am currently engaged to G.Colson of RITUALS
we have 2 little pugs and a wonderful son on the way!!!
I like that Greg is into heavy music. We actually met and fell in love with each other over our common bond of music. It's one of the most important things to us. We have been to so many shows together and spent so much time together listening to music. As for me I am into a various mixture of slow and gloomy as well as fast, and brutal. Some of my favorite bands are: Pentagram, 40 Watt Sun/Warning, Sleep, Om, Gates of Slumber, Candlemass, Lord Vicar and anything Wino is in. Also I will admit that at times I will play horrible 80's goth/darkwave music to piss him off like: Xeno & Oaklander, Christian Death, Dead Can Dance and so on, I also love a lot of brit-pop like, The Smiths, Morrissey, Pulp, and Blur, Curve.
2) I am very proud of all of his accomplishments within RITUALS. The most rewarding thing is that he's doing what he loves and it seems doom/heavy music in general is what makes him happy. He has always been this way and has always been more of a person that respects "underground" music and works within those circles, rather than playing "shit" commercial music. We both feel very strongly that it's more important to support a more underground D.I.Y. lifestyle and culture.
3) Well, there are definitely times when I get jealous. Between recording, shows, out of town trips and practice. I do feel a little pushed to the side. But I know this is what he loves and he must do it to function. He takes amazing care of our little family. He's always doing things for me to remind me of how much he care's on a regular basis. So for the most part it balances out in the end. Music is a big part of our life and will always be.
4) I do get lonely when he's away but I fill all that time with Pug cuddles. They keep me distracted and happy!! I understand why he's doing it and he does send me lots of awesome pictures. In fact I used to go with him to lots of shows quite a bit in and out of town but with our Pugs and little one on way I spend a lot more time now with my family and close friends.
It's Sunday :) ... a sunny one :) :) ... after about 1 month and a half of generally fucking rainy and depressing weather, I feel COOL and a bit(e DTC!) lazy at the same time today, but in the meantime I've had a few cool bands requests this week which I feel the need to be shared quickly, cause I really enjoy them and it's never too early to spread the word about nice music !
So, as someone else already did with a kind of nice trademark entitled "Sunday Bandcamp recommendations", I've decided to create a Sunday special section (time will tell if this will be regular or not) : this will consist in sharing with you 3 bands which have been revealed to me with great stuff over the previous week and let you influence me on what I should do shortly after with them : a more detailed review/article, an interview or... just nothing else than what follows !!! This will be called : SUNDAY DOOMED MARKET ... so, please, if you've got any, leave comments (here, on FB or by mail) on your positive vibes about any of the following bands; OK folks ??!!
FREE RANGE HUMANZ from both Toronto and Los Angeles is an amazing trio consisting in :
Ruben Romano (Fu Manchu/Nebula): Drumz
Kenny Cunningham (Edwin): Bass,
Kurt Van Lifeson (Kuthe/Elektrik Mistress): Guitar & Vocalz
the songs you can listen at Reverbnation are mostly instrumental though but this is manifestedly top notch STONER rock
1st album should be released within the next months...
Motordoom with a Stoner-engine or as wrote nicely Hellspawn "if you wanna know how Orange Goblin would have sounded in the seventies, go listen to DOOMDOGS"... that's what you can expect from those experimented guys !!!
Their 2nd album "Unleash the Truth" released on Doomentia rds last Autumn is on streaming on their great website, the band is actually working on a new effort due for release early 2013.
NIGHTOSAUR comes from Minneapolis and is about to release a burning sophomore album entitled "Spaceaxers", consisting in 7 songs... The band's wicked sound draws inspiration from the prog-blues metal of early Judas Priest and Black Sabbath, the taut ferocity of Dio and Iron Maiden, and the brutal force of today’s sludgiest stoners.
There's just this song actually streaming on Bandcamp but believe me the whole album is gonna seriously kick more than one fucking ass !
You probably have that in mind now : I love to do interviews !!! not only with musicians, but also with people that keep the scene alive through various connected activities and their immense passion for DOOM... One of the guys that correspond the most exactly to this profile is Mikael Olofsson from Sweden, passionate for more than 30 years by all forms of Obscure UG Metal with a growing emphasis on Doom over the years. Michael is not just one of the best connoisseurs of the genre, he also makes nice videos and will be soon starting a radioshow...watch out for his works ! The idea of interviewing Mikael took form after we met last month at Roadburn, thanx to him for accepting and having been so interesting \m/ Hi Mikael, a part of the readers know your name, that you come from Sweden, are around 40 years old and one of the most passionate Doom fan in this fucking world but could you present yourself briefly please ? How did come you to Hard rock / Metal ?
Hi Stéphane, You and Temple Of Perdition are very cool and Doom dedicated so im very honored and excited about this interview.
I was born 1970 in Sweden, i am an only child. My parents named me after Rolling Stones, my second name is the drummer of Stones :),
I grew up listening only to loud rock and RNB: The Rolling Stones, Troggs, Kinks, The Who, Angry Young Them and that kind of music were all i heard, i listened to did this and read/looked at pictures in Horror comixs all untill 1975.
I was then five and traded a Hard rock record for a child nursery rime record (with my next door neighbour, she had just won it at a tombola at a fair and thought it sounded horrible she were Four years old)
For me it has been Love at first sight, i took one look at the record cover, then thinked to myself: i got to have that ! It was Kiss - Kiss from that day on i been a Hard Rock and Metal fan, got my first Black Sabbath vinyl in 77.
In the 90s I went to see all the good Thrash and Death Metal bands but still Black Sabbath were my favourite band, and have been so since 1977.
You discovered the underground in the mid/late 80's with the explosion of DM, like many metallers of our generation, but you had the luck to kind of live it from the inside with your friends of MORBID and ENTOMBED… only good memories I presume ? How is the scene now in Stockholm ? Is there a common interest from Metallers to DM and DOOM or do you feel this is 2 different worlds ?
Stockholm had a rather small Brutal Metal fan base in the beginning. We were only a few into this music in Stockholm, we had only one place to go to and that were the only hard rock record shop in Town: Heavy Sounds (for people intrested in how the store looked like go to Youtube type in: Quorthon signing in Stockholm 1987)
So we all meet there and at all the gigs and that way we got to know one another.
Candlemass got popular in Swedish press because Kerrang liked em, all the sudden they played everywhere and they were not always liked by everyone at the Thrash scene, they still had alot of fans among the DM kids back then. And everyone was into Mercyful Fate, Celtic Frost, Hellhammer and bands with doom elements.
How and when did you come to DOOM ? Do you remember when you heard DOOM for the first time, was it CANDLEMASS or ST VITUS or … ? Did it become instantaneously your fave genre or did it take time to mature ?
Doom matured into my favourite music over the years, but have at the same time always been a part of my music taste, been a Black Sabbath fan all my life.
First doom bands I got to see live must have been: Stormvarning, Count Raven, Candlemass, Sorcerer, In the Colonnade, Stillborn and Cathedral
All my life I have listened alot to bands like: In the Colonnade, Sorcerer, Stillborn, Dream Death, Saint Vitus, Count Raven, Witchfinders General, Cirith Ungol without knowing that it were later to be called Doom metal.
I was totally into Stoner Metal in the 90s, bands like Kyuss, Acrimony, sHeavy, Fu Manchu, Sleep, Electric Wizard were what i listened to,
It evolved into a Stoner Doom and Death Doom metal interest for me, and have now evolved into me mostly listening to: Stonerdoom, traditional doom, HM Doom, Occult rock, 70s Hard rock and proto doom.
One of the reasons I wanted to interview you was because of your (fan) VIDEOS… you did quite many lately with ACRIMONY “Tumuli”, INTERNAL VOID “chasin the dragon”, WAR INJUN “no worry woman”, etc… All those on your youtube channel are pretty recent, what did decide you to start this ? You use Muvee to make your videos, is it the most accessible tool for you ?
I'm a film nerd, and I used to do horror film fanzines and trade vhs in the 90s, so im deeply intrested in trash movies, horror movies or weirdness,
Sometimes back then when me and my mates were drunk, we sometimes redubbed crappy horrors with our vocals recorded on top of the film, by useing 2 vhs and a microphone, or sometimes to fill out video tapes when tradeing we put in funny trailers,cool monster fights, music videos and stuff, i used to record certain cuts and play music on top of it. so for me its a thing i did in the 90s but with better technology. :)
Muvee is a fun and simple to use tool, started doing a video because Weekend Beast needed a music video, because i wanted people to see the guys and how cool they are, while listening to the awesome music.
But after I had finished with the video i started useing the program more and more and i got hooked :)
It's because I see a future of unlimited of combinations of horror films and cool songs :)
Your most successful video is “this will be mine” from YEAR OF THE GOAT which reached more than 1500 views in about two weeks, where all your other videos have much more limited views, do you think that the fact this song is an ADVANCE from their new lp is the main reason of this success and/or do you see it as your most achieved work so far ?
Its like some girls have said to me here on Facebook (hi Abbe and Sarah ;) ) "there's sometimes too much gore in your videos Mikael". So this time I deliberately did very little of that in the video, mostly because I try to have my videos following either the lyrics of the song or the meaning of the song, and "this will be mine" is about the rise of the morning star and the descend of it , down to earth.
YEAR OF THE GOAT "this will be mine"
For the video of “the rising sun” from RISING DUST, you did choose the movie “Metropolis”… a great prediction of the modern world deviances :( - this is one of your fave movie, why exactly ?
Love old classics movies, always have, I adore movies like: Metropolis, Häxan (witchcraft through the ages), the phantom carriage, Der Golem, the cabinet of Dr Caligari and Nosferatu they all have a very doomy feeling to them as movies. I like them because they feel and look very Doom. I play them with doom metal as soundtrack if i watch em.
Let’s speak now about the WEEKEND BEAST video which includes many many photos of those Doomed guys who are among your closest friends… are they all your photos or did they bring some to your complete your work ? A great part of these photos have been taken in a log-cabin that seems isolated in the woods, is it where the band rehearse ? There’s even one photo where the drums are installed on a terrace, do they sometimes play outside ?!!!
Yeah Weekend Beast are great people and great friends ! everyone of them, they are very easy to get along with and very funny :)
For the first version of the video for King One I used alot of diffrent sources for the pictures to be honest, Sarah Ericksson, my own ones and Weekend Beast own pictures most of them, mixed with some Goatess art and a special hug.
The outdoor terrace drum picture were from the first gig they ever had (and the only gig sofar) theres alot of nice picture in the video from the Birthday party gig.
My second version of King One, have live footage of Weekend beast mixed with the old 1967 classic Ironborder horror film Вий / Viy
WEEKEND BEAST "king one"
Do you have plans for more videos ? how do those ideas come out : while you watch movies or when you listen to a song that inspire you especially ? do you think some bands could ask you to make something official for them ?
I have plans for lots of videos :)
Yes I do requests, the ones I've done so far and as requests are: The Devil, Year Of The Goat, War Injun, if any band asks me, I will think it over.
You told me that you also lived some time ago in Den Haag (Hol) in a big house full of doomsters including some of the guys of CHURCH OF MISERY… how did that happen exactly ?
It was a magical place ! a squathouse at the old Ministry of Finance, I stayed there and helped out.
When my friend Fast Mike had his club that was called The Morlock Gallery.
At this Squat Motorwolf records had a recordstudio, and warehouse. Motorwolf records and Leafhound Records (japan) were very good friends, so thats why Church Of Misery stayed there.
It was a place for them to hang at, during a Eurotour or for Roadburn festival. COM are all very cool people.
Morlock Gallery was the best club in town, a lot of cool bands play there : Suma, Lucid, Orange Sunshine, High On Fire, Toner Low, Asteroid, Apache, Dzjenghis Khan played there :)
Also you did run a Fanzine in the mid-late 90’s that was dealing with horror movies… could you speak about that too please ?
Black with Mikael Bomark, it were blaxploitation and monsterfilm oriented mostly mixed with weird humour. Done by two Swedish, trying to type in jive, as spoken in the blaxploitations films :)
We were once asked to do a lecture about blaxploitation in Harlem Usa.....dont think they would have liked the 2 Swedish guys that would have shown up, hahaha.
We did meet alot of other cool people by trading fanzines and movies.
WAR INJUN "no worry woman"
When we met last month at Roadburn, you told me it was your 6th edition there ? How do you see the evolution of this festival throughout the years ? Which were your highlights this year ?
Your fave fest is the Muskelrock in Sweden, what does make it different and so particular ?
Roadburn is Roadburn and its a Shrine to pilgrimage to and keep sacred, but i dont think it should take in more people, as its been a bit crowded this last years.
Roadburn is great specially in meeting new cool people, the sound quality of the live shows are usually very good aswell.
Some of the highlights were: Lord Vicar, Saturnalia Temple, Year Of The Goat, Internal Void, The Obsessed, Sleep, Sigiriya, Huata, Voivod, Witch, Devil, 40 Watt Sun, The Wounded Kings and Bongripper. And meeting alot of my friends :)
Muskel Rock is a very D.I.Y metal fest run by real love for metal, it always have a killer lineup every year!
The stages that exist are one outdoor stage, and one old 196x looking dance palace (the indoor stage)
The fact that it is in the middle of freaking nowhere, next to a cow meadow and a small lake, all of this is very cool (with a rather small crowd) Its a festival for diehards and metalfreaks only.
The festival got the heart in the right place,I never seen a fight or any bad things happening there :)
Another festival I wont miss next year is Heavy Days In Doom Town in Copenhagen it looks very cool, and both Griftegård and Lord Vicar enjoyed that festival alot this year (atleast thats what they told me).
Sweden has always provided lots of great Metal bands but one of its most representative CANDLEMASS is gonna stop now, who do you see as a great successor to them ? Does GHOST get as much success in Sweden as in the States or other foreign countries ? What do you think of these Death Metallers getting success in a very different style... ?
I dont know who will step up and become the biggest Doom band now that Candlemass will stop, but I think it will be one of the band that are mentioned somewhere in this Interview !
It could even be Weekend Beast Or Saturnalia Temple
Ghost won lots of prices in Sweden and been very promted in the Swedish music press so they are popular everywhere. If Ghost makes the young kids discover and later they go out and buy some early Mercyful Fate, King Diamond, Diamond Head, Cloven Hoof, Hell or Satan its all good.
I think its great if metal is popular, and its good if music evolve into new styles, helps it from getting stagnated.
Except WEEKEND BEAST is there any new interesting Doom bands out from Sweden ? What do you think of SORCERER coming back and recording a new album ?
Bands to watchout for includes: Saturnalia Temple, Year Of The Goat, Atlantic Tide :) Other great ones just starting to get more famous are: The graviators, Nymf, Doomdogs, In Solitude, Noctum, Skogen Brinner, Skraeckoedlan, Horizont and many more.
I love that Burning Saviours, Atlantic Tide and Sorcerer have re-unioned again ! infact i think its awesome \m/
Now you’re planning to do a radioshow called THE SUPERPSYCHE DOOMADELIKA SHOW !!! how did this new idea come ? do you enjoy the Soggy Bog, Steaming Heathen, etc… ? do you have all the necessary material for this ? Do you have contacts with radios that could host your show ?
Soggy Bog, and the Heathen are inspirations and great shows !
I'm proud and happy that my Bro´ Robert John Anglum Show Soggy Bog were picked by Earache to air the all new Hour Of 13 record (H13 Rules) All Hail Soggy Bog !
I got lots of love and respect for internet radio that plays Doom Metal. I helped out some in Foundry Of Doom and played music there.
Been asked why i dont do a radio both by people on FB and by friends in real life. I used to be a music DJ, Mostly dj at my friends diffrent clubs.
For instance i DJed when The Shrine hosted Electric Wizard, Terra Firma, Norrsken, Candlemass, House Of Aquaris and lots of other cool bands. A lot of other things happened at The Shrine in Stockholm.
I have done some funny music compilations of rare 70s Metal, psych and Proto Doom with a friend called Otis (Hi Michael!) that were kinda popular it were named: The LSD Connection by Kuma and Otis. (Im sure you find some if you google)
I have (if i say it myself) a rather good and extensive collection of music, i figured that it must be time to for me to spread it around a little on the radio waves.
Way too little Obscure 70s Protodoom, traditional doom, Stoom and Heavy Psych music in general on the airwaves !
But my microphone is busted i noticed, so i will have to buy a new one very soon.
I test recorded and it sounds very Swenglish (i only speak that, I kinda sound like the Swedish muppet chef )
Will send them (my radio host contacts) a full show when its ready, and then the ones intrested can air it
Goatess made the logo and it looks awesome (shes among the coolest artist ever)
About Tattoos, one of your most significant is the ST VITUS logo on your left arm… any other that you’re particularly proud of ? Any new tattoo planed ?
Most proud of my Pentagram chest tattoo(oh... didn't see that onebefore ! wonderful indeed), and the Celtic Frost Morbid Tales record cover on my leg.
On The Hooded Priest Record im on the thanklist as Mikael The Pentagram chest, thats a great honour for me. I'm going to tattoo in Doom on my fingers and the logo of Lord Vicar next week.
After 25 years, how do you see the evolution of the underground METAL scene ? Did internet help to enlighten it ? Do you download stuff or just listen on the net and then buy the albums ? Today if a band releases an album just on TAPE format, would you buy it ? same question for vynil... ?
The informations of a band to new fans are instant, that is great with internet, but waiting at the mailman for new music demos, VHS, or Fanzines had it charm aswell and taught me patience (well some)
I download and listen alot to music, i buy anything i find worth listening twice to on original (if i can find it)
Today i would buy Tape format only releases, but i dont 100 % get it, Its not a practical format.
Vinyl i love and it got my full support \m/
Thanx a lot for your time Mikael, all the best to you man.... add something if you feel there's anything important that I forgot to speak about !!!
Thank You Stéphane, its people like YOU, that keep the underground scene alive \m/ Doom On !
I will leave with some Finnish words of wisdom, Minotauri - Doom Metal Alchemy :
The old scroll of doom hides the secrets...
It tells about the recipe of this sinister art...
The music is dark, from the funerals...
The lyrics are full of agony, taken from the grave...
